Fandom: Transformers G1
Pairing: Mirage/Tarinash
Rating: NC-17 for M/F
Codes: Het, Slash, Gender Change
Summary:
Wanderer's Home arc 3: Ezara's Team: 11: Place Your Bets
"So, are any of you entering the betting pools about the new sparks?" Smokescreen's voice was low, friendly and carried just enough hint of secrecy that the three Tezita at the table with Mirage, Jazz, Bluestreak, Bumblebee and Hound picked up that it wasn't entirely legal.
"What are the bets about?" Tarinash asked quietly, leaning forward a bit.
"Keep in mind, one of 'em's mine," Jazz reminded them all pointedly.
"It does improve the odds of one of them taking, and being sane enough to survive," Farim said thoughtfully. "Intel heritage do tend to mature, even mixed with a Beast."
"The Si'Mir's heritage you mean," Otalon countered. "Choices are not the same as heritage."
The oldest Tezita there gave a small smirk to his competitor.
"Which one's going to be first," Smokescreen said, then paused as the Tezita actually looked thoughtful at that.
"Has she told you?" Otalon asked, optics locked on the defensive strategist and gambler.
"If she has, it's news to me," Jazz said. "I guess the Tezita don't think too much about talking this sort of thing over?"
"Not when the Si'Mir's involved," Tarinash shook his head slightly. "It's been her duty to tend to such details since Toe'Emirc Alpha, maybe earlier," he shot a glance at Otalon and Farim.
"That's when it went to that position," Farim said. "But even with Delta Six there was someone in charge of it for the warriors."
"One of the reasons I turned down the promotion to full military status," Otalon added,
"Given your rank and stake in one, if you wish a say, bring it up to her," Farim glanced at Jazz, his tone polite. "It may not be common for her to consult the parents, but this is far from a common situation."
"I'm not that worried about it, honestly," Jazz admitted. "Though I am wondering who she has in mind for taking care of Skywarp's, when the time comes."
"Anything more than praying to I'ent'ae that it will accept someone on planet is going to be wishful thinking," Farim said quietly. "Fliers were notoriously difficult to foster, even when they were relatively common. A half-breed Beast flier? We'll be lucky if it doesn't decide to raise itself."
Despite the calm words, there wasn't a single Autobot that didn't pick up on just how uneasy all three of them were at that prospect.
"Its father might be a rebel, but he was a rebel who was notoriously easy to lead around by the nose," Hound pointed out.
"Most likely why she chose him," Tarinash chuckled softly.
"I'm going for looks," Otalon countered with a smirk. "She may be the Toe'Emirc, but she's still a young Beast. He's flashy, good looking and probably strutted for her."
"So just how much do you know about how things work?" Tarinash asked Smokescreen.
"Just enough to know when to keep out of her way," he joked. "And when to get in it," he added with a wink.
It earned him looks of skepticism about his self-preservation instincts from all three Tezita.
"He's talking about Ezara when she's in a partying mood," Jazz chuckled, shaking his head as he realized they weren't on the same subject. "She's very affectionate when she's in a good mood and there's a party going on."
A few understanding movements greeted the explanation.
"Anything you want to know before we lay a few bets?" Farim asked with more than a bit of amusement.
"Well, how about what the problem is with Beasts that we keep hearing about?" Smokescreen asked. "We keep hearing it's a bad sign, but not why."
Otalon and Farim exchanged a glance, then the older one settled in to explain. "I'm fairly sure you've gathered by now that Beasts run on base programming to a far greater extent than any other type. Even those like Ezara, or Tekisra's pair, who are relatively well educated, socialized and controlled, still fall back on that base survival coding when things don't go a way they are ready for."
"Yeah, we're familiar with that," Jazz nodded.
"By statistics, ninety-eight percent of newborns under the current conditions won't survive their first five loten, about nine orn or eleven local solar cycles. Ninety percent of those are killed in the first few moments," he continued. "Current conditions being it's the first young of a military Beast spark parent under extreme stress. The only thing going for it, at least from Ezara's side, is that she hasn't killed any of her young before. That would make it much more likely she'd do it again."
"Why?" Jazz managed to make his processors and vocalizer working.
"Because they represent both power and resources that the adult will covet under duress," Farim explained. "It will make her stronger when she's expecting fight for her life."
"At this point, just what does the parent have to do with any of it? The spark's already been separated," Smokescreen pointed out. "Just pop it in a body and it oughta work."
