Posted by PK on December 02, 2001 at 18:06:06:
Is this really why I came here? he asked himself. To be surrounded by innocently seductive
nymphs I daren't touch? To indulge myself or to test the limits of my self control?
Jeff shook himself like a dog throwing off water. "To that pool inside the forest in whose
waters I shall drown..."
"Boss?"
And threw that thought away too. No more dope tonight, he told himself. "Yes?" And he
listened while Ferrin explained the latest emergency, expecting him to solve the problem, or
at least point the way. The balance of his divided mind shifted, slid like a rheostat moving the
light of his consciousness from dreams to hard-edged reality. It was a loss and a relief.
Hours later, almost comfortably exhausted by work, he noticed that everybody had left.
Almost everybody. The the door opened and Ferrin came back into the office. Oh, yes,
bathroom break. "I think we've got it nailed," she said.
"Nailed?"
"We can finish it up in the morning," she said. "Boss..."
"Call me Jeff. Call me Ishmael. Call me any time. Just don't..."
"Boss, are you all right?"
"Yes, fine. Sorry, just a bit tired."
Ferrin shook her head. "You work too hard. Hungry?"
Jeff stared at her. There was no innuendo in the question, nothing sly in her manner. "Yes,"
he said, "I suppose I am." Just don't call me late for dinner.
"I could make you something. At my place?"
Jeff felt desire and anxiety warring in his gut. "No need to trouble yourself," he began, and
watched her face absorb the rebuff, assuming a stoic mask. And relented. "We could get a
bite at a restaurant. On me."
She brightened.
And half an hour later watched with awe as he put away a huge steak dinner, after explaining
to the waiter at length and with some force that when he said 'rare' he meant it..
Seeing her expression, Jeff smiled awkwardly. "Takes the edge off," he muttered.
"Most people eat it cooked," Ferrin commented.
Jeff felt a little more at ease now. He took a pull at his beer - about half a pint in one draught
- and sighed. "I have robust appetites. I'm half werewolf."
"Werewolf?"
"On my father's side. After he f...had sex with my mother he neglected to eat her." Jeff
shrugged, "Probably because he'd just had her sister." He sighed. "That's why I never knew
my Aunt Petunia."
Ferrin's eyes widened, then she laughed.
*********************************
Not bad, Jeff thought. Not bad at all for somebody who's never had sex with a man before.
For a first date, that was first rate. He patted Ferrin's small, firm rump affectionately as she
lay curled up and half sprawled on top of him, under his arm and her head nestled on his
shoulder.
"How bad was I?" Ferrin murmured comfortably.
"Just bad enough," Jeff replied. She nipped him playfully. Her teeth were small but strong,
like the rest of her, but she wasn't trying to hurt.
"Be honest," she said, "I've never done this before."
Jeff would have shrugged but it would have jarred her head. "Not bad for a beginner." She bit
him again and growled. "You really want to know?" Grunt of assent. "You were great. I'll take
honest lust and sensuality over technique any day. That's just experience, you can get it if
you want it. You can't fake gusto."
"I thought you were going to gobble me up." She squirmed against him. "You can finish me
now if you like. I'm tenderised."
"I'll save you for later. Why do you think I had the steak first?"
She snuggled closer.
In fact, Ferrin had been good. He had enjoyed everything about the sex, even the initial
awkwardness. She wasn't used to having real sex with a male, Ku males were smart enough
to know which hole to put it in and that was about it. Combining her perfectly natural
sensuality, developed by interaction with other Ku females, and the primal sensation of being
penetrated was a new thing for her. She had gasped in surprise or excitement when he had
entered her, after an extended session of foreplay, but she had not been afraid. The size
difference hadn't been a real problem, they had worked around it. Jeff felt more relaxed and
at ease than he'd been since he came.
All I needed was a good lay, he thought complacently. All that psychodrama with Katri, what
was it? Nothing, just a bit of harmless flirting.
"What is it?" Ferrin asked.
"What's what?"
"Something on your mind."
"You read minds?"
"Bodies. Don't you people do that?"
Jeff wanted to tell her, wanted to get it all off his chest. How well did he know her, really? Oh,
fuck it, why not?
"Katri," he said at last. "She's playing games with me. I don't know what to make of her. Don't
get me wrong, she's good at her job - all of you are - but...."
Ferrin shrugged delicately. "She's fascinated by you. Most of us are, you can understand
that."
"When I'm such a handsome dog," he said ironically. Woof woof. "What does she want from
me?"
