by Viola Grace
His eyes narrowed. “Say that again when you finish the scans.”
She grinned. “Don’t tease.”
The researchers were nervous as they started running scans, attached the monitors, and checked the feedback they were getting from it. The probe was thin, but it was attached to her, and it was about to get a workout.
Torun underwent a round of scans, and he was fitted with monitors as well. They were put in an observation room, and she turned to look at him. “Uh, researchers, I am gonna need some more clothes.”
He hadn’t bothered getting dressed after the monitors were put in place, and he definitely wanted to get started.
She looked into Torun’s eyes, and he growled at her. She held up her hands. “Now, Torun, it hasn’t been that long.”
“Long enough. You worried me, Zera.” He stalked toward her, and she backed up against the med bed. He lifted her and set her on the bed and grabbed her wrists, she heard and felt the clicks, and she was shackled to the bed in a semi-reclining position.
He threaded his hand in her hair, made a fist, and kissed her. “I believe I need an apology for worrying me.”
She inwardly laughed her ass off but outwardly said, “I am sorry for worrying you, sir.”
He bit her lip, and she turned serious as energy started humming in her veins.
Zera leaned up to him and met his tongue, stroke for stroke. When his hands came to the front of her shirt, she was unsurprised when the next sound was a wet tear. He dragged his lips over her neck, carefully supporting her head. He had to go around the monitor tabs on her chest but eventually got down to her breasts, where he nuzzled and licked at her skin. She whined gently as he nipped at her and muttered, “They don’t need to see all the foreplay.”
He lifted his head with his eyes gleaming. “They don’t?” He slid his hand down her belly and stroked the slick heat of her sex. “Ah, they don’t.” Torun lifted her hips off the exam table and slid the scrubs off, and her slippers fell with them.
He made a deep humming sound in his throat as he stepped in between her thighs, gripping her beneath one knee as he fitted himself to her. The first thrust made her flinch, but the second filled her body with pleasurable fire. She looked up at him, and he smiled. “Just like old times.”
She huffed. “You were a lot less cocky then.”
He withdrew and went deep. “I was afraid of hurting you.”
“That fear has passed?”
He chuckled. “That fear has passed.”
She draped her free leg around his hips. “Then, get to it.”
He kept a hand supporting her back, another holding her thigh, and he started to drive into her in earnest. He thudded into her hard; the wet sounds of bodies slapping punctuated their groans and the high sighs. She tensed and shrieked as she came. His body continued to hammer at hers until he grinned, and then, he withdrew and flipped her over.
She heard him murmur, “I bet they didn’t put a probe in here.”
She winced as he slid into her ass and wound a hand in her hair, pulling her head back and causing a wave of tension that caused her to constrict around him. He felt even larger in her ass, and she struggled against him, causing the roar and flex inside her. She felt the spurt inside her, and he moved slowly as he was undoing her manacles.
He kissed the back of her neck and licked at the sweat. “I wonder what they will make of that.”
She sighed and pushed up against the med bed. “Well, since you are still inside me, I think they are still collecting data.”
He kept moving inside her and reached around her to stroke her clit. “In that case, you should give them something more to analyze.”
She dug her hands into the padding of the bed, and as she got closer to the edge, fabric tore and metal bent. She groaned as he guided her to the edge, held her there, and then tipped her over. She shouted, and the bed under her buckled.
“Aw, little tense, were we, pet?”
She shuddered as he pulled out of her ass, and she was held up by his arms around her. She gasped when he kissed her neck and started to lick slowly. “We aren’t on our own, and I think the researchers have seen what they needed to. I just want to get dressed and get back to my cell while I wait for the results of the tribunal.”
His hands tightened on her. “I want you to stay.”
“You always want me to stay. We both need to go.”
“I have nowhere I have to be.”
She snorted as he nuzzled her neck and continued the slow licking. “Right, neither of us are getting together unless there is a shower in between and a few less monitor pods.”
“Spoilsport.”
“Well, since your sport involves two balls and a stick, yeah, I am a spoilsport.”
“Ah, but I do love getting it in goal and going for extra points.” He chuckled next to her ear.
A knock at the door got their attention. An abashed intern said, “There is a shower available, and Researcher Zera, here are some clothes.”
It took a certain amount of balls to walk into a room with two naked actives. The intern put the clothing down on the table near the door and escaped.
Zera dropped the shreds of her top and started removing monitors. The first one to go was the slender one inside her. She set it on the table, and then, purple hands started to take the rest of them off her.
She murmured, “Shower now and play later, sir.”
He laughed and left the room.
She groaned and stretched as she got the last of the pods off. The interior com opened. “Miss Zera, there is a small shower in the corner where you can clean up.”
“Um, why? I can just shower and get dressed.”
The voice was embarrassed. “He told us that if you weren’t naked and waiting when he got back, he would try it with us.”