"It's not quite that simple. Not when there is a choice about it." Tarinash spoke up, his mood muted and voice low. "Tezita may be born able to survive if they have to, but we don't do that to them. Parents need to impart skills during the birth, show the newborn how to form their first body, basic language skills, it's place in the social order and the desire to accept a caretaker until it matures."
"A Beast like these two don't actually need a caretaker, but they're scary creatures if they raise themselves. Think about Ezara without any social or moral programming and you'll get the idea," Otalon added.
"Beyond all that, it simple tradition to have the parents there when the newborn comes alive," Farim flicked his chin in a shrug. "They invest a lot into the youngling after all."
"But if she's such a danger to it, why does she need to be there?" Jazz rephrased the question. "Couldn't someone else, like Lyzen, do the data transfer?"
Tarinash chuckled lightly. "Somewhere between 'try and stop her' and it really is best for a newborn to have a parent as it's caretaker. It may be almost impossible for those two, but I doubt even Lyzen can override the bit of social programming that demands the parents try. Not even Mitrix and her successors have managed to dull it, much less take it out."
"Please try to understand, there has always been a mortality rate among newborns and we are born knowing death will come before we're ready," Farim said. "We have never had the issues you're facing where every spark is worth fighting to keep alive. The risk of a parent killing their newborn is part of what we are. It's always been there, and does exist with every spark-type. It's just most common in Beasts."
"But killing your own newborn? And how could it help her?" Smokescreen asked, still a little horrified by the idea alone. "I know she can get something from sparks, but she'd still be losing something."
"She'd gain her strength back much sooner, gain body mass from it, and back when the that programming formed it was extremely rare for anyone to take care of young other than their own," Farim attempted to explain. "A newborn is a serious drain on whoever it's caretaker is for at least ten wraa, almost twenty-five local stellar cycles. Sometimes much longer.
"It is a brutal but completely logical choice to take back the resources invested in it before it becomes a drain if it is unlikely one can survive the process of raising it but are likely to survive to breed under more favorable conditions if you kill it. It is all about the adult's odds of survival, and the calculations are purely instinctive."
"Like the calculations that have her make a new spark without planning on it?" Jazz asked carefully. "There're other factors here to keep in mind - something about her made her want a youngling enough that she did it without any planning or forethought. Not sure if that oughta be a factor or not."
From the looks the three exchanged, that tidbit was news to them.
"It wasn't something either of us expected the first time," Jazz explained.
"That does change things," Tarinash said cautiously, still working on assimilating the fact. "She'd be much less likely to kill it, though there is still a high probability."
"Her circumstances also changed between then and now," Farim added with a thoughtful tone. "When it was created, she was the only Tezita on this world. The drive to reproduce and ensure species survival would have been extraordinarily high. She is no longer alone, which will lessen the impact of those codes, though not completely."
"It adds factors, but it still comes down to the truth that happens with every new parent," Tarinash continued. "Not even they know how they'll react until it happens. There are warning signs in some cases of those extremely ill-suited to having young, but it's never a sure thing. Some of the most violently aggressive towards the young of others make doting caretakers of their own. Others with that same glitch will consistently attempt to kill anything that's not at least a young adult."
"The instinct factor makes it make more sense that they didn't see it coming," Jazz mused. "Is it this complicated to think it over for everybody on Lydrom?"
"No," Tarinash shook his head. "There are many factors here that just don't happen back home. The spark being half-alien and that it was created when she was the only Tezita around would never happen. Her combination of upbringing is even more unusual than mine, though not completely unknown. Similarly rare is that no one recognized the warnings that she felt such intense need to reproduce or what to do about it. A prospective first-time parent is almost never left alone so long either."
"This is a fairly good case study on how not to successfully reproduce," Farim summed it up.
"Well, that's reassuring," Jazz sighed, shaking his head. "At least we've got a spare body in case it goes wrong."
"Have you worked out what will happen to it if it ends up in an Autobot frame?" Tarinash asked, his manner unusually serious.
"Cybertronian, not Autobot," Jazz corrected. "Though he'd probably end up joining, just on the basis of upbringing. We'll handle it like any other new spark in a new body - the tricky part will be the fact that he'll need to pick up more of the socialization than we're used to, so some help will still be welcome. Any input from the Si'Mir would be welcome," he added, sure she was listening in.
"It will be raised Cybertronian," Lyzen answered the implied request and stepped closer to the table and put a gentle hand on Jazz's shoulder. "Don't let the odds get to you," she smiled down at him. "So just what are the betting pools going today?"
"All of 'em, or just the ones you'd be allowed into?" Smokescreen asked her easily.
