[ Author: Andromeda Bliss; Title: Adin's Adventure - How To Ruin A Rescue; Genre: Science Fiction, Alien, Erotica ] Adin woke with his usual suddenness, keeping his eyes closed for a moment. But when he lifted his lids the little white cage was the same. Pale, featureless walls gleamed in the soft glow from the ceiling, no exits or entries, no way to escape. He was still a prisoner. With a sibilant sigh, he sat up on the flat bed, wishing for his sleeping tank on his home world as he scratched at his dry scales. Cocking his head toward the wall to his left, he quested outward with his mind, reaching for the next cell's occupants. Yes, they were present and fornicating yet again. Tireless, those three. Or rather two; he sensed three minds but the images he received from them showed one of the beings with a second cranium. He'd never met such a species, hadn't dreamed such variety could exist. He'd never felt the need to travel away from their small world and explore. The adventurous one in their clutch had always been his older brother Ocen. Ocen, the brave and confident one, the starship pilot who had left their home to explore the galaxy. Ocen, who'd disappeared. Their mother's tortured features and dim, suffering eyes had driven Adin into the stars to look for his brother. Adin was full-grown, nearing the mating burn. He was old enough and maybe brave enough to rescue his wayward brother from whatever fate had befallen him. He'd been so proud of the way he'd tracked Ocen, following posted schedules, docking entries, purchases, until he'd found the last entry, the last purchase at a strange drink vendor filled with the most exotic sentient species he'd ever seen. His brother's trail stopped there. Adin remembered asking the staff about him, remembered the drink tender giving him a peculiar smile and handing him a glass. Then he'd awakened here, in this small white square with no memory of how he'd gotten from the vendor to this prison. He was also naked. So much for rescuing his brother. Now he was the one who needed rescue, trapped in a cage without even knowing who had taken him and why. What they wanted from him was clear enough. In the three wake cycles since his abduction, several females had entered his small cage and attempted to mate with him. In their minds he saw images of what they expected, what they wanted. But he had not yet reached full mating burn, though he'd tingled on the edge of it when one aggressive female had stroked his two largest phalluses with hands and mouth. Adin had sent each female away with mild regret that he could not please them and irritated curiosity about his abductors. If this was some sort of illicit breeding program, wouldn't artificial means be easier? What he saw in the females' minds, when they weren't focused on mounting his cocks, suggested a behavior study. For what purpose? And surely they could get volunteers without needing to kidnap beings? Was this what had happened to his brother? Was Ocen trapped in a white cell somewhere also? With another sigh, Adin stretched and rose from the bed, paying no attention when it folded into the wall and completed the room's unbroken, featureless whiteness. He wandered to the forward wall where his visitors had appeared as if sucked in and out of the wall material itself. He waited for a moment, expecting food and drink to materialize on a shelf like it had the previous cycles, but nothing happened. With a twitch, he turned away, irritated with himself for acting like a tame lab animal waiting placidly for its scheduled meal. Stepping over to the wall dividing his cell from the busy fornicators, he leaned a shoulder on the surface and closed his eyes, touching his mind to theirs. He suspected the abductors knew about his species' telepathy and expected him to use it in just this way, but he had little else to occupy his time. Besides, he was curious, about them and his own novel reactions. He'd never experienced such things as desire and physical need before, though Ocen had described the sensations and explained what to expect. The mating burn was close and new, and though he wanted to experience it he was dismayed at the thought of coming into his burn in this cold place. With a little thrill of dreadful anticipation, he concentrated on the female in the next cage, sinking into her seething consciousness. Sensation overwhelmed him just as it did her, flooding him with a pleasure so intense it blinded him. She was in the middle of an explosive chain of orgasms, her body writhing under the relentless pounding of the male, her mind a white-hot mass of ecstasy. Adin gasped, body shuddering with the overload of unfamiliar sensation. Heat rolled up from his groin, spreading out to his limbs in ever increasing waves. He felt the female's utter surrender to sensation, her deep satisfaction in the thick cock tunneling so ruthlessly into her, and it sparked something deep inside him, a sizzling need threatening to light his very core on fire. In a vague panic, Adin withdrew from the female's mind and the overwhelming sensations with dizzying abruptness. Gulping air, he pressed his forehead to the hard wall. He'd felt the female climax before but always in the distance, never so immediate and clear, erasing all thought and sense of self. His heart still thundered, muscles quivering, and a long ache had appeared inside him, a residual hot clench he'd never felt before. Adin opened his eyes and looked down, then stared in shocked fascination. He had a full erection. Of all three phalluses. They bobbed to his heartbeat and that hot ache, the paired cocks long and thick with a glisten of pre-cum on their bulbous ends, the smaller penis nestled on top of them and twitching with unfamiliar sensation. Adin had never had full erections before, not even when the female had stroked and tongued him with such voracious delight. He'd known what they would look like of course, but seeing it on his own body for the first time was disorienting, dislocating, as if he was suddenly inside someone else. His scales were even finer on his cocks, giving them a gleam like marble, especially on the damp heads. His deep blue colors, cobalts and indigos, shone between swirling black and gray patterns he hadn't fully seen before on this part of his body. Extending his tongue in a quick flicker, he sampled air ripe with his own flavor, a sweet musk announcing his burgeoning arousal. Adin touched tentative fingertips to one cock, careful to keep his black claws from scratching. Then he gasped, shocked at the sensitivity in his flesh, the tingling sensations shooting up his thick rod and fueling the burning clench in his gut. Wrapping careful fingers around his phallus, he stared in fascination at this throbbing piece of flesh in his fist, a body part he'd known all his life yet now seemed new in its heavy solidity, its hard yet silky texture. He tightened his fist and loosed an involuntary grunt at the stab of lust driving through him. Ocen had described what to do and Adin had dutifully watched the instructional holos, though his younger self hadn't thought much of the practice when touching his own flaccid groin. Now, as he drew his fist up his hard cock in a long, slow stroke, he understood the gleam in his brother's eyes and the glazed look on the holo instructor's face. His hips gave an uncontrolled twitch and a hissing groan slipped from his throat. The deep ache turned into a sizzling heat rolling from his core to his extremities in a flash-fire of wild need. And Adin understood, whether he wanted it or not, his mating burn had come upon him in this sterile place. He wanted to stop. He wanted to turn back time and feel nothing, to thwart his abductors. He wanted not to give them a show. He knew they had to be watching. But those were all small wants compared to the monstrous hunger now prowling through his limbs and pounding in his cocks. He could no more have stopped stroking himself than stopped breathing, overcome by impossible lust, by a massive need that growled and raked claws of fire through his insides. Desperate and mindless, he grasped the paired cocks in one rough fist and squeezed his smaller cock in the other hand, tugging along their lengths with jerky, inexperienced strokes. Untutored though he was, his body slammed into full burn, pleasure and ferocious desire wiping his mind clean of thought and filling it with sensation. Primitive instinct took over, snapping his hips forward in a thrusting rhythm as old as time, his grip tightening and smoothing out into a hard, fast stroke. Moments later pleasure spiked, exploding inside him with shocking force, and he felt the pulse of ejaculate pump through his aching flesh in time with his hoarse cries. As fierce sensation eased into drained relief, Adin sagged to his knees and braced against the wall, panting and staring in disbelief at the streams of liquid on the floor in front of him. he thought rather incoherently, remembering all the times he'd seen his brother chase after a female with almost mindless intensity. He hadn't understood the drive, the brutal imperative, until now. The mating burn could not be denied. Even after his mind-blowing orgasm, Adin could feel it rising again, the heat and clench in his gut. His three cocks had sagged but not all the way, twitching still with rivers of sensation. At home, a young Ophidian in his first mating burn would be secluded with the matrons, females willing to teach him control and instruct him in the arts of pleasure. He