Jaci's Experiment (6 page)

***

Grady Prime was the perfect gentleman on the trip home, but he did look at her oddly a few times. He’d had to come get her in the Chief Engineer’s quarters when they were ready to go and he’d almost caught her in an emotional display. But Davin had chimed, giving them a bit of warning before the other man knocked on the door and she’d had a precious few moments to school her features. She couldn’t believe what she’d seen in the engineering facility. Not only was Callie a Breed, but she was a truly gifted crystallographer who had found not just one, but two resonance mates. She was also one of the nicest people Jaci had ever met. As was her 55

brother, Hara, whom she had yet to meet in person, but if what he’d said was true, he would seek her out soon.

It felt good to know there were other people who knew about her problem and who thought they could at least try to help her. They would help her friends too, if they could. Suddenly she was aware of an underground movement to make life better for the native inhabitants of this world and just as suddenly, she found herself hoping they would succeed.

Anyone with feelings could see what her people had done to these earthlings was wrong. Destroying their way of life, changing their very planet was a grievous sin, only compounded by what they’d done since. Capturing the survivors, separating families, forcing them into experiments without regard for their emotions was unforgivable in her newly awakened mind. She vowed silently to put all her energies towards helping them achieve some bit of freedom.

But first she had to deal with the looks Grady Prime kept shooting her. She had to tell him that there was no chance of a repeat between them, but she had to do it in such a way as to not insult him. He was still, after all, a powerful Prime, one of the elite.

So just after they landed back in the northern city, she sought a private word with him as they walked from the shuttle port to the main part of the city.

“Grady Prime, I have something to say that I think you will not like, but I must say it to clear the air between us.”

“Say what you wish, Jaci 192. I’m not an unreasonable man even if I am a soldier.”

She smiled softly, trying not to show too much emotion.

“I have no disgust of soldiers, Grady Prime. I’m only a Jaci, after all.”

“Even a Jaci holds higher station than a soldier.”

She was surprised by the bitterness in his voice. While she’d always been taught that soldier strains had more aggression left than any other, she’d never realized they could experience other kinds of emotion too. Suddenly she felt sorry for him.

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“I’ve always thought such rankings were stupid, really. I admire your achievements, Grady Prime, and under other circumstances, I would welcome the opportunity to be your bed partner. In fact, I’m flattered that you asked in the first place.”

“Yet I sense you’re about to turn me down.” He was taking it well, all things considered.

She smiled to soften the blow.

“As I said, I would welcome your invitation under other circumstances, but I have a prior commitment that is incompatible with starting a relationship with you.”

“There’s someone else?”

“I’m sorry, Grady Prime. I truly enjoyed our time together, even if it was duty.”

“I know. I could tell.” His smile was devilish and made her shiver in memory of that great orgasm he’d given her.

“You’re gifted at giving a woman pleasure. You surely don’t lack for women eager to bed you.”

Grady looked wistful. “I enjoy my share of female companionship, but I do like you, Jaci 192. I like the look of you and the feel of you. I’m sorry we can’t share more outside of duty, but perhaps it is for the best. I’ve volunteered for a medical test that I have been warned may change me for all time.”

She caught her breath. “You’re going to be part of Mara 12’s new experiment, aren’t you?”

He looked at her sharply. “How do you know about it?”

“I prepared the dosages last week. I’m one of the higher ranking lab techs on Mara 12’s personal staff.”

She thought he looked mildly relieved. “Then you know what it could do to me?”

By the First Shard, did she know! But she couldn’t tell him what she’d learned firsthand about the agent they would administer to him.

“I have some idea, yes. You’re taking a great chance, Grady Prime, but for what it’s worth, I think what you’re doing is a noble thing. I’m only a tech, but even I can see that our people are stagnating the way we are. These humans…” Her voice trailed off as she

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thought about the people she’d met over the past week and the amazing things she’d learned. “These humans are much more than most of our kind gives them credit for.”

Grady watched her with interested eyes. Perhaps she didn’t realize she’d called the Breeds by the term they used for themselves, but it hadn’t slipped past him. He was trained to be observant after all. This lab tech was more than she seemed but he would reserve judgment until he had more evidence. Still, he would watch her. Carefully.

“I agree that the Chief Engineer’s living situation was surprising to me when I first learned of it, but then, he is a throwback, so he’s bound to be eccentric. You spent time with his mate, didn’t you?”

She nodded. “Yes, Callie is a fascinating woman.”

“I’ve known her and her family for years now. She was a precocious child and has grown into a lovely woman. Her family reports that she’s happy with her mating and she looks well.”

“But you barely spoke to her while we were in the facility.”

Grady shrugged. “I am a soldier. I protect and defend. I don’t make small talk.”

That startled a chuckle out of her that he wasn’t expecting. This girl was something out of the ordinary but he couldn’t put his finger on what was different about her.

“You seem to be doing well talking to me.”

