The thunder growled its presence and shook the windows of Alice’s small apartment. He shut the door and flipped the light switch to the living room as a streak of lightning illuminated the kitchen window. He was drenched from head to toe—the rain had come out of nowhere, and there’d been no suggestion to bring an umbrella before he went out.

A sleek form glided across the carpet and stroked its body against his leg before sharply pulling away.

“Hey Roland,” Alice sighed and set his bag on the couch. “Sorry about that.”

Roland mewed his discontent, then leaped up beside the bag. He tested it with his nose and drew back again.

“Yeah, everything’s wet.”

With an angry whip of his tail, Roland pawed away from the couch and left in search of something better—and less damp—to amuse himself. It seemed Alice wouldn’t find sympathy from his cat.

He unhooked the clasp on his bag and carefully removed an ebony vase that had been corked with a magnificently carved stopper. It was the latest in Alice’s artefact collection—his acquaintance at the antique store had held onto it especially for him. Most times he could tell whether the item had magical nuances about it, and this thing was radiating with it. It was the new centerpiece in his assortment, and he couldn’t wait to show it off.

But first, he desperately needed a shower.

He left the vase on the coffee table and peeled away the damp shirt clinging to his skin. After tossing it straight into the washing machine, his pants were next. Roland returned to brush against his naked calf, and he laughed, discarding his socks and underwear.

“I see, now you want affection,” he teased. Roland purred.

Alice stepped into the shower as another roll of thunder passed over his building. He knew he probably shouldn’t risk the shower during a thunderstorm but, what the hell, he wasn’t going to sit there soaked to the skin all night.

The water warmed his chilled skin, and he sighed in relief. He’d just started to wash his face when he heard a crash from the living room.

“Roland?”

The lights in his apartment flickered—probably the lightning. Alice cut the water and grabbed his towel, rushing to the living room.

“Shit, Roland, seriously?” His prized vase lay on the floor in pieces, his cat looking over them without an inch of guilt on his face. “Of all the things—”

The room went dark. The normal sounds of his apartment were missing—the hum of the fridge, the whir of the washing machine, the heater. The only thing he could hear was the rain against his windows.

And then the low laughter of a woman.

“Who’s there?” Alice cried, clutching his towel closer to his body.

A soft green glow enveloped a gigantic form in the middle of his apartment. Alice took a step back, his jaw dropping to his chest.

“Well, well. Hello there,” she said.

Alice’s back hit the wall, and he futilely searched for something to protect himself, knowing full well there was nothing there.

“Hmm…a little too dark and brooding in here, I think,” she murmured.

The lights suddenly came back, and Alice blinked away the white spots in his eyes. Roland hissed and darted beneath his bed. Alice didn’t think his jaw could fall much further, but she proved him wrong.

Before him was a creature of the likes he’d never seen before. Something between a human woman and an insect. Her towering body was armored in dark chitin that left her breasts and abdomen exposed. She had six limbs—two of which she kneeled on, and the other four maneuvered like arms; one brushed her deep violet hair away from her face, one pronged hand fingered through the remains of the jar on the floor, another plied at the cushions of the couch, and the fourth rested at her side.

She was framed by four wings lying at rest against her body—stunningly articulated and detailed even at this distance. As if her size wasn’t impressive enough, stemming from her back was the rest of her body—an abdomen armored by more chitin, its fleshy side exposing an additional eight enormous breasts that twitched each time she moved. Around her hair and head were two bulbous red domes that disappeared behind her face.

Like bug eyes, Alice thought.

Somewhere between his fear and curiosity, he also realized that she somehow fit into his apartment. Lucky for her the ceilings were much higher than any other place she could have been summoned into.

Alice searched for words and came up short.

“Well, you’re a delicious little morsel, aren’t you?” She stood and approached. With nowhere else to go, Alice sunk to his knees. She was at least the height of three grown men.

“W-who are you?” he stammered.

“Hmm… My name is Messine.” She looked around the apartment before turning her attention back to him. “Are there others here? Like you?”

“N-no. I live alone,” he squeaked.

“I see.” She knelt and leaned in.

“Are you going to eat me?” Alice asked. “If you are, can you kill me first, please?”

She laughed. A melodic sound that was rich and deep. “No, of course not, little one. You freed me, did you not?” Messine stroked his cheek with one of her hands. It was cold and hard, but she somehow managed to make the gesture tender.

