by Viola Grace
“What?”
“I need you to answer the receptivity question at a medical centre. Your scent is indicating that you are exceedingly receptive right now, but I am not going to make a judgment based on my own opinion.”
She frowned. “Now?”
“Now. I will wait while you get some shoes on.”
Niiva blinked. “Right. Okay. Just get it over with.”
She finished her tea and put her sandals on. There was no sense in putting on undergarments. She really didn’t care who saw what.
“Are we walking?”
“No, we will take my cycle.”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Right. Lead the way.”
“What has amused you?”
“Oh. Nothing.”
When she settled on the back of the cycle and wrapped her arms around him for balance, he stiffened up. He gave her a dark glance but moved the cycle through the city streets at a sedate pace. It was probably for the best. One jolt of speed and her skirt would be up around her hips.
She watched the world go by as he drove. A few of the Rrassic on the sidewalks stared at them, but a quick glance down said it was because her skirt was creeping past mid-thigh.
They pulled up to the medical centre, and she released her grip, getting off the cycle with an audience of Rrassic watching her.
Argo looked at the men and scowled.
She finished settling her skirt back around her legs and waited. “Are we going in?”
He looked down at her, and he blinked slowly, as if stunned. “Yes, yes, we are. Just one thing.”
He carefully reached out, and to her surprise, he tugged her shirt up from her shoulders.
She blushed. “How much cleavage was I showing?”
“Enough. Another woman wouldn’t have been indecorous, but you were nearly indecent or issuing an invitation, which I am sure was not your intent.”
She scowled. “It was not.”
“There. Now, please, come with me.”
She nodded and stepped forward, walking with him into the med centre. A quick glanced back showed the Rrassic gathered at the door. “Why are they back there?”
“My guess is that they are there to offer their services if you need help getting back on the cycle.” There was a grim twist to his lips.
The Nool-Rrassic that came up to them smiled at Argo before looking at her. He looked startled, to say the least. “Niiva, what are you doing here?”
“I came under escort for an exam, Nedro.”
Argo got his attention. “She is receptive, and yet, when I look up her file, it is completely blank. It is as if no testing has ever been done, but she remembers it being done. So, to correct this oversight, we are here to get her a full workup. Now.”
Nedro nodded. “Niiva, please, come this way.”
Argo raised his brows. “To make it clear, I will be in the room for all of her exams, even if I need to turn my back. We need those results.”
Niiva frowned, but she knew exactly what kind of hard-asses the Rrassic could be about stuff like this.
She walked the halls with her two escorts until they went into an exam room with all of the standard equipment for a full workup. Fortunately, with her current clothing choice, she only had to remove her shoes.
Nedro helped her up into the scan module and calibrated it for her height and weight. “Ready?”
She nodded, and he triggered the arc to begin its slow crawl up and down her body. Nothing physically touched her, but she could feel the contact of the scans under her skin. It measured the activity of her nervous system as well as her circulatory system.
While she was waiting for the scan, Argo was watching the progress of the unit. She used the opportunity to stare at him. It was rare that she got to see a proper Rrassic up close, other than Mreth.
Argo’s jaw was wide, as was his neck. The thick highlights of golden hair were similar to her own tawny locks, but the undercurrent of black gave him a sinister appeal. His eyes were dark gold with feline pupils. With general assessment, he looked to be part weightlifter and part long-distance runner. There was a lot of strength in his body but grace as well. Most of the Regiz-Rrassic shared a similar body type, but Niiva was fairly sure that she could pick Argo out of a crowd of them.
“You have mild bruising around your breast tissue,” Nedro murmured.
“Yeah, I was a little vicious with the wrap last week. It left a mark.”
Argo stepped forward. “You are injured?”
She scowled. “No. It is a soft-tissue bruise. It will heal in a few days. You can’t even see it.”
Nedro spoke to him. “The compression bandages that she uses for breast restraint can cause capillary damage as well as minor damage to the muscles surrounding the breasts, but she does insist on wearing them.”
Niiva frowned. “Hey, isn’t there such a thing as Nool-patient confidentiality?”
Argo shook his head. “Not when it involves your safety or comfort.”
She raised her brows, grabbed her shirt, and pulled it up, exposing her breasts. “Fine. Find the bruising.”
Nedro’s expression was shocked, but Argo took up the challenge. He stepped toward her and cupped her breasts in each hand, examining them carefully, running his finger along the right underside and pressing gently.
She couldn’t help it. She flinched. On the left side, he found the small spot and pressed it, just near her underarm.
His hands were huge, but her breasts didn’t quite fill them. She looked up into his eyes, and she tried to keep her bravado up. “Right. So, what do you win?”
He smiled, and his thumbs moved to graze her nipples. “I believe I have received my prize. So, breast support is necessary for you. More than you have received to date.”
She blushed and dropped her shirt, letting his hands support the hem. “The undergarments that I have been offered to date tend to cantilever my breasts out at a weird angle. I look like a rain shelter for small creatures. I also can’t see my feet.”
