“It’s okay Cassie. Let’s get you into bed now. We can spend the entire day together tomorrow, alright?”
She gave a sleepy nod, then helped some as we got her changed. By the time we were done she was asleep on her feet, literally. I picked her up and gently laid her down. Then pulled the covers up around her. She looked like a sleeping angel. I kissed her forehead, and left her to sleep.
“Very motherly of you,” Emmy teased quietly. “Do you need help with Vicki?”
“Nah, I can take care of her. Thanks for staying Emmy.”
“No problem,” she said and left after she gathered her things.
Mary was rubbing her eyes again. “Do you want me to help you get her to bed?”
“That’s okay Mary. I can manage. Why don’t you get some sleep.”
“Gladly,” she yawned on the way to her room.
Vicki was still on the couch where we’d left her. I suddenly had an idea about how to move her without disturbing her. Using my shields, I created a cushion underneath her. Then I lifted her with my shields. We got halfway to the bedroom before she stirred.
“Did you get Cassie to bed?” she asked sleepily.
“Yes, now I’m going to put you to bed here. Unless you want to go home.”
“No, I will, sleep here, fine is. Am I floating? This is one of those flying dreams right?”
She almost sounds drunk. That settles it, she is way too tired to drive.
“Just dream away. You’re going to bed here.”
I got her in the bedroom and on the bed. She already had her heels off. I pulled the dress up over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra and the tiny little panties had Kiss Me written on them with an arrow pointing down to her crotch. I had to smile at that. We had shared the bed nude a lot, but I didn’t want to strip her down completely without her choosing to.
“Vicki, Vicki do you want the panties on or off?” I had to ask her twice more before she answered me.
“Dirty boy. Taking advantage. Strip me, dirty boy.”
Rrriiiight! Now I feel like some pervert. Gee, thanks Vicki.
I pulled the panties off dropping them on the pile with the dress on the floor. Then I pulled the covers up over her. It took me a few minutes to disarm and undress. Once I was done I crawled under the covers next to Vicki. She rolled over to face me. Her eyes half open.
“Kiss me.”
She asked and I complied. She kissed me back for a minute then fell asleep again rolling over to face the other side of the bed. Typical. I took my place spooned against her. She smelled of fresh picked raspberries, she always smells like raspberries.
* * *
The phone ringing woke me from a dreamless sleep. The ringing stopped before I could pry myself out of bed.
Mary must’ve answered it.
Vicki stirred. She turned to face me while still in my arms. There was a wicked grin on her face.
“We never got to finish last night. Kiss me,” she said, waking up a little more with each word.
I kissed her. She cupped my face in her hands as she kissed me back. My shields came crashing down under her touch. I was rolled onto my back as she climbed on top of me kissing deeper. Her hands left my face to caress my breasts. She wedged her thigh between my legs, opening me to her. After groping my breasts, she slid her right hand down between my legs. With an expert grace she snaked a finger inside my growing wetness. I writhed with pleasure under the touch of her body. It was the most we’d ever done before. We still hadn’t gotten past third base with each other yet. Every time we tried, we were always interrupted for one reason or another. I let my hands explore her body as she caressed me intimately.
I heard the door CLICK a fraction of a second before it opened. In a fit of worry I tossed Vicki briskly off of me and raced to cover us with the sheet just before Cassie stuck her head inside. I could feel the blush fill my face and neck a deep red.
Interrupted before we could have sex once again. Damn! This is getting frustrating. Now I’m all worked up and we don’t get to finish. What’s worse, we’d almost got caught having sex by the kid after her first night here. That would’ve been hard to explain. Not to mention even more embarrassing.
“Big Sister, are you up yet?” she asked in that small voice of hers.
“We’re awake, but not up, come on in Cassie.”
She came in closing the door behind her. When she reached the foot of the bed she froze, looking between Vicki and I. We were both sitting up in the bed then, holding the sheet above our bare breasts in an attempt at modesty.
“I interrupted your grown up time, didn’t I?”
