Rebirth

Rebirth

By Vic James

vicjames2@hotmail.com

Copyright 2017 Vic James

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This story is fiction. None of the characters are based on real people.

You can see a list of my stories at the Nifty Prolific Authors page by my name.

One

I woke to shaking. I opened my eyes and saw my parent, Sul.

"Uh, good morning," I said.

I blinked my eyes.

"This is a very special day," he said, in a rough voice. I noticed then that something was different. My skin felt like it was tingling and there was a strange but pleasant smell coming from Sul's body.

"It is?" I asked, groggily.

"You are in your first heat," Sul said.

I sat up quickly.

"I can't be!"

"You definitely are, Ral. I've been like this since I woke," he said, pointing at his own crotch. Sul was hard. I looked at my penis. I was, too. I had an erection. My first. There was no question about it. I was in heat.

"No!" I cried. I wasn't ready to be in heat! Of course, I couldn't imagine that I ever would be.

I looked. Sul was hugely erect and I had never made him erect before. I was his child, after all. But that was the effect I would have on men while I was in sexual heat. Thanks to the Sphix, I was a walking, talking, dying aphrodisiac.

"I know you are focused on what will happen at the end of pregnancy. You always have. But you have wonderful things to look forward to. Being loved and experiencing incredible pleasure. And the knowledge that you are helping the human race recover from the Sphix. I will miss you terribly. If I could change places with you, I would. But I will love you for the rest of my life and I will make sure your children know just how wonderful you are."

Sul broke down and cried.

Was this it? Was yesterday the last day of my childhood? Forget about pleasure, forget about the human race. I was about to die. If I mated that day, which was a very real possibility, I would get pregnant and after nine months, I would lose consciousness, never to regain it. A day or two later, I would die and my abdomen would split open, like an enormous seed pod. My mate would take the babies out and it would be over, except the funeral. I looked down at the almost invisible seam that ran from my breastbone to my crotch. Death was the inevitable outcome of pregnancy, thanks to the Sphix. Fuck the Sphix!

"I'm not old enough!" I cried. "I'm only fifteen!"

Sul shook his head, sadly. We both knew that if I was in heat, I was old enough.

"I don't want to die, Dad!"

He looked so sad.

"I wish you could live forever. But there is nothing anyone can do about the situation. All we can do is choose to focus on the positive, not the negative. The positive for me is getting to know your mate and helping to raise grandkids. The positive for you is the love of your mate and the pleasure he gives you. You'll have many thousands of orgasms. Just looking at your mate can give you one. The last month of your life, will be one orgasm after another, even while you sleep. And Lud said they weren't like my orgasms. I described what mine were like and he asked, 'Is that all?' He said his were like adding up every good sensation he'd ever had and multiplying it by a thousand. And that was just one orgasm. You've seen the videos. Did Lud look unhappy while he was pregnant? He wasn't. He wasn't scared, either. He told me that if he could undo getting pregnant, he wouldn't."

"I don't understand that," I said, shaking my head.

"I don't either. But he convinced me it was true. He had no regrets, Ral."

I sighed. My whole life was supposed to have prepared me for the destiny of my sex, death during pregnancy, but it was a destiny I fervently wished to reject. It was so unfair. My sex, called Birthers, died during their pregnancy, while the other sex, men, could live to be one hundred or even older. I had the terrible misfortune of being born a Birther. It was true that Lud was very happy in the videos. But instead of reassuring me about my fate, I felt terrible sadness when watching those recordings. Most of the time I burst into tears. Lud left messages for me about his hopes for me. He didn't know I would be a Birther, so some of them were about raising children, something I would never need to know. And when I watched them, I knew that at the time, I was growing inside Lud's body, sucking up his life to gain mine. And the worst part for me was that Lud died without helping the race. I had no full siblings. Lud had an accident while he was pregnant and my only sibling died during the pregnancy. I almost died. Because of the accident, or because there was only me growing in Lud's body, he lived a week longer than expected. Sul was very happy about that and he thought I should be happy, too. But a week? Lud deserved a normal lifetime, not an extra week.

It was a horrible, horrible situation, and I hated the Sphix. I almost wished some of the bugs had survived. I would love to scream at one of them for what they'd done to us and the planet. They'd conquered us, taken us as slaves, and if that wasn't bad enough, they'd tried to remake us in their own image. Sphix had castes of different types of individuals, like bees or ants. They didn't reproduce like our bugs, though. One of their castes was Birthers, who got impregnated and died giving birth. Sphix Birthers were very dumb, like animals. Since they wanted us to be like them, they created human Birthers, who get impregnated and die like theirs. I don't know why they didn't make human Birthers dumb, but they didn't. They also wanted to keep their human slave population low. Sphix Birthers gave birth to a lot more Birthers than fertile males, like four times as many. With humans, there are usually equal numbers of Birthers and natural males born. Once the Sphix felt there were enough human Birthers, they exterminated every remaining human female. But the Sphix got what was coming to them. Another race they tried to conquer, the Alucard created a very clever, very contagious illness that infected every last Sphix, including the ones on their colony worlds like Earth. It spread among the Sphix on every planet and spaceship for over two years with no symptoms at all in the infected. Then, simultaneously, it killed. End Day for the Sphix. It was a holiday, now. Humans were lucky. If not for the Alucard, we would all still be slaves. Some people thought that we would figure out how to create human females using the Sphix equipment they used to create Birthers and Nobles, another caste. In school, they explained what cloning was and how it could duplicate a person. I had trouble imagining how you could duplicate a dead woman to get a live one, but the teacher insisted it was possible. But it had been over a hundred years since the Sphix died, and it still hadn't been done. Most people had given up hoping for it. Human scientists might have been able to do it, but there weren't any. They had been killed along with almost every other human. Human science and knowledge could be dangerous to the Sphix and since the Sphix only wanted agricultural and mining slaves, scientists were special targets. The Alucard wouldn't help us create women. They were still recovering from what the Sphix did to their two worlds. The Sphix didn't treat them any better than they treated us.

"We just have to hang on until we can undo what the Sphix did to us," Sul said to me.

"Or until we find that mythical last woman!" I said, bitterly.

"I think she would be too old to have kids by now," Sul said. I figured he was trying to inject a little humor.

Sul sat next to me on my bed. He took my hand and held it.

