by K. D. Austin
Salvor jumped into somnium-space without so much as a warning, let alone waiting for the ship to be far enough away from The Scourge of the Stars to make the jump safely. Then Arden surprised Hanna by suddenly unbuckling his seat restraints and standing up.
“I hope you’ll pardon me. I was up all night preparing for our mission, so I need to occupy the sleeping chamber for the remainder of our trip. Please wake me up when we reach the Gallus system. I’ve arranged a meeting with someone planetside whom I believe can help us, and I’ll need to contact him again once we’re in system.”
“Hanna, could I see you for a minute before I fully retire?”
“Sure,” she said, unbuckling her restraints. She followed Arden to a small berth near the rear of the shuttle. It barely had room for a bed and a table that extended from the wall.
As he entered, Arden tapped the table, which slid back into the wall, providing just enough space for both of them to stand in the tiny room.
“What’s going on?” Hanna asked as the door slipped closed behind her.
“I wanted to show you something that you helped me discover. Have a seat. Can I see your ports?”
Curious, Hanna eased herself onto the narrow bed that she suddenly realized was way too small for Arden. She turned over her left wrist, and Arden plugged in the jacks from his enhancement suit. Hanna opened her mouth to ask what he had discovered, but cried out instead as a wave of pleasure exploded from her clit and rolled up and down her body.
“Bova! I’m coming!” she said with a mixture of incredulity, excitement, and shock. A second orgasm followed the first, and Hanna fell backward onto the bed, involuntarily bucking her hips with the wave of ecstasy.
“I thought you’d enjoy this discovery,” Arden said, smiling.
Hanna screamed her agreement as yet another orgasm rocked her body. “Oh yes! Fuck yes!”
Her stomach clenched and released over and over. Her fingers knotted into the synthcotton sheet. Her legs alternately straightened and bent as the fifth and six orgasm rolled through her. Heat poured off her in waves. She gasped and cried out from the pleasure.
“That’s enough. Enough.”
Hanna had had multiple orgasms before and now, as then, had reached the point where she believed if she didn’t stop, she would literally die. The pleasure and pain wrapped together so tightly she could no longer distinguish them. This was the moment she’d push away a lover’s tongue or disengage a vibro-bot, but there was nothing here to stop. Only Arden standing beside her.
“I can’t take any more,” she said between gasps. As the orgasms continued, the muscles in her stomach clenched tighter and tighter. Hanna could feel the tension building inside her again.
“Are you sure?” Arden asked quietly.
When she could catch her breath, Hanna screamed, “Yes!”
“I think you can enjoy it a little more.”
“No. No more.” Hanna felt tears slip down her cheeks as the pain/pleasure radiated out from her clit, causing her legs to cramp and her body to curl into a fetal position on the bed. She could no longer catch her breath between gasps and sobs. Her body was going to split open. She was going to die. Every muscle in her body, starting with those in her pussy and radiating outward, clamped down completely, and she curled involuntarily into a sitting position.
Then the dam broke, and Hanna was lost in a flood of pleasure so exquisite and so tremendously powerful that all reality ended for her in that moment.
* * * *
As the first orgasm had hit Hanna without warning, Arden had become immediately hard, especially since the surprise of it had caused her to drop her holographic clothing, and he discovered she had not bothered to replace the body shorts yet. It was exciting to be able to hand out instant pleasure. When the orgasms continued to rack her body, he enjoyed watching the flush and ecstasy spread across her face. However, when she told him to stop—like he was the one controlling her orgasms. He wasn’t even plugged into her anymore—he almost experienced his own hands-free orgasm from the excitement. How long could she come? Was there a limit? Could she orgasm for hours? Days? He had a short twinge of fear as the tears started rolling down her face and her breathing turned to short gasps. Could someone actually die coming?
