Damaged Control Read online

  She held her hair out away from her head and tried to look at as much of it as she could.

  “Why is my hair as white as yours?” She glared at the angel on his knees in front of her.

  “Uh, that hasn’t happened before. It must be a side effect of the adaptation process.”

  She smacked his shoulder. “What the actual fuck, Etska?”

  He got to his feet and towered over her. He looked down with a serious expression. “I apologize. I had no idea that this would be a side effect, or I would have warned you.”

  She looked at him and sighed. “I suppose I can dye it.”

  He pulled her in toward him. “That won’t work, but you are welcome to try.”

  She sighed and turned her head, seeing her three team members staring at them in shock. “Hi, guys.”

  Tohba blinked. “Theena, did you just hit the overseer?”

  She looked innocently at Etska, “Did I hit you?”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t feel anything, and I generally am very attentive when you are touching me.”

  She chuckled. “Apparently, your very good eyesight was mistaken, Tohba.”

  He smiled slowly and bowed. “Good morning, my lady.”

  The other two grinned and bowed with the same greeting.

  She saw what she was looking for and darted away from Etska. She grabbed some tools and headed for the mineral outcropping behind the bog that the guys were standing in. She climbed the crest and got settled in a safe position, using the hammer and chisel to take off a variety of crystals that had pushed up through the mantle to become valued geological samples.

  She hummed and took three different samples off the crystal that she had seen on the scans. This was her favourite part of being on an untouched world. She got to touch it.

  When she handed the samples down to Tohba, she clambered up the rockface once she tucked her trousers up and into the belt on her vest. The legs were wide enough to enable the manoeuvre. She climbed higher and took more samples. Then higher still and took additional samples. When she looked down, she realized that she had just chipped away one of her footholds.

  “Aw, hell.” She muttered and looked from side to side. Her tools were tucked in the vest, and the crystalline structure to the left was sheer, and to the right was jagged.

  She glanced over, and Etska was talking with Tber and Hivr. She waited. She waited, and her hands started cramping.

  “Overseer!”

  His head snapped toward her, and he took in her situation. He walked toward her and asked, “You are stuck?”

  “I am stuck.”

  “What would you like me to do?” He cocked his head.

  “Well, either help me down, please, or I am going to test the recovery abilities sooner rather than later.” Her left hand slipped from the wall. “Your choice.”

  Her toes ached from holding her in position, and she felt her fingers slipping. The soft thud of his wings was under her, and he murmured, “I can’t really hover, so just fall back.”

  She swallowed, nodded, looked behind her, and saw him waiting, and let go.

  He caught her and swirled her away from the wall, building altitude before he threw her into the air and caught her again in a better position.

  Athena was shaking with muscle fatigue.

  “What is wrong?”

  “I was waiting for a lull in your conversation. It took a little too long for comfort.” She curled her bruised fingers up against her chest. “I have to give Tohba his tools back.”

  He nodded. “Sure.”

  He landed next to her friends.

  Hivr grinned. “Seems like you climbed a little too high, Theena.”

  She smiled weakly. “Yeah. I was trying to prove something to myself. It blew up in my face.”

  Tohba looked at her, concerned. “What were you trying to prove?”

  She shrugged and handed over the tools and the bag of mineral samples. “That I am more than the sum of my parts. I am not.”

  Etska frowned at her. “What does that mean?”

  She shrugged. “Nothing. Just an idle impulse.”

  Tohba made a small sound, and he looked concerned. She gave him a small shake of her head, and he nodded imperceptibly. The guys nodded with larger motions.

  “Is there something going on here that I am not seeing?”

  She patted his chest with one hand. “Probably. I will tell you later.”

  Tohba smiled and took the samples. “Are these on the list?”

  She chuckled. “Top of it.”

  “That is enough for today. I am taking you home, Athena.”

  She nodded and turned toward him, hiding her face from her friends. Etska curled her in tight against him, and he took off. She curled herself in, and they flew in silence. Who was she now? She wasn’t Forager Theena anymore. What did that leave behind?

  When he set her down on her feet, her fingers and toes had recovered from saving the rest of her. She walked past him to the bed, curled up, and tried to stop her brain from skittering around.

  He sat next to her and rubbed her back. “What is wrong?”

  “I am wrong. Nothing that I wanted for myself has come true. I was nearly free, now I am back in bond. I was a forager, now I am a companion. I am kicking myself for the error in judgment that sent me up that rockface. I would never have done that under normal circumstances. I was trying to prove that I was all the things I have lost.”

  Etska murmured, “Ah.” He kept rubbing her back. “The hair was the last straw, I see.”

  She blinked away the tears that were pushing into her eyes. “What?”

  “You were sassy until I showed you that your hair had changed. It was at that point that you panicked. That was the moment you had lost your own reflection in the mirror.”

  She swallowed. “I guess it was. I did get hit with a lot of shock and panic.”

  He took the huge mirror in front of her, and she stared at her features.

