Rayne's Return (Hearts of ICARUS Book 3) (37 page)

“That’s…I don’t know what to call it,” Ari said.  “There’s no word I know of to accurately describe that.”

“I know,” Rayne said.  “Which is why I’m worried.  You know as well as I do that if given the slightest, slimmest chance, the Gryphons will act aggressively against the Doftle.  When and if they do, the Doftle may decide that their brains make them too dangerous.”

“Your concern is certainly understandable,” Landor said.  “If there was any way for us to warn them against such behavior, we would, but as it is, all we can do is try to get to them as quickly as possible.”

“I know,” Rayne said, then made herself set that subject aside.  “I have a question.”

“Which is?” Ari asked.

“When we’re finished with this, after we get the Gryphons and return home to Jasan, what happens then?”

“What happens?” Landor asked blankly.  “I’m not sure I understand what it is you’re asking.”

“I know that you do work for ICARUS, traveling all over the Thousand Worlds, and if that’s what you want to keep doing then of course that’s what you should do.  I’m just curious about what I’ll do.  Will I go with you, or will I have to stay on Jasan while you’re gone?”

Landor, Con and Ari exchanged looks, something she was growing accustomed to.  Then Landor turned to her.  “We’ve had a long time to prepare for our future with you, Rayne.  We purchased a large bit of farm land that includes a mountain overlooking a forest with a big freshwater lake, all within a few hours of Dracon Ranch.  We built a house on the mountain for us, but we kept it rather small.  Kitchen, living room, master bedroom and one guest room.  An office for us, a music room for you, and a nursery.  We know we’ll all want more rooms, hopefully many more rooms, but we thought you’d like to take part in deciding where the additions will be and how they’ll look.  The foundation and the existing structure are designed so that many more rooms can be added.”

“It sounds wonderful,” Rayne said, picturing it in her mind.  “We’ll live there?  All the time?”

“Yes,” Landor said.  “We never intended to continue our work for ICARUS after claiming you.  That’s why we didn’t sign a contract with them.  Our priority is you, Rayne and like you, we want a family.  We’ve waited a long time, and we intend to be there, with you, raising our children together.”

“Oh yeah?” she asked with a mischievous sparkle in her eye.  “Does that include diaper changing duties?”

They all laughed.  “It includes diapers, drool, spit up, long sleepless nights and endless exhausting days,” Landor said.  “We want it all, Rayne.  Every single moment.  Our only concern now is that we don’t want our enthusiasm to make you feel rushed.  Our future is in sight.  We can wait.”

“I don’t think you could rush me even if you tried since I have no desire to wait.”  They all looked at her intently.  “What?”

“Do you mean that, Rayne?” Ari asked. 

“Absolutely,” she said, then dropped her eyes.  “If you guys want to wait a bit, I’ll understand, of course.”

“No, no no no and no,” Con said emphatically.  “Landor?”

“You know we don’t have the power to…change…anything, Con.”

“I know, but we can look,” Con said.  “Just to see if it’s possible.”

“Yes, we can do that,” Landor said.  “What do you think, Rayne?”

“I think I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“We want to take a peek to see if pregnancy is possible right now,” Landor said.

“Oh yes, please do check,” she said excitedly.

“Try to relax,” Landor said, pleased to see that her excitement was equal to their own.

“Okay okay, I’m relaxing.”

“No, you’re not,” Landor laughed.  “Try to be still anyway.”

“I can do that,” she said, then leaned back and went perfectly still.  She watched as an expression of utter calm came over their faces.  A few moments later they blinked and both Ari and Con looked at Landor and frowned.

“Frowns aren’t good,” she said worriedly.  “What is it?”

“Nothing bad,” Con said quickly.  “We just aren’t sure.”

“I’m afraid we don’t have any experience in this, something we should have thought of before getting our hopes up,” Landor said.  “We
think
things look…right.”

“Oh well,” Rayne said.  “I guess we’ll just have to hope for the best and wait to see, like most people.”

“We’re just glad that you want the things we want,” Ari said. 

“Me too,” Rayne replied.  She raised one hand to brush the hair back from her face, then lowered it halfway back to the water before pausing.  She turned it over, her eyes traveling over the myriad scars that marred her skin.  They didn’t stand out too much since she was still very pale, but she was an outdoor girl.  When they got home and she started getting a little sunshine, that would change.  “I wonder, do you think the conversion will take away my scars?”

