Quaranteam - AU Ch. 03

"Claim me, Ray. I'm all ready for you. Ready to be yours forever. Stick that fat log in me and mark me. Fuck me senseless and put your baby in me, baby. I don't care how many others you have, as long as you never let me go. Now fuck me!"

He didn't need any more invitations as he lined himself up. He may not have been the biggest man, with roughly six and a half inches to his name, but he had girth and he'd never had complaints, always leaving his partner satisfied. He was at full mast now, and as he lined up, Stella felt it and slammed her hips down. When her hips met his, she froze, her eyes going wide.

Stella went haywire.

Her entire body spasmed and she let out an ear-piercing wail as the orgasm shook her harder than anything she'd ever experienced before. Rayne leaned back and rolled, leaving Stella on her back as he drew his cock most of the way out and then slammed it home again. He vaguely recalled something about a 'priming orgasm', but the through fled as Stella clawed at his back, still in the throes of it.

"Don't stop. Don't. Ever. Stop. Pound me into the mattress. That was the most amazing thing I've ever felt, and it was because of you, my love. Now rail me and claim your slut wife. I'll do anything for you. Just mark me, baby. Make me forever yours."

Rayne grunted as he thrust, interspersing it with kisses as he brought himself towards the inevitable end. He slowed for a moment and pulled out, eliciting a whine from Stella before he pulled her up onto her knees and drilled his way back in from behind. Taking one of her breasts in each hand, he railed his way into her, grinning as her voice jumped an octave with almost every thrust.

Finally, after several more minutes, he couldn't hold it any longer and pulled her into his arms, whispering into her ear as his ejaculation overtook him.

"I love you. We'll make this work Stel. I promise."

As his load painted her insides white, Stella shuddered violently and her screams reached a crescendo, clawing at him even harder before everything suddenly cut off and she fell limp in Rayne's arms. His heart thundered in his ears after the exertion, and as he lowered Stella to the mattress, he could faintly hear the whispered words, ones that would come to haunt his dreams in weeks to come.

"Imprinting...Imprinting..."

-

Rayne sat on the sofa, a drink in hand and a notepad discarded to one side. He was looking at his phone, having just sent a text off to Tiberius. All of his concerns had come flooding back after he'd left Stella in the bedroom, and he needed advice. Fortunately, it wasn't seconds before the phone began to ring.

"Hey mate. I figured you'd be messaging me soon. Done with business?"

"I dunno whether to be insulted or laugh."

Tiberius' laugh was almost maniacal in its vehemence. "Not my fault if you were a one and done guy tonight, mate."

"Very funny. I mean, I read about it, but that whole 'imprinting' thing is creepy as fuck, Ty."

"Tell me about it. I went through the process three times in quick succession. I mean, I basically passed out shortly after the third myself, but still, it sent shivers down my spine. But I take it that's not the only reason you messaged."

"Yeah. You've got a contact with the US team, yeah?"

"Of course. She's my old friend. Why?"

"Is she a scientist? I need to discuss something with them. I don't know if it's an outlier case, but Stella's libido was supercharged tonight. She basically attacked me once she got in the door, and it really seemed like she was struggling to maintain control of herself. I know that the woman's libido is supposed to be raised, but the paperwork also led me to believe that was over the course of several days. Stella had been gone for a number of hours, Ty. Either the serum they're giving us is different, or we Australians have enough differences in our biochemistry that it's affecting us differently." Rayne paused, taking a moment to prepare himself for what he knew would be an awkward question. "I can't believe I'm asking this, but can you tell me if my sisters and Talia presented similar symptoms? Were they aroused beyond normal, barely coherent and such?"

Tiberius' voice had no trace of humour in it now. "Ray, I can tell you for certain that all three of them were highly aroused, but I don't know for certain whether that was out of the ordinary or not. As for them being coherent? Yes. They seemed to all be in control of themselves for the most part, I think? It's not like I'd ever slept with any of them before yesterday."

"Oh. Right. Ok, can you ask any of the women from the other pilot Teams? We need data. And I really need to talk to the Americans."

"Mate, right now there are a grand total of eight women that have been injected. Two other Teams have been formed, with officers on base as their central pillar. That number will double tomorrow, and then I can ask the others about it. Those women are probably in the imprinting state right now, so asking them anything will be impossible until then. But I'll tell ya what, mate. I'll ask our medics to keep an eye on it, and I'll let Grace know. I'll give her people your number, so they can get in touch. Because if what you're telling me is legit, then even after we stop our rush measures, we may not have the same kind of leeway the Americans did in getting people paired up. That's going to seriously fuck with our timelines and planning, so it's important to know." He chuckled, but there was something derisive in it. "We need to change our planning because people might be in a hurry to get laid. What the actual fuck are we doing, Ray?"