He looked down at her, raising his eyebrows. “You do have a point. I don’t believe I’ve talked this much to anyone in the past six months. You’re easy to talk to, Jaci 192.”

She rewarded him with a bright smile. It touched that place inside him that sometimes yearned to feel, but never quite made it. The thought made him feel just a little empty. It was an uncomfortable observation and one of the many reasons he’d volunteered for this dangerous experiment. He wanted to know what was waiting in that empty place inside him. He wanted to experience the emotions he often watched on the faces of the Breeds he tracked. He wanted something…more than what he’d experienced of life so far.

“I hope then, you would consider me a friend, Grady Prime.”

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“That would be nice. I don’t think I’ve ever had a friend who was not also a warrior before.” The idea puzzled him and brought more of those odd sensations.

“You’ll probably be facing some radical changes once you begin the experiment. I hope to be assigned to assist with some of the tech work but even if I’m not, I hope you’ll remember to call me if you need someone to talk to. I’ll pass no judgments and would be glad to assist you if I can.”

He was surprised by her offer but also somewhat grateful for it. He didn’t like scientists as a rule. They tended to look down on everyone who wasn’t a scientist and warriors even more than most. He was comforted to know there would at least be someone there who was a friend. Even if he wasn’t quite sure what made this woman tick.

“I’ll remember, Jaci 192, and I thank you for your generous offer.”

She shocked him further by reaching up on her tip-toes to place a gentle kiss on his rough cheek. It did something inside him he didn’t quite understand. It was a faint sensation, like the kinds of things he sometimes felt and attributed to his inferior Grady DNA, but this was a pleasant feeling, warm and almost friendly. It was something he’d never felt before and something he wanted very much to experience again.

The echo stayed with him long after she’d gone and made him all the more resolute to do this experiment. He wanted to feel. He wanted to experience those things he read on the faces of the Breeds he dealt with in his duties. Even if it were only the unpleasant feelings like fear and anger and rage, he wanted to experience them for himself at least once before he died.

He wasn’t kidding himself. This experiment could very well mean the end of him. As a Grady, he was already considered on the lower end of the evolutionary ladder. He was more aggressive than was thought comfortable by the rest of the emotionless Alvian people. The High Council only allowed more Gradys to be bred because they needed them as soldiers, protectors for their own precious skins. Grady Prime had no illusions about why he existed.

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Just as he had no illusions about what the experiment might do to him. If he reverted to the overly aggressive Alvian male of generations past, the High Council might well deem him too violent to be allowed to live. He could easily be put down for the safety of the rest of them because of his skills. But he knew?also because of his special skills?he could probably find a way to escape whoever they sent after him. He could easily disappear into the Waste to live out his life until madness eventually claimed him.

He wasn’t as stupid as the High Council thought. He fully realized that if he did gain emotion through this experiment it might well mean his life would end in madness the way so many of his ancient predecessors’

had ended. It was a soldier’s curse, he well knew, for he was a student of history. He had read the ancient texts, accounts of battles to the last man and desperate struggles of brother against brother. He had read them and studied them, always seeking to understand the deep emotion that drove those long ago men, but he just couldn’t grasp it all.

At times he felt…something…as he read the texts, but it was elusive. He prayed to the ancestors that after this experiment it would be elusive no more. He would die gladly to gain that understanding.

***

Jaci fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. It had been a long day and her memories of the dream she’d had the night before had crept into her thoughts all through it at odd moments. She wondered if being with two men at once would be just like in her dream or something quite different. She didn’t want it to be just any two men. She wanted it to be
her
two men. Michael and David. Just the thought of them made her shiver, though in reality they’d never shared much more than a few kisses. Still, she hungered for their touch and their understanding. The emotions they felt showed in their eyes in a way she’d never seen in a male of her race…until today. Davin had looked at his mate with love and unmistakable lust. She recognized it now. Blood of the Founders! She
felt
it now.

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While she slept the dream came again. One moment she was on her knees in her best tunic, accepting the Ribbon of Accolades of the High Council for her brilliance, and the next she was surrounded by her two men. Michael and David stood on either side of her. She was still on her knees, accepting the award medallion around her bowed neck.

When she lifted her head, they were there, smiling down at her. The crowd receded, but they were still there, watching in the background. The thought of it made her jump with excitement she barely recognized. She hadn’t known she was an exhibitionist, but apparently all bets were off in the dreamstate.

David smiled over at his cousin. “I think I like this dream.”

Michael nodded. “I definitely like the idea of our Jaci on her knees before us.” He shifted his gaze to her.

“Can you think of anything you might want to try from that position, sweetheart?”

He winked and she felt fire rush through her veins at the ideas forming in her mind. She smiled up at him and was satisfied with the wicked light in his eyes.

“I can think of a thing or two.” She reached for his waistband with single-minded intensity. “But you’ve got too many clothes on.”

“Easily remedied.” Michael held up his hand and snapped his fingers and suddenly they were all naked.