"Everything," she grinned at him, leaning in to rest her hip on the table edge. "I'm curious what you think I have an unfair advantage in."
"Well, when they're born and who's born first, mostly," he chuckled. "I mean... right now, that is kinda your job. The parts about names and gender are more up in the air, which frame they'll take to, if you'll get a flyer or Intel out of either of 'em, who the caretaker will be, uhm..." He glanced at Jazz, realizing that the next few items on the lineup might be a little touchy to bring up in front of him. "Some others... uhm... related to the recent conversation..."
"Standard military bets," Tarinash offered helpfully.
Lyzen nodded slightly. "What are the bets on each right now?"
"I'm going to check in on Tonen," Jazz said as he stood, vacating the room a little quicker than usual.
"It's just such a strange concept for us, it doesn't really seem real," Smokescreen admitted. "I mean... we've never had anything like that happen, at least. And most of the bets are against anything really bad happening to them."
"For fear of Jazz, or hope for the best?" Otalon asked with real curiosity. "And a betting pool, or odds-based payout?"
"Betting pool - nobody wants to be around when I'm setting odds and spreads," Smokescreen grinned.
"Besides," Hound snorted, "he's usually the only one who wins anything. Him and Sideswipe."
"Hey, he's got a good calculator in there too," Smokescreen shrugged slightly. "And it's not for fear of Jazz, just hard to believe anything bad'll really happen."
"Jazz doesn't have quite the same rights among Autobots that I do for us," Lyzen added with a quiet but easy tone before focusing on Smokescreen. "I'm in for a few," her look was downright playful. "Tezita frame for both, both will survive, she will try to kill Skywarp's, Jazz's is Intel, Skywarp's a flier."
"Any bets on gender?" He asked her. "And how much are you looking to put down?"
"Gender won't be known for at least ten wraa, over twenty-two local years, possibly as long as a hundred wraa," she flicked her chin in a negative. "I'm unlikely to be here to collect if I'm right. Five chips on each bet."
"Why would it take that long to figure out?" Smokescreen asked, clearly startled by the idea.
"Because it takes that long to mature to the point it's detectable," she looked at him with a touch of amusement. "We refer to newborns and younglings as 'it' because they are. The coding that produces gender assignments don't activate until they are nearly adults. It can't be determined earlier because we all carry the code for both and for some it never activates."
"Slag it, there goes that one," he muttered. "Hate finding out a bet's completely off."
Lyzen cocked her head slightly at him. "Given some bets I've heard about have timeframes in the thousands of vorn, I'm not sure why it would be. Just ask the Lydrom liaison about it in four and a half metacycles. Believe me, it will be news everyone keeps tabs on."
"It'll work for some of 'em, but a lot of them were expecting it to be short term when they made the bets - going to have to check which of them want out because of the timespan now, if I want to keep my reputation," he explained.
"Understood," she gave a short nod, then walked over to Tarinash and whispered something to him that made him straiten and blink in surprise, then look over his shoulder at her in grateful adoration. "You have better sense than you think," she patted his shoulder before walking away.
"What was that about?" Smokescreen asked him once she was gone.
Tarinash squirmed a bit before shaking his head. "Nothing important. I just asked permission for a project to keep me occupied."
"I thought you were a civvie - close to it, at least," Smokescreen grinned. "Really Intel or something?"
A bewildered look crossed Tarinash face for a moment while Otalon and Farim snickered.
"Civilian fostered military never quite loose the tendency to look at the Si'Mir as their creator," Otalon explained with an amused grin for the youngest of them. "It's polite to ask, especially when resources are thin."
"Asking about?" He chuckled, earning a highly displeased look from the Tezita in question. "Or should we start another pool?"
"Unless it blows up, it's not your business," Tarinash snapped with a rumble as his nanites mimicked the sound of a fragged-off Sunstreaker as he stood. "Start one if it amuses you," his tone leveled out before he turned to leave. "Just don't let me catch you at it."
Everyone watched him sweep out of the room in as close to a stalk as his upbringing would allow, but it was the bemused expressions on both Otalon and Farim that caught Smokescreen's attention when he brought it back to the table just in time for the pair to exchange a low chuckle of understanding.
"Guess I hit a raw circuit," Smokescreen chuckled. "You know anything about it?" He asked Mirage.
"I can guess - but I can say for sure you're being a world-class aft about it," the Intel operative said bluntly.
::You okay?:: He asked, transmitting to Tarinash.
::Yes,:: his response was immediate, a bit subdued and uneasy. ::It was just unsettling. Thank you for asking,:: his tone warmed a bit.
