by David Burke
He heard Amelia behind him say, “Should we warn him?”
Then Meikiyo answered, “No, let him find out for himself.”
After that he was too far away to hear any more of their conversation.
When he caught up to Jessie due to his longer strides he said, “So tell me a little bit more about yourself. I'd like to get to know you.”
“You mean you don’t want to just fuck me?” she asked with a pouty face.
Jay started to stumble over his words trying to find just the perfect cool guy thing to say but she saved him. “Don’t worry. If I didn’t know it already, the other girls clued me in that you aren’t just a hunky guy working to save all of our lives but you are actually a bit of a boy scout too. I have to admit instead of detracting from your appeal, it makes me all that much hotter. I really wanna see if I can crack that nice guy exterior and see what lurks inside. They wouldn’t give me the details but they said you showed them a little of that last night.”
“I may be a boy scout but it doesn’t keep me from staring at the asses of every girl here. But are you gonna tell me about yourself? I need a few minutes to set up our tent and it would be nice to talk while I’m doing it.”
“We can talk, but if it wouldn’t bother you too much, I’d rather just sleep on a spread-out blanket. I don’t want the tent blocking this beautiful sky. Oh and I might be more mobile than you are used to, so the tent may not be big enough.”
Jay wasn’t sure how to take that, so he just started laying out the blankets in the little spot they had found nestled against the stream. It was smaller than the large clearing the others were using and surrounded closely on all sides by trees. He had to use his psionic blade to slice down some underbrush because he wanted a little bit of space around them.
He figured he should probably broach the awkward subject since she clearly had something she wanted to talk about but seemed nervous. “So, I didn’t think you would have enough credits to buy the necessary level of birth control now that I’m level 16. It cost 800 credits. I hope you aren’t offended that I went ahead and bought it already for you. If you need it, I’ve got it right here in my pack.”
She got a coy look on her face for a moment before asking, “Hmm, you didn’t make it to the terminal after we got back from the second floor. I would have noticed that. So when did you buy that?”
“Um… I got it earlier after we decided to invite you to the team. I just wanted to be prepared.”
“Yeah, boy scout motto and all. I guess you weren’t that unsure about what was gonna happen.”
“Sorry if that bothers you. I just know this is pretty expensive and didn’t want it to cause any problems.”
“No, I’m happy that you were confident about it. It makes the rest of this conversation that we need to have a little easier for me.”
“What has you so worked up? If it is about last night, it is flattering. I’m not upset about it. I didn’t feel threatened by you. Trust me if I wasn’t so committed to the team, I would have taken you up on it right then and there.”
“Now that I know just how much stronger you are, I can understand but it doesn’t change the intent that was in my mind at the time. I want to try to explain that and hopefully you can forgive me, but if not then I will accept if you kick me off the team.”
“Life is rarely simple and we are under the most stressful situation imaginable. Add to that the aphrodisiac effect of the water and it’s a wonder that the three guys aren’t getting jumped on all the time.”
“Maybe, but there is more to it for me.”
“Okay, so tell me about it.”
Jessie looked at the ground and then slowly started to speak, “Back home I was going to school to become a veterinarian. I have always felt a connection with animals and now I know why. Latent within me were these abilities. At least that is what I think is going on. I think this experiment is evolving us far faster than would be naturally possible.”
“Huong and I have talked about that some before. I think that is probably fairly likely. I would still like to ask the people conducting this experiment about it someday, maybe as I’m choking the life out of them.”
She smiled and then continued, “For sure, but there are side effects to some of our powers. I always studied animal behavior, well I have been studying the behavior of the people here now. Let me give you some simple examples. Meikiyo’s flame has made her more confident and more passionate. She is still reserved but not like before. I saw her the night that you saved her. The girl with us now is a very different person.”
“That is because she has worked so hard to overcome her fears,” Jay disputed.
“I am not discounting that, but there is more to it, or so I believe. Consider Huong. I watched in the beginning. She was helpful and curious, but she has become more nurturing and more of a people pleaser than she already was. That is again consistent with her powers.”
Jay started to say something, “Or consider yourself. In the beginning you volunteered and wanted to help but didn’t want to lead. The girls told me about your dreams, so I know that may be playing a factor too, but you have become more confident. Look at the way you attacked all those monsters last night all on your own.”
“Maybe, I would like to think that was just my concern for all of you.”
“Okay two more examples to prove my point. Kenzie was pretty friendly in the beginning. I remember when she was first on the council. She was always checking up on everyone. Now she is fairly cold to most people. It seems like her ice powers are affecting her disposition.”
“Now that one doesn’t make as much sense. Sure she has ice powers but she is also a healer.”
