12. Sirex

12

SIREX

"H ello good sir, how may I help you today?" The owner of the breast jewelry stall nodded agreeably at Sirex as he and Phoebe came up to look at the display of gold and silver chains at the front of the shop. He had mottled greenish-gray skin and there was what looked like a jeweler's loop implanted where his left eye should have been. It flashed as he turned his head up to speak to Sirex.

"Hello—I need a breast harness for my female," Sirex said, getting right to the point. "It needs to be non-piercing," he added. "Her nipples aren't pierced and I don't intend on piercing them, either."

It felt strange to talk about his protégé's nipples at all—especially to a stranger—but Sirex told himself he had better get used to it. The world of Salacious Prime had an exploitive and misogynistic culture—if he and Phoebe didn't learn to fit in, this mission was going nowhere.

"Not pierced hmm? Well, that's quite unusual. May I see her breasts?" the shop owner asked.

Phoebe looked up at him and Sirex could see the uncertainty in her silvery-green eyes. If the shop owner had been anything but polite and business-like, he would have turned the male down and gone to a different jewelry shop. However, it was clear from the slightly disinterested look on his face that he only wished to be able to fit her for the harness. And since she was going to have to get used to "being inspected" for them to get into the palace and see the Emperor, Sirex decided reluctantly that she was probably going to have to get used to this kind of thing.

"You can see her but don't touch," he warned. "In fact, here…" Taking a step behind Phoebe, he reached around in front of her and parted the long strands of her top.

But the shop keeper frowned and shook his head.

"No, no—I must see everything —front and back in order to make measurements and know which harness will fit her."

Phoebe said nothing but Sirex could feel her leaning back against him for support.

"Do you have someplace private we could go?" he asked. "I don't like showing off my female in public."

"You don't? How singular." The shop keeper frowned. "I suppose we can go behind my booth."

"That works," Sirex agreed.

"Very well—come with me."

The shop keeper led them around to the back of the stall where there was a small corner concealed from the rest of the crowded spaceport.

"Very good, now remove her top," he said, gesturing at Phoebe.

Sirex hesitated.

"I need a moment alone with my female," he said at last.

The shop keeper shrugged.

"As you wish. I'll be just around the corner. Call me when you're ready."

He went back to the front of the stall, leaving the two of them alone. Sirex bent to look into her eyes.

"Jenkins…Phoebe," he said, switching to her first name. After all, she was no longer a cadet and his student—she was an Agent in her own right.

"Yes, Sir?" She looked up at him uncertainly.

"Is this too much for you?" Sirex asked her. "Please be honest with me. If it's too much we need to go and ask Commander Sylvan to assign someone else."

Fire flashed in her silvery green eyes and she lifted her chin.

"It's not too much for me—I'll be fine!"

"Look, I know this is your first mission and you don't want to make any mistakes but it's perfectly all right to draw some boundaries," Sirex reminded her. "If you don't want strangers looking at your breasts?—"

"They can look all they want as long as they don't touch." Her eyes became suddenly vulnerable. "As long as you're with me, I can stand just about anything, Sir. As long as no one touches me but you, I'm fine."

Sir nodded. Then, moved by some emotion he couldn't name, he took both her hands in his.

"I give you my oath as a warrior that no hands but mine shall touch your flesh," he told her earnestly. "I vow to keep you safe and shield you from danger as long as the two of us are on this mission together."

Phoebe's eyes widened.

"Thank you." She murmured, looking relieved. "Then I don't care if I have to parade naked down the sidewalk as long as we can complete this mission and retrieve The Goddess's Finger."

Sirex raised his eyebrows.

"Really? You don't mind going naked in public?"

She blushed—the heated blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Well, that's probably an exaggeration. I would mind it, but I can do it if I have to—I can do almost anything as long as we're together."

Sirex felt his heart clench like a fist in his chest. The look of trust in her big, jewel-like eyes made him want to guard her with his life—to protect from every danger in the universe.

He wished he could take her back to their long-range shuttle right now and lock her away for safety…but he knew he couldn't do that. Phoebe was a strong, independent woman and she had to be allowed to make her own choices—even if her choice was to continue a dangerous assignment where she was going to be vulnerable every step of the way.