::Don't worry about it. I know how it can be,;: Mirage reassured him.
"For what?" Smokescreen demanded with a bit of a scowl that encompassed all three mechs that seemed to know what was up.
"Smokescreen," Farim's even voice stopped him from continuing. "Whatever he asked permission to do, I'm sure you'll work it out. Just don't tease the youngling about it."
"Youngling?" the Datsun raised an optic ridge.
"Not technically, but he is barely older than Ezara," Farim explained. "You've also managed to get the strongest reaction any of us have seen out of him yet."
"Telling him not to razz a Tower mech is the best way to get it to happen," Mirage pointed out. "Whatever it is, it's either delicate enough, or secret enough, that he thought he should talk to the Si'Mir, and she wanted to give him her answer in relative privacy. So I'd say that it's simply wise to not probe too deeply, just given that."
"Okay, back to the two new sparks we have in storage," Smokescreen brought the topic back to more comfortable places, though his processor was going full speed on working out what Tarinash was up to.
It didn't take Mirage long to find Tarinash after he'd extracted himself from the table. He hadn't been upset enough to suppress Teletraan-1's tracking of him to his quarters.
A polite knock was quickly answered, and the Tezita's expression shifted almost immediately from carefully neutral to a shy but warm smile in greeting before he stepped aside and motioned Mirage to come in if he wanted to.
"For what it's worth, Farim and Otalon have tried convincing Smoke to lay off," Mirage told him as the door closed behind him. He took the opportunity to look around the room. It was no surprise that it was still mostly the default space; they hadn't been on Earth long, or had a ship large enough to bring many personal effects, but it had begun to show Tarinash's personality a bit with deep maroon paint, much more elaborate berth material and a handful of small objects from home scattered about.
"I'm sure they did," he responded easily and motioned for Mirage to make himself comfortable while he poured two fine glasses of shimmering white high grade. "The bet is one I'm not surprised at. It is just not discussed in front of those involved."
"Discretion isn't in the vocabulary of entirely too many of them," Mirage offered. "If you wanted, you could talk to Prime about it, teach him a bit of a lesson. Might get his tailpipe in a twist over it though."
"No," Tarinash flicked his chin up in a quick denial and stepped close to hand the noble one of the glasses with a warm but chaste kiss. "No need. He was not that offensive. My self-control is not what it should be," he murmured, his optics flicking downwards.
"It's all right - I understand entirely," Mirage smiled, taking a sip and drawing him to sit down on the couch next to him. He didn't hide the smile that having his lover snuggle against him caused. "Can you tell me what it was about?"
"Yes, well..." he ducked his head, uncertain and uneasy, before he steadied his nerves and looked up to meet Mirage's gaze. "I'd rather not, just yet. It's ... it's for you."
"Is it getting more serious than just playing around?" Mirage asked him, wrapping an arm lightly around his back.
"It could be," Tarinash said hesitantly, though he was fairly relaxed in Mirage's arms and against his frame. He liked being there. It felt good, protected, cared for. "This isn't a normal situation for either of us."
"No, it isn't," Mirage admitted. "Not that my 'normal' really exists anymore... I don't even know if there are any survivors of my House, though at least now I could ask some of the other Returners if any of their sparks are still intact."
"A lineage only needs one to be built, or rebuilt," he gave a shy smile. "It doesn't seem like any other House will be in much better a state than yours."
"They won't be, I'm quite sure," Mirage nodded slightly. "It's just... a traditional thing," he admitted. "How complicated are the politics among wealthy, noble Houses for the Tezita? And just how ingrained is dealing with it?"
Tarinash snuggled a bit more against him, resting his head on Mirage's shoulder and draping an arm across his hips. "It's not as complicated as it was on Cybertron. Our recorded history is much longer, but the military only really began to tolerate civilians with any kind of significant power with Toe'Emirc Quin Parenteen of the Karpai. He was from a merchant family and brought that with him. He also began the tradition of fostering military like me with them to encourage loyalty and have a few reliable sources of information.
"Toe'Emirc Wimash Pyre of the Rendrin kept a sharp optic on their growing importance, but didn't actually hinter anyone who didn't try to develop weapons. Carin Rawlind of the Vistra was born military, but a Scientist. He tolerated us well. Ezara Onyan'a wasn't in power long enough to worry about us much, but she doesn't seem to object. Ryzia Koisi of the Polidrin has begun to put restrictions on the use of civilian wealth, though it doesn't affect us much yet.
"Most of the politics are a combination of the military, as the only government example we had, and the codes the various merchant houses developed over prior generations."
