Adaptation Part Two Read online

  She struggled to throw off the discomfort and simply enjoy their curious, exploratory touches that were rapidly bringing her toward the same sense of desperation that they had before, but her conscience refused to be completely silenced. It didn't matter that pretty much everyone she knew made it a practice to seek carnal pleasure whenever and where ever the mood took them and considered it perfectly acceptable behavior. She had never been in that habit.

  Of course that wasn't due to any sense of moral superiority. Sex was a natural part of being human and everyone had needs. It was absurd to consider it as a moral issue at all. She had needs! It was simply a matter of sex with complete strangers being outside her comfort zone and basically useless as a method of assuaging her needs. Ordinarily, she had to build some sort of rapport if not an actual relationship before she could relax enough to actually enjoy intercourse.

  That certainly hadn't been the case with the three she'd picked up at the club!

  Then again, she'd had just enough alcohol in her system to lower her inhibitions and relax her.

  Bull shit!

  She'd had enough to make it seem reasonable to invite Ronan to her place for sex, not enough to lay waste to her inhibitions. She'd still been tense and even more so when she'd realized they all expected a turn with her!

  She was reasonably certain that if she'd had any inkling that they all meant to have a turn at the same time she would've gone into a blind panic!

  To think she'd been worried about getting stirred up enough to actually come!

  Maybe she actually had made a connection with them, though? She must have on a chemical level even though she hadn't been aware of it on a conscious level. Otherwise, she still didn't believe they could've gotten her aroused enough to come-once, let alone three times!

  It pleased her to think fate had landed her in the arms of three men that she was attracted to on the most basic level-the most important level, really. She knew from personal experience that if there wasn't a chemical reaction the conscious mind was fighting a losing battle. She was surrounded by men with whom she had a lot in common. Science had always been dominated by men and still was and probably always would be. Similar interests only made good friends, though, even if that connection was bolstered by good looks and a pleasant personality, if there wasn't also a chemical attraction. She could certainly attest to that with nearly a half a dozen failed relationship attempts under her belt. There was just no spark and no amount of effort could produce it. As often as she'd been tempted to simply accept that that special connection was never going to come along and contract with the closest facsimile she could, though, in the end she just hadn't been able to convince herself to take the leap.

  It occurred to her abruptly that fate was a sick bitch if what she suspected was true.

  She doubted she had a damned thing in common, as far as interests, with any of the three men currently driving her up the wall with the light stroke of their hands-and tongues!

  Maybe she was being a bigot, but she didn't believe they were scientists, despite the fact that the club was a local haunt of the single scientific community. It certainly wasn't exclusively for scientists. It just happened to be located handily for the scientists that worked in and around the spaceport and on the space-station.

  They weren't built like the typical scientist for one thing. There were plenty of scientists, especially those who spent a lot of time on the space station, who worked hard to stay physically fit. They had to because if they failed their physical they were going to be grounded until they could pass, but these guys went beyond merely being fit. They were built like bodybuilders and there certainly weren't many scientists willing to dedicate that sort of time to fitness!

  For another, Ronan seemed the most articulate of the three and he could barely string together a comprehensible sentence in English. They didn't necessarily need English to work in a scientific field, but they'd damn well need it to work within this particular community!

  So, prejudiced or not, she concluded that they definitely weren't scientists-which meant a very small likelihood that they would have anything in common, beyond a mutual attraction in bed.

  Which meant fate was a sick bitch! She'd finally stumbled upon that special spark she'd been hoping to find and it seemed likely that that was all she could count on! And the chemical attraction without a meeting of minds, without similar interests, was as bad in its own way as the other-maybe worse!

  It occurred to her with something of a jolt when she finally opened her eyes to meet Ronan's gaze that it probably wasn't something she needed to worry about one way or the other. It suddenly seemed highly likely that her handsome trio was bent on nothing more than appeasing their own physical needs and that she wasn't likely to get the chance to pursue anything of a more long-term nature.

  Disappointment pierced the heat they'd generated inside her with a cool shaft of unwelcome reality. It flickered through her mind to wonder if there was any possibility that she could convince them to hang around long enough to decide whether or not a relationship might actually be worth pursuing. She would at least like to get to know them a little better to see if there was more between them than the chemical attraction-or could be.

  Well, she thought, reaching up to hook one hand behind Ronan's neck and draw him down to her, the road to any man's heart was through pleasure and comfort. Sex first, and then she could feed them, and then more sex. At the very least, she thought as she matched her lips to Ronan's, she could thoroughly explore that spark!

  They might not have much of a grasp on English, she reflected hazily, but they didn't have a bit of trouble interpreting her 'signals'. Ronan responded instantly to her unspoken invitation, covering her mouth and kissing her stupid. God! He had a wonderful mouth, she thought dizzily, feeling her heat index shoot upwards at the feel of his mouth on hers.

