Harness (7 page)

She laughed and kissed him quickly, rubbing her cheek against his. “I suppose we had better meet the others. I can feel three of them in the outer room.”

“Very good. How does it feel?”

She rocked her hips against the ridge in his uniform. “Pretty good.”

He sighed and stepped away from her, tugging her to her feet.

Fred laughed silently to herself as he positioned her to walk in front of him. Shapeshifting aroused flesh was always awkward, so he was going to have to suffer.

Draycon was easy to identify. He swaggered forward and reached for her hand. El-sur’s snarl reverberated in the chamber and the other two people with Draycon froze.

Fred smiled. “I am pleased to meet you, Draycon. Pardon El-sur. He is just a little…distracted at the moment.”

The other two people came forward, one female, one male.

The female was a soft grey with large purple eyes. “Hello, I am Ildura. This is Monksoreh. We are both horticultural talents who have been learning our skills here on Arxuxsa.”

Draycon was staring. “Pardon me, but I have never seen a female of my species before.”

Fred twisted her lips, “I believe that is because there aren’t any.”

El-sur put his hands on her shoulders. “The Elders are awake; I will be filing the report with the Guardian project and the imperium. Sukra will soon start streaming toward their ancient world, and we need to be ready to greet them.”

Draycon jerked. “I didn’t feel anything.”

Fred wrinkled her nose. “That is because I haven’t bonded myself to the Elders yet. We have some issues to work out.”

Draycon asked, “What issues?”

She smiled. “That is between me and the thousands of minds of our ancestors. They know what they did.”

El-sur chuckled, “And I believe they are hiding until Fred welcomes them back.”

“You have me curious.”

Fred smiled and inclined her head. “And you will have to remain so. I think it is about time for a snack. Anyone care to join me on the balcony? It overlooks the valley into the delta.”

Ildura smiled and blinked her huge eyes. “That sounds lovely. Are you from this sector?”

Polite chitchat took them through a few of the elaborately carved halls, and when they emerged on the enormous stone pad, she heard a few admiring comments.

When they sat on the stone and broke out the ration packs, Ildura looked around at the carvings. “This is amazing, that they recorded all of these species and lived in harmony with them.”

Fred chuckled. “That is what it looks like, isn’t it?”

El-sur snickered, and Draycon looked around with his eyes growing wide. “These are forms.”

Fred wanted to say bingo, but she settled for, “Correct. Each image is that of another race or species that the Sukra learned to shift into. For all I know, this entire building is a teaching tool for transformation.”

Ildura and Monksoreh looked around, and a slightly nervous expression came over them.

Ildura asked, “So, Fred, can you shift like Draycon and El-sur?”

In answer, Fred put on her Terran shape. “Not quite like them. I can’t change my gender beyond going neutral. I can almost look like a male, but I can’t manage the reproductive organs, so I don’t pass during scans.”

She shifted back to the Sukra form that now felt so natural. Her body was telling her that this was what it had wanted the entire time. Now that it knew this shape, it could assume it at any time without thought. Her struggles throughout her life had been to find this shape. Her true shape. If she hadn’t fought all those years to find herself, she would never have known what it meant to be Sukra at long last.

“Damn.” She rubbed at her forehead and got to her feet.

El-sur looked at her with concern. “What is it?”

“I think the Elders did the right thing. I have to have a chat with them.” She smiled, “You can stay here with the others. I don’t know how long this will take.”

He gave her a long look, and she smiled and patted his arm. “I will be fine, El-sur. You can come along if you like, but I will be fine.”

He excused himself from the others and followed her.

Draycon shouted, “What are we supposed to do?”

“Take pictures, Draycon. You might take a vid of your ancestors.” El-sur put his arm around Fred’s waist, and they returned to the room full of hidden treasures in the walls.

Fred carefully read the scroll and then rolled it up and put it away. She resealed the wall and looked at El-sur. “A kiss for luck? This might get messy.”

He kissed her, stroking her hair and pulling her head back as his mouth mated with hers. When her blood was throbbing in her veins, he released her. “Feeling lucky?”