However, he encouraged her to continue her enjoyment. Then Hanna rolled up into a ball looking like someone experiencing extreme dehydration. Arden was just about to plug back in and figure out how to stop her, when her body relaxed and she spread back out on the bed, panting. He thought she was finally done, and disappointment ran through him unexpectedly. Suddenly, Hanna convulsed and flopped on the bed. Her head rose and fell, and her beautifully sculpted abdominal muscles rippled, from her rib cage to her pussy and back, over and over. Her legs shot straight out, and her fingers scrabbled at the sheets. She gasped quickly in time to the waves of pleasure that rolled through her body. Then she began screaming “yes” and “fuck” as her body flipped and pounded the bed.
Hanna writhed and screamed at least ten minutes. After the first thirty seconds, Arden had his dick in his hand and began pumping. He stroked his cock in rhythm to Hanna’s now-constant orgasms. His usual endurance failed him as Hanna cried out, “Fuck yes! Oh yes!” Arden’s cock spasmed in his hand, and a jet of hot cum sprayed across Hanna’s flushed, sweaty breasts. She moaned and rubbed the jizz across her body, though Arden had no way of telling whether this was just part of her involuntary movements or if she was aware of his cum on her and enjoyed it. He decided to believe the latter and continued milking every last drop onto her thrashing body.
Hanna gave out one last croaking scream, her throat clearly raw at this point, and then collapsed on the bed unconscious. Arden quickly plugged himself into her ports and confirmed that she was physically okay. Her body had simply reached a point of extreme ecstasy where her brain shut down.
* * * *
Slowly the world swam back into focus. Hanna could feel the EXS flooding her system with something to revive and refresh her. She remained lying on the bed with her eyes closed until she was certain that the countless orgasms had definitely ceased. Her stomach muscles ached as if she’d been heavily exercising, but the enhancement suit quickly worked with her body to alleviate the soreness and tiredness.
Finally, she trusted herself to open her eyes. Arden stood before her, but her eyes couldn’t focus on anything. When she tried to talk, her voice croaked. Her throat was raw from screaming. Arden pressed something into her hand. She realized it was a water bulb and downed it greedily. The cool liquid flowed down her parched throat. Hanna sighed with pleasure.
“What was that?” she asked now that her voice was working.
“Water.”
She could hear the grin in Arden’s voice.
“No. What did you do to me?”
“Just used your body’s own pleasure rhythm to trigger an orgasm.”
Hanna propped herself up on her elbows and felt the skin of her stomach crinkle dryly. Looking down with her now-clear vision, she noted the telltale sign of cum across her bare breasts and stomach. She had a vague remembrance of pulling off her bra early on so she could fondle herself. She had no idea when Arden had sprayed her. She’d get to that in a minute.
“That was a lot more than an orgasm. I thought I was going to die. I think I blacked out.”
Arden sat down beside her on the narrow bed and laid his hand on top of hers. He bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. “You did, but not before you came for over ten minutes straight. It was beautiful.” He kissed her again.
Hanna gestured at his dried cum. “Clearly, you enjoyed it.”
“I couldn’t let you have all the fun.”
Hanna stared up at him. A smile spread across his entire face.
“So, what was it like? It looked amazing.”
Hanna closed her eyes. It had been amazing. She hadn’t known her body could do that. In the past she had always stopped when the pain and pleasure mixed indeterminately. But what h
ad happened at the end was beyond description, and way beyond amazing.
“At one point, I thought I was really going to die. Part of me wishes you had stopped then.”
Arden let out a short laugh. Hanna frowned at him. She didn’t find it funny. Yes, the orgasms were fantastic. And the new level of pleasure she had just experienced awed her. She was also a bit curious to know if she had reached her limit or if there might not be an even greater plane of ecstasy. Her mind even began working on the idea like it did on certain hacking problems. With some adjustments to her EXS, she thought there could be a real possibility of finding out the answer. But that would have to wait. Hanna was also intrigued by this new concept in Arden’s discovery of hacking personal systems.