would learn how to manage this ocean of lust, harness it into a tool bringing his true mate complete satisfaction. Alone in this impersonal white room, Adin felt lost and anxious, wishing with renewed vehemence he was home and with his family. Ocen would know what to do. Was he here? Trapped in a cell like Adin? If he could contact his brother, could they find a way out of here? Adin staggered to his feet and moved to the back wall on wobbly legs. Activating the bed, he sat on it with a shaky huff and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the twitch of his rising cocks. Clearing his mind, he found what calm he could and reached outward, slow and deliberate. Then he gasped, stunned by the strength of his reach and clarity of his mind-touch. The mating burn had affected his telepathy as well, which made sense when he considered it. Bringing his true mate to full satisfaction involved knowing exactly how she liked to be touched by merging with her mind. No one had warned him, though. He brushed through cell after cell, gritting his teeth at the increasing amount of so many scattered thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. He pushed as far as he could stand and then pulled back in a rush, unable to handle the sensory overload. Breathing deeply, Adin hissed his frustration. He had felt only strangers, not his brother, but he didn't despair yet. His explorations had touched only on long rows of prison cells. He hadn't reached the edges of the facility, hadn't touched any minds that weren't prisoners and he was sure there were more. His brother might still be here, in another part or level of what he suspected was an enormous facility. Alarming, that such a large operation could function without anyone knowing of it. Before he could gather himself for another attempt, Adin felt a change in the room's atmosphere and opened his eyes, expecting the shelf of food. Instead, a lovely female Ophidian rippled through the wall and stepped into his cell. Adin stared, wondering if the mating burn caused hallucinations. Because no matter how solid she seemed, no matter how her sunset-colored scales rippled in the light and her limbs moved with silky, enticing elegance, her mind was not there. She glided to the center of the room and stood watching him, tilting her head. She had delicate flares on her skull ridges catching the light in opalescent flashes. Her scale patterns, lighter than his own, made a soft and intricate gray contrast against the infinite shades of pink-tinged reds and oranges. Her eyes glowed an almost florescent reflection of her sunset colors. Her claws were translucent pink and her tongue flicked out in a deep red invitation. Everything on her was long and smooth, her torso sleek and graceful without those odd milk glands he'd seen on mammalian species. She was an average female size, slightly larger than Ophidian males, perfect for carrying a clutch of young. Everything about her radiated her readiness to mate. She was stunning but her mind was empty. How was this possible? Adin sat still, confusion shivering through him as he tried to touch her thoughts and found nothing. How was he going to speak with her? His species didn't have verbal language, relying solely on telepathy to communicate. Confounded, he flicked out his tongue and tasted nothing. She had no flavor. Then it came to him. A droid. This was why every line was perfection and every move was enticement. Most females of his kind weren't so ready to mate without a great deal of effort from their males. They'd sent him a sex droid. But why? He'd turned away the other females they'd sent him. They must know enough about his species to realize his mating burn was best triggered by one of his own kind. But why a droid and not a real female who could instruct him? He hoped it was because they didn't have a real one in their possession. He should send her away. He should be furious they would treat him like this, stroking him with a mechanical device like some farm animal reluctant to breed on schedule. He was furious but also burning with need. His cocks stood tall in his lap, even harder and more fiercely aching than before, as if he hadn't just jerked himself to completion a few moments ago. The thinking part of his brain might be repulsed by the idea of fucking a droid on command, but the rest of him saw only a beautiful female at peak readiness, everything about her calling to him. Her eyes swirled in patterns of lust, her tongue danced out to him in slow seduction, her scales deepened with rosy desire and her inner thighs gleamed with liquid. She lifted her hands, beckoning to him with a curl of her claws. He rose with a spurt of self-loathing, buried under an avalanche of lust. She might not be a true Ophidian, but she was female enough to captivate his youthful imagination and fill him with wonder. The amazing newness of it almost made him forget she was a droid until he tried again to connect with her thoughts, to learn what pleased her. With no mental guide, he was tentative as he touched her arm, savoring the silky texture of her fine scales. But she was not at all hesitant, one hand slipping behind his neck and the other stroking his chest, claws scrapping his scales with just the right amount of teasing pressure. He made a startled sound of pleasure but her mouth absorbed it, her agile tongue darting in to twine with his. She was oddly flavorless but his nerve endings didn't care, relishing the feel of her with a surge of hunger. His eyes drifted closed and he learned her by feel, sliding greedy hands over her smooth, long lines. She hummed with what he took to be pleased desire, her hands drifting over him while her tongue tugged and danced with his own. When she stepped closer and rubbed against him in a sinuous writhe, trapping his cocks between their sliding bodies, he nearly climaxed again. Adin jerked his head away with a whoop of indrawn air, claws snagging on her scales as he tried to hold her still. He felt like the top of his head was going to blow off, his entire body on fire and his cocks throbbing so hard they hurt. She seemed to understand his dilemma and eased away, eyes swirling with dark, sensual colors as she sank to the floor, pulling him with her. Laying on her back, she opened her legs wide and reached for his cocks. Adin hesitated, a little shocked by her aggression and this fast-forward dive into intercourse when most females required a great deal more foreplay to ready them. But when he saw her cloacal membrane part, saw her openings slippery and glistening with fluid, lust slammed into him and drove him forward. Her hands grasped each of his large penises and guided him toward her paired vaginal openings, her strong grip almost enough to make him erupt. Making guttural sounds he didn't even recognize, he braced his hands on the floor and pushed into her. The feeling was like nothing he'd ever dreamed. Tight, wet, grasping and greedy, her body enfolded him as she arched her hips up and met him halfway. His third penis slid along the indent in her pubis where a normal female's nerve bundles would lie, multiplying her pleasure. He couldn't tell if he was bringing the droid pleasure or not. The sweet sensations spiraling up his spine were too much and he could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing but the hot rush of ecstasy. Bucking into her, he came hard, shuddering and squirting deep inside her. Sagging and panting as the pleasure receded, he looked down at the female. She was smiling, legs spread and heels braced on the floor, hands on his hips. Her claws flexed, digging into him with little pricks that made him twitch, before she moved her grip to his ass. Then she jerked him towards her, snapping her hips up to meet him, and his world dissolved into heat again. This time the sensations took him less by surprise, though, and Adin's instincts guided him. He pushed her hands away and hooked an arm under each of her legs, lifting and spreading her as he leaned forward. Then, in his own damned time, he moved his hips, sliding slow and agonizingly sweet in and out of her tight holes, his third cock wedged between them. She watched him with a smile, clasping his shoulders and moving with him in perfect synchronicity. The fire built slower, hotter, sizzling along his nerves and diving deep into his core, burning, He heard himself making those hoarse, animal sounds again and couldn't stop. The pleasure was insane, rushing through him in near violent waves, obliterating thought and any hint of control. He thrust faster and harder with each passing moment, tunneling into her with savage force, the sensation of her clamped around his pulsing cocks driving him wild and sending shocks all the way out to his extremities. His orgasm burst like a supernova, from the base of his spine outward in a wildfire that seemed to drain him not only of cum but his life-force. He pumped and shot into the female's dark depths, his muscles seizing and quivering before relaxing all at once. He collapsed onto her, strength gone, sucking air in desperate pulls. She didn't seem to mind, arms and legs folding him close. He reached for her telepathically, hazy gratitude in every particle of his being, until he remembered she was only a droid. The blankness of her washed over him like ice water and he recoiled, pushing away and gritting his teeth at the feel of his cocks slipping from her drenched folds. Sitting up on shaky limbs, he met her still seductive gaze with a glower. Any