by Grace, Viola
Torun tsked. “You are making him work for it.”
“In his mind, she is still the young woman that he fell in love with. He has to face the fact that she is an adult woman who associates him with a very bad time in her life. If he wants to overcome that, he has to work at it.” Zera started sending a note to Tirra, and Torun began to work on a note. “What are you doing?”
“Giving Gorith a hint that he might want to go on an adventure instead of a date.”
“Clever. I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
When they finished writing their different notes, Zera crawled on top of Torun again. “That is very sneaky. She has to take those bookings. The experts are still being scheduled.”
“I know. Let’s hope that he learns what he needs to make it a date.”
Chapter Three
“Damnit!” She looked at the notice that popped up while waiting for Zera to respond to her resignation.
The hiking tour through the mountains was scheduled for that afternoon. Gorith had figured out how to circumvent the date system.
She checked, and the expert for the hikes was still two weeks out. Two of Gorith’s escorts were on the premises already, so she did a scan for compatibility for the hike. To her shock, both of the women were rejected as suitable matches for a trek through the mountains.
Tirra grunted and drummed her fingers before she got up and walked out to glare at Stillnar. “When I said don’t let him in, did you think I meant someone else?”
Her assistant winced. “No, Ms. Argent, but he does have government credentials.”
“So do ninety percent of the patrons. That doesn’t mean you let them into anywhere they want to go. They know the rules, which is why they don’t just break in already. They need permission here, the same as you. Now... are you going to let him in again?”
“If it is an order from upper management... yes.”
She was hurt, and she blinked away the tears. “Oh. Right. Of course. Yes, I have just been reminded that I am not in charge here.”
She turned on her heel and strode out. It was one thing to want to leave and another to be put in her place. She hated that. She was never going to be put in her place again.
She tapped out a two-day notice and told Zera that if she wanted to go over her head, she should find someone shorter, so it took less effort.
Tirra had an idea and sent a request to a friend. Khytten responded almost immediately with an invitation as long as Tirra didn’t mind holding a baby while they visited. Tirra accepted.
She confirmed the afternoon hike, sent Stillnar a note that she was out of the office and to contact her in case of emergency only, and slid into one of the resort vehicles to drive up the mountain.
The security guard nodded as she exited, and then, she powered up the hill toward the manor. She really needed someone who was on her side.
“Tell me everything.” Khytten held her foster baby to her as she nursed.
Tirra was holding Ciro, and he had already had his breakfast, been changed, and was sleeping.
The nanny—Tigel—was nearby, supervising while reading what appeared to be a comic book.
“How far back did you want to go?”
“Well, Salat knows some of it, so tell me what he knows, and we can go from there.”
“I am one of seven kids. The youngest. My father and the older siblings belonged to the Barnacorn crime family. They got into some trouble with gambling and not paying debts and then stealing funds from the family itself, so they were ordered to pay in forty-eight hours, or my entire family would die. I was fourteen. My dad brought me to the boss and told him I was lucky. The boss laughed. I proved that I could convey luck to anyone I wasn’t related to, and an auditor was called for to assess my value.”
“Gorith.”
“Correct. He stated that I was a fair trade for the debt, and my family was cut loose and ordered to leave the country. That was the last time I saw them. From then on, I was kept at the boss’s side on a small chair or sometimes cushion, and he would have me convey luck to his favourites or as payment. The luck didn’t last long, but it was what kept them coming back to the boss for favours.”
Khytten stroked the baby’s cheek. “How do you pass the luck on?”
“A kiss. Intent, probability, and a touch of saliva to anchor it.”
“So, Gorith harassed you?”
“No. He stayed away. On my eighteenth birthday, the boss decided that since I was an adult now and tired of fielding requests for my person, I should be taught about sex in a public forum. So, he gave me to Gorith and told him to play with me until I came. It took two touches, and folks threw their bets down across the board; there had been claims that I was an ice queen, so this really threw them.”
“What happened then?”
“Gorith was ordered to do the same thing at random intervals, and he did. Always in public, always just the two points of contact. One to assess and one to set me off. It was minimalistic and humiliating.”
“You got away?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t easy, but I bribed a guard, and he got me out the same night that the sting on the Barnacorns was enacted. I got away after the fighting, but the last thing I saw was Gorith tearing a few men in half down the middle.” She shivered. “That is a sound you don’t forget.”
“Wait. Auditor Gorith? He doesn’t have super strength?”
Salat appeared out of the shadows. “He’s an energy projector. He has power whips or tentacles that emerge from his back to do the heavy lifting. It’s funny, he was morose after the sting and looking for someone, but he didn’t describe you.”
She grimaced. “The boss held my development in a lock. My mind aged, but my body had gotten stuck at half-grown. That was annoying.”
“You didn’t have any help. How did you start over?” Khytten cut to the heart of things as she gently burped the baby.
Salat sat and poured himself a coffee.