“I guess so?” He wasn’t quite sure if he or Roland should take the credit. “Were you in that jar?”

“Do I look like I could fit into that jar?” she teased him with a wry smile and cocked her head.

“Well, no,” he admitted.

“You aren’t entirely wrong, though. Breaking that jar did summon me. I thank you for that.” She bowed, and her breasts were only inches from his face. “Do you have a name, little one?”

“Alice,” he replied. His heart hammered against his chest. What the hell had Roland just set free?

“Ah, that’s a pretty name for a pretty creature,” she crooned. “Where is this place I have found myself?”

“My apartment.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “In Karver City.”

“So, this world goes farther than these walls?” She giggled. “How delightful.”

With every laugh and shift of her body, the soft flesh of her breasts twisted and jiggled. But upon closer inspection, Alice realized that it wasn’t flesh at all. It was scaled, the rivets between each section iridescent with slick fluid. It glittered in the light with her movements. Alice found it hypnotic in the strangest of ways.

“This world goes a lot farther than these walls. It’s a whole planet. Earth, actually.” Alice blushed, he was rambling, and he knew it. He clutched the towel tighter to his chest.

“So, there are others like you?” Her pronged hand slid from his cheek to his shoulder, stroking his dark hair along the way.

“Y-yes. Billions.” He shivered beneath her touch, still not entirely sure if she’d eat him. Or if he just set loose a monster on billions of other humans. Ah, well, wouldn’t matter if he were dead anyway. She would have figured it out.

“Are they all as stunningly handsome?” Her wings fluttered, and a sweet scent filled the room.

Like a floral perfume. Alice felt noticeably dizzy as soon as he smelled it.

“I wouldn’t say that.” He inched around her while Messine surveyed his apartment, creeping his way from the wall with tiny, careful steps. “I-I mean, I’m not very handsome, so—” Ignoring the fact that he was just in a towel, if he could get to the door, he still had a chance.

“Where are you going, little one?” Of course, nothing would escape her watchful gaze. “Do I not appeal to you?”

“No, it’s not that. I…I thought you may be thirsty?” he suggested weakly. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Hmm…now that you have mentioned it.” Her abdomen curled around Alice’s front and he turned to face her. She was staring at him with a hunger—one that said he was much more than food. Alice’s blush deepened. “I am famished.” Thunder rolled through the apartment while the rain continued its relentless onslaught against the windows.

Roland meowed from the kitchen window, took one look at Messine, and jumped free of the apartment.

Messine waved one hand, and the window slammed shut. She reached forward, and Alice reeled backward into the soft lumps of her abdomen. This was it. She was going to make her strike. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. But her fingers grasped only the towel and drew it gently away from his hands, leaving him bare for her viewing. Suddenly the scaled, moist surfaces of her abdomen were pressing directly into his thighs and back, slowly undulating in pressure from top to bottom. Despite the cold touch of the chitin, her skin ran hot. Goosebumps formed at every point of contact, and a shiver shot down his spine.

The sensation was as terrifying as it was arousing, He gasped, and she smiled, her eyes sliding between his legs.

“Are the others as well endowed?” she purred.

“I don’t know,” Alice squeaked.

“Oh, it pains me to think the Ulvani have missed out on so much.” She tipped his chin up to meet her gaze.

Ulvani. The word finally struck a chord in the recesses of Alice’s memory. In all the magical texts and pamphlets, he’d found, there was a mention of a higher race with that name. He remembered the sketches—large, winged women. Magical abilities that surpassed those of their lowly human counterparts. But nothing that had looked like Messine. “I’ve read of the Ulvani,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Oh! I am flattered! What do you know of my race?” Her abdomen throbbed harder against his back, sliding further to his side and massaging more of his body as it did.

It was very hard to concentrate. Blood rushed to his erection, and all he could think about was covering himself. But every time Messine’s gaze dropped, she licked her lips. It was impossible not to imagine how the rest of her body felt to the touch. “Not very much,” he breathed. “I don’t think anyone here has ever seen one.”

“Ah, what a loss for you, hmm?” She preened her hair beneath his gaze. “You seem to think I am quite impressive. Do you, Alice?”

His name oozed off her tongue like a siren’s call. And damn if it wasn’t effective. “Yes… I think you’re amazing.” Fear aside, he’d never thought he’d set eyes on something like her. Alice had studied magic as a hobby for a very long time. His books, artefacts, and practices could have never amounted to a chance to meet a creature from another world.