"While Cybertron's Tower politics are second only to what they have going on here on Earth, from what I've seen," Mirage chuckled lowly. "You're lucky, really. Since there usually aren't more than a handful of potential heirs to any given lineage, and only so many lineages within any given House, it makes it much more important what happens with every individual when they start looking for long-term partners. By House rules, before I start anything like that, I should confer with my commissioner, as well as the other heads of the House," he explained. "And even if I know that I'm likely the only one left, it's hard to accept that I've got that sort of... I guess you'd call it freedom."
A light shiver passed through Tarinash's frame at the thought. "I'd call it frighteningly lonely," he murmured. "Would you be expected to only have one bonded?"
"There's a difference between what's expected, and what's practical, typically," Mirage chuckled lowly. "Adding additional bonds complicates things greatly, though there are typically long-term, favored lovers and partners for all involved, you just have to take a little care with that so you don't end up causing any serious trouble."
Tarinash nodded against his shoulder. "We have that too. Bonds are usually for political or economic gain, so most will find someone they like to share their berth. It's strongly discouraged before your bonded. It makes 'selling' you as a good bonded much harder, since a prospective mate has to contend with an established partner, even if they are not official. It does make it more difficult to command your new household when everyone knows you were not there first and between you and the lover, you are likely to loose behind closed doors."
"Oh, I understand that," Mirage nodded slightly. "It's not an uncommon concern back home either, though it's a bit less of one. For one thing, bonded Tower mechs don't always even share the same household, necessarily."
Tarinash thought about that, a low humm rumbling through systems that were more Cybertronian-like by the day.
"The way you have the next generation fits in too, I think," he eventually decided. "You could have your young with no more than messages between you. For us, both really do have to be there and at least not fight it. It is assumed that whoever rules the household are the parents, no matter what the actual spark-lineage is. It would be greatly frowned on not to live with your bonded and at least look like you are head of the household with them."
"That makes sense," Mirage agreed. "When all you need on Cybertron is to have the agreement and involve yourself in the creation of the body, to some extent. Even that can be strictly financial, and fairly often is."
Tarinash hummed again, the now deeper purr of his pseudo-engine setting Mirage's sensory net alight with pleasurable signals.
"Were you one who wanted young, eventually?" he asked softly, his processors only half on the subject now.
"Mmm ... maybe, though I haven't thought about it too much. Of course, that wouldn't stop us from practicing," he winked, running his fingers along Tarinash's chest, offering mental contact to him. The gentle sensuality of his lover's entrance was enough to draw an audible groan from the noble.
Even when lips met his and light hands slid down his chest, Mirage couldn't quite make out Tarinash's form in the mindscape.
~Do you want to try something a little different?~ Tarinash spoke softly, nudging slightly at the parts of Mirage's mind that were marked as desires.
~In here? Certainly,~ Mirage replied, taking a moment to change the mindscape slightly, reworking it into a world more to his liking. ~You like to dance, don't you?~
~Yes,~ he purred deeply, setting the environment itself alight with desire as he caught when his lover was thinking of and drew away to form a solid body. Still small and lithe compared to Mirage's, but now with the curves of a female in the prime of her fertile years. Soft deep blue fur was offset by shimmering silver and gold that highlighted her soft curves, wide hips suited for bearing young and full breasts to feed them.
"Mmm ... you're really into the idea of younglings, aren't you?" Mirage rumbled, adopting his own Tezita form, wearing a simple pair of slacks and a finely embroidered silk vest. "Entertain me, my dear," he purred.
"It is what I was raised to expect," Tarinash's feminine voice was soft, light and soothing in a mixture of desire and good humor. She stepped back lightly, toes down first before twisting into a slow spin as exotic dances from Cybertron mixed with erotic ones from Lydrom and Earth's into something both familiar and new to them both.
"We'll wait on that - for now, I'd rather just enjoy your company," Mirage purred, watching her move, the differing curves of her body, mentally exploring the differences between a male form and a female one from the same mind with the same intent. He had to admit, Tarinash made both look good.
The effort he was putting into the dance was enticing too. This was no half-sparked effort to amuse or entice him. No, Tarinash no doubt loved this, the effect on spectators a secondary fact.
Absently he wondered how many dances Tarinash knew how to perform with his real body. Just how versatile was that military frame when it came to less militant pursuits. Ezara could dance, but it was nothing like this. She wasn't this soft.
Mirage blinked, surprised that his lover was suddenly so close to him.
She leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Trust me?"
