Braden (15 page)

Braden started to pump into her, and Elisa held onto him and
enjoyed the ride. The plug fit snugly in her ass, warming her there, and Braden
filled her from the front. She was whole, complete, and had never felt happier
in her life.

Chapter Twelve

Elisa watched Braden sleep. He looked so
normal
, so
human sleeping on his stomach, head pillowed on his arms.

She’d read that level threes didn’t sleep with their women.
They commanded their obedience, gave them sexual pleasure and then left.

Braden stayed and slept. He even snored a little.

Elisa wanted him with a fierceness that scared her. Not just
for sex—for always. She wanted to get to know him, to find out everything about
him, to look forward to coming home to him, to sleep curled together with him
every night.

She had the feeling Braden would never tell her everything
about him. He hid his true self behind his jokes and smiles and sex play, the
real Braden lurking only in the dark depths of his eyes.

What was there? What made Braden who he was, unique from
other Shareem?

Elisa slid out of bed quietly so she wouldn’t wake him, left
the room and made her way to her office.

She keyed up her terminal and used her library codes to
override various blocks around the information she wanted. She pulled up
everything on Shareem and filtered out various things until she had a string of
information on the Shareem called Braden.

He was a level three. Born in incubator number 73.
Accelerated growth had given him an adult body in only thirteen years, the next
five honed it to what it looked like now. Growth over the next ten years had
slowed almost to a halt.

Physical exercise regimens,
satisfactory
. Sexual
performance,
excellent
. Obedience to authority,
highly unsatisfactory
.

That Braden hated doing what he was told came as no surprise
to Elisa.

She read on.
He resists taking the inoculations to the
point that shock rods are necessary. More than once, he’s had to be subdued
with severe shocking before he would take the needle. No permanent damage was
done to his nervous system.

Goddess help her. They’d beaten and shocked Braden to get
him to hold out his arm for shots, and they worried only that they’d caused
permanent damage.
Permanent
damage, meaning they’d caused some
temporary.

Test of drug 73098P for enhanced sexual drive
satisfactory. Subject Braden stayed hard for five hours, and repeated
ejaculations did not reduce the readiness of the penis.

Test of drug 289E for obedience not satisfactory. Drug
seemed to enhance unruliness. Subject attacked tester and had to be rendered
unconscious with shock rods. Drug 8923BA given to suppress violence. Recommend
daily doses.

Test of level-three skills satisfactory. Subject aroused
by restraining volunteer and giving her commands. When given the choice of
devices, subject preferred nipple clamps, collar, chain, whip and manacles.
Subject prefers to perform intercourse on female when female is in the facedown
position.

So clinical they made it. Braden had emphasized that it was
all about trust—trust that he would never hurt Elisa, no matter what position
he put her in, no matter what he asked her to do. The researchers took that
beautiful trust and turned it into notes on a chart.

Many more observations of what Braden liked to do with the
volunteers followed, screens and screens of it. Then a different kind of entry
caught her eye.

Subject Braden confined to quarters, in isolation, until
further notice. Recommend termination.

Elisa’s heart squeezed, even though she knew the termination
order obviously hadn’t been carried out. Braden was happily free and now
sleeping in her bed.

An appended note said,
Subject Braden used whip to strike
male lab tech and punched said lab tech in the jaw. Lab tech’s wounds were
tended and lab tech released from further duties for the week. When questioned,
subject Braden responded with abuse and harsh language.

Elisa wondered what on earth had made Braden attack a lab
tech. Another objection to shots?

She felt him behind her, his warmth folding over her. He
kissed her ear.

“Reading about those happy old days at DNAmo?”

Elisa gestured to the screen. “Why did you hit him?”

“Who? Oh, the lab tech. Because he tried to rape a guinea
pig.”

She jerked around. “I beg your pardon?”

Braden’s grin was as warm as ever, but his eyes held old
rage. “
Guinea pig
is what we called a woman who signed up at DNAmo to do
sexual tests with Shareem. The lab tech decided the guinea pig in question was
a whore and tried to force her. I told him to shove his dick up his ass, and he
came at me with a shock rod. So I beat on him a little.”

