Shadow Seed 1: The Misbegotten (62 page)

She cried for a while longer, then took a huge draught of air and shuddered with its release.

I watched with the eyes of an eagle, searching for the tiniest notion of a breakdown.  She surprised me by pulling herself back together.  She gazed at me frankly.  The hurt hadn’t melted from her face nor had the haunted afterglow diminished in her eyes.  It was Tirza stripped down, bared to me, vulnerable with the hope things would get better, her innermost feelings exposed for me to see.  I hadn’t seen her look this open since the day she told me she was ready to lose her virginity.  The day she told me she wanted me to be the one to take it from her.

“You have no idea how much I wish things could be like they were eighteen months ago,” she whispered, so hushed I don’t think I would’ve heard it if I’d been standing.

Startled, guessing at why she would think back to when we had been together, I turned toward her, onto my side.  “Really, why?” I asked, unable to stop.  It was too intriguing.

“Things were much simpler then, Estefan,” she replied, her face thoughtful.  “We were so naïve and new to the world.  You know that place where things seemed all shiny and crystal clear, so easy to figure out?”

I didn’t respond, I wanted her to continue.

“You and I had just taken that last step in our relationship.  We were both kicking ass on the track.  We even shared the same friends,” she went on.  I knew I had the right of it by staying silent.  “You remember, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do.”

She flung her hair from one side, then to the other.  It was something she did when a given topic of discussion made her happy or enthusiastic.  “Everyone was excited we’d finally decided to date.  When we began to thrive as a
couple, they all said we looked good together.  Even C-Tip said we’d have beautiful children, remember?”  She breathed deeply, her eyes cast up toward the ceiling.  She was lost in the past.  “I mean, we both knew it was something far, far in the future, but dang it, Estefan, it sure felt like something realistic, something just over the horizon…

“I liked those days,” she ruminated, idly scratching behind her ear.

“Those were good times,” I reminisced alongside her.

“Do you remember when we went bike riding, down by that manmade creek?” she asked life returning to her.  At once, she was the tiny, teenage girl I had fallen in love with years past.

I felt excitement arise within me as the recollection washed over me.  “Yeah!” I exclaimed.  “We had snuck out of our houses and rode our bikes down to the ‘creek’ at like… jeez, what time
was
it?”

“It was after 1 am, I know that for sure,” she answered, her smile splitting her face from ear to ear.

“Holy shit, Teezee, and we were what, fifteen, at the time?”

“I was fourteen,” she corrected.

“Damn, we were just little brats, riding up and down the two mile length of that ugly trickle of water they had the audacity to call a creek.”  It was coming back to me, in greater detail now.

She smiled shyly.  “We kept marveling at the stars, looking up and admiring the night sky.”  Her voice became wispy and distant.

“That’s not all we did…,” I prompted, other memories coming to mind.

She blushed, even though it had been so many months later.  “Yeah, on the grass, I remember,” was all she said at first.  Then she seemed to gain a degree of courage, no longer willing to shun what had happened between us.  “We kept changing positions, so one of us could look up at the stars, while we made love…”  That appeared to be all she could
manage.

“You’re right,” I marveled at
that detail I’d forgotten, “and the rule was the one on the bottom couldn’t move.  The one on top was supposed to be the one making love to the one looking up at the stars.”  I quivered.  “Sheesh, girl, it sounds so erotic!” I concluded, shifting to my back, looking up at the ceiling.  It was my turn to be lost in what had gone before.

“I got so lost, Eff, I hadn’t realized you had cum inside me until you were looking down at me with this look of terror on your face.”  She actuall
y giggled.  It was unexpected.

I ripped my gaze from above to look at her.  Tirza hadn’t been this forthcoming about our former sex life since the night I had murmured Katie’s name
, while my cock was balls deep inside her.

“At first, I thought I
’d done something wrong,” she continued, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.  Her smile was still huge.  “Then, I felt all the gooeyness down there and I knew what had happened.”  She giggled anew.  “That’s when I freaked.”

“I never knew you could move that fast,” I added, trying to be flippant, but I was too giddy at seeing her with her guard down to pull it off.  It
felt like it had been so long ago.

In reality, it hadn’t.

“I can’t believe I paced back and forth, ranting about how you just got me pregnant, butt-ass naked form the waist down, while your cum was dripping down my leg!”  She reached over and poked me in the side, which made me curl at the waist, my elbows and knees almost touching.

“Aaah,” I bellowed, flustered
at being tickled.