"To do what?" He asked, trying to glance for any sign, stiffening slightly when he noticed the silk binding in her hands. "Only very lightly," he warned her.
"I couldn't hurt you," Tarinash kissed his jaw hinge and gently coaxed his hands behind his back. The binding was light, as instructed. Far more about appearance than actual effect Mirage realized quickly. Even if it hadn't been his mindscape, or he had no training, he could easily escape well before panic set in.
"You couldn't, but I could, not necessarily with meaning to do it," Mirage explained gently, watching as the dance began again, the movements much more erotic as Tarinash put a bit more effort into arousing him.
"Femininity agrees with you," Mirage rumbled as he settled into enjoying the display and anticipate what his lover had planned that involved keeping his hands still.
Pride and the warmth of a complement well received ripped through the space and found itself expressed in the strong sensuality of the dance as Tarinash fondled her breasts, cupping and smoothing them in a demonstration who's origins were lost on both of them. It didn't stop it from affecting them, however, and Tarinash bit back a whimper at her own desire to forget the dance, foreplay and everything else and simply jump her lover.
Mirage was doing a better job of keeping control, and grinned as he watched his partner's obvious desire.
"It looks like you're the one who should be tied up," he teased.
A flash of desire, hot enough it nearly burned and caused Mirage's breath to catch, hit him before anything else. Tarinash's respiration quickened, the aching between her legs was enough to demand attention.
With a last twist she knelt in front of Mirage, her knees spread wide as she arched back, resting her shoulders on the ground and slowly slid her fingers into the blood-swollen folds of her female sex with a heady, wanton moan of raw need.
Mirage caught onto the game fairly quickly, licking his lips hungrily as his swollen shaft throbbed.
"How long do you want me to hold back?" He asked with a throaty growl.
Fingers stroked and swirled within the folds of a sex swollen and slick, and Tarinash trembled, moaning, before she managed to find enough voice to respond.
"As long as you can," came out as two fingers pressed into her body, causing it to jerk slightly.
"You made it too easy, tying me up before you started," Mirage teased. "I think you need a challenge too though, don't you?"
A ragged breath and low whimper was as much response as Tarinash could organize when her body trembled, already on the verge of overload.
"Every time you overload, before I go too far," Mirage rumbled heatedly, enjoying the game and setting himself to last a long time while enjoying every moment of denial. "I get to pick one new condition or kink for later. Not necessarily next time, but later," he purred.
Tarinash's breath hitched and she shuddered. "Yes," was all she managed to say in agreeing to the game before her form stiffened with a hitching sound that was nearly a sob. Her frame shuddered with the effort to drag enough oxygen into her lungs, but it was the way her sex tried to pull in a phallus that wasn't there that made Mirage draw a breath himself. He knew what it felt like, that wet, slick heat that surrounded him, trying to draw him deeper when he'd already hilted inside a lover's body.
Slowly Tarinash relaxed, then drew herself upright to met Mirage's bright blue eyes and licked her lips as she drawled forward to kiss him with all the fierce heat he drew out of her so easily. "So," she purred throatily as the kiss ended. "I may pleasure myself any way I wish under this deal, until you free yourself?"
"As long as you're actually trying," Mirage murmured, licking his lips as he took in the pleasure-flushed and still hungry visage before him. "No fair not really trying." He fought the urge to reach out with his foot for some contact, strong as it was.
"Oh, I will be," she grinned at him, lust and mischievousness warring for dominance on the elegantly formed face. She reached forward to slide her fingers down his chest and leaned close to whisper in his ear. "Tell me a fantasy, Mirage, and maybe you'll see it."
"Oh, but if I tell you fantasies, you'll know what to expect," Mirage purred, turning for a light kiss. "Why don't I start with what I'm going to do to you after my patience gives out?" He suggested instead, licking his lips hungrily. "About how I'm going to pin you down and put you in your place?"
The Tezita shivered at the promise in those words and captured her lover's mouth in a kiss hot enough to melt them both. Eventually she drew her hands away from his face and reluctantly broke their contact. "And just what will you do, trying to put me in my place?" she cooed as she shifted, straddling his thigh and kissing her way along his jaw as she rubbed her sex shamelessly against him.
"That depends on just what your place should be, doesn't it?" Mirage teased, his breath coming more quickly as he tried to ratchet down his responses. "I think I'm going to have to make sure you know that I'm the one in charge though. Probably have to tie you down to make sure you know this is at my choice," he teased, tugging at his bonds very lightly. "Then make you suffer just as badly as you're making me, of course."