Vicki was blushing deeper than I was, “Uh, yeah, just a little. Knock next time, okay?”
“Yes Cassie, it’s polite to knock. Especially when company’s over.”
“I’m sorry Big Sister.”
“That’s okay Cassie. So, what’d you want to do today? I promised to spend the whole day with you if I could, remember?”
“Right, but don’t you want to spend time with Miss Vicki?”
She’s being cute again. Is there an antidote for cuteness?
“It’s alright. I’ve got some things to take care of today. You two have fun. I can spend time with Kieran later.” Vicki gave my hand a squeeze under the sheets.
I turned to her and mouthed sorry. I felt bad about what all I was putting Vicki through lately. But, I did promise Cassie. I wonder if I’m stretching myself too thin with everything? Mary edged her way silently through the door. Cassie spun around glaring at her with her hands on her hips over her cartoon nightgown.
“It’s polite to knock you know! Especially with company over,” Cassie announced with authority in her voice, shaking a defiant finger at Mary.
Mary looked shocked. This sweet little girl was just telling her off. It was too cute.
“Cassie, it’s alright for Mary to enter without knocking. She’s the housekeeper and she has work to do.”
Cassie spun back around to me dropping her hands. “Oh, sorry Big Sister.”
“Actually that was Miss Emmy on the phone,” Mary said still staring wildly at Cassie. “The GCP Council has” – she did the little quote thing with her fingers in the air – “‘DEMANDED’ an audience with you. You’re to fly to New York within the hour to meet with them. Miss Emmy said to wear your dress uniform, and to be fully armed. Cassie is supposed to come with you as well. A car is on the way to take you to the hanger at the Archives for your flight.”
“Well so much for a fun day together,” I groaned.
“I’ll lay out your uniform and then help Cassie get ready. Can you stay and help her get changed?” Mary asked Vicki.
“Alright.”
Mary ushered Cassie out to get her started. Vicki was still blushing. I was still beet red myself.
“That was awkward,” I finally said to break the silence.
“Yes it was. . . . You wanted to though, didn’t you? I mean, with me and all.”
I had to stare at her. “What do you mean, ‘with you and all’?”
“I mean with me, and . . . not with Tanaka.” Her voice went soft as she turned away from me.
“Was that what this was all about? Getting into my pants before Tanaka? Am I just some kind of race to you?” I suddenly felt used and dirty. That made the anger rise quickly.
Vicki spun her head around with tears in her eyes. “No! Of course not! Don’t think that. I just don’t want to lose you, and I mean you, not just the body. I miss the old Kieran, but I love you. The person you are, who you are becoming. I love the entire package. And, I can’t bear the thought of not having you in my life.”
“So, what, you think that if we have sex I won’t leave you?”
“It’s not like that!”
Mary inched her way in past the door. She went straight for the closet through the bathroom, very quietly without saying a word. I was getting angry with Vicki and this messed up love life I’d been handed. The way I felt right then, there
was nothing I could say to Vicki without hurting her feelings, and, it would’ve also hurt her feelings not to say anything. I was never good with this relationship stuff in the past, and it didn’t look like it was going to get any easier anytime soon. I scooted over to the edge of the bed away from her touch, and stood up leaving my back to face her so she didn’t see the hurt in my eyes.
“Vicki, I love you. I love you as a friend and more, but I will not be put between you and Tanaka – or anyone for that matter. If you try to force me to choose one of you, then I choose neither. I would rather be alone the rest of my life, than living with one of you knowing I pissed off the other because of some relationship bullshit. In my old life I was comfortable living alone. It would hurt me to go back to that, but I will not be used by anyone. Even you.”
“Wait! I–”
“I’ve got to get ready.” I left her on the bed and went into the bathroom closing the door behind me.
I was halfway to the closet when my legs wouldn’t hold me any longer. Falling to my knees I realized that I was crying. A hole twisted in the pit of my stomach tearing at my insides.
