7. Essa
seven
Essa
" S weet human," I murmur, tracing my fingers over Adam's nose and cheeks, making sure he's not reacting poorly to my venom after being bitten again.
I wasn't quite sure how he would react to it after already being bitten so recently. Haventh or their concubines with venom in their systems can't be affected by someone else's venom while there is another venom still in their system, but I wasn't sure how he would react to having more of mine inside of him.
I also like touching him. He smiles when he's like this. It softens his hard features and makes him look more handsome.
"I'm sorry he made you do that," Seth says, walking up behind Adam slowly, like he wants to make sure I know he's not a threat.
It's my responsibility to take care of Adam when he's like this. I'm the one who put him in this state. I'll be the one to ensure his safety until he wakes from it.
I wish to tell Seth that I don't mind Adam wanting me to bite him. In fact, I really kind of like it. Not the act of biting. I don't particularly enjoy that part. It's gross, and the feeling of breaking skin is unpleasant. But getting to care for him? That is wonderful.
This strong male who relies only on himself, needing me? It's an amazing thing. I've thought about it every waking moment since leaving the males the morning after I drugged Adam and left them in bed with one another.
"He made me do nothing," I murmur, wrapping my tail tighter around Adam's ankle as I pull him under my arm and turn him to face his male. "I could've restrained him, but I think he needs this."
"Oh, he definitely needs it," Seth chuckles, a smile on his lips that matches the one on Adam's.
Seth looks at the male under my arm, and his gaze drops to where my tail is locked onto him. I expect questions or maybe a stern talking to since this will be the second time I've drugged Adam.
Seth surprises me, though, by asking, "Is the first aid kit in the same place?"
"It is," I say, brows furrowing.
I don't know what to do with Adam now that I have him complacent and in need of looking after. I'd love to take him back to my room, have him lie in my bed so I can play with his hair, and tell him how he needs to worry about nothing. He can just relax, accept my protection, and allow me to watch over him. But I'm not sure what Seth wants to do, and he's the one who has a relationship with Adam. He should have the most say in this.
"I'll go grab it. You want to meet me in the entertainment room?" Seth asks, pushing his red curls back with one hand as the other fiddles around in Adam's pocket before pulling out the glowing green pleasure crew pendant and slipping it over Adam's head. "Just in case any of them think you did this against his will."
He gives me a playful wink and darts down the hall to the medical alcove without waiting for me to answer his question. I showed him where I kept the first aid kit the night I first bit Adam. It wouldn't be hard for him to find even if I hadn't since the medical alcove is just past my room.
That's one of the reasons I chose the room I'm in. That and being close to the pleasure crew females since I was responsible for watching over them. And, after having so much excess in my youth, it has been nice to have much less, even if the other crew members don't understand my need for simplicity.
"Let's go watch a movie," I whisper in Adam's ear.
The suggestion takes easily in his mind. He makes a soft whimpering sound in the back of his throat. I don't know if something is wrong with me, but I very much enjoy hearing that sound.
"So good." I squeeze his shoulder and appreciate the way his skin on his arms breaks out in little bumps of pleasure.
He takes slow, lumbering steps toward the entertainment room, but I don't rush him. He's doing as he's told to the best of his ability, even if his abilities are dampened right now because of my venom.
As the entertainment room door opens, I prepare myself for questions, chastisement, and maybe even some of the other crew being angry with me. The first thing that happens is that all of their talking ceases. The arguments or conversations or whatever they are having end when they see Adam and me walking with one another. Then, confusion is on their faces. I use that moment of confusion to guide Adam to the couch.
"Put everything back how it was before you messed it up," I say, soft and melodic in his ear. I release his shoulder, letting him get to work.
He's slow, but he starts moving the pillows back. It's him following my directions that makes everyone realize what happened out in the hallway. I don't look at any of them because I don't want to see the judgment in their eyes. Not about this. Not about something special I'm able to share with someone.
