Chapter Six #2
“Our quarters.”
She smiled and looked around. “The base seems brighter.”
There was soft wonder in his voice when he said, “Does it? The lights are at fifty percent.”
“Ah, so the changes are starting.”
He chuckled, and she squirmed a little. His next laugh was deliberate. “It seems the changes have, indeed, started.”
She wrapped a hand around his neck and kissed and licked at the other side. She felt him tense, and then they were in their quarters, and he was setting her down on the freshly made bed.
She looked at her Hmrain as he loomed over her. “So, having some buyer’s remorse?”
Birun looked down at her. “You are in a remarkably good mood.”
“I have caught it from you. My brain is touching yours in all kinds of strange ways. Despite your worry, you are extremely pleased with the creature who turned up at your door.”
He grinned. “That is working very fast.”
“When my brain eventually opens up, I want you close at hand.”
Birun chuckled. “You think you are going to be a mind bender?”
“If that is what you call what you do. Ra’s consort turned metallic gold, so did Nebel’s, but Lily is very molecularly dense. Kell’s consort, Sage, is turning red, and Essan’s consort is getting scales. The elders leave a heavy stamp, and the changes will be visible, and they will be felt.”
He nodded. “I will remain close. Very close. What else have you learned about Hmrain with my characteristics?”
“Well, Symo is the closest one, but Yasku did something weird to his mate.”
“Weird?”
“He licked her from head to toe, and it did something under her skin and made it hyper-sensitive.”
Birun cocked his head. “I will have to ask him about the purpose of it. You are sensitive enough.”
She laughed. “Oh, Yasku’s mate is growing wings. She’s part assessor.”
Birun paused. “Fine. I am going to talk to him now.”
She laughed, sat up, and grabbed a pillow as he stalked over to his desk.
She pulled the pillow in front of her. A chirp next to her caught her attention, and a bot had a small tray that it held up.
She took the tray and poured a hot cup of something from the carafe before she reached for the pastry.
When the scent hit her nostrils, she quickly sipped at the coffee that was there.
She looked at Birun, and he winked. “I am already good at programming food dispensers.”
He focused on the screen and started speaking in a language that she didn’t have. Another male voice answered, and they laughed and chortled together.
Trin smiled. The sound was nice, and Birun was happy. She finished her breakfast and then curled up. Seems it tasted like coffee but didn’t have caffeine.
Birun curled around her and licked at her shoulder with his slightly raspy tongue. Trin blinked. “What’s going on?”
“If I do this now, it will hold as you finish your transformation.”
“How did you learn about this?”
“He told me. She told me. He demonstrated. It was very effective, but only four of us have barbed tongues. Yasku is the only one who has discovered how to use it on his consort.”
“And he shared the recipe.”
Birun chuckled as he caught the image in her mind of two pans of macaroni and cheese.
Trin lay flat on the bed as he crouched over her with that thrumming he gave off. His arms bracketed her, and his body gave off a ton of heat that kept the rest of her warm and tingly.
Her body started to shiver wildly, and she bucked, feeling not only her pleasure but his admiration. Oh, this is weird.
He kissed the base of her spine and whispered, “You will get used to it.”
“You heard that?”
You will get used to it, Trin. We can talk silently now.
Boss will hate that.
Laughter spilled into her mind, and Birun flipped her to her back.
He grinned, and she stroked his cheek and dragged a fingertip up his pointy ear before holding his head as he continued licking down her front.
Shivering started again, and when he got down to her nipples, the burst of pleasure made him smile, and the stars in his eyes moved with purpose. You did that on purpose.
He laughed. “Of course I did. Coaxing you into coming apart is a joy and gives me hope for a long and cooperative future.”
Don’t look so smug, Birun.
He grinned. “You are communicating well, Trin.”
Thanks. Back to work, Overlord.
He laughed and pressed his forehead to her breastbone.
She threaded her fingers in his hair and stroked her leg up and down his thigh and back, brushing his wings. His mirth was put on hold, and he returned to her pleasure.
It was a lovely time, and her skin was glowing when he completed waking her body.
Birun smiled, his eyes wide with wonder. “You are glowing.”
“I know. Neat, huh?”
He chuckled. “Many would be worried.”
“You aren’t worried. You think it’s amazing, and you are very pleased with yourself.”
He smiled and dropped to his side, wrapping his arms and one leg around her. “You are right. I am.”
