I was awake before the sun this morning, getting everything ready for the anatomy study.

I'm not sure if she will want to lie down or stand, but I make sure that my bed is perfectly made in case she chooses that. I read and reread my question again and again.

I'm so nervous.

I've done these studies before. In college, I had to do one at the coroner's office while he performed an autopsy. This feels scarier than that.

I am about to study the body and functions of an extraterrestrial being. Any scientist would be giddy. This is a nerds wet dream! The stuff of science fiction novels. I am about to be the first human, ever, to study alien anatomy.

A sound from the hallway outside makes my heart pound. She's here.

When the door slides open my heart drops from my throat, down to my stomach.

"Where is Olexa?"

"She was called away in the night. Gaia requested her presence in the north. She informed me of your desire to study our anatomy. She sends her apologies." Ronan tips his chin, emphasizing the apology.

"Oh, no worries," I try not to let my relief show. I thought he was coming here for the study. That would have been-

"You may study my anatomy instead."

Fuck.

"That's very-"

"It is necessary to have a male and a female, correct?"

My palms sweat as I search his face. There is no humor or smugness in his voice. He isn't offering to make me uncomfortable. He's trying to be helpful. Everything about him is logical and practical. I just need to act like an adult and this will be fine, probably.

Be a professional, Nicole.

"Thank you, commander."

He slides the door closed and turns, waiting for instructions.

"I want you to be comfortable. If you want to stand that's fine, or you can lay on the bed. I don't know if you wear underwear or...if you're uncomfortable with nudity..." my palms sweat. "I also have a series of questions, a survey, to gather information about certain functions that I can't see with my eyes alone. Which would you rather tackle first?"

"I will stand. I would prefer to complete the visual study first." He pulls his shirt over his head and I audibly gulp. My mouth drops open as he pulls his hair up, tying it on top of his head, out of the way. Why is that so attractive...

You are a doctor, I remind myself; this is about science!

As his pants fall to the floor, I take a deep, cleansing breath. Clearly, he is not uncomfortable with nudity. Peering up over the top of my notebook, my stomach clenches. Roughly sketching his form on the page, I focus all of my energy into making sure everything is correct and proportional.

With nervous anticipation, I inch forward as I carefully examine every small detail. His feet are large and wide but otherwise human in appearance. Stepping behind him, I start from the ground up. I'm drawn to his calves. Where the muscles in a human calf are straight up and down, his appear to slope downward at an angle. Fascinating.

Moving up his back, I stop for a moment, appreciating his ass, not scientifically but as a hot blooded woman standing before a perfectly shaped backside.

Alright... back to work...

The small of his back is narrow and grows wider as it moves into his upper back and shoulders. Lost in the structure of his muscles, I step forward, my fingers running over his spine at the center of his back. I can't tell without an x-ray but his spine feels different. I try to count his vertebrae but they aren't palpable. There seems to be a smooth, flexible bone covering the spinal cord from top to bottom.

His broad shoulders are as sturdy as stone, deep ridges of muscle rippling under his skin. He is so lean that the muscle fibers are visible through his skin, even with the tattoos.

"When we were rescued, Gaia's skin was silver. What is that?"

"It is body armor that protects our skin from the elements as well as weaponry."

"And it just... appears when you need it? It looked like it was melting away..."

"We control it." He starts to turn silver before my eyes, like a blot of ink on a page, the smooth silver spreads over his skin in a matter of seconds.

"C-Can I touch it?" It's beautiful...

"You may."

It's cool to the touch, like metal almost but still soft like a shirt. I can't believe this is real... His tattoos are covered, it's not just their skin changing color, it's an actual covering. Just as quickly as it appeared, it fades away.

It's hard to wrap my mind around. He's real; standing before me. Natural body armor, eyes like the stars... it feels a bit like believing in Santa Claus. I can reach out and touch him but it's almost beyond comprehension that he exists. For my life, my parents, and everyone that came before us, there was life out there...

Before I move to the front, I stall and use the joint of my finger to measure an inch. Starting at his feet, I move up. Approximately six feet six inches.

"198.12 cm," I mumble as I write the measurements down. For the sake of thoroughness and definitely not to avoid standing in front of him, I measure his back and waist.

I want to ask about his tattoos, but I'm afraid that my voice will shake if I speak. They cover him like a long-sleeved shirt, reaching low on his hips, up to the base of his neck. I can't make sense of them; they could be words, or symbols.

My knees feel weak as I walk around to face him. Starting at his feet again is probably the safest choice.

The further up his legs I go, the tighter my throat feels.

Keep your face neutral. I plead with myself as I move up to the one place that I desperately want to study. The place I've been most avoiding.

My eyes glaze over as I reach the midthigh, there it is. The longer I stare at it the bigger it seems. For my own sanity, I don't measure it...

Science and professionalism are starting to slip as I feel desire pooling between my legs. Jesus Christ, Nicole... he's an alien. Are these feelings even ethical? Sex between different species is wrong, right?

I've studied attractive men before, I've seen plenty of muscle and handsome faces, plenty of penises too... He is something else entirely. He is raw power. As I stand here before him, I can imagine his skin against mine, the heavy weight of his body as it presses against me; as he holds me down. Shit.

Peeking up from my notebook, I gasp and my eyes shoot up to meet his. He's rock hard.

When did that happen?

His thick, heavy inches stand straight up. Ethics be damned, that won't even work if I wanted it to. He is not made for a human woman.

"This is surprising," He looks down thoughtfully. "I had not expected mutual attraction."

Mutual what?

"It's a biological reaction..." he doesn't seem embarrassed but I try to comfort him anyway, mostly as a distraction for myself.

"No, it is mutual desire," his voice is a bit raspy than it normally is.

"What?"

"We cannot become erect without a partners reciprocated desire," when he steps forward, I step back.

"Reciprocated desire?"

"Yes."

"Wait, so no one can have sex unless both parties want to? How can you possibly know if I want to?" I raise my hand to my burning cheek. He can probably tell by the way that I'm panting and drooling...

"I can smell you," he takes a long, slow breath his eyes laser-focused between my legs.

"Oh my god," I turn on my heels and run. My mind is in overdrive as I run as fast as I can toward what I hope is Clarisse's room. 

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