“And you just lay there, on the grass, staring up at me with that same dreadful look as if you had done something evil…,” she let her voice die.  Then, she edged closer to me and her elbows.  “Was I really only fourteen years old when you came inside of me and we thought the whole world was
going to end?”

“Yup,” I said, still recovering from the jolt she had sent through my body.  “It was the next weekend that we went to Rite-Aid to buy condoms.”  It was all coming back to me now.

“And two weeks later, I went with my cousin to get birth control pills, because those darned condoms made my kitty-kat burn like it was on fire.”

I laughed.

“Wow, Eff, that’s so young to know about that kind of stuff,” she intoned, her words strangled in her throat by deeper thoughts.  “And yet, even though I was so young, maybe too young to be having sex, I still would rather have those days then these.”

“Those problems seem lame compared to the problems we are facing now,” I agreed.

“Yeah,” was all she said.

“Tirza,” I ventured.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry about the Katie thing.  It was never supposed to come out,” I tried miserably to explain.

She gathered herself, looking me straight in the eyes.  “I forgive you, Eff, because to harbor that kind of anger in a time like this seems childish, maybe even borderline contrite, but I have to say this out loud, so you know and you won’t be hurt.”

“Okay, shoot,” I urged, willing to take whatever she had to dish if it meant we could get past the awkward, fumbling mess our friendship had become.

“I will
never
make love to you again.  Not after you and Katie have done what you have done.”  It was like the Thor’s Hammer striking from on high.

“Okay,” I squealed, then quickly cleared my throat.

“But that aside,” she added, a thin smile etching her visage, “doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

I let two full seconds pass before I replied.  “Okay, then friends it is.”

Her nod was enough for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~♦~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Summer – 2018)

Katie’s Out of the Bag

It was nearly midnight.

Katie, Flavia, Johan, Jolene and I had been watching various reality shows on cable when I saw the curtain nearest my desk flutter.  I stood from my sitting position on the bed as Ramona, Tirza, Leda and Sandy climbed into the Loft.  Katie was right behind me.

I was about to ask them what took so long when I realized they were each carrying a few changes of clothing and personal items in either small suitcases or large backpacks. 
Duh!
I chided myself silently.  It had been part of the plan we’d forged when the girls had left a few minutes before my parents were due to arrive home from their long day in the streets.

We had decided, from now on, we were going to stick together as much as possible.  If it meant we were going to have to sneak in a bunch of kids every night, then that’s what it meant.

I shouldn’t have been as worked up at all.  Even if they were running late, it shouldn’t have bothered me much, but it had.  For some reason, I couldn’t quite explain – I was anxious.

I motioned the girls to follow me, so I could show them where they could put their stuff.  I walked them across the room to the dresser that held Tirza’s clothes, pointing to the floor where we had put three large air mattresses (still in the boxes) and a battery operated air pump.

They shed their belongings, a few pulling off light sweaters or sweatshirts, and I could see that they had all showered and changed, each of them was wearing their pajamas, but then, so were we.  It was late after all.

“It feels funny to be here in your room with my pj’s on,” admitted Sandy through a playful leer.  She didn’t appear in the least shy or uncomfortable.

I glanced over the sheer nightgown she was wearing, thinking it was some type of rayon blend, because it was too thin to be cotton alone.  It was light pink, the bashful sort, without sleeves, gathered by an elastic band below her full breasts and stopped just below her knees.  It was ruffled at the edges, but the ruffles were subtle and not gaudy or tacky.  She wore only a pair of white sandals with delicate leather straps.  They looked very feminine, not to mention nice on her long toed-feet.

“She likes it, Eff.  Don’t get her wrong,” interjected Leda before I could answer, her face piqued.

I grinned back at the smaller girl, who wore a white cotton tank and a pair of powder blue, loose-fitting pantaloons of the same material.  Both garments were covered with a variety of silk-screened, multi-colored popsicles – all of them in various stages of melting.  Emblazoned across her chest, in hot pink, cursive lettering were the words,
“Hot Mess”. 
It made me grin, nearly splitting my head in two.  It described Leda perfectly.

She walked passed me, her lips thinned, but paused long enough to hold my wrist and give me a quick squeeze.  Her eyes searched out mine; her gaze was earnest as she mouthed the words, “I’m sorry,” and then stalked off into the bathroom before I had time to respond.

Vintage Leda…

I peered back at Sandy, who hadn’t moved.  “So are you really feeling funny or are you just joshin’ me?” I asked trying to be serious, but the stupid grin hadn’t left my face, so it probably came across lame.

