Chapter 26.1
In the fourth month of Saoirse's pregnancy, she was starting to show, and she promised Worth she would step back from active operations soon, but she felt the time had not yet come, despite all of Worth's efforts to persuade her otherwise.
But she did lower the pace of her participation in operations, at Worth's urging. While Worth was out on a mission with Nancy Kingsolver, Saoirse was sitting in her quarters one day when her comm lit up. She was tremendously surprised to see the holoimage of her niece, Kristi.
"Kristi?" Saoirse said. Kristi, as far as she knew, was in hiding in the mountains of rural Montana. "Where are you?"
"I'm here, in northern Virginia," said Kristi.
"Kristi, it's not safe here," said Saoirse. "What are you doing in Virginia?"
"It's Mom. She's not Infected," said Kristi, referring to Saoirse's sister.
"You said she was," said Saoirse.
"I was wrong. Or something happened and she shook it off. I don't know," said Kristi. "She's being held prisoner. They're doing tests on her. She managed to get word out. We have to help her, Aunt Saoirse."
Saoirse bit her lip. "Where are you?"
Kristi was hiding in what looked like an abandoned art studio on the edge of Reston. Saoirse cautiously looked around. Infected were walking around, but none seemed to take any notice of her. She should have told Worth, but Worth was still out on a mission, and Saoirse didn't want to wait, so she had gone alone.
Saoirse entered the art studio, gripping her blaster tightly under her coat.
"Kristi," she whispered.
There were the sound of footsteps, and Kristi appeared.
"Kristi, what are you doing here?" said Saoirse.
"Actually, it was kind of my idea," said Tom Faraday, grinning broadly as he came out from a side room behind her.
Saoirse's jaw dropped.
Tom slowly walked up to her.
Saoirse didn't run. Saoirse didn't attempt to draw her blaster. There was something in Tom's manner, his confidence, which seemed to sap her will to resist. This was a trap of his making. Surely she must be surrounded.
"That's a good girl," said Tom, as he walked up to her and grabbed her blaster. He smiled as he pocketed it. As he looked confidently in her eyes, he said, "Kristi dear, why don't you wait for us outside? Auntie Saoirse and I have some catching up to do."
Saoirse tried to restrain a sob as Kristi smiled knowingly and walked out.
"You're going to be a good girl, aren't you?" Tom asked, reaching out to touch her on the cheek. She flinched slightly, but didn't pull back.
"A really good girl," he said again, feeling the fear in her. It was so thick he could almost taste it.
"Tom," Saoirse whispered. "I'm pregnant."
Tom started to touch her bare arms. But the funny thing was, Saoirse didn't feel any of the pheromone being released. What was Tom doing or not doing to her?
"Shhh," said Tom softly.
"Tom, please don't take me. I'm carrying a baby," said Saoirse, her voice full of desperation.
Tom casually reached under her shirt, and felt her swelling belly. "I can feel that," he grinned.
"Tom, please don't," Saoirse said again.
"You're going to join Us," said Tom.
"But what about the baby?"
Tom paused. "I have to be honest. There is a risk. Women who have been carrying have lost their babies when they are Infected."
Saoirse grabbed her belly and gasped, "No!"
Tom reached out and caressed her cheeks again. "But there might be another way."
"Another way?" Saoirse asked anxiously.
"If I release half the normal Serum levels into you, your baby should survive," said Tom. "It's the one overwhelming dose that tends to do them in. But I can modulate the dose so that it's enough for you, but not too much for your baby."
"You could do that?" Saoirse asked.
"Um hm," said Tom, kissing her neck, causing her to shiver. "But there is a price."
"What is it?" Saoirse asked.
"You must give yourself willingly," said Tom, looking into her eyes.
It hit Saoirse like a hammer. Now she knew why Tom hadn't smothered her with pheromones. He wanted to experience taking her of her own free will.
"No," said Saoirse.
"The choice is yours," said Tom. He pressed his lips against hers. She moaned as she felt a surge of lust shoot through her body.
Then he pulled back, looked at her a long moment, and then went into a side room and turned on the lights. Saoirse saw a bed there. It had all been prepared.
Saoirse looked at Tom, in the side room, staring at her. Then she looked back at the front entrance to the shop. There was no one else there.
Could she simply leave?
No. This was a trap. If she tried to leave, someone would spring out of hiding, grab her, and then Tom would simply Infect her with the Serum, at full strength.
At that moment Saoirse understood the brilliance of what Tom had done. He had created the illusion of free will, the illusion that Saoirse had the choice to walk right out the doorway. He wanted to make it seem like Saoirse was choosing to be Infected by him of her own free will.