"Lud had to convince me he was happy, Ral. I woke to find him fucking himself. I wanted to wait. I never wanted to lose him. I felt so guilty afterwards, but it was his choice. And he wanted to do it again and again."

I sighed. I knew that. I'd seen Lud was happy. But I didn't understand why Lud was happy.

"And he loved you. I told you that you almost died inside him. Lud was terrified you would die. He wanted you to live much more than he wanted to stay alive."

I sighed, again. Sul had told me before. I didn't understand it. I didn't understand any of it. I thought I might, once I went into my first heat, that it would suddenly make sense why Birthers wanted to get pregnant. But here I was in heat, and it made no more sense to me that it did before. Maybe it never would. Would I hate my mate for impregnating me? Would I be that different from other Birthers? I didn't want to make someone else miserable with my misery, but did I have a choice? I supposed I could keep it all hidden, keep it all internalized. I worried about Sul, then. Would he be all alone with his sad memories? He deserved better.

"Maybe you'll find another mate after I leave."

It wasn't uncommon to have two mates. Some men even managed to attract three mates. If you were compatible with one Birther, you were most likely compatible with others. But heats were short and not everyone came running when the scent of a Birther was in the air. They might have another man for a lover and be happy or they might have thought losing one mate was plenty.

Sul shook his head. "I hope not. Lud hoped I would. He wanted me to go out looking for one, but I never will. I don't want new memories displacing my memories of Lud and..."

I watched tears drip from Sul's eyes. I squeezed his hand. He broke down and began crying, again. I joined him. I wished I had known Lud. I wished Sul wouldn't be alone. I wished I would live to be an old man. I wished the Sphix had never come to Earth. But I knew wishes never come true. I'd been wishing all my life. We both cried for a couple of minutes.

"And I couldn't watch another mate die. I couldn't."

I nodded.

"Maybe it will be Til," Sul said, wiping his face with his hands. "That would be very nice."

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It seemed fitting, somehow that it be the boy next door, but I was afraid I would hate my mate for getting me pregnant and Til was my best friend.

"Then, um, you should go to the market," Sul said.

That was the last thing I wanted to do. I could easily find my mate, there. "I'd rather stay here."

"I know. But we don't have a choice. The Sphix took it away from us. We both have to focus on the positive, Ral. I don't understand why, but Lud wanted to get pregnant after he met me. He really wanted me to impregnate him. Maybe once you meet your mate, you'll stop worrying. I hope so."

That seemed ridiculous to me. When I met my mate, I would become impregnated and die nine months later. Why would that make me stop worrying? I shook my head. But he might be right. It was probably programmed into us by the Sphix. Sul was right about having no choice. If I refused to mate, I could live to eighteen, but I would spend my last year in excruciating pain. My choices were intense pain followed by a meaningless death or intense pleasure followed by a useful death giving birth to the next generation. No one chose pain. I couldn't. But I wanted to wait until the last minute! I wanted every last second of life.

"Maybe I should go somewhere less crowded. If the market is crowded enough, I might end up with two mates," I said.

"That hardly ever happens. You'd have to run into them at the same time. It's not something you need to worry about. No. If you find your mate, he'll immediately take you somewhere private to prevent that from happening. And you will want to be alone with him. Even if there is another potential mate there, you'll be completely focused on the mate at your side."

"And if they fight?"

"Don't go looking for trouble, Ral. How often does that happen?"

Sul stood. I could see his erection was about to explode out of his pants. The scent from my heat caused it. For the first time, I was interested in Sul's cock and the way he smelled. That made me uncomfortable and I was sure my scent was making him think uncomfortable thoughts about me. He saw me looking at his crotch and backed away from me, before covering his crotch with his hands. He needed me to leave. I needed me to leave. I didn't want to think lustful thoughts about my parent. I got out of bed. I could smell myself. I bathed, hoping it might help keep my mate from smelling me. I ate a little before leaving the house. I looked around. It was going to be another hot day. This was a bad time to be leaving home. Not only did the regular farm chores need to be done, but there was fruit to harvest. I was leaving a lot of work for Sul. I turned around. Sul was standing in the doorway. His expression almost made me cry. He looked lost and lonely.

"Who will help you with the work?" I asked him.

"Don't worry about it. Find your mate. Be happy."

I left. It was sunny and humid outside, although not really hot, yet. I stopped at the house next door. It was where my best friend Til lived with his parent. Til was two years older than me. We had played together for as long as I could remember. When he was old enough to become interested in sex, I began playing with his cock and sucking it. I'm not sure why I liked it so much at that age. Til never forced me into anything. I was the one who initiated things. Once, after Til groaned loudly, Sul walked into my room while I was sucking him. Til was about twelve at the time. Til and I were both terribly embarrassed, but Sul approved and even encouraged me. Sul even gave me suggestions for how to make it feel better for Til. He said if it was OK to teach Birthers how to please their mates in school, a little homework could only help. In school, we practiced on dildos. It made much more sense to practice on Til and it was a lot more fun. You can't make a dildo happy, Sul said. It also felt better sucking flesh and I got the treat of Til's delicious cum. I'd been sucking him for five years, usually a couple of times a day. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much, but I let him fuck me sometimes, too. If I had to have a mate, I decided it should be Til. I wanted to be with him. My heat hadn't changed that.

I looked in several windows of Til's house, but the lights were all off and the rooms empty. I was disappointed, but knew I might run into him at the market. I headed back to the road and headed to the market. It was about a two mile walk. On the left side of the road were the farms of our neighbors. All but one of our neighbors grew fruit trees, mangos, avocados, and bananas, mostly. Most of us raised chickens, too, for eggs. The other neighbor raised only pigs and had hundreds. That was always the smelly part of the walk. I guess he was used to the smell. On the right side of the road, facing all our farms, was part of the Sphix compound. Many of the buildings had been deliberately damaged on End Day. In places, pinkish rock rubble was all that remained of some of the Sphix buildings where particularly horrible Sphix had lived. My ancestors and the ancestors of most of the people in our village were miners who had been brought from a northern country. We had lived with the Sphix in those buildings, but not by choice. After End Day, no one chose to live there but the Sphix had working water, sewer, and electrical systems. We stayed close by so we could use them. Wires and pipes ran under the Market Road to our homes.

