Tears of Tungsten: A Reverse Harem Sci Fi Bully Romance (Chimera Academy Book 2)

by Eva Brandt

  He wriggled his tentacles in her general direction, which led to Danadu grabbing him and squeezing him in her rocky arms. “Sorry about that. This creature is naturally so lecherous I have no idea why we even put up with him.”

  “It’s because I’m so adorable,” Viu’an replied. “Also, you love my lecherous ways.”

  Kallios slapped Viu’an with his paw, then made his way to Selene and me. “Just ignore him. I promise we’re mostly not insane here. Mostly.”

  “Err… Right.”

  I made all the introductions, and Selene was as polite as could be expected of her. She even petted Ostheo’s head the exact way he liked, although she was clearly uncertain if she was doing the right thing. We didn’t address the huge elephant in the room, not until we got back to the mating den, at least.

  “You lied to me,” she accused.

  “I didn’t. It just didn’t occur to me to mention the trip to Mercury. And honestly, I thought you’d figured out the truth by now. It’s not like the Great Mother sends a million random Heliads in Terran areas.”

  “Yes, but I don’t know the Great Mother, do I?” Selene asked, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “The only person I know here is you.”

  “You know my team now as well. You’ll meet everyone else gradually.”

  Selene growled and directed a magical blast at me. The Heliad photon shield easily absorbed it, but I still got the message. That had not been the right thing to say. “All right, all right. I’ll go. But I do mean what I said. I didn’t intend to lie to you.”

  “In the big picture, intentions don’t matter all that much. It’s actions that count.”

  I couldn’t argue with her, but I still hoped that my actions would prove that I meant what I said, and that we truly were supposed to be together.

  In hindsight, it had been a foolish hope. Three days after her meeting with my group, she tried to escape for the first time.

  I had no idea how she’d managed to open the den lock. It was supposed to be impossible, and the only ones who could go in and out were me and the sun spirits. But somehow, she’d done it, and she’d forced the sphere to listen to her.

  Unfortunately for her, mating dens weren’t so easy to escape and I’d foreseen this possible turn of events as well.

  I was in the training nucleus, in a sparring session with Kallios, when I sensed what had happened. The jolt of photons that coursed through me almost made me take my friend’s head off. At the last moment, he ducked underneath my photon blade. He ended up having to sacrifice his tail in the process, but it was better than the alternative.

  As I watched the appendage fall to the ground, I grimaced and shot him an apologetic look. “Sorry about that. I got distracted.”

  “No problem,” he replied. “I’ll grow it back. Besides, I was getting irritated with you not taking me seriously. Our opponents won’t be so considerate, you know.”

  I did know, but I also didn’t much like chopping off Kallios’s limbs. Oh, well. I’d have to make it up to him somehow, in a different way. For the moment, I was needed elsewhere.

  “I’ll keep that in mind. I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”

  “Your flame-haired female, is it?” Kallios smirked. “Go and have fun. Make sure you breed her properly.”

  I didn’t bother to reply. I wanted nothing more than to do exactly that, and who knew? Maybe he was right and this was my chance to give Selene a little lesson.

  I’d tried to be kind and understanding and I’d encountered some success. But mates also needed to be disciplined before they were bred, and the time had come for me to do that.

  When I arrived at the mating den, the sight that met my eyes almost made me burst into flames. At an intellectual level, I’d known what I’d find, of course, but it was still so fucking arousing it took my breath away.

  Selene was back in her bed, at the mercy of the Phaeton Hearts. The plants had grabbed her right as she’d tried to make her escape, pulled her back in and torn off her clothes.

  Two vines were now keeping her legs spread, exposing her pussy to my greedy gaze. A golden bloom was rubbing her swollen clit, while a thicker vine was lazily moving in and out of her cunt. Her wet flesh made squelching, addicting sounds as it stretched to accommodate the plant and her glistening labia seemed to glow in the light the blooms emanated.

  Selene was torn between trying to struggle and moving into the thrusts. I knew for a fact that Phaeton Hearts were very good at sex, and she had no chance at really shoving them off, especially not now, that they’d tasted her juices.

