FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"We're almost there, kiddo." Rhoa's deep yet still feminine voice jolted Trent's attention away from his worries. She settled the car into a space in the parking lot, shut down the engine, and glanced over her shoulder at him. "You still seem spooked."

"Her message said it was an urgent matter, but she wouldn't tell me what it was about. So it's probably not a session." Trent ran a hand through his hair. "Damn, what if she's pregnant? I'm not ready for that."

Rhoa laughed. "I think Councillor Tevos would know better than to initiate a pregnancy while she's still in office. At least, without being in a solid relationship first. Especially with a ... what's your job called, these days? Personal escort?"

"People keep coming up with new euphemisms for it." Trent shrugged as he brushed a few stray hairs back into place and put his hand on the door handle. "Depends on the client, I guess. But you're probably right, she wouldn't subject herself to the kind of scandal she'd face if she got knocked up by a high-end hooker." His age would make it even worse, at least in places like the Citadel and Earth, where the laws didn't have the kind of wiggle room they had on Illium. Tevos was smart enough not to let that happen.

Besides, she'd never done that weird mind-meld thing with him. He couldn't really get his head around how asari sexuality and reproduction worked, but it was mostly mental, and if she'd chosen to become pregnant, he would've been aware of it the instant it happened. Most of their sessions hadn't amounted to much more than quiet conversations, holding hands or cuddling in front of the fireplace, sipping non-alcoholic drinks and watching the artificial sunset - quiet, relaxing things she'd needed to wash days or weeks worth of stress from her mind. The few times they'd actually had sex, it had been purely physical. So his worries of finding out he was about to become a daddy were merely a momentary panicked reaction.

"Exactly." Rhoa winked at him. "Maybe she's just had a really bad morning and needed a quick bang."

"Which I'll be more than happy to provide." He grinned and leaned toward her. She met him halfway and they kissed. They smiled at each other and got out of the car. Rhoa moved her head around to work a kink out of her thick neck and then stretched. She'd taken off her Eclipse armor before picking him up to avoid tipping off any potential witnesses that she was an active merc, and had put on tight cargo shorts and a muscle shirt. She also wore heavy boots in case she needed to deliver an ass-kicking.

Trent paused to watch her for a moment and grinned.

Most asari were slender and elegant, even those who worked for the military or merc corporations, but Rhoa was quite unlike any other he'd ever met. She was tall and broad-shouldered, with a thick waist, biceps nearly as big as his head, and thighs that looked like they could shatter a coconut. She'd always been fairly buff, but had started working extra hard to build up her muscles over the last couple of years. He wondered - not for the first time - if she'd started it after finding out he was attracted to muscular women.

She leaned against the car, gazed at the small park beyond the edge of the parking lot, and took a slow breath. She caught him staring at her and grinned, her teeth brilliant against her dark blue skin. She flexed her muscles and made a kissy face at him.

"Beautiful." He smiled.

"Better not keep your client waiting." Rhoa laughed softly and nodded at the cottage in the middle of the private park. "I'll be here if you need me."

"See you in a bit." Still grinning, he turned and entered the park. He followed the tidy gravel pathway running through a patch of trees to the cottage.

Rhoa had changed in other ways since she became his personal bodyguard. At first, she'd been cold, distant, almost bored even when taking advantage of the free sessions that came as part of the payment for her services. It had taken him a while to begin to understand why. Learning about the kinds of battles she'd been in, the people she'd killed, and having to commit a murder just to join Eclipse in the first place ... it had explained a lot, once he'd gotten her to talk about her past.

But that first murder was four hundred years ago. She'd grown warm, gentle, and even playful in the last two years, making it hard to believe she was the same person back then.

He liked to think he was the main reason for the change, but it was probably spending those two years in a job that didn't require being shot at or killing anyone, and hardly ever put her in a position where she had to physically harm someone at all. It was probably just brought on by the relaxed atmosphere of her new gig.

He hopped up the front steps and onto the shaded porch. He reached out to the small hard-light panel beside the door, tapped the doorbell icon, and shifted mental gears to focus on Tevos. He turned to take a slow look around the flower garden and the surrounding trees, and smiled. I love this place. Even though it was located in a part of the Citadel populated mostly by asari, it was like having a calm, quiet little piece of Earth on the massive space station.

Quite a few asari - and many other aliens on the Citadel, for that matter - seemed to have a disdain for humanity, but while Tevos remained somewhat aloof in public, she'd once admitted to him that she'd acquired a fondness for certain parts of Earth and human cultures. She'd had this cottage and its surrounding park set up as a place for her to get away from politics and unwind. And, once a mutual acquaintance had introduced her to Trent, they'd used it for their occasional hookups.

