Medea: Part 12
Just the morning after bit. There's some plot development, but I'm saving the bulk of that for 13...it would have gotten far too long for livejournal to cooperate with me if I had included it.
roxywabbit has not seen this. I wanted to surprise her with a wee bit of naughty.
I predict my art block will be cured after I see District 9. Movies that make me emotional usually inspire me to draw or be creative in some way.
“Release me you sniveling insect!” Myrna hisses, once more slamming her slender frame against the webbed door. The robe had long been torn to shreds in frustration, and the Second watches her impassively.
The insults she threw at him and the various technicians who passed began to repeat within two hours. Thankfully the hybrid’s mouth ran dry after the first hour to save them from getting spat at.
Now she paces. Narrow little shoulders roll forward in a hunch, back and forth she goes muttering both outwardly and inward to herself. The Wraith dares to step towards the holding cell as she turns to and fro, “I will ask again, woman, who sent you?”
Whirling, she reaches through the web, claws outstretched as the flesh of her hand darkens to a glorious midnight. The hand is ensnared, an iron grip on her wrist, twisting it upwards as the owner whimpers. “You’ve been provided food and reprieve from the sun. If you do not answer me you will be,” the Second pauses and his claws sink into the smooth near black skin, “destined to the air lock, Myrna,” purring out her name.
A jerk brings the hybrid against the door, her breasts squeezed against the tough organic frame. For the first time since the hybrid had been put in the cell, the Wraith saw a glimmer of fright in her blood speckled eyes. With that comes the feeling of arousal, nostrils flare to take in the heady scent of her fear, bathing in it, enjoying the sight of the female struggling to pull free.
“I will tell you,” Myrna says at last, her breath coming in sharp gasps, “if you allow me to go free.”
“I’m afraid that is not going to happen. You may tell me all you wish, but, little half blood, you will not be allowed to leave this hive.”
Fear becomes surprise and surprise, rage. Plump, human lips curl in anger, revealing Wraith teeth, “Well,” Myrna whispers, “I guess you’ll never know, will you?” The snarl twists into a smile as she giggles like a child.
Disgusting beast, the Second thinks quite clearly so the young prison keeper looks at him questioningly. The Wraith nods to the young one, “Deny her water until she is willing to speak.” Report any changes in her behavior to me.
“Yes Sub-Commander,” the Wraith with the tattooed claw marks over his left eye answers with a respectful bow.
…
Jennifer pulls the quilt over her nose as she stares at the bioluminescent ceiling. Her legs were sore, and her side stung from the clotting tracks of scratches that ran downward, trailing partially to mid thigh. Circular bruises dot her legs; the bulk of which were scattered over her hips and several on the outside of the knees.
The claws felt close to puncturing her flesh as he pushed her legs by the knees nearly to her shoulders. The Wraith’s beard brushed over her nose and temples allowing her full view of his long neck. Tentative fingers reach out and touch the neck as if an offering, playing over the smooth, wet, hot skin.
A heavy arm falls across Jennifer’s chest, nearly knocking the wind from her lungs. Instinctively, the Wraith pulls the human towards him as he slept, drawn to the warmth. Jennifer had only managed just over thirty minutes of restless sleep before being startled by the rustling of a worshipper.
The black haired worshipper who woke her had not stayed long. She entered the room and left with Jennifer’s clothing after organizing a few stray items around the room. The tablet was put on the table near the large circular window and Todd’s clothing had been folded neatly and set on the bench.
She feels sleepy but could not bring herself to succumb to it once more. Each moment her eyes fall heavy a sound, a rustle from Todd or the murmur of worshippers passing the door bring her back to full awareness. The hive itself possesses a constant murmur, a prickling at the back of her mind in a language far too soft and alien to understand.
Jennifer was stuck here, without clothes. Such an idiot…but the sex was great. She shakes her head to clear that treacherous thought. Of course the sex was great; Todd had over ten thousand years of practice and a little extra that stirs the heat in her belly when she thinks about it.
It was then Jennifer realizes that she was just another lay for him. Not that it really matters; a Wraith and human would never work out. Not in her mind, at least. It would be fun while it lasts. Though, she thinks morosely, no human will ever come close to that; so feral, both brutal and gentle with her.
I want to. That had been all it took and Todd was more than happy to oblige. Jennifer rolls onto her side and the arm tightens as her head rests just under his chin, cushioned by his shoulder. Without the leather, the Wraith had a pleasant scent she could not identify. It was an alien smell, very earthy, and old. The strong odor of decaying leaves faded when his body had cooled. She closes her eyes and buries her face into the crook of that long neck.
The heartbeat against her ear was slow, a span of four seconds between each beat. When they hibernate, it slows to one beat per five hours. The hives supposedly provides whatever it is to keep them alive. Johanson said, and had tried his best to explain what he knew of the Wraith’s life cycles when she had first arrived to replace Carson. Still, there was only so much their biology could tell.