  “I suppose I should have mentioned that the plants can sense when someone is breaking the rules,” I commented as I made my way into the room. “They have the ability to stop it and even punish the person, to some extent.”

  “Get them off me,” Selene said, panting. “I… Gaia… Please… Jared…”

  I didn’t correct her again, since I didn’t mind her using my human name. I could be Jared for her, if that was what she wanted. Besides, I could hardly expect her to remember my Heliad name when a Phaeton Heart was fucking her.

  “Your mouth is asking for one thing, but your body wants another,” I told her, “and I think I know which of the two is more truthful.”

  As I took my clothes off, I watched the plant move in and out of Selene’s slick pussy, my cock growing harder and harder by the second. “Is that the real reason why you want to go back to Terra? Do you need to be fucked? Because I’m perfectly capable of giving you all that, and more.”

  “No, I… I don’t…”

  The Phaeton Heart started moving its stamens against Selene’s labia, and the scent of sweet nectar filled the room. Selene cried out, losing track of her previous train of thought. “What…? What is it doing to me?”

  “Nothing you won’t enjoy,” I replied. “The Phaeton Heart feeds off sexual pleasure. That’s why it’s encouraging you to feel good. But don’t worry. There’s plenty of room inside you for my cock too.”

  Now naked, I crawled between Selene’s legs. The plant gave me room, the vines caressing my body and welcoming its new food source. It knew me, since it had fed off me plenty of times before, both when I’d been alone and when I’d had sex with other Heliads.

  With some reluctance, the bloom moved away from Selene’s cunt, granting me access to her clit. The vine kept thrusting into her, though, and I didn’t try to stop it. Instead, I lowered my mouth to Selene’s pussy and flicked my tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves.

  She arched her back against the bed and screamed, having obviously not expected the sensations one single touch from a Heliad could summon inside her. When I’d told her that I’d been reborn from Helios’s power, I’d been completely honest. Every part of me was crafted out of photons. When I was in my Heliad form, I could bend fire and light in ways that outmatched anything Terrans were capable of. Using my tongue, I could send sharp spikes of heat through Selene, just enough to stimulate her without causing her pain.

  At first, I didn’t push her too much. I kept the temperature and pace moderate. But the more she writhed against me, the hungrier I got. I found myself delving deeper, increasing the intensity of my photon touch.

  The plant responded to my lust and the speed and strength of its thrusts intensified. Selene abandoned all pretense of resistance, moving against me and the tentacle fucking her, her whole body begging for more. “Oh, Gaia,” she croaked out. “Oh, please…”

  I lifted my head, ablaze with passion, but doing my best to control it. “Please, what, Selene? What do you want?”

  She looked down at me, and somehow, she still found the strength to glare. Helios help me, I loved this woman. “Your cock,” she spat almost resentfully, straining against the vines immobilizing her arms.

  My immediate instinct was to comply, but I held back. “Where? Where do you want it?”

  As I spoke, I brushed my finger over the Phaeton Heart. A surge of heat went through the stem, echoing all the way into
Selene’s insides. Selene collapsed back down onto the pillows and let out a frustrated whimper. “I… I don’t know. Everywhere. Anywhere. I just… I need it.”

  There were so many options. On one hand, I wanted to thrust my dick into her outright. I already knew that her body would feel heavenly. But at the same time, I couldn’t rush this. It was my claiming, our first time together, and I needed to make it as memorable as possible.

  “All right, Selene. Don’t worry. I’ll give you everything you need.”

  With a thought, I told the Phaeton Heart what I wanted. It obeyed, forcing her upright, then onto all fours. Since it was so flexible, it didn’t even have to pull out of her to fulfill its task. Once Selene was in the right place, several other vines curled against her beautiful breasts, teasing her nipples. Another tentacle slid into her ass, stretching her and getting her ready for anything I wanted to do.

