by Jade Waltz
Selena whimpered as she sped up.
Kaede matched her pace, wanting to be where her hands were, to be in her, filling her.
He envied her nestmates and knew if he was a part of her clan, he could pleasure her every night. The thought of being with her every night brought him back into a frenzy.
Selena’s noises picked up, her body shaking as a puddle of wetness formed beneath her.
The scent of her release hit him, triggering his own as his golden seed sprayed his bathroom floor. His deep breaths were like poison, each one fueling his need more.
If only he could…
< REI. OPEN THE DOOR. >
< ACCESS DENIED. >
He growled in frustration and looked down at his still throbbing cock.
A sigh escaped his lips as he grabbed it once more.
It was going to be a long night.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Selena
I stretched as a groan escaped my lips.
The lack of weighted restraints meant no one was wrapped around me. A quick glance at my threads showed they were all in separate parts of the space station, far away from me.
The sheets didn’t feel right under my naked…
I opened my eyes slowly as drowsiness coursed through me.
This room wasn’t mine. It was too small—too dark.
It was Kaede’s.
What had happened last night? How did I end up naked in Kaede’s bed?
Most importantly—what had happened between Kaede and me?
I covered my mouth.
Did I claim him? Was he in my clan now?
I instantly reached out to Xylo for the answer—he could read my thoughts at any time and would know what had happened.
“What happened last night?”
“Now isn’t the time for me to answer.” He paused. “I need to focus on reviewing these applications and start interviewing those interested in being part of your new research team.”
“Did I have sex with Kaede?” I shot back, feeling a sense of dread pass through me.
There was silence as he hesitated, trying to come up with an answer, which only added to the weight of the situation.
“We will discuss last night later today. It is best to do it in person,” Xylo explained.
“Where are our cubs?” I pleaded, needing to know they were taken care of.
“Pavryn has them. He planned to teach them basic hunter-prey games Aldawi cubs play. Odelm came with me, and Vikvez insisted on helping to fill the ranks,” he said, his mental voice sounded stressed, and I thought I sensed a hint of worry. “I really need to focus on this task at hand, Selena—”
“Fine.”
I pulled away, dropping his thread, feeling rejected.
If he wasn’t going to tell me, that meant the others weren’t either.
Were they upset with me about whatever I did?
I stared at the metallic ceiling and tried to piece together what happened.
Kaede’s sisters and I went to the club, some guy felt me up, and B threatened him. They led me to a table as I comforted my nestmates, then offered me a strange drink. I could recall Q being there, but it was foggy—everything was black and flashing lights.
How did I go from a girls’ night out to being naked in Kaede’s bed? Why didn’t I return to my clan’s bed?
Time passed, but I couldn’t come up with the answer. My mind was blank, only able to recall flashes of moments. Frustrated, I growled and sat up, studying the unfamiliar room.
My clothes were missing in the dark, bare room with nothing laying out, waiting to be stolen. Even though I didn’t care if others saw me, I couldn’t walk around the space station in the nude like other species who didn’t display their genitalia. Everyone who had swinging cocks or pleasing womanhoods covered them, some more than others.
Kaede had to have something to wear in his room that wasn’t a high-tech uniform or equipped with random objects only he would be capable of understanding how to use. But this was Kaede—everything had to have an alternative function, nothing could be basic with him.
There were a few locked chests against a wall and a dresser. Opening the drawers, I found to my disappointment that they were mostly bare, with only a few random articles of clothing thrown in haphazardly. I opened the bottom drawer to find a pair of black slacks and a royal purple dress shirt.
I sighed in relief. I could handle a shirt multiple sizes too large and slacks that needed a belt. Good thing there was a plain silver one in the second drawer.
Wearing my new outfit, I combed my hair with my fingers as I walked into the shared apartment space. Surprisingly, it was also bare of people and personal items.
“Hello?”
No reply.
I felt my wrist, instantly regretting its bareness.
I didn’t have my wristband nor my tablet to check the time and my messages. If my nestmates were awake and working, that meant I’d slept past lunch.
A sense of not belonging filled me. I wasn’t welcomed here. There had to be a reason why no one was around. Either something had happened, or they were called away. Or his sisters were upset about Kaede and me.
I was used to Kaede running away whenever things didn’t go as he had planned—but for no one to be home meant something.
“Hello? Anyone here?”
I sighed. Somehow, I messed up once again and pushed away not only Kaede but his sisters as well.
My nestmates were busy with their work and didn’t want to be bothered—at least, I shouldn’t bother them. Something happened last night to make Xylo uncomfortable enough to have to tell me in person.
Was I destined to have everyone leave me?
I walked to the Dreamdome in silence, ignoring the strange looks from others as I passed by.
To be honest, I didn’t care. They didn’t matter, and soon enough, I would be taken away to Destima, perhaps never to travel the stars again at the rate I was ruining everything.
