by Viola Grace
Torenne shook herself out of her stunned moment. “Khytten. Don’t tease.”
“They asked intensely personal questions over lunch, so they will get intensely personal answers. Partially your doing as you revved my engine and didn’t let me go.”
One of the guys, with his eyes gleaming, said, “Favourite sex position?”
“Under Salat. Next?”
One of the guys had been on his com and typing for a few minutes. “What is the story behind this?”
An image from the lobby of the building with the tribunal with Salat’s hand coming down on her backside and her eyes glowing.
“Wow. Shit. So they actually glow.”
Torenne snorted. “Just for a flicker.”
The peacekeeper asked, “So, what was that about?”
“Oh, he was advertising to the teams that had shown up who hadn’t registered with Blind Date yet. This is what they could enjoy if they forged through the paperwork.”
“But, why do you look like that?”
“Oh, I like being spanked by people I am frequently naked with. Don’t worry; if someone I didn’t like tried it, I would find a way to have them pull back a stump. It is an enhancement to play and a way for Salat to keep me on relatively good behaviour without injuring me.” She shrugged. “It was his job to figure out what I liked when I didn’t know because no other lover took the time.”
Three slow and measured clicks made her wince.
She shivered and finished her water.
One of the women asked, “How can you not know something like that?”
Khytten lifted her hand and pointed one of the bands at her. “Are you turned on by being stunned?”
“Uh. No.”
“Really? How do you know unless you try it? Of course, you can’t really do it to yourself, so someone has to do it to you, so you need someone you trust.”
She lowered her arm, and she looked around the table. “Well, I have a bit more time this afternoon, and Torenne has promised me dessert. I haven’t been to this city in years, and I look forward to seeing the changes.”
Miko blinked. “How long are you here?”
“Um, overnight? I don’t know.”
Torenne smiled. “My parents have invited us to stay a few days. So, Khytten might make another trip to the live range.”
Khytten smiled. “That would be fun. It isn’t as much of a challenge as I remember but still enjoyable.”
“We will have to try to find some Ikan for you to go against. Salat’s mother can tell us if there are any who want to hunt you.”
“That does not sound good.”
Torenne chuckled. They excused themselves and headed to the door. Miko ran out after them and grabbed Khytten’s hand. “I was wondering if you had time to go to coffee later before you leave?”
It was when her thumb started moving on Khytten’s hand that she caught on. “I would love coffee, but just that. I have a full dance card.” She leaned in and kissed Miko’s cheek. “Have a good day, Miko. I am sure you can find my com info if you try.”
Miko sighed and nodded. “Understood. Thank you. You were a good friend in training.”
Khytten smiled. “If we meet for coffee, you can tell me how you ended up in Aksalla.”
“Deal.” They shook on it, and Miko’s com copied Khytten’s contact info during the light interaction.
Torenne smiled and took Khytten’s hand, tugging her to the car. They headed back to the vehicle, and Torenne gave the name of an ice cream place across town. Their robotic driver took over, and the healer looked at her with one elbow braced on the back seat and her head propped against it.
“So, you were chatty.”
Khytten bit her lip. “Too much?” She slid her hand up Torenne’s skirt.
“Larger than average?”
“Well, that is true. We had to educate ourselves before joining Blind Date, and we know what is average and what is not. You are definitely in the not category. If this is normal for Aksalla actives, I pity the female population.” She wrapped her hand around Torenne’s erection and slowly measured with her fingers.
“What are you doing, Khytten?”
“Just verifying my hypothesis.” She smiled. “Perhaps I should investigate further.”
“Do not use your mouth in a moving vehicle. Straddle me.”
Khytten looked at the heavy tint on the windows, smiled, and straddled Torenne, easing the G-string that she was wearing aside to get Torenne where she needed her.
A little fumbling had them connected, and Khytten shuddered as Torenne opened the tiny buttons of her bodice and drew hard. Khytten sobbed and moved slowly and with increasing ferocity until she threw back her head and shuddered, and Torenne moaned and thrust up against her.
Khytten came down slowly, her body wrapped in a golden glow. “How do you do that?”
Torenne blinked. “What?”
“When you cum in me, I feel like warm honey. All golden and soft and warm.”
Torenne smiled. “You do? Wait, you are actually glowing.”
Khytten looked at her pale hand, and it had a moonlight glow to it. “Um. That is new.”
Torenne pulled her down for a kiss. “We are going to need to investigate that.”
“Oh. Dear. Medical research. Will you wear a lab coat and gloves?”
There was a throaty chuckle. “I just might.”
“I suppose I should get off you, and we should tidy up.”
Torenne’s hands flexed on her ass under her frothy skirt. “Not quite yet. You feel really good.”
She threaded her fingers in her lover’s hair and blinked as Torenne recovered inside her, making herself at home as she started to move her hips slowly. Khytten yelped when Torenne tilted her to her back and thrust into her. They rocked together in the back of their transport until they both cried out and held each other.
“I think we should find a public park or something to go for a walk. We are rather sweaty.” Khytten chuckled.