  “You have the same eyes. The same brows, lips, cheeks, skin. All of it is you. The hair is a change, but you will get used to it.” He kept rubbing her back. “You are still a forager, but it is no longer your active position. You have had jobs in the past, have you not? They don’t cease to exist in your experience just because you move on to something else.”

  She glared at him. “Why are you being so sensible?”

  He leaned in. “Because a depressed female is harder to arouse.”

  Athena felt irritation surge through her. “You are cruising for another hit that didn’t happen.”

  He kissed her intensely. When he lifted his head, he licked across her lips and then smiled. “It is easier to go from angry to aroused. Much easier.”

  She exhaled grumpily. “You do have a one-track mind.”

  He grinned. “Of course. I have been focused on waiting for my lover to feel better and realize that she is still the same woman she always was, but my cock has other thoughts. It remembers how amazing it was to be inside you.”

  She put her hand on his chest and stroked the fabric. “Please, tell me that your cock doesn’t have a brain of its own.”

  He grinned. “You will have to find out by reading up on Hmrain physiology.”

  She groaned. “More studying.”

  He chuckled. “You enjoy it.”

  She looked up at his smiling features. “Yeah, I do. So, the next phase of my life is companion and student?”

  “And colony controller. I was not kidding about that. As we gain more and more colonists over time, we will need to travel around the globe and direct the construction and distribution of materials. You will have to know all about construction in the environment, foods of the area, mineral deposits, and sun and wind exposure for power.” He nibbled and bit at her lips every few words until she was leaning up into every tiny kiss.

  He looked down at her clothing. “You know, you look good in this, but the other layers w
ere easier to manage.”

  She chuckled. “You want me to strip. Now?”

  “It is in the companion contract. When I have a need, you must fulfill it.”

  Athena chuckled. “Right. Let’s both get naked this time.”

  He leaned back in surprise. “Really?”

  “Sure.” She unbuckled her belt and stripped out of her vest. She knelt to remove the upper layers and then unfastened the sash that held her trousers in place. A few yanks at her boots and there was a rustle of fabric, leaving nothing but skin behind.

  She rolled to her knees on the bed and put her hands on his shoulders. “And if your companion has a need, you must fulfill it.”

  He blinked in amusement, a slow smile creeping over his lips. “You read the contract.”

  “I did. It was definitely drafted in my favour.”

  Etska threaded his hands through her hair. “I have you on my world, so anything I can offer you is yours.”

  She looked at his serious expression. “I suppose I will have to take it moment by moment because what I want changes, moment by moment. I am coming to realize that I have never truly been a long-term planner. I have spent my life going from crisis to crisis. Now that I am settling in, the future is looming before me, and I am trying to choose one thing to be for that whole time.”

  “You don’t have to choose.”

  She smiled. “I know. I am beginning to learn that, but I have never been a quick study when it comes to emotional evolution.”

  “There is no rush for you to settle on being one thing. We have all the time in the world.”

  Athena stroked his cheeks, his neck, and tapped her fingers against his shirt. “That sounds very nice, Etska, but right now, I have a need.”

  He smiled. “You change moods rather swiftly.”

  “Get used to it. If I can just embrace the moment for a while, I think my transition might be more entertaining.”

  He stood up and removed his clothing. She watched and swung one leg idly as his skin was slowly exposed.

  She patted the bed. “Sit.”

  He grinned and flexed his wings so that he could sit on the bed. Athena moved and straddled his lap, levering up until she could kiss him.

  He pulled back. “Am I allowed to participate?”

  “Of course. This doesn’t work without you.” She smiled. “Today, I am attempting a partnership of sorts. I issue the invitation, and you do a lot of the work.”

  Etska grinned and ran his hand up her spine, pulling her flat against him. “I think I can manage that. Have you recovered from your close call?”

  She nodded and slid a hand between them to wrap around his erection. “I think my grip is back to normal.”

  He growled and grazed her shoulder with his teeth. He worked a hand between her thighs and tipped her back until she lost her hold on him. His tongue lapped at her breasts in turn, and she covered her eyes as her skin heated and she got slick.

  Light streamed in through the windows as she finally faced him and met his gaze while he slid into her. Her breath rushed out of her lungs as her body struggled to relax around him. He held her close as she tried to relax, but then, he leaned toward her and nuzzled her neck, licking and sucking softly.

  She sighed and relaxed, slipping further down on him and then shivering as the back of her thighs pressed against the front of his.

  She pressed her head against his chest, and he whispered in her ear, “Better?”

  She nodded slowly, slid her hands up his chest, and started moving on him when she had a solid grip on his shoulders.

  He moved his hands under her thighs and supported her, rocking and twisting as she got closer and closer to coming.

  When the tension snapped, she held onto him and fought for breath as she clenched around his cock. He waited, and when her inner pulsing ceased, he began to raise and lower her again until the shivering and bucking took over again, and he pressed his teeth into her shoulder. With pleasure already burning in her blood, the added cocktail that he was supplying overloaded her. Athena blacked out.

