Chapter 55 #2
“The second route is vaginal and cervical absorption,” he went on. “This is not merely another dose of the same material—it activates an entirely different immune and endocrine cascade. Since the Hunger Virus has embedded itself in your reproductive pathway, we must address that pathway directly.”
Cassie stared at the glowing diagram.
“So my mouth starts the vaccine and my pussy finishes it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
There was a small, choked sound from Severin and Ravik muttered something that sounded like a prayer and a curse put together but Dr. Verityx didn’t seem at all bothered by her blunt words.
“In simplified terms, yes! Excellent comprehension,” he exclaimed.
Cassie nodded.
“Um, thank you. I made an A in biology in high school.”
“That’s perfect because what I’m showing you is, in fact, simply biology,” the doctor assured her.
“Oral exposure primes the blood, while vaginal exposure activates the reproductive-endocrine pathway. Once both routes have received both male marker sets, the medication I will administer can redirect your anti-viral response into the mammary glands, where it will be expressed as vaccine nectar.”
Cassie looked at the milking table again…the nipple cups seemed to be looking back at her.
“And by expressed, you mean milked out of me,” she said flatly.
“Collected,” Dr. Verityx corrected gently. “Though I understand the human term ‘milked’ is not inaccurate.”
“Lovely,” Cassie muttered. “That makes me feel so much less like a farm animal.”
Ravik stepped closer to her, anger vibrating through his voice.
“Cassie is not an animal and shouldn’t be treated like one,” he growled.
Dr. Verityx turned his head toward him, blinking his big, owlish eyes calmly.
“No, of course not, Commander Ravik. She is an extraordinary woman whose body has found a way to turn viral corruption into immune medicine. Nothing about this process should be viewed as degrading. The nectar she produces may save both your Mother Ship and the remaining survivors on Visslick Prime. And any other world that might otherwise be exposed to the Hunger Virus, too.”
That shut Ravik up…it shut Cassie up too.
For a moment, the embarrassment of what was going to happen to her faded under the weight of what he had just said. She looked at the glowing model of her body and tried to see it the way Dr. Verityx did.
It wasn’t dirty or ridiculous or humiliating—her body was beautiful and strong, she told herself. It was fighting back against the evil Hunger Virus—making something powerful out of the cruel killer that had tried to destroy her.
Severin’s voice was softer when he spoke.
“What about the third route?”
Cassie’s stomach tightened.
Of course there was a third route.
Dr. Verityx nodded gravely, as though he had been waiting for Severin to ask. Another pathway lit on the hologram, lower and deeper, connecting to a web of gold lines in the pelvis and spine.
“The rectal mucosa and pelvic lymphatic network may also be required for full vaccine-grade stability,” he said.
“We may not need that route immediately, but my models suggest that deeper pelvic absorption can strengthen the broad-spectrum response. The Hunger Virus mutates rapidly, and we need the nectar to recognize more than one narrow strain.”
Cassie stared at him.
“So you’re saying I might need their cream in all of my, er, orifices?”
“Mostly the oral and vaginal routes, but each mucosal route provides a different layer of immune instruction,” Dr. Verityx said.
“Oral absorption gives rapid systemic priming. Vaginal absorption activates the reproductive-mammary conversion cascade. Rectal absorption engages the pelvic lymphatic system and may help stabilize the broad-spectrum vaccine response. All three, when combined with pleasure-induced endocrine release, should produce the strongest nectar.”
Cassie covered her face with one hand.
“Of course my ass has to be scientifically relevant,” she muttered.
Ravik made a strangled sound that might have been a laugh and Severin coughed into his fist.
Dr. Verityx blinked owlishly.
“Many anatomical regions are scientifically relevant.”
“That is not as comforting as you might think it is,” Cassie said from behind her hand.
The doctor seemed to consider this. At last, he nodded.
“I see.”
Severin leaned forward, his expression thoughtful now despite the flush on his cheekbones.
“The pleasure response is still required?” he asked. “Cassandra’s symptoms lessoned markedly after Ravik and I pleasured her when the three of us were in the bunker on Visslick Prime.”
“Oh yes, most definitely.” Dr. Verityx tapped another command, and a series of hormone markers bloomed around the breasts in the hologram.
“Arousal increases blood flow, opens the mucosal uptake channels, and triggers the glandular letdown response. Orgasm produces the strongest endocrine surge, especially oxytocin-like and prolactin-like compounds, which are necessary to move the anti-viral formula into the mammary tissue.”
Cassie lowered her hand slowly.
“So the orgasms aren’t incidental.”
“No,” Dr. Verityx said. “They are the mechanism by which the cure travels through your body.” He looked at Ravik and Severin.
“Which is why I urge you to pleasure Cassandra as much as possible—and to give her your cream in every way. Her body will tell her what she needs—it’s your job to supply it often and in abundance. ”
Ravik looked like he wanted to punch the wall and Severin looked like he wanted to ask fifteen more questions.
Cassie felt like laughing, crying, and possibly climbing both of them right there in the laboratory, which was inconvenient but not surprising considering the bite wound on her arm had begun to pulse under her sleeve and the need was building inside her again.
She glanced down quickly at the arm, hidden under a long sleeve. She didn’t want to draw attention to it, but Severin and Ravik both noticed her looking.
“Cassandra?” Severin asked, his voice going low and careful. “Is the need coming back?”
“I’m fine,” she said quickly, though the heat spreading through her body suggested that fine was doing a lot of work in that sentence. “My arm is just…doing what it does. Probably because Dr. Owl here keeps talking about all the places your seed needs to go.”