  A drop of doubt flickered through her as he dragged her close almost immediately and began to probe her cleft for a deep connection to match the play of his tongue within her mouth, but even that tiny doubt that she was ready vanished as soon as she felt his flesh merge with her own. Pleasure immediately blossomed and began to grow as his thick flesh glided along her channel. She debated equally briefly over whether or not she wanted to experience the double penetration she had before with Ronan and his brother. That had been beyond spectacular and she 'wrestled' to hold a position to invite the brother again, reaching blindly behind her when he didn't immediately accept the unspoken command.

  Luckily, her hand found what she'd been seeking. Closing her hand around his erect member, she tugged just enough to give him an idea of what she wanted. A thrill of expectation rushed through her as she felt him shift toward her and the heat of his groin against her ass. A moment later, she felt her flesh straining to encompass his. As it had before, a few moments of doubt and uneasiness assailed her when she felt her flesh strain to the point of burning, but then he had penetrated and her body adjusted with a fresh flood of moisture.

  It was almost as frustrating as it was exciting to be pinned between the two of them and feel their thrusts. She couldn't move-and she wanted to, struggled with the urge. But the twin, pounding thrusts along her channel left no nerve ending untouched or unstimulated and her mind quickly shifted focus to pure enjoyment of the wonderful friction of tender skin to skin. A climax rocked her, shuddering through her entire system and making her mind darken with the clouds of pleasure chemicals released at the moment of ecstasy, and then she felt her body gathering to take another leap.

  She nearly missed her chance for a second climax. She was so close, though, when she felt both of their cocks begin to vibrate in release, that it pushed her over the edge in spite of the fact that they'd ceased the pumping motion she thought she needed to make it over the top.

  * * * *

  Confusion blended thoroughly with the jumble of random thoughts swirling through Noo's mind as he settled back on the bed beside Kate, struggling to regulate his heart and lung
s to a more normal rhythm. That circumstance alone, and the strange weakness that seemed to invade every muscle, was disturbing. There seemed no rational or simple explanation for it. He had not expended enough energy to account for the effect. It seemed to have taken far more than he considered reasonable to perform the mating act, but even at that the debilitating weakness that followed seemed excessive and no search of the memory produced a satisfactory explanation. For it seemed none of the fathers before him had experienced such a thing.

  Just as none of them had experienced the pleasure he had in the act ….

  It had to be the body, he decided.

  Without a doubt, the human form was far more fragile even than he had imagined.

  That conclusion bothered him a great deal when he weighed the benefits likely to accrue for his clan against the clear defects.

  And yet …. The pleasure he had experienced through the form he had assumed had exceeded his expectations to such a degree that his head was still swimming and every nerve ending in the body he had assumed seemed to have experienced an overload of sensation.

  No father in the memory had experienced anything approaching that either!

  He was inclined to consider that circumstance as a gift that made up for the weakness that followed copulation-at least to a degree. The weakness was dangerous. Kate seemed to experience it, as well, which meant that, if their off-spring did, mating time would leave them far more vulnerable than usual.

  Not that that was not always a dangerous time. When they were focused upon mating they certainly were not as alert to potential danger around them as they should be. In the memory, however, the fathers had copulated, focused on their surroundings long enough to search for danger and then repeated the process until they were certain they had seeded the female sufficiently to reproduce.

  And that was another thing he found disturbing!

  He could not tell from her scent whether he had succeeded or not.

  He felt his heart execute a strange little leap at that thought, though, that could not be interpreted as anything but anticipation. If he could not be certain that he had succeeded, he reasoned, then he must continue until he was certain.

  Dae's mind was following a similar route as he lay on Kate's other side recovering. He was less disturbed about the weakness since it seemed of short duration to him and more inclined to dwell on the pleasure he had experienced with both a sense of wonder and anticipation to experience it again. He also had no idea whether he had successfully bred Kate or not, but it did not take him nearly as long to arrive at the same conclusion that Noo had-that he was actually pleased he did not know. He thought he would be entirely happy to continue working at breeding her until she grew round bellied with the growth of their off-spring and there was no longer any doubt at all that he had succeeded. In point of fact, he had discovered he was fond enough of the practice that he wanted to continue to mount her whenever the opportunity arose and he could pen her down for it whether she was breeding or not.

  Uneasiness flickered through him when it occurred to him that he might not be able to mount her once she was breeding without risk to his off-spring. If that was the case, she would fight him and not allow it until she was ready to breed again, and although he was hazy on the period of time that would be required for gestation, he was certain he was going to be very miserable indeed before he had another chance to sex her if that was the case.

  He had had his doubts about the wisdom of breeding with humans, but he saw now that there was one benefit to it that none of them had anticipated. He did not think his clan would consider the gift they brought insignificant in any way. In the memory, there was satisfaction in the accomplishment of their goals and the minor pleasure of relief in spilling their seed, but what the old ones had experienced in mating paled in comparison to mating with a human in the form of a human. Either their bodies had a greater capacity for pleasure or it was their minds that enabled them to experience greater heights. He thought it was both, for it seemed to him that his mind had released powerful, euphoric chemicals into his system in conjunction with his release that had magnified the effect tremendously.