I was relieved when I found Til. He was in their fields cutting bananas, at the edge of their property. I left the road and walked over to him. Til's mouth fell open and he looked at me in shock. I looked at him with different eyes. Somehow, overnight, he'd changed completely. He was tall, handsome, and manly. He was naked and his cock grew erect as he approached me. I was more familiar with his cock than my own; I'd seen it from every angle and tasted it, too. But today it looked exciting. When I sucked him before, I enjoyed watching him squirm and hearing him beg and moan. But today, I wanted it. For the first time, I wanted to be fucked. My asshole began spasming and I felt lubricant running down my legs. It felt really good, like nothing I'd felt before. I wondered if I'd just had my first orgasm. My body was telling me my ass was ready for his cock. I wasn't though. I didn't want to get impregnated. He, in turn, was looking at my erection. He'd never seen it. I felt drawn to him. He could well be my mate, the man who fucked me to death. Just then, the breeze carried Til's scent to me and he smelled very good, but he wasn't my mate. Part of me was glad; I didn't want a mate. But another part knew my mate would be someone I liked less than Til. And that definitely wasn't a good thing.

"Oh, Ral. You're in heat," Til said.

"How do I smell?" he asked, eagerly.

"You smell the same, Til."

He looked crushed.

"I...I thought...the way we feel about each other...it can't!"

"You wanted to be my mate?"

"Of course!"

"You never mentioned it."

"Because you didn't want a mate," he said. "You would have thought I wanted to kill you. It isn't that at all, though. I can't believe I'm going to lose you."

I felt sick.

Til began crying. I cried, too.

"Did you ever hope I would be the one?" he asked.

"Not until today. I was just thinking it will be a man I don't like as much as you. It seems suddenly like it really should be you. I don't want to leave Sul and you."

A sad smiled appeared on Til's handsome face. I stroked his cheek.

I wrapped my hand around his erection. Til groaned. He surprised me again by kissing me. It felt awkward at first, but then it was wonderful. His tongue moved slowly inside my mouth. It was my first open-mouth-kiss, and I really loved it. We kissed while I stroked his erection. I felt more lubricant from my butt run down my leg. Til was a different person today. We weren't just friends. Somehow, overnight, we'd turned into lovers. I never wanted to let him go. As he kissed me, passionately, I realized he was a man, now. I pulled away from the kiss, breathlessly.

"You've always made me feel safe," I said to him. "I never realized how handsome you are." Til smiled. "Before, you just looked like Til."

"You are so lovely, Ral," Til said, as he looked me up and down. I did the same to him.

"And you're a man, Til. A very handsome man."

He smiled and looked proud. I played with the hairs that were appearing on his chest. They were a lighter shade of reddish-brown than the hair on his head. I played with his nipples, too.

"How I wish I was your mate," he said. "I've wished it my whole life. I had my first orgasm in your mouth. Do you remember?"

I smiled, remembering.

"How could I forget? All of a sudden, I had a mouthful of semen. My first. I hated it."

"I didn't know that. You are always trying to get more out of me. Last Thursday you got three loads out of me."

I nodded.

"Sul told me the taste would grow on me and it sure did. Well, you know how much I love it, now."

"How did he know? Is it a Birther thing?" Til asked.

"I don't think so. Sul loves the taste, too. He told me that before he met Lud, he sucked a lot of cocks. It was what he did for fun. He must have been good because he stopped having to look for men to suck. They began coming to him. Even after he met Lud, men continued to come by the house, hoping to get sucked. Of course, he only wanted Lud, then. I wish he would start doing it, again. I know how much he loves it and I hate to think of him all alone at home after I...leave. He doesn't want another mate and I'm afraid he'll stay inside by himself." I had an idea. "I wonder if he would want to suck you," I said.

"I want you, not him," Til said.

"But it's so much better than jacking off. That's what you always said to me."

Til sighed.

"Ask him, will you? It will give him something to do," I said. "He might remember how much he enjoys it. He won't ever be lonely if men are stopping by to see him all the time. Please? It would make me happy."

"It would?" he asked.

"Yes. I'll worry less about both of you."

"OK. I will. It's going to be weird asking, but I'll do it. For you."

I hugged him.

"I bet he's not as good as you," Til said.

I smiled. "Well, I learned how to suck in school!" I said. "And I practiced on a cute guy every day!"

Til laughed. "Yes, and on everybody else!"

I smiled. That was a game we played.

"You know that isn't true!" I said. "We were always together. I—"

I choked up then. Til was like a part of my body. I didn't want to lose him. I couldn't lose him! He kissed me, again. The kiss was wonderful and cheered me up a little.

"We should have been kissing all those years," I said.

"I tried, remember?"

I chuckled. He was right. The smell of Til's cock changed my thoughts back to sex. I pulled on Til's nipples and watched his cock dance. It bounced up and down and precum oozed out. I grinned and pulled harder. Til sighed. I loved doing that. It was like his cock was saying, 'Look at me! I want to play with you, too!'

"Did you never suck anyone else?" Til asked me. "I often wondered but never asked."

"No. I spend all my free time with you. I had no desire for anyone else."

"I figured Sul would want you to, for practice."

"No. I guess practicing on you was enough. I mean twice a day!"

"Why didn't we have cock sucking classes?" Til asked. "If I ever have a lover, I want to impress him. I won't impress anyone with mathematics!"

Til impressed me. He was brilliant. He was the smartest person I knew, and that included adults. I learned a lot more from Til than I learned in school. School for Birthers was nothing like school for normal boys. We went three years, not eight and only learned what we needed to know. That wasn't much. We would never have jobs or need to earn or save money. We just needed to understand sex and how to make our mates happy. We had to learn about the Sphix, of course, or our lives made no sense. That required a little knowledge of history and science. The third year of school was shorter and optional. We learned about sex. We were told making our mates happy is vitally important. A lot of times, our mates already have lovers. They need to love and desire us so much they choose us. It is the Birther's obligation to make the bond so strong that our mates won't consider leaving after we die. If our mates aren't deeply in love, they might leave and the babies might have no one to raise them.