Her grin spread wide, and her eyelids grew heavy. “You are quite the charmer.”

The edge of her abdomen connected with its beginning, encircling Alice as a snake would its prey. When had she done that? The caress of scales worked every inch of his skin, slick secretions sliding without resistance. “Wha—”

“I believe we can mutually benefit from one another, little one,” she murmured. “Allow me.” The kneading sensation was suddenly concentrated around the hard shaft of his cock. In and out, gripping it like a hand but so much softer. He moaned in surprise, then bit back the noise against his bottom lip.

“By all means, cry out, sweet,” she encouraged as she watched him. “But the neighbors—”

With a snap of her fingers, the rain was silenced. The thunder was silenced. The only sounds in the room were the slurping pulls and tugs of wet skin and Alice’s labored breathing. “Sound will not leave these walls.”

Her body pumped and pulled at him with an expert touch. Each noise he made was an encouragement for the most tender points of his body. She syncopated her abdomen further, holding him tight within her grasp. Alice cried out as the churning of her body grew more intense.

“I-if you keep that up…I-I’m…” he warred against himself.

“Aw, my little one wants to give me his seed?” she chided. “You cannot release it on command?”

“No.” Were there races that could? “Messine…”

She laughed beneath her breath and twisted the fingers of one hand into his hair. “Yes, this will be very beneficial indeed. Let me help.”

Her body secreted more of its slick slime, coating Alice’s skin in a thick membrane. A floral, honeyed scent filled the room and invited Alice to inhale deeply—an invitation he couldn’t resist. His head felt dizzy with the smell, the tension in his body evaporated. His skin tingled as pheromones dripped into his pores and consumed his thoughts.

“That’s it. Relax, sweet one,” she crooned as his eyes rolled back. “Enjoy yourself.”

Each section of her abdomen undulated against him, caressing his thighs, his nipples, his testicles. A hundred warning flags raised in the back of his mind that he should escape. That whatever her plans, it wouldn’t end well for him. But it grew softer with every inhale, the sweet scent of her coaxing him into a trance.

Her machinations felt deliciously soft, his body carefully consumed within. The tender, tight momentum around his cock was like having a dozen tongues nuzzling the shaft and head. His groans harmonized with the squelching noises of soaked flesh against scales. As intense as it felt, he couldn’t cum. He quivered in delight, his body spasming in ways he’d never known.

“You are a delicate thing, aren’t you,” she chuckled, tilting his head back to watch the expressions pass across his face. “But you love it so.”

His answer was an incomprehensible moan. From her lower body protruded a long, fleshy cord that dove deep between the breasts of her abdomen. Alice could only wonder its purpose for a moment before a tight, slick fit wrapped his prick. He gasped as he was readjusted in her form, leaning forward on the pillows of her body. His hands were rendered useless, gripped between compressed sections of her body.

“Worry not. You will enjoy this,” she whispered.

A sudden pressure against his thighs, parting the tight cheeks of his backside, then slick against his void. It penetrated him without resistance, filling him to bursting, massaging against his prostate. Alice cried out, drool escaping the corners of his lips. He was absorbed as deeply in lust as his body was inside of her.

“Now, you will give me your essence.”

The saccharine aroma transformed into a sharp, citric assault. The weight that held his body back from orgasm was lifted, and climax ignited his flesh. The appendage around his shaft pumped him slowly, deliberately, milking every drop from his body. The length inside him pulsed with a similar rhythm, filling him full of…something. Of what, he didn’t care. So long as she didn’t stop. His petite frame rocked and trembled, groans and screams tore from his throat in waves that would have reached the limits of the city had she not sound-proofed the room. He was sucked dry and pumped full. His toes curled, and his lips went numb. She watched it all with a sharp smile and a satisfied gaze.

Alice kept anticipating the plummet from his high, but it never came. He floated on ecstacitic bliss, cradled in her loving embrace.

With practiced dexterity and her multiple arms, Messine drew a long, thin tendril from her groin. She lifted Alice with her legs and began wrapping him in a snug cocoon from the throat down. His limp limbs were bound tightly to his sides, his legs wrapped together.

“And so, we begin again,” she said to the humming, sated Alice. His head drooped from the cradle of web; a lazy grin plastered on his face. She carefully placed him in a far corner, casting a powerful illusion spell over his body so he could not be seen by the untrained eye.

Yes, this “Earth” would do nicely.