Chapter 31
SEVERIN
After Cassandra cleaned up and helped treat his hand, Severin finally got the other samples he needed.
“Are you all right?” he asked her quietly as he finished taking the last cheek swab.
“I think so,” she said, but she looked troubled and her scent was muted.
“Are you hurt?” Severin asked her bluntly. “The compounds in Ravik’s precum should have helped you stretch, but he’s very large, so—”
“No, no—nothing like that,” she said quickly. “I just…I don’t know why I acted…the way I acted when he…did what he did.”
“When he fucked you,” Severin said bluntly.
Her cheeks went pink at once.
“He didn’t really…I mean, he was only halfway in me so he just…” She sighed. “All right, yes—when he fucked me. I should have been more upset and I shouldn’t have…have wanted it so much.”
Severin’s eyebrows shot up.
“How do you mean?”
“I mean…it almost felt like my body was craving it—craving to be filled. You know?” Her cheeks got even redder. “God, I can’t believe I’m admitting this to you.”
“No, it’s a good thing you’re telling me,” Severin said quickly. “I thought I observed some, er, participation on your part. But I didn’t want to assume anything.”
“I was participating all right,” she said grimly. “Even though my mind was saying no, my body was saying yes. I’ve never…” She shook her head. “Never felt anything like it. It was like I was being pulled in two different directions.”
“I should have tried to get you off him sooner—to get him out of you.” Severin said fiercely.
“Stop—don’t blame yourself. You had a burned hand and anyway, I don’t think anyone could have made him stop. Ravik…well, he’s like a force of nature.” She gave a shaky laugh.
“He never would have done what he did if he was in his right mind,” Severin said. “I’m so sorry—if only I could bring him back completely.”
“Well, that’s why I’m giving you all these samples, right?” she said lightly. “Don’t worry, Severin, I’m not upset with Ravik or you, I’m just worried. My body…”
She trailed off and he had to prompt her.
“Go on…what about your body?”
“It…I feel like it’s changing. I thought it was just perimenopause because there are so many crazy symptoms associated with that. Itchy inner ears…dry feet…trouble swallowing—I mean, you name it, perimenopause can cause it. But this feels different.”
“Different how? What symptoms are you experiencing?” Severin asked her.
She hesitated for so long he had to prompt her again.
“Please tell me—how can I help you if I don’t know what you’re going through?” he asked gently.
“I feel horny, all right?” Her words were blunt but the deepening blush on her cheeks let him know how embarrassed this statement made her feel. Unfortunately, Severin didn’t know what “horny” meant.
“I’m sorry—you feel how?” he asked, frowning.
“Empty inside. Like I want sex—want to be filled.” She shook her head.
“I don’t understand it. Before Ravik dragged me in here, I had no sex drive at all—none.
And I hadn’t had one in over a year. Now, suddenly, it feels like my body is craving sex.
I mean, I could jump your bones right now if I let myself.
” She gave Severin a look that made his fangs ache, but also filled him with confusion.
“You want to jump on my bones?” he asked, frowning.
She sighed.
“Didn’t you learn any human idioms on the Mother Ship?”
“I was either buried in the lab or out on field missions with Ravik,” he admitted. “I didn’t have much interaction with humans.”
“Well it means I want to tear your clothes off and ride you like I was riding Ravik a little while ago.”
“You do?” His eyebrows shot up. “I mean—”
“But I won’t,” she said quickly. “Of course, I’m not going to do anything like that. Anything like what I did with Ravik, either. In fact, I think the three of us need to be careful from now on.”
“Yes, definitely.” Severin agreed.
He was still feeling shocked and almost uncomfortably aroused by her confession—that she wanted him—wanted to ride him. He’d gotten guilty pleasure out of watching her with Ravik, but the idea of being with the curvy Mature Elite himself made his cock and fangs both throb with desire.
However, Cassandra was saying she didn’t want to do any of the things she claimed her body craved. It was a confusing contradiction, but he wanted to be certain her wishes were obeyed.
“I’m sorry to dump all this on you, I just figured you might need to know because you’re trying to find a cure for the Hunger Virus and find out what’s going on with me and Ravik, since both of us were bitten or scratched by an Infected,” she said, breaking into his train of thought.
“Yes, you’re absolutely right,” Severin assured her. “And I promise you, I’ll do my best to find out why your body is…craving what it’s craving.” He cleared his throat. “And in the meantime, if you don’t want to be around Ravik anymore, I understand.”
“Don’t want to be around him?” She actually looked shocked. “Of course I want to be around him—he saved my life, bringing me here. And if I spend too much time away from him, he might go back to his caveman stage and burn the bunker down if he tries to cook something again.”
Severin couldn’t help smiling.
“Yes, I’m still not sure what he was thinking when he tried to cook those fikka beetles.”
“Me either.” She shook her head. “I’ll just be sure he’s wearing trousers and we should be fine. Er…it would help if I had on more clothes too.”
“I’m sure it would. Watching you walk around the bunker in your, er, night clothes is rather…distracting,” Severin admitted. “But you can feel free to look at my clothing. I don’t have much, but you can help yourself to anything you need.”
“Well, your trousers are never going to fit me, but I might steal one of your shirts, if that’s okay,” she told him.
“There’s no need to steal—I’m offering it to you willingly,” Severin said, frowning. “Or…am I missing another Earth idiom?”
“Something like that.” She laughed. “Let me go get one of your shirts on and then I’m going to go watch Ravik and be sure he doesn’t get up to anymore trouble.”
“Thank you for watching him,” Severin said gratefully. “He’s in the mating chamber, I think,” he added.
“Well, he can come into the kitchen with me while I clean up and make us something to eat,” Cassandra told him. Standing on tiptoes, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck with your research. If you can make a cure for the Hunger Virus, this whole planet will thank you.”
“I’ll certainly try,” Severin said grimly.
“Because if I can’t develop a cure, V Prime will probably have to be quarantined from the rest of the universe.
” He sighed. “That’s one reason Ravik and I haven’t risked a run to the closest communications tower yet to call for help.
I can’t risk bringing this infection to the Mother Ship unless I also have a cure for it. ”
“What about your ship? Don’t Kindred usually travel in long-rang shuttles?” she asked. “I know that’s how I got out here, anyway—the Mother Ship folded space and a shuttle brought me and Sskarth out.”
“Unfortunately, our shuttle was ‘trashed’ as you humans put it, during the first wave of riots after the virus really started to spread,” Severin said grimly. “Which is why we need to place a call to the Mother Ship to come and get us.”
“But you can’t do that without a cure—I understand.” She nodded. “All right, I’ll let you get on with your work. I’d better go find Ravik.”
And with that, she left his lab. Severin watched her go and couldn’t stop thinking of what she’d told him. He wondered if her new hyper-sexuality was a symptom of her perimenopause, or of the Hunger Virus…or possibly a mixture of both.
Well, he was going to do his best to find out.