Til's hand slid between my butt cheeks. I moaned. He wiped some of the natural lubricant off me and brought his finger to his nose. He sniffed and moaned. His cock began shooting. I fell to my knees and swallowed it. It would probably be the last time I tasted his semen. That was a sad thought. I was amazed how much he shot, three or four-times more than usual. I had to swallow quickly, there was so much. I wished he had shot that much every time I sucked him. Of course, since I was in heat, my scent caused it. I was an aphrodisiac for any man. When he finally finished coming, he was still rock-hard. He put his hands under my arms and pulled me up. Then he turned me around and knelt. He pulled my cheeks apart and began licking my asshole. He became frenzied as I moaned and shook in my first orgasm. THIS was what everyone had been talking about. I gasped. It was incredible! It was hard to believe that orgasms my mate gave me would be even more intense and later, the babies would give me orgasms ten times as strong. That was what I was taught, anyway. I had trouble imagining anything more intense than the pleasure I was feeling. It occurred to me that I had given Til his first orgasm and he gave me mine. I loved that. Had I given him that amount of pleasure every day? I was glad I had made him happy. Til gave me several more orgasms. He seemed to know exactly how to give them to me. Maybe he learned how to make a mate happy in his classes. He pushed a finger inside me, rubbed something and I screamed in pleasure.

"I wish I could fuck you," he said.

That sounded really good to me—until I remembered what would happen if he did.

I was able to make Til come two more times. But finally, his cock was limp and I couldn't get it hard, again. By that time, word must have spread about my condition. More than a few neighbors had gathered around and were stroking themselves while they watched. When Tick, the pig farmer walked up to me and said, "I'm next," I got angry. He acted as though he had a right to have sex with me. He didn't and wouldn't.

"I love you, Ral. I'm in love with you," Til said. I gasped and turned to him.

"Suddenly?" I asked, thinking it was just my heat affecting him. He'd never said it before.

"No," he said, shaking his head slowly. "All my life."

I smiled and hugged him. I began crying. If I had to have a mate, it should have been him. He wrapped his arms around me.

"I'll never forget you, ever," he said.

I got a little angry then. Why did he have to remind me I was probably going to die in nine months? I cried again at the thought of losing him and me.

He pulled away. "I have to go," he said.

"Why?" I asked, hurt.

"I can't watch you with other men and I can't watch you find your mate! I just can't."

He ran off. I heard a sob from him. I was overwhelmed with sadness. I didn't want a mate, I wanted Til, my best friend. Fresh hatred of the Sphix heated my whole body. At least it stopped my tears.

I ignored the men who were waiting for me, especially Tick. I wanted sex and there were a couple of neighbors I might have enjoyed sucking, if they were more polite about it than Tick. But I wasn't about to start anything with them, with Tick thinking he was 'next'. I got back on the road to market. They followed me for a while, but I ignored them and I suppose they gave up. I thought about Til as I walked. He had never told me how he felt. I knew he liked me a lot, but it never occurred to me that he could be in love. It was odd that we spent all our time together, but never talked about how we felt toward each other. I loved him, but I wasn't sure I had been in love with him.

Gradually, my mood lightened and I was cheerful, again. At the time, it didn't occur to me how unnatural that was.

A man headed in the opposite direction approached. As he got closer, I realized who it was. It was Jon. He taught at the boy's school. He'd been Til's teacher. I'd spoken to him a few times when I was waiting for Til to get out of class. Jon always got hard when he looked at me. He always seemed embarrassed about it, but I liked looking at his erection. It was almost as nice as Til's. We both stopped by the side of the road.

"Ral! You're in heat!" he said, pointing out the obvious. "Does Til know?"

I nodded.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I know he's always hoped he would be your mate."

Did everyone know?

"How do I smell?"

I hadn't noticed, so he was definitely not my mate.

"You smell the same," I said.

He seemed disappointed. That was surprising. I had no idea he wanted me to be his mate. Maybe he just wanted a mate.

I watched Jon's cock bounce up and down, reacting to my scent. Precum spurted out and ran down his balls. I looked at his face. I could tell he wanted me. Or my scent.

Suddenly, he kissed me. I stroked his cock while his tongue slowly moved over mine. He wasn't Til's teacher anymore. He was an attractive man. He pushed two fingers inside my ass, twisted them, and gave me the most intense orgasm, yet. I held onto him to keep from falling. I pulled away from his mouth, gasping at the incredible pleasure. His cock smelled wonderful. When my orgasm was over, I fell to my knees and swallowed it. I once told my parent Sul that Jon got hard when he looked at me. Sul told me he'd sucked Jon regularly before he met Lud. It was strange knowing the cock in my mouth had also been in my parent's mouth. Jon came quickly and fed me a lot of semen. It was just as tasty as Sul told me. After he was done, I stayed on my knees and admired his big cock, kissing it and playing with the foreskin. He produced a lot of precum and I licked it off his cock and my fingers. I loved the taste. It was no wonder that Sul loved sucking Jon.

"Please don't stop."

I swallowed him again and sucked. I loved what I was doing, but it was very strange. I was kneeling by the side of the road, sucking my best friend's teacher, who my parent had also sucked. Jon shot more semen into my mouth, and I loved it, despite all the strangeness. I stood and wiped my mouth on my arm. He had a very satisfied expression on his face.

"Thank you!" he said.

I smiled. I stopped smiling when I thought of how unhappy Sul was.

"I'm worried about Sul. Will you do me a favor?" I asked him.

"Sure. What?"

"Will you ask him to suck you? He told me he used to suck you before he met Lud."

"Yeah. We fucked each other, too. But—"

"He said you have a beautiful cock, and I agree," I said, as I stroked it. I could tell he was flattered. "I don't want him to be alone, worrying about me and missing Lud," I said.

"Sucking me won't keep him from either of those."

"But he will be doing something besides just those."

Jon nodded.

"All right. Sure. I don't have anyone, either. You probably don't want to hear this, but the sex was really good with Sul. He's the only person to make me come three times in an evening."

"I bet I could do it," I said.

He laughed.

"I'm certain you could. If Sul doesn't want sex, I'll be his friend."

"Beg, if you have to, will you?"

Jon chuckled.

I stood and hugged him.

"You're going to search at the market?" Jon asked.

"Yeah. I suppose. Sul suggested it."

"Good luck!" he said.

I didn't say anything, but good luck would have gotten me born a normal man, and not a Birther. Good luck would be not finding my mate until I was eighteen. And when I absolutely had to have a mate, good luck would be having Til as my mate. I didn't have good luck. But I nodded to Jon. He continued on his way. I hoped he would stop by our house and say hello to Sul on his way home. I doubted Sul was in the mood for sex, but they could still talk.