normal Ophidian female would be offended and furious with his animalistic humping, his selfish drive toward his own pleasure. He was humiliated and embarrassed by his lack of control and clumsy, inexpert fucking. This hadn't been a mating—this was coerced masturbation. Lunging to his feet, he turned his back on her and moved to the corner housing the sanitizing tube. Activating it without looking at the droid, he braced his hands against the smooth, opaque surface and hung his head while power streams ran over his flesh and cleaned him of any material and microbes. *** "You upset him," Neeri murmured, watching on her holo display as the Ophidian hunched in his sanitizing tube. She frowned, strangely disturbed by his obvious distress. The Orchestrator turned its mechanical head toward her, the visor serving as its visual sensor blank of expression as usual. "He required the push." "You could have given him more time." "More time would have skewed our data flow." She snorted, not bothering to hide her contempt for their data flow. "At least get the sex bot out of there. You saw him, he's in full burn. He doesn't need the skanky bitch anymore." The possessive anger leaching into her tone also disturbed her. Snapping her mouth shut, Neeri faced the display and pretended not to feel the Orchestrator's steady regard. "You feel too much for them." "Well, that's why I'm here, isn't it?" she snapped. "To balance out your cold, unfeeling, much too logical asshole-ness?" The Orchestrator didn't take offense. She was pretty sure it couldn't. With a small, mechanical hum, it turned back to the controls and touched several with its sinuous, synthetic arms. Neeri watched it out of the corner of her eye. She liked to call it Big O because that made her laugh and because it didn't get the joke. She also liked to think of it as a he, because all those long, slithery appendages turned her on. She'd had a few fantasies about those sinuous arms slithering all over her and pumping inside her while she lay stretched out naked on his controls. She was a hedonistic creature, embracing pleasure in all its forms, even humping a rolling dildo like Big O. For her, this job was pure torture. All day long she watched sex and couldn't join in. "You could've sent me in. I would've made him burn," she mumbled, squirming in her seat as she remembered Adin's muscles working under his beautiful jewel-like skin, driving those scrumptious cocks in and out of the stupid, unimaginative bot. "You are here to observe and assist in the facilitation of the program. You are not here to participate. As I have reminded you on an almost daily basis." She cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked. "Do I detect a smidge of cattiness? Treading on my territory, Big O?" "I will never understand the Cooperative's reasoning in hiring you for this position." "Shit, here we go," she muttered, leaning back in her chair with a sigh. "You are insubordinate." "Guilty." "You don't know the meaning of the word punctual." "Time is relative." "Your reports, when you remember to turn them in, are disorganized and insufficient." "Bite me." "And you are forever in heat." She bared her canines at him and propped a foot on the console, stroking a lazy hand down her bare thigh all the way to her pussy. Her skirt slid with the motion, bunching across her hips and letting cool air kiss her already wet labia. "You wish you could feel this good," she hissed, stroking slow fingers over her bare pussy lips with a shiver of delight. Underwear was an abomination she chose to boycott. "You are making my point for me," the Orchestrator said in a toneless voice which still managed to convey humor. She gave him a sly smile and lifted her hand from her now throbbing pussy, showing him the shiny fluid on her fingers before giving each digit a slow, salacious lick. With a purr of pleasure at the tangy flavor, she said in a husky voice, "If you really had a point to make, you'd be over here showing me." With a mechanical sound like a long-suffering sigh, Big O turned back to his work. "Your observation of the Ophidian's emotional state is noted and catalogued. Do you have a recommendation for the next subject we will present to him?" But it was about as likely as Big O fucking the insubordination out of her. With a sigh of her own, Neeri turned to the display, watching Adin pace the confines of his room. At least the useless fake female was gone. Now she had to choose his next experience and was surprisingly reluctant. She thought he was beautiful, limbs long and strong, glorious deep blue and black coloring, not to mention three delicious cocks. Usually she enjoyed watching the attractive ones but this time she felt an unfamiliar acidic coil in her gut at the thought. Maybe it was his distress. His brother hadn't been so affected. Ocen hadn't liked confinement but he'd never had trouble with the program. Neeri remembered him fondly. Always a good show, that one, almost as beautiful as his younger brother and willing to please any female they paired him with to exhaustion. Until he'd mated true with the human and refused to participate any longer. They'd had to shuffle the pair out of the program, though Big O had seemed satisfied, almost delighted, with the data. "Neeri, please tell me you haven't slipped into another nap." "Shut up, I'm thinking." "Translation, you're fantasizing again. If you ever had an actual thought, I would be most surprised." "You're ugly when you're bitchy, O. Can't you give him time off?" "This is not within the program parameters." "But when you talk like a geek I wanna fuck you six ways from Sunday," she said dryly, rolling her eyes. "Fine. Send him Gerty. She'll ride the reluctance right out of him." "Referring to the subjects by pet names is unprofessional. Subject D3454 is tagged as aggressive. She may injure him if he does not show enough dominance." "Right," she mumbled. "I was thinking of his brother. Send in Glassman, then. He always got along with Ocen." "The Abissyn's name is not Glassman, nor is it a male. They are an asexual species. At this stage in the Ophidian's testing, he requires a female pairing. If you do not choose, I will." Neeri scowled at him. Big O sucked at choosing sex partners. Probably because the big mechanical goober had never had sex or a partner. His "logical" choices tended to fail abysmally. Which was why the Cooperative had resorted to hiring her. She was great at sex. "You're a big ol' asshole with gears, O. Send in Shells. She's sweet but experienced enough to keep him on track." Neeri mulled over that peculiar thought for a nanosecond before shoving it in a special corner of her mind labeled "Reject and Delete." It was important for her to understand the emotions and reactions of the test subjects. It was even okay for her to empathize with them. It was not okay for her to have feelings for them, especially jealous, possessive, attachment-type feelings. She just felt bad for Adin, that was all. He had shitty luck, searching for his brother only to get kidnapped by Ridge the idiot bartender and dropped here just when his brother left. He was having a rough transition for one of his species and she felt sorry for him. That's all it was. When she switched her display so she wouldn't have to watch Adin and Shells together, she refused to consider why. The display now showed a male of her own species, Wildcat Bill, romping with two simian females. Wildcat's mane was mussed and his golden skin flushed red with exertion, but his canines flashed undaunted and his enormous cock bounced proud and straining. Another one who put on a good show, though Neeri was oddly uninterested in her own species. Too ordinary, the males always so fixated on dominance. Ignoring a wistful urge to check on a certain sapphire-colored resident, Neeri settled in her seat to enjoy Wildcat's act. *** Adin measured the small room with his stride, trying to drain himself of anxious energy. The mating burn was building again, as he'd known it would, and he almost hated the need crawling through his insides. He wanted to search for Ocen once more, but the fiasco with the droid had agitated him. His mental and physical states were too chaotic to allow the telepathic effort. And he was hungry, for more than a warm body to shove his meat into. He wasn't sure why they hadn't fed and watered him as usual but it was taking its toll, thirst and hunger yet another annoying distraction. When he felt a change in the pressure of the room, he lifted his head in hope, but the shelf of food still didn't appear. In its place a small gray figure eased through the front wall then stood quietly regarding him. He scowled and folded his arms across his chest in obvious rejection. Whatever his abductors wished of him, he wanted no part in it. the creature spoke, both out loud and in his mind, causing a curious doubling, resonating effect. Its mental voice was just as clear and steady as its verbal one, suggesting telepathy was natural for it. he answered, studying the being warily. He'd never seen a species like this before, though it had common enough features: bipedal with two arms, a torso and single cranium, two eyes and a mouth. But it was entirely gray with unformed features, like a clay figure waiting for the artist's vision. The gray skin rippled, hardening into the gleam of scales, and its body elongated, ridges forming in its skull, limbs taking on a sinuous elegance Adin recognized before it was finished. He held up a hand and the being