"Hey, babe," Sloane says when she's close enough to touch my arm. I let out a huff of laughter since my friends all sent my closest friend to make sure I'm not about to start biting and drugging everyone. "What happened?"
"Adam was an asshole, and Essa was defending herself," Seth says, entering the entertainment room with the first aid kit. Adam looks over when he hears his name, and his carefree smile grows as his eyes land on the male he so clearly loves. "And, not to make you guys uncomfortable, but he enjoys being like this. Just don't bring it up when he's not drugged."
Adam returns to work, and I run my fingers over his short, dark hair, scratching at his scalp with my nails until he whimpers in appreciation. My lips kick up as I watch him work, as he tries to nuzzle his head closer to my touch. I'm going to reward his sweetness while we watch the movie. I'd like to reward this sweetness as often as he'll let me.
"I understand if you'd like to reprimand me, but our rules state that friends don't drug other friends without consent. Adam has made it very clear he isn't my friend. Even if we were, he gave consent. It may have come in the form of him attempting to assault me, but it was consent." I think this is a very reasonable way of explaining how this all came about, but when I look at my friends, they have various looks of shock and horror on their faces.
"He tried to assault you?" Alik asks, his hands balled up so tight they're turning a pale shade of lavender at the knuckles.
"I'll kill him so fast," Phial hisses, attempting to get out of the miniature nest Avery built out here. He doesn't get very far since she tugs him back down, and he's a sucker for his human.
"No." I shake my head and rub at my temples. "Maybe I should explain more. I found out he wanted me to bite him. That's why he was acting out. I told him I wouldn't bite him unless I felt threatened because that's how I was raised. I'm a properly raised Haventh female. We don't just bite anyone. Only those who might hurt us and lovers who request it. Seeing as I am not his lover and he's never going to request a biting, I offered him the only way for him to get it."
"He wanted you to bite him?" Sloane asks, her brows rising on her forehead. She knows I don't find biting particularly arousing, and I still don't, but she will be curious about what has changed my mind.
"Wait, why would he even think to have you bite him?" Jovi asks.
My eye twitches at the thought of explaining that this isn't the first time I've bitten the clone. I probably should've told someone about it earlier so they don't think I was trying to hide it. I didn't know how to start that conversation, and I wasn't sure if it would get me in trouble.
Adam finishes putting everything right on my couch and moves close to me until I throw my arm back over his shoulders and hold him tight. He rests his head against my shoulder, nuzzling against me. He leans hard into me, causing me to stumble a little, and I laugh, pushing at his chest.
"Don't push me," I tell him, keeping my voice soft so he doesn't think he did anything wrong.
He just wants closeness. It's one of the effects of the venom, though I've never witnessed it affect someone's neediness as much as it does Adam. When he stops pushing against me, I scratch down the back of his head.
"Good boy." I keep the words quiet and pressed against his ear so none of the others hear.
Seth makes a coughing sound, and I know it's him covering his laugh. I appreciate it since I don't want Adam to think anyone is laughing at him when he's allowing himself to be this vulnerable.
"Essa," Alik says my name in that stupid, stern captain way that he only pulls out when he's trying to get in Sloane's pants or to get one of us is in trouble. I force my eyes off Adam's sweet features and look at Alik. "Have you bitten one of them before?"
"Just Adam," I say, keeping my voice level and my shoulders squared.
I don't expect this to be an issue once they understand I don't take this lightly, but I want to make it clear to Alik that I don't regret what I did. I won't be made to feel bad about it.
I don't need to do those things because Seth steps up next to me, offering his own explanation.
"Adam enjoys this," he says, giving the others a tight smile. "I don't know why, and he's never going to tell any of us. But this wasn't Essa's fault, and we just want to watch a movie and be part of the crew while we're still onboard."
"Is it a weird sex thing?" Phial asks, his feathered brows wiggling about. He asks because he thinks it will upset me.
"No," I say easily enough because it isn't a lie. I don't know if this could become a weird sex thing, but right now, it's nothing more than me caring for someone who wishes to be vulnerable and cared for.