"She doesn't know what she wants," Ferrin said. "She doesn't know who she is."
The phrase rang a bell. Where had he heard it before?
"It's not uncommon," Ferrin said. "We don't know how to interact with you people yet,
everything is changing. If it's bothering you, why not just fuck her? I would."
"If you were me?"
"If I were me, which I am."
"That wouldn't bother you?"
"I'm Ku, remember? We don't do jealousy, we don't have monogamous bonds. I'd fuck her
because she's attractive, but she hasn't come on to me. If you want her, go for it."
Jeff considered telling Ferrin about the other side of it, the darker side of himself, but decided
that would keep until morning. Or forever.
"I'll sleep on it," he said. He'd had enough for one day. With Ferrin's warm, sweet-smelling
body curled around him he fell asleep quickly for the first time in weeks.
"Oh come on," Katri cajoled. "Are you sure?" She leaned forward over the desk
provocatively.
"Just eat her, then she'll know," Ferrin said. "It's who you are." Jeff tried to ignore her, but she
was still there. "Call her bluff. Bite! You know you want to."
Jeff pulled Katri's robe off, exposing her breasts. He opened his mouth wide, wide enough to
bite them off. One mouthful each. Nice little peaches, fruity little nipples. Shouldn't he lick
them first? It was only polite. He had to get a napkin, there would be a mess to clean up.
Maybe toilet paper. It took him ages to find any. When he got back, Katri was half eaten, her
bare legs and rump sprawled over the desk, nothing left above the waist. Funny, he couldn't
remember having eaten her, he should have remembered eating her head at least. It was
embarrassing, everybody was looking at him out of the corners of their eyes.
"I'll take her legs for later," he explained. "I won't waste her."
Jeff woke up. He had an erection and an urgent need to pee. He stared at the clock, it was
three in the morning. Ferrin was still entangled with him and sleeping soundly. He slipped out
from under her carefully, she muttered in her sleep but didn't wake. On the way to the
bathroom, the image of Katri's bare rump, turned into delicious raw meat by her
dismemberment, burned in his mind's eye with hypnagogic intensity, in the half-dark the
shadows crawled. He had to lean forward on the seat because the erection wouldn't subside.
Back in the bedroom, he eased himself back into Ferrin's embrace. She moved into his arms
again, murmuring in her sleep but not waking. Jeff felt an almost painful wave of tenderness
for her. There was no way he was going to get back to sleep. He decided to lie there planning
the next day's work. They had a job to finish...
"Breakfast?"
Jeff blinked. Ferrin was leaning over him, naked. What was she doing here? Oh, yes.
"Breakfast," he agreed.
"Coffee and croissants? Orange juice?" Her smile told him she was giving him a straight line.
"Bacon, eggs, sausages, fried black pudding, grilled tomatoes, toast and about half a gallon
of strong tea."
"Light English breakfast, then? No hash browns?"
"Oh all right then, why not. Just don't put maple syrup on anything or I'll eat you instead."
"Promises...with or without maple syrup?"
And so on.
Jeff showered while Ferrin made breakfast. He felt oddly content. Weird dreams
notwithstanding, he was having a nice, normal relationship with a woman. Okay, not
technically of his own species, but who cared about that any more? And if he still wanted to
eat Katri, so what? Didn't everybody?
He hummed cheerily and tunelessly as he shaved.
Their arrival at the office together aroused a few mildly inquisitive looks but no big stir. Most
of the team were already there, and concerned with something else. Jeff sensed trouble, but
not of the kind he'd been half expecting.
"What's up?" he demanded.
Flix swivelled round from the com she'd been working on. "Trouble, boss," she said, running
a hand through her short blonde hair. "Bloody nuisance, anyway. Somebody has hacked the
comnet, KLF probably, and we're spam jammed. Propaganda. RL media channels, mail,
everything. I'm trying to program blocks but it's everywhere, I can't even get the net techs,
but I'm sure they know by now, it's...." she waved a hand. "..like I said, everywhere. I sent a
service request but they'll never dig it out of the slush. I might as well send a runner with a
written note. No point."
"Can you filter it?"
"Yes, in time. By then the comnet techs will have blocked it at source. Anybody got a
scrabble set?"
Jeff smiled. "Keep trying. I have faith in you. What's it about, anyway?"
Shay, tall, dark and elegant - tall for a Ku anyway - answered. "As she said, boss, KLF. Or
somebody like them. You know the refrain."
"Show me?"
Shay nodded. "We've got a sample on an isolated console if you want to see it. Same old
stuff, demands to reinstate the Old Order."