Another shiver passed down Tarinash's supple frame, not all of it from the promise of what was to come.
"I know what place I want," her voice trembled in desire that had little to do with arousal. Her lips moved down to his throat, her hands exploring the hard muscle under short, soft fur of Mirage's chest and her hips working with a mind of their own to bring her to another overload against the slick, soft fur of his thigh. "I didn't think she'd approve of you, knowing what I want."
Her head came up to steal another long, blissful kiss that swallowed several moans. "She did though."
"What do you want?" Mirage asked breathlessly, not sure if an overload of his own would end their game if she was the one who caused it.
Bright blue eyes met his as Tarinash stilled herself with effort. She stroked his jaw with gentle fingers and kissed him lightly. "A lover for a mate and a home full of descendants," she purred in all seriousness.
"That's going to be quite some time off, even if it is possible," Mirage warned her seriously. "Between the war, the tech issues, and financial ones," he explained.
"I know," she kissed him lightly. "I'm young enough to have time."
"Mmm ... just don't pull the stunt that Ezara did, and I think we'll be fine, as long as nothing goes wrong before the war's over."
"The war will be over before her newborns are grown," Tarinash leaned forward to kiss him again, slowly deepening the kiss to the full passion before they'd been forced to think about serious things. "You won't need to fight it soon."
"Here's hoping," he agreed, returning the kiss. "Now... I believe you were trying to tease me to the breaking point?"
"Was I?" Tarinash snickered and rocked her hips, drawing a shivering moan from her throat. "I was trying to get myself off again," she whispered before turning her attention to his throat and her hands to exploring his abs. "You'll know when I'm trying to break your resistance."
"Sounds like you'll enjoy it immensely," he purred into a moan. "I think I left off somewhere around tying you down and teasing you?"
"I intend to," she moaned, her body on the verge of trembling again. "I think I'll enjoy your revenge just as much," she said breathily against his throat between kisses.
"I'm sure you will," he growled with fake menace, 'cheating' a little by disengaging what his processor was telling him his nose would be doing to his biological form right now. "Especially when I sink my claws into your hips and pound you right into the mattress like the hungry little thing you are."
The shudder that passed through Tarinash's body had little to do with the pleasure shooting through her body from between her legs. She nipped at his throat, moaning as her body shuttered. She pressed against him as tightly as she could, her hips picking up the pace. Her hands found their way to his back, holding him against her tightly as she trembled right on the edge of overload.
"Tell me..." she gasped. "Please. What you'll do to me."
"When I give out?" Mirage teased her. "I'm going to make you beg, pretty. Just what should I make you beg for though?" He asked, pretending to consider the options as Tarinash cried out against his throat in overload, her body stiff and jerking as the pleasure coursed through her mind and body. "Maybe I'll make you plead to have me inside you? Or maybe I'll just keep going until you're begging me to stop?"
"I ... I'd never ... want you to stop," Tarinash panted through the shock-tremors as she gradually calmed down a bit, still clinging to him tightly, her thigh pinning his hard penis against his lower abs. "To feel you deep inside me, filling me with each strong thrust," she murmured and began to lick his throat and up to his jaw. "Marking me as yours for anyone who cares to look."
I've got other ways to do that, if you wanted me to," Mirage grinned. "Of course, I can do things in here that I wouldn't inside - presents all sorts of interesting options, doesn't it?" He purred, claiming a kiss when she was near his lips.
The contact, when it finally broke, left them both panting for breath and Mirage struggling with himself to keep the game going.
"Yes it does," she rumbled with a gentle push to guide him to his back on the cushions. Another kiss swallowed the moans of touch and need. "For now, willing to put that tongue of yours to a more pleasurable use?"
"Gladly," he rumbled, laying back and licking his lips as he watched her shift her hips over his head while she kissed her way down his chest. "Can't promise how my skills are, but we'll see."
Her short tail flicked above his eyes before he focused on sliding his tongue along the slick, engorged folds of her sex while he shifted to get a little more comfortable with his arms under him.
He was careful not to dislodge the light bindings on his wrists, focusing his attention on her swollen lips, spreading her folds to taste her juices, his shaft throbbing but more easily managed like this, letting him delve deeply into her sex. The moans and trembles above him, and the flicking caresses of her feathery-haired tail across his ears, made it ever so much harder to keep from thrusting up when her mouth came close to the bare skin aching for the contact.
"Not fair," he mock-protested into her pussy, ploughing his tongue deep into her, flicking it forward against a mound of flesh that felt a little different.