She chuckled from deep within her throat.  “My friend knows me too well…,” she let her tones diminish with each syllable until she was almost whispering.  The way she batted her eyes was answer enough.

“You’re a trip, Sandy,” I chortled alongside her, and then spoke when the laughter died between us.  “Go and get yourself settled in, girl, we’re gonna pow-wow in a few, on my side of the Loft.”

That got her attention and her vision intensified on me.  “Oh really, what about?”

“Something the rest of us was discussing when you guys were gone,” was all I wanted to say for the time being.  “You’ll see,” I added, trying to allay her interest for a few minutes.

She raised her eyebrows, twirling a forefinger in a lock of her translucent, auburn hair.  It looked darker in the glow of the energy-saving lights my parents had installed all about the Loft, but was still a bountiful and lustrous mass of thick curls.

“Sorry, Sandy, but I’m gonna cut in,” announced my girlfriend all a sudden.  She came up beside me, wrapping her arms around my neck, insistent palms at either side of my head turning me.  She bent me down to her and kissed me urgently upon the lips.  It was a fervent kiss, hungry and deep, our tongues pirouetting about the other, our mouths questing and tasting, our bodies meshing together as naturally as water flowing over the rocks of a brook.  It was a tight embrace, and yet fluid and moving the entire time.

This was how she kissed me when she wanted to fuck.  It wasn’t the slow, thorough sort, which meant she wanted to make love.  This wasn’t that, this was fire and flames, heat and friction.  She wanted me to throw her on the ground and ravage her.  She wanted her legs spread wide; my cock buried deep, my pace fast and furious.  She wanted to meet me, pump for pump, desiring nothing more than to ride the edge and then fall over, and let her orgasm consume her.  She wanted to shuddered and squirm beneath me, wriggle and bend the length of me and I plunged into her until I -.

“Guys Stop!” yelled Leda, yanking us apart with what had to be all of her strength.  Ramona and I came apart as if something had exploded between us.  “Shit, I could feel you all the way in the bathroom!  You have to stop, like now!”

“W-what?” asked Ramona, outraged.  To me she had clearly been caught up in the moment and had lost herself just as I had.  She stepped from me, smoothing out the mauve colored, satin camisole and matching bottoms she wore beneath a thin cotton sweater.  She wore her hair pulled back, so her stark, blue-grey eyes flashed across the room to dig deep into Leda.

“Your kiss was making Estefan lose control, Ramona,” she stated as a matter of fact, spun on her heel and made her way back to the bathroom.  “Now, you think I can brush my teeth in peace without you distracting me with your sexual thoughts?” she asked, but didn’t wait for my answer.  She disappeared around the door of the washroom.

I shrugged my shoulders, glancing over at my girlfriend.  “I didn’t know I was doing anything like
that
,” I mumbled in explanation.

Ramona kicked off the white flats she was wearing, air escaping her in a huff.  “You’re just getting stronger, Effy, that’s all.  Besides, she’s just mad, because she doesn’t want to admit how horny we made her…”  My girlfriend trailed off into a thoughtful silence.  By the look on her face, they were nasty thoughts, bouncing around in her head.

“It worked on me,” admitted Sandy, who hadn’t moved, her hands clasped before her, strategically close to her pelvic region.

My girlfriend’s focus burst forth from within.  She suddenly reached out to grab Sandy by the shoulder. 
“Estefan will ‘work’ on everybody, girl.”  She peered back at me.  “He gets stronger by the hour.  He just doesn’t know it.  It’s becoming so natural to him now.  He can’t tell the difference from one moment to the next.”

“Are you serious?” I asked curious, completely missing Sandy’s admission that she’d been horny for me.

[An errant thought makes him pause.]

I used to miss things like back then, especially when I was unsettled.  Not anymore, though.  Probably, because it’s been a long, long time since I’ve been unsettled… until a few months ago.

[Not for long, he’s eager to bring this to a conclusion.  He can almost
feel
the answer lying before him, somewhere, lost in his youth.]

Ramona nodded.

“How strong do you think I’ll get?” I wondered aloud, not certain I was specifically vocalizing it to the girls before me.

Ramona’s answer was immediate.  “You will be strong enough to attract the opposite sex.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I was Sandy’s jaw drop nearly as low as mine, and I thought, at any moment, I was going to feel the filaments of the carpet tickling my chin.

“What!?!” said Sandy through a strangled esophagus.

