Even a small amount, like a mouthful, can give me a boost that lasts a couple of hours.
Inside me, the Symbiote quickly takes root. I spend those first few minutes just shy of agony, as it grows throughout my body. But once it’s over, I find myself with the all strengths of an Aventis and much more.
However, as the saying goes, a candle that burns twice as brightly burns twice as fast.
The Symbiote burns out quickly inside my body, and I return to being a normal Familiar.
In short, while the Symbiote is jacking up my body, I stand at the top of the food chain.
Chapter 5.
(Caelum)
I followed the Countess as she walked down the hallway and away from the Student Council room.
I had no idea where we were going.
Classes had already resumed.
The few teachers we encountered did not raise an objection to my being in the hallway because I was in the company of the Student Council Vice-President. The Countess greeted each teacher with respect, as befitting her position and that of a lady of reputable upbringing.
I glanced at her butt, wondering if what she said was true.
I hoped it wasn’t. It would shatter my mental image of her.
Not to mention the thought of that sumptuous derriere being unsheathed was an insult to lingerie designers and makers throughout the colonized star systems.
We arrived at a large storeroom on the fourth floor. She led the way into the room after unlocking the door by waving her palm-slate over the scanner on the wall beside it.
I followed her into the room. “You know that wasn’t the sort of consolation prize I was after.”
She walked down the aisles, looking at the labels on the shelves. “Yes, I thought as much.”
“So why did you say all that? Were you trying to make trouble for me?”
“Now why would I do that?”
I cocked my head to one side. “What do you really want, Countess?”
She sounded mystified. “I don’t follow.”
She rounded a corner between upright shelves, and I followed a few steps behind. However, when I rounded the corner she was gone.
Huh?
I picked up the pace and peeked down aisle after aisle.
Did I mention this was a really big storeroom? Well, it was.
Suddenly I felt a hand grab my jacket by the collar and pull me into an aisle. I reacted immediately, slipping out of their grasp and spinning them around before pressing them against an upright shelf that almost reached the ceiling.
I froze when I realized I’d pinned the Countess against it.
“Ara ara, aren’t we starting off a little rough?”
“Huh?” I backed away in a heartbeat. “Sorry. I thought—actually I didn’t think, I just reacted. I’m truly sorry.”
Simone darted forward, pushing me into the shelf behind me. The shelf wobbled and some of the contents threatened to fall but thankfully didn’t.
I stared at her in confusion and shock. “Countess?”
She drew back, then reached up and grabbed my jacket, holding me in place against the shelves.
I was starting to fear I’d made her angry, but then she bowed her head a little and cast her eyes downward. When I felt her arms tremble, I started thinking something else was the matter.
“Countess?”
Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Caelum, what are we doing?”
“What do you mean…?”
She took a long, heavy breath. “What do we think we can achieve? We’re just the Student Council of Galatea Academy. That’s all we are. We’re just students. I’m sixteen. I shouldn’t be thinking about Crimson Crescent, or network breaches, or mysterious data vaults, or skeletons in the Academy’s closet.”
Her voice grew stronger, and I sensed an underlying current of despair.
She shook her head weakly. “I should be thinking about classes, about studying, about clothes, pop idols, my friends and most importantly the boys that catch my eye. I should be thinking of how to make those boys mine.”
Yes, I could hear the despair in her voice.
She shook her head more freely and pressed on.
“Going alone against Crimson Crescent could have serious repercussions for us. I keep thinking Severin and I are doing the wrong thing. But by the same token, by shutting us out, the Powers-that-be are putting us in danger as well. How are we supposed to react to this threat if they won’t tell us anything? If we don’t try to prepare for it, we’ll be helpless. If Crimson Crescent intends to do us harm, don’t we have the right to defend ourselves?”
She drew closer, still holding onto my jacket. Then she slowly bowed her head further and pressed her forehead against my collar bone.
My breath caught. I could smell the shampoo in her hair and it seduced my sense of smell.
Damn this girl smelt nice.
Each breath she took burnt through my shirt and into my skin.
My heart was starting to grow undeniably restless within my chest, like a horse held too long at the starting gate.
Yet through it all, I could hear her clearly.
“My sister…she won’t tell me anything. She’s warned me not to interfere—not to ask too many questions. She’s shut me out. But, I can’t allow Crescent into this school…I won’t allow them into my Academy. Galatea is home to my friends and to me.”
Her hands tightened on my jacket, creasing it sharply.
She spoke softly. “I am an Aventis of the Raynar Pride. My Pride has been responsible for the safety of Pharos, and of many worlds and colonies for more than a hundred years. I want to protect my Academy, my school, and its students. That is my duty as a Raynar.”
I listened to her, and I didn’t stop her.
I didn’t think I could.
I felt she needed to express herself, to voice her fears and doubts before they backed her into a corner.
But then I wondered, why tell me? What did I care about her problems? I had agreed to help because I hated Crimson Crescent, but that didn’t mean I cared about the Academy.
I despised Aventis. I hated the Prides.