halted its transformation into yet another Ophidian female. The creature's form melted back into a gray template. he answered with bitterness. It tilted its head, strange unfinished eyes studying him. Then it turned to look up at a front corner of the room. "He is hungry and thirsty," the being said, verbal voice diminished and flat without its mental accompaniment. "Please send sustenance." When the being looked back down, it began a slow morph, skin smoothing into a sheen and depth like a pearl, eyes darkening and refracting as if filling with a deep ocean. Its limbs thinned and curved into a feminine shape, long tendrils growing from its head and swaying like sea grass in an ocean current. Adin inspected this new form with lingering bitterness and cynicism. Adin shifted in place, arms falling to his sides as he searched the expression on this new female face. Eons of sadness and patience. It made him feel small and limited. Swallowing hard, he wavered then made a diffident gesture for her to join him as he eased to the back wall. He activated the bed, the only seat in the cell. She moved toward him, limbs flowing like water. He watched, reluctantly fascinated. He didn't desire her but he'd been erect before she'd even stepped into the room. Her silky grace made his cocks twitch and triggered a primitive curiosity about her anatomy. The fire in his gut tightened a notch and he frowned, looking away as they sat side by side. His frown deepened. She hadn't answered his question<. I am called Adin Til Beltak Shrivket. Are you one of them?> She was silent and he turned his head to study her. She weaved willowy fingers together in her lap and stared down at them, sadness so heavy on her features they seemed to sag. Her sorrow lifted into a faint smile as she raised her head to gaze at him with those dark ocean eyes<. "So many questions. I can't explain the program. I don't fully understand it myself. They seem to be looking for interspecies compatibility but I do not know why.> She smirked, as if her words amused her. Adin was not amused. He found nothing humorous about this situation. Instead of responding, she rose and glided toward the front wall. A shelf had appeared while she'd distracted him. She lifted the tray of food and drink and brought it to him. She offered the tray and he took it with an aggravated hiss. He was hungry. He had to eat, to drink, though it made him feel as though he was giving in to them on some level. She sat beside him again, waiting without a word as he devoured everything on the tray. There was more than the usual amount, as if they knew the mating burn increased this appetite as well. Their knowledge of his people alarmed him. When he finished, he took the tray to the shelf and watched in sullen irritation as it rippled away through the wall<. I wish to leave. I do not wish to participate.> He turned to face her. Her sad expression was edged with pity. Stepping toward her, he growled, Then her gaze dropped to his groin where his three traitorous cocks surged to his heartbeat. With a sibilant snarl, he ignored the eager response in his straining cocks and turned to pace the room again. he said with sardonic emphasis, raking a pointed glance over her chosen form. She dropped her gaze to her lap and twined her fingers together again<. "I loved her, but she could not abide any other species. She would not have me and she is gone. I feel your need and distress as though it is my own. I wish only to bring us both peace and pleasure.> Adin slowed to a stop, staring at her bent head with a sudden flash of unsettling insight. She wasn't staying to help the program or the subjects; she was staying to bury her own pain and loss. He felt his anger slipping under a wave of sympathy. he countered, but in a gentle tone. She raised her gaze to his, eyes like a dark whirlpool, sucking him in. She rose, facing him with a steady stare. She could have touched him and it would have all been over. The mating burn was an itch in his skin, a fire in his belly, a grinding ache in his groin. She might not even need to touch, just come close enough for him to feel her heat, to taste her scent. But she didn't. She waited and let him choose with his thinking mind instead of his rutting body. Adin sighed, undone by the patient sorrow in her borrowed features and the deep longing he felt pooling inside her. If she'd been the empty droid, he could have sent her away. But he felt what she wanted, what she needed, and the imperative to please and sate a female was stamped into his very being. His culture and continuation of his species was based on it. He couldn't deny who he was, even in these unsavory circumstances. he murmured and stepped toward her. She smiled. The relief he saw and felt in her melted any lingering bitterness. She lifted a hand and he clasped her delicate fingers in his, letting her pull him toward the bed. Since this was what the matrons would do for a young Ophidian in his first burn, Adin subsided with another sigh and a fleeting ache of homesickness. He was so lost here. If he was home, his people would know how to help him. Shelayle seemed to feel his uncertainty and soothed a hand down his chest as he lay back on the bed. Her smile was teasing, sparkles dancing in her eyes like sunlight over water. He nodded, relaxing a little. She straddled him, soft thighs and buttocks brushing against his cocks, and he tensed again, this time with hot hunger. But she didn't mount him, only leaning forward with hands braced on either side of his head, curiosity and delight brightening her face and thoughts. He nodded again, reaching to cup her face in his hands and ease her close. The tendrils on her head brushed against his fingers and coiled around his wrists almost as if alive, the texture as soft as down. It was odd and arousing at the same time, an unexpected caress. Her mouth hovered over his, breath warming his flesh in gentle gusts. On instinct, his tongue flicked out, tasting her in the air and barely kissing her flesh. Fresh and warm, with a salty tang like brine. She leaned closer and whispered in his mind, and he slipped his tongue into her mouth, groaning when she sucked lightly. It was his turn to demand more, fingers tightening on her fragile face as he pressed his mouth against hers, going deeper. At the same time he slid his mind into hers, merging with slow, luscious pleasure into the core of her, beyond appearance and surface thoughts to roiling emotion and sensation. He stopped thinking and worrying about what he should do, how he should touch and please her. He simply felt and it became easy all of a sudden. He tasted himself on her tongue, felt the hard pressure of his hands on her face, the cool silk of his scales along her tendrils. He twined his tongue with hers because she wished it and slipped his fingers through her tendrils, enjoying with her the tingles of sensation running all the way down her spine. He urged her without words to touch him and moaned at the unbearably soft slide of her fingers. She stroked his jaw, throat and chest, and shared the feel of him, shared her delight in his hard yet silky texture. Learning himself through her senses was novel, but he was more fascinated by her pearly flesh, softer than a feather and so sensitive his lightest touch made them both shiver. He could have done this for hours, absorbing her taste and smell, stroking her downy skin and feeling everything with her. But on a downward stroke over her arching buttocks, his claws pricked her skin ever so slightly. Her hips jerked, bumping against his aching cocks, and fire rushed through him in a wild flood. They both gasped, mouths parting as they sucked in air. "Oh," she whimpered aloud, but neither had a coherent thought, both submerged in the monstrous heat surging through him. She straightened with liquid grace and lowered herself onto him without warning. All three cocks sank into her impossibly soft, tight depths. Later he would remember she was a Metamorph and could accommodate him. At the moment, he had no memories or thoughts, only a hoarse shout of shocked pleasure. Every muscle in his body went ridged, his hips snapping up into her. She was warm and slick, soft and tight like a fist around each organ, the sensations sending spikes of pure pleasure up his spine. But he also felt with her his own hard meat pushing up into her, the cool rasp of his scales rubbing her channels with a ruthless shock of sensation. He came hard, body convulsing under her and inside her with explosive force. Sharing it with her and feeling her own ecstasy, the moment seemed to last for a delirious eternity, spiraling between them in an endless loop. When he became aware of the world again, he opened his eyes. She was braced above him, panting and shaking along with him, eyes dark and lustrous. she said, her mental voice just as breathless as her verbal one. He laughed, pleased with her languid delight and eager to see what she would teach him next. *** Tearing into a protein strip and savoring the meaty flavor, Neeri leaned over and checked O's data readout. Then she did a double-take and almost choked on her food. "She's in there with him?" she snarled, grinding her teeth on the piece of flesh in her mouth with murderous force. "Are you referring to the Metamorph and the Ophidian?" She stared at the Orchestrator, wondering if sinking her teeth into him would be satisfying or just break off a tooth. Big O turned his blank visor her way. "Apparently an Ophidian in his first