Page 17 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly (Tyton #1)

T

he punch landed exactly how Sesi had wanted it to, but Tornit only grinned.

He was a different beast without his wearables, but still large and terrifying.

Also, the arm with its periodic whines and hisses.

Getting caught meant instant death, but it was slow and evading it was simple if you knew what to look for.

Sesi did. Most people who met Tornit did not.

Talia tiptoed around the pile of heat sinks, electronics and sealskin coats and leaned against the mat of the old boxing ring.

Although no-one had ever confirmed it, they all assumed their space had been part of an abandoned employee work camp, back when this place was still Facility Twenty-One. Nodoors to the outside remained, only a hatch to the access tunnels. Builders had just constructed around and over top of it.

Tornit swung at Sesi and missed. Sesi flowed around it and landed an elbow.

Despite the breakup, Talia still found herself captivated.

She loved watching her move like water. It seemed strange that someone with no body modifications could contort herself in the ways she did so naturally.

And she could throw a punch. Not that it mattered to Tornit.

The simple fact was that Sesi was uncontrollable.

And she wasn’t nearly as impressed with Talia’s manipulations as everyone else seemed to be.

Yes, Talia’s confidence matched her ego, but she didn’t know any Domme who didn’t paste over their occasional insecurities with a little bravado here or there.

It was part of the agreement. Part of the role play.

But Sesi didn’t play . Sesi was possibly the most authentic person Talia had ever met.

And while she was more than willing to go along with Talia’s games when she had been new to the city and inexperienced, it stopped being fun once she wasn’t.

Once Sesi understood how she fit into her new world, she dominated it.

And that wouldn’t change in the bedroom either.

And so, love had been relabelled admiration , but nothing more, even though they both knew that it was false.

It wasn’t a minor issue either – not something they could negotiate away.

They both needed control. Sesi understood that, which is why she more or less allowed Talia to do what she wanted with minimal orders or oversight.

Sesi saw through her bullshit, but rather than use that ability to punish or humiliate Talia, she used it to give her what she needed. If she could.

Several minutes of Tornit swinging and missing passed.

Sesi had landed a few more punches to no apparent effect.

Siku rang the bell, shaking his head at the farce.

Sesi dangled her muscular legs off the edge of the mat next to Talia, sweat forming a ragged triangle across her turquoise sports bra.

She took a swig from her water bottle and wiped her forehead with the back of her arm.

Sesi’s dark eyes flicked to Talia for a moment. “Are you here to admire, or do you want to ask me something personal?” She had seen through her again.

Talia bit the inside of her cheek. It frustrated her that her charm worked on everyone but Sesi. Talia crossed her arms and straightened her back. “I checked in on Callie,” she started, but was cut off.

“Didn’t I ask someone else to do that?” Talia heard no malice, but she knew that the statement itself meant that Sesi was already aware of where this conversation was going.

She debated skipping the whole thing and letting Sesi tell her what she already knew but that would be giving up.

As long as she persisted, there was a chance that she would have the upper hand.

“You did.” Talia tried on a smirk. It had no effect.At least none that Talia could see.

“Why don’t we go to my office. I don’t think the boys want to see me get changed here.” Both Tornit and Siku overheard, making exaggerated faces of disgust. Sesi laughed. She placed her water bottle on the edge of the mat and hopped off, padding down the hall to her office.

Going to her office used to mean something else. Now it meant that Talia was probably going to be embarrassed and Sesi was kind enough to make sure it didn’t happen in front of anyone else. Talia slid her tongue across her teeth, but followed upright with her head held high.

Once they were both inside, Sesi stripped. If it was anyone but Sesi, Talia would have averted her eyes, but she knew this was her playing at dominance. Looking away would have meant that it worked. And Sesi was still absolutely stunning.

Without implants, exercise was the only way to achieve strength, and that meant actual muscle tone. Along with her wide hips and shoulders, Sesi looked like she could bench press a subway car, assuming you could find one that hadn’t been turned into a noodle shop.

Sesi retrieved a clean pair of grey cotton joggers and a baggy purple t-shirt from her desk. Neither of those really existed anymore either. They were simply spare clothes lying around when they had found the place. Cotton hadn’t been able to grow in harvestable quantities for years.