“True but not like Huong. She doesn’t coax damaged tissue to regenerate, she sucks out damage in some weird process that we don’t really understand and let me tell you that her healing is fucking painful.”
“I don’t know. You could be right.”
“My last example proves it. Jasmine was very clearly concerned about everyone in the beginning but as her power to control people's emotions has increased, she clearly cares less about everyone else and has become very manipulative. Maybe she always had some of that inside of her and getting the power just revealed it or maybe the power is corrupting her. The point is that she is changing in conjunction with her power.”
Jay sat there pondering her words. It did make sense. It also gave him a way out of being quite so hard on Jasmine which was a plus to him. It didn’t make her any safer to be around, but at least he could understand. “Okay but none of that explains what has you so upset about it. Are you worried that you are going to change to become more like the animals that you take traits from?”
“I already am. That’s the point. I just worry about how far it will go. I didn’t just jump you because of the water. I jumped you because of an animal instinct that I felt to breed with the alpha male. It was almost overwhelming and I can’t promise that it won’t come back again. Even now, I feel it in the back of my mind. There is an impulse to not take that birth control.”
Jay could feel the heat drain out of his face and expected that he probably went white because she almost immediately said, “Don’t worry I’ll take it. Give it to me now.”
He reached into his backpack and pulled it out for her. She set the pill on her tongue then swallowed it and made a show of showing him her empty mouth. Jay suddenly felt very uncomfortable. “Look, you don’t have to do that. I trust you. That is what this team has been built on. I will never lie to any of you. I mean. I will either keep my mouth shut or I will tell you the truth. You may not always like it but what I tell you will always be the truth as I understand it.”
“Thank you, I just felt sorta weird after confessing my strange desires. Please believe me that I wouldn’t go and get pregnant without talking to you about it first. Certainly not in a place like this, but you do have to understand that I have real impulses that are a side effect of my power and if I act too weird, p
lease tell me.”
“Look at where we are. I think I can handle a little weird.”
“Let’s see if you still think that in the morning.”
Chapter 17- Wild Thing
For the next half an hour Jay and Jessie talked. They cuddled as he lay back watching the stars, and she laid her head across his chest. The noises of the jungle were an ever-present background. The monkeys and other smaller creatures seemed even louder than usual, probably because there weren’t any predators around.
Against that was the counterpoint of the soothing sounds of the stream only a few feet from their bed beneath the stars. Jay shared about his mother and sister. It was becoming easier to talk about it after sharing it with the other three. Then there was also something about Jessie’s vulnerability in her fears about losing herself to the animals she borrowed traits from, which made it easier to talk to her.
Jasmine might have been the first girl here that he had a thing for, but she was more like Trina, his old crush back home. Admired from afar but never a relationship that really had a chance. This time, the failure was because of the corrupting influences of Jasmine’s powers.
In contrast, Amelia was a confidant. Someone he felt like he was able to trust implicitly and yet who he counted on to keep him on his toes. There was just a chemistry that he felt with her whether in or out of bed that made for a special connection.
Huong was different but still the same. He trusted her. He knew her need to nurture him and so in some ways she became that mothering figure to him. Except if he thought about the things he did with her, then there was nothing motherly about that.
Meikiyo was the one that he would have most considered like a lover. She was delicate but also had a fierce side. She could be strong when necessary but also didn’t mind depending upon him. Their conversations under the stars had always been the deepest since he arrived here. Talking about dreams and aspirations, the intangibles of life.
With three girlfriends already in his life, he didn’t think there would be room for more but somehow, Jessie was filling a niche that he didn’t know was missing. She was like a buddy. He could already talk to her openly, but about nothing and still feel like he was having a good time.
She didn’t challenge him like Amelia, nurture him like Huong, or dream with him like Meikiyo. She was someone he could just shoot the shit with and not feel like he had wasted his time. Of course she was better than any buddy he had ever had before with that killer smile, perky breasts, and tight backside.
Those stories from history about the ancient kings, emperors, and sultans with all the wives had never really made any sense to him. Perhaps because of the death of his mother and sister or perhaps because he had trouble maintaining a serious relationship with a girlfriend, either way it was not something he could have foreseen. Now there were certain practicalities about the future of the human race and he was glad to be finding women that he could, respect, like and dare he say even learn to love.
Those thoughts were ripped from his mind though as Jessie suddenly nipped rather sharply at his ear. He jerked his head to look at her as if to say, “What was that for?”
She looked up at him while pressing herself against his chest still as she asked, “Are you sure that I can be myself?”
He grinned as he thought for a second. She was very intent about this but how could he not give his all to her. Who knew he might even like whatever her kink was. “Yes, I promise you can be yourself. I won’t judge you.”
