Chapter 3
Isat on the edge of the mattress and let the quiet of the room settle around me.
The harbor-facing window was cracked open, maybe an inch, and salt air threaded through the gap in thin, cool lines.
Outside, the dark of Avalon Bay broke here and there with the orange glow of torches and the occasional lantern down by the dock.
Gulls called in the distance, the sound sharp and clean against the silence of the upstairs corridor.
The lantern on the wooden crate burned low.
It threw an uneven amber light across the bare walls, catching the scuffs and water stains from before the Wave, and across the sheets I’d salvaged from Horizon’s crew quarters.
Advanced-weave fabric, Ira called it. Light, smooth, almost frictionless against skin.
They smelled clean, since Tiva had washed them the night before using the Horizon’s laundry room.
Autumn perched on the crate beside the lantern, her full fairy height of eleven inches putting her eye level with my chest when I sat.
Her platinum hair hung loose around her shoulders, fine as spider silk, floating slightly in the draft from the window.
She wore the green velvet dress that left very little to the imagination, the thin green fabric translucent in the lantern light, her small breasts visible beneath it, her legs crossed at the ankle.
“I miss Casey,” she said, her voice small and clear in the quiet room.
“My humanz misses her too, I know. But Linda and Evelyn are very nice. Very, very nice. I like how they hold each other’s hands.
Like this.” She pressed her tiny palms together and wiggled her fingers.
“And they think about you all the time. Even when they’re thinking about each other, there’s a piece of you in there too. It’s sweet. Like honey, but different.”
Her deep blue eyes caught the lantern light, and I saw the warmth in them, genuine and uncomplicated. Autumn didn’t do complicated. She did what she felt, and she felt everything at full volume.
“It’s their turn tonight,” she said, climbing to her feet on the crate, balancing with her arms out.
“I’m excited for them. For you too, my humanz.
They’ve been waiting. I could hear their thoughts from the hall.
Linda’s like a little bell, ding-ding-ding, all the time.
Evelyn is slower. Like a drum. Boom. Boom.
Boom.” She tapped the crate with her heel to demonstrate, then grinned at me.
I reached out and let my fingertip brush against her hair. It felt like touching warm silk. “You’re a good friend to them.”
“I’m a good friend to everyone,” she said, puffing out her chest a little.
Then she stepped closer to the edge of the crate, right in front of me where I sat on the mattress.
“My humanz. Would you like a taste? I know it isn’t necessary.
Casey isn’t here, and your Linda and Evelyn are coming soon.
But I want to. I like giving it to you.”
She lifted herself up on her toes and spread her legs, pulling the green velvet dress aside with both hands.
Her tiny body was exposed to me, the small patch of platinum hair between her thighs, the delicate pink folds beneath.
She was so small I could have covered her with my hand, but the intimacy of the gesture was the same as if she’d been human-sized.
Maybe more so. She trusted me completely, and that trust was written in every line of her body.
“Please,” she said.
I leaned forward and brought my face close to her.
Her scent hit me first, clean and floral with an undercurrent of sweet honey.
I opened my mouth and ran my tongue along her, from bottom to top, the taste flooding my mouth immediately.
Honey-sweet, warm, thick on my tongue. The warmth of it spread through my chest and down into my stomach, a slow-building heat that sharpened everything without the urgency of desire.
My senses opened. I could hear the individual gulls outside, pick out their different calls.
The salt smell from the window grew richer, layered with kelp and night air. The amber light seemed to brighten.
Autumn made a small, high sound, her hands coming to rest on either side of my nose. “That’s it, my humanz. Good. Very good.”
I licked her once more, slowly, feeling her tremble against my tongue, then sat back. The nectar’s warmth pulsed through me, steady and clean. My cock had hardened a little against my jeans, but the desire was distant, patient. The nectar didn’t rush. It built.
“Thank you,” I said.
She lowered her dress and sat down on the crate, legs dangling over the edge. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing quick. “You’re welcome. Always welcome.” She kicked her feet against the wood. “Tiva is excited too, you know. For her turn. For you. For both.”
“Tiva?” I hadn’t seen the blue woman all day. “Where is she? I didn’t spot her at dinner.”
Autumn’s expression shifted, a small, private smile forming on her lips. “She’s working. In one of the old-world buildings by the shore. A project.” She tapped her nose with one finger. “Secret project. I promised not to tell.”
