Chapter 4: "Subtleties"

Author: Jay Kingston
Orginally Published: 4/24/01

Salyenka Duvar stepped out of the shower, glistening with the remnants of the water that had moments ago been coursing over her skin, and fluffed the plumage at the back of her skull, before working the absorbent material over the rest of her lean, but shapely figure. She looked into the mirror that hugged the bathroom door, and for a few moments was lost in thought as she absent-mindedly played with the blood crystal that was embedded in the nape of her neck, just above her collarbone. She reached for the preening picks that were laying atop her boudoir table, and with a blur of motion, flung both of them across the length of her quarters, pinning the cuffs of the Dorkin's sleeves to the arms of the chair he was sitting in.

To most sentients, this would have been merely shocking. To the Dorkin, whose genitals were in his hands and forearms, it was downright terrifying. To his credit, however, the Dorkin only managed to sweat a bit, and stifled a slight shudder that ran down both of his spines. "Ive told you about trying to sneak up on me before, Chal," she said matter-of-factly, as she tossed the towel on the bed, and layed down next to it, stretching her frame the entire length of the mattress, as she yawned a bit. "What do you want?" "Want? Me, want?" Chal stammered, flexing his hands rapidly, displaying his frustration in his hands as well as his voice. "Have you forgotten? You summoned me here two cycles ago! I've been waiting here all this time for you to get out of that infernal wet-chamber of yours!" Chal gulped some air, and a low, basso rumble emitted from his vocal chamber, as he struggled to free his sleeves from the position the picks had them pinned in.
"Now free me, or I will forget that my dealings with you have been profitable, and leave." He gulped air again, and this time the resonance sac at the base of his throat grew large and a sound like a distant ship's klaxon sounded.

Salyenka sat up slowly, seductively, and gently rolled into a tuck, crossing the remaining length of the room until she inverted her body's position into a handstand, dropped her bottom onto Chal's lap, and wrapped her naked legs around the chair where he sat. She reached behind her back with both hands, and plucked the preening picks from their positions in the arms of the chair. Then, stroking the implements across his face playfully, slid them into opposing sides of her green and gold head plumage, before wrapping her arms tenderly around his neck.

With skill honed from years of practice, she released a pheromone puff from the glands at the base of her skull, at the back of her neck, and shook her plumage out, spreading the scent everywhere, including the ventilation ducts which had two separate, but distinct effects on other occupants of the station. First, most of the humanoids that came in contact with the scent became immediately amorous with any appropriate nearby life form, and second, Broxy, who was currently busy scrubbing out the interior of the ventilation shaft, succumbed to a kind of euphoria, effectively becoming comatose for the next two cycles, or approximately forty Earth minutes.

Chal simply began to weep. He had no natural defense from her mating scent,and she knew it. It was what she had counted on when she invited him here to discuss business, and up until this point in their association, it was what he had always managed to avoid. "Now Chal, darling," she cooed, as she began to slide from his lap onto the floor in front of him. "Let's discuss what you can do for me."
As Chal felt all of his control beginning to slip away from him, he knew that for better or worse, from this point on, he was her slave.