by Aya DeAniege
“I did,” I said. “He had more colour, looked more alive.”
“Yeah, but he agreed to breeding after I told him to,” Rachel protested.
“It’s possible that an Alpha’s daughter can demand daddy breed,” I said to her before I turned to Gerrid. “Right?”
“That’s very possible,” Gerrid asked. “Genetically speaking, Blane is a prime example of an Alpha. He’s got those Higher Blood looks, but he’s never reached like that. Alex reached for him. One dose of the Mother pheromone and he’s plumb ready to do whatever is necessary. A father is important, but so is a mother. Possibly more important than the father for an Alpha because we’re programed to accept another, to submit to him and be raised by him. Otherwise no Alpha would have made it to adulthood in the previous ages.”
“You want to dose him again?” I asked.
“Would you mind?” he asked.
I considered, then I shook my head.
“No, I don’t mind. The problem there being, you dose him, it works, and then he eats you.”
“No, it’s outside his personality,” Gerrid said. “Will he hunt me down and fuck me in front of you? Yes, that’s a very real possibility. But he won’t kill either of us.”
“Why would you do that for Blane?” Rachel asked.
“That is a good question, Rachel,” I said. “Why, Gerrid, would you do that for Blane?”
“I’m not, actually,” he said. “I’m doing it for Morgan.”
“Weirdest reason ever,” Rachel and I said as one.
We considered one another, then focused on Gerrid.
“He’s not in your line of work,” I said.
“But he is competition,” Rachel added.
“So why?” I asked.
“Why would you help Morgan?”
“Sweet babies on a cloud in the sky,” Gerrid exclaimed, looking between us. “Can you two please do that to other people and more often?”
“Answer.”
“Now.”
“I’ll take that as a yes, you can do it on purpose,” he said. Then he sighed out. “I’m doing it for Morgan because I’m doing it for Alex. Look, when all this went down, when the civil war started? That was me. I’m the one who did that test. I’m the one who accidentally discovered that we were all carriers of the G14. It was my fault. By Alpha law, I was to be put to death.
“Alex stopped that. He told them otherwise, he stomped his feet, held his breath and threatened to kill his own child to remove the new genetics just to keep me alive. I can’t repay Alex. He’s obviously passed away. According to our world, that debt then moves to Morgan, as Alex’s heir. And the only family he has left is Blane.”
“You should shorten that,” I said. “And just say that Alex saved your life, so you’re going to do a good thing for Blane, his lover. Not back and forth.”
“By law though, I owe the debt to Morgan.”
“Who may want to ride you,” Rachel said. “Why are all Alphas bisexual?”
“Evolutionary advantage,” Gerrid said. “Fuck your competition into the ground, but also companions. I don’t quite know the whole thing, there are a lot of theories. What I like is the one that states that Alphas arose and some men submitted to them. The Alphas loved and respected the women in their lives and wouldn’t break them, but it’s in us to seek that connection. We couldn’t always find it in our breeders. But in a man, we could. We took to breaking our companions to create the connection that we would have with a good woman. The men were then bred, because a good Alpha breeds his good companions. Bit like a dog, I suppose, but it works. Which results in more like them and such.”
“Are you saying that because we’re standing here?” I asked.
“No, I honestly believe that Alphas saw men as beneath them and wanted the women to stand as their equal. You two? I would never try to tell you anything besides what I believe. You might not like it, but you’re less likely to gut me with my own tongue.”
“Just because I grabbed him by the tongue when he wagged it at me, doesn’t mean I was planning on gutting him with it,” Rachel said.
“Wait, did one of you tell me that?” I asked. “Because I’ve wanted to do that to Owen.”
“Not really,” Gerrid said. “Though that is a favourite saying of mine. I may have said that under the stairs at the masquerade.”
I’ll give you the world, even if I have to gut him with his own tongue.
That’s right, that was where that saying had come from.
Gerrid and I had been wrapped up with one another under the steps. I had accepted his attention and then, in the aftermath, had come back to myself for a moment. Just a moment, and found myself by such an attractive man that I thought I had been dreaming.
“You and me have to talk.”
“Rachel, go find someone else to bother,” Gerrid said.
Chapter Ten
Rachel blew a raspberry, but then left. I kept my eyes on Gerrid as she did, refusing to look away.
“She’s not as mature as you are,” Gerrid said after a long, long moment of silent. “A great deal more childish for certain.”
“You and me, under the steps,” I said.
“Have you remembered any of that?” he asked.
“Sort of.”
“Okay, I wasn’t going to talk about it otherwise,” he said. “It’s… we’ve all been counselled by someone who deals with grief professionally. If you don’t remember it, we’re to avoid it as much as possible because it might cause trauma.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Uh, Okay, you know about Rachel and Morgan?”
“And Blane threw a masquerade to stop that all,” I said. “I know that.”
Rachel had told me that. But there was a great deal that she didn’t know, like what had happened under the steps or after she had passed out. None of the others had been eager to tell me, but if they had been told not to by Blane, that would make sense. Whoever the professional had been would have to answer some questions, if I ever got my hands on them.