“We don’t know,” Landor said quietly, trying to gauge her feelings as they watched her.  “You and your sisters are the eldest of the Clan Jasani females, and you’re still young.  To our knowledge there’ve been only three conversions of Clan born females so far and there was no mention of scars in the reports.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see, won’t we,” she said, lowering her arm back into the water.

“Do they bother you so much?” Ari asked.  “The scars?”

“Yes, and no,” she said, frowning as she tried to understand her own feelings.  “I’m vain enough to wish I didn’t look like I went through a shredder, but what bothers me most is what they remind me of.”

“Then let them remind you of your courage, and strength, and determination,” Con said.  “Let them remind you that no matter the odds, no matter the circumstances, you never gave up and you never gave in.”

“If our children have even a fraction of your heart, and will, and honor, they will be the most blessed children on all of Jasan,” Ari said.

“They’re going to be amazing, that’s for certain,” Landor said.  “I cannot wait to meet them.”

“Thank you, guys,” Rayne said, touched almost beyond words.  “I can’t wait to meet them, either.”

“Now that we’ve destroyed the
Facility
, and isolated the Controller on board,” Landor said, “it should be safe for you to be yourself, right?”

“Yes, I think so,” Rayne said, smiling.  “No more contacts, and no more brown hair.”

“Will you return to your natural color?” Ari asked.  “And length?”

“That’s what I planned,” Rayne said.  “Did you have something else in mind?”

“No!” Ari exclaimed, then smiled.  “Sorry.  It’s just that I’ve had dreams in which your long silky curls played a major role.  I’ve heard that living your fantasies is never as exciting as the fantasies themselves, but I’m looking forward to finding out for myself whether or not that’s true.”

“So am I, now.  Unfortunately, it’s not easy to use that hair wand on yourself.  My arms get tired really fast, so it might take a few weeks to get it back to what it was before.”

“That’s all right,” Ari said, waggling his eyebrows.  “Anticipation isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

“Yes it is,” Con said.  “
Anticipation
is just a fancy word for
waiting
, and I don’t like waiting.  I vote that we take turns with that hair wand until Rayne’s hair is back the way it should be.”

“Good idea,” Ari said at once.  “You got my vote.”

“You get my vote as well,” Landor said, then held up one finger.  “But only if we can make it a little longer than it was.”

“Done,” Ari and Con said at once.

Rayne laughed again, then raised one hand to her throat and began rubbing at the scar there.  After a moment she frowned, then used her other hand to scratch at a scar on her shoulder while still scratching the one on her throat. 

“What’s happening?” Landor asked, moving closer and leaning down so he could see her face.

“I just feel itchy.” 

“Itchy?” Con asked in surprise. 

“Yeah, this scar on my throat itches like crazy, and so does this other one,” she said, scratching hard enough to raise red welts on her skin.  Before Landor could begin to contemplate the reason for her sudden itchiness, it escalated.  Within moments she was scratching frantically at herself, her hands flying from one scar to another, in some places breaking the skin with her blunt nails.  Her distress grew as fast as the itching until she had tears streaming down her face that she couldn’t stop scratching long enough to wipe away. 

Not knowing what else to do, Landor picked her up and carried her out of the tub.  Con hurried ahead, grabbed a towel, shook it out, and laid it on the counter.  Landor set her down on it and reached for another towel to dry her off with.  By then Rayne was making soft, whimpering sounds that she didn’t even notice as she struggled to reach all of the places on her body that itched. 

“Look!” Con said in surprise, pointing at her throat.  One of Rayne’s hands flew to her throat while the other scratched at a long scar that spanned her stomach from her right hip to the middle of her left ribcage. 

“What?” she asked.  “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Con said.  “I mean, there’s no scar there now.”

Rayne’s eyes widened in surprise even as she realized that the itching on her throat was gone.  She immediately resumed scratching at other scars on her arms and stomach and legs, but she was reining in her panic now that she suspected what was happening.  “Are any of the other scars going away?”

“Yes, that big one on your shoulder, and that long one on your stomach are gone,” Landor said.  “Others are fading as I watch.”