Did I just mess up everything with Vicki? I love her I really do. So, why did I just treat her like that? What the hell is wrong with me?
Mary appeared in the closet doorway. She looked concerned. I just broke down in more tears looking at her.
“Do you want me to go check on Vicki for you?” Mary asked softly.
I couldn’t speak. I just nodded my head and cried harder. Mary rushed past me to the bedroom closing the door behind her.
What have I done?
* * *
I was still a naked puddle in the middle of the bathroom floor, crying harder than I had since my parents had passed away all those years ago. Mary crept back inside the bathroom, and went right around me into the closet without a word. She went back and forth bringing in clothes and placing them on the counter. Then she went back into the bedroom again. I heard the locks HISS open on the gun safe. When did she get access to it? Was that what Emmy meant when she said Mary had been given low-level security clearance? Mary appeared in the room a second later with both arms full of weapons.
After placing the guns and blades on the counter next to the clothes, she knelt down in front of me. A tissue in her hands wiped at my cascading tears. She had me open my mouth for a painkiller, ration cube, sleepstim, and hydro. The feel better cocktail. I calmed down a bit as the mixture kicked in.
“Miss Vicki is fine. She’s worried about you right now, that’s all. She went home though, to give you a little space. Don’t worry, you didn’t mess things up. You were just honest. She would like to see you when you get back. Just let me know and I’ll tell her whether to come by or not. Let’s not worry about it at the moment. Right now, we need to get you ready. The car is already downstairs waiting for you. Can you stand?”
It took a moment to clear my thoughts before I finally nodded to her. Mary got me up and in the shower. I used my psionic shower to clean up, using my shields to force away the body soil. The mixture of the cocktail and the shower had stopped the tears. I still felt like shit emotionally, but I was functioning again, sort of. Mary got me dressed and armed, then went to help Cassie.
The uniform was like the dress uniform for the military. White skirt, blouse and jacket, along with a little white cap that was no more than two strips of cloth sewn together. The hat was flat like a handkerchief until you popped it out to make it look like a little pup-tent. Mary had to pin my hair up after braiding it to go under the hat and also to help keep it on. The skirt however, unlike the military dress that fell to mid-calf, only came to high-mid-thigh like the other miniskirts I had. Is my skirt supposed to be this short? It was sexy and still managed to be borderline professional at the same time. Garter and thigh sheath under the skirt on each leg held their weapons. Across my back was a rig that held both of the long straight blades and the black sword from Yuric. The rig also acted as holsters for all four of my guns and the spare clips for each. I was a walking armory. The blouse had a plain man’s style black tie. Mary couldn’t tie the tie, but I’d remembered how since I’d worn ties a lot in my old life. Knee-high boots with medium heels and white gloves finished the outfit with the little silver badges on the lapels and the hat, that identified me as a Hunter Class Officer. With the badge in place on the jacket over a small collection of colored service ribbons and medals I looked very official.
I look good in a uniform.
A light knock came at the bathroom door. Cassie carefully leaned her head in. “Big Sister? Can you help me? I don’t know how to tie the tie.”
“Sure, come here.”
She pushed the door open stepping inside. It was like looking in a small mirror. She was dressed exactly like me, except that my skirt was a lot shorter. Her skirt fell clear to her knees more like it was supposed to. The little uniform made her that much more adorable. I knelt down behind her and tied her tie. It took me two tries to get it right on her. She was wearing a rig like mine along with her knives and guns under her jacket.
It’s hard to believe that this adorably cute little package is a trained killer.
“How precious!” Mary squealed at the sight of the two of us. “Little matching outfits! We have to get a picture!”
Mary had us stand in the living room in front of the fireplace, and then the Christmas tree. She must’ve taken at least twenty pictures before we got out the door. The photo shoot made us run even later than we’d already been.
