Specimen

“Sten?” I feel Riley’s touch on my shoulder and arm. Her scent wafts into my nostrils as I inhale. “How are we feeling now?”

“What happened?” I’m tightly strapped to the bed again.

“You’re fine,” she tells me, and I relax against the bed. “I think that run might have been a little more than you were ready for, and we had to make a couple of adjustments for you, but everything is fine now.”

My head continues to throb. The last thing I remember is running on the treadmill, though I didn’t feel like I had overdone anything at the time. I must have though. I feel like I’ve been run over.

“I’m sorry.” I don’t like the idea of disappointing her, but I must have. Why else would I be restrained?

She reaches out and runs her hand over the side of my face. I press my cheek into her palm and inhale her scent, wishing I could reach out to her. I’m hard, and there’s tension radiating from my chest and groin.

“No reason to apologize,” she says. “We’ll go just a little slower next time.”

I nod, and

Riley brings me water and a container of some liquid nourishment. She holds a straw to my lips so I can drink. It’s the first sustenance I’ve had since I originally woke up alone in the lab, and I wonder how long I can go without food and water.

“Can you take those off?” I ask, nodding toward the straps.

“I think we can do that.” She glances at the mirror, but no guards appear as she unstraps me and I sit up. I grab for her hand, and she lets me hold it. I flex the fingers of my right hand, curling them around hers. The bandage is gone, and my knuckles no longer ache.

I sit on the edge of the bed, and she pulls the rolling chair closer so she can sit down in front of me. From this position, I’m looking down on her. There’s nothing revealing about her lab coat. I can barely see the collared tan blouse underneath it. The sleeves go all the way down to her wrists, and the only visible skin is her legs. She’s wearing pantyhose and simple black flats.

In my head, she spreads her legs instead of crossing them. The lab coat opens and falls away, and her blouse is unbuttoned at the top. I think about how her hose-covered legs would feel in my hands as I stroked up her thighs. I think about how she would look bent over the edge of the bed with her ass in the air as I slid into her from behind.

“Are you more comfortable now?” she asks.

My dick isn’t.

“Can I ask you something?” I look into her eyes. She hesitates a moment before nodding. “When you’re near me, everything makes sense. That’s not an accident, is it?”

“No, it isn’t,” she says.

“I’m drawn to you.”

“I know.” She turns her hand over and grips my fingers for a moment. “It’s part of your design. You are extremely powerful, and we needed a way to make sure you could be tempered.”

“You mean controlled.”

She stares at me a moment. I don’t need her to answer the question to know I am right. She’s left alone here with me, but she has no fear for her own safety. I could kill her in an instant—there would be no way someone could get in here in time to stop me—but I would never hurt her.

“It is necessary.”

“I get that.” I raise an eyebrow at her. “You can’t exactly have your super soldiers running around unleashed, can you?”

“Something like that.” She sighs. “We have to be sure you’ll be able to complete your training effectively. The implants are only part of it. The chemical compounds introduced into your blood stream can induce intense emotional reactions to stimuli. It’s for your own protection as well as ours.”

“How does it work?” I ask. “What is it you’re injecting me with? Is it just you, or will I feel like this toward everyone?”

“One thing at a time,” Riley says as she runs her hand up my arm.

I feel myself relax, but I’m more aware of it now. My response is reflexive—autonomic. My knowledge of this doesn’t change the facts. Whatever her request, I will comply. Whatever she wants, I will acquiesce.

“There are two primary compounds introduced,” she explains. “TST provides you with added strength and energy. It heightens your senses, but that can have drawbacks. Your emotions can run very high. When in battle, this will keep you focused on your goal. The second compound is called FOG.”

“Those are abbreviations for something,” I say. “What does all that stand for?”

“TST stands for Transanabolic Synthesized Testosterone,” she tells me. “The other is Furioquel-gamma, or FOG for short. It’s an immune booster that also allows you to metabolize nutrients very slowly, reducing your need for caloric intake. It also contains another substance, one that reacts to a compound I ingest. It creates a pheromone-like response in your system, specific to the chemicals in my system.”