Chapter 4 #2
“Is she…?” Mark flailed slightly and in the lobby of the breeding farm, he actually blushed, gritting his teeth slightly.
The place was full of women wearing barely a stitch of clothing, several of them already in the laps of Vampyren.
They didn’t look unhappy. Pheromones no doubt, Mark thought. “Nice?”
“Is she nice?”
Loren looked him up and down. “I don’t know anyone else who would ask that.
Come on.” Mark was vaguely offended and infuriated by that in equal measure, but he followed Loren to one of the bedrooms that looked like a place where teenage girls would live.
Mark knew what the rooms of human girls looked like because he had taken to exploring the abandoned homes of humans.
He found them fascinating and distressing; the empty rooms with all their little toys and amusements, the heartache of small lives lived.
He had sometimes thought that all Vampyren should take quiet tours of abandoned human homes.
He never mentioned that idea to anyone though.
There was only one girl in the big room that held two rows of beds.
She had long straight black hair that was tied into a high ponytail and curled at the ends.
She wore a tiny little black nightgown that was meant to attract, her firm thighs bare, almost completely, her full breasts were at risk of spilling out of the top.
She wore a full face of makeup, her eyelashes unnaturally long and thick.
She did not look happy about any of this and sat smoking on her bed.
She had clearly been staring out the window at the decimated city beyond and now her head swiveled over to look at him and Loren.
She was beautiful because, of course, she was.
But Mark could immediately tell that he was not quite seeing her while she was dolled up like this.
None of it made sense on her even if it was all inevitably sexy.
She would have looked more comfortable in a canvas sack or Vampyren armor. It was obvious the moment he saw her.
“Crystal,” Loren said. “This is Mark.” Mark watched the girl tense up, her shoulders hunching.
He found himself unconsciously slumping a little more, relaxing his posture and dropping his shoulders, tipping his head to the side.
He schooled his mouth into a deliberately softer curved line, not quite a smile but not a frown.
He clasped his hands in front of him to show that he was not carrying any weapons and that he was not raising a hand to strike her.
It was elementary stuff, yes. But in his estimation, every little bit helped.
“Mark,” Crystal said, in a tone that held a bit of mockery. “Mark the Vampyren. Of course.”
Crystal got to her feet. She was of average human female height which meant she was about a head and half shorter than he was and her body was petite yet curvy, a little muscular in places. She looked like she’d lifted some heavy things in life, judging by the curve of her biceps.
Crystal sighed and her long, black ponytail swung around to hang between her breasts.
Mark considered himself an outlier among his kind; too kind and too soft perhaps, yes. But he found himself wanting to show this girl how good it could be if nothing else. It was hard not to imagine filling her up with his cock and his seed when her thighs and her breasts were on display like that.
But he only stood, smiling carefully, his head tipped to the side in a gesture of near submission.
“Well, my name is different in Vampyren,” Mark said in a soft voice. “But I thought it would be useful if it sounded a little more human.”
“Hmm.” He watched the bob of her throat when she swallowed and even that aroused him. He wanted to lick her here. Crystal crossed her arms, a defensive posture.
“Okay,” Loren said, sighing. “I have to go talk to Keira. You two can...get to know each other.” Loren shut the door after him and Crystal kept her eyes trained on him as if she expected him to attack at any moment.
He sat on the bed across from hers, a few feet away. “How long have you been in here?”
She scoffed and shook her head. “A day?” She looked so sad about it all.
It didn’t seem fair to him. Why had they not offered some kind of compensation to human women for helping them breed?
It would at least have been an attempt at a peace offering and from a practical point of view, it would have increased the chances of successful breeding.
But then it was only partly about procreation.
“I was a trader. I was good at it. I have a place in town and roommates, friends. They have no idea I’m here. I’m not allowed to contact them.”
“Oh, I could get you a message to them,” Mark said easily. “For a start. I don’t...agree with this system. You should know that. I only agreed to be your protector, your patron, because Loren told me you were in danger and it would be helpful.”