burn has quite a bit of stamina and enthusiasm." And hitting him would no doubt break her hand. She still wanted to try it. "Isn't the lack of variety messing up your 'data flow?'" she growled through gritted teeth. "Your hypothesis that the Metamorph's experience would help him over his reluctance appears to have been correct. And she has indicated several times he is 'learning well.' I concluded more time in her presence would give him more confidence, thus improving the quality of data we will collect from future participation." Neeri felt her claws extend and made a conscious effort to retract them. She could not pounce on the big metal idiot and shred him. It would so get her fired. "O," she said with slow care, "I advise you to get a goddamned personality. You're creepy and nobody loves you. Signal her the hell out of there before I shove your data so far up your ass you won't find it with all eight of your arms and a floodlight." "I don't have an ass." "Because you are one." She leaned over and touched the controls herself, dimming Adin's room briefly. Then she changed her display to show his room and glowered at the pair cuddling on his bed. Cuddling. It was enough to make a cat hack up a hairball. But Shells knew her business. The Metamorph glanced up at the lights and rose from the bed, pausing to lean over and place a lingering kiss on Adin's mouth before she headed for the exit wall. Neeri grumbled a few choice insults but couldn't complain about Shells' obedient departure or swift travel down the corridor to her own room. Neeri watched Adin roll onto his back and stretch, her mouth going dry at all the sleek muscle and casual strength. His fingers splayed then curled, black claws gleaming in the light, and Neeri had a sudden image of those claws biting into her hips as he drove into her. Her pussy clenched hard and she swallowed a whimper, squirming on her seat. She flashed a veiled look at Big O, wondering what he'd do if she just walked down to Adin's room and indulged her fantasies. Then she stopped wondering. O had all sorts of ways to make the subject behave, which included venting sleeping gas into the rooms and using restraints. She had a short fantasy about being strapped down while O punished her, but her heart wasn't really in it and she turned back to the display with a grimace. "Shall we chose his next partner?" Big O said in a too-innocent tone. Neeri almost bit through her tongue. "It's time for his sleep cycle," she clipped. "Actually, his sleep cycle isn't for another hour and—" "Shut up." She dimmed Adin's lights and sat glaring at his darkened room, arms folded over her chest and foot tapping an aggravated rhythm on the floor. If she had a tail like her distant ancestors, it would be twitching with predatory irritation. "I'm surprised you haven't left to take your own sleep cycle, Neeri. You are aware that you are on salary and do not qualify for overtime?" She made a face at him for the unnecessary sarcasm. "I haven't been sleeping well." "Why not?" "Because I'm in heat and need a hard fuck," she taunted, except the words sounded a little too true for comfort. She lunged to her feet and sauntered in between O and his controls. "You know, you could help with my little problem." He didn't even hesitate, one long arm wrapping around her waist, lifting her in the air, and dropping her back in her seat with ridiculous ease. "Leave. Sleep. I will see you next cycle." Neeri groaned, hating how the thick arm around her waist had sent a spike of hot lust up her spine. "If you did that between my legs, I'd cum like a rocket." "You have spread enough biological contaminates over my work station. You have personal quarters, so go use them. Goodbye, Neeri." Tossing him a rude gesture, she rose and stalked out the door. She headed up the corridor toward her living space without much enthusiasm, though she could at least use her toys to fuck herself sore and find some relief. But she really hadn't been sleeping well. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Adin, his jewel-like skin and hard-muscled body, his soulful glowing eyes and the anxious droop of his mouth. She'd lusted after subjects before, but this was bordering on obsession. She didn't understand the strange concern she had for him. Most of the subjects came into the facility afraid, angry, confused, and upset. It was her job to see them through it, to get them past the trauma to a point where they responded naturally. Most did fine and some took to the program with astonishing enthusiasm. But some rejected the program mind, body, and soul. She thought of the rejecters as failures on her part, but Big O seemed just as satisfied with their data as the others. She wasn't sure why the Cooperative wanted to know which sentient species would successfully mate with which or what they would do with the knowledge. She only knew she was good at her job and seeing the subjects relax and cooperate gave her an enormous sense of satisfaction. So why wasn't she happy that Adin, whom she had been overly concerned about, was now relaxing and cooperating? She heaved a sigh, slapping a hand on her door and stomping inside when it opened. Maybe she was going into some weird withdrawal. Her species wasn't used to going this long without sex. She was almost as much a prisoner as the test subjects, kept confined in the facility to "preserve the program's anonymity." She grimaced in the dim interior of her living space and paced through it with restless, edgy energy. The darkness didn't bother her, she had acute night vision. But it triggered residual predatory instincts to stalk and hunt. And find a mate. She bared her canines and stripped off her clothes with agitated haste, breathing a little easier when she was naked. Clothes were annoying. She would boycott them all if it hadn't specifically stated in her contract she wear them. Somebody had underlined it, too. She suspected Big O. She ran idle hands over her naked flesh, enjoying the soft texture of the down covering her skin. Her double row of nipples pebbled hard on her chest and belly. She tweaked each in turn, gritting her teeth and tossing her head at the sharp stabs of pleasure. But she needed something more than her fingers or toys this cycle. She considered calling up a sex bot, but she had a flash of Adin's appalled expression after he pulled out of the one he'd used. She could see his point. The damned things were so impersonal if they weren't programed for a specific person. She shot a glance at her VR system as she paced but shook her head. The last time she'd used it she'd gotten some weird kind of shock. Probably broke the damned thing with overuse. She paused, planting a foot on the wall and shoving two fingers inside her sopping pussy. With a guttural growl, she ground her hips and thrust with desperate fingers, the thick scent of her own arousal dizzying. Her slick tissues were lava-hot and swollen, and though her stroking fingers felt so good, they weren't enough. Not nearly enough. She needed more. She needed Adin. With a mewling cry of frustration, she yanked her fingers free of her aching pussy and shoved away from the wall, stalking to her tech center. She'd had an idea before how to fool Big O but had never been motivated enough to risk her job trying it. Drunk on her own scent, hand dripping with her juices, and pussy clenching emptily with a lust so strong she couldn't hold still, Neeri decided she'd found her motivation. She'd constructed a piece of software which would repeat the previous sleep cycle's data stream while fooling Big O's system into believing it was current, hiding the real events going on in a room. She'd only been messing around while fantasizing about slipping into Caveman's room to bounce on his whopper of a cock or waking up Wildcat Bill for a little chase and scratch, things she was forbidden to do. A software version of making faces behind her boss's back. But now, she was desperate enough to give it a whirl. Calibrating it to reproduce Adin's entire corridor so Big O wouldn't catch her on the way there or see her inside his room, she camouflaged the worm so O wouldn't see it coming and set it loose. Now she had to wait. When it was in place and activated, it would send her a ping. She started pacing again, keeping her hands away from her tingling body. Touching herself was only making it worse. But her sneaky software took much longer than she'd thought. By the time it finally announced its activation, she'd had to resort to her toys after all. Yet for the first time they didn't seem to help, only making her need more even after orgasming. She'd heard stories of females in full heat taking on crowds of males. At the moment, with her body burning and aching for a satisfaction just out of reach, she could see how it might happen. She felt like she could take on a whole roomful of guys herself. But she suspected she only needed the one. Neeri didn't bother to dress. She also didn't dawdle, though she avoided the main corridors, crawling agilely through service passages only maintenance bots used. Big O wouldn't be monitoring those unless something was wrong. She was counting on the size and complexity of the facility to protect her; the Orchestrator had his metaphorical hands full running the place and conducting his tests. As long as everything ran smooth and appeared as he expected, Big O wouldn't see little ol' Neeri slinking in and out of where she wasn't supposed to be. Grinning to herself, Neeri slipped out of a