“Okay, just remember you said that,” she said as she got up and stepped away from him. She began to perform the most delicious dance, peeling off her clothing slowly as she swayed her hips hypnotically in front of him.
First her leather armor came off, followed by her shirt. He had been right. Her breasts were perky and firm. The perfect indication of healthiness and sexuality standing put on display right in front of him.
Then as she worked out of her shorts, he couldn’t pull his eyes away. Underneath she had a flimsy pair of pink panties. He thought they were what were called boy shorts style and loved the way that they framed her toned ass.
She pushed it up a level as she turned away from him while she started to work her panties to the floor. She leaned forward and gave him the most inviting sight any man could ever see in the perfectly bare lips of her womanhood. As he was staring and stripping his own clothes off as quickly as he could, she looked back over her shoulder and the look on her face promised a night of delights.
He was a bit shocked as he finished taking off his clothes and saw her legs twitch as the thighs and calves thickened. It wasn’t that they were unattractive, the overall shape was still very feminine but now a female form with the muscles of a fitness model only denser. More changes followed as she grew a light almost snake-like set of scales across her torso while leaving her breasts unaffected.
Her arms came next as they filled out with more muscle and her nails grew into a shorter version of the talons she had been wielding earlier. Her back twisted some and suddenly her breasts jutted out in an even more gravity-defying manner while her waist narrowed and her hips widened. He almost didn’t notice the final change as her teeth grew back into those of a predator.
Where moments before a girl that he could relax and just have fun with had been curled up against his chest, now this creature of feral lust stood before him. As much as the physical changes were significant, even more was the aura that she exuded. He had to have her. There was a scent that she was putting off that made him feel more beast than man himself.
Jay beckoned to her asking her to join him on the blanket again, but she shook her head. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Only the strong get to mate. You have to prove yourself. You have to catch me. You have to dominate me,” she spoke barely above a throaty whisper but the sound carried clearly to him.
Normally Jay might have not really been into the entire chasing after a woman thing. In the modern world that was done over coffee, dinner, and witty Snapchat banter. Maybe for the rich, with fancy cars and expensive presents. Now though whatever pheromones she was putting off had taken hold of him. Combined with his natural desire for her and the effects of the chemicals already surging through his blood and Jay was lost in lust. He leapt right at her.
She nimbly dodged to the side and laughed. Clearly she enjoyed being chased. He turned on her, amplifying his speed and said, “Careful, I could hurt you.”
She side stepped his lunge once as she taunted, “Prove it.”
So he ramped his speed up another level. Whatever combination of beast traits she had taken on were making her both strong and agile, but perhaps most importantly it was enhancing her reaction time. She might not be faster than him and certainly wasn’t stronger but all she had to do was make minor adjustments to avoid his arms as he reached for her.
If Jay had been a simple beast, they would have gone round and round till she slipped up or one of them grew tired. He was more than a beast though. He had abilities beyond that. So while keeping his speed at the second level he also activated his Precognition to maximum.
This time as he started to move for her, he saw in his mind’s eye almost a map of how she would move in response. So he was able to pivot a split second ahead of her with the result that instead of avoiding him she threw herself into his arms. Jay drew her close and kissed her neck while pulling her in to him.
She pushed to test his strength but only for a moment. His arms were bands of steel and she couldn’t budge them at all. So she reversed course and angled her back to push her breasts up into his face. He didn’t fight it but put his mouth to his prize. He could only think in the most primal of ways now.
His body was awash in her scent and he saw her as a mate to be had. Mindless of her sharp teeth he moved his mouth from tasting her nipples to lock lips with her and kiss her. Then he dropped to the ground carrying her with him, their tongues entwined. She had a sweet taste like strawberries and he wanted more of
it. Jay didn’t know if that taste was another aspect of her power, nor did he care. It was driving him crazy.
As he relaxed his arms to move her around, she pulled away from him. Jay couldn’t be sure but it was almost like a low growl came from him and he prepared to catch her again. She was already caught though and just wanted to show it.
She moved only a foot away and then dropped to all fours on the ground. Lowering her head, in submission, she pushed her back side up and her thighs parted to present herself to him. Even as he moved to her, she whimpered with her need for him in her.
This wasn’t like with any of the others. He wasn’t teasing her. She wasn’t teasing him. Nor was this the gentle lovemaking he shared with Meikiyo or the passionate play with Amelia. It wasn’t even the same as Huong’s urge to be pleasing.
This was more primal. He has proven his might in multiple battles throughout the day. That had caught the attention of this lovely female. When the time came, she had tested his worthiness one more time, and he had proven himself capable of catching her.