He smiled, and his thumbs continued their slow caress. “I can imagine that would make things awkward. We will seek out a solution.”
“Fine. I think Nedro wants to continue with the scans now. You have proved your point.”
He withdrew his hands and stepped back.
Nedro sighed and started doing blood, saliva, and tissue samples.
After the saliva swab, she had to ask. “So, how did you find the bruising?”
“Heat. Recovering tissue is hotter than the tissue around it due to increased blood flow.” He took the report of the body scan from Nedro and used his tablet to copy it.
Nedro sighed. “It was a favour to Mreth. It is rare that he gets a strong and competent worker. I didn’t think that one would make a difference.”
Argo raised his brows. “We all know that one can make a difference. That is what this project is based on.”
Nedro nodded. “Right. Of course. Yes, she is receptive, almost dangerously so. I will file my report with the overseer’s office and wait for a reply.”
“We will wait here.”
Niiva sighed, put on her shoes, and went on to the next rounds of tests that verified her physical fitness.
Argo went quiet when she was doing the strength tests.
He asked Nedro, “Is that normal?”
“No, it is why Mreth wants to keep her. There aren’t any of her people who are registering that kind of untrained power.”
Niiva was leaning against the machine when Argo got his reply. He nodded.
“Right. We have an appointment with the overseer. Nedro, please, forward all of the results to my unit. Niiva, come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because you are about to engage in a change of state and that is going to require authorization for you to keep any kind of occupation aside from your Breeder status.”
Niiva blinked. “Isn’t that status negotiable?”
He gave her a long, slow look as he took her hand. �
��No.”
Niiva had to admit that having a guy say no to her was sort of a turn-on, not that she needed the help.
Chapter Three
Hearing a Rrassic growl at others of his kind was a little odd. The low growl had started when they left the med centre, and when the gathered men converged on her, Argo snarled and gnashed his teeth at them.
She was tucked in front of him this time, and they roared off to the main administration building without hesitation.
Argo was in a definite mood, and the erection pressed against her backside might have had something to do with it.
When they pulled up at the administration building, his arms were humming with tension.
He lifted her off the bike before he dismounted, and she took the hint and entered the building a few steps ahead of him.
She felt slight touches on her back to direct her left and right. They were silent in the lift, and as they approached the receptionist’s desk, she got to her feet with wide eyes and got the overseer’s door open.
Argo escorted her into the overseer’s office, and he was huffing slightly. “Overseer, this is the female that I sent you the report on.”
The overseer looked at her, and he smiled slightly. “I see. You are not wrong, she is putting out a powerful scent.”
Niiva frowned. “That doesn’t sound very polite.”
The receptionist shook her head. “It just means that you are ovulating or, at the very least, smell like a woman who is sexually aroused. I am Isabella, by the way.”
The woman stuck her hand out, and there was a silver band around her wrist. The second band was on the other arm, and a matching band was around her throat.
Niiva shook the woman’s hand. “Niiva Dollard.”
“Pleased to meet you. This is Iktabi, the overseer of Imrahl operations.”
Argo growled. “Enough of the pleasantries.”
The growl got Iktabi on his feet, and his wings flared out. It seemed to be enough of a threat display that Argo came back to his senses.
“Apologies, Isabella. I did not mean to growl.”
Isabella smiled sweetly. “It is fine. I understand your distress. Iktabi gets cranky when he is horny as well.”
Niiva stifled a giggle as the overseer gave his secretary a dark glance. Isabella gave him a beatific smile in return.
Iktabi folded his wings in and returned to his chair. “So, the problem is that she is highly receptive but has no mate or males courting her but is attracting all and sundry and would make an excellent peacekeeper. Am I caught up?”
Argo nodded.
Iktabi looked her over, and an amused smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “I can see the appeal. Argo, are you interested?”
“I am.”
“Niiva, are you interested in Argo, even as a short-term lover?”
Niiva looked at the Regiz, and she smiled. “Keep talking.”
Argo looked surprised, and she felt his weight shift toward her.
Isabella smiled. “I will get her a spot in the Breeder compound and have her possessions moved. Niiva, you don’t socialize much, do you?”
“No. It is really not my thing.”
“Good. Lianne and Sorrok can do a battle-capability assessment tomorrow and see what kind of training you need.”
Argo chipped in. “She requires additional breast support.”
Niiva went scarlet, and she slapped him in the arm.
Isabella smiled. “There are options for that as well. The workout gear that the tailors have worked on is adaptive for most sizes, and the straps that secure the band in place are very comfortable, no matter what the issues.”
Niiva arched her brow. “Will I be able to see my feet?”
Isabella looked her over. “Probably not, but you won’t bounce in two directions when you move. They are like tailored sports bras, only they start with a band, and the wraps keep them where you want them.”
Niiva caught the bewildered looks that the men were giving each other, and she smiled. “I think that might work. So, tomorrow?”
“Mid-morning. I will have your escort pick you up.”
Argo scowled. “I will take her.”
Iktabi gave him a look. “You have a job, Peacekeeper. We will try and get you into her entourage, but if you are needed elsewhere, she will travel with others.”