Sesi took her torn leather chair and crossed her bare feet on her desk.

The chair was probably from back when cows still roamed the Midwest, but she didn’t care enough to look into it.

Talia took the chair opposite and did the same.

A small puddle formed under her magboots. The corner of Sesi’s mouth twitched.

“Always a game with you, isn’t it?”

“Didn’t you just strip in front of me?” Talia challenged, smiling. But it didn’t reach her eyes. How could something so perfect be undone by one small thing?

Sesi flexed her toes like she was trying to grab onto something. Worried, it might slip away. The ghost of the love that was there, but wasn’t, perhaps. “We both know you’re not chasing me.”

“I could be.” Talia tilted her head.

Sesi shook her head. “I’m not playing this game, Talia. You don’t want me.”

“We aren’t playing, huh? You know I still find you attractive and then you do this ?” Talia rolled her eyes.

The knowledge that she could restart something with Talia right now caused a wave of want to flow through Sesi. But that would be a terrible idea. They both needed to move on. “What about your new toy?” Sesi locked her eyes on Talia’s. “The one you needed to check on?”

Talia’s nostrils flared. “Stay the fuck away from her, okay?” Maybe she could use this to add to her ball of grievances.

“You know, you’re the only one I let talk to me like that.” Sesi rolled her neck from side to side, trying to distract herself from the thought of Talia moving on. It hurt more than she wanted to admit.

“Why is that?” Talia knew the answer. Sesi did too. But neither of them would say it.

“Look, I’m not going to stay away from her, but I won’t be a dick and pursue her either.” Sesi unflexed her toes. She should be happy about this instead of turning it into a competition. But she wasn’t.

Talia huffed, dropping her head into her hands. “It feels like we’re fighting over custody of a child.”

“Well go ahead and tell her that if you want her vagina to turn into sandpaper,” Sesi said.

Talia laughed. God, Sesi had missed that sound.

“Were we always so crude?” Talia wiped the tears from her face, hoping they were from laughter and not something else.

At least the tension had broken, Sesi thought. “Yes. It tends to creep up on you in this business.” Sesi took a breath. “Seriously, Talia,” she said softly. “I’m honestly having a hard time with this.”

Talia winced. After the games were done, she could always be honest with Sesi. “Me too. But we both know it won’t work.”

Even now, she couldn’t hate Sesi, nor could she let her go.

Their relationship had been easy when all Talia had to do was impress her. And she loved impressing her. Talia thrived on that attention. She needed it. But then Sesi grew to understand what she needed. “I guess you outgrew me, huh?” Talia scoffed in self-deprecation.

“No, Talia,” her voice low. “You’re not something to outgrow. You’re perfect the way you are. You just caught me in the middle of adapting to a new situation and you didn’t realise I wasn’t myself yet.”

Talia narrowed her eyes, mulling over Sesi’s words.

“Think of who you were when Georg rescued you from that cult. How much did you change trying to figure out who you were?”

Talia had thought about it. Too much. Those were old wounds that had never really healed. A therapist might have told her that it was why she needed control. That it was why she attached to people too quickly. That it was why her relationships burned hot and then crashed.

Except for Sesi. That landing was too soft to be satisfying. And also, she refused to see a therapist. That would have required reliving everything. Talia would only accept one cure for that trauma. Sesi knew it too.

Talia had been destined for repopulation when she turned fourteen.

As part of her upbringing, she had been brought through the birthing rooms. They told her to pay special attention to the ones missing feet.

Those were the ones who had tried to run away.

The ones missing hands were the ones who had tried to fight back.

And yet, she had still run anyway.

It may have been luck that Georg had seen her being pursued. Luck that Georg had decided to react in her favour. Luck that Georg had a shotgun with him at the time.

But it was her ego that had made her run in the first place. And though she had learned what to do and say to keep from being punished, she had always known that she was more. That part had never changed.

Sesi watched as the thoughts resolved themselves in Talia’s head. “You didn’t change, did you? It was just a different situation.”

Talia hated her perceptiveness.“I changed some,” she protested.

“Maybe you grew into who you already were.”

Talia tried to bite the inside of her cheek, but found that it was already raw.

“What about Callie?”