Jennifer carefully reaches up, squeezing her arm between their bodies and splays her fingers over his chest. Her fingertips brush his collar bone, playing over the cooled skin. Although she had never personally felt one, Jennifer thought this must be what a dolphin’s hide felt like out of the water. It was smooth, not unlike her own flesh, but had a hint of resilience that she could feel when her fingers press into the skin.
A rumble deep in his throat and a muscle spasm in his thigh cause Jennifer to pause, tense with worry. Todd shifts, nearly rolling atop her. With his arm around her, she just manages to scoot far enough to avoid being pinned.
Jennifer smiles to herself, watching him sleep at her new safe distance; such a frightening alien species lying beside her, snoring like a not yet warm diesel engine. Of course his features were intimidating even in sleep, but the relaxed muscles soften his features just enough to let her see what he may have looked like centuries ago. The war had aged him quiet a bit since she had seen him two years before; more gaunt and a few extra lines between his heavy brows.
A wicked thought crosses her mind, I shouldn’t, and she wriggles out from the encircling arm. Sucking her bottom lip, Jennifer pushes the Wraith’s shoulder with a grunt of effort and a flash of teeth as she strains. He rolls onto his back, an arm over his face. Unfortunately the snoring grew worse in this position, not that he would remain asleep for much longer with what she had in mind.
What happens in this room will remain. Jennifer trusts the Wraith since the species did not seem to be the type to kiss and tell, not with the long practice of high respect for females. What she plans on doing would remain their little secret. I haven’t even done this to Rodney, she thinks with a mischievous smile that curls her lips.
While normally she would never considering doing such a thing with anyone, Jennifer felt free here. It was so alien and Todd has been most tolerant of the human.
Leaning down, she carefully pulls the inky black fur blanket down exposing inch by inch of his tattooed torso. Todd is narrow of the waist with a broad chest and shoulders; he lacks the musculature of Ronon. Not that he needed it, the Wraith had the body of a runner; long legs with thick calves and ankles built to sustain brutal landings. His toes were long with sharp, raised scarab carapace claws.
Jennifer keeps his feet covered to avoid any accidental contact with those claws.
Glancing up to ensure Todd has not awakened (though she would not be able to tell with his arm over his eyes), Jennifer carefully walks her fingers along the hairless span between his navel and the base of his member. She brushes her tongue over the ridges that run downwards, two inches from the base. Hardly registering the intake of breath above her, Jennifer takes the pointed tip into her mouth and presses it against the roof of her mouth with her tongue.
Wet and slimy Jennifer nearly gags as the tongue like extension slithers towards the back of her throat. Unlike a human, the head was not at all very sensitive. However, the side ridges, node like along either side of the shaft were overly so when aroused. It wasn’t long before she elicits the proper response with the combined fluid strokes of her hand and mouth. Like almonds, metal and honey. Pulling away, she slides up his torso. The chilled skin tickles her breasts as they graze his chest. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Clearly,” Todd murmurs, his voice thick and sleep slurred. The nictitating membranes had not fully retreated over his eyes, causing the Wraith to look far more alien than Jennifer wants him to.
With the residual stiff evidence of his arousal pressing against her stomach, Jennifer kisses him, ignoring the sudden sinking in her stomach at the vast difference between them, the differences that reminds her that any second he could turn on her, kill her and be done with it. “What does, well, we don’t exactly have an official term for it yet,” she rests her chin on her arms after she crosses them over his chest. “That um, extra bit, what is it for?”
“Once exposed,” Todd tilts his chin towards his chest to look at her, “as I’m sure you’ve noticed.” The Wraith pauses as Jennifer’s lips split into a coy smile: “It enters fully through the cervix to ensure the sperm reaches the female’s,” he searches for a word the human would understand, “her holding chamber until she is ready to fertilize the eggs she passes. It lessens the risk of wasting the cells as you humans do when mating.”
“So it’s kinda like how wasps and bees work huh?” Jennifer murmurs.
“In that sense, yes. I am grateful that I will not suffer the same fate as the honey bee drones when I mate.”
“Oh the wonders and horrors of Google,” Jennifer’s giggle dies when she feels his hands rest on her hips, the fingers splayed over her buttocks. “So, will handing those embryos over barter a Queen for you?”
“It may.”
“If anyone can get more for less, it’s you. Maybe you’ll get two for the price of one?”
“I’d rather not have them kill each other before the mating cycle.”
…
John rubs a hand over his damp hair, ruffling it. “What the hell is taking Jennifer so long?”
“She might be helping them with Myrna or something,” Rodney says past a mouthful of fruit.
Once they had finished bathing, their escort brought them back to the waiting room. It had been restocked with two bowls of fruit with a small plate for the pits, cores and stems. A slender pitcher of water sat at the end of the table, encircled by short glasses. A nice gesture, but John found it a bit creepy. It wasn’t like the Wraith shopped at Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel. Someone died for those.