Hmm. Maybe someone found out what we've been doing here. Maybe that's the urgent matter._He dismissed it a second later. _No, if that had happened, she wouldn't want to meet here again.

The door swung open. Trent knew by now that it was operated from a control panel in the living room so Tevos could stay out of sight, just in case. He stepped through, closed the door, and turned to the right.

"Hey, how're ...?" He stopped and stared into the cozy room. Tevos usually waited on the sofa at the back wall, but this time she stood at the end of the wood coffee table, wearing a simple gold sweater with a flower pattern rather than her typical formal attire, to make herself harder to recognize.

A turian woman sat on the sofa. She wore a simple cloak with the hood concealing most of her face, but it wasn't hard to guess who she was.

Siana.

Councillor Sparatus's wife.

_What the hell?_He never discussed his clients with his other clients, at least not in anything but the most general terms, such as mentioning to Lia'Vael that he had a frequent quarian client. One of them couldn't have found out about another unless they happened to be talking about a recent session and figured it out themselves.

Well, at least that means it's not my fault. He tried to force his startled expression away and replace it with a smile.

"Hello there, ladies. What's going on?"

"Good afternoon, Trent." Tevos glanced at the already tinted windows as if to double-check them, and then walked forward to greet him with a kiss. She motioned at the sofa and added, "You've already met Siana."

"Yes." Siana pulled the hood back and let it flop over her shoulders. "Trent introduced me to the medication that prevents anaphylactic shock when dextro-based species mate with levo-based ones." Siana chuckled. "He introduced me to many other things, as well."

Trent grinned and gave her a theatrical bow. He sat beside her, gave her a kiss, and put his hand on top of hers as he turned to raise an eyebrow at Tevos.

"I apologize for catching you off guard." Tevos sat on his other side, sandwiching him between her and Siana. "There was no way to warn you without bringing up details all three of us want kept quiet."

"I understand. Someone could've overheard you or seen you typing the message. The message could've been intercepted. All sorts of things could've happened."

"Exactly."

"Well, now that my pulse has returned to normal, what brings all three of us together?" He laughed and reached over to lace his fingers between hers.

"This." Tevos tapped a control panel on the coffee table's surface and sat back with a sigh. A holographic image appeared above the table and Trent's heart twitched.

_Someone recorded us._He stared at the image of him and Siana having sex, with Sparatus clearly visible in the background. It was Trent's and Siana's first time together, and he remembered every moment of it. Being watched by her husband was damned creepy, but the rest of the experience was so incredible that he'd been able to forget Sparatus was there through most of it. Siana had continued seeing him each time he came to the Citadel with his family, but Sparatus hadn't been anywhere near them after that first night.

Judging by how irritated he looked in this video, Trent could guess why. He'd been completely okay with her husband's absence, though - it made the whole thing a little less creepy, even though Sparatus was aware of their meetings. And given the weird shit many politicians had been caught doing over the years, Trent considered himself lucky that this was as kinky as his sessions with Siana had ever gotten.

He pulled his gaze away from the video and raised an eyebrow again. "How did this get recorded?"

"Our apartment is swept for recording devices regularly," Siana said, keeping her voice low. "I'm not sure how this one kept getting missed."

"Considering who planted it - or had it planted - I'm not all that surprised." Tevos sighed again and rubbed her free hand over her face. "For all we know, she bugged that apartment five hundred years ago. The device was vastly outdated technology, so I'm thinking that's how the scans kept missing it. We'd never have known it was there if she hadn't finally pulled the trigger on this."

Trent's pulse revved up again. "This is bad. If this gets out, most of my clients could be arrested. And once word about it gets around, I won't be able to land any new ones. I won't be able to keep doing this." Well, maybe on Illium and various other worlds in the Terminus Systems, but pressure from outside could make it risky. And he didn't want to have to start over, anyway. His regular clients were good, kind-hearted women whom he enjoyed spending time with. He didn't want them getting into the kind of trouble this would land them in.

"There's no need to worry about that, at least." Tevos managed a hint of a smile. "The person who contacted us about this isn't trying to expose us. She stated flat out that she doesn't really care. She just wanted to coerce me and Sparatus into ... changing our stance on a recent issue that has come up. This just happened to be the method she used."

"Once I got my dear husband to spill everything to me," Siana added, "I'm almost thankful this happened. You don't want to know what this is about - you'd never sleep well again, believe me. But this could result in a positive change." She flicked a narrow-eyed glance at Tevos. "Now that I know what's going on, I think that 'change in stance' is exactly what's needed at this point."

Tevos winced, sighed, stared at a spot on the floor, and finally nodded.