“Uh. I sort of cheated. I coated myself in luck, ran into a warehouse that had been set on fire by squatters and waited until I heard ambulances and fire crews before I let myself catch fire. Then, I screamed and ran toward them, and they came to get me. I started growing after that, my hair came in with this stupid mood reaction, and I grew about eleven inches in a month, and my body filled out. So, it was a good thing they put me in a barbiturate coma. The healers couldn’t believe my luck, and I wasn’t in any database, so I got to pick my name when I came out of it. I got a new identity and a new birthday. I am told in a few years, the scars will be completely healed.”
Khytten smiled. “I can heal you, sort of. It depends on how you feel about breast milk.”
She chuckled, amused. “I might take you up on that.”
Salat sipped his coffee. “Why not now? The babies don’t take nearly what she produces, and I am still sated from last night, so she won’t miss any.”
“Now?”
Khytten chuckled. “You don’t have to, but I can program myself for tissue repair. Did you want anything else while you were at it?”
“Emotional control? This has been a rough day. And of all days to swim without a suit.”
Salat grinned. “Do tell.”
So, she told the tale of her swim in the lake while she worked up her nerve to ask Khytten for help.
Salat snorted. “You fainted when you saw him?”
“Yeah. Three years of torment, and I associated him with something unpleasant.”
“How can orgasm be unpleasant?
“Try coming after two light touches with no one holding you, caressing you, or making you feel like anything other than a switch to be flicked. I was off, I was on, I was off again.”
Salat finally looked horrified. “Nothing else?”
“No. I was a toy for the boss to watch. Gorith even tried to do it again when we met today. Well, he did do it, but I can hide the climax now, at least facially.”
“What did you do?”
“I offere
d to help him arrange a date with one of his escorts.”
Salat winced. “That went over well.”
“He looked hurt more than anything else. Now, he thinks he has found a loophole.”
Khytten blinked. “What’s that?”
“The adventure tours. Currently, I am the only one certified to lead them and take patrons on climbing, hiking, sailing, diving, parasailing, hang gliding adventures. Not to mention a few others.”
“Well, if you want healing, I can help you.”
Torenne entered, and she sighed. “I will help you if you need healing. Khytten starts tweaking things to suit herself.”
Torenne’s body was very similar to Tirra’s. They were both tall, statuesque, and had golden skin, but Torenne’s had something that Tirra’s didn’t, a fully functioning set of male genitals in addition to her female ones.
Torenne extended her hand. “Can I do an assessment?”
Salat got up and took Ciro from her and held him with ease. “Torenne is the best.”
Tirra took Torenne’s hand, and there was a sharp inhale. “Burns. So many burns.”
Tirra swallowed. “You can see them?”
“Yeah, the grafting you have had overlaid is temporary but a really good job. It must have cost you a bundle.”
“I got burned by silver plasma. It sticks and works its way in.”
“Khytten is going to have to help you. You need to eradicate the damage from the inside out. I can only heal you from the outside in.”
Khytten scowled. “That kind of damage might take a few tries.”
Tirra cocked her head. “Well, I am spending most of my funds on it now, so how much would you like?”
Khytten was appalled. “I don’t want to charge you. I only really negotiate with Salat.”
Torenne chuckled, and Salat grinned.
Tigel came and took the babies. “Off for a nap.”
Khytten had closed her dress, but when Tirra looked at her, she said, “Kneel on the floor next to me; I will do most of the rest.”
Tirra swallowed and knelt next to Khytten. The activated wet nurse breathed deep, focused, and then she exposed her right breast with the nipple a silvery pink. “Take what you need.”
Khytten held her hand, and Tirra moved forward, and she felt the first sweet drops on her tongue, and her body reacted violently. She started sucking, and Khytten’s fingers wove with hers as her skin tingled, her lungs cleared, and her genitals took on a slow throb.
She lost all track of time, but Khytten’s right nipple glowed silver when Tirra pulled back. Khytten looked down. “What happened there?”
“It will remain lucky for about forty-eight hours, so anyone who drinks, any milk you express to ship off, it is all going to be lucky for the recipients.” She smiled. She looked, and Khytten was still holding her hands.
Khytten whispered shyly, “Can I have a kiss?”
Tirra blinked. “I am not good at kissing.”
“Humour me.”
Tirra shrugged and kissed Khytten; the younger woman sighed and released her hand to stroke her cheek. Tirra felt the tears start before the hand made it down her face. She was physically handled; she was never touched. The affectionate caress caused more tears as the long, sweet caress of lips against lips continued.
When their tongues got involved, she heard a harsh inhalation of breath and jerked her head away. Torenne apologized, but the spell was broken. Tirra wrapped herself in formality and got to her feet. “Thank you for letting me have a place to hide. It is appreciated. I won’t remain in your way.”
Khytten stretched out her hand and said, “Wait!” but Tirra ran for it.
* * * *
Torenne blinked. “What did I just wreck?”
“Her first kiss.” Salat pulled a tablet out and started making sketches.
Khytten swallowed. “She’s so sad.”
Torenne looked at the woman who would be considered stunning wherever she went. “First kiss? She’s what? Late twenties?”
