by Viola Grace
He nodded. “I did. I ran a scan, and there are no other women in the capitol with that hair and eye combination, so it is now easy to hear if you get in trouble while away from the office.”
She chuckled. “One day, when I am not made of aches, I would like to thank your other half properly.”
“He would like that.” He smiled softly. “He doesn’t get out much.”
She grinned. “Is that why the resort was mentioned?”
“Well, we just all wanted to be with you in a public area, watch a movie, or go dancing in a safe environment. You are going to rapidly become the most expensive piece of tech on the continent. That means that you won’t be allowed to run around alone.”
She grimaced. “Then, I definitely want to learn how to throw a punch.”
“Tycho is going to train you. Combat and marksmanship.”
“What?”
“Yeah. I will take care of any bruising or injuries. Corianne will work on deportment and social exposure.” He smiled. “She also wants to know if you know how to camp because she doesn’t, and she wants to learn.”
“Oh, of course. I am pretty good at it. Just don’t leave me alone with a stick and marshmallows. It is a massacre.” She chuckled.
“Noted.”
She paused. “Wait. Are you still connected to her?”
He nodded absently while he worked on her design.
“And she is asking questions about going on a date with me?”
He nodded.
“Do you think she could go through my com?”
“She can’t. It is part of the Blind Date Corp contract. If she is planning a date, she can’t go to you directly. However, as your custodian, I am safe to talk through.”
“My custodian?”
“Designer? I have a number of body mods that will make you sturdier as there are those out there that want you dead.”
“Yeah, and I am related to a whole bunch of them. I am just hoping that my youngest siblings don’t activate for their own sake.”
He blinked. “You have other siblings?”
“Oh, yeah. My parents don’t believe in actives, and they don’t believe in birth control.” She thought about it. “I think I have six younger siblings. Three were born after I was ejected. As far as I am aware, I am the only active.”
“Ah. How large is your family in total?”
She shrugged. “I think I have twelve brothers and sisters.”
He whistled softly. “That is a big family.”
“The kids are more free-range than family. The eldest raise the youngest, and the parents are just the factory.” She shuddered. “It still bugs me.”
He chuckled. “So, Aksallan incubators it is.”
She blinked. “You want kids?”
“Yes. My family all gets along, and we are all actives. Since the moment I met you, I have been trying to work out the logistics of a family. I work a lot, you work a lot, and you have a sideline, so I am guessing that we need a place that is more accessible or rural.” He smiled. “A few countries have offered me ridiculous amounts of money to relocate.”
“What about Z-Tech?”
“Z-Tech is global, as you know. Zera is creating a new research arm and has asked me to consider running it.” He smiled.
She looked at him. “What? When?”
“Before you came on board. The building is still under construction, so I have a few months to decide.”
Her mind whirled. He might be leaving.
“Hey, little bunny. Don’t worry. I am not going anywhere without you. He wouldn’t let me.” He smiled. “Plus, you are going to become my showcase for biotech if you don’t mind. Your contract will be exorbitant, but you have the ideal body for it.”
She snorted. “Wait. How exorbitant?”
“You will be pulling in half a million per year. Easily. All you have to do is write reports on how the new accessories function and feel. About one a week should be good.”
“I am guessing that you haven’t run this past Zera.”
“She has given me a blank cheque for the research wing. If you are an open project, I can pay you what I like.”
“It seems weird considering our current... uh... connection.”
“You are involved with actives. Things are going to continue to be weird.”
“How will it work if I am here and you are in Aksalla?”
His arm tightened around her. “You are really going to play this?”
She blinked at him with wide eyes. “What do you mean?”
“You have already been dislodged from your home. Why not make a new one with me in Aksalla?”
Arcady thought about her family and the few friends that she had in the capitol. Most of her friends were co-workers. Her work had always come first, and while she made friends easily, it hasn’t always been easy to find folks to hang out with.
“I will think about it.”
He blinked in surprise. “You won’t give me a yes?”
“No. Not until we are back at work, and you can explain to me exactly what you want me to do in the capacity of a biotech model.” Arcady smiled. “I want it outlined, I want firm limits, and I don’t want you to have your assistant slap something together. I don’t want it looking like I sneezed in a pin factory.”
He cocked his head. “What are my criteria?”
“Subcutaneous only. I don’t want to keep going to the peacekeepers for a new ID.”
“Fair enough. What about a weapon’s array that looks like delicate armour?” He smiled.
“Greaves and vambraces only. I don’t want to look bulky. They have to be concealable under my clothing, which means I might be wearing a lot more trousers.”
He looked scandalized. “No. Absolutely not. Let me show you one of the designs I have in mind.”
He flicked through a number of very advanced designs until he found some simple ones. The pattern was a leaf with veins. It was delicate, not too frilly, and flat against the skin of the 3D model. “That’s nice. I don’t think that any of the patrons would be upset by it.”
