FSE

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The door opened and Taura gasped and spun her chair around, then relaxed when Jack and Corona entered the front room. She let out a long sigh.

"Hi. I was getting worried."

"Sorry," Corona said. "The gig ran a little longer than I thought it would."

"How'd it go?"

Corona grinned and walked to the couch with Jack. "Jack recorded some incriminating footage of the stalker and I chased him off. Then we waited there a while just in case he came back, but he didn't."

"He's probably afraid to get near the place." Jack laughed. "I bet he lived a thousand lifetimes in the thirty seconds she spent working him over." He kissed the side of her muzzle and she giggled.

Taura looked away and frowned, wondering why her heart sank a little at that moment. She shrugged it off and reached over to her desk to pick up a media card. "Glad to hear that it went well."

"Yeah, it was nice to have a quick and easy one, for once. We didn't make a lot of money because the girls who hired me didn't have much to spare, but we did okay."

"Good." Taura held the card out to Jack and smiled. "I finished editing another batch of customer clips."

Jack took the card and smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Taura chuckled. "I'll do another batch tomorrow."

"You don't have to."

"I know, but I want to."

"Well, thanks." He smiled again.

Taura grinned.

Corona put her arms around Jack and nuzzled his cheek.

Taura looked away again, but somehow kept her smile in place. What the hell? Seeing them showing affection for each other shouldn't bother me. It never did before.

Jack yawned. "Guess I should hit the sack. It's the middle of the night."

"Hmm, now that I think about it, I should shower first." Corona grimaced. "I feel like I've got cooties just from touching that pervert."

"I bet." Jack wiggled his eyebrows. "Need help washing those hard-to-reach places?"

"Well, it's very kind of you to offer, sir." Corona batted her eyes.

Jack bowed theatrically. "It would be an honor, my lady."

Taura turned away and shook her head, then caught herself and glanced at them, hoping that they hadn't noticed. Fortunately, their attention was focused entirely on each other.

As it always is. Taura reached into the holofield and moved a few windows around just to look as if she were doing something.

"Race ya to the shower." Corona giggled and dashed into the bathroom.

"Hey! You had a head start. That's cheating!" Jack laughed and rushed after her.

The door closed, muffling their laughter--as well as the other sounds that would start in a few moments.

Taura noticed her hands shaking. She clenched her fingers and growled softly to herself. What the hell is wrong with me? She sighed. I should go to bed before I get any more irritable.

She closed the current applications, powered down her omnitool and picked it up. She strode into her room, placed the 'tool on the small bedside table, took her clothes off and flopped onto her bed. She drew in another deep breath, released it slowly, and wondered if the two lovebirds would keep her awake all night.

Again.

#

Jack leaned against the wash basin and watched Corona dry herself with a towel while he caught his breath. He grinned, letting his eyes caress her body. It was still a little weird, even after having two months to get used to it. He hadn't known what to make of it when he'd started falling in love with her, but now he couldn't imagine being with anyone else.

She noticed him staring at her and giggled. "Enjoying the view?"

"Can't get enough of it."

"So it would appear." She aimed an amused glance at the area below his waist.

He grinned again and held his hand out. "Need help drying those hard-to-reach places?"

She smiled and her eyes glowed brighter. She handed the towel over and he gently dried off the backs of her wings, then moved on to her spine and down to the base of her tail. She shivered.

"Speaking of can't get enough," she breathed, and he chuckled.

"Ready for round two, eh?"

"Oh, yes. And if the thing that's prodding me back there is what I think it is, then you're ready, too."

He laughed and tossed the towel into the laundry basket. "Hell, yeah."

She giggled again, picked him up and slung him over her shoulder.

"Whoa!" He flung his arms out to brace himself, then he snickered. "Oh, you're getting naughty!"

"I'm just getting warmed up." She gave his ass a playful swat and carried him into their bedroom.

The words "BATTERY LOW" flashed in his field of vision. "Aw, crap," he muttered, hoping this wouldn't spoil the mood. "My eyes need to be recharged."