service duct into the darkened corridor holding Adin's room. For a moment, she stayed still, crouching by the duct and waiting to see if Big O would see her or if her camouflage software was functioning. When nothing happened, she grinned wider and stood, reaching above her head and arching her back in a quick stretch before padding down the center of the corridor. She'd never been down in the testing area, but she knew the layout and occupants well. Looking left to right, she counted rooms beyond the blank white walls and catalogued the residents, smiling a little as she passed some of her favorites. Reaching Adin's room, she tapped the smooth wall in a sequence that would allow her access. Registering her administrative DNA and code, the wall shimmered and Neeri stepped through with an almost painful surge of anticipation. She expected him to be asleep. She'd thought about all the ways she could wake him on her way through the facility and had one tempting plan in mind when she entered the dark room. She did not expect him to roll off the bed in a blur of ready violence. Instinct drove her into a hunting crouch before she registered the panic in his mental tone. Then she relaxed a little, pressing fingertips to her temple with a wince and a mild, "Ow." For some reason—she blamed hot, logic-frying lust—she'd forgotten all about his telepathy. Or rather, she hadn't thought about how it would complicate things. The guy could read minds. He would see who she was. When he did, she suspected her simple fuck fantasy was going to go sideways in a hurry. Adin's nightmare lingered, keeping his heart rate at a wild pace. He'd been trapped in darkness, lost and alone. He'd heard a soft voice calling him, mournful and compelling, but he hadn't known where to turn or how to find her. The change in air pressure had woken him to lesser darkness and a presence in his room. He'd panicked a little, but they'd never sent someone to him while he was sleeping before. Something about the way she'd entered the room seemed off, almost furtive. Pressing a hand over his thundering heart, he eyed her with wary intensity. She'd crouched when he'd thrashed off the bed, her movement almost as swift as his and her lithe body tense, but now she only blinked at him in mild reproach. Her pupils were fully dilated so he couldn't see the color of her eyes, but he could tell by the way she studied him her night vision was just as good as his own. She didn't look as though she would attack him. His heart slowed and he felt a wave of remorse as he watched her fingertips press against her temple. he murmured with a much gentler telepathic touch. "Then we're even. I thought you'd be asleep." he responded in an absent tone, studying her with increasing curiosity. He'd never met one of her kind but he'd heard of her species. They called themselves Lyomedrin, or "big cat" in common tongue. His home planet had a species similar to their primitive ancestors, a non-sentient predator he found beautiful but a little unnerving. This Lyo female triggered the same reaction. Colors were different in the dark, but he thought she was mostly golden with dark, long hair on her head. Though her skin seemed bare everywhere else, he knew it would have the lightest coating of fine hair, barely visible, a hold-over from when their ancestors were covered in fur. She was smaller than he, limbs sleek and graceful, hiding the predatory power and speed of her species. Her fingertips and toes were blunt, claws retracted for the moment. Her facial features were almost delicate, high cheekbones, narrow jaw, and wide slanted eyes. Her pupils would be vertical slits in the light but now were round pools of midnight, gazing at him with unblinking interest. Adin started a little, realizing the interest in her wide eyes had a hungry edge. He wasn't sure if he should be excited or nervous; Lyos weren't known for their civility and she'd come in the dark. Plus, their distant ancestors had been competing apex predators. Some residual instinct thrilled alarm across his nerves. He asked again, more quietly this time. "Neeri," she answered. For some reason, the sound of her name captivated him. Or maybe it was her voice, slightly rough but liquid, like a purr. He wanted to hear more. he echoed and watched her draw a deep breath. "You know why," she murmured, eyes unblinking and compelling. Adin's tongue flicked out on instinct to taste the air then lingered to savor the scorching-hot, sweet tang of her arousal. His mind went blank for a long moment, the world narrowing to the one sense, his entire being focusing with exquisite intensity on her flavor. He'd never tasted anything like it. He felt a sharp dislocation, as if the universe had just rewritten itself. Or him. "I need you," she whispered. He was across the room before he'd even thought about moving. She startled to her feet but he didn't hesitate, dropping to his knees and grasping her slim hips to hold her still. Her inner thighs were damp, labia swollen and beaded with her juice. Her hands clamped on his shoulders, extended claws snagging his scales in warning, but he barely noticed, tongue flashing out to dive between her lips and sink into her intoxicating tangy sweetness. She came with a full body jolt and a strangled shout, falling back against the wall. He held her up with absent attention, the rest of him focused on the gush of liquid bathing his tongue and mouth as he pressed closer and drank like a desperate man in a desert. He speared his tongue into her channel then dragged it out to swirl over her clit, again and again, while she bucked against his face and climaxed over and over. He lived it with her, not hearing her mewling cries or his hoarse grunts, unaware of his hips jerking in rhythm with hers as he shot his loads. All of him was with her, in her, feeling his own tongue tunnel with ruthless flicks inside her pussy and tug on her clit with a rough rasp, sending sharp shards of pleasure slicing through her in all directions. The taste of her blended it all together, merging them in a hazy sea of sensory bliss. Some possessive animal deep inside him growled in fierce satisfaction. When it became too much, he eased his pressing hold on her hips, letting her quaking body slide down the wall to sprawl across his thighs. He leaned forward, resting his forehead on the wall next to her ear, listening to their ragged breaths with dazed amazement as his mind began to function again. What the hell had just happened? He hadn't thought about being a test subject or whether he should "participate," hadn't even asked her what she wanted. He'd taken one taste of her and had come undone. He'd practically attacked her. What was wrong with him? he whispered contritely in her mind. "Oh, Adin," she moaned, hands clutching his arms. She still trembled all over, buttocks quivering on his knees, thighs twitching with spasms mirroring the aftershocks in her channel. He felt it with her, felt her almost incoherent relief and hazy delight. "More than all right." He smiled his own relief before her words fully registered. Then his eyes popped open, slow tension filling his muscles. He sat up, fingers tightening on her hips. She winced. He felt her quick spike of dismay, heard her think and he pulled back with his mind and body. He scooted out of touching distance and stared at her. She grimaced a little, folding her legs in to her chest and wrapping her arms around them in an oddly vulnerable gesture. "Technically, not really. I'm just the hired help." Her eyes flicked around the room, lower lip caught in her nibbling teeth. Her brows pulled together in a quick frown as she snatched a breath and let it out on a rough sigh. "I can still smell her in here. I suppose you had fun with Shells." He shook his head, distracted for a moment by her disgruntled tone. He repeated in hard demand. She cleared her throat, still not looking at him. "Don't suppose you'd believe me if I said I'm just the cleaning lady." Then she slanted him a look both ruthful and amused. He was suddenly, shockingly furious. With the speed of his race, he lunged, catching her wrists and jerking her forward. She went taut, muscles snapping with sudden strength, but his size and fury made him stronger. He flipped her to her back and pressed her to the floor, holding her wrists crossed over her head. A long quiver ran through her entire tense body before she relaxed under him. "Well," she whispered, quick breaths warming his face, eyes wide pools of darkness. "You keep surprising me." He tightened his hold, claws denting her skin. "I didn't kidnap you. I don't run the place. I just help them decide who comes to you." Her lip lifted in a mild sneer. "Not my choice. I told my boss it wasn't the right call, but he doesn't always listen." Her expression soured. "Only because I had to choose someone." He loosened his grip a little, studying her features. Her lithe body seemed to hum under him, her heat soaking through his scales in luxurious waves. She shifted a little and her nipples tightened, pressing into him in little urgent knots. He felt his cocks jump and swell against her and hissed through clenched teeth. "No, I'll get fired," she panted in a distracted tone. "Adin, I want that inside me. Please, all of them—" He snarled, giving her wrists a shake to get her attention, though the mating burn built with shocking speed inside him, doubling against her own heat, her own need. "Because," she moaned out loud then finished in thought, She said more but