On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3) (7 page)

He waited for her to push him away, trusting her not to be
creepy about the whole thing and get off on it. She kept her mind still as she
orgasmed, making sure she didn't shake too much or give in too early to the
pleasure that ran through her. Zack could get funny about things like that, she
knew and if she wanted him to keep feeding her, which was
way
easier
than collecting the same amount of energy herself, she had to hide what it did
to her body. He knew, of course, on some level, but as long as she didn't let
it show, he'd go out of his way to let her get all the energy she could from
him, which he didn't do for e
veryone
, not even his friends.

When they finished she sat down and gestured for him to,
covering the fact that her legs had almost given out. She told him all about
her new friends, martial arts practice and how much they all loved Merri's
fruit juice. He jumped up and disappeared suddenly, coming back a few minutes
later, with three large boxes loaded with food from Merri and some clothing for
her from her mom.

“I told Merri about how much your friends appreciated her
efforts. She should have something for them by tomorrow, she said. I think she
wants to do something special for them, since they're your people... That's
what she said at least.” He got their names from her again and gave her another
hug before he left, reminding her to take at least a
little
time to
study, if she could. She laughed and sent him on his way.

After putting the food and clothing away, she sat down at her
desk and started reading up on the Orient as much as possible on-line. After
all, that paper wouldn't write itself, right?

She had a good, at least Kate hoped it would be decent,
outline for her paper by breakfast the next day and headed over to the research
library as soon as it opened, to see if she could find the books she needed for
the research. Kate double checked her math before going, and decided that if
she'd done anything wrong, it would have to stay that way, because she couldn't
find the errors.

The library was a treasure, and while she couldn't check
anything out, she got most of the information she needed in about three hours.
The place smelled like old books and new carpet, the brown and close weaved
floor covering didn't look that new, but it seemed serviceable enough. It was
clean at least.

A boy watched her while she worked, a little too intensely
for normal comfort, but when she looked up at him and smiled he got up and left
instead of coming over to meet her. Probably shy. She tried to memorize his
face just in case she saw him again. People liked it when you noticed them, she
knew. He looked fairly average, but looks weren't the hallmark of a good
person. Maybe he'd be fun?

Hours later she sat in class, thinking about the research she'd
done when Professor Eilis brought up an interesting question.

“All right, first person to answer this correctly gets ten
points extra credit on the final. I'm ready to make a note of it now, so it's
seriously worth trying here... What was the single most important thing
transported on the overland trade routes? What made the biggest difference to
the world at that time?”

He waited, taking several answers, most he discarded and a
few which he gave people partial credit for, making a note in a small book.
Kate took notes herself, based on what
he
noted. Pigments, metals, and
rare clays all made the list.

Finally he looked around the room, seeing no one else had
raised their hand.

“Anyone else? How about you Kate, you seem good at this kind
of thing...” He looked her dead in the eye, which surprised her a bit, since
she hadn't known that he knew her name, especially without checking a list
first.

The idea had come to her a while before, but she hadn't said
anything, not wanting to seem pushy, but since he'd called on her and she
needed to say something, she went with it.

“Ideas? Specifically new techniques, and skills. Glass
working, kilns, metal working, how to make and use dyes... That kind of thing?”

He stood up and started making a noise as if a bell were
going off, clapping as he did so.

“Ding, ding, ding! Very good! Ten points for you! Good, now
defend the idea please, Kate.” He waited for her to list off all the ideas she
could think of, and what effects they had on the progression of the world,
nodding along and finally telling everyone else to take notes so he wouldn't
have to repeat all this later. His voice sounded jovial, but people still wrote
it all down. No one even glared at her over it, which she'd feared.

After class he winked at her and warned her that he expected
her paper to be
extra
special, since she obviously wasn't an average
student. This made her want to blush. She'd have been fine if he'd suggested
she have sex with him for her grade, but telling her that he expected her to do
well based on effort? Intellectual effort at that? It made her feel both proud
and uneasy at the same time.

Kate made a point of doing more work on her paper before
dinner. As it stood right now she'd have to find some way to cut a few pages of
text, since the thing was already too long, coming in at about eight single
spaced printed pages and it was only supposed to be five. She hoped she could
get a little leeway as to length, if she made sure everything in it had a
reason for being there.

When she got to dinner, this time dressed to go work out
afterwards, Don waited for her at the same table, looking a bit better kept
this time. His hair neatly brushed and styled, his clothing looked straight and
clean, almost like it had been ironed, which would be silly for sweats,
and
he smelled nice. Not that he hadn't the day before, but this time he had on
something that smelled like pumpkin pie spice. Since all the Alede would know
that most North Americans got more than a little aroused from that scent, in
clinical trials, she had no doubt that someone had helped him come up with the
idea.

Kate didn't know if it was the scent, but she
did
feel
a little aroused herself. Of course, being wanted and having someone make an
effort over you never hurt in that regard, she knew. Even if you were trying to
attract a Succubus. She walked over and gave him a big hug, taking in the
scent.

“Hmmm, you smell yummy!” She sat next to him, making sure her
chair was close enough that her leg could brush against his lightly.

Looking down at the table top, he mumbled an invitation to
her, so distorted and soft that she almost didn't catch it, even with her
hearing, which was about thirty times better than a regular person's. She
cleared her throat and nudged him a little bit, so that he'd say it again.

“Sorry... I... Well, the cinema here is playing the first
three Star Wars movies back to back and I wondered if you'd like to go with me
to see them this Saturday, I mean, if you want...” His gaze stayed on the table
top, as if he expected her to simply say no, or possibly make fun of him over
having asked her at all. That of course would be silly of him to think, she
obviously liked him well enough to hang out with him, though he could still be
thinking that she was hanging out with Blaine and Britney, being relatives, and
he just happened to be there when they were.