She looked over his face, squinting, perhaps searching out a lie. “What makes you such a good guy then, huh?”
“I… don’t see the need to be a bad one?” He shrugged, another distinctly human gesture. Crystal smiled at that.
“Interesting,” she murmured.
They fell into an awkward silence and Mark shifted uncomfortably, sweating bullets beneath his armor. He was better in hot weather as all Vampyren were but Chicago was also humid and that was murder. “Do you mind if I take this armor off?”
“Do I…?” Crystal threw her head back and burst into laughter.
He watched, baffled, as her face twisted up into an expression of helpless mirth before she hunched over her knees, slapping them as if she absolutely could not help herself.
“N-no! No, go ahead.” She wiped her teary eyes, still chuckling.
“You are… unusual alright. I don’t hate it. Tell you that much.”
“You can tell me more than that,” Mark muttered, not having heard the phrase before, and he began to unlace and remove his armor, underneath which he wore soft cloth britches, a sleeveless shirt, and leather boots with laces.
It was still too much clothing. Sometimes he envied humans with their thinner clothes that were better in the heat.
He’d seen Vampyren wearing human clothes before but it was nothing he could get away with while serving in the military.
His braid stuck to his neck and he tossed it aside, grimacing.
Crystal was watching all this, seemingly fascinated.
“Are you wearing eyeliner?” She said.
“What?”
“Black stuff on your…?” She pointed to her own eyelids.
“Oh. Helps with the heat of the sun.” He said.
“It’s pretty hot,” she said. “Attractive, I mean. I’m just saying.
” She looked him up and down and he felt their positions had flipped, especially considering they were in a breeding farm.
He felt more naked than the removal of armor allowed for.
She was looking at him, into him, as she bit her lip.
He was being appraised and finally, the corner of her mouth turned up and she said, “I think I may have really lucked out. Wait, are you using pheromones on me?”
“No,” he said firmly. “I don’t do that. Unless… I would if you asked me too. You human women are much too affected by it. It doesn’t seem right. It makes you want us when you don’t want to want us.”
“Jesus, you’re more of a gentleman than… than…” Crystal made a stuttering little noise that Mark thought it was kind of cute. “Than most of the human men I’ve met in my life. Like the vast majority, I think.”
“We weren’t always like this on our world,” Mark said grimly.
“Humans have done more monstrous things than what you’ve done here,” Crystal said wryly.
“Or at least as monstrous…” She seemed to think about it a moment and then said, “No. More monstrous. That’s why I traded with Vampyren, you know?
Figured it wasn’t about...you know, the race?
Besides... I’m a mercenary. And a customer is a customer. ”
“A mercenary,” Mark said. “You don’t look like one.”
“Well…” She didn’t finish her sentence and looked at him with some new expression. All at once the temperature in the room started to change. “You know, they’ll expect us to have…”
“There’s no need for that,” Mark said with a wave of his hand. “I wouldn’t want to…”
“What about the blood thing?” Crystal said, rubbing her eyes. “You know, I mean the thing where you bite me and then you can smell me if I’m in danger…”
“Yes…” His eyes roved over her. “Would that make you feel safer?”
She gave him a long look and said, “I think if it were you it would.”
Mark took a deep breath and steeled himself.
He was already aroused by Crystal. But she felt safe with him and he wasn’t about to take advantage of her as anyone else would.
It was tempting to use the pheromones after all.
He couldn’t help but feel his cock swell at the thought of her helplessly turned on for him, wanting him so badly she begged and threw herself at him until he filled her completely.
But he resisted the urge. He would only use that if she asked him to. That was his promise.
He stood up and went to her bed, sitting down beside her, the scent of her intoxicating, and his thighs pressed against hers, making him want to take one of her legs in each hand and feel that cool, soft skin under his palms. She bared her neck for him, licking her lips.
“Will it hurt?” She whispered.