the roaring fire rushing through him destroyed his capacity to understand words. He could only feel and need with her as he sealed his mouth to hers. Neeri begged with everything she had, but he just kept kissing her until she couldn't think straight anymore. He moved his mouth over hers like he'd been doing it for years, like he knew exactly what she wanted, how she liked to be teased then plundered. That black tongue was the devil's own pleasure toy, nimble and ruthless, working her into a frenzy. She wanted the flick and rasp all over her body, every quivering curve and crevice. She wanted it deep inside her again, driving her right out of her mind and into the place he'd found for her, where vast pleasure shattered then rebuilt her over and over again. She was ready to come and all he'd done was kiss her. Though she was helping it along, writhing under him and feeling all his glorious, cool strength and hard, slick scales sliding against her. The sensation drove her wild, as though every inch of her had become an erogenous zone. She jerked her wrists free of his loosened grip and slid her hands down his arms, over his shoulders and down his back, moaning long and low at the feel of so much hard, flexing muscle. His heavy, cool body felt so good to her feverish flesh. She twitched her hips and shifted her legs, trying to wriggle them out from under him. It was his turn to moan, hips jerking against her. She could feel his cocks, thick and throbbing, rubbing against her thighs just out of reach, torture of the sweetest kind. Her claws extended and she dug them desperately into his buttocks. He finally seemed to hear her, or finally reached her level of desperation. Bracing his hands on the floor, he eased some of his weight from her. In an instant, she parted her legs and locked them around his waist, arching her hips, so ready for him to fuck her she could feel her juice run down the crack of her ass. He lifted his head, breath hissing out as he met her gaze. His eyes swirled with brilliant color, almost hypnotic. He reached between them without breaking eye contact and she shuddered, keening low in the back of her throat when she felt one of his heads press between her labia. The head felt enormous and she was so hungry for it she shook. Then he began to sink into her and she came so hard she saw stars. He kept filling her, pressing deeper and deeper, while she convulsed around him and shrieked his name. When he was buried all the way, he paused, breathing like bellows, still watching her with hands braced on either side of her shoulders. His other two cocks were crushed between them, one of them pressing directly on her clit. Shivering and shuddering as she eased down from her climax, she met his gaze dazedly. He was still hard as rock, each heavy throb inside her setting off a little quake in her sensitive tissues. She couldn't get over the feel of him, thick and cool inside her lava-hot body, soothing and maddening at the same time. Slipping a hand around his neck, she pulled him down for her kiss, claw pricking him in silent, wordless demand. He shifted, pulling out in a slow glide that almost made her heart explode, his tongue dodging hers in an agile dance. Then he thrust, deep and hard, driving into her clenched pussy and grinding against her clit, and the whole world exploded. She found that place again and reveled in it, her whole being pulsing over and over with a pleasure they'd found for each other alone. He at least had the decency to wait until she was mostly recovered before he pounced. Well, mentally anyway. Neither of them had the strength to do more than twitch after what they'd just done. She was breathing too hard to answer out loud. She snorted. Of course he would be the persistent type. She sent him an image of what she wanted to try next and grinned when he sucked in a sharp breath. He raised his head and met her gaze. His eyes still swirled but with slower, deeper color<. And distracting. What are you trying to hide?> He tensed as if something had just occurred to him. She nodded and held up a hand to interrupt him. Abruptly he rolled off her and sat up, pressing a hand to his head<. If he doesn't remember... I am missing now! He will look for me, be trapped again. "Adin, it's not me," she whispered, clasping his face in her palms then tracing his features with her fingertips. "I don't make those decisions." He pressed his forehead to hers and she could feel the wild spinning of his thoughts. "I—I don't—" He kissed her, deep and desperate. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him back and answered,> I don't know how. But they let Ocen go. They'll release you, too.> He pulled away from her, pushing to his feet and pacing the room with a desperation she could feel all the way to her bones. For some reason, her eyes stung. She rubbed at them impatiently. "He mated true," she sighed then watched him gawk at her with a little smirk of wry humor. "Uh, actually," she interrupted, rubbing the bridge of her nose to hide an anticipatory grin. "He mated with a human." He went so still, she wasn't sure he was still breathing. "Beg to differ, my gorgeous love. He flat out refused to touch anyone else or be separated from her. From what I hear, even with their memories wiped they found each other again in about three seconds flat. Can't get truer than that." Her humor faded to puzzlement when he continued to stare at her. Then she felt a twinge of unease. Something in his look went deeper than surprise at his brother's choice<. I didn't realize we could find our true mates outside our own species,> he said very low. Still looking at her. Unease morphed into alarm and she bounced to her feet. "Well, that's what the program is for, I guess, interspecies relations," she babbled, looking everywhere but at him. He was young. Probably just crushing for the first time. Puppy love and all that. But she had to dissuade him before he started thinking about following in his brother's footsteps. "But they don't have a lot of my own species in here, probably because they already know we'll screw anybody. Not super picky, as long as it feels good, you know? True mating or monogamy or whatever doesn't work for us," she lied, doing her own pacing along the edges of his room. She frowned at the ominous growl in his mental tone but didn't look at him. "Uh-huh. My boss says I'm always in heat. Matter of fact, I was trying to get him to do me earlier, but he's just an AI with no—" Adin crashed into her, trapping her against the wall, hard body vibrating with violence. At first she responded in kind, claws extending and reaching for his throat with a warning hiss. But when his mouth came down on hers and his hips ground enormous erections against her, furious surprise morphed into hot lust in an instant. he growled in her mind, hands hard on her hips, claws pressing goading points of pain in her skin. Pulling herself up his long body, she wrapped arms and legs around him and kissed him back with wild abandon. She didn't worry about what kind of signal it sent in response to his sudden act of possessive dominance. She was going to leave this room and probably never see him again except on a holo display. If this was her only chance to have him, she'd make the most of it. The angry tension eased out of him, hands exploring her with a low hum of delight. he groaned in her mind. She shivered under his touch, lifting her head with a gasp when his thumbs found her nipples. "Adin," she purred. "I want to try something new." His hands went still and he tipped his head, eyes full of bright color. "The bed," she drawled, lifting an eyebrow. With a hissing laugh, he cupped her ass and swung her around, activating the bed and lowering her onto it. He reclined next to her, hands stroking over her skin. For some reason, he was now touching her as if she was fragile, watching his hands on her with an almost reverent expression. With an impatient growl, she flipped him to his back and straddled his torso. Then she took a moment to do her own exploring and admiring. She stroked his chest, enjoying the cool resilience of his fine scales and the flexing muscles underneath. "You remind me of a sapphire," she murmured. "Gorgeous deep blue colors, hard and smooth." She extended her claws, testing the endurance of his scaled skin and sending him a sly glance through her lashes when he shuddered. "Hidden fire inside. Are you all this beautiful?" He didn't say anything right away, just watched her, hands lying still on her thighs. She met his gaze and shrugged. "I just do. Does it matter?" He waved a hand at the front wall. She broke eye contact, staring down at her fingers spread across his jewel-like scales. She hadn't thought that far ahead. She usually planned only far enough in advance to keep herself out of trouble and enjoy the present to its fullest. Thinking of Adin living out there without even the memory of her twisted something in her chest. She shook her head. "I'll try to help you. But right now, even if I smuggled you out of this room, I don't know how to get you out of the building, let alone off this rock and back home. I need time to figure something out." he said in a humble tone. She made a face and tossed her head. "I like it better when you slam me into walls and growl. Now stop distracting me. I have a lot to do in a short time." She focused again on the absorbing feel of him under her touch. He made an amused sound in his throat and flexed his fingers on her thighs. he murmured