"Ah, impeccable timing." She lowered him gently to the floor and he picked up the small case on top of his dresser.

"Yeah. This wouldn't be nearly as much fun if I couldn't see you." He opened the case, revealing two sets of spare eyes in charging units and a stack of chemically-treated tissues. He pulled his right eye out, wiped it off with one of the tissues, inserted it into the vacant charger and replaced it with a freshly-charged eye, and repeated the process with the other. He winced at the slight sting as each eye connected with the hardware in the back of each socket, blinked a few times to be sure that his eyelids would slide properly over the new eyeballs, and smiled. "Okay, good for another week."

"Sweet." Corrie slipped her arms around him. "Now, where were we?"

"Right about here." Jack leaped onto the bed, grabbed her hand and pulled her down on top of him. He rolled her over and kissed her, moved his lips slowly down her chest and abs, finally coming to rest between her thighs.

She gasped and then laughed. "Oh, now who's being naughty?"

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Honey, you have no idea."

#

Taura's eyes snapped open and she looked over at the empty space beside her. She glanced around her bedroom. The light was turned off and there was no sign of Jack's presence.

Only a dream. Damn it. She sighed, slumped back and rubbed her hands over her face. Wait...why am I suddenly dreaming about having sex with Jack?

She closed her eyes and tried to relax, making a half-assed attempt at going back to sleep. But her mind was running too fast, wandering in circles and always coming back to the images from her dream.

She opened her eyes again and sighed. She threw the covers off, sat up and rubbed her face again. She'd never had sexual dreams as often as she had for the last few nights. These dreams had been very different from her usual ones. And Jack, of all people, had been the focus of them all.

Damn.

She walked to the doorway, peeked around the corner and found the door to the other bedroom halfway open; she could see them in bed, arms around one another, sound asleep.

Ah, that explains it. The sounds of their lovemaking must have reached her in her sleep and triggered her dream.

But why did I dream about Jack? She shook her head. Obviously, she was attracted to him. But there was nothing to be done about it; she'd been around long enough to have accepted the way humans viewed love and mating, even though she didn't really understand it herself.

Maybe I can get some sleep if I just rub one off.

But she would probably fantasize about Jack while releasing the tension. Even if Corona wouldn't give it a second thought, Jack would probably have a more negative reaction. He already had Corona--and even if that wasn't enough to stop him, he wouldn't be attracted to her in the first place.

Not that anybody else would be, either. She sighed again. Nobody sober, that is.

She paced back and forth for a moment, then put some clothes on. Just a pair of jeans, a random shirt grabbed from her closet, and her trenchcoat.

I need to get out for a while. She wasn't sure exactly where she would go or what she would do, but she had a feeling that just getting away from the horny couple for a few hours would do her a lot of good.

She stopped in the front room long enough to tap a quick message into the computer with a stylus: I hope I didn't startle you guys by being gone, but I just needed to get some fresh air. I'll be back soon. ~Taura.

She cast one more glance at their bedroom before stepping outside. She closed the door gently and locked it, released a slow breath, and walked down the hall to the elevator. A few moments later she was outside, the cold, crisp air driving away the last wisps of sleep. Steam puffed from her mouth, visible in the yellow light from the bulb above the door before drifting into the darkness.

She stuck her hands into her pockets, picked a direction at random, and started walking.

#

Jack woke to the smell of coffee brewing. He smiled and took a slow, deep breath, taking in the aroma before opening his eyes. Corona wasn't beside him, but he could hear her claws clicking on the floor as she moved around the kitchen. He sat up slowly, yawned and rubbed a hand over his face, then stood and stretched. He brought up a clock in his heads-up display and grimaced.

Damn. It's almost noon. He sighed and started dressing. He'd needed to get a decent amount of sleep, but he hated oversleeping. A big chunk of the day was gone before he even woke up. That sucked.

He shrugged. Can't do anything about it now. Just gotta make the most of what's left of the day. He glanced into the mirror, grabbed the comb off the top of his dresser and gave his hair a quick work-over. Then he tossed the comb back onto the dresser and headed for the doorway before it came to a stop.