Good for you.
“I thought Shareem weren’t supposed to
be violent. That it was bred out of you.”

“I make an exception for assholes.”

Elisa caressed his strong wrist. “So, Shareem are
chivalrous.”

“Yeah, well, my chivalry got her fired and me beaten and
locked in a room. Then they debated terminating me.”

“I cannot believe they were going to kill you for helping
her.”

“They had to, because of the whole
Shareem are not
violent
myth. I never did learn to behave myself.”

“And you don’t like shots.”

Braden grimaced. “Hey, you get twenty little needles shoved
into your arm and see how
you
like it.”

She smiled. “Aw, big, bad level three.”

Braden nibbled her earlobe. “The big, bad level three who
made you beg for mercy not an hour ago.”

Elisa shivered at the memory. “Are you always level three?”
she asked. “Do you sometimes just…fuck?”

He smiled when she remembered to use the words he told her
to. “Sure. But you hired me for level three.”

Elisa touched his chest. “Pretend that I didn’t hire you.”

Braden lost his smile. He watched her for a long time with
eyes that were dark and still. “No, sweetheart. That’s too dangerous.”

“Why? Is that a Shareem rule?” She tried to keep her voice
light.

No,
Braden thought.
Because I might like it.
“We do what you asked me here to do. Nothing more.”

She looked disappointed. Damn her, why did she have to look
disappointed?

Braden caught the chain on her collar and repositioned her
over the chair, ass up. He gathered the silk robe she’d thrown on for warmth
and lifted it over her back, then he lined up behind her.

He didn’t even need the lube to slide straight into her
pussy. She made soft noises as Braden stroked all the way in, her voice muffled
against the chair. Then Braden slid out and back in. Again. And again.

“You’re fucking beautiful,” Braden said brokenly.

He pumped harder, smelling her, leaning to lick her, sliding
hands around to catch her swaying breasts.

“This is what I want to do behind your library desk. I’ll
have you screaming out loud. You wouldn’t be hushing me then. Aw,
damn it
.”

Braden cried her name, finesse gone, and slammed his cock
all the way into her, groaning as she squeezed him.

They fell together, laughing and coming. Braden wrapped
himself around Elisa and gathered her against him. He never wanted to let go.

* * * * *

Braden left in the dim light of dawn. It was going to be
another clear day on Bor Narga, which meant early doses of sun and heat,
followed by heat and more heat. Braden pulled on his sun-blocking robes and
headed through the back alleys for the train station.

He’d left Elisa snuggled up alone in her bed. So pretty with
her head on her pillow, her lovely hair loose across the sheets. Braden had
resisted kissing her cheek before departing. If he’d woken her, she’d have
asked him to stay and he wouldn’t have been able to refuse.

Braden needed to refuse. This had gone beyond dangerous.

Catching her reading all about him in the database had done
funny things to his heart. On the one hand, what had he to be ashamed of? The
assholes at DNAmo had pretty much tortured him on a daily basis. He’d resisted
as much as he could, put one over on them as many times as he could, fought
back.

He’d nearly got offed for his pains. The only reason they
hadn’t terminated Braden was because the head scientists thought him a good
test subject for new and experimental subduing drugs.

Aiden, for one, had always tried to get Braden to give up
and go along with it.
Just pretend, damn you. You like getting beaten up
with shock rods? Act like you obey and they’ll leave you alone.

But Braden couldn’t let it go. Something in him had resisted
with all its might—maybe it was his level-three programming, he didn’t know.
Aiden was level one, always looking for ways to soothe and keep the peace.

Aiden had probably been right—an obedient Shareem got decent
food and a cushier cubicle. Braden pretty much slept on a hard slab in a cold
room and ate crap.

Braden had always admired Rees, who’d been the biggest
bastard of the bunch. Rees had futzed computers, trapped researchers, turned
the tables on experiments and pretty much told the scientists what they could
do with themselves. Everyone at DNAmo had been terrified of Rees, except the
other Shareem. The Shareem—the few who knew about him—had cheered him on.