“At this rate, the itching shouldn’t last much longer,” Ari said.

“No, it’s a lot better already,” Rayne said, her scratching becoming less frantic.  Landor and Con began rubbing her all over with towels, which helped a lot.  A short while later she took a deep breath and relaxed.  “It’s gone now,” she said, looking down out herself in wonder.  She turned her hands and arms over, shaking her head in surprise.  Even the scratches and welts she’d inflicted on herself were gone.  “I guess this answers my question about scars.”

“I’d wager that the other females who’ve been converted had few, if any scars,” Landor said.  “They probably just experienced a little itchiness, and didn’t think any more about it.”

“Probably,” she said, watching as Ari handed Landor a white tube.  Landor squeezed a mound of white cream onto the palm of his hand, then handed it to Con who did the same.  They began rubbing the cream into her skin, soothing away the last vestiges of itchiness.  “I wasn’t ashamed of my scars,” she said, staring at the smooth, blemish free skin on her arms and hands.  “But I’m glad they’re gone.  I guess I kind of know how Aunt Darlene feels.”

Landor frowned as he glanced at Ari, then Con, but they were clueless too.  “In what way,
Kisu
?”

“Well, she has all of those scars, you know?”  They nodded.  “She told me once that they were a part of her, and that the reason she had them was a part of her and that she was grateful that she had them because otherwise, she wouldn’t be who she is now.  She just doesn’t like drawing people’s attention because of them.”

“So, you’re not ashamed of your scars, but you don’t want them to define you in other people’s eyes,” Con said.  Rayne smiled at him brilliantly.

“I love you, Con, and yes, that’s it exactly.”

“Excuse me just a moment,” Ari said, then left the bathroom.  He was back a few seconds later with a length of shimmering, blue green fabric draped over his arm. 

“What’s this?” she asked when he stopped in front of her. 

“It’s a bathrobe,” Landor said, watching Ari shake it out and hold it up for her to see.  “We had it made for you.”

“It’s so beautiful,” she said, reaching out to touch the fabric, surprised to find that it was silky soft.  “That color matches my eyes.”

“Exactly,” Con agreed.  “We searched for that color, with just the right touch of shimmering light, for a long time before giving up and having it made.”

Landor helped her down from the counter, and Ari helped her on with the robe.  She tied the belt around her waist and smiled happily.  “Thank you so much,” she said.  “It’s absolutely perfect.  Not too long, or too heavy, and I don’t even have to roll the sleeves up to find my hands.”

“Always a plus in a garment, I would think,” Ari said with a grin.

“A plus, yes, but not so easy to find,” she said.  “Well, what now?”

“We’ll go into the other room and wait for the next stage,” Landor said.  Rayne nodded and followed as he led her to the far side of the bedroom where four overstuffed chairs sat in a cozy circle with small tables and reading lamps.  She sat down in one and leaned back, surprised to find that she was nervous.

“How about a little wine?” Landor offered. 

“Yes, please,” she said.  “That might help.”

“Do you want something to eat?” Con asked. 

“You have food?” she asked.

“We’ve had years to plan for this,” Ari said as he turned to follow Landor and Con to the wet bar set up in one corner of the room.  “We’d decided on specific wines, appetizers
,
main course, dessert, music, lighting, every possible detail was considered, mulled over, sometimes even argued about.  After all of that, here we are with nothing but crackers, cheese and a bottle or two of fairly ordinary wine.”

“Crackers, cheese, and ordinary wine sound great to me,” Rayne said, smiling.  She watched as Ari prepared a plate with crackers, and the cheese he’d taken from the chiller under the bar while Landor opened a bottle of wine.  Just as Con placed four wine glasses on the bar, a wave of heat raced through her veins, causing her skin to pebble. 

She shivered as her body went from relaxed to aroused in what felt like the blink of an eye.  Her breasts swelled, her nipples hardened, and her pussy clenched and released in a hard spasm, lubricating itself with a surge of molten fluid.  The ultra-soft fabric of her new robe suddenly felt rough against and irritating.  She fumbled with the belt, frantic to get it off.

“Rayne?” Con asked, spotting her distress just before the scent of her arousal reached them.  They all rushed to her side in a blur.  Con placed gentle hands on her wrists, stilling her futile efforts with the belt.  “What’s the matter?”