“Or she was fed on.”
“I doubt that, Ronon. Todd probably put her to work on something to get some information out of her.” John stretches in his seat, groaning as he spreads his arms. “I really don’t think he’d let anything happen to her anyway.”
“How do you possibly know that? You can read his mind now?” Rodney quips.
With a shrug John replies: “She’s useful. Todd doesn’t get rid of people who can get him something he wants.”
…
“Fuck,” Jennifer hisses as her face is pressed into the mattress. Todd’s claws, so close to her eye just graze her skin, tickling the flesh. The other hand gripped her hip, holding her in place.
She gasps, each upward thrust fueling the fire in her belly. Rougher this time around, the Wraith knew his bed mate’s limits now and what she enjoyed. It did surprise him, however, that the woman became excited when exposed to a minimal amount of direct pain.
Jennifer had arced and moaned when he bit the round underside of her breast. The Wraith could not complain, as it allowed him to slacken some restraint.
“Todd?”
A deep, thrumming “hmm” answers her as the Wraith analyzes the data brought to him while Jennifer slept. The human finally became exhausted enough to ignore the stresses and sleep. They were only an hour and a half’s journey from the breeding facility, he had informed her when she awoke a few minutes earlier.
“Why was Myrna locked up?”
Todd stops and looks directly at the woman engulfed by the furs and quilts behind him. “She carries the virus.”
“So she’s a werewolf?”
“She can manage a shift, yes, but it could kill her. The Wraith in her prevents a permanent change in DNA. Myrna’s purpose is that of a transitional host; a carrier of sorts. Contact with her blood or any bodily fluid will transfer the whole of the virus. Essentially, she is a living biological weapon.”
Jennifer sits up, pulling a dark blue quilt around herself. “Was she the one who killed everyone?”
“I suspect so, the bodies were eaten after they had died,” Todd replies absently, his attention back on the information on the screen.
The hybrid’s genetic makeup astounds him and the Wraith knew the tale of her past had been a well rehearsed lie based on this. Of course the village may not have been, but how she came to be a hybrid certainly was. He infers the remainders of the abomination’s hybrids have managed to perfect a new strain. A walking bomb programmed to appear harmless and sympathetic. With a more Wraith-like appearance, these creatures could easily infiltrate a hive desperate for able bodies.
“So, is it even possible for a Wraith to reproduce with a human?” Jennifer scoots closer the Todd so that she could look over his shoulder.
“In the proper circumstances, yes.”
“There’ve been true hybrids before?” she asks, watching the Wraith script roll over the dark lit tablet.
“I know of two cases. There may be more, but it has not been documented if so.”
Watching his eyes move right to left across the text, Jennifer rests her head on his shoulder. “I won’t…become…”
Todd sets the tablet on the bed and frowns at the woman. “I admit to knowing quite a bit, Jennifer Keller,” he stresses the hard r of her name, “But I cannot predict pregnancy.”
“So there is a chance.”
“It is a similar chance you have taken with your Doctor McKay, is it not?”
Fighting the urge to slap him across that angular face, Jennifer satisfies her anger by glaring at the tablet. Of course Todd had a point. Condoms weren’t one hundred percent effective, and she and Rodney had not used protection every time.
With a sigh, the woman just leans against Todd. There was the temptation to ask him if she could go back to the waiting room, but she didn’t want to see Rodney. He couldn’t possibly know what had happened, twice, along with the oral which she denied Rodney. Jennifer just could not bring herself to face him now, so she settles on trying to read the information Todd was dissecting.
Each block of characters drew her eyes over it. The uneven sections were paragraphs; flat over the top to indicate the beginning. Jennifer knew enough of their language to recognize a handful of words. From what she could gather, it appears to be results from screenings and behavior observations of Myrna while not on neuro-inhibitors. “Outward displays of aggression when in the presence of a Wraith, spits aiming towards the face. Silent, and unresponsive to the humans. Minor shift in appearance, facial structure and extremities. No widespread skin discoloration, concentrated in the area of the mutation.” Wraith sentence construction was very direct and arranged similar to Spanish.
“Why didn’t she attack us on the planet?”
“Risking infecting a human prevented that. Your group was not the intended targets, and once harboring the virus, a human reverts to a near ape.”
“So we turn into big, flesh eating monkeys?”
“I have just told you so; there is no need to reconfirm it, Jennifer.”
“And there’s no need to make me feel stupid,” Jennifer snaps back at the Wraith.
“If I had thought you stupid…”
“You wouldn’t have fucked me?” she finishes, looking at him.
“Ah Jennifer,” Todd murmurs, “I would not have taken the chance with my life by testing your catastrophic gene therapy, or aided you on that planet. The likelihood of the Hoffan plague being cured with your help is great, my dear.”
