Dulling the Pain Ch. 06

The angel was in heaven. Maria held Manuel close as she kissed his lips, and she felt like she never wanted to let go--

"I can tell your mind's elsewhere," Ida told her, drawing back from her kiss.

"I'm sorry," Maria replied, "but you know this would be so much better if Manuel was here."

"You and your young love--or before-middle-aged love, at least. Us old farts see this stuff more clearly. Manuel's afraid of all of us, and especially of me." For the fifth time that day, her tone turned questioning. "Why does he react so strongly to me? Did he love me before he loved you?"

"You know Flora won't let me tell you that. There's too much pain in your memories." Something of Isaac had clearly survived--Ida hadn't reacted well when Manuel fled from her. Only through Flora's influence had she and Maria found solace in each other.

Maria had never loved a woman before, but neither had she held with her church's teachings against the act. She had come to understand that Ida was better off this way, and she was nothing but thankful to Flora for giving her such a soft and tender lover. But Ida had no playfulness in her, and little humor, and Maria couldn't help but miss Manuel's casual wit.

Ida suddenly smiled as she caught sight of something behind Maria. Before Maria could react, she felt a furry tail playing at her naked slit. "Caught you!" Cat yelled out. "If I was hunting, you'd be dead now."

Here, at least, there was playfulness to be found--an excess of it, in fact. But as Maria took Cat's tail in her hand, and guided it inside her, she thought again of the boy she'd once said she loved.

Manuel knew that this strange new Maria was not ashamed to be naked--that she now delighted in the way he stared at her. That was precisely why he turned away as he saw her approach.

She was direct. "I miss you."

He, on the other hand, circled around to the point. "You know, I've never gotten a good look at what you've become. You draw the wings back in when you see me coming." A few days ago, I would have made a joke out of that, he thought. When did I lose my sense of humor?

"Manuel, I know you're afraid of me now. But I'm the same Maria that I always was, and I love you."

"I haven't activated the alert beacon. I keep asking myself why not."

That was enough to shock Maria. "You want them to kill Flora?"

"They'll kill her anyway, when they land. Unless you get them first--infect them, like you infected Isaac and Cap. And from there, they'll keep throwing men and bombs at you. We both know the only way to save her."

"No one will be hurt," Maria said, and he knew that she believed it. "We know from Procne that minds like Flora can spread across space, if someone brings them. All we have to do is reach Earth. We'll help everyone who's in pain--everyone!--and no one will be willing to bomb Earth to get rid of her."

She had little warning before he turned and embraced her, but she did not shy away from his touch. "Convince me," he told her. "Convince me to betray the human race."

She held as tight to him as he did to her, and she replied, "If you'll follow me, I know exactly what argument to make."

He was unsure why he followed her. Maybe he'd finally given in to loneliness, or he was hoping he could somehow change Maria's mind. Or perhaps it was simply because he recognized that there was no malice in her voice, and he had a guess at what thought might be behind it: Whatever it takes, I'll make you smile again.

The flowers grew tall where Cat and Ida lay, and Manuel heard them before he saw them. "Oh Christ, that feels good," Ida called out. "Your tail's as good as a dick!"

Maria patiently waited for Ida to orgasm, while Manuel stared wide-eyed at the writhing bodies. When at last the two lay still and content, Maria told them, "I've got a special guest here."

Ida looked up at him, lying under Cat. "I didn't think you could do it. I've got to admit, up close, he's even easier on the eyes."

"Don't claim him yet. We've been dating for three months. I'd say that gives me three turns with him before you get a try."

Ida rolled her eyes. "I'll be patient for the horny young lovers. Do you want to borrow me?"

"Uh, borrow?" Manuel asked, but Maria ignored him. "Actually, I wanted to try Cat first."

Cat obediently looked up and locked eyes with Maria, and after a moment, the former stood and walked over to Manuel. Something about her stance seemed different . . . "Maria?" Manuel asked.

"Caught on quickly, didn't you?" Maria told him with Cat's voice. "Remember that soul swap we did way back when? I hope you like fur, because I know you like pussy." Then she pounced at him, and they landed softly amidst the flowers, her atop him and his pants down at his ankles.

It was a bit misleading to call her a catgirl--there was far more cat in her frame and her motions than just two ears and a tail. But her lips and her breasts were human enough, and he did in fact enjoy the feeling of her furry body atop his. She purred as he entered her, and her whole body vibrated atop him.

Their sex was quick and playful, and she yowled in pleasure as both of them came. For several minutes, they simply lay together, she feeling complete, he wondering which of them had gone crazier. Then she pushed herself off of him, and walked over to where her own body was frantically making love to Ida's. "Ida, you're up next!"

Of course, Ida was a bit irritated to be interrupted, but she had never been Cat before, and she was willing to trade bodies. Manuel wasn't even close to completing his refractory period by the time Maria sauntered over in a new body. In deference to his merely human physiology, she gave him time to recover before clamping her lips around his cock.

It was unlikely that Manuel could have gotten it up for Ida herself, but with Maria in control, he was capable of appreciating the changes that Flora had made--for instance, the complete elimination of a gag reflex. He knew it couldn't be possible, but he still had the feeling that he must be hitting her uvula. Well, whatever he was hitting, it was quite a feeling.

When his erection stood proud and tall once more, she released him long enough to turn herself around. She lowered herself to his mouth, and as he obediently licked at her slit, he realized another change that Flora had made. The taste of her juices was like fresh strawberries, and he knew Maria must be smiling at his surprise. "Doesn't it just drive you wild?" she asked--or at least, she tried to; she failed to finish the sentence before gasping. Then she returned her attentions to his cock, and for a while, neither of them was capable of speech.

As it turned out, Ida was a squirter, and Maria spattered Manuel's face with strawberry fluid as she came. As for Maria, she swallowed every drop from Manuel's cock. "Not as tasty as Ida," she told him, after she'd licked his cock clean, "but I'll forgive you for that. One last time with you, and then I'll turn the other two loose on you."

Manuel was careful in how he worded his response. "I remember when you would have gotten jealous over that."

"I know you love me best, and besides, I can share if you can. And besides the besides, I think Flora wants us to do this--I'm fairly certain this is your greatest wish."

Manuel pondered that. "A harem of bisexual girls . . . Am I really that easy to buy?" As easy to buy as you?

"Just shut up and enjoy the moment," Maria told him, and she left him with his face covered in fluid.

One more swap, and Maria was herself again, so to speak. While Ida experimented to see how far she could stick Cat's tail down what had been Ida's own throat, Maria lowered herself onto Manuel--not bringing him inside her, but simply pressing herself against him as she licked the strawberry from his face. "Hold me," she told him, once she had finished, "and I'll show you what Flora's given me."

He put his arms around her, and he felt her back begin to arch in a rhythm that had nothing to do with him. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" she asked him as her body felt lighter and lighter. Something began to ripple in her shoulders, preparing to burst forth--

"No!" he screamed.

She stiffened against him, the change gone. "Manuel . . ."

"I've accepted that Cat is Cat, and I'm starting to understand that Ida is Ida. But I'm not ready to know what you are, now that you're not Maria."

"Manuel, I am Maria."

"I thought I could do this, but I can't. Not yet. Maybe not ever."

"I'm the girl you love. Don't you understand that?"

"Get off me!"

When she did not move, he shoved her away with sudden fury.

She could have stopped him as he fled. It would have been easy to call on Flora to bind him with flowers. But instead, she let him go without a word.

The next day, she found the smashed innards of the alert beacon outside the ship. But Manuel remained inside, and the door of the ship was locked stubbornly tight--a defense against zombies, now one against lovers as well.