However, all of that was beside the point. Arden had done this to her without warning and had been unwilling to stop when she’d told him to. That broke all the rules as far as Hanna was concerned, and she told him so.
He took her right hand in both of his, his massive fingers interlocking around her much smaller ones. He looked down at her with confusion. “I didn’t think you would mind me springing it on you. Wasn’t it enjoyable?”
Hanna nodded. “That’s not the point, though. I’m not a computer system or a ship. I’m a person. My body is my body unless I give it over to you willingly.”
An unreadable emotion crossed Arden’s face. Then he bowed his head. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I was just so excited by the possibility, I didn’t think.”
Hanna didn’t think he sounded sorry. He actually sounded a bit annoyed, but his body language was all right. She had already noted some peculiarities in his tones. Maybe this was just another one. Her left hand brushed against the dried cum on her stomach, and a voice in the back of her mind questioned his sincerity. She ignored it for now, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Had you told me what you had discovered, I would’ve been excited too. And I would’ve definitely agreed to it.”
He raised his eyes to her face, and she could tell what he said next was completely honest. “I couldn’t stop it, Hanna. I wasn’t in control. All I did was trigger that first orgasm. After that it was all you. Your body wanted that. So, see, I’m not as bad as you think.”
Hanna looked into his eyes. “Maybe not, but you’d like to be.” She winked at him and reached over and gave his cock a light squeeze. She knew he was being honest, and that both scared and intrigued her. She hadn’t felt in control from the very first orgasm, and she’d definitely wanted to stop. At least, she thought she had. This was something to explore later.
Arden bent down and kissed her, gently biting at her lips. “You want me to be bad? I can be bad. But right now I think you need to check on your other lover boy, our new crew member.”
“Shut up!” Hanna said and tightened her grip on his cock briefly. “That part was your idea.”
“All for your safety,” he said, helping her off the small bed.
Her legs felt weak, like she’d run a marathon. She could tell her suit was trying to refresh them, but it had so much to do it hadn’t completed that particular area. She hobbled toward the door as she slipped her sports bra back on.
“You might want to blink some clothes back on,” Arden said, smiling.
“I probably could’ve used real ones by now, but I guess it’s a bit late at this point” She quickly used the HUD to reestablish the outfit she’d had on earlier. Honestly, she’d come to enjoy the freedom of the holographic clothing. And there was something a bit exciting about parading around in her underwear—or lack thereof, as had been the case today—without anyone knowing. Apparently, she had been a closet exhibitionist her whole life and hadn’t known it.
Chapter 19
Hanna spent the short walk back to the main passenger compartment, and her stop by the ship’s sani-station to clean herself up, composing a lie to explain what she’d been doing if Lance asked. She didn’t know that he would, but she’d been gone a long time. He did ask a question, but not the one she was expecting.
“Do you really believe a Khsharayan artifact still exists?” Lance said before Hanna reached the door.
This stopped her. Hanna had been wondering the same thing.
“I don’t know. Arden definitely believes Potts and the missing crew had acquired one.” She slowly turned away from the door, settled herself into the chair beside him, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I thought you of all people would know.”
“My, uh, former band always claimed all the old alien empire stuff had been destroyed in the Last Galactic War.”
Hanna smiled at Lance’s attempt to be an undercover agent. Clearly, he was not the type of GalMar who’d ever actually be picked for such an assignment. He still screamed marine in every aspect of his manner. He sat bolt upright in his seat. His enhancement suit was perfectly pressed and spotless, a complete contrast to Salvor’s disheveled appearance. Even Arden, who dressed with the panache that had become associated with pirate captains, looked sloppy compared to Lance. His attempt at clandestine talk wasn’t any better.
“I don’t think it’s unlikely something survived the war,” Hanna said, “but the circumstances of its discovery and subsequent disappearance are fishy.”
