by Viola Grace
The gathering toasted Torenne, and Khytten lifted her glass of juice. “To making things official.”
Torenne winked, and Salat kissed her in full view of the families. The union was struck for the production of two children. At that point, she had the right to go and do whatever she wanted anywhere in the world. She had a future in front of her, outlined and with caveats, but it was more than she had a month ago.
Chapter Eighteen
Salat was enthusiastic even though Torenne mentioned that there were a few days left before it was necessary to try. Khytten was all in favour of practicing, but first, they had to share a dance with the families.
Khytten danced with every one of the men at a decorous distance. When she had gone through them, she turned, and Torenne was waiting.
She went to Torenne, and they kissed before slowly moving around the dance floor, “So, you are truly dual in all senses.”
Torenne blushed. “Yeah, the ovaries are dormant, but it won’t take much to kick them into active duty for a bit. After the eggs are extracted, it will be up to you. I thought you wanted to raise a bunch of children.”
“No, I want to have a bunch of children. I don’t want to lose myself in them, and I would. I would give myself over to them, and that terrifies me. I want more. I want to feel how it feels to live, to gather experiences that go beyond surviving. So, I will start courses and classes in distance learning while I carry Salat’s first, and then, once it is safely delivered, I will work on the child for your family. Are you up for using Salat as the stud?”
Torenne laughed. “You have no idea how creepy that sounds, but yes. Then, we will be a bound family.”
Khytten smiled. “Then, I will be able to finish a degree and possibly head out on a few more assignments. I would like to have at least one accomplishment documented aside from a long string of almosts.”
Torenne pressed her forehead to Khytten’s. “Not everybody needs a degree, Khytten.”
“No, but there are so many things that I want to try.”
“You can try anything you want. You know the status of your activiation as well as anyone. You have time. You have time to have all the babies you want, time to continue your work as a killer, time to study. You are only twenty-five. You have decades ahead of you to have children, and since your body currently does not choose to age, we have no idea how long you have. You could collect dozens of degrees in that time. So, focus on getting your first, and then, see where you want to go from there. Once you have your initial degree, you will have a better idea of the process. Or, you may choose to open a business. There is plenty of money for that.”
Khytten wrinkled her nose. “I rather thought to save most of the money for the children. Just because being around me might restrict their development doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
“Wait. Might?” Torenne brought her head up.
“Well, children of my own blood might not be so hypnotized by me. I have seen it happen half a dozen times, but I don’t know what will happen until the children are actually here.”
Salat’s voice murmured from behind her. “So you don’t know for sure.”
He put his hands on her hips and swayed with them.
“Of course not. I haven’t gotten to try and raise one of my own. I only guess based on what happens when I run into children in the wild, so to speak. Busses, hospitals, public spaces. They all zone out when I am around.”
“Then, you might be perfectly fine with our children and them with you.”
She frowned. “I didn’t want to take a chance. It is a lot easier to deal with an extra person than not have one when needed.”
Torenne blinked and smiled. “Sensible. Since I have declared myself disinterested, you want to make sure you have backup.”
“Yeah. If I am not suitable, I want to make sure there is someone around who is.”
Salat kissed her neck. “What gender would you like your nanny? Male or female?”
“I had not thought about it. We do have time.” She shrugged, and they all swayed together. “Whoever is more qualified and I get along with best.”
Both Torenne and Salat chuckled and said, “Male.”
She sighed and said, “Whatever. Even if I break the odds and get pregnant this week—which could be wrecked by Salat going out of town—it is still going to be three-quarters of a year before we need to worry about it.”
Salat chuckled. “So, we should start interviewing now. What are we looking for?”
Torenne snorted. “A nanny with midwife credentials, willing to work with a lot of kids, including adopted children as I really don’t foresee Khytten holding back that long.”
Salat chuckled. “Good point. Now, in aid of that, my mother and Jennela have set aside one of our summer properties as your main residence; you can start decorating immediately.”
She blinked. “Decorating?”
“Sure. If you are having trouble with that concept, it is what Leodai does as a profession.” He kissed her neck again.
“I am going to have to resign at Blind Date, aren’t I?”
He chuckled. “Yes, love, I am afraid you are. There might be a market for a pregnant escort, but I would have to make time to accompany you on your dates.”
She laughed at the thought. “That would not go over well.”
“Not after I left your lovers headless. So, it is best you resign.”
She sighed. “Fine. It wasn’t much fun until recently anyway. I am glad I got to treat that one patron’s asthma. That was rough. He kept running out of air.”
Salat chuckled. “I know the feeling. Catching my breath around you has been tricky.”
Torenne smiled. “I think I will leave you two to it. See you later.”
Torenne kissed Khytten softly on the lips and winked. “If you need medical help, just wait until I can get there. Unless you are bleeding to death or poisoned, in which case, do what you have to do.”
Salat snorted. “Yeah, what she said.”
