Catnipped

by Olivia Myers

  She reached toward John, as if to take his hand, but he took a step back. Sighing, Sabella said, “I can understand your concern, and your point, but you need to let me and Lilly worry about these things. John, I love your daughter. I’ll take care of her, I promise.” Sabella hadn’t really considered the government coming after her, or Lilly getting in the way. But she couldn’t live her life afraid of what might happen in the future, or never loving anyone simply because those things might happen.

  “Sabella, if anything happens to my daughter, I will kill you myself.” John turned away to take the roast out of the oven and set it on a wood cutting board while he grabbed some plates and silverware.

  A moment later, Lilly came back. “I can’t find your phone anywhere, Dad. I looked everywhere up there.”

  “That’s okay, it was down here on the dining room table after all. I’m sorry.” He plastered a big, fake smile on his face.

  Sabella felt anger bubbling up from her gut. “John, this is horseshit. You can’t talk to me like that and then pretend everything is fine when Lilly comes back. If you want Lilly to be happy, you better tell her what you told me. If you’re worried about her, she has a right to know your fears and concerns.”

  Lilly’s mouth opened slightly with shock. “Sabella? Worries? Dad, what’s going on?”

  Sabella wasn’t done, though. “Especially since I asked Lilly to move in with me, John. Don’t you think she should make that decision, knowing the truth about everything? We need you to accept us both, together, and we need the information you have.”

  “You did what?” John gasped. “She can’t move in with you. I won’t allow it.”

  “Dad, what do you mean you won’t allow it?” A look of utter shock crossed Lilly’s face. “You realize I’m of legal adult age and you can’t exactly ground me anymore, right?”

  John sat on one of the barstools and held his head in his hands. “You don’t understand. Sabella isn’t the threat to you, Lilly. It’s the government, the agencies. If word of what Sabella is, what she can do, ever got leaked, she’d be a target. You’d be a target if you were with her. Anyone she ever gets involved with, or has been involved with will be a target.”

  “But this is something big,” Lilly said. “And you weren’t even telling me about it. Sabella, let’s go.”

  Lilly rushed from the room, but when Sabella didn’t follow her, she came back. “Sabella, come on,” she said.

  Sabella took Lilly’s hand from her forearm and held it in her own. “No, sweetie. We need to listen to your dad, and hear him out. We can’t run when we don’t know everything. You should be informed before you make any choices. And I’d never forgive myself if I were the reason you and your dad were fighting.”

  Lilly gave an exaggerated sigh, but Sabella was pleased to see that her words had worked. Lilly kept Sabella’s hand in her own, but she at least faced John and waited for him to continue speaking.

  “Thank you, Lilly, for listening,” John said. “I don’t hate Sabella, but being involved with her is dangerous. She was created to be a government secret weapon. She’s considered property, and she won’t ever be allowed to live her own life completely. They watch her, still, at all times. She has no secrets, and there will be no secrets, no privacy. If they decide to come after her, you’ll be caught in the middle.”

  While Lilly stood open-mouthed, John grabbed the place settings and took them to the dining room table. Sabella listened to him slamming things down harder than needed.

  “Dad, listen to me.” Lilly walked over with some wine glasses and the bottle of wine Sabella had brought for the dinner. She put them on the table and put her hand on her dad’s arm. “Sabella and I…we understand each other. I know because of your job, and your previous experience, that you have fears, but I can’t live my life like that. Should I just walk away from Sabella because of your fears?”

  “Yes,” John said. “I’m your father. I am older and more experienced than you, and this is so far out of a normal life situation that you can’t even comprehend what could happen.”

  It broke Sabella’s heart to see the frightened expression on Lilly’s face, but she also felt immense pride for Lilly, because she was standing strong amidst all that fear.

  “So, tell me, Dad, help me understand. I’ve heard some of what Sabella has gone through. I’ve heard of some of the things you’ve dealt with from her point of view, and I remember dealing with some of this as a kid when you’d bring things home and you were stressed out or worried. I’m not changing my mind about Sabella, but you could help protect me by giving me enough information to be careful and safer while in a relationship with her.”