By a twist of fate, I was stuck in a school almost full of her kind. This wasn’t paradise for me, this was something of a hell.
And to top it off I was subservient to an Aventis – Arisa Imreh Lanfear.
The Countess was venting her repressed fears and doubts to someone who shouldn’t care.
Was that the reason why? Was it because I didn’t care that she was able to release her pent up emotions?
Over the top of her head, I stared at the opposite shelf.
I thought of the last seven months since awakening as a Familiar, including my week here at the Academy. I thought of how my life had changed, and I had a disconcerting realization run through me.
Did I really hate the Aventis as much as I thought I did?
Did I hate her kind as much as I claimed I did?
I looked down at her, at Simone who continued to press her forehead into me as though leaning on me for support while hiding herself from view.
Was it right for me to hate this girl?
I took a deep breath, and tried sorting through the muddle my feelings had become.
Was I prejudiced against the Aventis? Did I have a reason to be prejudiced anymore? Did I have a reason to resent them?
After all, I was a Familiar now, and I could do things they never could. In many ways, I was better than them. I had a Fragment that one day I hoped to unlock into an Artifact.
Was it resentment that had driven or underlined my hatred of their kind?
Was I prejudiced against Simone…?
My throat felt constricted, making it hard to swallow.
I felt even more confused when the Countess straightened and looked at me through pained eyes.
She cleared her throat softly. “Caelum, when Severin and I expressed our thanks, Maya looked bitter. But you looked…disgusted.”
I t
ried looking away but I couldn’t.
I thought I heard hurt in her voice. “Do I disgust you, Caelum? In your eyes, am I revolting?”
I clamped my jaw shut, but after a while I gave her an answer. “I’ve spent the last five year hating your kind for what happened to my parents. And for my sister too.” I sucked in a lungful of air. “It’s a little hard letting go of that hatred.”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a heartbeat.
“I’m sorry for what happened to your parents. But…is that reason for you to hate all of us?”
I managed to look away, casting my gaze down between us.
I felt her gaze on me but I didn’t return it.
She sighed, undoubtedly finding an answer in my silence. “I see….”
I chose to change the subject. “May I ask you something?”
She smiled wretchedly. “So long as it’s not personal.”
I shook my head weakly and looked at her. “I’m not going to ask about your underwear or lack thereof.”
She rolled her eyes. “Then what do you want to know?”
“Are you planning to bring in outside help?”
Her face was close enough I could feel her breath on my lips. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“We’re facing Crimson Crescent. Do you think the four of us are enough?”
I saw a calculating gleam in her eye. “You don’t have confidence in your skills and training?”
“Not really. Not against an opponent I can’t see.”
“You mean you don’t have an all seeing third eye.”
“Countess, I’m serious here—”
I stopped abruptly. Her arms had slipped around my waist. It wasn’t just her breath I could feel on my face. Now her enormous breasts were pressed tightly against my chest.
In one move, she made me forget all about the differences between Aventis, Regulars and Familiars. That was the effect her glorious body had on me.
“Countess?” I croaked out, trying to shift my body so that she wouldn’t notice my body reacting to her. “What are you doing?”
“Tell me, Caelum.”
“Huh? Tell you what?” I squeaked.
She pressed her body even tighter. “Tell me what I need to do.”
“Huh? What?”
Damn, there was no hiding it now. There was no way she wouldn’t feel my body saluting her.
But I couldn’t deny those breasts felt good. Firm and well balanced. I could almost picture their shape and disposition just by contact alone. They pushed into me with every breath she took.
My thoughts fell into complete disarray, but I found myself looking into her azure eyes and suddenly asked, “Were you born an Aventis?”
She hesitated, then nodded very faintly. “Yes. I inherited the Symbiote strain from my mother.”
“Oh. That probably explains why….”
“Hmm, what does that explain?” she asked with a playful smile.
“Why you’re so beautiful….”
At first her eyes widened, then they narrowed. “The Symbiote may have helped in my development, but it all comes down to good genes. My mother is far prettier than I am. And my sister uses her beauty to reign mercilessly. I have nothing on either of them.”
I said what came to mind, and regretted it afterwards. “So you’re living in their shadow?”
Simone stopped pressing her body into mine but did not move away. “I make my own shadow.”
I guess I’d succeeded annoying her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you—ah!”
She squeezed herself tightly against me anew.
I was rapidly approaching the limit of my self-control. The sensation of her heavenly bosom pressed into my chest was seriously impeding my sound judgment.
The scent of her hair, the perfume on her skin, was an intoxicating concoction that further addled my brain.
All my senses were being completely overwhelmed by her.
At this point I’d agree to anything she asked of me. I was slipping helplessly and completely into her control.
My voice fell to a hoarse whisper. “Countess…I’m begging you…please stop.”
“Ara ara, you really are a little boy.”
“Yes…guilty…as charged.”
“Never been hugged by a girl?”
“No…just my sister…when I was little.”
“I see. You ever kissed a girl?”
My eyes widened and I involuntarily turned away.