Being the first to avert her eyes, Jennifer plays with the edge of the quilt. “With your history of keeping information from us, I really don’t think that cure can happen anytime soon.”
“You are on my Hive are you not?” Todd asks. He taps the edge of the tablet’s screen and it fades to black. Setting it to one side, the Wraith stands and rolls his shoulders. “You will have access to every bit of information in our databank until you are returned to Atlantis.”
Thanks, I feel like a whore now, Jennifer thinks bitterly. Great sex little human, now go play with the ship’s computers until I can get you home. She swings her legs over the side of the bed with the quilt around her. “Will…”
“I will send someone to escort you to the medical research laboratory when you are decent, unless you wish to entertain my crew in your current state.”
“My clothes are gone.”
“And they should be returned within a handful of minutes. I will inform your friends of your new location while you wait.”
Sitting in silence as Todd redresses, Jennifer tries to ignore that knot in her stomach. If anything went wrong, she feels that somehow, it would be her fault. If I didn’t sleep with him, I’d be sitting with John and Rodney right now waiting to get dropped off at home. But, I wouldn’t have full access to Todd’s info…
Once Todd leaves her, she draws her knees to her chest and stares at the screen on the opposite wall. Not bothering to translate is, Jennifer simply lets her eyes unfocus as the rolling letters fall, day dreaming. So many horrible outcomes could rise out of her fooling around with a Wraith.
“And I’m not the first person to ever do that,” she says to herself in reassurance. Her clothes would be here soon and she would get to take her mind off of what had happened. Absorbing herself with work was a way of coping, that and eating a grilled cheese with a big fat layer of sharp cheddar.
The thought of food reminds her that she was getting hungry. Jennifer doubts the Wraith know how to fix a proper grilled cheese with butter on the outside mixed with a little egg to make it extra crispy. Fruit seems to be in an endless supply, she reminds herself to ask Todd or whoever comes to escort her about getting a snack.
Bored, she scoots off the bed and walks around Todd’s bedroom. If it weren’t for the worshipper, or maid, whatever she was, Jennifer thinks the room would probably be a bit cluttered. The closet opens to coats, shirts and pants. Boots line the bottom of the organic growth. Do Hives come standard, or does furniture grow to suit the owner? she thinks to herself as she picks up a pair of the long, narrow boots.
Setting down the boots, the slightly out of place trunk in the far corner, under the window catches Jennifer’s eye. Large and made from dark stained wood, the piece stuck out like a sore thumb despite being partially covered by a coat. Carefully removing the coat, she flips the leather straps on the side and pushes the heavy lid up.
“Wow.”
Inside the trunk were books. Languages that she has never seen before, some looked as if they’d poof into dust if she touches them. Tightening the quilt under her arms, Jennifer sits on the warm floor. With one hand on the lid to keep it from falling on her, she rifles through the less delicate books. By flipping through the pages with illustrations, Jennifer can guess at the content: medical, herbs, deformities and tumors, geography and the last she picks up appears to be a fictional story. People, humans, dressed in near Victorian attire grace a few of the pages between chapters.
Absorbed by the lovely little drawings the foot steps behind her were silent. “Doctor Keller?”
With a gasp, Jennifer lets go of the lid. Slamming shut, she pulls her hands away quickly before it can hit her fingers. Looking up at the Wraith standing behind her, Jennifer manages a startled smile. The tattoo under his eye and long face were familiar. “Hi.”
“The Commander has requested you be escorted to the research laboratory.”
“My clothes aren’t here yet,” Jennifer replies.
The expression gave little to what the Wraith thought of the response. Every time she saw Kenny, he looked like someone spat in his cereal.
“Um,” she stands, keeping the quilt pulled tight, “how do you like your job?”
Kenny tilts his head, the sour expression changing to a sour confusion. “What manner of question is that?”
“Just passing the time,” Jennifer says with an awkward smile. “I’ve always kinda wondered. I mean you’re Todd’s second in command. That gets some perks, right?”
The Wraith frowns at the woman standing clad in nothing but a quilt before him. He had overheard one of the underlings complaining of pointless questions from this human, any further complaints died once he came into view. “The position has its benefits and risks,” he says finally.
“Do you like working with him?”
Such pointless questions, “I’ve served under worse.”
Jennifer nods and squeezes the quilt then rocks on her heels. She was sure Kenny was enjoying her mouth being shut; she watches the door to avoid catching his eye. I wonder if he knows what went on.
The few minutes stretch on. Jennifer occupies her mind with looking at the room further. Plundering in Todd’s belongings was off limits now that Kenny was watching her, possibly just as bored as she. Even if he did not mind, common courteousy prevented her from doing so. The yawn the Wraith didn’t bother stifling confirms it. Finally, she cannot stand the silence any further: “Why does he keep all those books?”
