Page 29 of The Omega's Unexpected Bounty
I broke off the kiss and stared at his smiling, blue-tinted, shadowed face. He gulped, and I heard the dull roar in my audio implant, as it tried to translate his ‘non-words.’
It felt good, and it should be enough, but I frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“I liked it,” I said.
Other men would have followed with a ‘So’ or ‘Isn’t that ‘good?’ “What’s really wrong?” he asked.
I moved my legs for several seconds and kicked to keep myself stationary. “You make me feel small.” His eyes narrowed before he got the saying. I held up my hands that wouldn’t extend claws and showed muscles smaller than his. “Omegas are supposed to be the weaker sex. I fought against it. Now, I keep thinking about how you would protect me. How much better you would be at it.”
I usually wasn’t this open, and I would ask Tiny about it. I might need a hormone adjustment. He regulated my birth control and a hundred other things via another implant; monitored my vitamin levels and used a portion of his computing power to make sure I was healthy as I could be. I had a ‘dumb’ artificial intelligence backup for when he was off, but he was better and could adjust to the situation.
I recapped the issue with Graden, and he nodded in understanding.
One arm held me tight, and he gestured with the other to the blue surroundings. “This was a gift for you Caan. To show you how wonderful it could be during your year.”
He was being nice, and I don’t think I could have felt like more of an asshole.
His gaze went down. “I don’t regret this, but I failed. You need more than this.”
My eyebrows rose.
“Volardi are the warriors of the galaxy. I’ll defeat your sadness with another surprise.”
***
Chapter Sixteen
CAAN
We flew back with both men to the marketplace who spent the flight back thanking Graden and chatting excitingly with each other. Augo was a post-scarcity society. It was nearly impossible to go hungry or be without clothing. Still, there were things not everyone could get. There were only so many art pieces, seaside homes, or in their case black-gold shells. Each one fit in the palm of their hand and was enough to give both men credits so they could use them for their individual businesses. They both left with smiles, and their hands clasped tightly together.
We then went to Graden’s dojo. It was bare like my wood cabin back on New Texas. Smart-Metal Mirrors were around the room while the floor turned from grey metal into soft padding under our feet.
A lump of dough in the vague shape of a muscled humanoid rose from the ground. White skin changed to pink and tightened into a thick, man that still looked like pale Human dough. There was no hair, but flecks appeared over his naked chest, and his eyes turned purple. Unlike Graden or me, he had no definition in his muscles; not cut or sculptured, but he was broad and tall.
Graden narrowed his eyes. “Random attack.”
The sim lunged at him with a meaty fist toward his opponent’s head. Graden stepped to the side and slid his sword over its chest. The sim’s momentum spun Graden around and put him into a perfect position to leave two long crisscross marks on the things back. It howled and staggered while red spurted from behind. It turned to face Graden, who then thrust the sword toward the thing’s stomach. I heard a click and pink chunks exploded out.
Vibro-Blade.
It fell to its knees and moaned before it closed its eyes.
My lips thinned before I spoke. “It’s not sentient is it?”
“Simulacrums never are.”
“Try telling that to Tiny.”
“Ah. I did not base these on brain waves. I transferred nobody’s impression or essence, but it’s programmed to react as if it were alive.”
My nose flared at the ‘corpse’ on the floor. My old profession wasn’t kind, but I did my best to make sure I wasn’t cruel. A quick gunshot or claws to the throat killed, but nobody lingered in agony.
I watched pink chunks turn white then crawl and flow back into the central mass of the Volardi sparring dummy as if melting in reverse. Tiny could shapeshift if he kept the same general shape. This watery metal was beyond him. Within seconds it stood without wounds or blood.
Graden set the Vibro-Blade to the side and faced forward with a steady breath.