A man and a child walked towards me on the road to market. The child looked like he was four or five years old. In five years, some man would be walking around with my child like that. Would my child feel guilty over causing my death, the way I had? That would be horrible. I decided I had to make sure that didn't happen. I would leave a message to my child, the way Lud had left messages for me. I stopped walking. What would my child or children be like? Would they have wonderful friends, like Til? Would their parent love them as much as they deserved? I sat down on the side of the road and cried. Why was I different? Why was I the only Birther who wished he wasn't a Birther? I knew from talking to classmates that they were happy with life and happy to be Birthers. Why couldn't I just accept things, the way they did? Was I going to make my mate as miserable as I was? Would he come to hate me? What would happen to my child or children? I hoped they weren't like me. I wanted them to be happy.

"Hello! Hello!" a young voice said. I looked. The little boy was waving his hand up and down at me. I forced a smile and then wiped my cheeks.

"How old are you?" I asked him.

He held up his outstretched hand. His parent folded his index finger down.

"He's four. Is something wrong?" the parent asked.

"I'm in heat and I'm afraid," I said.

"Don't worry. You're afraid you won't like your mate or your mate won't like you." That wasn't why I was afraid. Why would someone fear not liking his mate more than he feared death? "Don't be. I've never heard a case of that happening."

I sighed. I didn't want to die. I didn't want to split open like a pea pod. Sul and Til were the only people who understood me. It was pointless to discuss the matter with strangers.

"Thanks," I said, not meaning it. I stood up and walked away from them.

"Bye bye," the child said.

I turned around and waved.

"Bye! Be a good boy," I said.

I smiled as he nodded his little head.

As I approached the marketplace, I slowed. I had always been told that when a Birther was in heat, the urge to find his mate and give birth was stronger than the desire to live longer. To my surprise, I didn't seem to feel that way. I had no desire at all to find a mate. I realized I could take advantage of that. I wondered if I should just find some secluded spot and try to wait out my heat. The more I thought about it, the better that sounded. I couldn't think of any reason it wouldn't work. Usually a heat lasted two full days. I wondered if I could convince Til to stay with me. He might like the idea of helping me avoid my mate. After my heat ended, I couldn't attract a mate or get pregnant until my next heat. If I made it through my heat without finding a mate, I would gain months of life and I wanted those months. With the vast majority of Birthers, the first heat ended in pregnancy, because, unfortunately, it wasn't hard to find a mate. And once you had a mate, fucking was just about impossible to avoid. That's how it had been with Lud and Sul. They met the morning of Lud's first heat. I decided I should buy some bread and cheese in the market. I would have to eat while I hid. Then I decided I would sneak back to Til's and ask him to come hide with me. We could have sex in private, or just talk until it was safe for me to go home. It seemed like a good plan, and I felt optimistic.

As I passed more men, I found myself looking at them differently. Many of them were appealing in a completely new way. My scent gave them erections. And they were all interested, or maybe hopeful.

Two

"Hellooooo, beautiful," a farmer whose name I couldn't remember said to me from behind his stall. It was one of the first stalls and was actually a little outside the market. The day before, I would have laughed at what he said. But now I was glad he thought I was beautiful. I watched him grow erect. He pulled his foreskin back and showed me the head of his cock. It was shaped like a plum. I thought it was one of the prettiest things I'd ever seen. I could smell his cock. It smelled better than Til's; he smelled better than Til, although I was certain he wasn't my mate. The scent of his erection drew me. I wanted it. Did the head of his cock taste like a plum? What did his cum taste like? Was it like Til's or Jon's? I wanted to know. He walked up to me. I groaned as a drop of fragrant fluid formed at the slit. The smell intensified and I felt like I'd drunk two glasses of wine. The farmer wiped the liquid with a finger and held his finger under my nose. I opened my mouth and took his finger into it. I sucked the precum off it while he groaned. I let go of his finger and looked at his cock.

"You like it?"

"Yeah!"

I began stroking it. Then I bent down and swallowed the head. He cried out as his cock began pumping cum into my mouth. I moaned as I swallowed. It tasted terrific. I stood up and stroked it.

"As you can see, big things grow on my farm," he said.

Daddy Jack, who had the stall next to the farmer's, laughed. "Then why didn't you bring something big, Gare? Come on over here, sweetheart. Daddy Jack has what you need!"

I looked at Jack. He wasn't wearing anything, but he usually did. I got my first look at his cock. It was a dark brown color with prominent veins. Jack was naked, hairy chested and very manly. He looked like he was in his upper twenties. I'd always thought he was handsome and his cock didn't disappoint me. I wanted him badly. I wasn't sure why he wanted me to call him Daddy Jack. No one else did and he wasn't a parent. Daddy Jack lifted his erection to show me. I liked it. I could feel my penis bouncing up and down on its own. The farmer stood next to me. His hand slid between my ass cheeks. I liked that, too. Daddy Jack could tell I liked the way he looked. He walked up to me and took me in his arms. I wrapped my arms around him and we kissed. I groaned into his mouth when the farmer pushed two fingers inside my ass. I had an orgasm, quickly followed by another when I felt a tongue slide inside my ass. The farmer fucked my ass with his tongue. It felt phenomenal. All the men seemed to know what to do to make me come. Daddy Jack pulled away from the kiss. Six or seven men had gathered close around. I groaned in pleasure as they caressed my body with their hands, and even their tongues. Some men rubbed their cocks on me and I loved that. The smell of men and sex saturated the air. I felt dizzy. I wrapped my hand around one cock and stroked it a couple of times. The man cried out as hot cum shot out of his cock and landed on me. The farmer behind me, the one I'd sucked, took my hand and placed it on his cock. I stroked him a few times before he shot his cum on my butt. Several hands rubbed the semen into my skin. I looked down at all the wonderfully stiff cocks around me. There was one I liked the most. I looked up and smiled when I saw it belonged to Daddy Jack.

"You like it?" he asked me.

"I love it! You never let me see it before."

Daddy Jack grinned. He groaned as my hands began exploring his sexy, hairy body and his cock and balls. I bent over and took his beautiful cock in my mouth. Daddy Jack came almost immediately and filled my mouth with thick cream.

"Don't swallow," he said.

I wondered why. Then he pulled me up quickly and he kissed me while my mouth was still full of his semen. Our tongues swirled his cum around in my mouth. He pulled away from the kiss. He took my head in his two hands and began licking my face, coating it with his saliva and semen. The smell and sensation made me come, again.