She laughed and took the cool shower before drying off and hearing the door open and close. When she saw that it was definitely Torun, she jumped into his arms with her legs around his waist. “Hey, baby.”
He chuckled. “Naughty little miss. What have you been doing since I have been gone?”
“In the last five minutes? Just scrubbing up.”
“Are you clean now?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Mostly.”
“Excellent. Me too. Hold on.”
He slid into her and fucked her standing up. The observers were making notes on the other side of the glass, and she blew them a kiss right before she gasped as the first release hit her.
The observers were in for a varied and detailed show.
Chapter Eighteen
Zera was carried back to her cell and tenderly tucked in by a smug Torun.
“You cheated,” was all she could mumble.
“They had to get their data. I was just giving them a large sample.” He grinned.
“We took the monitors off.”
“The room was rigged with sensors.”
She stuck her tongue out at him; her body hummed with satisfaction. She chuckled. “We totally destroyed that room.”
“We did.”
“Did they mention their conclusions to you?”
“You are chatty when you are exhausted. I didn’t know.”
She snorted. “You are rarely around when I am coming down.”
“Ah, I have reason to believe that that will change.”
She was suddenly awake. “What?”
“The tribunal is taking the findings of our interactions into account, and they wish to keep you protected. Since there is no one better than me for that, they are looking at putting you under a version of protected arrest.”
“For how long?”
“Until you cease being useful to the program.”
She sat up. “What? No fucking way.”
“That is what they have said.”
“Delightful. They are about to find themselves out of all kinds of tech.”
He frowned. “What?”
“Do you remember my day job as a researcher? All the tec
h that the teams wear? All the non-lethal weapons and tech that the peacekeepers wear? That is all me. I have gotten all of the major supply contracts over the last five years. My companies design them all. It would be a shame if I became less than creative or shut down those branches of Z-Tech.”
He smiled. “You would do that, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course. You know me well. Hell, you know me best of all, but I do not like being hounded, pursued, or cornered. They will not put me under house arrest for the rest of my life and whore me out when they want to give one of their actives a boost. I decide. Legit citizen here. Some of the actives are just jackasses, and I don’t want them near me or any of my team. Power does not make someone a good person.”
“I know, Zera, but think about it. We could be together.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I would love that, but you are on an international team, and if I am locked to you, where do I go when you are out of town. Into a box? Into a cell? I am a free citizen of this state. I have the rights of a citizen. I am a registered body-hopping active. No one bothered to ask what happened after I did that.”
He chuckled. “You acquired your copying skills.”
“Yes. I went into a body and came out with the copy activation.”
“Who was it?”
She chuckled. “He’s dead now, so don’t worry about it.”
“Vencorin.”
“Yeah. Did you meet?”
“Yes, but he wasn’t quite the same style of copycat that you are.”
She shrugged. “I am one of a kind.”
“Yes, sweet. You are, now get some rest. The tribunal is going to speak with you when you are a little less—”
“Sticky?”
He grinned. “We took a shower, remember?”
She hummed happily. “Oh, yeah. That is where I got sticky again.”
He kissed her head. “Sleep, you naughty creature.”
She grinned and laughed. “Bossy, sir.”
“You know it.”
He eased her flat and made sure she was covered before he left. She watched him go and surrendered to warm, achy sleep.
She was given a team suit to dress in for the verdict. She was wearing purple and black and had a feeling that it was significant. It had a low-keyhole neckline and a high collar. She ruffled her fingers through her hair and extended her hands for cuffs. The embarrassed keeper shook his head. “They are not necessary today, researcher.”
She raised her brows and nodded. “Fair enough. Shall we?”
He nodded, and there was a blush in his cheeks. They were walking the hall, and he kept looking at her.
“Somewhere on a security monitor, there is porn starring Torun and me, right?”
“Uh, yeah. I haven’t seen actives having sex before. Your eyes glow.”
“Oh, yeah. That is a power-restraint thing. You are a peacekeeper?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Well, there is way more un-active porn out there than you can imagine. Why so impressed by a little connection?”
“You crushed the table, researcher.”
“It’s hard to be that wild and not touch your partner, but to do that, you need to keep control of yourself. The cuffs stop me from going too crazy too soon, but once they come off, I am allowed to go a little crazy. Pleasure is always a fun pastime. With a partner you trust, anything goes.”
“Do you have any pointers?”
“Ease into things. Never go too fast, and if you want to flirt with an active, tell them that you like their personality. They get comments about bodies and heroism all the time. They need to know that someone likes their laugh, the way they hold a cup, the tilt of their head while they are thinking. The things that give an insight into their personality. That is how Torun seduced me, and I told him I really liked purple.”
He chuckled in surprise. “That was bold.”
“He thought so. We went for ice cream and talked. Stick to public venues if they like, but avoid places they can strand you until you trust them.”
His eyes widened. “Right. Good point.”
Instead of going to the chamber, they were heading to one of the greater halls. “Where are we going?”
