Breaking All the Rules #3
“Mmhm.” Elio wondered if his staring was too obvious. Too much?
But apparently, it wasn’t. Her wide eyes turned to something half closed with slow, steady seduction, and her mouth lost its laughing grin. Lost the laughter, but not the smile, he realized, as she pursed her lips and pressed a kiss to his lips.
“Oh! Oh, I... Was I supposed to see that or not?” Ardol’s voice was a startled cough behind them.
“Hmm? What? Oh, no. I mean,” Elio swallowed and looked desperately at Lycen.
She draped a lazily possessive arm around his shoulders. “Baby boy is changed and sleepy. You can take him back to Jade for his milk,” she stated, not answering the question in words.
Ardol looked between them, a slow smirk spreading over his face. “Good job, you two. You know... I was telling Jade that you two dark horses should team up. It’s always the quiet ones who drop the biggest surprises.”
“It’s not a secret,” Lycen declared, squeezing him tighter. “It’s just new.”
“Well, here’s to all the new things,” Ardol lifted an imaginary glass in their honor. “After I bring Aran back to Jade, why don’t you two take the night off and go have a little Valentine’s fun for yourselves? I hear this human concept, Cupid, is never off duty.” He gave them a wink.
Elio rolled his eyes, but Ardol was his mentor and superior—at least in terms of managing freight and intergalactic coordinates. “Sure, Ardol. We’ll go celebrate.”
LYCEN SHIMMIED OUT of her uniform into a frosty blue dress, so short that it showed most of her thighs.
Why bother? In the simulation, they’d wear whatever the program offered.
It’ll be fine. We just keep to the All Audiences levels. We won’t go into any of the hidden levels. We’ll dance. See some comedy.
Still, she never went on dates, and she never dressed up—well, not when Elio could see her. Would he like the dress? Would he find her furry body too alien after his life among smooth, silky-skinned humans?
A beep told Lycen that Elio had arrived at her quarters, and the doors slid apart at the touch of a button. She wiped her sweaty palms on her dress and wondered if the slender straps and draped neckline would give the wrong impression.
“Oh. Lycen. Wow.” Elio froze after entering, eyes wide. “You look... Wow.”
“So do you.” Lycen gulped down the tide of salivation that had suddenly sprung into her mouth at the sight of her date.
Dark hair, swept back to show off his unlined forehead and his thick, smooth brows.
A tight white shirt that tucked into tight black pants.
All of his muscles were on display, or near enough, and she suddenly wanted to pry his clothes off and lick every inch of him.
That’s just the old, feral ways talking. Civilized Canids don’t growl and lunge, lick and mark.
Even if we suddenly want to...
“I’ve never actually gotten to do a simulation or a holo-excursion. I didn’t know how to dress. Is this a fancy one?”
“Um. It’s called Nights of Anubis West. Anubis West is a famous city in the Jackal Republic. There are clubs, dancing, shows we can see... We can still interact with each other. Hold hands.”
Elio took hers and squeezed. “Good, or I would have to quit before we started.”
“Aww. Don’t worry, we’ll be stuck together all night—or until the party ends.”
“Party?” Elio gave his outfit another doubtful look.
“The way we look on the outside won’t matter inside.
I just wanted to dress up a little,” she confessed with as much nonchalance as she could muster.
She turned and retrieved two metal chips, careful to keep the thick packaging over the rest of the accessories that came with the holo-excursion.
“Here. You have a personal computer, right?”
“Sure do.” Elio stuck out his wrist to reveal the small rectangular device that took up a third of his forearm. “I know it’s a Sapien-Three holdover, but I still find them useful. They’re so convenient.”
“It will be tonight. The chip for the game just patches into your external port on the device. I put on the one that came with the kit, and plug in my chip.” Lycen slid a shimmering cuff over her wrist and flipped open the surface to reveal a currently blank screen.
She handed Elio a small metallic square with a golden jackal’s head on it.
Elio took it and studied it with a puzzled frown. “It has an ABOA rating. Adult Beings Only?”
“Oh, that’s just because there are some adult things in the simulation, drinking. Some questionable shows. We don’t have to go to them.”
“I’ll go anywhere you want—but I only want to interact with you. You’re all the show I really care about seeing. I know I grew up on a trashy planet—”
“Elio. No planet is perfect. The Sirius Federation has plenty of seedy spots. I wouldn’t say Anubis West is squeaky clean. But it’s an adventure! Perfect for two busy, serious people to take a night off, and break a couple more rules.”