  John gestured Lilly and Sabella to the dining table. Sabella wasn’t sure whether any of them had an appetite, but it looked like they’d at least go through the motions of having a meal together.

  Sabella sat across from Lilly, and was rubbing her stocking foot against her leg under the table. Lilly smiled at her. Sabella wished she could reach her to give her leg a squeeze and reassure her everything was going to be okay.

  Lilly’s dad spoke. “Sabella can shift into a cat. If they ever decide they have a use for that, they could use you, to force Sabella to work for them. Before, Sabella had nothing but her life, and she made it clear they could kill her. They’d spent far too much money on her to just eliminate her, although there was those who felt it would be safer to do that. With you, Lilly, she has a weakness.” John joined them at the table. “You will be her weakness, you will be her liability. They’ll finally have a way to control and manipulate her, because I cannot believe she’d allow you to be harmed. I can’t promise that they wouldn’t hurt you anyway. These people who do programs like this, these secret agencies, they don’t play by the same rules as the rest of the world.”

  Sabella cleared her throat and passed the salad over to Lilly. “John, I’d do anything to keep Lilly safe. I’m not going to do anything to draw any unneeded attention to us, or myself. If I’ve managed to go this long without anyone finding out what I am, don’t you think they realize I can fly under the radar by now?”

  Lilly’s cheeks were flushed with emotion, and Sabella wanted to reach out and run her fingers over the flushed skin. She got so much comfort from being around Lilly.

  “Lilly only knows I can shift because I told her, because I didn’t want to start a relationship with a lie. She deserved better. She’s always deserved better.” Sabella gave John a pointed look. Sabella had deserved better too, and John had done his best, except offer her the one thing she’d always wanted. A family. A real family. She’d asked, and he’d said he couldn’t, and that’s when she’d stolen Lilly’s necklace. His reason was that she was too much of a risk to his family and as much as he cared for Sabella, he couldn’t bring himself to put the rest of his family at risk by taking her home. She still understood that reason, but the rejection had hurt.

  The memory still stung, and his rejection of her again made her feel like that teenager begging for a home all over again. Now she was an adult, in love with a woman—his daughter. She’d fight for Lilly in the way she hadn’t fought to have a family. She’d walked away last time without trying to convince him that she needed them. This time, she wouldn’t make that mistake again.

  “I just care about my daughter. I always cared about you too, Sabella, but you aren’t my family. You were my job. When that job was over, I couldn’t just abandon you, and I did my best to make sure you were taken care of. I never expected it to come back to haunt me. You being involved with Lilly scares me. I don’t think you’re going to hurt her on purpose, but I’m worried about what happens down the road.” John dished food up on his plate while sighing.

  Lilly took a sip of her wine. “Daddy, you have to trust me. You can’t protect me from everyone and everything, and I love Sabella. I know what she really is, because she showed me. I think she’s beautiful, inside and out. We might not have the right parts, but down the road, I could see having chil
dren with her, and getting married. This isn’t a college fling for me.” Lilly winked at Sabella.

  John sputtered for a second, then grabbed his glass of wine and drank it one big gulp. Then he poured a second glass.

  “I so did not want to think about my daughter lacking the right parts or not to make children.” John closed his eyes.

  Lilly giggled, and John even managed a small smile.

  “Don’t worry John, I promise I can’t magically grow those parts, even though I can shift into a cat,” Sabella teased him, although she was reeling from the level of commitment that Lilly just admitted too.

  The rest of the dinner improved, with some light conversation, and John allowed Lilly to borrow the car for a couple more days. Although, Sabella had decided to take Lilly car shopping. She had enough money she could buy one for her if she wanted to, if Lilly would let her. She didn’t mention it tonight, though. She figured she’d save that surprise for another day.