Dr. Verityx’s feathers fluffed slightly.
“Dr. Owl?”
“It’s not an insult,” Cassie said quickly. “You’re very distinguished but you remind me of a bird from my home planet renowned for its wisdom.”
The alien doctor seemed pleased.
“Well, thank you,” he said, his feathers puffing up proudly. “And never fear—soon I will release the three of you to your own devices to help feed the urgent sexual hunger you are no doubt feeling due to the Hunger Virus.”
Ravik made a low sound behind her, and Cassie could feel him struggling with himself.
He wanted to comfort her—she knew he did.
But touching her in front of Severin—or worse, with Severin—was still the thing he was fighting hardest. That knowledge made her heart ache in a way that had nothing to do with the virus.
Dr. Verityx tapped the display again and the model shifted to show her breasts glowing with golden lines.
“The medication I will give you today will stimulate mammary conversion,” he explained.
“At first, your breasts may ache or feel heavy as the glands begin producing nectar—this is expected. The first samples will likely be weak, but as you receive more complete marker exposure from both males, the nectar should become stronger.”
Cassie swallowed.
“And how exactly am I supposed to receive more complete marker exposure?”
Dr. Verityx tilted his feathered head.
“Through consensual treatment sessions with Commanders Ravik and Severin, of course. You must receive their cream orally and vaginally at first, and possibly rectally if the vaccine fails to stabilize. Ideally, you should also be saturated with their scents, their touch, and their emotional proximity, because your samples show that your endocrine response is strongest when you feel safe with both of them.”
The word “safe” made Cassie’s throat tighten unexpectedly. Yes, that was what she needed—to feel safe between her guys.
Severin looked at her, his pale blue eyes full of concern and something gentler than concern. Ravik stood behind her, silent and tense, but when she glanced back, his golden eyes were fixed on her face rather than on Dr. Verityx or the horrible medical milking table.
“We’ll give you what you need, baby,” he said, his voice rough.
“Yes,” Severin said quietly. “Anything you need, sweetheart. Just ask.”
Their simple words made her eyes sting.
“Thank you—both of you,” she murmured. She might be in a lab about to undergo all kinds of weird experiments, but at least she had her guys with her.
Dr. Verityx looked between them, his huge golden eyes bright with interest.
“Excellent. Consent reduces stress markers and improves nectar quality,” he said, nodding his feathered head. “Emotional coercion would damage the sample and, more importantly, damage the patient.”
Cassie let out a shaky laugh.
“I think I like you, Dr. V.”
“Thank you,” he chirped. “I am highly regarded in several fields.”
“Modest too,” she murmured.
Severin’s mouth twitched.
Ravik didn’t smile, but some of the darkness eased from his face.
Dr. Verityx stepped closer to the examination table and gestured toward the padded surface.
“For today, I will begin with the growth serum and take baseline readings. No intimate treatment needs to occur in the laboratory—yet. After the serum is administered, I recommend rest in the guest suitee with both males nearby. If your symptoms intensify, you should receive more cream and physical comfort as needed.”
Cassie stared at him.
“As needed,” she repeated.
“Yes,” he said. “Your body will likely tell you what it requires before my instruments do.”
“That is exactly what I’m afraid of,” she said.
The doctor nodded as though this was completely reasonable.
“Understandable. But your body has been quite intelligent so far.”
Cassie raised her eyebrows—no one had ever called her body intelligent before.
Too fat, yes. Too curvy. Too old. Too much.
Too hot-flashy. Too wet down there, according to Sskarth, which was possibly one of the many reasons she hoped her lizard husband was currently having a miserable day somewhere far away from her.
But intelligent? Powerful? Extraordinary? Those were all new.
She looked again at the milking table. It still made her nervous. The nipple cups and tubes and soft restraints—if that was what the supports were—still made her feel exposed and embarrassed and more than a little overwhelmed. But she also felt something else now—purpose. Maybe even hope.
“So let me see if I understand,” she said slowly.
“My body is fighting the Hunger Virus by using the pathway the virus tried to hijack. Ravik’s seed gives my body the attack markers.
Severin’s seed and essence markers give it the carrier and healing markers.
My mouth primes the blood, my vagina activates the reproductive-to-breast pathway, and maybe my rectal pathway helps stabilize the broad-spectrum vaccine if we need it.
Then my breasts make nectar that can be collected and turned into a vaccine. ”
Dr. Verityx’s feathers fluffed with obvious delight and his head turned all the way around in a 360 degree spin just like an owl’s. It was disconcerting to watch—in a Exorcist meets wildlife kind of way—but Cassie thought it was probably just his way of showing excitement or delight.
“Precisely! Very good, Cassandra. You are an excellent student!” he exclaimed.
Cassie gave a weak laugh.
“Well thanks. I’m sure my high school science teacher would be proud of me.”
Severin actually laughed then, softly and with real warmth.
Ravik’s mouth twitched, though he was almost about to smile.
For a moment, the tension between them eased—only for a moment but it made Cassie breathe a little easier.
Then Dr. Verityx clapped his feathered hands together with a soft fluttering sound.
“Now then,” he said brightly. “Shall we begin with the mammary activation serum?” He held up a syringe filled with pure gold liquid. “I have your first dose right here.
Cassie looked at the padded table, the glowing equipment, the bird-like assistants politely pretending not to listen, and the two enormous Kindred males who were both watching her with concern in their eyes.
Her heart started pounding and her breasts gave another faint ache, almost as though her body was gearing up to do what had to be done.
She took a deep breath and rolled up her sleeve for the needle.
“Yes,” she said nodding. “Let’s do it.”
What else could she do?