Page 23 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly (Tyton #1)

T

he ulu pressed into the soft skin of her throat.

She could see the edge of Sesi’s fist blanching around the handle, smell herself on her fingers.

Callie tried to freeze, but her breaths came rapidly in short bursts.

If she inhaled too deeply, there would be blood, and she didn’t want blood. Or did she?

Callie considered this. What would it feel like to bleed?

Not just an accidental scrape where the shock of it came after the pain.

How would it feel to know that someone’s actions caused it?

Intentionally. The apprehension before? The rush of pain and heat during and the dull itch after?

Would it be like a piercing? Would there be a scar to remind her? To mark her?

Would she be able to smell the iron in her blood? Did the synthetic organelles she had just learned she had alter it? She had never tasted anyone else’s blood. At least not more than a scratch. A moment of compassion in kissing a tiny wound. That wasn’t a taste.

Her lips had never been so coated in it that it fell off of them. That she could lick them and still have it smeared on her face. What would that be like? Would Sesi taste different than her? Like a lover’s arousal? Similar, but unique.

Thoughts summon physical realities. Her lips began to ache.

They desperately wanted to find out. How would they feel pressed against Sesi’s?

How different was her flavour? How did her name sound when it dripped off of her tongue at that last moment before she came apart and became incapable of control?

Sesi pressed harder. She rocked the ulu so that its point dug into her.

Like she was about to carve her name into a Hexcel beam.

She could kill her if she wanted to. Callie had seen her do it.

Murder wasn’t ever a question of physical ability – most humans had that.

It was a question of mental capacity. Could you will yourself to murder another person? She knew Sesi could.

Would she murder Callie? She had said she wouldn’t. She had even said she would murder for her. What was that like? Most people would never know.

But humans killed plenty of other humans.

They preferred to do it as disconnected from the gruesome reality of it, though.

In Tyton, neglect was the most common, if you didn’t want to think about it.

Stochastic terrorism was the preferred tool, if you had a particular group in mind.

Drones worked, if that wouldn’t do, then guns if your enemies had the ability to manipulate the drones’ AI.

If you went back far enough, you would find bows, spears, swords and then finally, knives if you had to look them in the eye.

And Sesi had a knife. She was used to this.

Callie had seen knife play before. The knives were always blunted, though some had a sharper feel than others, depending on what you were comfortable with.

They still had points, though. They could be used to kill if needed.

It was the relationship with your Domme that prevented death, their mental block against killing that served as a backup.

And Sesi had no backup. It was like walking a tightrope with no net.

And Callie fucking loved it.

The warm wetness pooling between her legs felt like blood. It sped through her veins, from her head to her core while a small amount diverted from its path to pass through the wound in her neck.

A tongue traced where the knife had been, or was it still there?

Hot and liquid, indistinguishable from the cut in her throat.

Callie sighed and tilted her head back. She could look down, meet those near-black eyes hovering above her jaw, but she diverted her attention. Staring directly was too intense.

Her lips parted. The blackness crept at the edges of her vision. Her head, the dying whine of capacitors emptying the last of their stores into the place that would discharge all of that energy at once. And when it did, it would consume them both.

Callie jolted awake, in her own room. Talia’s arm wrapped around her middle.

She closed her eyes and took in the soft warmth of her breath blowing the tiny hairs on the back of her neck.

Like videos of wheat fields she had seen in creche.

Talia was so sweet. She inhaled deeply, the extra pressure of her arm weighing against her ribs.

But that dream? Sesi was attractive. Hot, even, but she scared Callie. An entire parade of red flags waved at her in the wind, but Callie’s body seemed to want to breeze through them on the fastest bike she could find and careen over the edge. It was foolish. She knew it was foolish.

Then again, she didn’t even know what she was to Talia. It must be something more than a date, though, right? Talia was here. Now. Playing nurse after Sesi had gotten her injured.

She should text Sparx.

That was the problem. Callie was not that smart. She had never had this problem before. She would find someone, date them and no-one else existed. Maybe her hormone regulator wasn’t working properly. She should get that checked out.

A gurgle by her sideboard table interrupted her thoughts. She saw a machine she didn’t recognise. Had she bought it? A strange smell came from it. Callie jerked upward to see what it was, waking Talia in the process.