I really must keep abreast of politics, Jeff thought. Then he thought, naah. "Old Order?"
"The flatline on the talk shows? You don't watch them? Can't say I blame you..." Shay keyed
a control and a screen lit.
It was the Ku woman he had seen on his home vidcom, on the public broadcast chat show.
She was delivering the same kind of line she had there, but this time as a monologue.
Jeff nodded and waved a hand, cut it off. "I see. Why do they bother? She can say all that on
public vid, it's freedom of speech, which under Fed law.."
"We're entitled to," Shay acknowleged. She shrugged. "They say the authorised media
channels are biased. Fanatics."
History repeating itself, Jeff knew. Fanatics were never satisfied with fair representation. If
you don't agree with us, you're biased. For no particular reason he turned and caught Katri's
eye. Her expression was unreadable, she turned away as if the contact hadn't happened.
For the rest of the day, damage control occupied the whole executive team, and Jeff was in
the thick of it. Not for the first time he realised just how good his people were. And they
looked to him for guidance, for direction. It was humbling, he didn't feel he deserved it, yet he
did seem to be good at keeping it together despite his suspicion that they really could have
managed it on their own. He hardly even thought about Katri or the dreams. Not until later.
Not until he was lying in bed with Ferrin. Without any apparent effort on his part, they had
ended up sleeping together again. After unwinding with the aid of music, alcohol and a bit of
good old MJ, they had ripped each other's clothes off...well, you know how that goes.
And then he had told her, waiting for the reaction with trepidation. The whole thing, or at least
the more carnivorous aspect to his reaction to Katri's teasing; the voracious fantasies she
inspired in him, his suspicion that it was deliberate on her part. Almost everything.
"It's as if she's challenging me to take her, gobble her up..." Jeff made a helpless gesture.
"I'm probably reading too much into it."
"No wonder you seemed so distracted at times." Ferrin grinned. "Poor old you. You'd like to
eat her? Join the club. She is very tasty...." She smacked her lips theatrically.
"It's hard to explain..." This wasn't going quite the way he'd intended, but at least she wasn't
alarmed or disgusted.
"It's pretty standard sex play, boss...Jeff. Everybody does it."
True as far at that went, but should he take the next step? Was this really a good idea? Jeff
took the plunge, Ferrin deserved honesty.
"Maybe I'm just imagining it, but I think she's serious. I didn't know what to believe at first, but
that stuff on the vid and now the KLF. And I can't help wondering.."
Ferrin propped herself up on one elbow. "And you're tempted? Really?"
How was he supposed to explain this in a few words? "In a way, yes. I know it's unthinkable,
of course I can't really eat her."
"True. She may be kidding. I suppose you could always ask one of the girls in data entry,"
Ferrin mused. "They must get pretty bored. Or maybe one of the catering staff. We technical
and admin people tend to be a bit more career oriented. I suppose if you can't find anybody I
might consider it, but I don't know, it's a big committment..." She pursed her lips.
Jeff stared at her. "You can't be serious."
Ferrin smiled slyly. "I just said I'd consider it, I didn't say I'd do it. I have to admit there's a
certain fascination in the idea of you eating me, though it wasn't part of my plans for the
future.."
"I didn't mean you should do it..."
"Why not? What's wrong with me, don't you think I'd taste nice?" She pouted.
Jeff shook his head. The conversation was getting further out of control. "That's not what I
meant. I mean, the whole idea. One of the service staff? Come on, Fen. I just ask around,
Hey, any of you want to let me have you for dinner? Really..."
"Too shy?" Ferrin grinned. "Maybe you could send round a memo asking for volunteers."
"I can't just go around eating people..." Jeff was uncomfortably aware that he was erect
again. Very erect.
"Sure you can, you're a werewolf." She kissed his nose. "Anyway, it's legal. With consent etc.
You know..."
I really don't know if she's having me on, Jeff thought. That's the frightening thing. I don't
even know if she's taking me seriously. Do I know her at all? Am I tempted?
Hell, yes. The worst of it was, Ferrin's teasing - if that's all it was - was harder to deal with
than Katri's because he was involved with her. He felt as if he was playing four dimensional
snakes and ladders without a board. Ludicrous image, he should not have had the dope. Out
of his depth again. He decided to cut his losses.
"You're delegated," he said. "Send me one of the secretarial staff for lunch tomorrow."
"Got it, Boss. Anything for late night munchies?"
He pounced on her. And you know how that goes.....