Hanna had programmed Lance to accept the Scourge assignment as his, but she had intentionally not created an unconditional acceptance of the Khsharayan artifact existence or even the “official” story she’d created of how members of the Scourge had found it and then lost it to a rogue cell of GalMars. She had put emphasis on the rogue cell, because interestingly, she’d found plenty of inherent distrust of Lance’s colleagues in his mind and knew it would help his belief in his new identity. Hanna had decided that an undercover GalMar working with “informants” should question these things. Anyway, Hanna wasn’t completely sure she bought Arden’s story at face value. The man was hiding something, but most pirates did.
“If it’s true, though, what does it mean?” Hanna asked.
“That everything in the galaxy is about to change,” Lance boomed in a good imitation of a voice-over for a cheap holovid.
Hanna laughed in surprise. The Lance who existed before the mind-hack was not the type of person who made jokes. But Hanna didn’t think it was something she had programmed into the man. She couldn’t help but wonder where this side of Lance had come from. Maybe this was a part of his personality that had been buried by the previous mind-hack, and now it was free.
“Seriously,” he said, continuing, “this will cause an uproar in the Galactic Council and the Galactic Marine SOs, not to mention the archaeologists, historians, and the conspiracy crazies.”
“It could cause another Galactic War.”
“Never. The Galactic Marines have too strong a hold on the systems at this point. The Last War will be the last war,” Lance said, a little too smugly for Hanna’s taste. He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be undercover. Even if the whole thing was a fake for his sake, she didn’t like to see how weak parts of her mind-hack clearly were. So she decided to poke his arrogance.
“Right. That’s why we’re here instead of the GalMars,” she said and winked at him. She saw the quick flash in his eyes as she used the slang term, but then the side of his mouth quirked into a smile.
Lance opened his mouth to respond, when Salvor buzzed them from the cockpit.
“We’re entering the Gallus system, guys.”
Chapter 20
“I better go let Arden know. He said he needed to contact your informant once we were in system,” Hanna told Lance, rising from her chair and moving toward the back of the ship. Lance smiled at her, and she realized she’d just had an enjoyable conversation with a guy who’d tried to kill her. Of course, Lance didn’t remember that, but Hanna did, though for a while she had forgotten. She had enjoyed talking to Lance.
Hanna ran her hand over the panel next to the door to the sleeping chamber to request entry. She was expecting that she’d need to do it several t
imes to wake Arden up, so was surprised when the door swished open immediately. Arden was sitting at the desk inside. She noticed his shirt wasn’t fully buttoned, revealing his chiseled pecs.
“Hanna! Excellent timing. I just contacted an old acquaintance on Gallus. He’s arranged a meeting for us with someone who supposedly knows something about our missing treasure. We should be able to meet with them shortly after we land.”
“Great. Lance’s ‘informant’?”
“Ha. Right. I wanted to thank you, Hanna. You’ve made this possible. We didn’t even know where to start looking until you found the clues we needed. You’ve been a great help to me. If we can find the Khsharayan artifact and Potts, it will change everything for the Scourge.”
“Thanks. I’ve enjoyed my time so far,” she said and smiled at Arden.
“Me too. Come on, let’s get ready to go.” He hopped out of the chair and squeezed her butt cheek on his way out the door. Hanna swatted at him, laughing. They headed back into the crew compartment. Arden went straight through to the cockpit. Hanna stopped beside Lance.
“Arden’s made contact with your informant planetside. Supposedly, the guy has info about the treasure.”
“But we better keep our eyes open and our guns ready,” Lance said, finishing her thought.
Hanna nodded.
Chapter 21
The landing was smooth, and they were off the ship, out of the seedy cargo side of the spaceport, and on their way to the nearby transit station in a manner of minutes. Lance scanned their surroundings constantly. So far, although the area presented innumerable areas for ambush, the crowd was too great to expect an attack. Lance couldn’t help himself. His training dictated that he assess every situation for potential threats. So when they entered the mass-transit-hub lockers—a fifty-square-meter room with rows of storage areas along the walls and two rows in the middle—alarm klaxons began wailing in Lance’s head.
