Torry nodded. “So in Nol’s case, we fit neatly into that lie. Because there’s three of us, from his perspective, it’s entirelyplausible that we deliberately bought an erotic companion because – notionally – the three of us want to play more sexy games with each other and he’s got the skills to facilitate that. Now, I want to make it absolutely clear,” she rushed on, “that being in a triad isnotall about sex. It’s just the same as any normal couple, and it’s actually more hard work, because we have to do a lot of communicating to keep everything stable. But I’m just trying to look at this from Nol’s perspective, fitting him into a life that he can be wholly invested in.”
I nodded, the last of my worries easing. “I’m very familiar with polyamory,” I told them. “Conceptually, at least. Not in practice. And yes, I’m aware that it’s not all about sex. And from what I’ve seen so far… Well, no, I’m just going to… Kade, what are your thoughts so far?” I asked him. I’d been about to wholeheartedly endorse this group as Nol’s new owner, but I caught myself just in time. I wanted to hear Kade’s honest opinion first.
“Could you tell us a bit more about your usual bedroom activities?” Kade said, and despite the number of conversations I’d had of this nature, I still felt an automatic embarrassment at his question. But at the same time, Kade had learned a lot about Alliance social norms, and he immediately went on to soften the question a bit. “I don’t want explicit details,” he added. “What I’m asking is more about the overall logistics. Do all three of you participate at once, or just two at a time? Would you include Nol in group activities, or one-on-one only? How often would you be expecting Nol to participate in sexual activity? Do you have any particular fetishes or toys? I realise that one is a bit personal, but I’d like to make sure that Nol’s particular skills are suitable for your activities.”
The three of them fumbled through their answers. Yes, there would be whole group activities. They were into some light bondage and role play. They had a wide variety of sex toys. Andat one point, Steve brought up the issue of consent, and asked how to determine whether someone who was programmed to say yes all the time might actually want to say no.
“There is one other important question,” I pointed out after a while, “and I’m not sure whether you would have given this any thought yet. But the reality is that, regardless of the fact that you’re a triad, Nol can only bond with one person. So you’re going to have to choose someone to be his official master. Once Nol accepts the three of you as a family, he’ll happily and willingly obey and love all of you, but that willalwayscome with the caveat that his master’s orders take precedence. And if for any reason the three of you break up at some point in the future, Nol will stay with his bonded master.”
Steve nodded at that. “We’ve already talked about that,” he said. “And Torry would be the one to bond with him. She’s just the most reliable, I suppose,” he admitted with a shrug. “The hope is that we’d never need to break up, but if it did happen, she’s probably got the best temperament for looking after a dimari on her own.”
“You’re both in agreement with that?” I asked Kana and Torry, and they both nodded. “All right, well I’m glad you’ve done your homework,” I said, feeling genuinely impressed now. “Let’s move on to the next issue then, which is what Nol is going to be spending his time on when he’s not having fun in the bedroom…”
CHAPTER SEVEN
AIDEN
An hour later, I finally wrapped up the meeting, sending our three visitors home with copies of the dimari instruction manual, with the request that they all read as much of it as they could before tomorrow afternoon, when they were invited back to the base to meet Nol and to take him home with them.
After Soka arrived to escort them back to the exit, I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my eyes. “Fuck me, that went a hell of a lot better than I was expecting,” I said to Kade. He’d been incredibly helpful throughout the meeting, explaining all the subtle tricks and nuances that a dimari used to express preferences or thoughts, and answering a dozen or more questions the group had had on various issues.
Kade smiled at me. “So that’s four dimari successfully sent home with their new masters, and two more lined up to be collected tomorrow,” he summed up our efforts so far. “Have you heard anything back from Captain Rhodes about his injured friend?”
I sat up, scrolling through my messages in case anything new had come in while we’d been busy. “Yep, new reply from Zeke. And… Oh wow, there’s one from Lieutenant Drevarious as well. Let’s see what he’s got to say about it all.”
I pulled up both messages and read them quickly, feeling another small part of the weight on my shoulders slide off. “It looks like good news,” I told Kade. “Dax has given the lieutenant a shining endorsement. We don’t have many Denzogals owning dimari, but both Dax and Zeke think it’s exactly what he needs. And Drevarious says he’s already started reading the instruction manual, and that he’s willing to go through extra training with Zeke to make sure he’s doing all the right things. Do you see any reason to not tick that one off, then?”