He stopped licking long enough to ask, "You like this?"

"Yeah!"

"You like my jizz?"

"I love it! I want more. I want you!" I said to him.

"Baby! I want you! I'm so glad you finally noticed me."

"I noticed you before. I always thought you were sexy. But you told me to call you Daddy Jack. I thought you felt like I was your child."

'Daddy' Jack groaned. "That isn't how I meant it! I want you to think of me as the man who will make you happy."

I smiled at him.

"You said you wanted more."

Daddy Jack pulled my head down to his cock. I sucked enthusiastically. The men around me were groaning. A man rubbed his erection on my cheek while I sucked Daddy Jack. Another man rubbed his erection on my back and came, shooting most of it on another man who got angry. After less than a minute, the man rubbing his cock on my cheek came and shot his semen on my face. Some of it hit the shaft of Jack's cock. I tasted it as I continued sucking Jack. Cum ran down my cheek to my chin and then onto the ground. I felt more semen splatter on my back. That had to be another man.

"Oh, fuck!" Daddy Jack said, as he shot in my mouth, again. After he finished, he pushed his cock completely inside my mouth. The head and at least an inch of the shaft went inside my throat. My training took over and I began swallowing, which massaged the head of his cock with my throat muscles. I tugged on his hairy balls at the same time. Men were pushing against me, trying to get closer. I almost fell over. I would have, if I hadn't been holding onto Jack's balls. Jack cried out and ejaculated directly into my stomach. I felt stuffed full of Daddy Jack and I loved it. My lips were pressed into his pubic hair and all I could smell was him. He smelled great, but he wasn't my mate. After he finished shooting, he began fucking my throat. I loved it. Suddenly something large and hot pushed its way deep into my ass and gave me the most intense orgasm, yet. It felt absolutely wonderful, but also very, very wrong! I pulled off Daddy Jack suddenly and coughed as I looked behind me. I screamed. The farmer had his cock inside my ass. His eyes were glazed over. He seemed to be in a trance.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Jack shouted at the farmer. I looked around. All the men, except Jack seemed to be in a daze, with open mouths and dripping erections. Daddy Jack pulled me away and stood between me and the farmer. If I got impregnated by a man who wasn't my mate, the baby would probably be deformed and I would still die. Sphix created Birthers, and being artificial, we weren't completely compatible with all normal human men, who could vary quite a bit. The mating scent lets us know when a normal human is completely compatible with us.

I was terrified by what the farmer tried to do and I ran. The busy market was right ahead of me. I couldn't go there. I turned and ran into the Sphix compound. As I ran, it occurred to me that if the farmer hadn't done that, I would still be there having sex, where my mate could find me. Maybe what happened wasn't so horrible, since it brought me back to my senses. I also decided running seemed like a good way to avoid my mate wherever and whoever he was. I wondered how long I could run. If I ran for two hours, I could be far away from anyone, including any mates.

I approached the small museum about the Sphix. There were preserved bodies of Sphix and some of their weapons and technology. There were also some plants from their home world growing outside the museum. They were just about the only Sphix plants left still living. They all required special chemicals to keep them alive. The ground in any Sphix compound was covered with the pink stone they used for everything they built. It wasn't natural rock, even though it looked it. It was manufactured, like concrete. Plants had broken through in a few places, but large parts of the compound were bare pink rock. The rock was sculpted to collect water. Rain that struck the buildings and the ground ran into artificial, spiraling creeks and into large underground cisterns the Sphix created. It was always more work to walk in a straight line through a compound than a curved one. If you followed the curve of the spirals, you could cross the creeks on the narrow stone bridges that ran over them. Otherwise, you had to keep hunting for bridges going mostly in the direction you wanted. I kept running past the museum. After I'd run a mile, or so, I came to a part of the compound where many of the buildings were still in very good shape. All Sphix buildings looked like boxes. They didn't seem to know what architecture was. There was no one around, as far as I could see and that made me smile. It was a good place to hide. I ran another mile and then I spotted a building. At the base of it, the wind had blown piles of dirt where plants with yellow flowers were growing. They seemed inviting. I walked into the building. This was the residential compound, so this had been a Sphix home. The ground floor was mostly empty. It was where the human slaves lived, maybe even my own ancestors. The Sphix living quarters would be below the ground. I walked down a spiraling ramp that led down to them. I passed a room with the remains of a small Sphix. The segments of its body had fallen apart in the decades since it died. It must have been almost three feet long when it lived, which meant it was a very young one. Kit and I had once found an even smaller Sphix in another building. I felt no pity for the death of the young Sphix. Sphix warriors took special pleasure in killing human babies. I crushed its head with my foot. It shattered into little pieces. It was not much revenge for what they'd done to me and the human race, but it was all the revenge I would ever get. But I began coughing from the dust I raised. I left the room. I wandered through other rooms. I saw no other Sphix. Evidently, the parent Sphix had been away from home when it died.

My stomach growled. I was suddenly famished. I decided it had to be because of my heat. I needed food. I walked up the ramp to the surface. I left the building and looked to see if any fruit trees were nearby. But there were no trees of any kind. I sat on the bare rock and thought. My stomach growled. I knew I was east of the market. I remembered there was an indoor shop on the east side. It was only busy when it was raining or the weather was bad. It was always empty when the weather was good, which it was. I got up and started walking. I could smell the market before I could see it. That was good. My scent was being blown away from the market. A little further, and I saw the market. I only saw a couple of men and they ignored me. If the wind shifted, that would change. I walked to the front of the shop.

The bar The Last Woman was across the street from the shop. I'd always thought it odd that they had a drawing of a Birther on their sign, not a woman. Sul told me he spent a lot of time having sex at The Last Woman before he met Lud. Til and I went once and there was an orgy going on inside the bar. I sucked Til twice while he watched. A man wanted to fuck Til and I got very angry. My anger seemed to make Til really happy. I didn't understand that until Sul explained why Til liked my jealousy. While I thought of Til, I saw Til's father, Kit sitting inside it through the window. I wondered what he was doing over there in the middle of the day. I waved at him. He had a strange expression on his face. I looked down and saw my erection. I sighed. He couldn't smell me, but he could see I was in heat. I wished I'd worn something to hide it. I turned away and walked into the shop. It was hot and stuffy inside, but it was empty, as I'd hoped. My mate couldn't find me while I was inside. And there was no one to tell people outside the shop that a Birther in heat was inside, unless Kit did. I thought that was unlikely. I could smell the shop owner, Bill. Bill smelled very good, but he wasn't my mate. I walked up to the counter. Bill was wearing a strap over his cock and balls, but he was obviously erect and he was bigger than Til or Jack. He looked at my face with his mouth open.