Cupping her face in his hands, Sirex leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. It wasn't something he would normally do, but he had to find some outlet for the possessive protectiveness that was building up inside him and threatening to overflow.

"Thank you for your trust in me," he murmured, his voice coming out slightly hoarse. "I swear to be worthy of it."

"Oh, Sir…" She looked up at him with her heart in her eyes and for a moment Sirex was sure she was going to stand on her tiptoes and kiss him. Which would have been completely inappropriate contact between two agents, of course. Still, he was prepared to let her do it—and kiss her back too…but just then the jewelry stall owner came back around the corner.

"Well? Are you ready for a fitting now? I have my measuring apparatus." He had something cupped in his palm as he spoke.

Sirex straightened up.

"Yes, we're ready."

"Very well, then if you could please remove your female's top?" The shop keeper raised his eyebrows impatiently.

"Of course." Taking Phoebe by the shoulders, Sirex turned her around and found the magno tabs that were fastening the bright green band of her top together. He opened them and pulled the top with its long trailing strands away from her body.

Phoebe instinctively covered her breasts with her arms at first. Then, with a visible effort, she lowered her arms and stood there stiffly, with her full breasts on display.

Sirex tried not to look…but couldn't quite stop himself. He had always thought her large breasts were beautiful—he loved her curvy Elite figure. Her dark nipples were utterly gorgeous and completely desirable. For a moment he allowed himself to imagine cupping them in his hands and sucking those tight tips…then he pushed the thought away. It was improper to think that way about another agent—unprofessional. He shouldn't?—

His thoughts were interrupted by a frightened gasp from Phoebe.

Sirex was instantly on the alert.

"What is it—what's wrong?" he demanded.

"He…he's got a…it's a spider."

She pointed at the shop keeper who had opened his cupped palm. On it was a creature that seemed to be made of gold. It had many long, jointed legs and a cluster of ruby red eyes that glowed with some internal light. It did, indeed look remarkably like the Earth arachnid called a spider—albeit a mechanical one.

"What is that thing?" he demanded, instantly protective of his protégé. He put out an arm and drew Phoebe close to his side as he spoke.

"Why, it's just my measure-bug." The shop keeper looked surprised at their reaction. "It crawls over the customer's body and makes exact measurements so I can get the fit of the harness just right." He held out the mechanical spider to Phoebe. "So if you'll just hold still?—"

"It's supposed to crawl on me?" Phoebe's eyes widened even further and she was already shaking her head. " Hell , no!"

The shop keeper looked positively astonished.

"You allow her to act in this way?" he demanded, turning to Sirex. "You allow her to refuse the orders of a male?"

"Phoebe has a phobia about bugs," he explained smoothly. "Don't you have another way to measure her?"

"Well…I do have an old pair of measurement gloves, but they're not nearly as quick or accurate as the measure-bug…" the shop keeper said.

"Get them," Sirex ordered. "We'll stay here."

"Fine." The shop keeper walked around the corner again, muttering something under his breath about "irrational females."

As soon as he was gone, Sirex looked down at Phoebe, who was still pressed against his side.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine." She took a deep breath and straightened up, looking ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to freak out, but the idea of that thing crawling on me?—"

"Don't worry about it—I wouldn't want it crawling on me either," Sirex assured her, though to be honest, he had no fear of any kind of insects or arachnids.

He was about to add something else when the shop keeper reappeared. He was pulling on a pair of gloves that seemed to leave most of his hands and fingers bare—they were basically a few long metal wires with jeweled nodes at the fignertips. The wires joined together in a kind of metal cuff around his wrists.

"Now then, if you'll just hold still so I can measure you," he began, reaching for Phoebe's bare breasts.

"I don't think so." Sirex stepped between them. "No one touches my woman but me." He didn't have to fake the protective growl in his voice. The very thought of another male putting his hands on Phoebe made his blood boil!

The shop keeper threw up his hands in disgust.