I held my breath, praying that Kade said it was fine… and for once, he gave me a straightforward answer. “I think it would be a very suitable match,” he said. “We can invite the lieutenant to come and pick him up tomorrow.”
“Thank the stars for that,” I muttered, before glancing at the clock. It was once again approaching seven o’clock in the evening, and I felt better knowing that even though tomorrow was going to be busy, by the end of it, we would have seven of the eight dimari safely tucked away in their new homes.
But that still left the rather significant problem of number eight.
“What about Jai?” I said, holding back a sigh. “No one I’ve reached out to has come back with any good ideas. The combat side we could find someone for easily enough, but the erotic companion side of things…” We’d stumbled upon a good home for Nol by pure chance, but I was well aware that there weren’t many people on Rendol 4 with living conditions that would suit an erotic companion.
“Have you tried contacting the people who already have dimari?” Kade suggested. “The ones on the database are able toadopt one, but the people who already have one have a clearer idea of what’s needed to look after one. Perhaps they would have some useful ideas?”
“Yeah, let’s give that a try,” I said, pulling up my contact list and forwarding the message I’d previously sent to a new selection of people. It was just about possible that one of them might know someone with enough of a niche situation for it to work for Jai.
I sighed and rolled my neck. “Well, that’s probably as much as we’re able to do tonight. Let’s get some dinner. I think we’ll need to stay here again tonight. We’ve got an early meeting in the morning with the family that’s going to adopt the last domestic servant. And then we’ll have a couple of hours to try and work something out for Jai before the other two dimari go home in the afternoon.”
After dinner, we both took a shower and then I climbed into bed, yawning. But as tired as I was, it was still too early to go to sleep, so I checked my messages again, desperately hoping someone had come up with something sensible to suggest for Jai. On the positive side, I had a couple of responses from people who were trying to be helpful. On the downside, though, none of their suggestions actually helped. Two of them had suggested trying to contact people that I’d already contacted, and a third offered to ask a friend of theirs who lived on Copius 7. Unfortunately, given the deadline we were working with, there was no way they were going to be able to get here in time to adopt Jai before things started going downhill.
Frustrated with the lack of progress, but too tired to do anything about it, I leaned back against the headboard, staring blankly at the far wall. The bed was a standard double one, a little too small for two large men, but it was the best the base had to offer. It was either this or sleep in separate rooms, and I knewKade much preferred to sleep beside me, whether or not the bed was too small.
Speaking of which, it had been a chaotic couple of days, firstly with discovering an unregistered dimari that we’d had to go and rescue and rehome, and then with the effort to find homes for eight new dimari. While Kade was perfectly capable of functioning for days at a time with minimal supervision – as he’d proven while we were out on missions – I also knew that neglecting his need for regular connection and reassurance was a bad idea in the long run.
I glanced over at Kade. He had his earpiece in, and he was leaning back on the pillows, eyes closed, presumably listening to some music. He’d changed his scales back to his natural dark blue, after spending the day doing a damn fine job of mimicking the colour of my brown skin. I’d told Kade a long time ago that he was free to choose his own colour when we were in private, but in public, it was best to try and blend in with the other species in the Alliance.
Right now, he looked peaceful and comfortable, and if he’d been anyone other than a dimari, I wouldn’t have disturbed him. It had been a long day and he was entitled to his rest. But ‘rest’ for a dimari could look very different from the way it looked for other people. Slowly, gently, I leaned over and put my hand on his thigh. Then, rethinking my strategy a little, I slid my hand underneath the sheets, then put it back on his leg.
Kade cracked one eye open, tilting his head to look at me.
“Are you busy?” I asked him, simply because I knew it would make him smile.
It did. He opened the other eye and removed the earpiece, clicking it back into place in the side of his comm. “I’m ready and willing to provide whatever service you need,” he said, with just a hint of smugness, giving my body a quick once-over.
“Then I was thinking you should blow me,” I said, without any further preamble. Again, with anyone else, I would have asked far more politely. But Kade had long ago proven that he had something of a submissive kink. Yes, he’d been trained to obey my orders, but he genuinely got off on being reminded that I was the dominant party here, and in some cases, being manhandled in the process.