She licked her lips. She knew there was no way Tom would let her leave this shop. It must be a trap. And if was a trap, and she tried to flee, her baby had no chance.
So she had no choice but to cooperate.
Saoirse, holding her head high, walked of her own free will into the little room where Tom stood by a bed.
"That's a good girl," said Tom, murmuring. He moved to stand right next to her. Saoirse shivered and looked away. Tom turned her to face him.
"You're going to be a good little girl, aren't you?"
"Yes," Saoirse whispered, half paralyzed with fright.
Tom smiled and moved his lips over hers.
Suddenly Tom's tongue thrust out of his mouth like a snake striking out, and moved over her lips, tracing them slowly. Saoirse shivered again. He looked at her carefully, and kissed her firmly. Her nipples tingled as his lips grinded against hers. "Such a good little girl," he said again, smiling.
Tom took a step back, and looked at her appraisingly. He gently lifted up her arms. Saoirse did not resist. She knew what was next. She let Tom remove her shirt. In seconds she was topless, except for her bra. Tom rubbed her round belly as he kissed her again, as if to make it very clear what he held over her. After the next kiss, he looked into her eyes and said, "You smell delicious. But you taste even better."
Saoirse blushed.
Still rubbing her belly, he said, "I can feel life inside you. Life that will soon be part of Us. That excites, you, doesn't it?"
He kissed a trail around her neck. "Tell me it excites you."
Saoirse was torn. She didn't want her baby Infected, but knew the alternative. She had to play along. "Yes," Saoirse whispered. "It excites me." She looked so helpless when she said it.
"Good girl," Tom whispered, squeezing her breasts through her bra. She started to get sexually excited now, but she was ashamed when she realized that it wasn't because of pheromones. She was feeling this naturally. That made it even worse.
Tom unhooked her bra from behind, and let it drop. Saoirse gave him a look of extreme vulnerability as her breasts were exposed. She instinctively moved to cover them up with her hands.
Tom's face hovered in front of hers. "Do good girls cover their titties?" His lips traced hers again. "Do they?"
Saoirse shook her head.
Tom smiled and gently grabbed her wrists, and pulled them down. He stood there, looking at her magnificent bell shaped breasts, as if studying them for a moment.
Then he reached out and palmed one of them, as if he were weighing it, and he smiled at Saoirse to see her reaction. She looked defeated and resigned, with tears welling in her eyes. Tom continued to stare intently as he rapidly manipulated the nipple of one breast with the forefingers of one hand while his other hand wantonly squeezed her other breast firmly, to demonstrate his ownership of her. "Does Worth squeeze them like this?"
Saoirse looked away, embarrassed.
Tom put a hand under her chin and turned her to face him. He leaned close and kissed her again. Much to her chagrin, she kissed him back, hating herself for enjoying the pleasure of his firm lips grinding against her own. After Tom took what he wanted, he looked her in the eye and smiled, showing her he knew how much she was enjoying this.
Then he bent his head, lifted up one of her sagging breasts, and put the nipple to his mouth.
"No, Tom," Saoirse protested feebly. "Noooo," she added again, but cut herself off with a moan as Tom's tongue swirled on a rapidly expanding nipple.
Tom gave her a cocky half smile, so confident in what he'd done to her. His control over her was growing by the minute. Saoirse didn't protest as Tom pulled down her pants, and even lifted a leg or two to help him. As Tom hooked a thumb into Saoirse's panties, he saw her wince, but she still said nothing as he pulled them downwards.
And then she was naked before him. Exposed. Naked. Completely vulnerable. She trembled as he lightly brushed a hand over her pubic hair, to demonstrate his increasing power over her.
"So sexy... so very sexy," Tom murmured, making her blush.
Tom started to get undressed. Saoirse just stood there obediently and waited. Despite her dreading what was about to happen, she had to admit that Tom had the most handsome body! Tom was muscular, lean, and he had wonderful chest hair, even more than Worth. His ass and thigh muscles looked strong, and his penis....
Tom's penis was already erect. It was big. Bigger perhaps than Worth. Her heart beat more rapidly as she realized that monster would soon be inside of her. Inside of her, and making her and her baby part of Us.
Tom stood face to face with her. Saoirse realized they were both naked, alone, in this little room. She was about to be fucked by a man who was going to Infect her with an alien virus. She was about to betray the man she loved, and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Spread your legs."