  ***

  Lilly couldn’t believe how terrible the dinner at her dad’s had begun, but how pleasant it had ended. Dad still had his fears, but Sabella and Lilly had been able to calm him down. In the end, he might have wished that Lilly had chosen a nice safe boy to date, but he’d respect her choice to be with Sabella.

  Sighing, Lilly looked over at Sabella and gave her a smile. “Thank you for doing that.”

  “Of course, sweetie,” Sabella said.

  She was quiet for the rest of the drive, but when Lilly navigated the car into Sabella’s driveway, Sabella asked, “So, will you move in with me?”

  “You haven’t figured out my answer to these questions yet? For someone who’s so brilliant, Sabella, you sure are dense when it comes to relationships.” Lilly leaned over and kissed her cheek before getting out of the car.

  She held up a hand and said, “Five minutes,” before running into the house. Sabella stayed in her seat in the car, a curious expression on her face.

  Lilly went inside the house. She reached into her bag and pulled out a handful of tiny candles. She made a trail of them leading from the front door all the way upstairs to the bedroom. She quickly lit them, one by one.

  Once inside the bedroom, she stripped off her clothes. She laid some toys out on the bed, including a brand new strap-on with a vibrating rod that would massage her clit and Sabella’s at the same time while they fucked each other with the strap-on. She put a few other toys out on the bed, too. Anal beads, butt plugs, vibrators of different sizes. Furry handcuffs.

  Then she leaned back, showing her naked self to the doorway, waiting for her lover.

  When Sabella walked into the room and saw Lilly perched among the assortment of toys, including a tiny bowl of catnip, she started to laugh.

  “You are something else, Lilly.”

  Lilly’s breath hitched as Sabella walked over to her, dropping to her knees. Lilly reveled in the feeling of Sabella’s face against her skin, and the soft, rumbling purr that vibrated against Lilly’s tummy.

  “I’m so happy,” Sabella murmured. “I know that we might have to face a lot of challenges in the future, but for today, for now, we can just enjoy each other and let our love grow, and see what the future brings the two of us.”

  “I’d love that,” Lilly said.

  Then Lilly pointed to the strap-on and watched Sabella’s red lips part with desire. “I’d love this, too,” Lilly said.

  “Do I get to wear it first?” Sabella whispered as she nipped at Lilly’s tender inner thighs.

  “If you really want to,” Lilly said, laughing. “I’m sorry my father freaked out like that. I know it wasn’t exactly the family dinner either of us had hoped for, but I had a feeling he wasn’t going to take it entirely well. Hence this…to make up for it.”

  Sabella smiled, and Lilly’s heart felt full to bursting at the beauty of it. “Lilly, sweetie, you don’t need to make up for your father. You didn’t do anything, and he had a lot of valid points. There is going to be risk for both of us in a relationship because of my history. But I’ll do my best to keep us safe, and take care of you, if you let me.”

  “Yes,” Lilly said. “As long as you let me take care of you, too.”

  Sabella nodded and started to lick Lilly’s knee in between leaving little love bites all over her thigh and working her way up between words.

  “Uh, Sabella, I can’t really think straight when you touch me like that,” Lilly said. “Just listen for a second, I want to say this once, and be done with this topic, at least for now.”

  Sabella sat back and stared up at Lilly. It was still hard for Lilly to focus, because Sabella was licking her lips and rubbing her own breasts, waiting for Lilly to speak.

  “Speak quickly, Lilly,” she told her, raising a brow. “I want to dump that catnip all over your breasts and bury my face in it.”

  Lilly laughed. “I’m willing to take the risk. I believe in you; I believe in us. I think we’ll find a way to make this work and I want a future with you.” Lilly pulled Sabella up for a kiss. “Now, I’ll wrestle you for the right to wear the strap-on first.”

  “You’re on.” Sabella said, a glint in her eye. She loved a good cat fight.