“Well, that depends...” She told him, seeing him stiffen a
tiny bit, as if getting ready for something bad. “Are they playing the
real
first three movies or those horrible prequels that Lucas put out to cash in on
the franchise? Because if it's those three, I highly suggest we go do something
more entertaining. Like run head first into a wall for six hours... that could
be fun.” The lilt in her voice was playful, of course.

"The
real
ones. Though, please don't hit me...
but I thought Jar-jar was the best part of those new three." He cleared
his throat a little. "Meesa thinks that mees a stereotype! Really, what's
not to love?"

"I'd love to go with you. Maybe we could get some
ice-cream after that?"

"That... well, I'll
do
it, because I want to
impress you with how neat I am, but I have to be honest... the ice cream here
sucks. It's a sad and sorry thing, to be sure." He shook his head a little,
but didn't take it back.

They ate in companionable silence for a while, with her
gently bumping into his leg with her foot, a game far more entertaining than
the food, at least for her, until Blaine and Britney showed up, both settling
into their chairs with a thump, staring at Don expectantly.

Blaine gave him a
look
.

“Well... did you ask her?” He asked in a false whisper that
the whole room probably heard, even if they had regular hearing.

Kate nodded and got a wide eyed look on her face, staring at
first one Alede and then the other.

“He did! I have to say, I'm
shocked
. I mean to just
walk up and ask me to have anal sex with him tonight... I said yes, of course,
but I'm a little uneasy about doing it
outside
, dressed only in a dog
collar, you know? It gets so
cold
here. I suggested I just give him a
blowjob instead, but he won't hear about it. Said that he'd get too chilly then
and there could be a shrinkage problem. The logic was flawless, so what could I
do?” Her hands spread wide, she gave them both an innocent look.

Britney looked at Don sharply then, anger on her face
suddenly.

“Don! How could you? You've only known her for what, two
days? You've known me for
months
and haven't offered me more than a hug!
I have to say, I'm more that a bit insulted here...” She shook her head looking
down at the table as if she were sad with a huge sigh.

Blaine just shrugged and his hands coming up to nearly head
level.

“Dude, I
told
you that you could use the room. You
don't have to take her outside, not on the first date at least. It's going to
be, what, fifteen degrees tonight? That's
cold
...”

Don looked at each of them after a moment blushing scarlet
red.

“Look... I didn't say
anal
, I said doggy style, she
volunteered
for anal, what, I'm supposed to say no? That would just be
rude
. As for
the dog collar, well, I mean, I've just had it sitting in that box for years,
no reason
not
to get some use out of it, right? Oh, that reminds me,
Blaine, do you have some lube I could borrow for later?”

Everyone laughed, including the people a table over, who'd
heard what the first two had actually talked about before the others had joined
them. Kate saw that the girl that sat there each day smiled at her, so she
waved a bit.

Turning back to the table she sobered and told Blaine that
Don had indeed asked her to the movie marathon and that she'd said yes. Don
nodded, then put a hand out toward Britney, looking slightly guilty it seemed
to Kate.

“But you know, we're just going as friends, right?”

Kaitlyn turned to him and wrinkled her nose.

“Going as friends? Isn't that going to make the sex after a
little awkward? Oh, and don't worry about the lube, I have
plenty
.” She
rolled her eyes a little on the word plenty, so he'd see she was still playing,
even though she did plan on having sex with him. Probably not anal though, since
she doubted he'd be into that on the first date.

They continued to chat in the same vein until it was time to
go to the gym and practice. They decided to change things up, using a mixed
martial arts format instead of non-contact, and allowed real blows to be
thrown. Kaitlyn dominated here as well, though Britney did pretty well against
her, in particular, compared to the others, since Don wouldn't actually hit any
of them and Blaine didn't seem to be holding a grudge, which Britney
did
for some reason.

The blonde girl straddled her chest, pummeling her with a
flurry of blows, none of which were very hard, but several did manage to hit
her as she thrust her hips up into the other girl, trying to bridge and throw
her off. That didn't work, the girl catching herself on her hands, but Kate
managed to pull the other girl close, so that the punches couldn't land with
any force.

After a successful sweep, ending up on top of Britney
herself, she did a bit of pummeling of her own, throwing some close elbows,
mainly to the chest, so that they wouldn't actually do any damage, past a few
bruises.

Finally they rolled on the blue mat, which felt sticky with
sweat and Kate managed to wrap Britney up in a head and arm leg lock. She had
to tap out after about twenty seconds, so that she wouldn't go unconscious.

Afterwards she hugged Kate hard and whispered softly in her
ear. “Sorry, I... Just... I think I
love
him.”

Kate nodded, because
that
had been clear to her for a
while. Since the first day really. Normal relationships were almost impossible
for Alede. Their need to find sexual energy was so high that they simply
couldn't expect to hold a single normal person to them. Not if that person ever
knew about what they had to do each day. One person couldn't provide them with
enough energy to keep going and very few people were
really
willing to
stand by while their wife, husband or sweetie had sex with more people in a
week than most people did in a life time. Even the ones that thought they'd be
all right with it eventually failed at some point. Most often to their detriment,
taking horrible ego damage from the whole situation.

So most Alede were taught to not do it. To not commit to a
long term relationship at all, except in some very rare situations where two Alede
got together. They being the only other people that would really understand why
they did what they did. For Britney things would be even harder, in this
situation at least, because if the relationship failed, she couldn't fix it by
switching schools or something like that, since Blaine would still be there, unless
he left, too.