“Ara ara, so you have kissed a girl.”
I breathed out heavily, regaining a fraction of my composure. “I’m not sure if you can call it a kiss. There was a lot happening at the time.”
“Would you like to kiss me?”
My voice almost failed me. “Huh? What?”
Wearing her three inch high heels – definitely non-regulation footwear – she was only a couple of inches shorter than me. But it was a negligible difference in height, and all I needed to do was bend my neck down just a little and our lips would definitely meet.
Her gaze caught mine and I couldn’t tear it away.
Then she giggled girlishly and stepped back, releasing me from her embrace.
I felt the last of my strength desert me, and almost slid to the floor. The shelves at my back kept me upright but only barely.
“What was the point of that?” I whispered, unable to hide either my relief and disappointed.
“Payback, for making me compare myself to my mother and sister. I hate doing that.”
I sighed inwardly. I was right. I had offended her. “I said I was sorry.”
“Apology accepted.”
“Isn’t that a little late?”
Before she could respond, we heard footsteps enter the room, and a girl’s voice asked, “Hello, is anyone in here? The door was open so—oh, Vice-President.”
Simone had stepped out into the aisle between the shelves.
I chose to edge away from the corner, and hoped to remain hidden from the newcomer.
“I’m sorry,” Simone said. “I was looking for something.”
“Oh, is there something I can help you with, Vice-President?”
“Actually, can you tell me why you’re not in class?”
“I was sent to pick up these items.”
“Oh, I know where those are, but they’re not in this storage room. You’ll have to try the storage room on the third floor.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you. I’ll be off then.”
“Take care. Don’t run in the hallways.”
The sound of the girl’s footsteps faded as she left the room.
I peeked at Simone. “Countess?”
She stepped out of sight for a short while. When she reappeared she gave me a mischievous smile and winked. “She never suspected a thing. Doesn’t that make you feel naughty?”
I pointed vaguely in the direction of her chest. “Actually, she might have noticed your blouse popped a few buttons.”
Simone looked down. “Oh, they didn’t pop. I unbuttoned them when we first came into the room.”
“Huh?” I couldn’t help staring at her in disbelief.
She giggled again and stepped up to me. “Want to do them up?”
“Uh, no. I don’t think it would be safe for me to do so.”
“Caelum…button up my blouse.”
My brain missed a gear. She wasn’t serious was she? “Countess…?”
She raised her delicate eyebrows at me. “Caelum, you’ll be very late for class if you don’t.”
Then her eyes widened and she smiled coyly.
With her hands behind her back, she slowly rocked her hips from side to side. “Caelum, could it be you want to play a little more?”
I regarded her for a long moment, wondering if I should just put my foot down and resist her attempts at seduction.
Ah, what the Hell. It’s just her blouse, right?
I inhaled wearily. “Buttons. Just the buttons….”
Buttoning up her blouse was easier sa
id than done. My fingers trembled so much it took almost five attempts per button. Plus, I could tell she was pushing up her chest, making it impossible to ignore the white, lacy bra she wore under her uniform. I noticed the light sprinkling of freckles on her cleavage, like chocolate powder on immense globes of smooth vanilla ice cream.
“Caelum? Caelum!”
“What?”
“Buttons.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Damn it, she was smiling merrily at my distraction.
I was relieved when I finally dealt with the last button.
I leaned against a shelf, breathing heavily in exhaustion.
As such, I was completely unprepared for what happened next.
She leaned forward and kissed my cheek. Not a peck, but a real kiss. Her lips felt warm, moist and very soft.
Then she stepped back.
“That’s a good boy. Now let’s get you back to class.”
I don’t remember the trip to my classroom. I just remember arriving at the door where I waited for the Countess to finish speaking to the teacher. Afterwards, I was allowed to attend the rest of the lecture. I felt the eyes of my classmates follow me as I walked to my table and seat.
Huh, why are the girls looking at me funny? And the guys are glaring at me. All I did was arrive late. Why is that such a problem? Were they enjoying the lecture that much?
I sat down at my smart desk, and instructed it out of standby mode.
Caprice gave me a weak nod, then did a double take.
My mind felt so fuzzy I didn’t think much of her reaction, but then I noticed my classmates were still giving me a variety of looks.
I accidently met Haruka’s gaze.
She was staring at me in shock, and turned away in a hurry.
Suddenly a paper napkin was shoved into my face.
“Here,” Caprice muttered in annoyance. “Use it.”
I took it and asked, “To do what?”
“Wipe the lipstick off your face.”
“Lipstick?” It took a couple of failed attempts for my brain to finally kick back into gear.
Caprice’s face was unreadable, but her eyes burned angrily. “Wipe it off now.”
I used the napkin on my cheeks and saw that it came away stained a lavender color.
I heard our teacher speak from the front of the classroom. “Mr. Desanto, are you settled in?”
I gave our teacher a polite nod. “Yes sir. Very sorry sir.”
Pride X Familiar ReVamp (Pride X ReVamp Book 1) Page 12