“I do not question the Commander’s hobbies.”
At least my clothes will be here soon.
roxywabbit has not seen this. I wanted to surprise her with a wee bit of naughty.
I predict my art block will be cured after I see District 9. Movies that make me emotional usually inspire me to draw or be creative in some way.
“Release me you sniveling insect!” Myrna hisses, once more slamming her slender frame against the webbed door. The robe had long been torn to shreds in frustration, and the Second watches her impassively.
The insults she threw at him and the various technicians who passed began to repeat within two hours. Thankfully the hybrid’s mouth ran dry after the first hour to save them from getting spat at.
Now she paces. Narrow little shoulders roll forward in a hunch, back and forth she goes muttering both outwardly and inward to herself. The Wraith dares to step towards the holding cell as she turns to and fro, “I will ask again, woman, who sent you?”
Whirling, she reaches through the web, claws outstretched as the flesh of her hand darkens to a glorious midnight. The hand is ensnared, an iron grip on her wrist, twisting it upwards as the owner whimpers. “You’ve been provided food and reprieve from the sun. If you do not answer me you will be,” the Second pauses and his claws sink into the smooth near black skin, “destined to the air lock, Myrna,” purring out her name.
A jerk brings the hybrid against the door, her breasts squeezed against the tough organic frame. For the first time since the hybrid had been put in the cell, the Wraith saw a glimmer of fright in her blood speckled eyes. With that comes the feeling of arousal, nostrils flare to take in the heady scent of her fear, bathing in it, enjoying the sight of the female struggling to pull free.
“I will tell you,” Myrna says at last, her breath coming in sharp gasps, “if you allow me to go free.”
“I’m afraid that is not going to happen. You may tell me all you wish, but, little half blood, you will not be allowed to leave this hive.”
Fear becomes surprise and surprise, rage. Plump, human lips curl in anger, revealing Wraith teeth, “Well,” Myrna whispers, “I guess you’ll never know, will you?” The snarl twists into a smile as she giggles like a child.
Disgusting beast, the Second thinks quite clearly so the young prison keeper looks at him questioningly. The Wraith nods to the young one, “Deny her water until she is willing to speak.” Report any changes in her behavior to me.
“Yes Sub-Commander,” the Wraith with the tattooed claw marks over his left eye answers with a respectful bow.
…
Jennifer pulls the quilt over her nose as she stares at the bioluminescent ceiling. Her legs were sore, and her side stung from the clotting tracks of scratches that ran downward, trailing partially to mid thigh. Circular bruises dot her legs; the bulk of which were scattered over her hips and several on the outside of the knees.
The claws felt close to puncturing her flesh as he pushed her legs by the knees nearly to her shoulders. The Wraith’s beard brushed over her nose and temples allowing her full view of his long neck. Tentative fingers reach out and touch the neck as if an offering, playing over the smooth, wet, hot skin.
A heavy arm falls across Jennifer’s chest, nearly knocking the wind from her lungs. Instinctively, the Wraith pulls the human towards him as he slept, drawn to the warmth. Jennifer had only managed just over thirty minutes of restless sleep before being startled by the rustling of a worshipper.
The black haired worshipper who woke her had not stayed long. She entered the room and left with Jennifer’s clothing after organizing a few stray items around the room. The tablet was put on the table near the large circular window and Todd’s clothing had been folded neatly and set on the bench.
She feels sleepy but could not bring herself to succumb to it once more. Each moment her eyes fall heavy a sound, a rustle from Todd or the murmur of worshippers passing the door bring her back to full awareness. The hive itself possesses a constant murmur, a prickling at the back of her mind in a language far too soft and alien to understand.
Jennifer was stuck here, without clothes. Such an idiot…but the sex was great. She shakes her head to clear that treacherous thought. Of course the sex was great; Todd had over ten thousand years of practice and a little extra that stirs the heat in her belly when she thinks about it.
It was then Jennifer realizes that she was just another lay for him. Not that it really matters; a Wraith and human would never work out. Not in her mind, at least. It would be fun while it lasts. Though, she thinks morosely, no human will ever come close to that; so feral, both brutal and gentle with her.
I want to. That had been all it took and Todd was more than happy to oblige. Jennifer rolls onto her side and the arm tightens as her head rests just under his chin, cushioned by his shoulder. Without the leather, the Wraith had a pleasant scent she could not identify. It was an alien smell, very earthy, and old. The strong odor of decaying leaves faded when his body had cooled. She closes her eyes and buries her face into the crook of that long neck.
The heartbeat against her ear was slow, a span of four seconds between each beat. When they hibernate, it slows to one beat per five hours. The hives supposedly provides whatever it is to keep them alive. Johanson said, and had tried his best to explain what he knew of the Wraith’s life cycles when she had first arrived to replace Carson. Still, there was only so much their biology could tell.
