Chapter 34
Cassie
Rhea, Swift, and Piper huddled around her as the IA agent herded them through the spaceport. Cassie had never seen so many people in her entire life. She didn’t even realize that many people existed. How many of them knew about the Aviary? Did any of them know about the Aviary?
Swift grabbed her hand as they nearly got sideswiped by some sort of floating vehicle. Are we going to be ok?
I don’t know. Cassie responded.
When Cassie woke alone in ?rim’s room the next morning, she found herself aching.
It wasn’t painful, just low, dull throbbing emptiness.
She could hear ?rim doing something at his workbench in the shared living space.
She reached between her legs and found herself wet.
It must have been what he was talking about the night before.
Her fingers explored, and she started rocking against her own hand.
She didn’t have the same girth or texture as ?rim did, pushing inside herself, but she could choose her own tempo.
There was still a sense of wrongness in what she was doing.
Rules at the Aviary regarding appropriate body behavior fluttered around in her mind.
Cassie shoved them aside. She moved her fingers faster, pressing into herself with a need she didn’t know she had.
No one had ever taught her about herself, especially not this part of herself.
A small sound startled her from the building sensation.
When her eyes flew open, ?rim was quietly watching her.
He still hadn’t put any clothes on for the day, and in the dim light filtering through the blinds, his mating node was a much deeper blue than the rest of his body.
Jutting slightly from his pelvis, she recognized the textured crystalline bumps along its surface that had brought her to climax the night before.
“Can I help you, aoseria?” His voice was low, husky. “Otherwise, I’m happy to watch.”
The ache between her legs intensified at the thought of him watching. Already stripped bare, with her fingers inside herself, Cassie felt strangely emboldened. She reached for his hand, drawing him down beside her. Watch first, she said.
“Can I touch you here while I watch?” ?rim asked, cupping her breast.
She nodded as she bit her lower lip at the increased sensation as he thumbed her nipples.
Cassie closed her eyes again, focusing on the intensity of feeling as she dripped over her fingers.
Finally, she summoned the courage to move her thumb over her clit.
It was almost too sensitive to touch directly.
Her whole body shuddered as she brought herself to climax while ?rim watched.
As she removed her fingers, ?rim was quick to replace them with his much thicker, textured ones, stretching her as he entered.
“You said you might be able to go again. Is that still true?”
Yes.
He pumped into her slowly, filling the persistent ache with his hand. His fingers curved upward, hitting something inside of her she couldn’t name. “How does that feel?”
Instead of responding, she reached for him, holding onto his shoulders as he continued.
The thumb of his other hand rubbed lightly against her clit, increasing in pressure until he brought her to another ferocious orgasm.
It left her spinning. Cassie blinked through the pale blue haze around her vision.
“Aoseria, are you well?” he asked.
She took a moment to catch her breath before responding. Yes. Just a lot. What about you?
“Don’t worry about me. We have to leave soon. I’m gratified to see you taking an interest in your own pleasure. There will be more time for me later. I find watching you orgasm is enough satisfaction.”
Cassie blushed. The way he said it, laid it out factually, made it sound so normal, so acceptable, like a conversation mates might have over a meal. Mates. That’s what he’d said they were. His aoseria. Cassie’s heart felt full in a way it hadn’t since she’d left her flock behind.
She curled against him, not wanting to get up, but knowing it was time to start the day. ?rim held her for a long moment.
“You should eat something before we leave.” He ran a hand through her hair.
I need to get dressed. Reluctantly, she rolled herself up and went to pick out some clothing for the day. ?rim dressed efficiently beside her in his standard black pants and tunic.
“Do you know what you want to eat?”
Are you cooking again? Cassie eyed him. He’d tried to make human food for her on several occasions, insisting he could handle it, but it was obvious he had never eaten a bite of food in his entire life.
“Watching you use a knife makes me nervous.”
You can supervise. She wouldn’t lie and say her own attempts at cooking hadn’t resulted in several cuts and burns, all of which sent ?rim into a panic. But at least her food was much more edible.
“Supervising doesn’t protect your fingers.”
