Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

S eiwa had hooks hidden all over his quarters. He could push on a nearly invisible rectangle on the wall over the mirror in the bathroom, for example, and a hook would flip down. With a spreader bar attached to cuffs big enough to go around my thighs and my wrists bound together, he was able to set me on the sink on my knees, secure my arms over my head, and have his slow and deliberate way with me.

Staring at him standing behind me in the mirror, his furry hands roaming over my body and the way he watched me were just as hot as when he finally eased his muscular cock up my ass. He'd held onto my thighs above the cuffs, his claws out and poking my sensitive skin, and rocked inside me like he had all the time in the world.

Even after I came all over the mirror, Seiwa just kept on fucking me in his leisurely way for what felt like hours. Then all of a sudden, he jackhammered my ass fast and hard, squeezed me with both arms, and came as deep inside me as he could get. For being a big bunny, he sounded like a bear when he came with a chest-deep groan.

I'd missed him cleaning me up last time and discovered that he was just as thorough for that as anything else. Gloves on, he wiped me down and then stuffed some kind of salve up my ass that he said would help in my recovery. While I hadn't thought I needed to recover from that glorious fucking, I liked the gloves, his exploring finger, and the slight cooling sensation of the medicine. If it made it so I could take him again before I went home, it would be my new best friend.

After he removed the restraints and got me down off the sink, Seiwa carried me to the bed and left me there while he went back to clean himself and the mirror. I watched his poof of a tail while he did that since it was about all I could see of him. That ridiculous thing was still one of my most favorite parts of him.

"Will you stay the night?" he asked as he came back into the room and snapped off his gloves.

I thought about it for a moment. "As long as you can get me back to the surface by six tomorrow morning, I can stay, yeah."

"What's happening at six?"

"I just need to go home, shower, change, all that so I can get to work by eight. I'm assuming that since you're not coming back, I'll return to being a regular analyst again."

He stood over me and crossed his arms, furry muscles bulging. "So you're staying with the FBI."

"Well, yeah. For now, anyway." I sat up and shrugged. "I still need a paycheck while I figure things out. I'd like to move over to NASA after all this, but I don't know where my skills might fit with them. It could be a while before I can make a change." I petted the outside of his thigh. "I do want to leave, but it's complicated."

"Because humans don't have a guaranteed income that allows you to adapt without financial insecurity."

"You have that?"

"I do, though I haven't needed to accept it for sixteen years." He turned and sat down. "If you were a citizen of Nor, you would have access to it as well."

I cuddled into his side, and he wrapped an arm around me to pull me closer.

"I almost signed up for the volunteer program," I told him with a grin.

He grunted and his claws came out as he gripped my side. "I know exactly which brothel you would've been assigned to, given your preferences."

"There's only one?"

"On the planet, no, but in my city, yes."

"What's your city?"

"Veletoss. It's in a northern district so it's cooler than your Cleveland and it often snows there year round."

"So no outdoor shenanigans," I teased, "like in space."

He chuckled and side-eyed me. "I could make a suit for sex in space."

Laughing, I swung around to sit facing him on his lap. "I bet you could."

Seiwa stared at me for a minute, and I met his pink gaze, letting him look. He sighed and cupped my face in one big hand, the pad of his thumb slowly caressing my bottom lip. "You would've been very popular there."

"Yeah?" I grinned and scooted closer to him, our cocks cuddling now, too.

"Mmm, yes. Your willingness to give yourself over to pleasure is remarkable."

I nodded in thanks, but said, "I don't do that for just anyone."

He sighed again and then he was kissing me in a slow, deep way that said there was a lot more going on here than really good sex. He liked me, and I was really glad to know it since I liked him more and more every day.

The next morning, I was maybe three minutes late getting to my cubicle only to find someone waiting for me. "Sorry I'm late," I rushed to say. "I was?—"

"I don't care," she said with her lip curled and her hand up to stop me. "The director wants to see you."

She'd been sent to escort me to the director? I left my bagel and coffee on my desk and followed her through the building even though I knew exactly where the director's office was. Maybe this would be Director Kittridge letting me know my assignment to observe Seiwa was over. She'd been the one to inform me of my mission at the beginning, so it made sense to end it the same way.

But though Kittredge was behind her desk when I walked in, it was Director Stubbins who spoke. "You're going to get that damn rabbit back down here," he said with a finger pointed at me.

I looked between them, not really sure what was going on here. "Um, he'll come to the surface again. I'm sure?—"

"No, you'll get him here ." Stubbins stabbed his finger toward the floor. "He's going to come back. He's going to negotiate. And he's going to give us the damn tech."

I gulped and looked at Kittredge, but she was no help since she looked as intimidated as I felt.

"We know you've left the surface several times," Stubbins said in a malicious tone. "And we know what you've been doing with that animal."

