I Dated a Supervillain

by Viola Grace

  They looked appalled.

  She shrugged. “This is why the matchmaking aspect of the corporation is important. Making sure that patrons match the escorts is vital.”

  They sat around discussing the plan to match patrons with acceptable escorts and vice versa.

  Fifteen came through the lobby forty minutes later, and Zera walked over to speak quietly to her. Fifteen opened her cloak and showed the outfit of silk and lace. It was the sort of outfit a businessman would want his mistress to wear in public. Dignified but with the promise of sex. The four-inch heels sold the look.

  “Have fun. Call if you need me.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I will be fine.” She resettled her cloak, bowed to the team and Susara, and left via the lift, a security bot joining her in the elevator.

  Zera sighed. “It’s her first date with him. He is a little on the brusque side, but she should be fine. I worry about all of them when they go out, and I keep an ear out until they are all back with their security bots.”

  “The security bots. What do they do?” Tycho asked. “I have seen others with them, but they never do anything.”

  Zera snickered. “Susa, do you want to take this one?”

  “Sure. Attach a security bot to my life signs.”

  Zera grinned and did it as Susara got to her feet. “Well, you are the best suited for it, so push me over, sis.”

  Zera picked her sister up, shook her, and then threw her to the floor. The security bot arrived at Susara’s side and wrapped around the body on the floor. Susara stood upright in heavy armour and raised her hand to Zera. “Want me to blast you now or later?”

  “We can skip the blasting, but this is what the security bots are. It keeps me safe while giving me the option to fight or run.” Susara’s voice came out of the bot.

  The team members were fascinated by the bot armour.

  Torun asked, “How many times has this been used?”

  “Twice. Both times the active calmed the fuck down once pinned to the wall. They were removed from our roster and banned. The escort was offered and received counselling.”

  Ryma asked, “How was she? Was it a she?”

  “Good guess, in this case, yes, it was a she. Her clients had strong prey drives, and they got violent when she did what she was contracted to do and acted like prey. She still works with us but now is nearly exclusively first dates. She helps us introduce the patrons to the protocols. She does it so that no one needs to use the security bots.”

  Tycho frowned. “Have I met her?”

  “No, you were well entrenched with the escorts from the start. She prefers working with the new patrons. In case you think she is having sex with them, she usually isn’t. This is a new protocol that we are instituting for patrons with general interests. The ones with specific escorts in mind have to wait.”

  Ryma smiled. “Like Salat.”

  “Yeah, he had something specific that he needed, and to everyone’s shock, she turned up.” Zera nodded. “We have a few more patrons like that on the books, so we wait until an escort shows up for them. Thanks to Torun running his mouth, we have a flurry of applications for escorts and patrons.”

  Susa laughed. “Good. I can get right back to the security checks and assigning monitoring to the patrons.”

  “And with the increase in business, you can decide whether you want to join a team or not, Dainty.”

  “Well, if I just passed, I have a few months to decide and look for a placement.” Dainty grimaced. “I also have to find a team where I haven’t had sex with any of the members, which is more difficult than it should be. I might join the family business after all.”

  She flexed. “I need a new com.”

  Zera nodded. “I have one for you. I also told the regen department that you would be returning to action. They will issue you your details when you show up and do the confirmations.”

  “Nice. Is there any record of my test? I want to know how you managed it.”

  Zera looked to Torun, and she smiled slightly. “I had to use your venom.”

  “Why are you looking at him?”

  “He was part of the test. I had to use your Suit Bait draw and then subdue him. It was not a fun test.”

  Torun laughed. “It was for me. She used your venom to knock me out and shoved me at the team she was assigned, saying that they had a small window to cuff me and less time before I broke loose. You have a powerful weapon there.”

  “Yeah, but it is hard to administer. I have to know the subject’s composition before I can make the toxin.” Susa smiled. “Which, I don’t really, so it was Zera’s knowledge that knocked you on your ass.”

  Zera pulled the vids and put them on the screen. They watched the slender and trembling form that was Susa enter the warehouse and go about her business.

  The kiss between Dainty and Torun did not look like a first kiss.

  Torun asked Zera, “Can you do the same?”

  “Yeah. I copied it when we were teens. I passed it along after Susa started getting targeted.”

  Tycho laughed. “You can pass on activities?”

  “Sure. I just need an understanding of the active’s manifestation. Venom is difficult and easy at the same time. It is chemistry and biology. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but once I developed the instinct for it, I passed it along.” She smiled. “Well, now that dinner is over, I need to find a place for Susa and me to stay.”

  Torun smiled. “Stay with me.”

  Tycho and Ryma looked from Torun to Zera. Tycho said, “He does have a lot of room. We crash there a lot when we don’t want to go back to our base.”

  Susa got up and hugged her. “It sounds like as safe a place to be as anything else. Come on, let’s go.”

  Zera blinked. “You seriously want to go?”

  “I want a nap, with sheets, a pillow, and I want to let myself settle into this body. You know how it goes.”

  “Fine. Whatever you want, Susa. I will pack some small bags for us. Back in a moment.”