Torenne smiled and giggled. “Yeah, that was... different.”
“I don’t mean to offend, but that was more like sex with a standard male would be like. Normally with you, it is... softer.”
Torenne looked at her hands. “Yeah, let’s go for a walk. There is a park across from one of the shops I wanted to show you.”
“Can you take me to the hospital where your mom brought the milk?”
“Sure. It is down the block.”
They set themselves to rights and left the transport to walk in the park as their dresses fluttered back into respectable lines. Their hands twined together.
“Why do you want to go to the hospital?”
Khytten sighed. “I miss the babies. I just want to see them if I can.”
“We can go there before dessert.” Torenne smiled. “I can sneak you in.”
“Ohmygod. I forgot about that. Yes, please.”
Their path turned, and they headed for the hospital. Khytten wanted to run, but Torenne kept them to a normal pace.
Torenne told her mother of their destination, and she said she would meet them in the lobby.
Once there, Khytten’s credentials were registered in the lobby, and they headed up to the NICU.
Jennela looked at the two of them and smiled. “Having a good day?”
“So far.” Torenne’s tone had a threat for her mother.
“I just want to see Khytten in action. Come on.”
They scrubbed their hands and wore wraps when they walked into the intensive care unit, where the tiniest of the tiny was hooked up to machines. Khytten’s breasts felt heavy as she approached the weakest little one with the tiniest of fingers clutching an equally small tube.
She walked to the unit and opened her wrap, unbuttoning and then easing her left breast out. Torenne’s snacking hadn’t even made a dent.
“She doesn’t have any sucking reflex yet, Khytten.” Torenne tried to war
n her.
“I know. We will manage.”
When she was ready, Khytten eased the tiny person out of the jungle of tubes with the ease of practice. She held the baby with one hand and got a few drops of milk onto the little mouth, rubbing them in with a finger tip. She did it again and again, and when the tiny rosebud mouth closed on the finger, the nipple went near it. The seeking happened, and then, lips closed over it. She wasn’t strong enough to suck, but Khytten slowly dripped healing, growing energy into her. It took half an hour, but when Khytten put the little one back, she had taken half an ounce, and her skin had gone from translucent to a soft peach.
Khytten smiled and looked at Torenne’s soft expression. “Who’s next?”
Jennela had a camera aimed at her. “That was... you are very good at that.”
“Yeah, almost as if this was what I was designed for.” She roughly covered herself and went to the next baby that was not as tiny or frail but had weak lungs. That was an easy fix.
She held baby after baby, working her way out of the NICU and toward the maternity ward where there were some infants who wouldn’t latch, and the mothers who had milk were frustrated. Khytten got the babies started, and most of the women were happy when Khytten had them for a few drops and then handed them over. One was not.
“She doesn’t want me. You take her. She doesn’t want what I have, just wants to suck off an over-developed active cow.” The new mother was young. Too young, based on Khytten’s assessment.
“So, you are non-activated then?” Khytten stroked the baby’s cheek as it started to go looking for more, and more was what Khytten was not providing.
“Yeah. Like normal people.”
Khytten snorted. “Not in my circles. Why don’t you want your baby? Honesty, please. No more name-calling.”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen. He said he was safe. He was all soft words and gentle touches, and then, I turned up pregnant, and he disappeared.”
“Do you have a name? He can be charged.”
The girl looked nervous and leaned forward and whispered the name. “I thought since everyone said he was so great, he would take care of me.”
“What would you do if I said he lied? If he was not Salat.”
“What? But, he looked like the posters.”
“I have to ask a direct question.”
“Uh, sure.”
“How big was his cock? I will assume you had your hand around it at some point.”
The girl held her hand out in a normal dimension.
“Definitely not Salat.”
The girl looked ill. “What?”
“No, his assembly is a little more... obvious. You couldn’t get around it with one hand, and you definitely wouldn’t be having fond memories of the first time with him. I am going to need as much information as you have on him, and this little one is going to have to give up a DNA sample. Now, let’s get her fed.”
“He wasn’t Salat? How do you know?”
Torenne knelt next to her. “This is Khytten. Salat’s mate. If anyone knows what his penis looks like, it’s her.”
“Also, he can’t get off without human milk, so... if he came in you, it wasn’t Salat.”
The girl was looking as if her life had just suffered a massive blow.
“You thought you would be taken care of.” Khytten’s voice was soft.
The baby in her arms started fussing, and she rooted and then latched on. Khytten winced.
“Jennela, we are looking for a large shapeshifter, six foot two, muscled, and with a history of preying on teenagers. Can you have agents start looking?”
“Why? Having sex isn’t illegal here.”
“She was underage when he did it, so that is his target demographic. He is probably younger himself or just on this side of thirty and likes to prey on younger girls because they don’t ask the hard questions.”
“Shit. Right. On it.”
The girl was sobbing. “Take her. I don’t want her. He said he would take care of her. He lied.”
“This is very important. He said he wanted her?”