  The End

  Bonus Book: Biomechanical Hearts

  Stella was restless, though she'd committed to wrapping herself up in a blanket, curling up with a cup of coffee, and spending a good hour with a nice book and the stars floating past. Without stress. A window to the outside in Space Station Orcus was a luxury, but one that she could well afford. She liked to gaze at the stars while she pondered the truths of the Universe, the meaning of life, and the ever-present human desire for companionship – and why she couldn't escape that companionship. A strange thought for a bot seller such as herself, but anything was useful to pass the time while she waited for the delivery man, who, as usual, was late.

  As if hearing her musings from the cargo bay, a loud buzzing noise resounded. Stella stood up, stretching, thankful for the interruption from her meditations. She took her sweet time sipping her coffee as she made her way to the door and laid her hand over the unlocking mechanism to find her usual delivery man. He was waiting with a box that she'd guess was nearly twice his height. The delivery man, Carl, had always seemed to Stella like he must have been the result of a short tryst between a human and a bear – in both intellect and appearance. But no matter, four hours late or not, her goods had arrived.

  “Evening, Miss Stella, this is the fourteenth delivery this month alone. I take it business is booming?” He motioned to the large stack of crates in the back of his truck.

  Stella looked at him flatly. She thought by that point he would have given up with pleasantries, but most people seemed to think her irritability was charming. “I believe a 'good morning' is more apt now, Carl. The goods were due by twenty-two hundred hours yesterday. It is now two in the morning. I don't know if you’re trying to beat your own record for tardiness, but if this continues I’ll ask for a different delivery man next time.”

  Carl managed the grace – or sense – to at least look a bit chastised.

  “Aww shucks, Miss Stella. Don't be so mean! There was some trouble at customs. None of my fault, they just looked real interested in checking all bot cargo.”

  “I’ll wave it one last time. Do me the favor of unloading the crates in the back. I happen to have no staff left for the night, seeing you took so long.” She rolled her eyes as she stepped aside to allow him into her apartment.

  It was nearly four in the morning when the two finished wheeling the bots into Stella's cargo port, but she wouldn't sleep until the shipment was finally unloaded and documented.

  She waved Carl out of her apartment and even gave him a tip for all his help with the unloading. He might not have been punctual, but at least he had the muscles to help with carting the bots around. Once he was gone, she turned to admire her new stock.

  Thirty-five new bots in all. Some of her clients’ favorite models had made a return, and some were entir
ely new products fresh off the production line. It would now just be a matter of testing them. Stella wasn't one to let her toys go without ensuring quality. She was tired, but she figured she may as well use one to relieve her stress and help her get a night’s rest. Now to see which would catch her eye.

  The box she settled on was nearly twice her size, but that didn't matter to her. She managed to wheel it into her bedroom on her own.

  Stella's dealings had mostly to do with pleasure bots, modern marvels of robotics that looked and behaved identically to human beings with none of the extra human baggage. Like emotion or morals. Pleasure bots were made for one purpose, and that was to be entirely non-metaphorical sex machines. Stella found the bots infinitely more desirable for companionship than dealing with another person. And apparently, so did plenty of other people because, as Carl has mentioned earlier, business was booming.

  The box had been labeled RAM-69 (Alternatively F.I.S.T.O.); she figured one couldn't really expect a higher level of maturity from the men who engineered her products. At any rate, this model was brand new, and quite impressive as far as specimens went. At over six and a half feet of lean toned muscle, he cut a prominent figure. His hair was an exquisite platinum that begged to have her fingers run through it. And she did, standing on her toes to reach up and tousle the soft locks.

  Resting her hand on his bare chest for balance, she noted that he was quite warm, but he'd likely been tucked next to the engine, or may have been jostled and turned on during shipping. His face was angular and well proportioned, his eyes the green of forests only seen in photographs. Stella reminded herself to keep breathing, it wasn't often that she was so taken aback by her products, but this one was almost akin to a work of art. But the veritable Greek god in front of her was worth nothing if it did not perform its principal task. This was what Stella was so keen to now find out.

  “R.A.M.-69, your Mistress demands that you bring her fulfillment.” Stella sighed. She didn't know who kept coming up with these activation phrases, but they became more and more off-putting with time.