"Well," Seth says right as I answer, which has me questioning my reasoning behind saying no. I shoot him a confused look, and he snorts. "No, I guess it's not. We'll see how long it stays that way."
"Strange," Phial murmurs before curling back around Avery in their nest as though their arrangement isn't also strange. "Well, are we going to watch the movie or not? It's my turn to choose, which means Avery chose."
Everyone in the room returns to their seats where they were before I came in: Jovi, Alik, and Sloane on one of the couches, Phial and Avery in their beanbag nest. Seth watches me, waiting for me to tell him what to do. I tilt my head to the couch, and he sits, grabbing one of my blankets and tossing it over his legs.
"Sit," I murmur in Adam's ear, keeping my tail wrapped around his ankle when he leaves my touch.
He sits down next to Seth and surprises both of us by wrapping his fingers in Seth's and gently squeezing them. Seth smiles at it and then looks up at me. I don't make a big deal about it because I'm not entirely sure how their relationship works. I position myself on the far end and grab the second blanket.
"Lean on me, sweet boy."
I settle my hand on Adam's shoulder and pull him toward me. His eyes drift from Seth's back over to me. He doesn't start to come closer until Seth gives him a soft nudge, his way of telling Adam he likes this, too. We like having him soft and complacent between the two of us.
I release his ankle and shift how I'm sitting so one of my legs goes down the long end of the couch, and Adam can settle in between my legs on his side. His cheek rests against my chest, one of his arms wraps behind me, and the other rests on my thigh. I run my nails over his head, and he moans softly.
"Such a good boy," I whisper so quietly that I'm not even sure he hears.
The screen lights up, playing some romantic movie Avery said she enjoyed from Earth. All movies should have at least one murder, but my friends don't always see things like I do. I don't mind too much this time since I have a handsome male in my arms who wants to feel my fingers carve tiny lines through his cropped hair and trail over the hard plane of his back.
Seth scoots closer once Adam's comfortable. He's close enough to where, if I wanted, I could stroke his arm with the tips of my fingers. I don't know how he feels about touching, though, and I'm not about to have that conversation with him when everyone else in the entertainment room can hear us.
We can discuss it tonight when we take Adam to bed. I might even ask if he would mind me watching them sleep again like I did the first night I bit Adam. If they allow it, I'll watch over both of them.
When Seth's fingers brush through Adam's hair in tandem with mine, Adam's whole body shivers a little, and another sweet whimper escapes his lips. As much as I love the sound, there are others here, and we don't need them thinking we are doing more than taking care of our angry male.
"Shh, let us touch you, but no sounds unless it hurts."
Adam's eyes move up to mine with a slow blink, and he nods, earning a soft press of my lips to his temple. He closes his eyes. A sharp inhale is the only sound he makes. Seth keeps moving his fingers through his hair, down his back. I do the same, tugging on the tiny strands when I get to the ends, running my finger over the bridge of his nose, over the swell of his lips.
Toward the middle of the movie, Seth pushes Adam's shirt up around his pecs so he has access to the muscled abdomen and his bare back. Scars appear. Deep healed wounds that mark his body where unspeakable things were done to him. I have to swallow down the rage I feel at seeing how my male was hurt. But I have a plan for those who did this to him. That's what keeps me from snapping and snarling like I wish to.
Seth's pale fingers dance over tanned skin marred with discolored, healed scar tissue. He doesn't linger on the wounds as though he's used to touching Adam in this way, and I wish to learn it as well.
I mimic the touches Seth places on Adam's body. He'll run his hands over Adam's abdominals, and I'll do the same. He massages the lower flanks of his back, and I reach as close as I can from my position.
Seth notices at some point that I'm trying to learn all of the touches Adam might like and gives me a challenging smirk. His fingers move up over Adam's abs, pushing him until he's lying on his back against me. Adam bites down on his lip, his eyes hazy and heavy as he looks down his body. Seth messes with his top, bringing it higher and higher, but my attention snags on something lower.