“Really?!?” I ask
ed in a tone so high-pitched, it sounded like someone had just squeezed the shit out of my nuts.

My girlfriend merely nodded.

Fuck me,
I couldn’t help but think.  Did I really want some dude chasing after me with a throbbing cock poised straight at my asscrack?  Could I take another man’s dick?  Would I want to?  I had watched Ramona and Katie kissing and it was the most erotic thing I had seen to date.  Was this any different?  Could I kiss a man with the same passion those two teenage girls had done?  I couldn’t see myself doing so, and then… the more I thought about it, the more I realized I had never really analyzed it from that particular angle.  It hadn’t crossed my mind.

“So what is this ‘pow-wow’ thing you were telling Sandy about?” asked my girlfriend, scattering my thought like flies before the fly-swatter.

“Huh?” I blurted through the side of my mouth like a drugged-up schizophrenic.

Ramona’s brow creased. She stared at me with greater scrutiny.  “You alright, Eff?” she asked, somewhere between concern and sarcasm.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied.  I was somewhat mortified that I was thinking about men and their dicks.

“So?” she asked again, spreading her palms wide, to either side of her.

I swallowed, and then let my eyes meet hers.

“Come on, Estefan, just bend over and spread your cheeks for me,” he said in a husky voice…

I visibly shook myself to banish
that
train of thought.

“Steve, stop acting like such a dillrod!” demanded Ramona.

I chuckled in spite of her indignation, knowing she would pop a gasket, if she knew what I’d been thinking.  “Sorry, sorry,” I repeated a few times, placating her with a squeeze on her elbow, but the laughter crept back.  I found I couldn’t stop it.  I was suddenly overwhelmed by it.  I bent over at the waist and let it fly.  I was powerless against it.

A few minutes later, with both girls standing above me – Sandy still smiling, Ramona scowling - I peered up at them, saying around an errant chortle, “You guys should get settled in, so we can talk.”

My girlfriend was about to say something crude, but Sandy grabbed her by the arm.  “Come one, girl, let’s get these air mattresses pumped up, so we can designate who is sleeping where.”

Ramona appeared on the verge of shrugging off her long-time friend, then thought better of it, and pried her gaze
from me.  “Even though, he’s a dumb ass at times, I’m sleeping with Eff.  Katie probably will as well, so you’ll only have to make two spots, then the three of you can ‘rock-paper-scissors’ for Katie’s bed.”  They were already walking away, animated conversation dying in my ears as they left.

I stood, realizing I
’d actually sat down during my outburst of merriment, and stepped toward my side of the Loft, passing the bathroom and saw Leda flossing, gazing into the mirror above one of the sinks.

Tirza passed me, making it a point to look away from me as she went to help the others figure out the sleeping arrangements.  I got the impression the inadvertent slip of my Mutation was the reason.  After what she had told me earlier that day, there could be no other reason why she would shy away from me like that.

“You’re gonna have to be a little more careful, babydoll,” said a playful Katie, bunching her shoulders, trying to look shy, but her expression was anything, but shy.  “You had all of us gushing in our panties.”  She giggled, and then jutted her chin toward Tirza.  “Even she had her knees clamped together tight.”  Her voice dropped to a whisper as she approached me.  “I could tell her clit was getting all tingly.”

I wasn’t grinning fully, more about halfway when Katie walked into me and gave me a quick kiss on the mouth.  For a second, I was stunned and didn’t know what to do.  I was horrified she’d just let everyone know we were much more than close cousins.  I stared
at her with eyes as round as a full moon.

She met my
alarm with calm, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.  She was a serene figure in a tight fitting t-shirt and matching, hip-hugging short-shorts, barefoot - sexy as hell.

I was about to say something when she stopped me with a finger on my lips.

“They all know,” she whispered and kissed me again.  I followed suit only like a marionette.  “It was something we discussed earlier.  Ramona told them it was a residual effect of your Mutation, and they seemed to take it in stride, which was nice.  They’d probably freak out if they knew we’d been lusting after one another since we were little kids.”  She rumbled with a quiet chuckle.

“Oh,” was all I could manage, letting this newfound reality sink in for a minute or two.  “But what about my brother and sister, they’re gonna be pissed off!” I squa
wked, glancing across the Loft.  I was shamefaced.  It was bleeding from my visage and onto the floor.

Johan, Flavia and Jolene had stayed on my bed watching cable.  They hadn’t so much as spoken a word to the rest of us, though they seemed to be talking to each other periodically.