And then Rees had escaped, good for him, which had brought
the whole edifice of DNAmo crashing down.

Then, that meant Shareem fleeing for their lives, hiding out
in squalid holes until the termination order was reversed by some kind-minded
ladies of the ruling council.

Well,
kind
was stretching it. The rulers had been put
under pressure by governments of worlds they traded with, especially Ariel,
which was pretty damn powerful. The Bor Nargan ruling council decided they’d
look benevolent if they let the poor Shareem live. What sweethearts. They’d do
anything to keep Bor Narga from losing money.

Rees, unpredictable and unstable, had popped back up under
the radar and quietly lived his life. He’d done his best to help other Shareem,
and then he’d met Talan and discovered the true meaning of happiness.

Speaking of Rees, Braden had a message from him when he
arrived home that morning, asking him to meet with Rees at Judith’s bar.

Except when Braden reached Judith’s, Rees was nowhere to be
seen. Aiden leaned on the bar, idly conversing with Mitch, while Judith herself
was backed into a corner talking loudly to three patrollers.

This couldn’t be good.

Braden was about to depart the bar quietly and return home,
but Aiden motioned him to come on inside. The patrollers had seen him anyway.

Braden put his elbow on the bar next to Aiden, who didn’t
say a word. Mitch gave Braden a look and abruptly walked away.

“What’s with him?” Braden asked.

“New rules. Non-Shareem can’t talk to more than one Shareem
at a time.”

Braden stared at him. “What new rules?”

“New rules that came down this morning. Brianne shot out of
the house, hightailing it to the hill to talk to her grandmother. In person.
Means Brianne is seriously pissed off.” His mouth softened, Shareem pheromones
kicking in to downplay his anger. “Sweet baby.”

“Why the hell are there new rules?” Gods, if they’d figured
out what Rees was up to…

To his surprise, Aiden grinned. “Seems two Shareem were seen
yesterday morning on the Vistara. People reported it, not happy that Shareem
had been allowed on their precious streets. Another Shareem has been reported
coming and going to some unknown destination in the Serestine Quarter.”

Aiden leaned closer, lowered his voice. “Damn it, Braden,
you really need to learn to be more sneaky.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Shareem.”

One of the patrollers left Judith and came striding over to
Braden. She was older than most of the street patrollers, her air of authority
like a whiplash. A sergeant, Braden thought. Maybe even a lieutenant.

She stopped in front of Braden and fixed him with a sharp
stare. “Ident card.”

Braden made a show of straightening from his slouch against
the bar and rummaging in his robes. He pulled various things from his pockets—a
box of ice candy, a coiled-up piece of leather, his breath mask, a small
handheld.

He piled these onto the bar, one after the other, and
finally pulled out the strip of plastic that was his ident card. The patrol
sergeant watched the procedure with a cold eye, never changing expression.

“Funny how I can never find it when I need it,” Braden said.

The patroller snatched the ident card from Braden’s fingers
and slammed it into her handheld. She studied the readout. “You’re one of the
ones seen on the Vistara. Why did you go up there?”

Braden shrugged. “Can’t get good peaches down here.”

“Who was the Shareem you were with?”

They would already know, would have crosschecked records.
She was trying to get Braden to lie.

“His name’s Justin,” Braden said. “Recently returned from
Sirius III. He’s staying at my place.”

“You know the new rules?”

“Nope. Slept through them. Thank the gods.”

The patroller gave him a severe look. “A human may speak to
only one Shareem at a time. No more than two Shareem can be in one place at a
time. That means that you and your Shareem roommate don’t get to invite any
Shareem guests to your flat.”

“Damn, there goes my cocktail party at the end of the week.”

The patroller didn’t look amused. “Disobedience means
termination to the Shareem who violates any rules.”

Braden hid his rage under a mask of supreme indifference.
She
and her fucking rules can bite me.

“Right.”