“How’d you do that?”

He winked once more. “Magic.”

She got distracted by the huge cock waving hard and long in front of her face. “Mmm, I like that kind of magic.”

“Me too, sweetheart. Me too.” He stifled a gasp as she put her hand around him, her hot palm moving up and down in a natural rhythm.

“Something tells me she’s done this before.” David stepped closer to her, his hard cock brushing her hair.

She moved back and took David in her other hand, moving just as expertly on him as she continued to work Michael. Her smile stretched from ear to ear but her concentration was near total on her task.

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“What about it, Jaci?” Michael reached down to run his hand through her hair, holding her head and tilting it up so she would meet his eyes. “Have you given a lot of hand jobs?”

She was confused for a moment. She’d never used that term for stroking a male to completion but she guessed she must have heard the humans use the phrase somewhere. How else could she incorporate such a foreign phrase into her dream?

“I have given pleasure many times in this manner as part of my duty.”

“I don’t think I want to hear this.” David’s voice was a low grumble at her side.

“Servicing the elite for sample collection used to be one of my duties. I would take them in my hands or mouth or body, as they wished, in order to collect the necessary samples for the geneticists.”

“I definitely didn’t want to hear that,” David grumbled again.

Michael’s hand tightened in her hair. “Did you ever do two at once?”

“Two?” She was shocked by the possessive tone of her dream men, but perhaps her psyche saw deeper into their true natures than her conscious mind did. “No, I’ve never been with two males at one time.”

“Did you ever want to?”

She shook her head. “No. Not until you. Only with you.”

Michael stroked her hair, removing his hand. “Good. From now on, you’ll only be with us. Your days of servicing other men are over. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand, but what if my duties—?”

David tugged her head up to meet his smoldering eyes. “You will find another way. You’re a smart girl, Jaci. You’ll find a way to get out of such duties.”

Their possessive words made her body yearn. She had to remind herself it was only a dream. Slowly, she nodded. What could it hurt to agree to the impossible in a dream? She couldn’t forgo her duties any more than she could resist these two heavenly men, but she didn’t want to anger them. It’s not that she wanted to service other men, but if the Maras ordered her to do so, she had to do as she was told. She knew she wouldn’t enjoy it. That

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last time with Grady Prime had been the first and last time she would enjoy sex with any male other than Michael and David. She knew that deep down in her awakening heart.

“I’ll find a way,” she whispered as David’s hand relaxed in her hair. “I promise.”

“Good. Now, suck my cock. I’ve waited a long time to feel your lips around me.”

Jaci complied, leaning forward to take him in her mouth. His taste exploded on her tongue as she moved into the rhythm of sucking and withdrawing, using all her skills to pleasure him. She made an effort to keep her hand moving rhythmically on Michael as well, and she looked up briefly to find him watching her suck his cousin’s cock with avid eyes.

“Look at me, sweetheart.” David’s hands tangled in her hair, angling her face up so she could meet his eyes. She smiled, humming deep in her throat as he gasped. “God, you’re beautiful. Suck hard now, sweet. Make me come.” She followed his orders to the letter and within moments he was jetting his sperm into her mouth. “Swallow it all, honey. Drink me down.”

He tasted divine. She’d never been permitted to swallow any male’s seed before. The many times she’d done this, it had been for scientific collection, not for enjoyment. She was definitely enjoying this. As was he, she could tell. He groaned as he finished in her mouth, then ordered her to lick him clean. She did so with pleasure, her hand tightening on Michael’s ready cock waiting for the same treatment.

When David finally let her up, he didn’t let go of her head. Instead he swiveled her face to Michael, directing her movement as she took his cousin in deep.

“She’s got a talented mouth, Mike,” he told the other man. “She’ll blow your mind.”

“Let her go, Dave. I want this all to myself for now.”

She felt David’s hands leave her and Michael’s replace them in her hair, guiding her movements. He wanted it harder and slightly faster than David had and she was more than willing to comply. She also let him direct her as he held her still and pumped himself into her mouth hard, deep and fast.

“Suck me, baby. Use that hot tongue.” His words were low rumbles of sound that made her pussy ache to be filled. “Get behind her, Dave. Rub her tits.”

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David’s warm body knelt behind her and his talented hands started tugging on her nipples in the way she’d already come to love. She moaned as he pulled especially hard.

“I’m coming!” Michael warned, but she wanted it all. She wanted his pleasure, his heat, his sperm in her mouth. A moment later, she got it all. He came in great waves, tasting slightly different from his cousin, but just as satisfying.

David moved one hand down her body, rubbing her clit as she struggled to swallow the jets of come, playing her body as if it were a musical instrument. Within moments she was coming hard and fast against his hands.

She must’ve blacked out then because the next thing she knew, it was morning and her alarm sounded.

She had to get up and go through the routine of her work day. But the dream lingered, as did the faint echo of their taste on her tongue.

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