with dark humor, claw tips teasing her skin with pricks of sensation. She shivered and squirmed a little, narrowing her eyes on him. "Spying in my head, Adin? Well, while you're in there, take a look at these." She sent him images of what she'd dreamt of doing with him, leaning forward to trace the dark patterns on his scales with lips and tongue and teeth. He gasped and tensed under her, claws digging a little harder into her thighs. She chuckled and moved lower out of his reach, still following patterns with her mouth. They led down to her new favorite place in the universe and she whimpered a little as she stared at the three scrumptious organs twitching and straining toward her. Grasping one of the large cocks at its base, she held it still and watched in fascination as a bead of fluid oozed from the tip and began to roll down the bulbous head. Neeri caught it quickly with her tongue then hummed low delight in her throat at his sweet, spicy flavor. She ignored his strained protest and jerking hips, greedy for the taste of him. Sitting on his thighs to hold him still, she laved her tongue over the head of his cock, eyes half-closed as she savored the sweetness and cool, slick texture of him. Lowering her mouth over the bulbous head, she sucked slow and luxurious, like he was the very best of tasty treats, enjoying the thick throb on her tongue and the guttural sounds he was making. She asked him, thinking they'd be crazy not to. He tasted divine, absolute ambrosia. But his mind was incoherent with need and the fire rushing through him burned its way into her as well, hitting her hard. She cried out, throwing her head back and arching under the force of it. He sent her the image she'd shown him of what she wanted to try next and she sobbed with need, tumbling off him in her haste to bring the picture to life. He lunged up, rising to his knees, eyes blazing with fierce color. His name ran through her mind like a river, a plea and a prayer both, as she braced on one elbow and knee, lifting the other leg to hook it around his torso. Presenting aching pussy and ass to those thick and beautiful twin cocks. His mental voice was fractured, savage lust warring with sweet anxiety. She felt his worry he would hurt her, that he'd lose control before he could fully please her. But she wouldn't be denied. Baring her teeth in fierce demand, she tugged on him and pressed closer. Feeling his heads first tease then press against her holes, Neeri groaned with a need so huge and hot she thought she'd die of it. He hooked a hand under her waist to hold her quaking body steady and slowly pushed those cool, heavy heads into her. The thick stretch and burn slammed her right over the edge and she shrieked her release, the world blowing away in a blinding explosion. Adin stayed ridged, grinding his teeth and holding on to her quivering body as she rode out her orgasm. He didn't feel it with her, keeping out of her mind in an act of self-preservation. Just feeling her tight tissues convulse and squeeze his cock heads was almost enough to kill him. He'd never manage to bury himself inside her if he stayed in her mind and she'd showed him that was exactly what she wanted, both cocks slamming into her all the way, filling her, claiming her. And he wanted it with every particle of his being. She was his, his mate. His true mate. He'd known it from his first taste of her. He'd heard her conscious rejection of it, but she responded to him with such perfection it shook him down to his soul. She was made for him and him for her, regardless of their origins. Adin held her in his hands, taking her weight with one hand and stroking her quaking thigh with the other, waiting for her. When she moaned and opened her eyes, he rolled his hips slowly, hissing at the delirious hot kiss of her tissues around his aching heads. She jerked and let out another soft cry, and Adin knew he wasn't going to last much longer. Hitching her thigh higher against his chest, he leaned forward and pressed, trying to go slow and careful. She bucked and shrieked again but not in pain. He felt her come again, pussy rippling around his tunneling shaft as her ass clamped down on his other cock so tightly stars sparkled in his vision. He shook and growled and pressed into her, so close to his own monstrous orgasm he could taste it. When he was fully sheathed inside her sweet body, he paused again, sucking wind like a runner and trying not to explode. Then he eased back into her mind. She was a maelstrom of sensation, a seething sea of pleasure, his name running through her like lifeblood. This was what she'd wanted, what she'd needed, this deep, complete possession, filling her, stretching her, satisfying some essential part of her in a way she'd never found until him, until His orgasm rolled over him like a cataclysm, unstoppable and obliterating. It seemed like every part of him climaxed, every particle of his body and mind. He wasn't aware of thrusting savagely into her, only aware of the sensations continuing, swelling and smashing through him over and over for a blissful eternity. When it finally receded, he found himself sprawled across the bed and her, body aching and utterly spent, mind sluggish with languid joy. She murmured a wordless, contented response and stretched against him. He dragged open his lids and met her gaze, feeling her smile all the way down to his soul. He eased her closer and tasted the smile, kissing her slow and deep, exhaustion pulling him toward peaceful sleep. she whispered in his mind even as she curled closer. She went still. Then she lifted her head, lithe form tensing. But his eyelids were so heavy. He could barely focus on her, didn't understand the bleary alarm on her face. "Shit," she slurred as his eyes closed and the world drifted away. Her mental voice followed him into sleep. *** Rytel folded his arms across his chest and leaned his hips against the counter, watching the Lyo female twitch and start to wake. He grinned to himself, glad it was a slow night and the bar wasn't too busy. He wouldn't have wanted to miss this for all the worlds. He enjoyed his assignment, enjoyed choosing the program's new meat, but he'd have killed to have her job, watching the fuck-fest day and night. Having the power to choose who screwed who. Just the thought made his dick diamond hard and tightened his balls. But Neeri had messed up, hadn't she? He didn't know what she'd done to piss off the bosses, but he'd been more than happy to wipe her mind and stick her right back where they'd found her. Maybe they'd let him take over her job. He watched Neeri lift her head, grinning as she looked around with a frown. He loved her confusion, her sweet ignorance. It was the best part of the process for him, even better than knocking them out. Watching them wake up, clueless about what was happening to them, what they'd been doing. Completely ignorant of his part in it. Kidnapping people and getting away with it was the best high he'd ever found. Almost breathless with anticipation, he watched her eyes skim over the bar straight to him. He smirked and gave her a little salute, then almost laughed when she smiled back with the same slow, come-on look she'd given him the first time they'd met. Maybe this time he'd get to strip her bare and fuck her raw instead of just recruiting her. He watched her rise and saunter across the bar toward him, enjoying her smooth prowl. He'd heard so many mind-blowing things about Lyo females in heat. He hoped like hell he'd get to try a few with her, find out if they were as insatiable as the rumors said. She reached the counter, unblinking eyes fixed on him, a hint of canines showing in her sexy smile. "Hi, Ridge," she said in a casual voice. He had a split second to realize she remembered him. The mind-wipe had failed. Then she exploded over the counter, crashing into him with a violence that drove hot fear like a spike through his brain. He flung up his arms, but a claw was already clamped over his throat and he froze, quivering. "How you doin', pal?" she whispered in his ear, her breath hot and savage. "Long time no see. How's business?" "N-Neeri," he panted. "I can explain." She snorted. "You're hilarious, Ridge." "My name's not—" "It is today," she cut him off in a deadly serious tone. Her other hand slipped down between them, claws grasping then tightening around his balls in slow, clear threat. She leaned back and met his gaze with a sharp-edged smile. "No erasing my mind, sweetness. Took a few precautions when I started working there. I had a feeling anybody who'd hire you couldn't be trusted. And I was right, wasn't I? But they messed with the wrong kitty this time." "Neeri," he breathed, his world narrowing to the bright needles of pain at his throat and balls, to her ruthless, predatory stare. Hot weakness rushed through him, an exquisite surrender to her dominion, and his dick twitched against the ball of her hand. "Please." The thick pleading in his shaky voice turned him on even more. Then her hands tightened past pleasure into real pain. "Now Ridge, I want you to make yourself a drink. You know the one I mean, the special one that'll knock you out. Then you'll be my good little captive and answer all my questions. Our bosses have something of mine. I'm going back there and you're going to help me, aren't you?" All he saw was red and her wide savage eyes. He could do nothing but nod. "Good boy. Answer me one thing before you go night-night. Where is Ocen and Sasha?" Stuttering, he told her. ***