She traced her swollen lips. “Very. Now, stand aside. I have to make a call.”

She looked around the room and found the icon in the floor, a subtle carving in the stone that was meant for the Consul alone. She kicked her boots off and stood with her bare skin pressing against the footprints of thousands of Consuls.

Fred threw her arms wide and opened her mind. “Ancestors of the Sukra, I welcome you. Wisdom of the ages, I welcome you. I share my mind, my thoughts and my life. Join with me, and I will pull the Sukra into the future. My children will forge a path that will bring our race back from extinction, and I welcome you to join me in calling to all our people and bringing them home.”

Light appeared, nearly invisible in the daylight, but one bolt after another struck her and ran through her. Minds so old they remembered ancient constellations that no longer marched in the sky joined with her.

She stood where the Consuls had always stood, and one by one took generations of her own people into her mind and body. They hummed and swirled in her thoughts, learning her as she learned them.

The exterior light was dark by the time she came back to her own body, and she stretched with a smile as she realised she could access all of the memories as she had need.

The Elder form stood next to her. “Thank you for allowing us the link. You have honoured us by your sacrifice.”

“Thank you for this knowledge. It will be put to good use.”

“We were referring to the call that you put out.” The Elders inclined their head.

“Ah. That. Well, it was only right to bring them home. There aren’t many of them, as you know.”

The Elders were confined. They could plant a suggestion in a far-off Sukra, but it took all of them to do it. Her blast had touched everyone with their bloodlines and called them home in an instant. Now, Arxuxsa simply had to get ready for the three hundred visitors and their mates and families.

El-sur was sitting in a chair, and he got to his feet. “Fred, are you all right?”

She smiled and held out her hand to him. “I am, consort. I hope I did not keep you waiting long.”

Draycon was on his knees in the doorway. “I got your summons, Consul. Welcome to your new position.”

Fred stepped toward El-sur. “Rise, Draycon. Your loyalty is appreciated, and your body is not required. I have my chosen.”

Draycon left the doorway.

El-sur chuckled. “I believe you are one of the first women to have rejected him outright.”

“I didn’t reject him, I chose you. I can only handle one man in my life, and I have decided that it is you. With a little effort, I believe I can twist you around my little finger.” She opened her bodysuit with slow motions.

He raised his eyebrow. “You think so?”

“I am fairly sure.” She peeled the suit down to her waist and exposed her skin; the power that was encased in her body was pulsing just under the surface.

She cupped her breasts and stroked her hands over her skin.

He pushed her hands aside, and the rough scrape of his palms made her groan. He eased the suit over her hips and down to the floor, lifting her out of it and setting her on the smooth, cool table. He stepped between her thighs and ran his hand down the centre of her torso, cupping her sex and teasing her with his fingertips.

She twisted gently against him and undulated her hips until his finger slipped inside her.

El-sur applied his lips to her breast and suckled wildly, she groaned at the spike of pleasure and pain that he caused. His teeth were already lengthening, so she knew she had to hurry to catch up.

He slipped two fingers inside her, curling them upward and stroking slowly until he felt the different tissue on the forward wall. He focussed his attentions on plunging and pulling inside her in a rapid seesaw. When she gasped and began to shudder, he pulled her thighs apart and pressed his cock against her until it entered with a pop and they both sighed in relief.

Long, slow thrusts soon gave way to hard slams of his hips, and she saw his teeth gleam in the light coming off her skin. His bite pulled her over the edge and into a riot of pleasure as her muscles twitched and contracted, and she moaned low and deep.

He grunted, his teeth flexing against her neck, and his hair providing a concealing curtain, creating privacy in the open room. She felt his cock pulsing inside her, and her channel gripped him tightly, holding onto him with an ancient purpose.

El-sur released her and licked lightly at the punctures, but her body was already healing itself. “Did you mean what you said to the Elders?”

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

“About devoting your line to expanding the future of the Sukra.”

Fred smiled, “Of course. I have always wanted a family, despite my rough beginnings. I think you will be a good father.” She stroked his hair.