"Science can be fucked up sometimes, Ty. There are too many unknowns with this serum. The paperwork tells me a lot, but there's still so many holes to fill that I don't even know where to begin. I'm hoping Sumi or one of the others has some ideas, because I sure as hell don't. To be fair, this whole DuoHalo situation is completely fucked up. So much about the virus makes no sense whatsoever, and now this asinine solution is going to leave us with severe long-term repercussions as a society."

"Hah! Asinine. Pretty nice arses, easy nines." Rayne smiled at Tiberius' attempted levity. "Either way, we need you to do what you can to fill those holes in, and maybe make this thing better for everyone. If you can unlock the serum and remove the part where people are bonded together permanently, I know you'd probably win a fucking Nobel prize. If you can tell us more about DuoHalo and all that, like where it came from, you might still win that goddamned prize."

"Wait, you don't know? I know your clearance is better than my own, so I'm safe in saying this, but CSL had a good idea of where DuoHalo actually came from months ago? I mean, Sydney International is confirmed to be Ground Zero, but Australia's not the origin. They were given a gag order at the time, though. I don't understand why."

"Don't say any more, Ray. Even if I'm cleared for the knowledge, it's better not to talk about it openly. I'll let Baz know that you're aware of that and see if he or the other brass need the info. The gag order was probably to prevent it from seeming like we were just blaming others. Better to keep quiet and pretend we know nothing until there's a better way to let the information out. Ignorance is bliss."

Rayne snorted. "Ty, ignorance is only bliss when you don't know you're ignorant. For everyone else it's just torture. Either way, I get what you're saying. For now, I'll keep it under wraps, but if someone starts openly blaming us, I'm not going to stand by and let the world condemn us."

"Good man. Just give it some time. We've all got our work cut out for us as it is, so there's no need to go and add more. You got your stuff packed? I heard you're getting moved in the morning."

"I've got a bit to sort out, but I'll do that before I go to sleep. Thanks, Ty."

"What are mates for? Oh, one final thing. Your next two partners, after Ms Saegusa, are already confirmed. Those two will be acting as members of your security detail. Expect them either tomorrow night, or the day after, at the latest."

"What? I have no need -"

"Rayne, you are now a national asset. Not just because you're one of the few surviving men, but because you're the project lead on what is probably this country's most important endeavour in decades. You need security, and they need to be in place before anyone figures out that you're important."

"You can't. I'm already struggling to deal -"

"Just shut up about it for a minute, Ray. I know how you feel about it, but you have no say in this. It's a matter of security. You're just going to have to learn to live with it." Rayne could hear the frustration building in his friend's voice. "Keep one thing in mind about the whole situation, mate. The more you resist, the more you hurt your partner. You might have your reasons, but they do too. They're choosing you, and if you reject them out of some sense of propriety, given the state of the world now, you're doing everyone a disservice. Remember, silver bullets, mate. Anyway, I've gotta run. The ladies are getting impatient."

Rayne let out a sigh. "Fine. I give up, Ty. And I'm not going to ask. See ya."

Tossing his phone onto the sofa, Rayne threw back his drink in one gulp. Ty was probably right, as usual. The situation had already escalated beyond his personal wants, and Rayne realised he should just be rolling with the punches now. Two more partners, on top of Hasumi. That was going to take some getting used to. Even if he wasn't already going to feel physically inadequate when compared to some of the super-fit military women he'd met over the years, now he'd be their partner sexually too. It was enough to give a guy performance anxiety in a big way. But he realised, they were probably anxious too, for their own reasons, not to mention they were binding their lives to an unknown man's.

"Silver bullets. Fuck. Fucking fuck. Of course, he has to be right."

Silver bullets. He debated pouring another drink but thought better of it. In his current mood, he wouldn't stop. He wasn't a big drinker at the best of times, but Rayne remembered what had happened when his parents died. He'd been so angry. Tiberius had found him at the bottom of a bottle, almost ready to do something very stupid. The big bear of a man had organised therapy for him. Driven him to and from it. Kept him in check and told the twins that they were grieving as two close friends. It had been a genuine accident, after all. The man involved hadn't been drunk or incapacitated. His brakes had simply failed and his parents' luck had run out. It took a long time to come to terms with it. To the best of Rayne's knowledge, Ty had never told his sisters the truth about the night. Rayne had done it himself, two days after Ty had given him a gift for overcoming his anger. He still remembered the stinging slaps he'd gotten from both his sisters after he'd told them, right before they pulled him into their arms and sobbed.

Tiberius had one of the bullets from the gun he'd planned to use on the man that had caused the accident, emptied of powder and primer and plated in silver. It was encased in resin, almost like a trophy. Rayne had made sure to pack that away immediately. It was possibly his most valued possession and he vowed to meet the coming days with the phrase forefront in his mind. Silver bullets.

The engraving on the resin said it all - A bullet shows no empathy, but you have. Never forget it.