Niiva frowned. “Do I get a say in any of this?”
Iktabi nodded. “You can choose your mate. Aside from that, we have the right to allow our men to court and seduce you within reason. It was explained to you when you were assigned to your job.”
Niiva scowled. “Yes, but I never thought it would apply to me.”
Iktabi suddenly got a suspicious look on his features. He opened a file and displayed it. On one side of a desk, Isabella was working at a terminal; on the other, Niiva was sitting and looking queasy. With a sly move, Isabella took the chip that had come out of the machine, and she slipped it under her desk. A second chip was printed and put in the band that Niiva wore out of the office.
Isabella blushed, and Niiva stared at her. “I remember you now. You said that I wouldn’t have to worry about the men coming after me right away. Thank you.”
Isabella took a few steps back toward Iktabi. “I may have forgotten to mention Niiva on the list of females that I gave you. She was in a good position doing good work.”
Argo stared at Isabella. “Did you delete her medical records?”
Isabella’s eyes widened as she was reeled backward by an invisible force. “No, but that would have been a good idea. I just wanted to slow her discovery.”
Isabella fell into Iktabi’s lap, and he wrapped his arms around her. He whispered into her ear for a few moments, and her cheeks got redder and redder.
Niiva looked at Argo, and she cocked her head. “How do you feel about casual sex?”
His throat worked, and no decipherable sounds came out.
Iktabi leaned forward and tapped rapidly on his tablet with the hand that wasn’t holding his female. “The reservation at the Breeders quarters has been received; you will be taken to a set of rooms when you arrive.”
Isabella cleared her throat. “I am ordering the move for your possessions. They will arrive in the next four hours.”
Niiva nodded. “Fine. If I can’t be a harvester, when I can start working at something else?”
Isabella smiled. “When you finish your training as a peacekeeper, so it is up to you.”
“What do I need to know?”
Isabella looked up from her screen. “You are going to need to know the laws that govern both species on Imrahl, be physically capable of subduing a Rrassic, and conversant with all the vehicles that are in use on our streets.”
Niiva nodded. “Okay, so I just need the laws and a few vehicles. Maybe some speed moves.”
Iktabi looked at her with amusement. “It takes a bit of strength to fight a Rrassic.”
“May I borrow your mate?” Niiva smiled.
Iktabi released Isabella, and the other human walked over to her. With a slight bending of the knees, Niiva lifted the receptionist and turned to face Iktabi. “I have strength.”
Iktabi’s eyes widened. “Apparently so.”
Isabella cleared her throat. “Can you put me down now?”
Niiva set Isabella back on her feet. “There you go.”
“Thank you. That is impressive. You didn’t quiver or anything.”
Niiva smiled. “I lift for a living. I don’t have a lot of fine control though. Just strength moves.”
Iktabi looked to Argo. “You know of this?”
Argo nodded. “I watched during the testing. She could probably flip one of us if she had the advantage of leverage.”
The overseer nodded and smiled. “You two can be on your way. Niiva Dollard, thank you for your cooperation.”
Isabella was back in his lap, and Niiva waved a small farewell as she left the office.
Teasing Argo might have not been her brighte
st idea. He was a looming presence behind her while she waited for the lift, and she could feel the heat radiating from his body.
She dragged in a shaking breath and tried to ignore her body like she did every day. It was difficult to feel a constant pulse of desire and be unable to act on it. If she was right, she was being given the chance to ride a few of the Rrassic. She didn’t want to pass up the chance, but if she started with Argo, would she want to keep moving through the ranks?
Standing next to him in the lift was torture. It was a handful of seconds, but the proximity was working on her like foreplay. She was every caricature of a farmer’s daughter. Her body was ready the moment she turned her mind to it. Resisting her own impulses was the hardest thing to do.
When the doors opened, Argo led the way back to the cycle. She cleared her throat. “Do you want me in front or behind?”
He gave her a dark look. “Behind me. If I get my arms around you, I will be hard pressed to keep my mind on the road.”
She nodded and licked her lips. “Fine. You get on first, and I will settle behind you.”
He nodded, his jaw tense. He settled on the cycle, and she slipped on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. His pulse quickened when she pressed her breasts against his back. She heard him cursing in High Rrassic as he activated the cycle and they entered traffic. She kept her head pressed against his back and her thighs pressed to the backs of his while he took them through the city and over to the Breeder compound. When he paused, and she heard a voice asking for her ident, she extended her left arm and looked at the man so he could compare the scan of her features with the real thing.
The Sthik-Rrassic looked at her and nodded with a slight smile. “Welcome to the compound, Niiva Dollard. Your possessions are on the way.”
She nodded and smiled slightly. “Thank you.”
Argo gave him a look, and the barrier was swiftly lowered. The cycle carried them through the expanse of the drive to the large, sprawling building. Out front, Argo parked, and she quickly disentangled herself from him, sliding off the seat and pulling her skirt straight so that the slick moisture from her thighs was camouflaged. Underwear would have been a good idea, but she hadn’t been planning on leaving the house.