“I am glad you think so. My family will be here in a few days, and they will be very eager to meet you. You might be overwhelmed.”

“I have faced many terrifying, new things in my life, and this is just another one.” She stroked his hair again. “But, just in case, don’t go too far.”

He laughed and slipped out of her, pulling her upright and holding her close. “I am only a thought away.”

“I know, but this is going to get very weird, very fast. I even touched my father’s mind. There was a moment of recognition, but I didn’t get his name, and the Elders don’t want to give it to me. I am guessing it is some kind of weird-ass surprise.”

“Don’t worry. I am going to be with you the whole way. You need only call me, and I will be at your side or the Elders will. You will not come to harm, physical or emotional.”

He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, and she turned her head into the caress.

“I am counting on you, El-sur. I am not sure that I am up for all of this.” She sighed and pressed her forehead to his chest.

“I will be at your side, Consul Fred. Every moment that you need me, I am going to be here.”

She looped her arms around his neck and hoped that he was right.

“They are here, Fred.” El-sur whispered it in her ear.

She grimaced and sat up. Her fifth month into pregnancy and she was still experiencing bouts of nausea that only depleted themselves when she napped.

The morning round of greetings had left her exhausted and missing her lunch. Fred accepted El-sur’s help in getting dressed. She was a little tippy at the moment and any assistance was welcome.

The clothing was easy, a long dress dropped over her head, and a floor-length vest made her look formal and visually shrunk her belly to the casual observer.

He slipped a pair of leather slippers on her feet, but she rarely kept them on. They usually ended up discarded under her chair.

“Come on, Fred. Time to meet them.” He offered her his arm and walked her through the temple where they now made their residence and into the audience chamber.

He settled her in her chair. She had refused the grand carved chair found at one of the other temples, and instead, she sat on a simple stone stool with El-sur standing on her left and the Elders on her right.

She was comfortably seated and nibbling at some dried flat bread when the doors opened and the newest Sukra arrival came in with his wife and their two sons. The wife’s face made Fred’s eyes widen.

She rose to her feet. “Welcome to Arxuxsa. Provide your names so that you can be recorded in the rolls of the new Sukra.”

“I am Yeren-las; this is my wife Deborah and my sons, Tomaro and Alfredo.” He was staring at her through is dark gold eyes, his deep red hair pulled back in a long tail.

Fred jerked. “Alfredo?”

“He was named after his eldest sibling. A sister thought lost to us.” Deborah’s words were oddly formal, but she was speaking Sukra with a Terran accent.

“Thought lost?”

Yeren-las nodded. “I believe we have found her, though we were not the first Sukra to do so, and we are glad to see her flourishing.”

Fred sat back. “Alfredo, come here.”

The youngest family member came forward and went down on one knee. “Consul, how may I be of service?”

It was such a serious question from a boy who looked to be about ten years old.

“Alfredo, what do you know of your missing sibling?”

“Mother and Father tell us stories about her. She was smart, a master shifter and she loved books and reading. Mom says I get that from her because I surely don’t get it from either of them.”

“Would you like to see the ancient library?”

“Yes, madam. Please.”

Fred nodded in dismissal. “Tomaro, please come here.”

Tomaro was thirteen or so, more nervous than his younger brother. “Yes, Madam Consul?”

“What are you interested in?”

“I wish to become a master shifter and have a family all my own.” He blinked at her with earnest eyes that had a hint of his mother’s dark green gaze.

“El-sur here is an excellent trainer. What your father cannot teach you, El-sur can.”

He grinned and nodded, “Thank you, Madam Consul.”

Now for the hard part. “Deborah and Yeren-las, come forward.”

They both came forward and went down on one knee. Yeren-las kept his arm around his wife. The Terran was shaking.

“For years, I have wondered where I got my human form. It is good to see that genetic memory or, perhaps, actual infant memory counts for something.” She turned into her human form for a moment, listening to the gasp from her brothers and watching tears come to her mother’s eyes as she saw her own features.