Chapter Seven

 

 

The display showed a slimming of the dark lines, but they were still exceptionally thick.

Naked and sweaty, Fiona looked at the image of herself, and she cleared her throat. “So, that looks like it is going to take some doing.”

Aarak wrapped his arms around her from behind, and he pulled her back against him. “I am willing to put the hours in, but it will injure you, so I will consult a specialist.”

“There is a specialist?”

He sighed and rubbed his chin on the top of her head. “Sort of. The creature who designed Mlia berries projected its effect on other species.”

“Creature.”

He squeezed her. “My sibling.”

“Your brother?”

“No, one of my sisters. Her ability to tinker with biochemistry is astonishing. She might be able to work out a solution for us. Do you mind if I share the particulars?”

“Since it is starting to hit me again, I would ask that you consult whomever you think can help. It is interesting right now, but if it doesn’t wear off, I think I would end up a little depressed.”

“Right. Did you want to rest?”

She chuckled. “No, I am rather energized. I think I will sit up and read about the Hmrain if you don’t mind.”

He slowly released his hold on her, and she walked over to the wardrobe, slipping on one of the robes she had noticed earlier. It was a strange combination of silk and lace, but she enjoyed the feeling against her skin. She took her tablet to the couch and recreational space in the entertainment area. Curled up in a corner, she listened to Aarak as he spoke softly to someone in a language she hadn’t heard before.

A woman’s voice countered in the same language, and she seemed amused.

He asked a question, and she answered with one word. He argued about that word, and she reiterated it. Finally, he shut the connection down and leaned back, fuming.

She glanced up from the article that described the Hmrain penis as an adaptable appendage. “You look irritated.”

“I have gotten an answer, and it is not the one I wanted.”

“No help with the prognosis?”

“No, I have been given a treatment option. I just don’t want to administer it.”

She set the tablet down. “What is it?”

“I am not going to do it, so there is no point discussing it.”

Fiona got to her feet and walked over to his desk. She turned him away from the screen and opened the robe so she could straddle his hips. He sat back in surprise as she traced her fingers over his tattoo.

“Now, tell me how to stop this overtly annoying behaviour, or I will seduce you.” It was an empty threat. His body was hard and ready for her.

She wrapped her hand around him and stroked his erection. It grew even thicker in her grip, and she wondered how she had gotten it inside to begin with.

His eyes narrowed, and he hissed. “What is fostering this confidence?”

“Check the display.”

He glanced and gripped her arms when he saw what she had noted. The dark streaks were thickening again.

“How are you so calm?”

She met his gaze, and his look of understanding let her know that the churning maelstrom of desire was visible in her eyes.

He slid a hand between her thighs and found the slick heat that she had been trying to ignore. “You should have told me sooner.”

“If I had told you sooner, you would still be inside me. It hasn’t let up; it just receded in urgency. So, tell me how the Hmrain eat pleasure.”

He thrust two fingers into her, and she rose on her knees. “The Hmrain have adapted to consume the pheromones and brainwaves of our partner and transfer them into a radiation that our bodies use as an energy source.”

She shuddered as he thumbed her clit. “So, do you go through many women?”

“Women, men, anyone who can rank over two hundred on a sensuality assessment is a suitable source of energy. Of course, I can also draw power from populations in my vicinity.”

She was losing track of the conversation, but she had to ask, “What happens with a rating under two hundred?”

“The source dies. I drain them.”

She shivered. “Oh.”

“Indeed. Place your hands on my shoulders.”

She quickly did as he said, and he leaned forward, grazing his sharp teeth against her neck. Fiona gasped and tilted her head to one side, enjoying the flicker of pain.

He gripped her hips and lifted her, settling her on his cock. He didn’t give her any warning, he simply pulled her onto him, eliciting a sharp inhalation of breath and a whimper.

She looked at him, but he was exposing his teeth and heading toward her breast. She closed her eyes and winced at the light prickles of pain that preceded the strong suction on her nipple.

He pulled her onto him in a slow thrust that ached as much as it sent pleasure through her. It set a pattern of pleasure and pain that struck all of her sensitive areas with him using teeth, tongue, cock, and fingers to elicit the responses.

