Tanny seated herself. Tailored hunter green slacks and tunic clung to the lush curves of her hips and breasts and contrasted very nicely with her white scarf and café-au-lait skin. The matching bag slung over her shoulder contained her stun gun, shield, and force cuffs. She’d confined her raven-black hair in a sleek bun. Silver studs flashed at her earlobes. She wore her computer access and security link pads as wristbands. The control studs on the dark leather glinted under the fluorescent office lighting.
Fergus snagged a chair, leaving the middle one vacant for Shannon. He leaned back and crossed his long, lean legs at the ankles. No business suit for him today. He’d chosen faded jeans, a plain white T-shirt, and a loose jean jacket that gave him easy access to his holstered stun pistol. The snug-fitting jeans emphasized a very masculine bulge at his crotch.
All this talking about the different genetic and genital variations had made Shannon excruciatingly aware of Tanny’s womanly appeal and Fergus’s blatant masculinity. She smothered a sigh. No way in hell would they be interested in her. She’d never have lovers. Choosing a loose, supple indigo pantsuit with a long jacket this morning had been a very wise move. It did an excellent job of concealing her hard nipples and erect cock.
* * * * *
When Mr. and Mrs. Nordstrom entered the social services office, Shannon gestured at them to take either the chairs positioned in front of the desk or the couch. Mr. Nordstrom managed an aristocratic sneer while he sank into his chair. His somber, pinstriped gray business suit was perfectly tailored. Diamonds glinted on his wristbands.
As for Mrs. Nordstrom, she strutted into the room and tossed her sable coat onto the couch, then sat with her legs crossed at just the right angle to slide the hem of her little black dress up to her perky little ass. Translucent spike heels, artfully styled hair tipped with silver and blue sparkles, and an expensive emerald necklace and matching earrings completed her standard “trophy wife” ensemble.
Shannon frowned and requested the stats for Mr. and Mrs. Nordstrom on her desk screen. She couldn’t picture this woman giving birth to any child, let alone one as strong and healthy and beautiful as little Jamie. Oh, of course. That explained it. They’d transferred the fetus from Mrs. Nordstrom’s womb into a surrogate mother at one week’s gestation. Mrs. Nordstrom had no intention of ruining her size-three figure and augmented breasts with the ravages of pregnancy and breastfeeding.
DNA tests at one week’s gestation pinpointed the XX chromosome but not the adrenogenital syndrome. By the time they’d found out Jamie’s intersex status through ultrasound, the fetus was at the six-month stage. Because abortion after the first trimester had been ruled illegal in 2021, they couldn’t go that route and terminate the pregnancy.
Shannon folded her hands together and stretched her mouth into her best professional smile. “Have you come to a decision regarding Jamie’s future upbringing?”
Mr. Nordstrom studied Shannon with a cold, reptilian stare that made her skin crawl. He transferred his gaze to Tanny and Fergus and curled his lip into a contemptuous sneer. “Are all of you freaks, or just one of you?”
Fergus leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his neck. That move opened his jean jacket and revealed his holstered stun gun and detective’s shield. “The only freaks I see in this room are sitting on the other side of the desk.”
Mr. Nordstrom’s face turned red. He jumped to his feet with an incoherent roar, lunged forward, knocked the vase aside, and slammed his hands onto the desktop. The vase shattered, spilling water and roses across the tiled floor. A small panel beneath the window viewscreen slid open. A servobot rolled out and used a suction-tipped hose to vacuum the crumpled flowers, broken pieces of glass, and puddled water.
“That’s right.” Fergus deepened his voice into a purring growl of anticipation. “Go ahead. I’d love to arrest you for assault on a police officer.”
Mr. Nordstrom swallowed, sucked in a deep breath, and exhaled very slowly. He backed away and returned to his seat. When he spoke, his voice had the flat, empty intonations of a computer-generated greeting. “We have decided to waive our parental rights and give the infant up to the custody of the Herm Foundation for adoption.”