I needed to not mess up the one goal they gave me—to update and design the new additions to Destima for my liking. I was the owner of the moon. It was my vision that needed to be graphed out for the dream-engineers to make any needed changes, then enter it into their fabricator before the Destiny landed.
Everything needed to be perfect.
The Dreamdome wasn’t in use. I smiled—perfect. No one to harass me as I worked in peace. I pressed my hand on the display, and the security system scanned both my hand and eyes, blinding me with its blue beamed light. The screen lit up green, and the sound of the main door opening filled the lobby.
“Welcome, Selena Darcaw.”
It felt weird hearing my somewhat new name attached to an even newer last name. It was only twenty-three days since I had woken up on the Destiny and met Xylo for the first time. I was just a series of numbers before then—only seen as an object to further the Yaarkins' future.
Now, I had others depending on me to make the right choices.
What if I failed? I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time—I was just using whatever I’d studied and applying that knowledge in current situations. There was no room for failure. Not when there were members of the CEG who wanted me to fail and wanted to find a way to strip everything I graciously gained over the last month, for their own benefit.
I took a deep breath, needing to clear my thoughts as I relaxed in the massive chair.
Zirene had explained everything when he took us through his dreamscape. It couldn’t be hard to do. He gave me full access to the Dreamdome, so he had to believe I was fully capable of doing this on my own. We had met in the dreamscape for the last nine years, so it had to be similar.
All I needed to do was relax and trust the Dreamdome would record what I did in the dreamscape. I wasn’t traveling with anyone else, so there would be no reason for me to send or receive any mental threads.
I hissed. I forgot to ask my nestmates how to send or receive mental threads. Mwe believed I could do s
o, but I just hadn’t learned how to do so yet.
Perhaps I could later tonight. I needed to plan dinner with Mwe as well.
A groan escaped my lips. When would everything settle down? With everything that needed to be accomplished before we left tomorrow night, there was pressure to do everything correctly and not waste any time because one thing gone awry could spiral into a multitude of issues.
And I felt like I had caused many of the problems.
That needed to change.
Once we settled on Destima, I would learn to carry my weight better and be the leader everyone needed.
The lights started to dim, warning me to relax.
I scrambled and closed my eyes, forcing myself to take deep breaths, willing my heartbeat to slow. The silence in the room was broken by my struggle to calm my unstable breathing.
Moments passed, and I waited, confused why nothing was happening…
Suddenly, my consciousness slipped into the familiar blackened space, where I hovered for twice the length of time before it thrust me into my dreamscape world.
“What was that?” I asked myself. The sounds of splashing waves answered my call as the Destima’s familiar landscape came into view. I willed myself to appear above the largest island and studied the layout closer. Now that I wasn’t rushed, I could take my time and design the new layout for the island.
From what I picked up by eavesdropping on Xylo’s conversations, the current population on Destima wasn’t capable of reproducing—at least, there weren’t any females reported of conceiving. This meant the current layout needed improvement. I didn’t want segregation between the demi-humans and the Circuli, yet I understood the comfort of being near familiar folk.
The main island had a mountain in the center where Zirene had built my property, which overlooked the three main islands. On the north and south sides of the island were shallow lagoons, protected by the atoll surrounding the whole island. This meant I could create buildings in the water to expand the space available.
My goal was to have two separate districts—the north, housing for permanent residents, and the south, entertainment. The lower parts of the main island would have the necessities—the moon’s main hospital, a research center, Xylo’s study hall, a galactic academy, the Circuli population’s hatchery, security and government offices, and enough space to build anything else needed. The small spaceport could remain, along with the fishing docks. I would replace everything else with warehouses for incoming and outgoing goods.
I would design a high-speed tram system running along the inner shore of the atoll and crisscrossing the center island, effectively making travel along the island easier. The north side lagoon was large enough to have twelve housing apartment buildings circling a central social hub. There could be four main pathways connecting the hub to land, three to the main island, and one to the atoll—each ending at tram stations. Each building would have a lower floor filled with cafes, restaurants, and stores to give the occupants basic services with no need to go into the entertainment district. Each apartment would be fully customizable—using the new living building concept Zirene wanted to test out before implementing it on his next generation of ships—and have a personal deck suitable for whatever the renters needed.
There would be a garage and storage in the basement for those who needed it. I didn’t want the moon to be filled with vehicles but knew citizens would need an easy way to transfer goods—and I highly doubted anyone would have the tech Kaede had, especially civilians.
I wanted to use the same circular format I used in the housing district for the entertainment district, but instead of apartment complexes, it would allow for the freedom for markets and such.
Odelm deserved his music hall, and it should hug the southeastern quadrant. I knew that I wanted it to be shaped like a flower floating along the surface of the water—similar to Earth’s lotus flower. He may not be a Wudox, but a glass dome surrounded by wings for galleries and a theater would be both functional and gorgeous.