Corona stood in front of the oven, staring intently at the pan of scrambled eggs on the right-front burner. She hadn't bothered to put any clothes on, as she often did, and Jack paused a moment to enjoy the sight.

She glanced over her shoulder. "Morning, luv." She smiled and shifted her weight slightly, and her scales glistened in the sunlight streaming through the window.

"Morning, honey." He grinned, walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, then he ducked under her right arm and kissed the side of her breast. She giggled and coiled her tail around his waist. "Breakfast smells wonderful," he mumbled against her skin, and she laughed.

"That tickles!" She leaned over to kiss him and returned her attention to the pan in front of her. "I wasn't sure I wanted to try cooking again, after my attempt at breakfast yesterday ended up looking like a meteorite that survived reentry, but you needed some extra sleep." She chuckled. "I learned my lesson, though--I'm keeping my eyes on this until it's done."

"Well, you're doing a wonderful job." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "With a lot of things, if you get my meaning."

"I do, indeed." She winked at him before focusing on the eggs again. "You were pretty wonderful, yourself."

"Flatterer." He planted a smooch on her huge bicep before moving over to the coffee maker.

"Just being honest." She lifted the pan off the burner and turned it off, scooped the eggs onto a pair of plastic plates, dividing them equally. "Eh. These aren't fluffy. They're supposed to be fluffy, right?"

"They don't have to be." Jack smiled. "You did just fine."

"Maybe. But I still have room for improvement." She put the plates on the table, took four slices of bread out of their bag and put them into the toaster. "Almost done."

"Okay." Jack inhaled deeply as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Mmm. This smells good."

"It's one of your favorites--cinnamon bun. And since it's brewed automatically, it's one of the few things I can't screw up 'cause all I have to do is push one button." She chuckled.

"Aw, give yourself more credit than that. Hell, you should've seen my first attempt at cooking. I almost burned the house down." He poured another cup for her and placed them on the table. "Taura up yet?"

"Oh, she left a message on the computer. Said she needed to step out for some fresh air and would come back later."

"Ah." Jack frowned. "I hope she's okay. She seemed a little distracted last night."

"Yeah, I noticed that. She was giving you these weird looks ever since we got home." The toast popped up and Corona buttered them and brought them to the table. "You know, I just realized, it didn't start last night; it's been going on for a while. I noticed this look she was giving you, several times in the last few days."

"Really? I hadn't even noticed." Jack pulled a chair back for her and she sat, lowering herself onto it carefully. He sat beside her and picked up his fork.

Corona giggled and pointed her fork at Jack. "Actually, now that I think about it, she looked like she wanted to hump you."

Jack froze with a forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth. "What?"

"I suspect she likes you more than you realize." Corona popped a bite of scrambled eggs into her mouth and followed up with some toast.

Jack stared at her. Corona wiggled her brow ridges. Jack shook his head.

"Uh...oh, no. No. It can't be that."

"Why not? Remember the way I looked at you just before we got together? Taura had the same look on her face."

"No, no, no. It must be something else."

"What's the matter?" Corona giggled. "Dontcha think she's attractive?"

"It's not that." He shook his head again. "I don't even wanna go there. It's gotta be something else. Maybe she just had gas or something."

Corona burst out laughing. "Okay, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But I know I'm right."

"Eh." Jack sighed. If Corona was right, it could cause all kinds of problems. He didn't even want to think about it. Best to change the subject. He made a show of glancing at the clock on the wall. "Oh, I almost forgot--after breakfast, I need to give Otto and Shakira the clips Taura edited last night."

"'Kay." Corona gave him a sly look from the corner of her eye, as if to say, "Ha-ha, you're in denial."

Jack shrugged and continued eating. "Heard anything from your clients?"

"Nothing urgent. They've been leaving messages, keeping me in the loop. Kim said they're planning to talk to the police today."

"Good." He chewed another mouthful. "Got another gig lined up? Or are you free today?"

"Nothing yet. Got something in mind?"

"Well, now that you mention it..."