Torenne moved aside, and Salat moved around until he was facing Khytten and holding her hands to dance rather formally.
“Formality after you were just pressing against me?”
He smiled. “My family is watching. We can be a little more informal if you would like.”
“We have never really stood on formality, Patron.”
He grinned. “You noticed that.”
“You booked me for a decade with the manager’s override while I was out.”
“Yeah. It will allow Torenne and I to keep dressing you. I saw a bit of what had been left shredded in your apartment. You need a better wardrobe.”
“I had the wardrobe I could afford.”
“What would you choose now?”
She sighed and was honest. “The same outfits in better fabric?”
He pulled her tight against him. “And that is why you are going to remain my escort for the next decade. I like designing the clothing, as does Torenne. She’s already been talking about a maternity wardrobe that will make you into a warrior queen.”
“Good god. You two are having too much fun with this.”
He grinned. “We really are. Are you enjoying it in any aspect?”
“Well, the fact that you are drawing me as a cartoon is disturbing, but at least the clothes fit.” She sighed. “And with you this close, I just hit my limit.”
He chuckled and dipped her before he brought her upright, and she wrapped her arms around him. He stood with his arms wrapped around her and slowly pried her away, lifting her up and carrying her out of the ballroom where his family watched and grinned.
“So, is the pack up in your bedroom?”
He smiled. “Yes, but we aren’t going to need it.”
“Oh. That kind of evening.”
He chuckled. “Yes, that kind of evening. Do you agree?”
“Well, technically, we are on a date, so whatever the patron wishes. I just need a
briefing.”
Salat whispered instructions to her as he climbed the steps and walked the hallway. When he closed the door behind him and set her on her feet, she walked to where he wanted her, knelt, and laced her hands behind her head.
He was invisible when he began to unclasp the dress, and when the one side loosened, she inhaled as his hand slid into the dress and cupped her breast. She looked down, and he wasn’t there. She had to focus on how she felt to enjoy it, but as he touched her skin, she sighed and kept her eyes open as the other side of her dress was unfastened from inside, and the panels opened. His mouth on her came as a surprise, but she let down for him out of reflex, and he laughed before he settled in to get the substance that let his biology feel pleasure. She just happened to uncontrollably produce it.
The miniscule scrap of her panties got wet, and he hooked his finger through it, slicing it off her. To her embarrassment, the scrap disappeared.
He didn’t say anything, but that was part of the game. Her hands were brought down, so her dress could be removed and then came the cuffs. He locked her hands together at the base of her spine, and his teeth pressed down against the base of her neck.
She dragged her breath in, and then, she let it out as she shuddered while he used everything he had learned about her responses to play her body until she was slick and shuddering but holding her words until he bit gently on her shoulder. She sighed. “Oh, Salat.”
She cried out as his fingers thrust into her and shuddered, still on her knees.
His hands lifted her, and he walked over to the bed, sitting down and then starting the portion of their relationship that had escaped her thoughts.
“One.” Smack!
Oh, shit.
By the fourteenth smack, she was teetering on the edge of release. She was writhing on his lap and panting.
He quickly stood up, draping her over the edge with her heels still on, and he pressed against her and then thrust into her. He kept one hand on her cuffs and one on her hips as he started to move. The ache of her skin against his as he thrust into her took her to the edge and over; she screamed out, “Salat!”
He growled and bit her shoulder again. He grunted and flexed inside her as he shoved in with short, sharp thrusts.
He groaned as he slumped over her back. “Ah, kitten. That was an excellent start. Are you good with the cuffs?”
She nodded slowly.
“Good. I have had this installed, just in case.” He walked to the wall and touched a button. A hook descended from the ceiling, and while it lowered, he moved her cuffs to the front of her. She still couldn’t see him, and it was slightly disturbing, but she knew he was there because he touched her nearly constantly.
It became a very long and memorable night, and when she lay in his arms near dawn, she smiled tiredly. “Did you enjoy yourself, Patron?”
“Six times by my count. We are nearly caught up on your spankings as well.”
She looked at him tiredly. “Nearly?”
“You do curse quite a bit, kitten.”
“You wouldn’t hear it if you hadn’t put that aural implant in me.”
“Technically, Torenne did that.”
“Yeah, but where did she get it?”
He sighed and pulled her against his body, curving them together until there wasn’t a breath between her back and his chest. “From our research department. It was originally meant for me to have a handler, but I did not require one. I only asked Torenne to have the visual link so she could find me if I needed healing.”
“How many times has she found you?”
He chuckled. “Twice. Neither as bad as this last time.”
“Good because you were fucked up. What happened?”
“An active exploded. One of the prisoners overclocked his concussion power, and he blew.”
She thought about the actives they had rescued. “The pregnant woman.”
He blinked. “Yeah. How did you know?”
“There was something in her eyes, and she had a look that said she had caused it somehow. You told her to explode him.”
He chuckled. “I might have, but the delayed response caught me by surprise.”