“What kind of project?”
The smile stayed. “It made her happy and will make others happy too. That’s all I can say. She asked me to help, so I helped with a little fairy magic. Trust me, my humanz, it’s a good thing.”
Before I could press her, a knock came at the door. Three quick raps, firm but not loud. Linda’s knock, or maybe Evelyn’s. I couldn’t tell them apart by sound yet.
Autumn hopped to her feet. “That’s them!
I should go. Fairy business. Very important.
” She winked at me, then crossed the crate in two quick steps and slipped through the cracked window into the dark.
The lantern light caught her platinum hair for a moment, a bright flash against the night, and then she was gone, the salt air rushing in to fill the space where she’d been.
I heard the shuffling outside the door, then a whisper, not words but a pulse of nerves. I opened the door and found Linda and Evelyn standing in the corridor, holding hands.
Linda had a firm grasp and was leaning forward towards the threshold, while Evelyn, though less obviously excited, had her mouth in a tight line and her jaw set stubbornly.
She continued to look at me. The light from the lantern within gave a sharp yellow hue to their faces, and both of them blinked at the sudden glare.
“Hi,” Linda said. It cracked out of her, then hung there.
I nodded. “Come in.”
They entered as one, hands still laced. Linda wore a faded plaid shirt, unbuttoned at the top, with the sleeves rolled up, and the shirt tails barely covering her denim shorts.
Her hair was loose, a pale sweep over her shoulder.
Evelyn had chosen a simple black tee and cargo pants, the kind with shallow pockets that flattened against her thighs.
Her hair was dark and tied back tight, a few stray wisps clinging to her cheek in the humidity.
They both stopped about three feet into the room. The door clicked shut behind them, the sound sharp in the quiet. I moved back to the mattress and sat, leaving enough space for them to figure out what came next.
“Hi, again,” Linda said, softer now. She let go of Evelyn’s hand, but her fingers lingered a second before dropping away.
Evelyn’s eyes flicked to Autumn’s spot on the crate. “Is Autumn…?”
“She had fairy business,” I said.
Linda laughed, the tension unspooling a bit. “That sounds about right.”
They glanced at each other, some silent conversation running in the current between them.
I felt it in my chest, a double pulse: Linda’s bright edge of anticipation, nervous and excited, and Evelyn’s deeper undertow, decided and moving forward.
I didn’t have to try to read it; the heat of it hit me right in the center, then radiated outward.
Evelyn pulled in a deep breath. “This is weird,” she said, but the word sounded factual, not negative.
“Weird’s okay,” I replied. “Weird means you’re alive.”
Linda’s gaze dropped to her bare feet, then up again. “I thought I’d be more scared. I’m not, though. I mean—” She looked at Evelyn, then at me. “It’s good-weird.”
We drifted into small talk, filling the space before the plunge.
They sat on the edge of the mattress with me, Linda between us.
The mattress dipped under our combined weight, the Horizon sheets cool against my thighs, frictionless even through denim.
The lantern hissed on the crate. Salt and night air threaded through the cracked window, layered with the faint sweat of three bodies in close.
Evelyn spoke first, her voice low. “Heard they made good progress on the aft mast. Gascha said it might actually hold if.”
Linda nodded. “The android said she reinforced the mount. The Android… Weird. She kinda reminds me of someone, a celebrity, I think, but I can’t remember. It’s like, right on the tip of my tongue.”
“Same here,” Linda said, looking at her with a familiar smile.
I watched her mouth move. Every line of her was tuned to the present moment: the way she picked at the cuff of her shirt, how she pressed her knees together, then relaxed them apart as if she’d forgotten how to sit still. She radiated want, but it ran in quick, choppy surges.
Evelyn’s hand covered Linda’s on her knee. “You’re buzzing.”
“I know.” She twisted her lips into a grin. “I’ve never—”
“Me neither,” Evelyn said, cutting it off with a look. “We’re here.”
It wasn’t a question.
Linda’s breath caught, then she exhaled and leaned her head against Evelyn’s shoulder. The physical contact snapped everything into place, and I felt my own body respond, a hot line running down my spine and out to the tips of my fingers.
Evelyn whispered in Linda’s ear. Her hand came up, brushed the hair from Linda’s face, then slid down to the top button of Linda’s shirt. Linda’s fingers mirrored her, finding the edge of Evelyn’s tee and tugging at the hem.