  Selene gasped, unprepared for this second invasion. I took advantage of it to thrust my dick into her mouth. For a few seconds, her eyes widened as she tried to adjust to having a Heliad cock inside her. Physically, I wasn’t much different than I’d been as a human, but my temperature was higher and my cock had changed a little bit. She didn’t know what to make of the shell around my testicles and the coating of liquid heat around my cock.

  But Selene was nothing if not adaptable, as she’d more than eloquently proven during her stay at Chimera Academy. Her eyes closed, and just like that, she surrendered to me, to the moment and the sensations.

  I buried my fingers in her long, sun-colored hair and started moving in and out of her mouth. She was a Terran, so her body temperature wasn’t as high as mine. But even so, her intoxicating sexual presence overwhelmed the natural laws of physics and made me feel like I was back in my old body, burning up, at the mercy of a power far greater than my own.

  She was made for this, made to be fucked, to suck cock and take dicks. No wonder everyone in the Grand Chimera Unit had been so obsessed with her. Even the damn Phaeton Heart couldn’t get enough, and it wasn’t a mammalian life form.

  Desperate to own her, to brand her as mine, I sent another surge of power through her. Selene jerked against me, her powers responding to my own. She let out a muffled cry and came, her body tightening around the tentacles still fucking her.

  Phaeton Hearts didn’t have nerve endings so they didn’t feel physical pleasure like we did. But they responded to orgasms anyway, so Selene’s ecstasy triggered a natural reaction inside the plant as well. The tentacles pulsed and parted, and the perfume of the flowers became even more intense as the vine filled Selene with its sap.

  I came very close to finding my peak too. If I managed to hold back, it was only because I wanted more. I wanted to bury my cock deep inside her, to come in her pussy and make her mine in every possible way. And I knew now that it was more than possible. She’d given herself to me and I wouldn’t waste this chance.

  The sap of a Phaeton Heart increased fertility in women tenfold, as long as they didn’t have preexisting problems like Teela. In my case, it was practically a guarantee that Selene would conceive for me. Perfect. Today, I could truly breed her and start my family, just like I’d hoped.

  The slick plant pulled out of Selene and retreated, completely freeing her from its grip. Left without the plant’s support, Selene almost fell over. I caught her before she could lose her balance and lowered her on her back, onto the bed, brushing my lips over hers in a gentle kiss. “Shh. I know it’s overwhelming, but it’ll all feel so good.”

  Selene said nothing. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck, holding onto me as tightly as the plant had held onto her. Understanding what I wanted, she spread her legs wide for me, inviting me inside. I couldn’t have resisted her if I’d wanted to. In one single, powerful thrust, I slid home.

  Her channel opened up to me like a flower. She was still slick and gushing with a combination of her own juices and the plant’s nectar, and the fluid felt heavenly around my dick.

  I groaned, somewhat reconsidering my previous plan. I should have perhaps allowed myself to come previously, since at this rate, I wouldn’t manage to get more than a few thrusts in before I came. It would be embarrassing as fuck and not what I wanted for our first time.

  Come on, Jared. The fucking plant made her enjoy herself. You can do better, can’t you?

  I could. Selene was mine, my beautiful Terran, my mate. She was a gift from Helios and I’d treasure her forever.

  I forced myself to move more slowly, to compartmentalize my pleasure and focus on hers. It worked, although at the same time, it was torture—the sweetest torture in the universe. It was more than worth it.

  My heart skipped a beat and every inch of me throbbed with the desire to bury myself inside her so deeply we’d never be separated. But even if I was a Heliad, my body didn’t work that way. Despite all my efforts, I soon had to succumb to the unavoidable.

  I didn’t have enough coherence to send another jolt of power through Selene, but I didn’t need to. When I came, my climax naturally triggered hers, her sensitive channel responding to the energy particles in my semen.

  It felt amazing, but at the same time, quiet, almost peaceful, natural in a way few things ever were for me. We rode the wave of our orgasm together. When we kissed, it felt so right, lacking the desperate urgency the Phaeton Heart had triggered inside us. When she held me, it felt like she was pulling me all the way into her soul. And when I looked at her, I saw myself as Jared again—both Terran and Heliad, no longer torn between the two parts of me. I saw a future in which I wouldn’t have to burn to start anew.