“It is only sensible. She would have to let it build before she could set him off.”
He grunted. “I know, but it still caught me by surprise. I didn’t think he would shatter like that.”
“Well, now you know for next time.”
He chuckled. “I don’t want a next time. That was horrible.”
“Why? Seeing the actives incarcerated was hard?”
“No, being away from you was hard. Aksallans normally have a few months to bond to each other, active or not. It is culturally important.”
“Uh-huh. I thought that kind of thing came after the meeting the parents.”
He squeezed her and sighed. “In the case of our kind of contract, the families make the arrangements.”
“Why do they want you to have little people so badly?”
“Because my family has another generation. It is what we do.”
She chuckled and touched his thigh. “So, are you going to uncuff me?”
He sighed. “But, I like you this way.”
She smiled and wiggled against him. “They are going to make it hard to get dressed in the morning.”
“It is morning.”
“Oh. Damn.” She chuckled. “It does explain why I am hungry again.”
He sighed. “Then, we shall satisfy your appetite so that I can satisfy mine.”
“Wait. Whoa. How much of this are we going to be doing?”
“Well, we are on a date, so as much as I can manage. I am making up for lost time.”
“The teen years?”
“No. Every assignment I have had since you have been in contact with me has taken time away from us, moments gone. I want to get them back.”
She turned in his arms and touched his cheek, smiling at seeing him. He liked to play with her while invisible, but that was because he just liked to watch her responding. She liked to see his hands on her.
“The cuffs, Ikan Salat.” She stroked his cheek, and he turned his head into her touch.
He pulled her up so he could kiss her. “Beg me, Ikir Khytten.”
She bent her knee and ran her leg along his. “Please, please, please, let me go, Salat.”
He kissed her, his tongue sliding along hers, his arms pulling her in close. “No.”
She participated in the kiss, letting her body mute her mind for a moment. He had taken excellent care of her during the night, and she was only feeling slightly uncomfortable.
Her hands felt lighter, and she held his arms as the kiss continued. She moaned into his mouth, and he moved over her as they came together in a slow and gentle connection, their hands woven together and pinned next to her head.
When they shuddered together, she smiled up at him and flexed her hands. “Now, that is an excellent way to start the day.”
He pressed his forehead to hers and smiled. “I would have to agree. That was definitely the way I want to wake up every day that we are together.”
There was a knock on the door, and it opened as Torenne entered with a tray. “I thought it best that the housekeeping staff not be exposed to the heavy scent marking what has been going on in here.”
Khytten started squirming under Salat.
He looked down at her and relaxed more weight on her. “What are you doing?”
“Torenne brought Little Salat.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. That mug is going to die.”
She laughed as the tender lover of the moment before turned into a disgruntled man. “I like it. I like it despite its origin, the life that it had before it got to me, and the life it is going to have with my lips touching it every morning.”
He smiled. “Is that an analogy?”
“Yup. I missed you, saw the cup, and thought of you, and the only thing better woul
d be a giant black cat bed pillow with black eyes, so I could cuddle it when I sleep.”
Torenne set the tray down and chuckled. “Your pack is ready, Khytten. I left it in the hall.”
“Good.” She stroked Salat’s hair. “He had his fill around three in the morning.”
Salat chuckled. “I never get my fill. Your skin got raw, so you were crying.”
“Oh. Right. I remember now.” He had whispered what he wanted her to make, and then, he had massaged her skin and healed herself. There had been other whispers, milk on her lips, and long, slow touches in the darkness.
He withdrew from her and got up, helping her sit up, and he reached out and took her coffee cup, sipping from it before he handed it over.
She snorted as he made a face.
“That isn’t coffee. That is a soft drink.”
She laughed. “I like things dark and sweet.”
“And yet, you have chosen me.”
Torenne laughed. “And me. With that in mind, where is my hug?”
Khytten nodded and reached out her arms. “You are going to have to come in for it. My legs are wobbly.”
Torenne had negotiated for a hug greeting whenever they met for the first meeting of the day or when more than six hours had passed since they had been in contact. Torenne had suffered a lot of public rejection, so this was a symbol of acceptance for her.
Khytten hugged Torenne and felt the diagnostic that she was authorized to implement. “When did that happen?”
“Somewhere around the third suggestion that I got from Salat.”
Torenne looked at him and said, “I thought that a natural conception was discussed.”
Salat shrugged. “This will be natural. We just caused her ovulation a few days early. With a few more eggs.”
Khytten blinked. “We did?”
He laughed. “We did. You were a little dazed at the time.”
Torenne snorted. “Well, for the contract to be valid, she has to deliver a near-term baby. No more rushing things.”
“So, I am not.”
“No, you are not, but all the ingredients are in motion. I will check over the next few days.”
Khytten blinked. It was strange to think she would be aware of things from the beginning. The last time, she had spent time dealing with a thousand things she wasn’t capable of dealing with. This time, she would get to experience it with people who were around her and happy for her. It would be different.