"Is that cum on your face?" he asked.

I wiped my face and looked at my hand. I nodded.

"Do you have a towel I can wipe myself with?" I asked him.

He nodded, reached under the counter and handed me a rag. I wiped the cum off the front of me. There was some on my back I couldn't reach.

"Would you mind wiping it off my back?" I asked.

"No. I wouldn't mind a bit."

Bill came from around the counter. I handed him the towel and he wiped my back.

"You've got it all over your ass, too."

He wiped my butt.

"Thanks."

His hand slid between my butt cheeks. I'd never thought Bill was attractive, but it felt good. He pulled his hand away as if he burned it.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's OK," I said.

He went back behind the counter.

I walked through the shop very slowly. I tried to keep my erection from being visible to anyone outside. I thought I could to waste an hour or so in there, if no other customers entered. I glanced at The Last Woman and didn't see Kit. A horrible thought occurred to me. What if Kit was my mate? Til would probably kill himself. I knew the chances weren't good that he was, but it was one more thing to worry about.

I could tell Bill was stroking himself while I shopped, but I ignored him.

The shop door opened. Kit walked in. He walked over to me. I was surprised at how good he smelled. He smelled better than Til. I didn't understand that. But he wasn't my mate and that was a relief. He wasn't wearing anything and I watched him grow erect. I couldn't remember ever seeing him erect. His cock looked a lot like Til's. I leaned forward and sniffed him. I wasn't happy to find myself getting aroused by my friend's father. But I was in heat, and he smelled almost like my mate.

"Have you seen Til?" he asked me. He grunted when I looked at his cock. I watched a drop of precum form on the head of it. He was probably thinking of me sexually for the first time, too. Then he groaned. "Fuck! You smell so..." He panted before asking, "Am I your mate?"

"No, but you smell really good. We could probably have babies."

I don't know why I mentioned babies. I didn't want babies with anyone, but especially not Kit. I was just repeating what I'd learned in school.

I had never paid much attention to Kit. But he was hairy, like Daddy Jack and he reminded me so much of Til. I touched his chest and he groaned. I began feeling his body, the way I'd felt Jack's. I lifted his nuts. They were heavy. His cock felt perfect in my hand. Kit's eyes were closed and he breathed heavily while I lustfully enjoyed his body. He grabbed my head and kissed me. We wrapped our arms around each other. The kiss was intense. He reached around and forced several fingers into my ass. I sucked on his tongue as an intense orgasm hit me. He pulled away and looked at me. His eyes scared me. I looked again at his cock. It was like Til's, only bigger and more desirable.

"You want it," he said.

I nodded.

"Til can never know."

I shook my head. I was about to kneel and suck when I came to my senses. I wanted Kit only because I was in heat. I knew I would regret it, later. And Til was already miserable. If he found out I'd been with his father, there was no way of knowing how he would react.

Kit blinked and stepped back.

"I shouldn't—" I shook my head. "The last thing I want is to hurt Til."

Kit nodded.

"You're in heat. Our brains shut down."

I nodded. I looked at Kit's cock. Precum was oozing freely out of the slit. It smelled terrific. I still wanted his cock, but I was in control. Barely.

"I spoke to Til. He told me he wanted to be my mate, but he isn't. I wish I could have made him happy," I said.

Kit gasped. I was wondering why when his cock began spurting cum all over my chest and belly. Neither of us touched it, he just came.

"Oh, fuck! I better get home. Til must be terribly upset."

I didn't know what to say. I hoped Til would be willing to spend my heat with me somewhere private. But I couldn't tell Kit my plan to hide to keep from finding my mate. He probably wouldn't approve, and he would tell Sul. Then both of them would come looking for us. I would get a lecture about my duty. I was supposed to care more about the human race's survival than my own. Kit turned and left the shop. I was afraid I would regret it, but I wiped Kit's semen off me and ate it. It tasted like Til's. I wished Til was with me.

Why wasn't Til my mate? How could his father smell better than him to me? If I wasn't a Birther, Til would be my lover. I was certain of that.

I slowly picked out things. Bread, cheese, water, jerked meat, and some pastries. I got enough to last two people two days. I hoped Til would agree to spend the time with me. While I shopped, I thought about how I could ask Til to join me without anyone else knowing.

I thought about the farmer who had tried to fuck me. What he'd done was illegal and there were a lot of witnesses. I wondered if he'd been arrested.

"You won't find your mate in here," Bill said from behind his counter after I'd been there a while. I could see his arm moving. He was still stroking himself. By that time, my scent had filled his shop, and there was little air circulation. I shook my head and continued looking at every item in the shop.

"You won't have any trouble at all finding men to buy you food, you know," he said, when I finally put my purchases on the counter. Bill was older. He was about fifty. Fifty years old. I wondered if he knew how lucky he was not to be a Birther. I would never reach nineteen, no matter what I did. I could see his erection from where I was standing and it was drooling precum onto the floor. It smelled really good.

"I don't think I want them to," I said. "A man tried to fuck me on the road."

He looked shocked, as anyone would.

I tried to pay, but he wouldn't let me. I could smell his cock. Bill wasn't particularly attractive; he was nothing like Til, Kit, or Daddy Jack. But I thought his cock was very nice. It was big and curved upward, gracefully. His large balls hung low beneath it.

"Do you like it? My mates loved it," he said, meaning his penis.

"I can believe that," I said. "You had two?"

He nodded. "I miss both of them, terribly."

I suddenly got sad.

"You want to watch me shoot?" he asked.

I nodded my head. We were alone and he wasn't my mate, so why not enjoy myself? I could leave quickly if someone entered the store. I would run and breathe through my mouth so I couldn't smell my mate, if he was outside.

"Can I touch it?"

"You sure can! Do you want to stroke me?"

"Sure!"

He came from around the counter. I reached out carefully for his erection. It felt large and hot in my hand.