  When it was all over, I collapsed on the pillows next to Selene, shared a look with her and smiled. Selene smiled back. “That was amazing,” I whispered. “I knew we’d be perfect together.”

  I really should have kept my mouth shut. Selene’s warm expression faded and her breath caught, as if she’d had a sudden epiphany.

  And that was when everything went wrong—and Selene burst into tears.

  * * *

  Selene

  I’d let him fuck me. More than that, I’d begged for it like a whore. I’d fucked myself on his pet tentacle plant, for Gaia’s sake.

  What was wrong with me? Had the plant drugged me? Was it because of that? It had to be, because nothing else made sense.

  And yet, when I thought back at the whole experience, I didn’t feel any revulsion. Being penetrated by the plant had been strange, but enjoyable. I’d briefly panicked when it had come inside me—and that would always be strange—but at the end of the day, I’d liked that too. And when Jared had slid inside me, it had been… It had felt like more than just fucking.

  It had reminded me of home, of my other lovers, of the life I’d left behind. What was I doing? How could I discard them so easily, when I’d sworn I wouldn’t?

  I curled into a ball and buried my face in the pillows, sobbing my eyes out. I hated myself for falling apart like this, but I couldn’t help myself. How had Jared been able to reduce me to a sex-starved slave so easily?

  To his credit, Jared wasn’t too happy about my reaction. I supposed having a woman burst into tears after sex wasn’t very flattering for any man, no matter what species he was.

  He hesitantly brushed his fingers over my shoulder, as gentle as he’d been during our moments of intercourse. “I’m so sorry, Selene. I shouldn’t have pushed. I should have called the Heart off.”

  Instead of reassuring me, his touch infuriated me. My tears dried and I turned toward him, slapping his hand away.

  It was too late for apologies now, and really, I doubted he was being honest. “Don’t. Don’t say shit like that. It was exactly what you wanted, right? To have me. Well, now you do.”

  As I spoke, a second, horrible realization dawned on me. It hadn’t occurred to me at all while we’d been having sex, but now, I couldn’t escape the thought. “Am I…? Did you…?”

  “Get you pregnant?” he finished in my stead. “It’s too so
on to tell, but probably. Phaeton Heart sap tends to increase fertility, as well as the stability of a pregnancy.”

  I fell back onto the pillows, drained of strength. A baby. Sex was one thing, but a pregnancy? How was I supposed to deal with that?”

  “Why?” I croaked out. “Why would you use me like this?”

  “I don’t want to use you,” he replied. “I want to love you.”

  “This isn’t love, Jared. I don’t know what it is, but if you’d loved me, you’d have let me go.”

  “Maybe you’re right, but I don’t know how to love in any other way. Just give me a chance, Selene. I can make you happy. I know I can.”

  He truly thought that and maybe in a different life, it would have been true. I did feel something for him. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it existed.

  The problem was that I’d made a promise. Leaving aside my own feelings, I couldn’t go back on that. My people needed me, now more than ever.

  Jared wanted me to hide here and pretend the world outside these walls, outside Eos didn’t exist. But it did exist, and other Terrans didn’t receive the luxuries I had when they became sex slaves.

  Other Terrans were murdered, mercilessly slaughtered by the very organisms that should have protected them. And even if I still had a connection to the chimeras that had shed so much innocent blood, I couldn’t forget my true purpose, my true goal.

  There had been a woman once who’d worn a scarlet letter on her breast and had been spurned for it. There had been a woman who’d looked for a better life in Tartarus Base and had been utterly destroyed for it. There were countless men, women, and children who suffered every day, who died because of The Grand Judiciary. And so, I had to keep fighting.

  “I’ll consider your offer, Jared, but I need you to realize one thing. I can’t just throw away my whole life. I still want to speak to my mother. There has to be a way to contact her. And I still want to help the people on Terra.”

  I wanted to talk to my lovers too, but Jared would never allow it, so this would have to do. Maybe my mother could help me sort through my turbulent emotions.