Saoirse, restraining a sob, complied. Her eyes widened as she felt herself being penetrated. She gasped when Tom found her clit. He immediately started making gentle, rhythmic motions. Whatever else she felt about Tom, he knew how to touch a woman's clit. His brief, rapid touches started to arouse her, despite herself.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah."
Tom gave a wintery smile. Then he used his free hand to take one of Saoirse's hands and wrap it around his penis. Saoirse's eyes widened as she realized she was touching another man's sexual organ. Tom, working his hand over her, moved her hand so she started stroking him up and down. Saoirse kept going even after Tom released his hand, making him smile.
She was now mutually masturbating another man, a man who was not her lover!
As they stood there, completely nude, face to face, pleasuring each other in the most intimate of ways, Saoirse started to pant, and Tom's wolfish smile only grew broader.
"You're so sexy," Tom breathed. "I love the way you touch me."
Saoirse reddened. Tom pressed his lips against hers. But even as Tom kissed her, she found herself kissing him back, even as she continued to fist his penis. She couldn't blame pheromones for this; this she was doing of her own free will. She was doing this because she had to, and yet, and yet... Tom was just so handsome!
"I'm going to make love to you now, Saoirse," said Tom, looking her in the eye. "I'm going to make love to you, and we're going to create a special connection between us, one we'll both remember forever."
A special connection. He meant Us.
And so intense was the gaze of Tom's blue eyes, that Saoirse found herself blushing again, even as she nodded. Tom smiled and gently pulled her down to the bed. He positioned her on her back, and moved to spread her legs. And then he climbed on top of her, and grabbed his penis in his hands and started to aim it.
Saoirse felt a wave of terror go through her. She suddenly realized what was about to happen. She was about to be Infected by an alien virus which would take control of her mind. She looked at Tom's long, hard penis and realized it represented the end of her existence as a free woman.
"No..." she said, shaking her head.
"What?" said Tom, as he tried to line up his penis with her vagina.
"I can't do this. I just can't!" she said.
Tom, still holding his erection in hand, watched her sob for a moment. His face was unreadable. And then he released his penis and slowly sat up. "Go."
"What?" said Saoirse. That was the last thing she had expected to hear.
"You're free to go." Said Tom abruptly, standing up. His movement away from her only seemed to increase her feeling of terror.
"I am?" said Saoirse, not believing her ears.
"Get dressed," said Tom brusquely. "They're waiting for you outside."
They.
The implication was clear. Others who would Infect her. Others who would not care about her baby, and Infect her at full strength, and kill her baby.
"No..." Saoirse sobbed. "No, Tom!"
"You know the alternative," said Tom sternly.
Saoirse felt lost. "Yes, I do.... But I... I can't! I just can't make myself, Tom!" She was on the verge of tears.
Tom looking at her pityingly. "Would you like some help?"
"Help?" said Saoirse.
Tom held up a hand. Suddenly she saw it was glistening with a clear, oily substance.
The pheromone.
Tom looked at her. His meaning was clear.
Saoirse faced a terrible choice. But she had to save her baby. She would do anything to save her baby. Trembling, she nodded ever so slightly.
Tom sat down in bed with her. She expected him to rub the pheromone into her hands. But Tom didn't touch her; he merely sat there, his oily hand raised, looking at her.
He was going to make her do it. He was going to make her do it to herself.
Saoirse reached out and tentatively touched Tom with shaking hands. She started to rub her hands against his.
"That's right, rub it in, rub it in real good," Tom said. He was enjoying every minute of this.
Saoirse hated him so much as she rubbed the pheromone into her hands. She was being forced to befuddle herself with pheromones. She hated participating in this, hated being a willing part of it. Somehow it all made her submission that much worse.
But very quickly thoughts of guilt were driven from her mind as Saoirse started to get very sexually excited, even more so than she had been just a few minutes ago. The alien pheromones quickly did their dirty work, and before long she felt a strong tingling in her clit, a strong need to have a man thrusting inside of her, a need to have a sexual orgasm.
And then Tom reached up with his other hand, and started to coat her cheeks with even more pheromone.
"No, Tom, don't!" Saoirse cried out, but there was no way to evade him. She didn't want to be dosed that much, so much so that she would completely lose control!
But Tom had other ideas, rubbing the pheromone into her cheeks and neck. "I'm just trying to help," he said soothingly.
Applying pheromone to such a central part of her body had a rapid effect. Saoirse no longer merely felt the need for sex; her mind was now metaphorically fried with the pheromones and she was burning with sexual desire. Her heart was thumping in her chest, her clit felt like it was going to explode and she felt a restless tingling throughout her body. Saoirse badly needed to climax right now, and would do anything and everything Tom asked of her to do it.