My fangs have been steadily dripping the entire time I've been touching Adam, wanting to feed him more of my venom to keep him feeling good, wanting to offer it to Seth if he wants me to care for him, too. I've been sucking it down, but I feel a trail of it sliding down my lower lip and chin as I stare at where Adam's been leaking as well. His cock is hard and tenting in his sweatpants, eager and willing and dripping with precum.
Seth crawls over Adam's body, keeping himself low so the others behind us don't see him crawling toward me. He places his lips up against my ear and, in a low growl of a whisper, tells me. "He's been hard this whole time. We've been teasing our male."
Seth pulls away from me, his eyes still so mischievous even as the red in his cheeks deepens in color. I lick at my fangs, dragging the venom back into my mouth as I dart my eyes back down to Adam's cock and then trying to see if Seth feels the same. His sweats are black, so there's no dark spot to see if he's been leaking, and he's doing a good job of concealing his cock if it's hard.
I stop trying to see if he's aroused when he returns his hands to Adam's abdomen and drags his fingers higher, his pointer fingers only stopping when he reaches the dark nipples on Adam's chest. He traces the outline over the coarse chest hair that surrounds them and then looks up at me. My eyes widen as I look from his eyes to Adam's chest and back again.
I narrow my eyes at Seth, unsure what kind of game this is but wanting so badly to play. He gives me a bright smile and reaches for my hands. I don't need any more of his prompting, and I don't need him to guide me to where I need to go.
I flutter my fingers over Adam's pecs and, oh so, slowly move them to the softly pebbled nipples before circling them with the tips of my fingers. I ignore the scars as best I can, instead choosing to enjoy how Adam responds to the feel of me.
Adam sucks in a deep gulp of breath and closes his eyes for a long moment. I look down at his body, wanting to ask Seth if it's okay, but my eyes snag on Adam's cock and how it twitches against its confines.
Seth's hands return to Adam's body, this time pressing hard into his abdominals and dragging downward. Adam flexes them and rolls his hips as Seth grows closer to the edge of his pants. Seth stops the movement of his fingers at the edge of the sweats and looks at me.
I know what to do. I try to mimic the action, starting with my fingers underneath his pecs and trailing them down over the hard ridges of his abs and over the tapered v until they settle at the waistband of his pants. I watch his cock the entire time, watching it twitch and jerk in his sweats over and over again, dancing for me and my touches.
Seth leans, grabs Adam's sweats in his hands on either side of his hips, and tugs them down gently, slowly, until just the barest hint of dark curls appear. Seth watches me as he runs his fingers over the new skin he's just exposed all the way down to the sides of Adam's glutes. He pulls away, waiting for me to follow his touches. My fangs bite harder into my bottom lip as I try to calm my breathing.
Someone in the room moves. It's not a loud sound. It's not a sound directed at us. It's probably just Jovi or Alik shifting around on the couch, but I've been so distracted with what Seth and I are doing that I've forgotten about the others.
As soon as I hear the sound, my entire body goes on high alert, my pupils constricting, my muscles tensing. I have Adam pushed down against the couch with me crouching over him in seconds. I bare my teeth as I drag Seth behind me as well.
No one touches what's mine.
"Fucking fuck, Essa!" Jovi shouts.
I snap my attention over to him, where he has a hand slapped over his eyes, one over Sloane's and one over Alik's. Sloane's shaking, tears already falling from her eyes.
My lips pull back more, my voice coming out sweet. "I won't hurt her. I won't hurt any of you."
Phial and Avery's nest is empty when I try to tell them the same thing. Good, at least they're already gone. I suck in a deep breath, closing my eyes, trying to force myself to calm down.
No one is trying to hurt my males. No one is here to hurt us. No one is here to take them from me.
Another deep breath. And another.
"Can I do anything?" Seth's voice is dry and cracked as he places a shaky hand on my shoulder.
He's probably just as terrified of me as the others, but he's forcing that down to comfort me. I wrap my hand over his, hoping he knows this means more to me than he could ever know.
"Give me just a moment," I say. "Is Adam okay?"