“Owen brought you to sniff Rachel out. Except, I don’t know, you were stable for a moment, I guess. You found out which one was Rachel and cornered her while pointing out Daniella.”
I’ll save myself, again.
That was where that thought had come from. I had found something, maybe found myself in the masquerade and had taken control of the situation. I had lied to Owen, to the man who held everything over me and I had found myself a way out. I had spotted Rachel and then followed her under the steps. In a little room where no one else could see, we had talked and then a masked man had entered.
I looked over Gerrid.
“And?” I asked.
“I found two women under the steps. I didn’t know Owen had brought you right away. A companion, yes, but not you. And then I smelled you. Oh my. You smelled like Rachel, but wet. I know what a wet woman smells like and you? Oh, you were wet at the sight of me.”
“That’s not unusual for you,” I said.
“No, it’s not. I still thought you were Rachel for the first bit. Admittedly it was more like mid-sex that I realized my mistake. When I met her at the mall, she had been all defensive. She owned herself and no one else. But you? Mm. It wasn’t until I was sliding inside you, my hand running up your skirt, that I noticed the difference.”
“You fucked my sister!”
“No, but I did think I was fucking your sister,” Gerrid said with a small smile. “I may have told her otherwise. You know, to avoid the fight with Morgan. But, oh, finding out it was you instead? I had a moment of panic. It would have been within Owen’s rights to demand that Blane have me killed. Then it all fell out like it did.”
“Did you promise me anything?”
“No,” he said. “Nothing more than an Alpha might promise those under him.”
“Gerrid.”
“Nothing more than an Alpha might promise those under him. Rebecca, I know better than that.”
“And,
what do you want of me?”
“A long life, happiness, and a big family.”
“Gerrid,” I said sternly.
“I want everything to do with you. I want to be the one to father your future children, I want to be at your side.”
I sighed out through my nose and then pinched it for good measure. I let out a little, annoyed sound. Then I straightened and looked at Gerrid. He watched me as I scowled at him.
“How can I make you see that?” he asked.
“It makes no sense. For an Alpha to talk like that to someone he can’t break and make certain they stay.”
“Of course, it makes no sense,” Gerrid said. “A man lays eyes on a woman and just decides she’s the one? That makes no damned sense. When I looked at Rachel, when I met her in the mall, I fell in love with her. I wanted to posses and claim her, even if I had to take down the ApEzra household to posses her. Whatever I had to do.
“And then, at the masquerade as I thought I had finally won, finally owned her, was finally the victor, I found myself in the arms of a woman who was everything Rachel wasn’t, and that cannot be denied.”
“I can’t have children until Blane decides,” I countered.
“I fully trust that he will only do that until your body has fully recovered. Let’s say about two years from now.”
“What if I never recover?”
“Never recover? You’re a young woman,” Gerrid said. “I would be older, of course, but it would still happen.”
“And you want me to have your children?”
He considered. Silently, quietly, Gerrid considered me, then forced himself to relax and look away. He sighed out quietly and gave his head a shake.
“See, a problem,” I said.
“Not a problem,” he said. “The problem there lies in your answer. I want you to carry my children, if you wanted to. I still have to have children, it’s the law we follow. Therein lies the complication.”
“If I don’t want children, I have to accept that you will have another woman,” I said.
“Exactly. It’s law, and I don’t want to change that law. I’m sorry, I want children of my own.”
“Everything for me, except abandoning breeding.”
“I shouldn’t have to give up everything that I am and believe in for another person. I’m sorry. And I don’t expect you to give up everything you believe in. Blane has had great success, we think, with fertilizing eggs in a lab. In this lab, actually. I need children, I don’t need to put my dick in someone to achieve that.”
“You are so weird.”
“One, this is not a romance novel. Two, if it was, I’d be screaming all kinds of obscenities. Do you know how misleading those things are? One person should not change everything about them for another. You do not consume my identity. I do not consume yours.”
“Uh… Gerrid.”
“What?”
“I woke up with no memory to a genetically superior being claiming me. Your dick was in my mouth before I knew what was going on.”
He smiled at the reminder. He even looked away and wiped at his bottom lip with his thumb, as if trying to wipe away his smile, but I notice a lack of apology.
“I said this wasn’t a romance, not erotica. I think I’d enjoy being an erotica character.”
“If this was an erotica, there’d be more sex, less narcissistic whining,” I snapped out.
“You’re right, there would be,” Gerrid said, standing.
He approached and wrapped an arm around me, tugging me close as I opened my mouth to protest. There was still plenty of space to escape, I could have slipped out of his arm and headed straight for the door.
I didn’t want to escape. I wanted to stay there and see how far this went, what happened, and what he planned to do to me.
Our lips locked and he explored my mouth, tongue delving deeper as I gave in and relaxed against him. His arms tightened and I tried so desperately not to moan.
Gerrid’s hands roamed down my sides, sliding across my backside and grasping firmly as the kiss hesitated. He pulled away just slightly, a smile tugging at his lips as he looked down at me with half-lidded eyes. Gerrid’s hands moved from my hips and roved upward.