"No. Hey. Wait a second," I said even though my heart was racing now. "Norlons aren't animals any more than we are. Seiwa is?—"

He lunged at me, and I flinched back. "If you don't get that overgrown rabbit back down here and ready to deal, your career with the FBI is over." He shoved his finger in my face. "And don't think I can't find a way to bring you up on charges for aiding and abetting the enemy, too."

Before I could say anything, he shouldered by me and ripped open the door. He was marching down the hallway, and all I could think was what the actual fuck just happened?

"Just do what you can," Kittredge said. "You haven't done anything wrong."

It felt like a great big yet hung in the air between us, and just like that I knew that I didn't want to work for these people anymore. I'd been proud of my job once upon a time. And even knowing that I would be quitting without another job lined up as someone living paycheck to paycheck under crushing student loan debt, I wouldn't be coming back here again.

"Make sure you take your phone with you," Kittredge went on, "and see if the commander will add you to their network."

Wow . Okay, so in addition to being ordered to convince Seiwa to return to the fucked-up negotiations, I was also being asked to make sure our hackers could use my phone to get into the Norlons' network.

Yep, I was done.

I didn't say a word to my former boss as I turned and walked out. I needed to get in touch with Seiwa, let him know what was going on, and figure out what to do. But how? It wasn't like he was a contact in my phone. Did he even have a phone number I could call with my primitive Earthling technology? Someone at the FBI had to be able to reach him or else he never would've known when to show up for all those meetings, but I didn't trust anyone in this building anymore.

So who else could contact the Norlons?

Oh! The nanobot distribution centers could, right? Or maybe they were in communication with the new medical headquarters in Svalnorland? Well, either way, they might be able to reach someone who could then reach Seiwa. I got in my car, called up the nearest center's location on my phone, and headed out.

I hadn't had a reason to visit a center before now, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. This one was tucked into a little concrete building just west of The Flats, not far from the banks of the Old River. Surrounded by brick buildings and businesses that seemed related to the nearby docks just north of here, the center was the only place that looked busy. A line went out to the sidewalk, so I stepped up to the end of it and waited.

I didn't want to speculate about why anyone was here, but some people looked perfectly healthy while others looked like they'd just walked away from some kind of awful accident. The woman in front of me seemed around my age, but she was gripping a walker and only able to shuffle her feet as the line moved forward. The teenage boy beside her looked like he was stressing over the very real possibility that he'd have to catch her at any minute, and I was now prepped to do the same.

Thankfully, a couple people came out from inside and started sorting us for faster service. The shuffling woman was given a wheelchair, and I could see that she was grateful while the kid looked relieved. When one of the workers said that people here with questions or to pick up standing orders should go over there, I went. It turned out that there was a window on the other side of the building where a cute blond guy wearing a pearl necklace was taking questions. I got in the new line and waited my turn.

"Hi! I'm Andi. How can I help you today?"

"Hey, Andi. I, um, have kind of a weird question."

"Oh, we don't judge here." He rested his chin on his hand. "Go ahead."

Sweet of him, really. "I actually need to reach someone on the Norlons' ship, but don't have a way to contact him. It's kind of an emergency."

Andi straightened up. "A specific someone?"

"Yes. Commander Seiwa Heremod."

"And your name is?"

"Ellis Cole."

"Okay. That's definitely a new one on me." He nibbled his bottom lip as he reached for his phone. "Let me see what I can do. Why don't you come inside? Head for the Staff Only door at the back and just hang there for a few."

"Oh, awesome. Thank you." I walked back around toward the front of the building again as Andi asked for someone else to come replace him at the window.

I got a few looks but no comments as I skirted by everyone in line and headed inside. I didn't want to walk behind the counters, so I told the woman working the nearest one that I was waiting for Andi and tried not to get in the way. There was plenty going on to distract me as I waited, like the recent burn victim getting one shot and their injuries healing right before everyone's eyes. I almost started crying with them and their friends.

The door opened and there was Andi with a big smile on his face. "So that was a lot of fun," he said with a chuckle. "I got routed all over the place before they connected me directly to the commander's tablet. How cool is that?"

I chuckled with him, glad something had worked. "Very cool."

"So it turns out that he's not able to come down himself as he's tied up repairing something." He lowered his voice to say, "I have no idea what he was talking about, but it sounded important."

"I'm sure it is." And yay for not being the only one who didn't understand what Seiwa was talking about.

"But he is going to send a shuttle to pick you up, which tells me you're one important dude." He winked at me.

I laughed a little because it did feel like I was kind of important. "Thanks of your help, Andi."

"Oh, totally! If you go outside, I'm sure you'll see them land. Maybe down on River Road?"

I thanked him again and headed outside, figuring I couldn't miss one of their shuttles landing nearby. The fact that I'd be traveling alone this time had me feeling twitchy, but I needed to do this for both our sakes.