"As hot as it makes me, sucking you off would be fair," Tarinash moaned as she drew one leg up against her shoulder to kiss and lick up and down his muscular thigh.
"Just give me a couple more kliks," he murmured, his sharp teeth against her flesh, his senses happily drowning in her arousal.
A soft laugh dissolved into a moan and a shudder. "I have other plans," she whispered against his inner knee as her slick flesh pulsed and twitched around his tongue.
He focused on his work, breathing shallowly, his breath hot against her sex as he ate her out, fighting the urge to free his hands and help her along with his fingers. Moans and gasps above him gave as much feedback on his progress as the twitching of the flesh around his lips and tongue.
Abruptly Tarinash stopped teasing him, her frame trembling and taunt as she pressed her head against his hip and her hand curled tightly around his aft. Her breath brushed over his erection in whimpers and grunts, her voice lost to making anything but those primal sounds.
Mirage trembled, nearly ready to overload but fighting to hold back for one more round. With the feel of sharp claws digging into his skin he nipped at the bit of hard flesh that seemed so much more sensitive than the rest and focused his glossa on it until she cried out, ever muscle in her body locking as she road out the overload and his continued to lick at her spasming sex.
"You don't need to worry about your skills," she purred deeply as she shifted, turning to pull him up to kneel before kissing him soundly.
"Mmm ... like to put on a good show," he rumbled, kissing her back just as heatedly. "What's up next?"
"Three overloads and my patience is thin," she kissed him again as she slipped onto his lap and pressed against his chest, then began to nibble down his jaw and neck. "Too empty for too long," she crooned, rubbing her pelvis against his and smiled at the shiver it caused. "Do try keep your hands to yourself ... what this does to me," she shivered just at the thought, then lifted her hips and guided his achingly hard erection into her body with a low, need-filled moan.
"Mmm ... does my overload end the game, or just when I get out of the rope?" He gasped, keeping his pelvis tight to try and hold back, his balls aching for release.
"Wh-when you get out," Tarinash managed between trembling gasps, his clawed fingers holding onto Mirage's back as something far more than just physical pleasure kicked in hard.
"You like... nnngh... being in charge, don't you?" Mirage panted, kissing her, balls twitching with need, circuits on edge in the real world.
Tarinash whimpered into the kiss, her body trembling and spasming around him. "Only...only as a game," she pressed her face against the crook of his neck, her hands coming up to work his shoulder blades as she struggled to hold off until he'd gone over the edge.
Hoping he might have the nerve to hold out a bit longer with some release, he gave up trying to hold off his overload, letting the massive surge pass through him with a roar. He was distantly aware of the gasping cry of raw ecstasy as his lover followed him into the intense overload that left them both dazed and barely on line for a moment.
Before Tarinash could really recover, Mirage was already aware again. He thought for a brief moment - then slipped his hands free and rolled over on top of Tarinash.
"Four's enough," he murmured, kissing her hungrily. Even only half coherent, Tarinash kissed back eagerly, spreading her legs and sliding them along his as she tightened the grip against his back to pull him tighter against him.
He held strong for a few minutes, taking the silk that had been bound around his wrists and tying her hands above her head.
"Going to enjoy having you to myself for a while," he rumbled hotly, nipping her neck.
"All yours, Mirage," she moaned and squirmed, trying to encourage him. "Want you."
"And I want you," he rumbled, nuzzling her neck, sliding down, licking her collarbone and breasts, fondling her slick, dripping sex with his fingers.
Tarinash whimpered and arched, spread her legs further apart and rocked into the touch as she panted. "Please..."
"Ah-ah - if you get to tease, so do I," he rumbled, sliding down further, licking between her legs, savoring her taste as he pressed two fingers into her body. Above him she mewed and gasped, struggling against the bindings on her wrists that were now secured to the floor. Her legs slid up his body, rubbing against his sides, encouraging him to do anything that pleased him.
He turned her over, slipping his head out from between her legs as he lifted her short tail, kissing the firm globes of her ass as he finger-fucked her pussy, slipping down to lick the back of her knee playfully.
The twitching half moan, half laugh ended in a hard gasp when his fingers brushed against a slightly rough spot deep inside her pussy and it spasmed hard around his fingers. "Please ... want you," Tarinash begged shamelessly as her body quivered.
"Mmm... one of these times, I'm going to really torment you," he purred, sliding up, burying himself in her slick, hungry sex with a growl as he quickly started thrusting as hard as he could. He was rewarded by a near-constant series of mews, whimpers and groans of pleasure as his lover rocked into his thrusts and milked his cock eagerly.
He'd definitely have to remember this game.