  Ryma smiled. “Can I come look? I always wondered what your wardrobe was like.”

  “Sure. This way.”

  Zera led her into Susa’s changing area. “Two has a fairly extensive wardrobe and hasn’t used half of it. We need to get some comfortable items that she can rest and lounge in.”

  She typed in the criteria, and a selection of clothing was sorted out and came toward her in an open closet. “We pick what we need for the evening. You guys are pretty good about making your decisions on what you want us to wear, and then, we put it on.”

  “This screen is a catalogue?”

  “It is.”

  “Wow. Did you design all this?”

  Zera brought up the underwear collection and packed the bag. “I did. When I was ten. I have been designing tech for a while, but that is what I was born to do, it seems. That and have a crush on Torun.”

  “A crush? You two are in love with each other.”

  “Yes.” She smiled and finished the toiletry set. “Right, now let’s do me.”

  “Oh, yes, let’s.” Ryma smiled.

  They left Susa’s changeroom and went into Zera’s. Zera grabbed a bag, and she ordered her underwear first. Ryma eased in past her and made a few more lingerie selections before Zera snorted and got some business clothing as well as a bit of casual.

  She included a few creams and her favourite shampoo and closed up the bag. “That’s it. No more silliness.”

  Ryma hugged her. “I am so happy you are going to his place.”

  “Why?”

  “You will see.”

  With that taunt, they joined the others and got in the lift to descend. It was about to get busy for the evening, so it was best that they didn’t freak out the escorts. Not everyone was as calm as Fifteen.

  Chapter Twenty

  He was still within range of summoning a transport by twenty feet. “That is pretty close.”

  Torun shrugged. “It was on your list.”

&n
bsp; Tycho and Ryma chuckled.

  “My list?” Zera was confused.

  Torun opened the main doors. “Six years ago, we were together, and I asked what it would take for you to move in with me. You went into detail, and you might have been a little drunk. This is the house that those ramblings created.”

  Susara caught on before Zera did. “You built her a house?”

  “I had it built for her. I wanted a place we could meet that wasn’t always a hotel or restaurant.” He opened the door and invited them in.

  Zera was the last to enter. She hesitated and stepped over the threshold and into his arms.

  Tycho said, “I will take Susara to a guestroom. Where should I take Zera’s bag?”

  “Our room.” He looked down at her and smiled.

  She blinked. “Our room? We have a room?”

  “And a very big bed for when Ryma and Tycho join us.”

  She chuckled. “You seem pretty confident that it is going to happen that way.”

  “You can get a transport. I have vehicles in the garage. Communications are easy, and I have a secure system ready for you to work from.” He rubbed his hands over her back. “I have questions that I would like you to answer.”

  “Sure. What would you like to know?”

  “I think we can take a quick tour, and then, we can talk in the bedroom.”

  She sighed in disappointment. “You actually mean to talk. Fine. Show me your castle.”

  He kept an arm around her as he showed her the great room, the pool, games room, gym, kitchen, dining room, guestrooms, and finally, the main bedroom. There was a walk-in closet, and to her amusement, two adjoining bedrooms. Ryma’s and Tycho’s touches in the rooms were unmistakable.

  “You guys puppy pile?”

  “Not yet, but with you here, probably sooner rather than later.” He smiled, and she caught the deeply happy glow in his eyes.

  “What questions did you have?”

  “Who was Mentor to you?”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “I put an audio tracker on your suit, and I heard you discussing things. It was a confusing conversation, and it left me with questions.”

  “I doubt you found it confusing.”

  “Indulge me. Who was he to you?”

  Zera looked at her lover. “He was my brother. We shared the same birth species but no genetics. We arrived in a clutch about a hundred years ago, fell to earth from a seeding species, and we remained developing but mostly dormant until thirty years ago when a researcher found us and brushed against our eggs. That changed us into creatures who looked human. We hatched, and they had six children on their hands. One little girl and five little boys. All curious with aspects of power. We were taken to a research facility and kept in isolation until I saw a purple prince walking through the facility. I had to touch you, and when I did, I understood all of your potential.”

  She shrugged. “You were the prettiest thing I had ever seen, and to me, you still are. Convention being what it is, I had to wait until I was an adult, which meant I needed to grow. I had to learn how to shape myself with Mom’s new baby. And when we were the same height, I started to age with her.”

  “So, you are something else.” He frowned. “Something not human.”

  “I appear human on scans, and that is what matters. It is just assumed that my active status mutated me a little.”

  “What happened to the other four males?”

  “I blew them up. They had started to age quickly and were eyeing the female researchers. When one of them made a move on Mom, I had to kill them all. They were getting really aggressive. With Mentor, it appears that I missed one. I made sure of it this time.”

  “What was their purpose?”

  “To procreate and fill the world with offshoots of our kind.”

  “What was your purpose?”

  She chuckled. “To rule them.”

  He stepped toward her. “That is a very natural state for you, isn’t it?”

  Zera wrinkled her nose. “It just seems to happen.”

  “What did you do to me? There was something different after I met you and for the next decade and a half.”