He didn’t seem to be encouraged by what he was doing. In defiance of their earlier banter, he was sullen and determined as he fucked her. Her body’s reactions swelled toward orgasm. It didn’t care.

When she spasmed around him, he bit into her neck, and her grunt of release turned into a shriek. The sensations mixed and melded until she was throbbing from head to toe.

Tears rolled down her cheeks at the realization that this was going to keep happening until she had worked the toxin out of her system.

He withdrew his teeth from her shoulder and licked softly. “I apologize, but the pain was necessary. Look at the scan.”

Sniffling, she turned her head, and the dark lines had receded and thinned. “You could have warned me.”

“It would not be as effective. The panic and fear that ran through you worked to cancel out the effect of the wine.”

She blinked, and through the aches and pains, her lust was definitely diminished.

“I do feel better.”

“Good. Take a bath and rest. The bath will soothe your muscles and give you a better idea of your state of mind.”

She leaned back, wincing at the pressure in her womb. “There is a bath?”

He looked surprised. “Yes.”

“With water?”

“Yes. It is recycled once used, but it will last us the next week of travel.”

She put her hands on his shoulders and tried to lift herself off. “Help please.”

He chuckled and used his hands under her thighs to move her off his cock. He got up himself, letting her know how strong he actually was. He was carrying her like she weighed nothing.

He walked with her past the display, and the lines were continuing to shrink. That reminded her. “I am covered with electrodes, can they get wet?”

“They can, and we will remove the small stimulators. They don’t do you any good and make it hard to lick you in long passes.”

She blushed at that. “Right. Will you help me get them off?”

“I will. Sit at the edge of the tub, and by the time it has filled, we should have found them all.”

Fiona nodded, and while he fiddled with the taps, she started to rip off the tabs that she could reach. She had managed twenty of them by the time Aarak returned.

He helped her remove the rest, including the ones on her inner thighs. The short flares of pain as they came off could only help her at this point.

“On your belly so that I can reach the others.”

She gave him a dark look, and he went over her from neck to the soles of her feet, collecting all the tabs in a small pile.

“There. Let me check, but I think we have got them all.”

She grunted and got to her feet, the hot water calling her. She held her arms out at her sides, and he ran his hands over her from neck to feet slowly and thoroughly. She sighed. “Can I have a bath?”

He pulled a single tab from the back of her knee. “Yes. Now you may. The other monitors are long term and able to submerge, or I will just put on new monitors.” He smiled brightly.

She stuck her feet into the water and smiled at the warmth of the climbing level. When it reached her groin, she winced. As the water climbed, she felt every inch and every deliberately rough caress, including the finger in her ass. The pain flared as a living reminder for an instant before the water made the sensation a distant memory.

When she was finally in and settled, Aarak cocked his head. “May I join you?”

“Please.” She leaned against the edge of the tub, which was more hot tub than bathtub.

He entered with a wave and splash, completely at ease with his nudity.

“What happened to my robe?”

“On the floor next to my desk. It got in the way.”

She chuckled and leaned back, closing her eyes and listening to him get settled and shut off the water.

“How are you feeling, Fiona?”

She glanced at him with a smiled. “Sore but better. Thank you. I know that it wasn’t part of your plan to spend an evening using sex as a medical treatment.”

“I did not want to see you suffer over the course of days, and I wasn’t sure what the effect of the Mlia enzymes would have on your brain.”

“Well, there was a weird euphoria. I felt elevated, sexy, and irresistible, but it was the feeling of having a fire at my back that was going to consume me if I didn’t have sex immediately. It was less than pleasant.”

“Not a great first day.”

She laughed long and low. “I had forgotten that. No, not a great first day. Tomorrow will be better. At least, I am not afraid to jump you when the mood takes me.”

He sighed. “The idea is that you are available when the mood takes me, but I do not mind servicing you as you like.”

It was a bit of independence and aggression that she wanted to experience, and he knew it. She could exert her personal power as much as she would like, as long as it matched with his plans.

The partnership that was forming between them was weird, but since they were both learning the other person, the steps they had made felt huge. As she let the water soothe some of her aches, she smiled; she had definitely learned a few things.