Jennifer carefully reaches up, squeezing her arm between their bodies and splays her fingers over his chest. Her fingertips brush his collar bone, playing over the cooled skin. Although she had never personally felt one, Jennifer thought this must be what a dolphin’s hide felt like out of the water. It was smooth, not unlike her own flesh, but had a hint of resilience that she could feel when her fingers press into the skin.
A rumble deep in his throat and a muscle spasm in his thigh cause Jennifer to pause, tense with worry. Todd shifts, nearly rolling atop her. With his arm around her, she just manages to scoot far enough to avoid being pinned.
Jennifer smiles to herself, watching him sleep at her new safe distance; such a frightening alien species lying beside her, snoring like a not yet warm diesel engine. Of course his features were intimidating even in sleep, but the relaxed muscles soften his features just enough to let her see what he may have looked like centuries ago. The war had aged him quiet a bit since she had seen him two years before; more gaunt and a few extra lines between his heavy brows.
A wicked thought crosses her mind, I shouldn’t, and she wriggles out from the encircling arm. Sucking her bottom lip, Jennifer pushes the Wraith’s shoulder with a grunt of effort and a flash of teeth as she strains. He rolls onto his back, an arm over his face. Unfortunately the snoring grew worse in this position, not that he would remain asleep for much longer with what she had in mind.
What happens in this room will remain. Jennifer trusts the Wraith since the species did not seem to be the type to kiss and tell, not with the long practice of high respect for females. What she plans on doing would remain their little secret. I haven’t even done this to Rodney, she thinks with a mischievous smile that curls her lips.
While normally she would never considering doing such a thing with anyone, Jennifer felt free here. It was so alien and Todd has been most tolerant of the human.
Leaning down, she carefully pulls the inky black fur blanket down exposing inch by inch of his tattooed torso. Todd is narrow of the waist with a broad chest and shoulders; he lacks the musculature of Ronon. Not that he needed it, the Wraith had the body of a runner; long legs with thick calves and ankles built to sustain brutal landings. His toes were long with sharp, raised scarab carapace claws.
Jennifer keeps his feet covered to avoid any accidental contact with those claws.
Glancing up to ensure Todd has not awakened (though she would not be able to tell with his arm over his eyes), Jennifer carefully walks her fingers along the hairless span between his navel and the base of his member. She brushes her tongue over the ridges that run downwards, two inches from the base. Hardly registering the intake of breath above her, Jennifer takes the pointed tip into her mouth and presses it against the roof of her mouth with her tongue.
Wet and slimy Jennifer nearly gags as the tongue like extension slithers towards the back of her throat. Unlike a human, the head was not at all very sensitive. However, the side ridges, node like along either side of the shaft were overly so when aroused. It wasn’t long before she elicits the proper response with the combined fluid strokes of her hand and mouth. Like almonds, metal and honey. Pulling away, she slides up his torso. The chilled skin tickles her breasts as they graze his chest. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Clearly,” Todd murmurs, his voice thick and sleep slurred. The nictitating membranes had not fully retreated over his eyes, causing the Wraith to look far more alien than Jennifer wants him to.
With the residual stiff evidence of his arousal pressing against her stomach, Jennifer kisses him, ignoring the sudden sinking in her stomach at the vast difference between them, the differences that reminds her that any second he could turn on her, kill her and be done with it. “What does, well, we don’t exactly have an official term for it yet,” she rests her chin on her arms after she crosses them over his chest. “That um, extra bit, what is it for?”
“Once exposed,” Todd tilts his chin towards his chest to look at her, “as I’m sure you’ve noticed.” The Wraith pauses as Jennifer’s lips split into a coy smile: “It enters fully through the cervix to ensure the sperm reaches the female’s,” he searches for a word the human would understand, “her holding chamber until she is ready to fertilize the eggs she passes. It lessens the risk of wasting the cells as you humans do when mating.”
“So it’s kinda like how wasps and bees work huh?” Jennifer murmurs.
“In that sense, yes. I am grateful that I will not suffer the same fate as the honey bee drones when I mate.”
“Oh the wonders and horrors of Google,” Jennifer’s giggle dies when she feels his hands rest on her hips, the fingers splayed over her buttocks. “So, will handing those embryos over barter a Queen for you?”
“It may.”
“If anyone can get more for less, it’s you. Maybe you’ll get two for the price of one?”
“I’d rather not have them kill each other before the mating cycle.”
…
John rubs a hand over his damp hair, ruffling it. “What the hell is taking Jennifer so long?”
“She might be helping them with Myrna or something,” Rodney says past a mouthful of fruit.
Once they had finished bathing, their escort brought them back to the waiting room. It had been restocked with two bowls of fruit with a small plate for the pits, cores and stems. A slender pitcher of water sat at the end of the table, encircled by short glasses. A nice gesture, but John found it a bit creepy. It wasn’t like the Wraith shopped at Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel. Someone died for those.