The young woman nodded, and Khytten looked down at the little one who was nursing as if her life depended on it. “Right. Well, in that case, Jennela, have security watching the baby at all times. He’s going to come in in a shifted shape and try to take her.”
Jennela nodded. “Got it. Wow, she’s really on you.”
Khytten stroked the face of the little healthy girl and smiled. “Yeah. She knows a good thing when she sees it.”
The girl turned her head. “Take her away from me. I don’t want her.”
“I will take her back to the creche.” She got up, kissed Torenne, and whispered in her ear. Torenne giggled, and Khytten went back to the aquarium-like structure where the babies were kept. She had just detached the little girl and was buttoning her dress when she felt the knife to her ribs.
“You are the father, I imagine?” She looked over her shoulder and smiled at the sandy-haired young man who was looking longingly at his child.
“I am. Pick up the baby and come with me.”
“No.”
She looked at him and felt the pressure on her mind. Oh, a mentalist. It was a good thing that she was immune. “Who am I supposed to be seeing?”
“I am Salat, Demon Cat of Aksalla.”
“You are a brown-haired twit who used a mentalist capability to pressure a young girl into sex. Sure, there are a lot of Salat fantasists out there, but few of them have ever seen the real thing. Did you reach into her mind and pull out her dreams?”
He blinked and pushed harder. Babies started to cry around the room. “I am Salat.”
“I know Salat. I have met Salat; I have been in bed, countertops, and comfy chairs with Salat. You... are not Salat.” She raised her hand, and the pulse from the wrist band dropped him to the floor.
Security rushed in and grabbed him, pulling him to his feet with cuffs behind his back.
She checked her cuff. “Damn. Still had it on stun.”
The young man’s eyes bugged out, and when they turned him, he was face to face with the young mother. “Denro Wilson. He used to do odd jobs for my parents. I didn’t know he was an active.”
She took two steps forward and slapped the young man. “I will sue your family for everything they have.”
“But, our baby... doesn’t she mean anything to you?” His voice was ragged, and he was crying.
“I thought it was Salat’s baby. It isn’t mine, and it isn’t yours. I don’t want it, and you can’t have it.”
Khytten stroked the little one who was oblivious to her situation. “Ah, Khmere, you are going to have a complicated life.”
It was a definite understatement.
Chapter Thirteen
Khytten licked her ice cream as they walked through the park to the coffee shop.
“Well spotted of you. I didn’t even know there was a mentalist there.”
“I could feel him reinforcing her idea of the baby’s father, trying to get her to love it. He was upset that she didn’t. He needed her to feed the baby, but there was no attachment from him either.” She ran her tongue around the base of her ice cream, tidying up the drips.
“What do you think the end game was?”
“I don’t know, but a pre-cog set the dogs on me once. I don’t doubt that there could be something like that going on.” She snorted. “That is how I ended up with Salat.”
The click sounded.
“Was it? So, without you getting abducted...”
“I am sure that I would have subjected him to a long and drawn-out series of dates before I buggered off to Camyell or something.”
Torenne chuckled. “I am fairly sure that you running would not have been a good idea. He was showing obsession close to affection when he brought you to me that first time. He was worried that they had really injured you and then furious when I told him the extent of it. I am
pretty sure that the urge to give you a few sharp smacks came over him right then.” Torenne took a scoop of her sundae.
“Yeah, when he pulled those toys out of me and I expressed relief, his face showed that he was mad, and I wasn’t good at reading him then.”
“I didn’t hear about those.”
“Oh. Right. Never mind.”
“No, tell me about that.”
“I woke up with them.” She grimaced. “They were too big, too hard, and I didn’t want them there.”
“Did Salat remove them right away?”
“No. I asked him to do it before he did anything... uh... else.”
Torenne sighed. “How do you feel about that event?”
“Mad. I was constricted, bruised, blown up, lost all of my possessions—which wasn’t really a lot—and my job and my home. All in one blast. Then woke up in shackles, then out and tied up again. They weren’t going to kill me, or I would have been dead, but I have no idea what they had planned.” She sighed and nibbled on her cone. “I do know it would have been intensely unpleasant.”
“How did you manage so many babies?”
She licked the ice cream. “The auditor at the capitol said that there was a new class being used.”
“What was it? I would check, but I would drop my ice cream.”
“Earth mother class. I am guessing that some strong botanical or animal speaker actives would be in that class as well.”
“Well, that description suits you. I still can’t believe you went through so many babies without running dry.”
“Story of my life. As long as there is a call for it, I have a supply. Of course, it turns my calorie burn ridiculous. Your mother is going to give me some looks at dinner, and Salat’s mother is going to be appalled.”
“I will warn Mom that she should turn up the protein and carbs.”
“Thank you.”
“As soon as I finish my sundae.”
“It looks good. Mixed berries?”
“Open up.”
Khytten opened obediently and chuckled as the purple and cream burst on her tongue. “That’s really good.”
“Yup. That is why I ordered it.” Torenne was smug.
Khytten nibbled at the cone and said, “I just like the ice cream as a cone delivery device. They are my favourite part, but they are really hard to just have plain. Very dry.”