CHAPTER SEVEN
AIDEN
An hour later, I finally wrapped up the meeting, sending our three visitors home with copies of the dimari instruction manual, with the request that they all read as much of it as they could before tomorrow afternoon, when they were invited back to the base to meet Nol and to take him home with them.
After Soka arrived to escort them back to the exit, I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my eyes.
“Fuck me, that went a hell of a lot better than I was expecting,” I said to Kade.
He’d been incredibly helpful throughout the meeting, explaining all the subtle tricks and nuances that a dimari used to express preferences or thoughts, and answering a dozen or more questions the group had had on various issues.
Kade smiled at me. “So that’s four dimari successfully sent home with their new masters, and two more lined up to be collected tomorrow,” he summed up our efforts so far. “Have you heard anything back from Captain Rhodes about his injured friend?”
I sat up, scrolling through my messages in case anything new had come in while we’d been busy. “Yep, new reply from Zeke. And… Oh wow, there’s one from Lieutenant Drevarious as well. Let’s see what he’s got to say about it all.”
I pulled up both messages and read them quickly, feeling another small part of the weight on my shoulders slide off.
“It looks like good news,” I told Kade. “Dax has given the lieutenant a shining endorsement. We don’t have many Denzogals owning dimari, but both Dax and Zeke think it’s exactly what he needs.
And Drevarious says he’s already started reading the instruction manual, and that he’s willing to go through extra training with Zeke to make sure he’s doing all the right things.
Do you see any reason to not tick that one off, then? ”
I held my breath, praying that Kade said it was fine… and for once, he gave me a straightforward answer. “I think it would be a very suitable match,” he said. “We can invite the lieutenant to come and pick him up tomorrow.”
“Thank the stars for that,” I muttered, before glancing at the clock.
It was once again approaching seven o’clock in the evening, and I felt better knowing that even though tomorrow was going to be busy, by the end of it, we would have seven of the eight dimari safely tucked away in their new homes.
But that still left the rather significant problem of number eight.
“What about Jai?” I said, holding back a sigh.
“No one I’ve reached out to has come back with any good ideas.
The combat side we could find someone for easily enough, but the erotic companion side of things…
” We’d stumbled upon a good home for Nol by pure chance, but I was well aware that there weren’t many people on Rendol 4 with living conditions that would suit an erotic companion.
“Have you tried contacting the people who already have dimari?” Kade suggested. “The ones on the database are able to adopt one, but the people who already have one have a clearer idea of what’s needed to look after one. Perhaps they would have some useful ideas?”
“Yeah, let’s give that a try,” I said, pulling up my contact list and forwarding the message I’d previously sent to a new selection of people. It was just about possible that one of them might know someone with enough of a niche situation for it to work for Jai.
I sighed and rolled my neck. “Well, that’s probably as much as we’re able to do tonight.
Let’s get some dinner. I think we’ll need to stay here again tonight.
We’ve got an early meeting in the morning with the family that’s going to adopt the last domestic servant.
And then we’ll have a couple of hours to try and work something out for Jai before the other two dimari go home in the afternoon. ”
After dinner, we both took a shower and then I climbed into bed, yawning.
But as tired as I was, it was still too early to go to sleep, so I checked my messages again, desperately hoping someone had come up with something sensible to suggest for Jai.
On the positive side, I had a couple of responses from people who were trying to be helpful.
On the downside, though, none of their suggestions actually helped.
Two of them had suggested trying to contact people that I’d already contacted, and a third offered to ask a friend of theirs who lived on Copius 7.
Unfortunately, given the deadline we were working with, there was no way they were going to be able to get here in time to adopt Jai before things started going downhill.
Frustrated with the lack of progress, but too tired to do anything about it, I leaned back against the headboard, staring blankly at the far wall.
The bed was a standard double one, a little too small for two large men, but it was the best the base had to offer.
It was either this or sleep in separate rooms, and I knew Kade much preferred to sleep beside me, whether or not the bed was too small.
Speaking of which, it had been a chaotic couple of days, firstly with discovering an unregistered dimari that we’d had to go and rescue and rehome, and then with the effort to find homes for eight new dimari.
While Kade was perfectly capable of functioning for days at a time with minimal supervision – as he’d proven while we were out on missions – I also knew that neglecting his need for regular connection and reassurance was a bad idea in the long run.
I glanced over at Kade. He had his earpiece in, and he was leaning back on the pillows, eyes closed, presumably listening to some music.
He’d changed his scales back to his natural dark blue, after spending the day doing a damn fine job of mimicking the colour of my brown skin.
I’d told Kade a long time ago that he was free to choose his own colour when we were in private, but in public, it was best to try and blend in with the other species in the Alliance.
Right now, he looked peaceful and comfortable, and if he’d been anyone other than a dimari, I wouldn’t have disturbed him.
It had been a long day and he was entitled to his rest. But ‘rest’ for a dimari could look very different from the way it looked for other people.
Slowly, gently, I leaned over and put my hand on his thigh.
Then, rethinking my strategy a little, I slid my hand underneath the sheets, then put it back on his leg.
Kade cracked one eye open, tilting his head to look at me.
“Are you busy?” I asked him, simply because I knew it would make him smile.
It did. He opened the other eye and removed the earpiece, clicking it back into place in the side of his comm. “I’m ready and willing to provide whatever service you need,” he said, with just a hint of smugness, giving my body a quick once-over.
“Then I was thinking you should blow me,” I said, without any further preamble.
Again, with anyone else, I would have asked far more politely.
But Kade had long ago proven that he had something of a submissive kink.
Yes, he’d been trained to obey my orders, but he genuinely got off on being reminded that I was the dominant party here, and in some cases, being manhandled in the process.