She giggled and draped her wing around his shoulders. He grinned.

"I was thinking maybe we could celebrate your latest success. Say, with dinner this evening?"

"Sounds fun. Thinking of anything specific?"

"Something nice, for a change, instead of the cheap places we usually hang around. Soft lighting, maybe a candlelight dinner, that kind of thing."

"But you hate being around people."

"I can live with it for one evening." He chuckled.

"We can have a romantic dinner here."

"Well...if Taura's here then, she might end up feeling left out. I'd like to avoid that."

"Can't Taura be a part of it, too?"

Jack held in a sigh. "This is supposed to be just for the two of us. A nice, intimate dinner for you and me."

"Ah. Well, okay, then." Corona smiled and patted his hand. "Hey, I have an idea--how about the Event Horizon?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "That place is more like a nightclub for hackers than a restaurant."

"It's getting a little classier. They were adding on some stuff last time I was there, a couple weeks ago. Yeah, it's got the loud music and all that, but they turned one of the upstairs rooms into a lounge. It's soundproofed so you can't hear the noise on the main floor." She smiled. "And best of all, both humans and chimeras hang out there without any trouble, so we can both be comfortable there."

Jack nodded. That last point was a good one. "Okay. What kind of food do they serve?"

"They've got a pretty wide variety, from what I was told. A range of styles--Italian, Mexican, Japanese and Chinese, Cajun, others." She grinned and chewed another bite of eggs before continuing. "Otto suggested that I try their crab puffs. Oh, they were good! You've gotta try some!"

Jack laughed and nodded. "Okay, you've convinced me. The Event Horizon, it is."

"Whee!" Corona giggled. "Sweet!"

Jack felt his grin broadening. He had always been so grim and angry before he'd met her, but she never failed to make him smile. He wondered how he'd managed to live without her.

"I love you, Corona," he said softly, and she smiled and leaned over to nuzzle him.

"I love you, too."

They held one another for a moment longer, then finished breakfast in a comfortable silence. At the moment, nothing more needed to be said.

#

Taura opened her eyes and winced. Sunlight streamed through the window, directly onto her face, making her squint. Her head throbbed, a sort of dull ache that spiked with each heartbeat.

She held up a hand to shade her face and looked around. She was in a bed, but not hers. This room was unfamiliar, except for a few blurry memories.

She pushed herself up, moaning and grimacing, and sat on the edge of the bed. Then she waited for the room to stop spinning. Finally, she was able to take a better look around. The dark green carpet was very short and had numerous stains all over, with cigarette butts and other crap here and there. The room was tiny, the only furniture a bed, a chair with an end table next to it, and a cabinet with a small, old LCD TV on top.

This is a motel room. How the hell did I get here?

She took a few deep breaths to slow her pounding heart. She closed her eyes and concentrated, and in a moment the throbbing ache dulled a bit more and she began to feel steadier. She opened her eyes and sighed.

A moment later she noticed the smell--a human's scent was on her.

Her mouth fell open and she ran a trembling hand through her hair. What was I doing here?

She closed her eyes again and tried to focus. Okay, calm down, think_. Where did I go after leaving the apartment?_ She remembered it a moment later--a bar. Why did I go to a bar? I've never had an urge to get drunk in my entire life. But now that a few bits and pieces were coming back to her, she did recall stepping into the first bar she'd found--a sudden, inexplicable impulse sending her through the door and up to the counter to order a drink. She hadn't liked the taste of it. Then...

A voice behind her, just over her left shoulder: "Hey, you look like you could use some company."

She had turned and found a young human with short, dark hair and the brightest, most charming smile she'd ever seen. Her breath had caught in her throat at the realization that such a hot guy was even speaking to her, much less offering his companionship. At first she'd thought that he had a severe case of beer goggles, but she had merely shrugged and nodded at the adjacent empty stool.

"Um...well, if you want to. Sure."

He had sat beside her and bought her another drink. She hadn't liked the taste of that one any more than the first, but she wasn't about to tell him that. She'd just smiled and nodded at whatever he said to her, though she couldn't remember much of it now. All that had mattered to her was that a good-looking guy was spending time with her.