Pressed against his hot chest, I peered up at him. We held one another and simply stood like that. Watching each other and wondering what the other would do.
After too long of a silence, I sighed out, realizing that he was waiting for some direction that I wasn’t giving because I hadn’t noticed that I was leading this little adventure of ours.
“I do, you know, have, like, something you could deal with,” I said finally.
With a quick look down, and an eyebrow raising, daring him to say no, I met Gerrid’s eyes. His eyes trailed up from where I had motioned. It was a slow movement, one that seemed drawn out to me, but I waited patiently as our eyes locked once more.
He seemed to fight off a smile as he moved without hesitation.
I watched as Gerrid sunk down to his knees. Slowly, I set my hand on his shoulder and pushed him the rest of the way down. With my free hand, I slipped a thumb under the hem of my pants and pushed them down. Gerrid rose up just slightly, a smile turning his lips upward.
“Now, you be good,” I said, moving that tree hand to tangle in his hair. “And don’t you dare bite.”
Gerrid leaned forward, readily headed to his goal. His tongue slipped over me, wet and hot. There was a strength behind that muscle of his as he made a little sound. He raised ever so slightly more and seemed to suckle at me, tongue lapping eagerly over my flesh.
I tightened my grip on his head and angled him just a little to the side. He resisted for a moment, then he licked at the new angle and pressed tighter against me. His hands grabbed my hips, fingers digging into my flesh as he nuzzled against me.
His tongue knew the way of things. While he teased at me, he didn’t delve deeper. He lapped at the edges of my folds and attended to me eagerly. It sent little waves of pleasure roiling through my body, boiling down to my bones.
I shuddered out a little breath, my nails digging into Gerrid’s shoulder. My instinct was to move up and away, but when I tried, his hands on my hips held me down, dragged me closer. I found myself gripping the edge of the table behind me for support, trying to keep my feet under me even as I wanted to collapse.
“Oh, Gerrid,” I moaned.
He continued with renewed devotion. His fingers worked in and out of my flesh, tightening and releasing as he seemed to try to get closer to me.
I moaned again, unable to block out the sensations. I sunk just a little lower, feeling the weight of his head against me as I moaned again.
“Gerrid,” I moaned. “Oh, Gerrid.”
I heard a little sound.
Him saying something against me, perhaps. That little hum sent the inevitable roiling wave that was followed by the crashing explosion that was my orgasm. My hands slipped, I fell, and my head hit that table or desk or whatever it was I had been leaning against.
All I know is that I ended up on the floor, seeing flashes of light with an agonizing pain in my head and that dulling to my other senses from my orgasm.
Gerrid’s head was pressed against my hip, mouth very close to its goal. He sighed out and moved his head slightly. He moved upward, setting his head on my stomach instead. His hands reached upward just a little, and he yawned, then made a little, happy sound.
“Gerrid?”
“We have got to stop having sex, and actually talk,” he said with a loud groan.
“Yeah, that’s what normal people do,” I said.
“Or…”
“Or?” I asked.
“We keep having sex every time something comes up,” he said.
“No, that won’t work,” I said. “Let’s do basics at least. Favourite colour?”
“Red.”
“Purple,” I countered. “But my wedding colour will be blue because everyone and their dog has the colour purple for their wedding. And I mean
everyone.”
“Dog, or cat?”
“Never had either. I don’t know. You?”
“Companion,” he said ever so seriously.
I chuckled just a little. My fingers worked their way through his hair as he made a little sound at the back of his throat.
“Companion was not an option,” I said.
“I know, but I don’t like cats or dogs,” he said.
“Coffee or tea?”
“Tea.”
“Coffee, oh god, do we have nothing to agree on?”
“We have some,” Gerrid said.
“Like what? You support anal sex.”
“Hey, get a dildo, put it up my ass and try to tell me you hate the reaction of me mewling at your feet, begging for more, okay?” he countered sternly.
“Makes it sound like I’m not good enough.”
“I’m programed for bisexuality, and you wearing a strap on? That’d just about get me off in seconds,” Gerrid said quickly.
“Not trying to talk me into it?” I asked
“If you ever grant me that? I’ll understand what it means,” he said. “Until then, it’s not my place. I like being had. Not as much as I like my penis in a woman, but still, it’s pretty close.”
“Why?”
“Why do you like cock in your mouth?” he countered. “Wanting that doesn’t… I don’t know, it doesn’t change who or what I am.”
“But you’re talking to a woman about having the same thing up your ass.”
Gerrid was quiet for a moment.
“I can see why that might insult your pride. I suppose, I just want to be clear up front.”
He sat up, hands slipping to my pants as he tugged them up and patted me gently. I watched him do as much, looking him over as he seemed to sigh out silently.
“I’m an Alpha, Rebecca. No matter what our connection is, I want a companion. I want a male under me, crying out as I have him hard and fast, as he breaks with me inside of him. That’s what I want. You want an explanation for that?