"This morning, some serious evidence against my position caught me off guard. It's good to be skeptical, but I think I carried it too far. Even after seeing the evidence, my instant reaction was to brush it off. Maybe the problem Sparatus and I have is we simply didn't want to admit we might be wrong, even to ourselves." She shook her head slowly and flicked her hand toward the still-running video. "Having this dropped on us may have been the exact wake-up call we needed."

Huh."Well, if this really does change things for the better, then ... okay. I just hope neither of you catch any more fallout from this."

"As do I." Siana gave his hand a squeeze. "I also hope this doesn't mean we have to stop meeting."

"If we can do it without getting you into any trouble. We'll need to be really careful. But I hope we can." Trent tossed her a lopsided grin. "It's not easy to find women who have the particular taste I service."

Siana chuckled. "I'm really bad at guessing the age of most aliens, so it never even occurred to me at first. I just assumed you were a short human." She glanced away and cleared her throat. "I also don't like to admit it, but it's not easy finding humans who are willing to try it with a turian. I've been with other aliens before, but I wanted to try a human. You were the first one Sparatus and I met who was agreeable to the idea."

"I was?" Trent raised his eyebrow again. "Well, those other guys don't know what they're missing."

"Sweet-talker." She laughed and leaned over to nudge her head gently against his. She started to say something else, but then the video caught her attention. "Oh, that's getting to my favorite part."

The sound had been muted, but the way his and Siana's faces contorted in the video made it very clear what was happening. Trent thrust himself against her one more time, shuddered, and opened his mouth in a silent moan. He and Siana whispered something to each other, he nuzzled and kissed her, and then he continued moving with a wicked grin. Siana's eyes opened wider and her mandibles twitched apart slightly.

Hah. That sure surprised her._Thanks to the "boosters" he'd started taking, he had been able to continue making love to her. It was the same thing Irving Kostmeyer had started using while making vids with his wife, and had in fact been developed with funding from _Fornax.

After a few more seconds, Siana hunched forward, wrapped her arms around him, squeezed her eyes shut, and opened her mouth. She continued convulsing slightly for nearly thirty seconds before finally flopping back on the bed and gasping for breath while Trent leaned over her and stroked her face.

As he watched, Trent grinned at both the vid and the memory. One of my finest moments, if I do say so myself.

Tevos stared at the image, tugged on her collar, picked up a tablet, and fanned herself with it.

Siana laughed again. "My own husband hasn't been able to give me an orgasm in nearly a decade and a half, but this alien I barely knew made me come so hard, I couldn't even breathe."

_Ouch._Trent tried not to wince.

Tevos continued staring. "So I see."

Siana seemed to realize what she'd just said, and rubbed a hand over her face. "I shouldn't have said that about him. I'm just frustrated with him right now." She shook her head. "He's not the same man I married. I think the job has changed him. He was once so much warmer, kinder, more caring and compassionate."

"I imagine the stress of being one of the leaders of a huge chunk of the galaxy takes a toll." Trent put his arm around her.

"It seems to have, yes. There's a part of me that sees the man I love somewhere in him, but most of the time it's pretty hard to find. He seems to always be thinking about the 'bigger picture,' and hardly ever about me. But after only a few minutes with you, you made me feel like we'd been in love for a lifetime."

"Aw, thanks." He smiled and clasped her hand.

A soft tone filled the air and both of them glanced at Tevos. She poked at her Omni-Tool, read the notice on its interface, and dismissed it.

"I wish I had time for more, Trent, but I was only able to clear a small space in my schedule today. I wanted to be sure you knew about this so you wouldn't be caught by surprise later. I need to get back to the office and set about the business of correcting my and Sparatus's misjudgment of recent events." She gave him a slight smile. "Will you be on the Citadel much longer?"

"My parents are leaving for Illium in the morning, so it'll be a few months before we come back for my uncle's birthday."

"Well, send me the exact date when you can, and I'll be sure to clear a whole afternoon in my schedule, or more if I'm able to. I'm sure I'll be needing you by then." She glanced at Siana and smiled. "If you both have the time for it, feel free to use this cottage. Just don't forget to lock the door when you leave."

"Well, Siana, if you've already taken the compatibility medication ...?"

"I have, indeed."

"Excellent. I've got the time if you've got the time."

"I can spare a few hours."

Tevos patted Trent's shoulder and stood. He held her hands for a moment and then put his arms around her. They held each other for at least a full minute. Finally, Tevos took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and released him.

"I needed that. I think I can face the rest of the day now." She kissed him. "Thank you."

"Any time." He smiled, watched her vanish down the hallway to the hidden exit she always used, and turned back to Siana.

She stood, stroked his cheek, and slipped her cloak off. She removed the rest of her clothes slowly, returned to the sofa, and held a hand out to him.

He joined her and grinned.I love my job.