Khytten frowned. “Yes, and spent her first five years after activating being chained to the chair of a crime boss. Her kiss conveys luck, but it is never by her will, so this was the first kiss she had ever had where nothing was asked of her, nothing demanded, nothing ordered. Just a kiss for a kiss’s sake.”
“Oops.”
“And I don’t know if she will ever be relaxed enough to try it again. She was so aroused, she should have had an orgasm before she took a few steps.”
Salat nodded. “She did. But, as she told you, they don’t matter, so she ignores them.”
“I will have to make it up to her.”
Khytten listened to the hum of the vehicle driving away. “You might not get a chance.”
She got up and crawled into Salat’s lap. “Can you just hold me for a minute?”
“Sure.”
She whispered, “She was so lonely...”
He held her close and kissed her temple. They both knew what it was to be alone in a room full of people. Their active adaptations had assured it.
* * * *
Tirra drove back down to the resort, her body humming, aroused, and awake. The small, sharp release she had had took the edge off, but she wanted nothing more than to be back in Khytten’s arms and exploring the feeling of a soft hand touching her, wanting nothing more than contact. Was that her issue? She had spent so much time cutting herself off from touch that when she was touched by someone who wanted nothing, she went to pieces.
She drove back to the resort, nodding to the guard on duty. He looked slightly alarmed as she waited for the nod, and she smiled, parking behind her office and walking back to her desk to finish getting ready for the arrivals later in the week. There was always something to do if she looked for it.
* * * *
Gorith was grateful to Torun for the message about the adventure tours. There were all the stats for the events around the resort that she could take them on. She could escort a patron or a patron and his escort. Sex with the guide was not on the books, and any attempts to force the matter would be dealt with by banishment from the roster.
Her stats were impressive but only human. Even her tolerances to heat and cold were listed.
If he wanted to do anything around the resort that was active but platonic, he could book her for that. His thoughts about Ta—Tirra were anything but platonic. He had held himself back so that the criminals around him wouldn’t suspect anything, but he had to put on a show. The two touches to orgasm had been an effective showpiece, but it had been rough on the prisoner. She had been a moment of entertainment on display, and the boss had used him to punish her, humiliate her. He had done it, and when law enforcement swept in, he had accumulated enough on the bosses to incarcerate them for centuries. When he had gotten there on the day of the bust, the boss and fourteen of his men were surrendering in the main hall. He had questioned them one by one, and only two had survived questioning. One boss and one lieutenant. It was enough for a conviction, but the lucky one was nowhere to be found. She disappeared, and over time, everyone assumed she was dead. He knew different. He knew how strong her resistance could be; he had tried to get her punishment over with as quickly as possible.
He walked out and into the lobby, seeing her vehicle glide behind the administration offices before she stalked through and toward her office, her face wrecked by tears. Gorith was fairly sure she didn’t know how tragic she looked as she walked through the lobby and disappeared into her office. Her head was high, her shoulders strong, but her eyes were hollow and haunted. He had seen those eyes before, and they had broken his heart then, and they did now. If she let him, he would spend the rest of his life making things up to her. It was a selfish wish, but he wasn’t sure that he had any luck in his future.
Chapter Four
At noon, Tirra headed to the outfitting area and got fitted for hiking. The path she was taking him on required light body armour, so she got set up in a reinforced bodysuit and a set of boots.<
br />
She was getting a pack when Gorith came in, and Yerro set him up with the necessary supplies and clothing.
When she was strapping a long knife to her thigh, he emerged from the change room, and her mouth went dry. He geared up, much as she was doing, and he looked at the knife. “What is that for, in case I get fresh?”
“No, in case something slithers toward me and needs to lose its head, Patron.”
Yerro snickered. He had heard that comment before.
Gorith finished getting his pack and water. “You aren’t wearing a mask.”
“I am not going to be having sex with you; therefore, I don’t need to keep my eyes closed. Let’s go.”
Yerro’s jaw opened at her comment, and Tirra nodded to Gorith and led the way out of the gear area, heading for the pathway that connected them to the rocky archway and the forest.
“What pace would you prefer, Patron?”
“What are my options?”
“Slow or fast, mild or punishing. Take your pick.” She stopped outside the gate and chuckled. “With or without music, though I warn you, I do sing along.”
“I will opt for without.”
The guard on the outer side of the gate chuckled. “Dude, you are missing out.”
Tirra laughed. “The preference has been acknowledged.”
Gorith paused. “Am I missing out?”
“Totally. She has a voice like... well... she can sing.”
“That’s enough out of you, Anders.”
“Yes, Ms. Argent.”
“That will have to go.” Gorith smiled at her.
“What will?”
“Once you are registered, a last name is no longer appropriate.”
“Ah. Right. Well, one thing I need to know is how far do you want to go?” She couldn’t help it, things sounded suggestive, but she needed to know how long he wanted to walk because they had to walk back.
He quirked his brows. “As far as time allows.”
“Good answer. Well, then, let’s go. I am taking you up some trails, through some caverns, and we will take a break by a quiet lake and then hike back. Stop me if you want a break or if you just want to look around. We are going to see some amazing wilderness today.”