Everything about the island would be designed for sleekness and beauty—while being functional and practical.
Art was something the CEG species were slowly forgetting as they battled to have better tech and advantages over others. If I could make Destima a hub for artists to gather, put on their shows, and sell their work, I would be happy. There would be enough jobs created to keep the island stabilized, along with the mining company.
The Destiny’s disabled members would have a place to work, providing for their clan while the others defended Zirene’s star system’s territory in rotations, leaving their nestqueens on Destima. The nestqueens could conduct their research, allowing their bodies to adjust to being planetside and being able to cycle with time.
This was my vision for Destima.
Gathering lost souls looking for a place to call their own reinforced my feeling that I was doing the right thing. There were others out there looking for a safe place to call their own—to be free from the fear of being used or abused. A place to have the freedom to be who they were and grow a business and a family.
I wanted Destima to be that place.
The demi-humans. The exiled Circuli. The Zero G-Spot workers.
Things may take time to settle, build, and develop, but I could see it becoming a booming place.
I glanced at the unused island. At the moment, no plans came to me about what I should do with it. Perhaps an expansion of the main island in the future or maybe a place for my children to build something. I chuckled. That would be many years from now. I needed to focus on the here and now.
A wave of dizziness hit me, knocking me from the sky. I fell fast, reaching toward the sun as it got farther and farther away. Closing my eyes to brace myself for impact, I waited. When none came, I opened them.
Gone was my familiar tropical paradise.
Instead, I was strapped down to an experiment table with bright operation lights blinding me.
“Brother!” a tenor voice screamed.
“Who are you?” I asked, confused. “What is this?”
The table shook, and a cluster of shimmering clear wires wiggled into view, moving toward my head. I tried jerking away but could only thrust my head back and forth.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
The clear wires halted above my shoulder, each strand acting independently from the others.
“This is my dreamscape. You don’t have permission to be here,” I shouted.
“You are the one doing the invading,” he growled. “Did the Vhalxt send you?”
I tried to locate his voice, but it seemed to have no source. The light was preventing me from making out where I was and who was here with me. Only the dancing fibers let me know I wasn’t alone.
“Vhalxt, who?” I asked, confused.
“The Vhalxt,” he replied in annoyance. “I know all the Verya in this galaxy, and they are all under my command.”
“I am not a Vhalxt or Verya.”
“You lie,” he barked.
“Why would I lie?”
“Because they all do to get their way!” he yelled. “Give me back my brother!”
“I have no one!” I screamed. “I don’t know what you are talking about!”
“If you won’t give me my brother back, I will force you to.”
Suddenly, the wires fell away, out of sight.
A wave of dizziness washed over me. My head throbbed as my vision blurred. Figures faded into view, blocking the bright lights above.
“You were correct. She trusted the bond you share to protect her,” A robotic voice from my past chuckled.
“It was easy to persuade her to listen to us,” Odelm chuckled. “Between Xylo and I, we were able to easily misdirect her thoughts and feelings.”
I shook my head in disbelief. This was all a dream—a nightmare. They couldn’t be here. This couldn’t be real.
“And now we know she can fully adapt to any species. We can introduce her to all of our priso
ners,” Xylo beamed. “It would be easy to capture more now that the CEG believes all of their threats are gone.”
“Then we will harvest all of her eggs and inseminate them with Yaarkin DNA, altering them to fulfill our original goal with the creation of a new generation,” the Yaarkin explained. “Her offspring will conquer the universe, making the Yaarkins the new dominant species.”
“Will they be enough to defeat the Vhalxt?” V’dim asked.
“Of course they will. We didn’t do all of this for nothing,” Z’fir said.
“We will soon be free from her,” Xylo agreed. “No longer embarrassed by having a nestqueen who isn’t a Circuli.”
I opened my mouth, but words refused to come out. Gasping, I felt my throat closing on itself, making it harder to breathe. Tears streamed down my face as I struggled for air.
What was the point of living when everything you believed in was a lie?
Chapter Thirty
Zirene
“Has the threat been terminated?” Zirene growled.
The Fab Five were kneeling in front of him, Kaede and Bryeca in front of the other four, all six unable to meet his eyes.
Good.
They had failed and should be ashamed of themselves. It was an embarrassment that someone could easily get something past them. They were at the brink of war, and his special agents had decided to take a night off, and Selena had paid the price for their failure.
“Yes, Sire,” Kaede whispered. “For now.”
“For now?” Royak asked, his voice hard.
“The one responsible offered his secrets for us to spare his life,” Bryeca explained.
“And did you accept the prisoners deal?” Zirene snarled.
“No, Sire.” Kaede failed to mute his chuckle. “Prey doesn’t get the right to pick their punishment.” He smirked. “He told us what we wanted to know, and I had the pleasure to give him a dose of his own torture… before I injected him with my Vusyte and killed him.”
“It should have been my killing blow,” Bryeca muttered.