  Chapter Twelve

  Athena sighed and cocked her head at him. “I am sorry. I didn’t know that would happen either.”

  He grumbled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “If I could have had a heart attack, that would have done it.”

  She had woken up in his arms, still naked with a cold compress on her forehead. That wasn’t the part of her that was overheating.

  “Has that ever happened before?”

  She grimaced. “Once when I was younger. I was trying to see how many times I could masturbate in a day, and I passed out around nine. It was a learning experience.”

  He paused and then laughed. “I had no idea that there were females who do that as well.”

  She snorted and tried to sit up. He helped her sit up and leaned against him like a recliner. “They are probably mostly companion-grade females.”

  He laughed again. “There is that possibility. A higher sex drive is important. You might be understanding that now.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I get it. It’s a good thing that they designed the Hmrain to be attractive to their opposite sex.”

  Without any self-consciousness, he nodded. “It does add to the problem of their initial hormonal surge. It makes it hard to determine which of them are suitable and which are not, so the testing was involved.”

  “Ah, the pheromone derived from the Hmrain? I figured that part out when I met you.”

  He grinned. “You are exceptionally quick.”

  She sighed. “So, when do you think we can try that again? I promise not to faint again.” She held up her fingers crossed.

  He took her fingers and unlocked them. “I was reading up on Urther traditions. This means you are lying.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You are pretty quick yourself. Fine. I will try not to pass out.”

  He laughed and shifted her until she was lying on the bed, and he parted her thighs before settling in. He moved his wings and blocked the light.

  The swirling of stars in his eyes was the only light and the only way she knew where his head was as he leaned over her and his mouth licked, caressed, and sucked as he aroused her again.

  The pheromones that she had just mentioned were surging around her and adding to the base level of her arousal. The random kisses and caresses elevated her pulse, and when he slid into her, she angled her hips to take him in, and when he was as far as he could go, he kissed her and began to thrust.

  She knew that taking the light away was a calculated move, but she didn’t care. She wrapped her legs around his hips and wrapped her arms under his and next to his wings, where they sprouted from the strange musculature on his back.

  Athena drew her nails down his back next to his wings, and his hips flexed into hers sharply. She tried not to smile and filed that away for further use.

  He slid a hand between them, and when he rubbed at her clit, she mewed and then closed her eyes in mortification.

  Without even the glow of his eyes, the sensory deprivation was worse. He felt huge. Well, he was huge, but the slow slide of his flesh inside hers was her entire focus. She could feel herself tightening around him and tried to relax, but her body wasn’t having it.

  He started to whisper to her, and she couldn’t make out the words, but her lizard brain thought it was the best thing ever. He thrust in, bit at her neck, and she bucked against him as white spots filled her vision.

  She was still twitching and definitely pulsing around him when he changed the angle of one wing and let the light in. He licked at her neck and muttered in that language again.

  She sighed and felt an aftershock again. “What are you saying?”

  Athena felt his mouth curve.

  “It is just something in one of the older languages. The language of the designers. It is... encouragement of sorts.”

  She sighed and flinched as one of the pulses went off aga
in. He chuckled and raised his head. “I do love that. Few species continue with contractions after the coupling is completed.”

  She shifted her hips. “We are still coupled.”

  He nodded. “I wish to spend a day here one day, just settled inside you.”

  She blushed. “Right. We can put that on the calendar for the holidays.”

  He laughed and carefully withdrew. She slowly closed her thighs when he was out of the way. They were sore, but he was right about one thing, she healed faster now.

  Her stomach grumbled.

  Etska leaned in to kiss her. “Come on. Melr will have lunch waiting.”

  “Quick sonic and I will be there. I smell like... both of us.”

  He inhaled and nodded, getting out of the bed and stretching. His wings spanned from one side of the room to the other. “I like that scent.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, I am getting that idea.” She walked to the bathroom, and after a quick blast, she entered the bedroom again.

  Etska passed her and smiled as he did the same. There was a look in his eyes that said he was up to something.

  She went to the wardrobe and pulled out a top and skirt before putting on sandals that laced up her legs. She skipped the breast band and put the top on its own.

  He emerged and got dressed before swooping through the room, carrying her out onto the deck and gliding to the garden table.

  The plates were covered, and a relieved Melr arrived to walk them through the offerings on the table.

  Etska sat on the couch that let his wings remain free, and Athena sat on the chair.

  “I have a challenge for you, Athena.”

  She paused with her eating utensils lifted. “Challenge?”

  “Whichever one of us seeks sex from the other first loses, or wins, depending on your point of view.”

  She cocked her head. “It doesn’t seem like there is a loser in that scenario.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Fine, if I pursue you, you can have a day as a forager with your team and two security guards.”

  Her smile must have split her face. “If I can wear coveralls, deal. If I jump you first, I will wear whatever transparent little wisp of an outfit for a day, no matter the task.”