“I like the sound of that.” Elio slid the chip into the port and felt a shiver of energy run through him. His screen flashed, “Accept holographic simulation?”
Lycen showed him that her wrist cuff said the same. “On three?”
“On three.”
ELIO GASPED WHEN THEY landed in the middle of a swanky club, the kind he’d only ever seen on screens.
Things were dark and lush, crowded with Canids.
He looked down at himself, expecting to see his best clean non-uniform trousers and a clean white shirt, and instead saw a black suit in the latest style, polished boots, and a red flower of some kind in his hand.
“Oh. For you.” He tried to shake off his awe and show some manners, offering the flower to Lycen with a courtly bow.
“Ooh, Sagerose. My favorite,” she took it with a smile.
Elio stared as she inhaled the flower’s fragrance, marveling at how real everything looked and felt.
And Lycen... Her blue dress had been stunning, but this... This thing was sinful. It was a scrap of shimmering black, painted onto her curves, showing off long, limber legs and full, firm breasts. “Is this... Is that really you? I m-mean, because the dress—” he stammered.
“It’s me,” she said shortly. “I’ve had this simulation for a dozen cycles. It knows my body. We’re real to each other. We can touch.” To demonstrate, she pulled him suddenly out of the way of a passing waiter carrying a tray of fancy drinks, and he found himself bouncing against her side.
Feeling bold, like maybe he could show her a good time, even if it was all fake, Elio wrapped his arm around her hip. “One day, I’ll take you here for real, baby. If that’s where you want to go,” he said, determined—and a little nervous. Was “baby” too much too soon?
“I know you could. Or would. I don’t know if I want to go to some place like this.” Lycen swayed her body against his, guiding him into a dimly lit corner, sagerose now tucked against her ear, making her look even more beautiful. “But I know if I did, I’d want to go there with you. Baby.”
“Oooh. Lycen,” he hissed when his back hit the wall—how did that feel so solid?—and she stroked her hands down his chest, then her curves. “Is this how they dance here?” He looked around and immediately blushed.
No. This was mild. The rest of the Canid couples around them were welded together tighter than an airlock’s seal. A slender jackal prowled past, mouth growling around his partner’s neck, his hands cupping her ass in a short red dress.
Lycen tugged him along the wall. “This place is too overheated. Let’s go to the terrace. See a show?”
“Good plan.” It was a good plan—his body was just acutely disappointed by the lack of contact with Lycen’s soft, abundant curves.
Elio didn’t want to kill the romantic mood, but he didn’t want to seem overeager, either.
He kept his arm around her waist, leaning in as she wrapped her arm over his shoulder. “This is nice.” This is perfect.
“Really? I’m so glad. I’ve noticed that almost all of the human couples in media have a taller male and a shorter female. I was afraid this would be too different.” Lycen gave him a nervous smile, allowing him another peek under her ever-in-control armor. “And the fur thing. Is that okay?”
“I love it. I mean, I don’t just love it, I love you—I mean, I’m not just in love with your body, I like the way you look, but also who you are, so of course I like how tall and goddess-like you are, and I love how soft and thick your fur is, and yeah.
Yeah. It’s great. Can we get drinks in here? Probably not.”
Lycen just chuckled at his frantic explanation. “I’m glad you’re not shallow, Elio,” she murmured as they walked up a tall, curving staircase.
Elio felt the elevation change, even though he knew they were both just holding hands and walking in place in Lycen’s quarters.
The disorientation didn’t distract him for long.
He was mesmerized by the way she looked in the tight little dress, leading him up the stairs like she was taking him to heaven.
“I guess,” she ducked her head, and Elio realized it was the Canid equivalent of a blush, “that I’m wondering if it’s just something you tolerate out of affection, or would it ever be something you actually want?”
“Oh. I want. I want very much. But, uh, not too much. An appropriate amount of want?” Elio tried to drag his jaw up from the floor when she turned at the top of the staircase, a few steps and a few feet over him, shrouded in hazy pink light and the scents of unfamiliar flowers.
“So much,” he whispered, noticing that after so many cycles of stress and trying to survive, to learn, to adjust—his libido was making a big comeback.
But big enough for her? That was a whole new fear.
“Am I enough for you?”
Lycen reached down and pulled him up the final steps, bringing him flush against her once again. “More than enough.”
“But there are probably differences?”
“We’re goal-oriented. We’d make it work.”