“There were those who requested permission to witness the tribunal’s decision. There are several team members, a few corporate heads, and a governor’s security detail complete with a governor.”
She felt heat creep into her cheeks. “Ah, I had forgotten about her.”
“So, you are bisexual?”
She shrugged. “People need affection, attention, and touch. Gender or sexual preference only chooses where it is most readily available. You can seek pleasure from anyone that you trust, and those aspects will grow. I care about the people. Their bodies are just the housings for their personality. I am more omnisexual than anything else. I will screw any shape of sentient being with a good personality.”
“So, personality matters?”
They rounded a corner, and the entryway was lined with familiar faces, male and female, who nodded politely and blocked the reporters who were pushing and trying to get in for a better look at her.
She muttered to her escort, “Now I understand the suit.”
He grinned, and they walked the channel to the tribunal hall where every seat was taken up with her patrons, the patrons of other escorts, and a few of her friends. Khytten and Salat were standing together in a corner, his arms around her protectively.
Khytten was dressed neck to toe in black leather, and Salat was wearing matte black. They were an adorable couple. Zera smiled and waved at Khytten, Khytten waved back. Salat leaned and spoke in her ear, and Khytten blushed.
Zera grinned and walked up to the spot set aside for her. She had passed half a dozen figures wearing deep hoods with gleaming masks under them. Her employees had shown up for the event.
She faced the tribunal, and the men and woman were looking flustered. It was probably due to the dead silence in the space. No one was speaking.
The spokeswoman spoke, “Researcher Zera, while our teams would like to continue examining you and your skills, we understand that your importance to our community and those of neighboring countries is something that cannot be disregarded. We ask that you resume your normal activities and report in on a weekly basis to be monitored and scanned.”
Zera smiled. “No. I do not have a condition that requires monitoring. I am stable, and it is the program’s refusal to accept that an active can have cumulative aspects that has gotten us here today. That, and the legal termination of two know criminals.”
“Ah, right. We have issued you the bounty for those two men and that portion of the case is closed.”
“So, we are dealing with me, then?”
“Correct.”
“May I address the assembled?”
The tribunal shrugged. The speaker said, “Please.”
Zera raised her voice. “Who is here due to Z-Tech?”
About twenty persons stood up.
“Now, who is here due to the Blind Date Corporation?”
Close to a hundred of the assembled stood.
“So, these are the people who will be affected by what you say next. If I am turned into a lab rat, I will simply fold up all shops, discontinue all energy research, and disband the Blind Date Corporation, which up until this point had a plan for an entertainment venue at Uklanda Beach.”
That had a murmur of interest through the room. It was two countries over, but the beach was legendary for its peace, tranquility, and nightlife.
Once the room was quiet, the spokeswoman said, “You would hold this stuff hostage?”
She grinned. “Of course not. I would kill it completely and salt the earth where these programs had been. Do not look so shocked. If you had been doing your job, helping those in need, passing exams, and creating useful tech all your adult life, and then someone says that now we want to supervise you at all times, you might get a little irritated. If you have been sharing your body and
the boosting effect for years, you might get mad at the governing body that wants to flip the script and whore you out to the team members they think deserve a boost. I am a woman with choice, free will, and the ability to choose who I share with, and I choose carefully.”
Zera smiled. “So, I either go free right now, or I don’t, but the programs will come to a screeching halt if I don’t leave here when this chat is over.”
The tribunal looked down at their reports, and then, the gathered folks started radiating hostility.
One of the men spoke, “We can just start the escort program up ourselves.”
“Can you? Can you match emotional needs as well as physical? Can you find the one person hiding in the population who has a desperate need but a powerful talent? Can you gain their confidence and promise them anonymity? When they freak out at the first date, will you hold their hand, give them a briefing? Will you teach them how to relax when their instincts are screaming at them to run because their date could tear them in half? Will you check on them after the date when they are wracked with guilt and panic? Helping them into the mood to return to reality after a night with the patrons is what I do. I help them straddle the two worlds, as do some other staff members. These men and women have lives. They are not to be locked in a box and pulled out for a quick lay and then stuffed back in. Some of them might even have partners if they can try enough people on for size.”
The spokesperson frowned. “The teams can’t have partners.”
“No, but their partners can. That is the thing. The rules crafted are very one-sided. I am not a fan. So, the true setup is that they can’t acknowledge their partners. That’s fair enough. That is what the masks are for.”
There were chuckles in the room, and the tribunal looked around. “There are some of them in here.”
Zera nodded. “Both masked and unmasked.”
Khytten called out. “Any questions?”
The tribunal stared at her ensconced in Salat’s arms, and his expression told them to tread carefully.
“Uh, Miss...”
Salat grinned and growled. “She’s my kitten. Address her as such.”
The room at large chuckled, and Khytten lifted her arm and slammed her elbow back into Salat hard enough to make him exhale with a whoosh. She said, “Kitten is fine.”