“Yes, sir,” Kade said, with a sassy edge to his voice.
He slid out from beneath the sheets and moved so he was kneeling between my legs.
Then he slowly tugged the blanket down to reveal my cock, still modestly contained within my briefs.
I was only half hard, but I was sure that would change soon enough.
Watching me closely, he stroked his fingers over the bulge in my underwear, then tugged my briefs down and off, with the same slow, precise movements.
Once they were out of the way, he wrapped his talented fingers around my cock.
I loved the contrast of his deep, ocean blue against the brown of my skin.
He leaned down to slide the tip of my cock into his mouth, and I moaned in appreciation.
“Mm, yeah, just like that,” I encouraged him.
I nestled myself back into the pillows, shifting my hips down the bed a fraction.
Kade picked up on my mood easily; I wanted a slow, lazy orgasm, not a frantic rush to the peak, and he worked his head up and down, his tongue swirling over the tip, his hand reaching down to cup my balls.
“Oh, fuck, yes…” I muttered, feeling the pleasure build in slow waves. “You do that so well.”
I reached down to stroke his hair while he worked, rubbing back and forth over the soft strands, then playing with the tips of his ears a little.
For all that he was the one blowing me, this was ultimately more about him.
I needed to reward him for his hard work over the last couple of days, and for what was to come tomorrow as well.
I needed to remind him that I loved him, and that he was important and valued.
Kade hummed a little as he sucked me deeper, and I caught him sneaking his hand down to stroke himself while he worked.
Most dimari wouldn’t dare to be so brazen, but I’d long ago given Kade permission to pleasure himself, and to climax as and when he was ready.
I was aware that a lot of dimari owners – those not part of the Alliance, at least – used the dimari’s orgasms as a method of control, only allowing them to climax if they’d done something particularly worthy of a reward.
But that level of subjugation had never appealed to me.
Long minutes later, I felt my climax building, and I murmured, “Oh, fuck… A bit faster… Yeah, that’s it…” Kade increased both the pressure and the tempo, and about thirty seconds later, I came hard into his mouth, my hips jerking, my legs trembling a little.
Once I was finished, Kade sat back on his heels, a satisfied smirk on his lips and his prominent erection still jutting out from his groin.
He would have been perfectly fine with me leaving things there.
The dimari were taught to never expect to be allowed to come, and he wouldn’t question it if I simply decided to roll over and go to sleep.
“Stroke yourself,” I told him, seeing the coiled anticipation in his large body. “Let me watch you come.”
He eased backward, putting a bit of space between us, then leaned back on his left hand, using his right to stroke his very rigid cock.
He was still on his knees, his feet tucked underneath him, giving me a prime view of his groin.
He worked himself slowly, an occasional groan or curse escaping his lips, and I watched with rapt attention as he finally tensed, his hips thrusting into his own hand, his essence dribbling through his fingers.
“Nicely done,” I praised him with a grin.
“A very good show.” The praise was important.
I’d genuinely enjoyed watching him, but once again, that hadn’t really been the point of the exercise.
I reached for the box of tissues on the nightstand and handed it to him as he caught his breath.
Once he’d cleaned himself up, I patted the bed beside me and he slid gracefully back under the sheets, settling in so that his hip was pressed against mine.
I was tired enough that I could have gone to sleep right then and there, but there was one last thing I wanted to do first. I activated the link to the conference room camera again, needing to check that everything was okay with the dimari before I turned in for the night.
When the feed came up on the screen, I could see that the room looked a little different from the way it had last night.
Four of the mattresses had been removed, and the four remaining ones were lined up against the far wall.
The lights were out – Soka had assigned one of the night security guards to come and tell the dimari when it was time to go to bed, and to turn off the lights at the same time.
But the cameras were still able to pick up the shapes in the room, and I checked each of the beds.
Three of them had distinct shapes curled up underneath the blankets, the dimari either asleep, or attempting to fall asleep.
But Jai, once again, was acting out from the rest of the group.
He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, staring at the far wall.
He wasn’t moving, wasn’t creating any trouble, wasn’t making any noise.
But he was most definitely not attempting to go to sleep.
“What are you doing?” I muttered to myself, staring at the image on the screen. “Why are you so out of step with everyone else?”
Beside me, Kade was watching the screen with equal interest. I heard his breath hitch, just the faintest little sound, but it was enough to make me turn to him. “What is it?” I asked. “You notice something?”
“Maybe. I’m not certain. It seems very unlikely, particularly for someone who has completed their training.
But I can’t help thinking that when dimari are a bit younger and are still learning the importance of obedience, there can be a tendency to try to defy our trainers.
Because of the neuro-engineering process, it’s not possible to do anything terribly outlandish.
But some dimari will rebel in very subtle ways.
They’ll deliberately burn a meal, or if they’re in a flight simulator, they’ll crash their plane.
Or,” he added, glancing at the screen again, “they know they’re supposed to go to bed at a particular time, but they won’t do so until they’re explicitly told to.
Like I said, it would be a very odd thing for a fully trained dimari to be doing.
But without talking to Jai directly, my best guess at what his behaviour means would be simple defiance. ”
I raised my eyebrows, a cold thread of alarm running through me. “Defiance? There’s nothing simple about defiance in a dimari. And besides which, what the hell would he be rebelling against? He hasn’t even met his master yet.”
“I honestly have no idea,” Kade said. “It’s entirely possible I’m wrong. We should be able to find out far more once he’s bonded to his master. But…” He shrugged, his expression a touch helpless as he did so. “Based off everything I know about dimari training, that’s what it looks like to me.”