He snorted. “Corianne is offering to have a designer remake the pattern. Tycho thinks metal in your skin will look sexy as long as it isn’t cold.”
“Can my immune system ignore it?”
“Certainly. It is what will go on under the skin that is the key to the implants. That is where your weapon systems will be.”
“Weapons? What kind of weapons?”
“A shortrange stinger. A bio-pulse. It will knock out anyone who has you. The extendable batons will be hidden in your calves. The implant will reinforce your femur, and then, you can remove these items for combat.”
“That is so awkward. Shift the patterns to the side of the calf. For the pattern, match it to the wings. For the actual install, put the rod in the thigh. Use a secondary pattern to conceal it.”
“So, install the batons in your body and have you trigger their release? That is doable.”
“Are we really designing a version of a superhero?”
He chuckled. “Yes, but we start with the wings.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, put in the weight of the implants on the other limbs first, so that learning the flight capabilities and handling only has to happen once.”
He paused. “Wow. You are good at this.”
“Yes, but I am going to have to live in it. You just want to make me pretty, exotic, and irreplaceable.”
“So, as you are now.”
She blushed. “Right. Thanks.”
He smiled. “You have captured my focus since the moment you handed me the herbal tea. That simple gesture sealed your fate. Eventually, I was going to wake up and find a way to court you. Asking you to be a bio-mech model is just a way to keep you with me legally.”
“And a way of testing your inventions.”
“Well, they are Zera’s inventions. I design the biological stability to house them.”
“Oh. Yeah. R
ight. So, she’s going to be poking and prodding me?”
He chuckled. “Starting Monday morning.”
“We may want to be cognizant of the security cam angles. She’s going to be thorough.”
He nodded. “Most likely. Are you very sore?”
She blinked at the change of topic. Well, considering that she was inches from his erection, it wasn’t that much of a change. “I am achy. A bit of a twinge. Between your girth and Tycho’s friction, I got a workout. There isn’t really a way to train for that except for repetition.”
Krizt murmured in a husky tone, “Would you like me to kiss it better?”
“How many people are watching us?”
He smiled. “I will tell you later.”
He set his design tablet down and moved over her, tipping her onto her back and pulling her legs up, pressing them wide. “Now, let’s check out the situation.”
She giggled and covered her mouth. He said that at work a lot. “If you stop for a coffee break, I am going to saw your horns off while you sleep.”
He grinned. “I promise to finish the task before taking a break. I trust you will extend the same courtesy to me in a similar situation.”
“Of course, but this is getting drafty. I should table it for later.” Arcady tried to close her legs and twist, but he gripped her thighs and growled.
He settled between her thighs and buried his face against her, nuzzling and nipping using his lips. It was a strange sensation, and she started getting slick. He plucked at her clit, her folds, and rubbed his face in her before he started using his tongue on her. When he slid his tongue inside her, she reached for his horns and held him against her. The moans and whimpers echoed in the room, and she could see by the precum he was leaking that he either liked her taste or her song. The corkscrewing tongue rubbed against that spot inside before slithering out and caressing her from clit to opening, and then, it did it again and again. She shuddered and screamed as she came, her body twisting in his grip. He was stronger than she thought. He held her against his mouth until she stopped twitching in his grasp.
Like many women, one orgasm just whetted her appetite. When he stroked her hips, she sat up and lunged upward, tackling him and rolling him to his back. She kissed him and tasted the musky tang of her own juices. The kiss got wilder, and she broke it, backing down his body until she was caressing his cock, and it moved in her hand. She leaned in, and her tongue danced with the seeking tip before she took him into her mouth. He tasted like Krizt, and Krizt was hot. She took the swirling member into her mouth and pulled back, sucking strongly. She repeated it, and he groaned and gripped her hair. He got bigger, thicker, and a pulse of precum bathed her tongue as she moved.
He pulled her away and up, putting her over him, and his cock pressed into her. He gripped her hips and pulled her down until their bodies were pressed flat against each other. She shifted her legs until she had a rocking point, braced her hand on his ridged belly, and she started to shift slowly while he could only move in tiny increments because she was so tight around him. Arcady looked into his eyes as she rode him, and he moved his hips against her. He gripped her hips, held her in place, he sat up, and he grinned. “Keep going.”
She didn’t understand the grin until she felt the cool touch teasing between them. His fricking tail!
The tail swirled around her clit, using her own moisture to ease its movements. Gleaming and slick, it rose up in front of her and changed shape, thickening to a familiar configuration. She blinked, and when it moved to slide into her ass, her eyes widened.
“There’s the little bunny.”
She froze in place and held still as she got used to the feeling and was doing okay until the tail and cock started to move in a deviant choreography. Arcady moaned and braced her hands on his chest, panting and twitching as the movement in her ass was punctuated by the churning in her sex. She gasped and moaned while her hips made small jerks against him. When she was stuck shaking, he gripped her hips and rolled with her so that he could properly thrust into her.
