Awakened by the Giant Read online

  Calden frowned. His evolving emotions regarding the Mentats, their feelings about females in general, and about Madeline in particular might present a significant problem in the days to come. Well, they would just have to get used to her and get used to the idea that they couldn’t touch her, he decided. He would be certain of that as soon as he got permission from FATHER to make her a permanent resident of the station.

  But he wouldn’t go to the AI overseer right away, he decided. There was still plenty of time on Madeline’s self-termination unit and he needed to prove her worth. He had to gather as much data from her as possible so he could have a wealth of information to offer as proof of her right to life here aboard the station.

  All knowledge is valuable, he would remind the AI. Madeline is a prolific source of knowledge—we cannot afford to be without her.

  Yes, he was certain he could make his case in a few days. In the meantime, he had to gather as much data from her as possible. He turned back to her, surreptitiously activating a small recording device and began asking her more questions about the lifecycle of the tiny, fluffy yellow creatures she had called “chickens.”

  Surely FATHER would understand how valuable she was after seeing the recordings—Calden was positive of it.

  Ten

  When they came back to Calden’s quarters at the end of the day the strange silver-green plant he kept by his work station had bloomed.

  “What’s that amazing smell?” Maddy lifted her nose, inhaling deeply to breathe in more of the heavenly scent. It was wild and tropical but delicate too, somehow—like orchids and peach blossoms and magnolias all at once.

  “I don’t know.” Calden frowned and looked around, scanning his area with sharp topaz eyes. “I have never smelled it before.”

  “Me either but it’s fabulous. Oh look!” Maddy caught sight of the blooming plant and ran over to get a closer look at it. The flowers it put out were huge compared with its size—bigger than her hand and shaded in a rainbow of warm tones. Starting at the point of the trumpet-like blossoms, the flowers went from pale yellow, to warm peach, to vivid pinkish-purple to deep crimson around the edges of the petals. They were absolutely stunning and like nothing Maddy had ever seen.

  Burying her face in the blossoms, she inhaled deeply. The sweet scent filled her lungs and her senses, making her feel almost dizzy and for a moment the tips of her nipples throbbed and her pussy felt suddenly hot and wet and swollen.

  Maddy shifted, pressing her thighs together. She still had on only the shirt-dress Calden had made for her and no underwear so it was easy to feel how wet she was getting. God, what was going on with her? Did it have anything to do with the strange plant? But surely not…

  “Madeline? Are you well?” Calden had come over to stand beside her and he was looking at her anxiously.

  “Fine. I’m fine.” She straightened up, though part of her wanted to keep smelling the strange, sweet blossoms. “I wonder what happened to your little plant to make it bloom? It was almost dead this morning—though it did look perkier at lunch.” They’d had a quick but satisfying Mid Meal, as Calden called it and honestly, she wasn’t really hungry for supper even though it was technically dinner time.

  “I don’t know.” Calden frowned. “But maybe you should step away from it, Madeline.”

  “Why?” She looked at him anxiously. “Is it poison?”

  “No—certainly not,” he said quickly. “But I have never seen it bloom before and the scent is very strong.”

  “It’s wonderful,” Maddy said, inhaling deeply. “But if it’ll make you feel better, we can go over to the bed and talk.”

  Now why had she said that? But she was already going to sit on the high side of the vast bed and Calden came to sit beside her without question.

  “What is it you wish to talk about?” he asked. “What to have for Last Meal?”

  “No—I’m not hungry right now,” Maddy said. Not for food, anyway, whispered a little voice in her head. “I think…think we need to talk about what happened earlier—in the enzyme baths.”

  “If you were feeling threatened when Jong-tar kept insisting that you and I were mating in some way—”

  “No, that was kind of scary but I knew you’d protect me,” Maddy told him. She put a hand on his knee and let it rest there lightly. “I’m talking about what happened before when you were, you know, spreading the gel on me to protect me from the enzymes in the baths.”

  God, what was she doing? There was no way she ought to be talking like this—bringing this up, she told herself. They’d spent the entire day not talking about what had happened that morning, by mutual silent consent. They had talked about branthas and chickens and cloning and just about everything and anything but the way he had slid his long fingers deep in her pussy and nearly made her come. And here she was, bringing it up while they sat side by side on his bed.

  Calden cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. But Maddy noticed that he didn’t move her hand from his knee and the bulge in the black trousers he wore proved that he was just as interested in the subject as she was.

  “Um…if I touched you inappropriately, I apologize,” he said. “I…should not have done what I did.”

  “You did it because I asked you to,” Maddy said frankly. “So I’m the one who ought to be apologizing. I don’t…don’t know what got into me.” She looked down. “I shouldn’t want to do anything like that with you—with anyone—so soon after…after Pierce died.”

  “You shouldn’t feel bad,” Calden objected. “Suffering a loss doesn’t mean that your body stops having needs.” He cleared his throat. “I am the one who should not have done what I did. I took an oath when I came here to the Mentat station to swear off all females and any contact with them. Also—it is dangerous to do such things in public. I don’t think old Nusper-veis saw us but if he had—”

  “You could have gotten into a lot of trouble,” Maddy guessed, finishing for him. “I’m sorry, Calden—I would never want to hurt your standing here at the station. I never…never should have asked you to touch me so intimately.”

  “Don’t say that.” He cupped her cheek in his big hand and turned her eyes up to his. “It was my very great pleasure to touch you, Madeline,” he murmured. “To stroke and pleasure you with my fingers. You are so soft inside…so wet and hot. I never imagined…”

  “Because you’ve never been with a woman before, right?”

  He shook his head hesitantly. “Never.”

  It was hard to believe but it appeared that the big Kindred really was a virgin. Of course, if his people had run out of women to mate with, that made sense. And it wasn’t like Maddy could mate with him now—it was impossible due to their size difference. But it did give her an idea.

  “Calden,” she said, “I know you said it isn’t safe to do…that kind of thing in public, but what about private? Does your computer boss—FATHER—watch you here? In your room?”

  He frowned. “Of course not. Our privacy is sacrosanct.”

  “Well then…” Maddy let her hand slide higher up his thigh. “I was thinking—you know how you say all knowledge is valuable?”

  “Yes…” Calden cocked an eyebrow at her. “What are you saying, Madeline?”

  “I’m saying that I can provide you with knowledge you can’t get any other way,” Maddy said. “I can show you how it is between a man and a woman. Not completely, of course.” She eyed the bulge in his black trousers which was now positively huge. “But some. I could teach you how to kiss, at least.”

  She couldn’t believe she was saying this but somehow Maddy couldn’t stop—the warm, tantalizing scent of the beautiful blossoms that had appeared on the little plant seemed to invade her brain and make her lose her inhibitions completely.

  “How to ‘kiss’?” Calden frowned, as though he wasn’t completely certain what she meant.

  “Here—I’ll show you. Scoot back so you’re leaning against the headboard,” Maddy instructed him.

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