All that had mattered was the way he'd smiled at her and rested his hand on hers as he talked. Her horniness had faded during her walk down the street, but this man's presence, good looks and charm had brought it back, even stronger than before. And then...

She frowned, trying to remember. And then...

"Say...you want to go somewhere private? I think we could have a much better time away from all this noise."

She remembered nodding numbly, the room spinning around her as she stumbled along beside him. That was odd; with her engineered metabolism, it should've taken a hell of a lot more to get her drunk than she had taken in. It hadn't occurred to her to question that, of course, and she had followed him...somewhere....

This motel, most likely. Taura shook her head. I had sex with him. Without even finding out his name! She groaned and rubbed her hands over her face. And I don't even remember any of it!

Well, she did recall a few things, but dimly. His hands moving over her body, mostly. And she thought she'd felt him enter her, but she couldn't be sure whether she'd imagined it or not. Other than that, it was all one big blur.

And now she had awakened here, and the man she'd slept with was gone. He must've slipped out during the night. He'd had his fun with her and then he'd left her here.

"Stupid," she groaned, leaning forward and burying her face in her hands. "How could I do something so goddamned stupid?" She sat there for a long moment, moaning softly at her idiocy, then she sighed and sat up straight. Can't change what happened. Just have to...what? Go on as if everything's normal? Yeah, that'll happen.

She stood on shaky legs and looked around for her clothes. The best thing to do was to go home and talk to Corona and Jack. Maybe they'd know what to do. She sighed again, picked up her clothes and put them on slowly.

The room spun around her again and she sank back onto the bed.

"Ohhh, shit..."

Something slammed into the door and it flew open.

Taura was back on her hooves in an instant. She steadied herself as two men burst into the room. Both were human and were wearing plain civilian clothing--jeans, T-shirts and trenchcoats. Both were carrying large pistols which they aimed straight at her.

"Where's Slade?" the one on the left snapped.

"Who?" Taura shook her head and blinked. "I don't..."

"The guy you fucked! Where'd he go?"

"I don't know. When I woke up, he was gone." She frowned. "How did you know we...? Were you following me?"

"No," the other one muttered as he kicked the door to the bathroom open and peeked inside. "We were following him."

"Search her," the other one grunted. "She might have it on her."

"Have what?" Taura said.

"Shut up!"

"Look, I don't have anything. I never met that man before a few hours ago. I didn't even know his name until you mentioned it."

"Zip it." The other one walked over to her and held his free hand out. "Take off your clothes. We need to see if Slade stashed anything in 'em."

Taura scowled at him, shrugged and took her coat off--then she whipped it at him, catching him across the face. He snapped his head back and threw his arms up. Taura yanked her coat back, reached into the pocket for the one weapon she always carried with her. She pulled the ten-inch metal cylinder out, flicked her wrist and extended one end of it. With a quick, fluid motion, she spun it and the other end extended, forming an eight-foot quarterstaff. She slammed one end of it into the side of the man's head and he fell like a tree, crashing into the TV and knocking it to the floor.

The other man cursed and whipped his gun around, but she swatted it out of his hand and drove the end of her staff into his gut. He doubled over and fell to his knees, and she finished him off with a blow to the back of his head.

She glared at them, watching them to be sure that they weren't about to get back up, then she retracted both ends of the staff and returned it to her pocket. She took a deep breath, tried to calm herself, and headed for the door.

She strained her ears, listening for footsteps, clothing rubbing together, breathing--anything that would indicate the presence of someone outside. She heard nothing, and peeked into the hallway, ready to dodge back into the room at the slightest movement or sound. She let out another slow breath and stepped out, closed the door behind her, and walked down the hall, trying to be quiet and look casual at the same time.

She opened the door at the end of the hall and found herself in the parking lot, shading her eyes from the sunlight and looking around, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She stuck her hands into her pockets and started walking. She shook her head and suppressed another groan.

What have I gotten myself into?