Three Square Meals Ch. 086

"And Rachel's found a way to honour her mother with her work," John said thoughtfully, his doubts starting to fall away.

Alyssa nodded emphatically. "Not just that, but you brought her mother's killer to justice and helped her reconcile with her father."

John gave her a guilty look, but for another reason this time. "Was she upset about having to rearrange the meeting with her Dad?"

Shaking her head, Alyssa replied, "She was glad of the excuse to postpone it actually. That's one reunion she isn't eager to have for a whole host of different reasons."

"Is she worried about introducing me and Dana to her father?" John asked, curious what was troubling the brunette.

"That's one of them. Rachel loves you both, but has no idea what to say to her dad, or how he'll react. She's worried she'll say something she might regret if he pushes her buttons. They had a very tense relationship for years after her mother died," Alyssa explained, her face filled with sympathy.

"Rachel is probably the one girl we could try to help in the same way as Sakura," John said quietly, cautious about upsetting Alyssa again.

She smiled at him and shook her head. "You don't have to tread on eggshells, I'd never begrudge any of the girls their happiness." Her eyes twinkled as she added playfully, "And that's not because I can't get jealous any more either."

"I thought you were trying to convince me how genuine everyone's emotions were?" John said with a pretend frown.

"I'm trying to, but you keep going off on tangents," she replied, grinning at him as she leaned in for another kiss. "Besides, the lack of jealousy just helps your harem run nice and smooth. It's got nothing to do with how much the girls love you." She paused for a second then added wryly, "Although I must admit it makes me love you quite a bit more. Can you imagine what a fucking nightmare it would be, dealing with all those catfights and jealous tantrums! As your Matriarch, I'd be expected to sort all that shit out!"

His first reaction was to laugh, then he shuddered just imagining it. "If I'm being honest, that's the only change I've never regretted making," he confided in her with a smile.

She winked at him, then asked, "How do you want to handle everything with Rachel?"

"I think we'll play it by ear tomorrow," John replied. "Perhaps meet her father first, then see how that goes. If it all ends well, then we can talk to Rachel about her mother afterwards and see what she wants to do."

"That sounds like a good plan," Alyssa said, nodding her agreement. Giving him a curious glance, she added, "You've talked about helping Rachel, but not the twins. Isn't there a way you could try and let them see their father again? I know it'd mean so much to them both."

John let out a heavy sigh and slowly shook his head. "I've given it some thought, but I don't think it'll work for them. From the impression they've given me, Irillith and Tashana only spent brief periods of time with him, when he came back to visit them from his home on Geniya Station."

*That's correct, they only had fleeting visits with their father,* Edraele murmured to them both, sounding wracked with guilt. *I was too jealous of how close they'd become, so I restricted the time he could spend with them.*

*No, the old Edraele did that,* John said, his voice firm and uncompromising. *You're just trying to deal with the mess she left behind. Your daughters know you aren't the same person any longer, so beating yourself up for something you had nothing to do with is pointless.*

*You're right, I'm sorry,* Edraele said quietly, letting out a mournful sigh. *If there's anything I can do to help you with this, let me know.*

John mulled it over for a moment, then asked her, *It seemed like they had a few weeks together occasionally, like that camping trip? Did they always go on vacation to the same place, or in different locations?*

*They often went camping, but to a wide variety of places on Valaden,* Edraele clarified for him.

"But you need the psychic imprints clustered together..." Alyssa murmured, appearing lost in thought.

John confirmed her guess with a nod. "I can't claim to fully understand how it all works and there might well be some better way of doing this. If I am going to recreate what I did for Sakura, I need similar conditions for it to work."

*It sounds like this is something else I... I mean, the old Edraele, has taken from my daughters,* Edraele said despondently.

John shared a concerned glance with the blonde lying on top of him.

*Please stop blaming yourself, Edraele,* Alyssa said gently. *It's not healthy for you to be carrying all this guilt around.* She smiled at John as she continued, *I was going to wait to let Dana and Irillith mention this tomorrow, but they were discussing using some Maliri cybernetic parts for Faye's new body. Apparently the Maliri have access to far more sophisticated components than the tech we can obtain in the Terran Federation. If the two of them can prepare a list of everything we need, perhaps you could gather all the parts, then come and meet us on the border?*

Edraele brightened immediately, sounding overjoyed as she replied, *That would be wonderful! Thank you so much for letting me know.*

*Maybe bring the Young Matriarchs with you too,* Alyssa purred, giving John a wicked smile.

*Oh, I can't wait to tell them!* Edraele exclaimed, practically giddy with excitement.

John shook his head with amusement as he looked at Alyssa, then said to his Maliri Matriarch, *You need to get some rest, beautiful. I heard how tired you were this afternoon after you sent me all that energy.*

*I'll go to bed right now,* she agreed obediently. *Luna's here at the moment, giving me a disapproving look.*

***

Luna was the first girl Edraele told about their upcoming excursion and the bodyguard's yellow eyes gleamed at the news as she hugged her lover. They hurried to the bedroom where the five Young Matriarchs were already in bed, but as it was three in the morning on Valaden, they were all fast asleep. Edraele smiled as she watched them slumbering peacefully, cuddled up with one another, then decided to let them rest and share the wonderful news the following morning.

She turned to welcome Almari and Ilyana as the two assassins opened the bedroom door to join them for the night. They were just as excited to hear they'd be meeting with John in a little over a week and they chattered in hushed whispers, beaming smiles on their beautiful faces. After getting undressed, the four women climbed into the huge bed - a match of the one Edraele had gifted John aboard the Invictus. Edraele had Luna on one side and Almari on the other, Ilyana wrapping her arms around her fellow bodyguard. After they each shared a goodnight kiss, they quickly joined the rest of the girls, falling into a deep and restful slumber.