Chapter 10
It took us three hours to fly to New York. We were given VIP treatment and a motorcade from the airbase to the UN Building. Cassie was absolutely fascinated with the private jet and the limo. She just had to try every single button anyone would let her touch. The flight attendants almost slipped their skin when Cassie started to open the emergency door in mid-flight. She even spent ten full minutes in the bathroom doing nothing but watching the water running. Apparently it was fascinating to her, to have working plumbing on an airplane.
I did not like the idea of meeting the GCP Council again. After all, the last time I’d saw them, they sent me to have my memories erased. If they were going to try that again I was going to bolt. I could go into hiding and I already had it all planned out. I’d brought two thousand dollars in cash with me. That would keep me going for a while if it had to.
When the motorcade stopped outside the UN building I put my glasses on, partly to block out the late morning sun, and partly to hide my eyes from everyone else. That way I could look for exits and traps along the way. I’d caught Cassie moving out of the corner of my eye. She was copying me. A smaller pair of glasses covered her eyes. She looked up at me and smiled. Infectious cuteness brought a smile to my face. I hugged her, careful not to mess up her hat and hair since I was sure I’d never be able to fix it for her. I had no idea if it was because of my own feelings, or Yuric’s mind tricks, but I decided right then that if I had to run, I was taking her with me.
Because we were Hunter Class GCP Officers we got to walk straight in without stopping at security. The last time I was there, it took almost an hour to get through, and then they strip searched me anyway. Everyone just stared at us as we moseyed by the line of people waiting to get in. Walking right on past was fun. Especially when we both set off the metal detectors, and no one even attempted to stop us. I had to keep from laughing at the looks from the poor people still in line as we walked right on by.
The GCP Council was a section of the UN Security Council, and they worked like all bureaucrats do. Cassie and I sat outside the Council Chambers in the small hallway by ourselves for over an hour.
For wanting to see us so bad, they’re sure taking their damn sweet time. I grumbled to myself and willed the time to go by faster.
At noon an intern came out of the chambers and brought us some food when he returned, without us even asking for it. That act of kindness was the highlight of my morning. We sat on the wooden bench outside the ch
amber doors and ate cheeseburgers and fries from a local deli. We were being extra careful not to make a mess, especially on our white uniforms. Cassie had enjoyed the food so much that I gave her the rest of my fries.
The doors to the Council Chamber suddenly SLAMMED open.
The noise startled us both. I’m not sure which one of us had spilt the fries, but we both ended up with ketchup on our skirts. Great! That looks real professional. Cassie frantically rubbed at the ketchup trying to take it off, but that just ended up smearing it worse. I thought our clothes were all stain resistant, aren’t they? How are we going to get this red out?
A stuffy looking balding man emerged from the rudely opened doors, and turned up his nose when he saw us.
“You were supposed to dress properly. How undignified of you to appear before the almighty Council like THAT,” he spat the last word at us pointing at our skirts.
We had our glasses on so I couldn’t see Cassie’s eyes to tell what she was thinking. As for me, I was somewhere between crying and murderous rage.
Suppose I’d get in trouble for shooting him in cold blood, just for being an asshole? Or, should I just beat the living shit out of him?
Cassie answered my unasked question for me. She jumped up off the bench straight into the air. A perfect reverse spin kick crashed into the side of the man’s head. He flew across the hall and collapsed on the floor.
“I DID LOOK PRETTY!!!” Cassie screamed at him, her hands clenched in fists at her sides as she landed from the kick.
Boy, she sure has a temper at times. Kinda reminds me of someone else I know.
“Uh, excuse me, ladies? The Council will see you now.” The young intern that had been kind enough to bring us lunch had his head peeking around the corner of the door at us. He had a look of fear on his face, as he hid behind the door for safety from the big bad little girl.
I stood, smoothing my skirt as best I could without making a bigger mess of the spilt ketchup. Turning to the intern, I took off my glasses. I allowed the full weight of my obviously unpleasant glare to sink in before I talked. “The Council was not fit to see us when we arrived on time at their request. They will just have to wait for us to . . . freshen up.”
Revenge's Web (Kieran Grey Psionic Hunter) Page 8