She laughed and said, “So, can we go back to normal stuff tomorrow?”
“I might intrude in your workspace for some sustenance.”
Trin looked at him. “Is this like me knowing there is chocolate in the house, so it’s all I can think of?”
He tapped through her thoughts. “Yes. That is exactly it.”
She giggled, and he wrapped her in his wings, and her well-earned fatigue took her over.
Trin sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes. She paused and stared. Her hair was snowy white. She looked at her hand, and it was the same. A glance down at her body showed her the same bright white. “Aw, damn. How am I going to get grease out of this?”
Birun walked in with a tray and a smile. “The texture means that it doesn’t stain. The designers weren’t that cruel.”
She sat up and looked at him. It seemed he couldn’t stop grinning. “So, I sort of knew this might happen.”
He set the tray down on the bed, and her eyes went wide. “Is that...” She reached out, snapped a piece, and put it in her mouth. She closed her eyes and let it melt. “Where did you find the recipe for chocolate?”
“In your mind. It tastes right?”
She lunged toward him and kissed him. She shared the piece on her tongue, and he purred. She let out a stuttering sound. She leaned away. “What was that sound?”
He laughed. “You were trying to purr. The cartilage is still developing. The changes went exterior and are now heading to your interior. Another few days and you will be mostly finished.”
She yawned. “Why am I still sleepy?”
“Your body has been busy. Oh, I have several responses to our queries. Half of your friends are still alive.”
Trin looked at him, and she felt the watery wave crossing her eyes as tears began to fall. “I thought they were all gone.”
He hugged her and held her against him as she engaged in relieved sobs.
When she finished, she went to the restroom to take care of her hot skin and a lot of snot.
Wiping it on Birun had been tempting, but he had set her on her feet and given her a light shove toward the bathroom.
That made her laugh. It seemed there were limits for bodily fluid sharing.
He laughed from the bedroom.
When she was cleaned up and ready to work with the information he was giving her, she walked out, and he was at his desk. He held his hand out, and she walked over to his desk, and he pointed at an icon. “That is the survivor list. I know you have mourned the others.”
She nodded and settled on his lap, facing the screen. She wrapped his arms around her, reached out, and pressed the icon. Zoey was listed as alive and in transport. Zaniah was located and in cold transport toward Sanctuary Base.
“Who’s Zaniah?”
“Zoey’s identical sibling. They both tested positive in the genetic screening.”
“I had no idea. See the next one.”
The next one was someone named Cori Havemark. Trin gasped. “She’s me. Well, she’s close. What the hell?”
“Your elder sibling. Based on your stated birthdate, she is seven months older than you.”
“My dad was an asshole.”
“Why?”
“Because he obviously had gotten another woman pregnant before he got my mother pregnant. Not socially acceptable, but it explains why Grandpa was so clingy. He had already lost another grandchild.” She swallowed. “Is she coming?”
“She was last seen on Aten. If you wish to speak to her, that can be arranged.”
“Is she a colonist?”
Birun frowned. “No. She suffered a cranial injury and was used as an experimental subject by the station. She was fused with another Hmrain-compatible species, but a version from a few thousand years earlier.”
“So, she doesn’t look like me anymore?”
He sighed and tapped the screen. A woman with a mask of dark blue, waves of black and purple that covered her skin, and her hair had the same waves.
Trin blinked and put the other dozens of names aside. “Can I talk to her?”
“I will call Aten.”
“I can do it.” She tapped the transfer codes for the signal to Aten and looked at Birun. “Right?”
He grinned. “You got that from me. You are learning quickly.”
“It is correct?”
“It is correct.”
She hit the send button and then watched the time to speed things up.
“She was the only sister you found, right?”
He paused, and she gasped. “Where is the other one?”
“Last seen breaking into a communications array. She is older than you by three years but registers astonishingly high intelligence, just as you do.”
“What about Cori?”
“They didn’t use standard tests on those with mental injuries. They only tested them to make sure they got up to usable cognition.”
“Oh.” She watched the connection timer count down. “Wow, you have fast coms.”
“We bolster them with our own energies. They go faster that way.”
The timer reached zero, and Birun casually took her hair and draped it forward.
“Oh, shit. I am naked.”
He laughed as a gold Hmrain took up the screen.
“Honoured Ra, do you have a Terran primal named Cori on Aten?”
Ra looked at her. “Well, you are obviously a Terran consort. They wait until the last moment to get etiquette programming.”