"This is ridiculous! First you don't want anyone seeing your female and now you won't allow me to even measure her? How am I supposed to fit her for a harness if you won't allow me to touch her?"

It did seem to be a problem, but Sirex didn't know quite what to do about it—he just knew he didn't want another man's hands on his woman's breasts—or anywhere else on her body for that matter.

"What do those gloves do?" It was Phoebe, poking her head out from behind him.

"Excuse me?" The shop keeper frowned.

"I mean, do the gloves do the measurements themselves?"

"Well yes—they relay the measurements to my implant as I run my hands over the female's breasts and body," he said, tapping the shiny gold implant where his left eye should have been. "Then I know which size harness to use on her and how many alterations to make."

"If the gloves do all the work without any input from you, why not let Sir wear them?" Phoebe suggested.

Sir turned to her in surprise. Did she really want him to do this? He raised his eyebrows at her in a silent question but she nodded her head firmly.

"Well, I don't know," the shop keeper began, frowning. "It's most irregular, letting the customers do the measurements themselves…"

"But you still get the measurements, no matter who wears the gloves, right?" Sirex asked.

"Well…yes." The shop keeper nodded reluctantly.

"Good. Then give them to me." Sirex held out a hand impatiently. "Or would you rather we got to another shop?"

His threat seemed to work because the shop keeper reluctantly removed the gloves one at a time from his own hands.

"Just one moment—I must adjust them and make them larger," he said to Sirex. "Your hands are huge—I can't have you breaking them."

Sirex waited as the shop keeper made some adjustments, making the golden metal wires longer and the metal cuffs larger before helping him to carefully put on the measurement gloves.

They looked more like some kind of elaborate hand jewelry than actual gloves he thought as the shop keeper fastened them carefully around his wrists. They tingled faintly, as though a slight electrical current was running through the golden wires. The jeweled nodes, which were located at the fingertips, hummed softly.

"All right, good." The shop keeper nodded, apparently satisfied that he had the gloves on correctly. "Now stand behind your female—that's the easiest way to begin—and run your hands over her back and shoulders."

Sirex complied with his orders. Placing his hands on Phoebe's shoulders, he ran his hands down her arms.

"Oh!" She jumped a little and looked over her shoulder at him. "It tingles!"

"Are the gloves hurting you? Shocking you?" Sirex asked. He wasn't willing to hurt her just to get the right breast harness.

"No." She shook her head. "It's kind of like you're wearing mini-vibrators on your fingers, though—kind of a light buzzing sensation."

"All right—I'll go on as long as I'm not hurting you," Sirex murmured.

She nodded.

"Go ahead."

Slowly, he ran his hands down the smooth slope of her back, tracing the delicate bones of her shoulder blades and the curves of her waist. Her skin was so soft, he couldn't help thinking. So warm. He shouldn't be enjoying this—touching her so intimately—and yet he couldn't help himself. He?—

"Very good," the shop keeper said, sounding impatient. "I believe you've mapped her back sufficiently. Now it's time for the front. Stay where you are behind her and reach around to cup her breasts in your hands."

Ignoring the shop keeper's impatience, Sirex leaned down to murmur in Phoebe's ear,

"Is this all right with you?"

She nodded.

"Yes. Go…go on. Do whatever you have to do." Her voice was slightly breathy as though she was nervous, but she leaned back against him, trustingly. He could feel her trembling as her bare back made contact with his chest.

"It's all right, baby," he murmured, the tender little nickname slipping out before he could stop it. "You know I'll be gentle."

"I know you will," she breathed.

"Pardon me, good sir, but if you might get on with it?" the shop keeper said, frowning. "I don't mean to sound impatient but I do have other customers who come to my shop."

"I'll take as much time as I need to be sure Phoebe is comfortable with what I'm doing to her," Sirex growled, glaring at him. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No-no!" The shop keeper grew pale. "I just…I mean, anyone would think you'd never touched your female before. The way you keep asking her permission as though you don't even own her—it's highly irregular."

Sirex hated to admit it, but the shop keeper was probably right. None of the males on Salacious Prime would ask permission of the women they owned to touch them. But he was still unwilling to do anything Phoebe didn't want—especially sexually. Instead of answering the shop keeper's remark, he turned his attention back to his protégé. Reaching around her, he cupped her large breasts in his hands.