“What? What is it?” Talia jolted awake. She gripped Callie to her chest and thrust a knife out at the invisible danger.

“Something’s burning! Can’t you smell that?” Callie wriggled, but Talia’s arms held her fast.

Talia relaxed and collapsed back on the bed, laughing.

“What?” Callie demanded, “Also, where did that knife come from? Do you sleep with them?”

Talia turned onto her side and drew calming circles against her back. “That’s Koffi. I found the machine in the base and got used to it, so when Sesi asked me to watch you for the night, I brought it here.”

Callie frowned. “I thought coffee went extinct.”

Talia rocked her head. “Nah. I mean, you can’t grow enough of it to sell anymore, but the plant still exists. Anyway, this stuff is synthetic.” Talia rolled off the bed and walked over to the sputtering machine. “It’s not that popular since people just started using Stim, but I like it.”

Callie rolled her eyes. “That sounds like a glowing endorsement.”

Talia poured the black liquid into a mug. She drank and glowered with mock spite. Then she passed it to Callie.

“They make cups out of Hexaline now?”

Talia swallowed and shook her head. “It’s ceramic. All it does is hold Koffi. I’m sure it’s older than the machine.”

“Weird.” Callie sniffed at it. It smelled okay. The taste did not match and Callie had to refrain from spitting it out.

Talia snorted. “It’s okay.” She took the mug back. Callie was grateful to give it up.

“It’s so bitter!” Callie coughed once she finished swallowing.

“Yeah, but it wakes you right up.”

“I guess.” Callie admitted.

Talia finished her Koffi while Callie bought a protein bar from the Vendr. The wrapper crinkled a little too loudly in the awkward silence as Callie tried to figure out how to approach this. It must have been a little too noticeable because Talia was the first to speak.

“Say what you want to say.” It was minute, but Talia’s jaw had clenched. She braced for whatever was coming, like she always did. Mentally preparing herself for the worst worked for her. It kept her from over-reacting. From embarrassing herself.

Callie exhaled, pitching forward and dangling her feet from the bed. “So…” she started, stalling the inevitable. But the first word had already been uttered. She’d crossed the threshold and she couldn’t stop now.

“Um,” she stammered. “What are we?”

Talia held the mug with both hands in front of her chest, as though it would protect her from what came next.

She liked Callie. A lot. And she always got attached far too early.

Maybe that’s what Callie was picking up on.

She needed to dispel any notion of possessiveness or desire to move too quickly.

She set her mug down on the desk in an act of courage, forcing her shoulders to relax. “I mean, we had a fun date, right? I’m sorry if taking care of you last night was a bit too personal too quickly. Sesi really likes to make sure everyone knows we’ve got their backs. I can go if it’s too weird.”

A mix of incongruous feelings washed over Callie. Relief, but also rejection. She didn’t expect that answer from Talia. She seemed a lot more possessive of her than her response would indicate. Callie had been known to misread people before, though.

It was nice that Talia had agreed to bring her back home and watch over her for the night, but it was Sesi that had asked her to do it.What would Talia have decided to do on her own?

She could be an adult about this. “So, we’re not exclusive then.

” Callie raked her fingernail across her teeth.

“I just want to make sure because someone asked me out and I don’t want you to murder them.

” Technically that was true. Akna had asked her out, even though Callie had no intention of dating her.

Talia’s heart skipped a beat, but she held her composure. She stared at her empty Koffi mug and huffed with a distraught smile, hoping that would cover any panic on her face. “I promise, I won’t murder her. Or him.”

Callie made a face.

Talia laughed “her then.” She was grateful the tension had broken, but the panic still lingered in her stomach.

“Have you ever murdered anyone?” If Sesi murdered people, other gang members must have as well, right?

Talia refilled her mug. She took a long sip before answering. “Yeah,” she stared into the black liquid. “Is this about the thing that happened on the mission?”

Callie nodded.

Talia took a deep breath. This must be why Callie was acting weird. She hadn’t thought that she was being possessive. But yeah, your first time with a gang member was probably quite the mindfuck, no matter how long you had been in the kink scene.