“Thank you,” Shannon murmured. She printed out the required documents and focused on keeping her hands from shaking. The last time she’d looked at the Herm Foundation’s waiting list for adoptive parents, they had fifteen couples and four triples, all of which had stable, long-term cohabitation contracts. As for explaining to Jamie when she grew old enough to understand why her parents had given her away, the child psychologists on staff would be the best people to handle that task.
* * * * *
After the Nordstroms’ hasty exit, Fergus prowled around the office. He stopped at the window viewscreen and cycled through the available selections. The animated images ranged from the typical Earth wilderness scenes to recent images of the lunar, Mars, and Jovian Moon colonies. He reset it to a panoramic display of Saturn spinning against the star-strewn splendor of deep space and turned around. “That was interesting. Are all the parents that hostile?”
Shannon sat like a statue behind the desk, cold and distant, without expression on her face. Her brows drew down in concentration over her narrowed eyes. Dark lashes curved above her creamy skin. Two dark red blotches followed the line of her high cheekbones like rouge, except he already knew she used no cosmetics. “Each interview is different. Many parents do agree to raise their children according to the equal rights laws for hermaphrodites.”
She straightened her shoulders and shot him a steadfast stare. “Nowadays, when the majority of hermaphrodites reach the age of consent, they decide not to have their genitals surgically altered and mutilated.”
Tanny shot a glare at him, too. Then she reached out and covered Shannon’s hand with hers. Shannon gasped, looked Tanny over from head to toe, and murmured in a husky whisper, “Watch out. I bite.”
Tanny threw her head back and chuckled. The smooth café-au-lait skin of her throat gleamed like burnished gold above the cool green of her tunic top. The pose thrust her full breasts against the soft fabric. “I like that. But then you’d have to be very strong-willed to put up with this bullshit, wouldn’t you?”
Bzzzzzzzzzzz. The entry buzzer at the office door warned them that the next scheduled appointment stood outside.
Fergus crossed the room in three strides and hitched his hip onto the corner of the desk previously occupied by the vase of roses. Shannon composed her face into a professional mask and arched her eyebrows. “Are you sure you want to be on that side of the desk?”
He grinned. “Don’t worry. My bite is worse than my bark.”
Her mouth twitched. She smoothed it back into a bland smile. “Of course.” She pressed a button to unlock the client entry door.
This time it was a young couple barely old enough to vote. They crept inside, holding hands, white-knuckled and somber. The guy was skinny and blond. The girl looked like she might be Hispanic, with light-brown hair and olive complexion.
Shannon gestured at them to sit.
They sat.
The guy straightened his shoulders and stuck his bony chest out like a bantam rooster getting ready for his first time in a back-alley cockfight. “We’re not going to let you take Theo away from us.”
The girl nodded. “That’s right. We know our legal rights. You can’t take my baby away from me without proof of abuse.”
Shannon propped her elbows on the desk and rested her chin on her folded hands. Her mouth relaxed into a gentle smile. “We’re not going to take your baby away from you. We’re offering you a place where you can raise Theo in a safe environment, free from harassment.”
Chapter Six
Shannon stepped behind the screen in her sub-basement private gymnasium and peeled her business suit off with short, angry tugs. She grabbed the white cotton shirt from the hook and slipped it over her shoulders. Soft cotton rubbed against her heated skin and swollen nip
ples. She belted the kilt around her hips. The pleated fabric hung to her knees in the only type of skirt she’d ever wear. No underclothing, of course. Stockings with garters and brogues completed the traditional attire for her bi-weekly sword-training session.
Her sexual tease game with Fergus and Tanny had backfired. Now, with every little gesture, every look, she kept thinking they actually liked her and saw her as a person instead of a grotesque aberration of humanity.
When Fergus defended her with his sarcastic response to Mr. Nordstrom’s cruel words, her heart had melted into a puddle of pure happiness. Then when Tanny reached over and gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze after the Nordstroms left the office, Shannon almost exploded with the need to turn and kiss her sweet lips.
They didn’t really care about her. To them, she was a freak. She must remain strong. They’d only hurt her, the same way she’d been hurt so many times before when all she wanted was to love. And be loved in return.