“Or she was fed on.”
“I doubt that, Ronon. Todd probably put her to work on something to get some information out of her.” John stretches in his seat, groaning as he spreads his arms. “I really don’t think he’d let anything happen to her anyway.”
“How do you possibly know that? You can read his mind now?” Rodney quips.
With a shrug John replies: “She’s useful. Todd doesn’t get rid of people who can get him something he wants.”
…
“Fuck,” Jennifer hisses as her face is pressed into the mattress. Todd’s claws, so close to her eye just graze her skin, tickling the flesh. The other hand gripped her hip, holding her in place.
She gasps, each upward thrust fueling the fire in her belly. Rougher this time around, the Wraith knew his bed mate’s limits now and what she enjoyed. It did surprise him, however, that the woman became excited when exposed to a minimal amount of direct pain.
Jennifer had arced and moaned when he bit the round underside of her breast. The Wraith could not complain, as it allowed him to slacken some restraint.
“Todd?”
A deep, thrumming “hmm” answers her as the Wraith analyzes the data brought to him while Jennifer slept. The human finally became exhausted enough to ignore the stresses and sleep. They were only an hour and a half’s journey from the breeding facility, he had informed her when she awoke a few minutes earlier.
“Why was Myrna locked up?”
Todd stops and looks directly at the woman engulfed by the furs and quilts behind him. “She carries the virus.”
“So she’s a werewolf?”
“She can manage a shift, yes, but it could kill her. The Wraith in her prevents a permanent change in DNA. Myrna’s purpose is that of a transitional host; a carrier of sorts. Contact with her blood or any bodily fluid will transfer the whole of the virus. Essentially, she is a living biological weapon.”
Jennifer sits up, pulling a dark blue quilt around herself. “Was she the one who killed everyone?”
“I suspect so, the bodies were eaten after they had died,” Todd replies absently, his attention back on the information on the screen.
The hybrid’s genetic makeup astounds him and the Wraith knew the tale of her past had been a well rehearsed lie based on this. Of course the village may not have been, but how she came to be a hybrid certainly was. He infers the remainders of the abomination’s hybrids have managed to perfect a new strain. A walking bomb programmed to appear harmless and sympathetic. With a more Wraith-like appearance, these creatures could easily infiltrate a hive desperate for able bodies.
“So, is it even possible for a Wraith to reproduce with a human?” Jennifer scoots closer the Todd so that she could look over his shoulder.
“In the proper circumstances, yes.”
“There’ve been true hybrids before?” she asks, watching the Wraith script roll over the dark lit tablet.
“I know of two cases. There may be more, but it has not been documented if so.”
Watching his eyes move right to left across the text, Jennifer rests her head on his shoulder. “I won’t…become…”
Todd sets the tablet on the bed and frowns at the woman. “I admit to knowing quite a bit, Jennifer Keller,” he stresses the hard r of her name, “But I cannot predict pregnancy.”
“So there is a chance.”
“It is a similar chance you have taken with your Doctor McKay, is it not?”
Fighting the urge to slap him across that angular face, Jennifer satisfies her anger by glaring at the tablet. Of course Todd had a point. Condoms weren’t one hundred percent effective, and she and Rodney had not used protection every time.
With a sigh, the woman just leans against Todd. There was the temptation to ask him if she could go back to the waiting room, but she didn’t want to see Rodney. He couldn’t possibly know what had happened, twice, along with the oral which she denied Rodney. Jennifer just could not bring herself to face him now, so she settles on trying to read the information Todd was dissecting.
Each block of characters drew her eyes over it. The uneven sections were paragraphs; flat over the top to indicate the beginning. Jennifer knew enough of their language to recognize a handful of words. From what she could gather, it appears to be results from screenings and behavior observations of Myrna while not on neuro-inhibitors. “Outward displays of aggression when in the presence of a Wraith, spits aiming towards the face. Silent, and unresponsive to the humans. Minor shift in appearance, facial structure and extremities. No widespread skin discoloration, concentrated in the area of the mutation.” Wraith sentence construction was very direct and arranged similar to Spanish.
“Why didn’t she attack us on the planet?”
“Risking infecting a human prevented that. Your group was not the intended targets, and once harboring the virus, a human reverts to a near ape.”
“So we turn into big, flesh eating monkeys?”
“I have just told you so; there is no need to reconfirm it, Jennifer.”
“And there’s no need to make me feel stupid,” Jennifer snaps back at the Wraith.
“If I had thought you stupid…”
“You wouldn’t have fucked me?” she finishes, looking at him.
“Ah Jennifer,” Todd murmurs, “I would not have taken the chance with my life by testing your catastrophic gene therapy, or aided you on that planet. The likelihood of the Hoffan plague being cured with your help is great, my dear.”