"Oh yeah." Seth tries to laugh, but it's hollow. "He wasn't lying when he said he isn't scared of you. He'd be better at this part than me."
"You're doing really good," I say, my voice filled with emotion as my fangs retract. My vision normalizes as my pupils dilate back to their normal size. It's the fastest I've ever been able to come down from the anger when it's been this strong. Well, actually, I don't think it's ever been this strong. "Thank you."
I squeeze Seth's hand and then turn around to check to ensure he and Adam are okay. I scan over Seth first, making sure nothing managed to hurt him. When I'm certain he's okay, I crawl over Adam's body, his eyes heavy with venom and lust. I don't press against his groin, where he's still very much eager for me. I pinch his chin between my thumb and forefinger, turning it on each side to make sure he's okay.
"You will let Seth take you to bed," I tell him, noticing the disappointment in his eyes.
I flick my gaze over to Seth, who's watching both of us. His tongue licks at his bottom lip before he rubs his chin.
"Essa will be there to watch you sleep," Seth says, shifting behind me so he can get off the couch and help Adam to his feet. "She'll be with us after she makes sure her friends are okay."
Seth doesn't wait for me to agree to his statements, but it's not like I'll say no. I'd like to continue doing what we were doing, but it's good we were stopped. I need to make sure Adam is okay with things going further when he's not drugged. I don't think Seth would let me do anything to hurt his male, but we should discuss these things beforehand.
"Are you okay?" I ask, unsure if I'm ready for my friends to answer. I hope I didn't make any of them pee on themselves. I was really angry, though, and there's a chance it happened.
"Is she done being scary?" Phial asks, his voice startling me as I look back at the nest.
"She's good," Alik says, swatting Jovi's hand from his face. He keeps a hand on Sloane's back as she cries against Jovi's neck.
I feel bad for making my best friend do that. I will make it up to her. Lots of food and girl talk and hair braiding. Yes, that will be perfect.
"Oh, good. I was scared I was going to suffocate Avery." Phial's humor is back in full force as his scales shimmer back to a soft green. He's curled up on top of the nest, his body covering Avery so completely that I didn't notice them in the nest while he was camouflaged.
I give him a surprised look as he helps Avery out of the nest. She's not crying. In fact, she doesn't look nearly as scared as anyone else. Phial catches me looking at them, and his feathers stand on end.
"She didn't have a chance to see you being all scary," Phial says, easing some of my worry.
It also confuses me because if she didn't see me, her vision of me was already cut off. The only way for that to happen is if Phial were already on top of her. My eyes go wide, my lips pulling back in disgust as my tongue pokes out.
"We were kissing!" Phial's much too defensive.
"Okay, you all have fun deciding how far Phial and Avery got during the movie." Jovi laughs as he hoists Sloane into his arms and cradles her like a babe. Her crying has softened, but it might still be a while before her adrenaline wears off. "We need to go tend to Sloane."
"You'll apologize to her tomorrow," Alik tells me as he walks past me. He's upset that I scared his mate so badly, and I understand. I feel just as bad for hurting my best friend in that way. He turns when he gets to the doorway and frowns. "Tell Seth they no longer have a seven-day time limit. He'll know what I'm talking about."
He walks away before I get to ask any questions, even though I'm now very curious about what Seth had seven days to do and why Alik is giving him more time.
As much as I'd love to stand in his room and listen to Phial poorly excuse having intercourse with Avery while we were all in the same room with them, I have other things to do.
I stick out my tongue once more toward Phial, who looks even more upset at me mocking him than at me getting all scary on them. Avery wraps her arms around him, pulling his attention off me. I use the moment to head out.
"I was only kissing you," Phial grumbles as the door opens. "I don't like anyone knowing what we do."
The statement piques my interest because I now have a wonderful way of getting under Phial's scales when he irritates me. I'll stash it away in my arsenal and make sure to come up with good quips to really get him.
But right now, I need to get to the pleasure crew room. I have two males I need to watch sleep.