I’ll make something that doesn’t require cutting.
Cassie pulled her hair out of the collar of her jumpsuit, realizing it was getting quite long again.
She would have to figure out what to do with it sooner or later.
?rim followed her to the kitchen, supervising briefly as she assembled the ingredients to make porridge with some fruits, none of which required any knife skills.
He sat at the table with her as she ate. “How do you feel about learning numbers?”
Numbers?
“You’ve made good progress with your letters and words. Basic calculations might be helpful in other areas of your life.”
Cassie frowned, tapping her spoon on the edge of the bowl. I’m not against learning numbers. I just don’t know what I’d use them for.
“Well, we can try later this evening, and I can show you some practical purposes for them. I can also work on keying your voice to your wrist interface, so you don’t have to wear that thing around your neck all the time.”
She nodded. Fine, but I also want to watch some holos later. I don’t want to spend all night learning about numbers.
?rim clicked his mouth nodes in amusement. “Don’t worry, I won’t interrupt your time watching The Next Intergalactic Cooking Championship.”
It’s fun! You just don’t understand because you don’t eat food. Cassie took another large bite of porridge to emphasize her point.
After they finished their morning preparations, ?rim dropped her off behind the schoolhouse, where she usually met Glia and the pups.
She still found joy in caring for the younglings every morning, even with K’kaen accompanying her to ensure her safety.
The younglings didn’t notice. In their mind, her security detail was just another person to play with.
Cassie was busy pulling Irio away from Karr as the two of them squabbled over the same toy levibike when she noticed a familiar human woman with black hair pulled up into a tight knot at the nape of her neck watching her.
Cassie knew she knew her from somewhere but couldn’t quite place it.
One of the other kyrot pups, Meyra, wrapped herself around Cassie’s leg, throwing her off balance.
Cassie stumbled as she tried to pry Meyra free.
The woman approached. As she got closer, Cassie finally recognized her.
Yina. Yina had been part of the recovery team at the IA.
She’d helped Cassie and some of the others acclimate after their extraction from the Aviary.
K’kaen didn’t seem particularly bothered, so Cassie assumed it must be someone he knew as well.
“You look well, Cassie.”
Cassie nodded, lifting Meyra into her arms so the pup could nuzzle against her shoulder.
“What’s going on, human Yina?” K’kaen’s tail swished once in the dust.
“You’re S’samph’s friend, right?”
“His brother.”
“Got it. Latil’e bonds. I’m here for Cassie, though. There’s been a development in her case, and I’d like to get as much information as possible before we suggest a course of action.”
“Should I get her mate?”
Cassie blushed ferociously. She’d never get used to him being known as her mate publicly. They hadn’t submitted any formal paperwork, but they were mates in all the ways that mattered. She was his aoseria.
“Are you mated Cassie? It’s not registered in our database.” Yina turned to her. “Do you want to register it while I’m here?”
I don’t know. We haven’t discussed it. Cassie started to respond with hand signs, and then realized Yina would have no idea what she was saying. She activated her speaking device. “I’m not sure,” she said.
“Go with Yina, Cassie. I’ll watch the younglings.
” K’kaen raised his arms in the air and flicked his tongue, initiating a game of predator chase.
The younglings squealed with delight and scrambled away as the latil’e male stomped his way down the road, deliberately missing with his swipes as the younglings ducked and dodged away from him.
“Who’s your mate?” Yina asked as they walked. “Obviously, none of the passeri were entered into the IA MateMatch system before you left our facility, so we don’t have access to any of your preference data.”
“?rim.” Cassie said, glancing toward the schoolhouse as they walked past. He’d be worried if she wasn’t there when he finished his lessons, but she didn’t want to interrupt. She’d ask S’samph to send him a message.
“?rim? The teosian?” Yina’s steps slowed. “Cassie, are you sure?” Cassie recognized the shift in tone. The one people used with her when they were worried about breaking her.
“I’m sure.”
“Are you sure you’re not misinterpreting? I guess we didn’t talk much about physical relationships when you were with us. It seemed like a low priority item. Maybe we should have, though.”
“I’m his aoseria.”