Page 25 of Dark Company

After Ladria brings over a few bottles, she nods and heads over to the opposite side and starts to fuss about with some blankets and pillows. Just watching her makes my insides squirm. How can someone toss things about in such a haphazard way?

“Is something wrong?” Alexi’s voice penetrates the fog in my brain, forcing me to look away from the chaos.

“She’s doing it wrong.”

“I supposed it would seem that way to you. Tell me, have you been feeling feverish?”

“Yes. All the time, but what does that have to do with the blankets?”

“Unless I’m wrong, you’re getting close to your heat. Your instinct to nest is hitting you. Once I’m done bathing you, I will let you set it to rights. Now, close your eyes and relax.”

She tips the vial into the water, making the tent smell even more fragrant. It smells of flowers, of sunshine, and of peace. Just inhaling the perfumed water makes my muscles relax into the warm bath.

Standing up, Alexi takes off her dress and tosses it on top of mine before getting into the tub. She looks absolutely stunning. Her large breasts rise above a willowy frame. Unlike mine, the area around her nipples is a dusky brown, blending in with her darker skin.

I look down and stare at my own breasts. Since going off the suppressants, the tissue seems to have grown. Pale, pink nipples jut out from the water, hard and needy as she glides into the water next to me, sending small currents eddying around my body.

“First, let’s work on this hair of yours.” She squeezes past me and maneuvers us until my back settles against her front.

The hard point of her nipples brush against the sensitive skin as she gathers up handfuls of water and pours them over my scalp. Her diligent fingers work some soap into my hair as she massages out all the tension I seem to hold up there. Groaning, I lean into her touch, no longer thinking about it sexually, but grateful for the relief her hands bring. We sit there for several minutes as my breath slows. This is heaven.

“Hold your breath.”

As soon as I suck in a lungful of air, she plunges me down and shakes out my hair, getting rid of all the soap. I long to open my eyes, to see the world through this watery lens, but I don’t know what exactly she put in the water. So, I keep them closed, allowing the sensation of her fingers in my hair to tell me everything I need to know.

Before too long, she urges me back up and pulls the wet strands behind me, brushing any errant hairs away from my face. Once more, she maneuvers past me and stops at my knees. We stare at each other, her knowledgeable eyes boring into my soul. Just because the hair washing wasn’t sexual, it doesn’t mean all the need has leeched from my body.

Even now, that insistent area throbs so hard, I’m sure she can feel the vibrations all the way down to where her hands rest on my upper thighs. Without saying a word, she spreads me before her once more and stares down, smiling, before she dips low so that her lips hover above my skin.

She kneels there between my splayed legs, her hands sliding down into the water to cup my ass and lift the submerged part of me to the surface. Groaning, I let my head fall back to rest on the metal lip of the tub as water runs off my body in tiny, hot rivulets.

“I know what you want, sweet Karis,” she whispers against my mound before planting her lips on that area that’s so close yet so far from where I need relief. “But I will not give it to you. Not yet. You are so young, so impressionable. You don’t know what you want. You just want this throbbing in your core to stop.”

Pausing, she eases her fingers down, rubbing them across my lower lips without actually touching the part that’s screaming for attention. After a moment, she spreads my lips open and dips a finger inside my core, stopping when she gets to my barrier.

Not even the doctors on Stanlion touched me there. I want so desperately to feel something, anything deep inside, even if it’s just her fingers. Groaning, I buck up my hips, attempting to impale myself upon her, but she draws back, dancing just out of reach.

“You don’t know if you actually want me, Karis. You just want relief. Soon, you will have it. Soon, you will give Xiarius your virginity, then you can have whatever you need to take away the ache. You’re so close to heat that I’m sure you’d stoop to humping a pole if it got you off.”

Her fingers are back, dipping in and out in a shallow rhythm, pausing to spread me open and stretch out my entrance. “Once you’ve lain with a man, then we’ll talk. If, after your heat has broken, you want to try a woman, I’ll be more than happy to accommodate. In the meantime, if you want relief, you’ll have to do it yourself. You’ve been under suppressants for so long, Dr. Jakrob is worried that you will not be able to have a proper heat or produce slick.”

When Alexi pulls away, I nearly sob in frustration. She pours a dollop of some strange liquid in her hands and starts to rub my feet and calves, working out knots I never knew existed. Groaning, I let my head rest on the tub as I force my muscles to relax. Once more, she’s able to take my mind off of the arousal flooding me and back onto how great it feels just to be touched.

“As I told you yesterday, usually, it is only our job to pamper you and make sure you can accommodate your first knot. However, since I enjoy pleasuring women, I was given the extra task of teasing you, forcing you to produce slick, and easing you into your heat.”

Alexi eases the foot she was working on back into the water before picking up the other and starting the process over again. Once more, moans pour from my lips, but only at the relief of having these damned knots worked out. Once she’s done with both feet and calves, she slides her hands into the water to agitate it, washing away the last bit of soap before moving up to my thighs.

“If you’re as close as we all think you are, you will need the relief of a cock inside you. Unfortunately, that is not something I can provide. But I promise you, once your heat is broken, and you can think clearly, you’ll know whether you want me to play with you or if you wish to continue life with a male. There are no right or wrong answers. You can always change your mind. I’m sorry for having to torture you like this, but I don’t want you injuring yourself.”

Once more, she spreads my thighs, but this time, she wraps my legs about her waist so she can reach below to knead the muscles in my ass. “I will always be here for you, Karis. But I want you to actually want me.” She doesn’t say another word but simply washes me, rubbing every part of my body until I’m limp in her arms.

Standing, she pulls me up and holds me close as another pipe opens up from above, showering us with warm water. Once I’m clean enough for her liking, she steps out onto a towel and leads me over to the pile of pillows and blankets. Alexi distracted me enough that I completely forgot about the disarray. And in fact, it somehow looks even worse.

Attacking the pile, I move things here and fluff things there, sighing when it starts to come together. The more I fuss over the items, the more my body relaxes and the knot in my stomach loosens. Alexi never says a word. She simply hands me things and backs away to make sure she doesn’t mess anything up.

Once it’s to my liking, I beam up at her and fall back into the pile, wriggling in the soft sensations that caress my skin. As Alexi and Ladria approach, I smile at them, noting the bottles in Ladria’s hands. She bends down next to me and slathers on this odd, warming poultice onto the fronts of my legs while Alexi watches.

After waiting for a few moments, she wipes the poultice off of my limbs and hands the towel to Alexi. She soon scampers off and comes back with another clean towel. Once Ladria smooths an oil onto my skin, she motions for me to turn over. Again, she applies the poultice, then wipes it off. After she oils me up again, I move to turn over, but a hand rests in between my shoulders, holding me down.