She’d let her guard down in the nursery, touching babies she’d never be able to have and hold as her own.
Tanny and Fergus stood at the table where the broadsword waited for Shannon’s usage. His mouth slightly agape with awe, Fergus touched the blade with a reverent fingertip. “Holy shit! This ain’t no toy. It’s got to be at least three feet long.”
Tanny touched the hilt and looked up with a shy smile that cut through Shannon’s heart like a needle-sharp dirk. “It looks just like the one hanging over the fireplace in your living room, except that one has gemstones.”
Shannon strolled across the room. Her cock swayed under the kilt with the motion of her long-legged stride. “The one over the fireplace is a family heirloom. This one is a reproduction. It’s pure tempered steel, hand-hammered for three days over an antique forge. The Society for Creative Anachronism requires authentic reproductions for their combat simulations. That’s why I wear a kilt during my practice sessions. It keeps me from feeling uncomfortable when I wear it during the events.”
As soon as she said that, both detectives’ gazes went straight to her crotch and then moved just as quickly away. They didn’t have to say anything. She knew exactly what they were thinking about her non-existent undergarments.
Fergus coughed and cleared his throat. “Ah, yes. I guess it would take some getting used to if you aren’t in the habit of wearing a kilt every day.”
Tanny gave her a look of startled comprehension. “You have the muscle to handle this kind of sword?”
The memory of her father swinging the MacNal sword one-handed in a full circle above his head flashed into her mind. “The strength to wield a broadsword is bred into my heritage. The double groove in the center of the blade is often misrepresented as a ‘blood groove’. It’s called a fuller groove and it serves to lighten the sword, making it easier to swing while maintaining the structural integrity of the blade. The basket hilt keeps my hand from slipping off in the heat of battle.”
She gestured at the practice mats. “Would you like to join me in stretching first, then try a practice bout afterwards?”
Fergus gave her a sheepish grin and held up his hands in surrender. “I know diddly-squat about sword-fighting. You’d probably cut my head off with the first swing.”
* * * * *
The automated juice bar was fully stocked. All Tanny had to do was name her poison and the computerized bar whirred into action to create a frothy concoction. She sipped at a banana-orange cream with sprinkles of cinnamon and arched her eyebrow at Fergus. He tasted his whipped pineapple-coconut blend and winked at her. “Better watch out. This kind of service is very seductive.” He rotated his stool sideways so he had a good view of the workout area.
Shannon faced an android representation of a red-haired Scottish clansman. She held the enormous broadsword with the grace and strength of a man. Side-on to her opponent in the classic dueler’s stance, Shannon kept her sword arm bent with the blade ready and her back arm raised with open hand to show there was no hidden dagger in reserve.
“She’s an interesting combination of opposites, isn’t she?” Fergus murmured. “One second, she’s all woman, the next, she’s a typical man. Have you noticed how she blows hot and cold around us?”
Tanny savored another icy sip from her frosted glass. “I don’t blame her. I’d probably be the same way. I’d always be afraid of letting my guard down around strangers. I’d always be wondering if they thought I was a freak instead of another human being with physical and emotional needs.”
“En garde.” Two blades met with a whisper of contact.
A sidestep. A quick beat of the blades. Shannon’s kilt swirled around her muscled legs. She’d plaited her wavy brown hair into a braid. A lunge and then a counter-lunge brought the blades together in a screeching duel along their deadly lengths. Both swords held fast at the hilts for a split second. Shannon and her droid opponent broke, stepped back and circled each other, looking for another opening.
“She’s good.” Fergus rubbed his chin and narrowed his gaze. “She won’t be an easy victim, and she would probably defeat the usual attacker.”
“Why didn’t you take her up on her offer of a practice bout?”
Fergus twisted his mouth into a rueful grin. “I really don’t know a damn thing about sword-fighting. What I’d like to do is ask her to train me, but …”
“You can’t. Not while she’s in danger from this serial killer. We’ve got to focus on our job first.”
“Right.”
“How about after we’ve caught the killer. Then what?”