  “Ah, I took your killing rage, lover. I took it and held it until you were able to deal with it again.” She smiled. “When I could give you a physical outlet, you could take the rage back and use it for your own benefit.”

  He stared at her for a minute, and her smile faded. “Did I say too much?”

  Torun walked toward her and kissed her. “Are you saying that you use sex to calm me down?”

  She shook her head. “No, it is strictly a form of appreciation for your efforts on behalf of the population. And fun. It is a helluva lot of fun.”

  He grinned. “Glad to hear it. You know what my next question is, don’t you?”

  “Maybe, but can we have sex first? I don’t think I have really ever gotten to sleep the night through with you.”

  “You think I want to sleep the night through with a strange and mysterious alien?”

  She blinked. Unsure. Suddenly, her heart hurt, and that didn’t normally happen. She looked up at him, and her eyes filled with tears. “I guess not?”

  She stepped away, and he caught her and held her against him. “You guessed wrong.”

  She kissed him with relief and stroked his cheeks, his neck, and ran her hands down the front of his suit. “I thought you wouldn’t want me if you knew.”

  “I will always turn to you. You know that.” He slid his fingers into the closure of her suit. “I do love you in purple.”

  “I do love purple in me.” She smiled as the suit was opened, and he knelt to use his mouth on her breasts. She shivered and wove her fingers through his hair. She moaned and held him to her as his hands continued working her suit off. She had to lose her grip on him until she was naked from the waist up. Her body throbbed, her blood hummed, and she slowly moved to the closure of his suit. She exposed him inch by inch, and when the suit was open, she touched the warm skin and felt his pulse under the muscles of his chest.

  She shuddered when he started to use his teeth and yelped as he playfully tugged on a nipple. “Wiseass.”

  He peeled out of his suit to the waist, and he pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her and burying his head between her breasts. Zera inhaled the scent of him, and she said softly, “Have I thanked you properly for coming to support me today?”

  “No thanks necessary. It was nice to be able to do something for you for a change.” He smiled. “Aside from paying to train more escorts.”

  “You have been an amazing patron, Torun, and a better friend.”

  “Is it a good friendship or what the modern un-activateds call friends with benefits?”

  “I will take the friendship and give you the benefits.” She stroked his face softly.

  He nodded. “I think we are overdressed.”

  “I would agree. If you let me go, I can do something about it.”

  “No, while you are under my roof, you will obey my rules. I get to undress you.”

  She shivered but blinked. “I don’t know. Your rules usually end up with me tied up.”

  He chuckled. “I haven’t shown you the playroom yet. That is where that sort of thing will take place.” His fingers eased the suit off her hips.

  “There is a whole room for it?”

  “Certainly. It isn’t the sort of thing Ryma would enjoy doing to you. Tycho said he would like to watch, and I need an outlet for those dark impulses, dear Zera.”

  She shivered. “Oh.”

  “I see you like the thought of being at my mercy.”

  She bit her lip and then said, “You don’t have any mercy, sir.”

  “Ah, pet, you know just what to say. Step out.”

  She stepped out of the suit, and he took it, shook it out carefully, and hung it up. “You had it made for me.”

  He chuckled. “I have been keeping it for just such an occasion when my clear support could n
ot be missed.”

  “Is it wired for sound and full of trackers?”

  He grinned. “Yes. Now, where were we?”

  “You were overdressed and promising me unspeakable torments.”

  He grinned. “That will wait; tonight, I want to see pleasure in your eyes.”

  She looked at him and cocked her head. “In that case... strip.”

  He laughed and pushed his suit off his hips before sitting and yanking off his boots and the last of the fabric.

  He reached for her, and she fell into his arms, locking him in a kiss that curled her toes and made him hold her tight.

  Torun fell back and rolled with her until they were in the centre of the soft space. She was pinned under him, and he smiled, stroking her cheek and neck. “So very soft. Your eyes changed when you grew. The original green was striking.”

  She smiled. “I had to change it when I tried to be human. It was too striking for someone who was otherwise normally pigmented.”

  “And your skin was paler.”

  “Had to change that, too.”

  “And you used to be bald, but I like the hair.” He chuckled.

  “Thanks. It was particularly itchy when it grew in. Mom had to help me.”

  “You called her Mom?”

  “Yeah. She was a mother, so I called her Mom, and when she had her baby, I called it sis, and together, we named her Susara.”

  “What happened to her husband?”

  “He was injured in the blast with the five hatchlings. Well, four hatchlings. I missed one.”

  “You crippled him?”

  She shrugged. “I was a child. My aim was sloppy. When I breathed the fire, I wasn’t exact enough. He was understanding enough until Mentor killed them.”

  “You breathe fire?”

  “Not anymore. That biological system has ceased to function.”

  “Aw, that would have been fun to see.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Are we going to discuss my activation again?”

  He grinned. “Intermittently. Can I tell the team what you are?”

  “Do you want to?”

  “No. I would rather you be my secret. This is above their pay grade.”

  She smiled. “It will come out eventually. I am not done evolving yet.”