Being the first to avert her eyes, Jennifer plays with the edge of the quilt. “With your history of keeping information from us, I really don’t think that cure can happen anytime soon.”
“You are on my Hive are you not?” Todd asks. He taps the edge of the tablet’s screen and it fades to black. Setting it to one side, the Wraith stands and rolls his shoulders. “You will have access to every bit of information in our databank until you are returned to Atlantis.”
Thanks, I feel like a whore now, Jennifer thinks bitterly. Great sex little human, now go play with the ship’s computers until I can get you home. She swings her legs over the side of the bed with the quilt around her. “Will…”
“I will send someone to escort you to the medical research laboratory when you are decent, unless you wish to entertain my crew in your current state.”
“My clothes are gone.”
“And they should be returned within a handful of minutes. I will inform your friends of your new location while you wait.”
Sitting in silence as Todd redresses, Jennifer tries to ignore that knot in her stomach. If anything went wrong, she feels that somehow, it would be her fault. If I didn’t sleep with him, I’d be sitting with John and Rodney right now waiting to get dropped off at home. But, I wouldn’t have full access to Todd’s info…
Once Todd leaves her, she draws her knees to her chest and stares at the screen on the opposite wall. Not bothering to translate is, Jennifer simply lets her eyes unfocus as the rolling letters fall, day dreaming. So many horrible outcomes could rise out of her fooling around with a Wraith.
“And I’m not the first person to ever do that,” she says to herself in reassurance. Her clothes would be here soon and she would get to take her mind off of what had happened. Absorbing herself with work was a way of coping, that and eating a grilled cheese with a big fat layer of sharp cheddar.
The thought of food reminds her that she was getting hungry. Jennifer doubts the Wraith know how to fix a proper grilled cheese with butter on the outside mixed with a little egg to make it extra crispy. Fruit seems to be in an endless supply, she reminds herself to ask Todd or whoever comes to escort her about getting a snack.
Bored, she scoots off the bed and walks around Todd’s bedroom. If it weren’t for the worshipper, or maid, whatever she was, Jennifer thinks the room would probably be a bit cluttered. The closet opens to coats, shirts and pants. Boots line the bottom of the organic growth. Do Hives come standard, or does furniture grow to suit the owner? she thinks to herself as she picks up a pair of the long, narrow boots.
Setting down the boots, the slightly out of place trunk in the far corner, under the window catches Jennifer’s eye. Large and made from dark stained wood, the piece stuck out like a sore thumb despite being partially covered by a coat. Carefully removing the coat, she flips the leather straps on the side and pushes the heavy lid up.
“Wow.”
Inside the trunk were books. Languages that she has never seen before, some looked as if they’d poof into dust if she touches them. Tightening the quilt under her arms, Jennifer sits on the warm floor. With one hand on the lid to keep it from falling on her, she rifles through the less delicate books. By flipping through the pages with illustrations, Jennifer can guess at the content: medical, herbs, deformities and tumors, geography and the last she picks up appears to be a fictional story. People, humans, dressed in near Victorian attire grace a few of the pages between chapters.
Absorbed by the lovely little drawings the foot steps behind her were silent. “Doctor Keller?”
With a gasp, Jennifer lets go of the lid. Slamming shut, she pulls her hands away quickly before it can hit her fingers. Looking up at the Wraith standing behind her, Jennifer manages a startled smile. The tattoo under his eye and long face were familiar. “Hi.”
“The Commander has requested you be escorted to the research laboratory.”
“My clothes aren’t here yet,” Jennifer replies.
The expression gave little to what the Wraith thought of the response. Every time she saw Kenny, he looked like someone spat in his cereal.
“Um,” she stands, keeping the quilt pulled tight, “how do you like your job?”
Kenny tilts his head, the sour expression changing to a sour confusion. “What manner of question is that?”
“Just passing the time,” Jennifer says with an awkward smile. “I’ve always kinda wondered. I mean you’re Todd’s second in command. That gets some perks, right?”
The Wraith frowns at the woman standing clad in nothing but a quilt before him. He had overheard one of the underlings complaining of pointless questions from this human, any further complaints died once he came into view. “The position has its benefits and risks,” he says finally.
“Do you like working with him?”
Such pointless questions, “I’ve served under worse.”
Jennifer nods and squeezes the quilt then rocks on her heels. She was sure Kenny was enjoying her mouth being shut; she watches the door to avoid catching his eye. I wonder if he knows what went on.
The few minutes stretch on. Jennifer occupies her mind with looking at the room further. Plundering in Todd’s belongings was off limits now that Kenny was watching her, possibly just as bored as she. Even if he did not mind, common courteousy prevented her from doing so. The yawn the Wraith didn’t bother stifling confirms it. Finally, she cannot stand the silence any further: “Why does he keep all those books?”
“I do not question the Commander’s hobbies.”
At least my clothes will be here soon.