***

Alyssa felt her fellow Matriarch drift off and she nodded to John in confirmation. "She's out."

"Thank you for that," he said, giving her a grateful smile.

"You were cruelly cockblocked by the Ashanath," she replied with a playful grin, although her voice was full of genuine sympathy. "I know how much you were looking forward to breaking in the Young Matriarchs..."

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "I don't mean that! Thank you for helping to cheer up Edraele!"

"You're welcome," she replied, before arching an eyebrow at him. "Edraele hasn't told those girls about the cross-border hook-up yet. I can always warn her not to say anything tomorrow morning, if the idea of taking each of those gorgeous blue-skinned vixens for the first time doesn't sound like fun."

"I wouldn't want to disappoint Edraele... She was really looking forward to telling them," John replied in a hurry.

Alyssa giggled at his expression, her cerulean eyes sparkling with delight. "You're so easy to tease..."

"And you're going the right way for a good tickling," John replied, giving her a stern look. He broke into a smile a moment later, then added, "Actually that's not true. Thank you for setting that up, I am really looking forward to seeing them!"

"Setting that up?" Alyssa asked archly. "Whatever do you mean?"

John smirked as he replied, "I didn't come down in the last meteor shower, you little minx. Surely Edraele could have just transmitted whatever schematics we need? Then Dana could just build all the parts here with the Mass Fabricators."

"Why I'm shocked, Mister Blake," Alyssa declared in faux-outrage. "Are you implying I just came up with an excuse to arrange a rendezvous with Edraele and her girls? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were insinuating that I just want to see you balls-deep in five stunning new babes!"

He laughed and hugged her tighter. "Well, it's good that we've cleared that up. Your motives were obviously as pure as the driven snow. Thank you on Edraele's behalf though, she sounded like she was getting herself down."

"You're welcome," she replied with an impish smile. The flicker of arousal was quite apparent in her eyes as she added softly, "Do you think you'll knock them up next week?"

"On their first time? No, definitely not," John said with a chuckle.

Alyssa could feel his cock thickening beneath her and she gave him some space to expand before carefully settling down again. She could feel the heat of his shaft beneath her and gave him a knowing look. "It won't be long though, will it?" she asked him in a hushed voice.

He stroked her back and slowly shook his head. "If not this time, then when we next return to Genthalas." He hesitated then, gazing into her eyes as he added, "If things were different, you know that-"

"I know..." she replied, a loving smile on her face. Her smile slowly faded and was replaced by a look of annoyance.

"What is it?" John asked in alarm.

"I'm totally fine with you knocking up as many hot Maliri babes as you like, but I want you to promise me one thing," she demanded, her voice uncharacteristically stern.

"Of course, anything," he immediately agreed.

Alyssa's eyes narrowed in anger as she said, "We need to smack the crap out of this other Progenitor in the next six months. I'm giving you a hard deadline on that."

"Six months?" he asked in confusion. "I promise I'll do my best, but what happens in six months?"

Her expression softened and she gave him a tender kiss. "That's when I turn nineteen. I want your baby growing inside me before then..."

John's cock jerked at the thought, drawing a sly smile from Alyssa, who felt it too. He nodded thoughtfully as he replied, "You're right, six months it is..."

Alyssa climbed off him, a smouldering look in her eyes as she stood up and slipped on her heels again. "As this turned into an XO catch-up meeting after all, I think it's only fair that you take me to bed and really stretch me out." She turned slightly, tilting her hips to showcase her spectacularly firm rump. "What do you think? See anything you'd like to ride?"

He sat up hurriedly, then rose to his feet behind her. Placing his hands on her hips, he pressed his burgeoning shaft against her pert ass, hot-dogging himself between her gloriously firm cheeks. "I've had a lot of gentle loving with the girls recently," he murmured, leaning forward to kiss the sultry blonde over her shoulder. "It's been lovely and intimate, but do you fancy something a little more... energetic?"

"You know you don't even need to ask," she purred, intertwining her fingers with his and grinding back against him. "I love seeing how passionate you get, and thanks to you, I'm able to take a hell of a pounding."

"Is that what you'd like?" he breathed, getting more turned on at the thought.

She looked at him over her shoulder with hooded eyes. "I'm your Matriarch. What I like is to be a good girl for my Progenitor, give him everything he needs..."

John couldn't help grinning at that, seeing the sparkle of lust in Alyssa's eyes when she felt him flexing against her. "How about breaking in the Observatory? We haven't had an... XO catch-up meeting in there yet."

Alyssa let out a happy sigh. "Getting roughly buggered beneath the stars. How romantic!"

He chuckled as he offered her his hand and led her out onto the Bridge, greeting Faye with a wave as they headed towards the grav-tube. Alyssa watched the purple sprite, noticing the way her wings fluttered in excitement as John approached and the wistful look in her luminous eyes as he passed the Command Podium. She suddenly realised she had a foolproof counter to any of John's remaining doubts about the lingering effects of the Progenitor bond on the girls.

Still, that was Faye's secret to share with him when she was ready, and Alyssa had no intention of spoiling that for her. She blew a grateful kiss to the digital girl as they descended in the red anti-gravity field, then smiled at John when he placed one of his strong hands on her asscheeks and gave her a suggestive squeeze. He was clearly looking forward to this as much as she was.