She shivered and made a soft, breathless sound but didn't try to pull away. Sirex couldn't help loving the way her full breasts filled his big hands. He tried, however, not to touch the sensitive points of her nipples.

But apparently he wasn't doing things right because the shop keeper started giving him orders.

"Very good, now that you have the under curvature of her breasts mapped, run your hands all over her breasts. Be sure to squeeze them too—I need to know the compression measurements."

Sirex did as he said, squeezing Phoebe's large breasts gently and caressing them all over—though he still avoided her nipples. But just as he thought he was finished, the shop keeper spoke again.

"Good. Now cup them again as you did before and trace the areolas and nipples with the nodes on your index fingers," he instructed. "Be sure to circle them completely from the outer areola to the very tips of her peaks. Since you're asking for a non-piercing harness, I need exact measurements."

Sirex tried to tamp down the lust that was growing inside him, but he couldn't help the way his shafts hardened when he did as the shop keeper told him. Cupping Phoebe again, he began tracing slow circles around the wide, berry-dark bands of her areolas, slowly working his way inward.

He could tell she was trying to hold still, but he could feel her shifting from foot-to-foot as he traced her peaks. And when he reached the tender tips of her tight points, she let out a breathless little moan and the warm, feminine scent of her desire rose to tease his nose.

Gods, she's getting aroused! Her soft little pussy is probably getting wet and hot and ready ? —

He pushed the images that rose to his mind away. He shouldn't be thinking this way about a fellow agent—especially one who had been his protégé! He ought to pull his hands away right now…but somehow he couldn't. He just kept circling her tender peaks as she moaned and writhed against him.

"Good—now pinch her nipples," the shop owner commanded. "Gently at first and then be firmer—I need to know her pain points."

Sirex frowned. He couldn't keep asking permission—it looked wrong to anyone who thought that Phoebe actually belonged to him. But he wanted to reassure her.

"Phoebe," he growled softly in her ear. "I'm going to pinch your nipples now. Can you be a good girl and let me do it?"

"Y-yes, Sir," she stammered softly. "God, yes. Do…do what you have to do."

"Good." Slowly, he tightened his grip, pinching her tender peaks lightly at first and then more tightly.

Phoebe moaned more loudly and writhed against him, but she didn't ask him to stop. If anything, her body seemed to be sending him signals that she wanted his touch even more. The scent of her desire intensified until it was like a maddening perfume, teasing him relentlessly.

"Am I hurting you, baby?" he murmured in her ear as he tightened his grip yet again.

"It…it hurts but it feels good too." She was nearly panting now with obvious pleasure. "Oh God, Sir! If you don't stop I'm afraid I might…might…I'm getting so close! "

Sirex looked down at her in surprise. Was she trying to tell him that she might come for him if he kept teasing and pinching her nipples? He had heard of females that had such sensitive breasts they could orgasm from nipple-play alone, but he had never met one before.

Just as he was certain he was about to find out if Phoebe was one of those rare females, the shop keeper tapped the implant that covered his eye and said,

"That's quite enough. I believe I have all the measurements I need now."

"Very well." Reluctantly, Sirex withdrew his hands. Phoebe was still leaning back against him, trying to catch her breath. Gently, he gave her a little nudge to straighten up so that he could remove the gloves. But as he started unfastening the metal cuffs around his wrists, the shop keeper stopped him.

"Wait—before you take those off, where do you intend for your female to wear this harness?" he asked, frowning.

"Oh, er, the palace," Sirex told him. "I'm a merchant hoping to meet with the Emperor."

The shop keeper's one visible eye widened.

"The Shining One himself? You're hoping for a Royal Audience?"

"That is my goal, yes. Why?" Sirex asked, frowning.

"Well, because if you're going to the palace, you'll probably want to put your female in a three-point harness," the shop keeper said. "That is, two points attached to her nipples and one attached to her inner cleft." He gestured to the place between Phoebe's legs. "Which means you're going to have to map that area too."