The blades clashed together again. The sound echoed through Tanny’s teeth as if a tuning fork had been laid against them. Shannon swung aside with a flare of her kilt that exposed the top of her thigh and buttock.
Fergus knit his brow together in a worried frown. “You wouldn’t mind?”
Tanny sucked in her breath and released it slowly.
There! He didn’t actually say it out loud. But yes, the unspoken question was there. Fergus was interested in Shannon not just as a teacher in sword-fighting, but also in other areas. The one thing she always cherished about their relationship was the fact that they never lied to each other about anything. Trust was such a precious commodity nowadays, and so far, he’d never given her reason not to trust him.
“I like her, too. A lot.”
Fergus swiveled his head around and locked gazes with her. “You do?”
Tanny took another sip from her glass and licked the foam from her lips. Fergus’s gaze followed her tongue with the hungry fascination of a cat tracking a mouse. Warmth pooled in her pussy, and she crossed her legs against the sudden thought of letting him fuck her standing up like he had two days ago. Was it only two days ago? It seemed like forever. “Whatever we do, we have to wait until after this case is solved. You know the rules against fraternization while on duty.”
The smoldering heat in his eyes flared into a searing look that curled her toes. He nodded. “Of course. What’s on the itinerary for tomorrow?”
Tanny breathed out a sigh of relief and lifted her glass in salute to Fergus. He returned her grin and they drank together. Having it out in the open like this felt so much better than the both of them playing mind games and trying to pretend they weren’t interested in Shannon. They were adults, not high school kids who didn’t know what they wanted.
Steel against steel. Human versus droid. A steady beat of blade upon blade clanging together like cymbals and throwing sparks in the air
Tanny accessed the computerized link on her wristband. “Herm Foundation is closed for Christmas vacation, starting tomorrow, until the day after New Year’s. The only thing on the schedule for tomorrow is Meredith’s memorial service.”
“Right. The memorial service will give us the perfect opportunity to scope out the crowd for possible suspects.”
Chapter Seven
Shannon accessed the house computer and studied the kitchen inventory. It was just about non-existent. Two bottles of apple ju
ice, one bottle of orange juice, one container of chocolate milk, two bananas, one tomato, a dozen eggs, and a half loaf of raisin bread. The well-stocked droid coffee and cappuccino bar was her one indulgence. She wasn’t used to having company. Hell, she wasn’t used to having anyone stay with her for longer than a couple of hours, let alone sleep over.
She turned around. Fergus slouched against the counter beside the droid coffee dispenser. He pulled out two whipped mocha cappuccinos, handed one to Tanny, and arched an eyebrow at Shannon. “What’s your poison?”
“French vanilla, please.”
He nodded and reset the controls for her order. A few seconds later, a cup dropped out of the slot, filled with steaming hot liquid and topped with a large dollop of whipped cream.
Shannon pulled up the shopping menu on the main comp control pad. “You have a choice of Vietnamese, Szechwan, Japanese, Thai, Italian, Tex-Mex, Hindu, Algerian, or Turkish.”
Fergus widened his eyes and peered at the counter space for yet another droid input pad. “You maintain an auto-chef here, too?”
What would he say if she told him she actually knew how to cook? “No. Most times I order out.”
Tanny grinned, smacked her lips, and rubbed her stomach. “I vote for Italian. I’ll take a tossed salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing, eggplant parmesan, angel hair pasta with sauce, and garlic bread. And for dessert, I’d like lemon cheesecake.”
Shannon cocked her head at Fergus.
He shrugged. “I’ll have the same, but make it a double order. I’m a growing boy and I need to keep up my strength.”
Shannon selected an identical order for herself, and hesitated. Even though, technically speaking, they were on duty as her police guards, ordering a full-course meal like this made it feel like she was hosting a romantic dinner date. Hmmm. She might as well go all out and tell the robo-butler to set the dining room table with candles, formal tablecloth, napkins, dishes, and wine glasses. “This restaurant has an extensive selection of wines. Any particular preference?”
Rated: X-mas Page 18