She leaned up and kissed him while he rode her, and her nails dug into his shoulders as her orgasm ripped through her like lightning, and he kept moving inside her. Her whimpering was nearly constant while he plunged into her. When he bit down, she screamed softly and held his head while he drank from her.
She sobbed in relief. She had come again with the second bite. He licked the wounds closed then rubbed his forehead against hers. “It is going to be hard to concentrate at work now.”
She tilted her head and kissed him softly. “You have no idea. I fantasize about you a hundred times a day, and now that I know what you feel and taste like, it is unlikely to stop.”
He grinned. “What about Tycho and Corianne?”
“I want them like hell when I am in the room with them, and if you think about it, I currently don’t have an escape from your scent or touch.”
He let out a rumbling sound that was a growl out of her horny scientist. “I am enjoying the circumstance. Don’t get me wrong, the situation is unpleasant for you but delightful for me and the others.”
“Yeah, that sort of thing is just my luck. I am altruistic as fuck.” She stroked his cheek. “Now get your tail out of my butt. Should the event ever arise, I can take you and Tycho at the same time. I will let you flip for heads or tails.”
He grinned and laughed. The tail came out, and a shower was shared. It was time to figure out dinner.
Chapter Fourteen
The moment they went to Z-Tech, confirmed her stability scans, and sent it off to Zera, he started grinning. Arcady asked him, “What?”
“When Zera responds, you will go live again, and you will be able to resume dates. I am looking forward to seeing how you behave on a masked date.”
She pressed herself against him and smiled. “Sort of how we have been carrying on but less blushing. I can’t see you, and you can’t see my eyes, so there is less of the bunny and more just Seventeen.”
Her com chirped. “Speak of the devil.” She looked at him. “Figure of speech.”
She stepped aside and looked at Zera on display. “Hey, lady and master.”
Zera chuckled. “I see that you are cleared for active duty. How do you feel about that?”
“Well, I am now impervious to blunt assaults, so pretty good.”
“You have a backlog of requests, so feel free to flick through them. No one will be notified that you are available for the next fourteen days, but if you want to answer any requests, that is up to you.” She snickered. “Your preference for biting and being bitten has been recorded. None of your regulars have withdrawn.”
Arcady nodded. “What is the BDC policy on approved consortiums?”
“Oh, like the teams?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“The primary contract holder has to issue the invitation, and only other registered patrons can participate. The venue needs to be secure, but other than that, you can go nuts.”
Arcady saw Krizt do a fist pump.
“What about me spending so much time with Krizt? Is that going to be an issue?”
“No. He has already requested to be your primary patron. If you don’t object, he will pay for the right to keep you safe and protected unless you choose to go out on a date with another patron, but if Krizt needs you for something specific, he will be expected to get the priority.”
“Not a problem.” She nodded seriously.
“Congratulations. You now have a date to the holiday party.” Zera chuckled. “Seriously. I will see you on Monday, but call me if you need anything.”
“What’s happening Monday?” She glanced at Krizt, but he was in earnest conversation with someone on private projection.
“I am taking your measurements for some custom equipment.” Zera chortled evilly. “I never get to embed them in someone.”
“Thanks for your enthusiasm.” She grinned. “I think it will be fun.”
“It will, but your term with BDC
might come to an end for anyone that doesn’t have top-secret or local government clearance.”
“So, Corianne?”
“She has the clearance. She does a lot of banking for untraceable accounts. She’s good to remain on your roster as long as she likes.”
“Good. I have grown rather attached to the three I have been spending time with.”
“I notice that you don’t use your escape activity with them.”
She chuckled. “They can all track me by scent. Wouldn’t do much good.”
Zera laughed. “Well, if that is all, I have a date tonight.”
“Have fun.”
Her com pinged, and she saw the first of ten requests for dates. If any of her patrons changed to another escort, their request would disappear. These were all active.
She looked at her priority client notice and saw that the engagement ran for the entire weekend. She had never overnighted before. She checked the start time then her watch cursed.
She bit her lip, looked over at Krizt on his call and then sent the acknowledgement to him. She got up and nodded then left the room.
Krizt called out. “Where are you going?”
“I have a date, and the patron was very specific. I will see you when the date is over.”
He blinked. “You accepted a date?”
“Check your com, twit.”
She heard him laugh as she entered the elevator and headed for BDC. Time to get lasered, dressed, and coifed. Making it to the venue on time would be difficult, but Krizt had better get going if he wanted to beat her back to his place and the party space above the restaurant.
She had her cloak covering her clothing, the elegant gown was hidden by the concealment, and her mask was in place, altering what she saw and how she saw it.
She had her charm, and it helped her access the elevator and got her to the floor above the restaurant. When the doors opened, Krizt was sitting in a chair in the shadows. Seventeen came in and bowed. “Patron, I hope you have not been waiting long.”
“You are three minutes late.”
She slid the cloak off her shoulders, knelt, and bowed. “I apologize, Patron. The time has been added to your appointment. What can I do to make it up to you?”