  Truthfully, he did not particularly care how it worked. It was enough that it did and, in doing so, had radically changed his perception of life. Survival and the continuation of his clan in general and his own line in particular, were no less important, but he began to see that there could be far more to life that mere existence. Maybe that was the true gift that they had stumbled upon?

  He wondered if Noo had sensed that when he had focused so obsessively on Kate.

  Maybe he had judged too soon when he had sneered at the ways of humans?

  Not that he saw them as superior to his own clan! He still thought that they had erred in not insuring physical superiority as his own clan had while they were about the business of survival and continuation of their species. He still thought that their focus upon changing their environment to suit their needs was a recipe for disaster of their species. What if their cleverness and all of their machines failed them? Then where would they be? Did they have the strength to survive without all the things that they had built?

  He didn't think so. He thought that they had miscalculated and that the mother world that had given them life would turn on them one day and show them how much more powerful she was.

  On the other hand, he began to see that their own ways also left something to be desired. Mother Ra was still more powerful than her children, regardless of his clan's efforts in gathering the gifts of all her creatures to themselves. He thought that Noo was right. It could only strengthen their own clan to gather the gifts of the humans to add to what they had gathered already and their clan would be stronger for it and have far more than existence. They could enjoy more than fleeting comfort with the things the humans made and they could then pursue more of life than just survival.

  He thought it was worth considering. He did not know if the rest of the clan would agree, but he was certainly not as inclined to dismiss their 'things' with the contempt that he had at first.

  * * * *

  Kate felt an odd mixture of disappointment and relief when she woke to the discovery that it was morning and she had her bed to herself. Struggling to dismiss the disappointment over being abandoned, she turned over onto her belly and sprawled out, telling herself she was more relieved than surprised. It felt good to stretch even if that immediately brought the night before back to mind in the form of abused muscles that hadn't been given such a thorough workout in a while.

  Well, that wasn't the only reminder of the night before. Her linens still carried the faint scents of her lovers-enough that the faint throbbing in her nether regions from the pounding punishment it had taken the night before increased.

  And then there was the sticky residue that proved they'd enjoyed themselves as much as she had!

  Thank god men were required practice birth control these days! The procedure was simple, painless, completely reversible and did not damage their fragile ecosystem as the chemicals used for birth control for women had. Of course nothing but abstinence was one hundred percent guaranteed to prevent pregnancy, but the margin of error was infinitesimal now that the procedure had been taken completely out of human hands.

  She'd just rolled to the edge of the bed to head for the shower when the sound of rushing water abruptly broke the silence surrounding her followed almost instantly by a sharp male gasp. Amusement flickered through Kate. If that sound of dismay and surprise was any indication, whoever had decided to make use of her facilities wasn't familiar with the temperature adjustment feature.

  After a brief debate as to whether she should intrude or not, Kate got up and crossed the bedroom to the door to her bath and tapped on the panel. "If you don't mind company, I'll adjust that for you."

  She nearly fell in at the door when he snatched it open. Disconcerted, she righted herself after she'd plowed into him and discovered 'pretty boy'. She felt her cheeks heat with discom
fort. Moving past him, she went to adjust the water temperature. "Uh … you know, I didn't catch your name last night. This is a little awkward."

  She discovered when she glanced at him that he was frowning. For a few moments she thought it was because he was digesting her comment and trying to 'interpret' and wondered if he'd understood her at all.

  "Jarek," he responded finally, studying her piercingly.

  The name sent a jolt through her. Her eyes widened on his face, but despite the wave of heat and then cold that swept over her, she swiftly dismissed the unnamed fear that had generated it and pursued the half-formed suspicion that rose in her mind. What were the odds that two of the guys she'd picked up at the night spot would have two of the names from her recent studies? Astronomical! She knew it had to be! "That's … odd," she said a little stiffly. "By strange coincidence …." She broke off as it hit her with another wave of cold that her project was a security level four and she wasn't allowed to discuss it even if the project had been terminated.

  He had to know something about it, maybe a lot about it, but that didn't change the fact that she wasn't allowed to 'leak' information!

  It wasn't as if any of the names she'd chosen were commonplace. Besides, in a very real sense, the Sirians had given her their own names. They weren't inclined to make much in the way of verbalizations, but Noo, Dae, and Rak were some of the sounds they did make when they were together and she'd chosen familiar names for them that included those sounds-Ronan, Dax, and Jarek.

  She was still trying to figure out a way to discover what he, or they, knew about her project without giving him any information she shouldn't, when he surged toward her. She tensed, but he merely stepped past her and into the shower. When she turned to look at him questioningly, he reached for her, curled the fingers of one hand lightly around her upper arm and urged her to join him.

  She'd actually lost interest in that particular activity, but she didn't resist. After lathering a bathing cloth, she handed Jarek the container of liquid soap and focused on her own bath. "What's your brothers' names?" she said, keeping her voice carefully neutral.