"It won't break! Just grab hold and jack me."

"I know that. I'm just nervous after what happened."

"I understand completely," he said. "I need to come. Just make me come."

I watched his large balls swing with each of my strokes. I reached out and held them in my other hand.

"That's just wonderful, sweetheart! You smell so fucking good!" he said.

I fell to my knees and swallowed his cock entirely. It felt like the head of it was in my stomach! I began sucking him. He let out a loud moan. I enjoyed sucking him, but I found myself imagining it was Daddy Jack in my throat, again. If I couldn't think of a way to get Til to hide with me, I wondered if I could convince Daddy Jack to do it. He could even take me to his house and people would think he was my mate until my heat was over. I wouldn't need to hide at all. I could sleep in his bed, with him. It occurred to me that that was a much better plan than hiding from everyone. I thought about sleeping with his sexy, hairy body wrapped around me and I wanted that. But I wanted to be with Til more. It wasn't just sexual desire with Til. I decided to try to think of a plan that would work as well, but with Til. My thoughts were interrupted when Bill's cock began shooting in my mouth. There was more semen than I could swallow and it tasted really good. A lot of it ran down my chin onto the floor. He wasn't nearly finished, though. He bent me over the counter and began licking my asshole before he began fucking me with three fingers. He twisted them as he fucked me. I grabbed the edge of the counter and hung on while Bill gave me one orgasm after another. I didn't want it to end and it occurred to me that it was a wonderful way to safely spend time. It would be even better if Jack was there.

"Do you know a man named Jack who has a vegetable stall just outside the market on East Market road?" I asked Bill, as we took a break.

"Yes. I know him very well. Is he a friend?"

"I want to talk to him. Would you..."

Bill stood, but he left his fingers inside my ass and continued to move them. He began pinching one of my nipples. I groaned through another orgasm. I reached over and began stroking his stiff cock.

"Jack isn't your mate, is he?" he asked.

"No. I'm avoiding other men. I'm not ready to find my mate. I'm...afraid." He sighed and looked sad. "I know I shouldn't be."

"You can be afraid. I'm afraid for you!"

I smiled at him.

"Are you hoping to not find your mate until your second heat?" he asked.

Someone finally understood!

"That's exactly what I hope. At least six months more of life. How will that hurt the human race?" I asked.

I expected him to talk about duty. Instead, he shook his head and asked, "What do you want with Jack?"

"Sex."

Bill laughed.

"OK!"

"And I thought he might be willing to pretend he's my mate. We can go to his house and..."

Bill laughed.

"Have sex for forty-eight hours? Lucky Jack!"

Just thinking about Jack got me horny. I fell to my knees and began sucking Bill, again.

"Lucky me," Bill said, and sighed.

A couple of minutes later, Bill cried out as he came. I stood up after I managed to swallow all of it, this time.

"Do you want me to get Jack?"

"Will you? If I walk through the market alone..."

"You could find your mate. You could still find him, even with Jack at your side," Bill said. "You won't be able to pretend if you smell your mate."

"I still want to try."

"I'll do it," Bill said. "You can stay with me during your heat if Jack doesn't agree. You seem to like my cock."

I thought for a second. Then I nodded. Bill grinned.

"Let's get you those six more months! My mates Tom and Ken would be...they..." His voice broke and he began crying. I could feel his grief and it affected me. I put my hand over my mouth and tried my best not to sob. Tears ran down both our cheeks.

"Lock the door behind me and you'll be perfectly safe from a mate."

I hugged him.

Bill left and I locked the door behind him, just as he said. I burst into tears and cried thinking of poor Tom, Ken, Bill, Lud, me, and every other Birther the Sphix had caused to die.

But the tears dried and I waited. And waited. I began to worry until I remembered that I was safe, and the longer it took, the better. I ran out of things to look at. I walked to the back of the store and opened a door. Bill obviously lived in his store. There was an unmade bed and a small kitchen. Something under the bed caught my eye. I looked. It was a dildo. I wondered what he did with it. Did he have a lover or did he use it on himself?

I left his living area and went back into the store. I wondered if I should have asked Bill to get Til, instead of Jack. I was angry at myself for not thinking of that. But we'd be stuck with hiding. As much as I wanted Til, the plan with Jack would work better. Pretending Til was my mate wouldn't work. Kit already knew I wasn't. And Sul would figure out what was going on in about two seconds. With Jack, no one except the two of us and Bill would know Jack wasn't really my mate. After the heat was over, I could spend the next six months or so with Til. I smiled, thinking of it. We could be lovers and sleep together, maybe live together. I wouldn't be horny out of heat, but I could give Til lots and lots of orgasms. And love. Sul would be happy, Kit would be happy, and Til and I would be happy. Even Jack would be happy. I felt better. I felt optimistic. This plan with Jack would work better than hiding. The only thing we had to do was pretend we were mates.

I guessed an hour passed before Bill and Jack appeared at the door of the shop. Daddy Jack had an enormous smile on his face and he was very erect. He'd already come three times in my mouth and he was ready to come, again. He was a stud! I unlocked the door and they entered. Jack pulled me into his arms and kissed me. While we kissed, Bill pulled my cheeks apart and began licking my asshole. I shuddered through an orgasm with Jack's tongue in my mouth. Jack pulled away and began licking and gently biting the skin on my neck and shoulder. I wrapped my hands around his cock and balls. I leaned forward and smelled him. It seemed like he smelled better, but I decided it was probably because I wanted him.

"If you could choose, you'd choose me," Jack said.

I nodded.

He grunted. His cock drooled in my hand.

"Who knows? You keep him in your bed for the next forty-eight hours, with no one to smell but you, and it could happen," Bill said. "You could become his mate."

Jack looked at Bill sharply.

"Is that possible?"

"Who knows? But remember, even if it happens, you can't fuck him. The whole point is to help him live longer," Bill said.

"I understand. I want him to live longer, too, whether he is my mate or not," Jack said.

"If he is your mate, it won't be easy. He will beg you to fuck him. He'll cry and tell you he needs it. His hormones will control him completely. It was that way with my mate, Tom. He'll try to fuck himself on your cock while you sleep. You have to expect it and you have to resist him! Lock him up, if you have to." Bill said to Jack.

"You could give me Valerian root," I suggested. "It puts me right to sleep."

Bill laughed. Then Jack did.

"What's funny?" I asked.

"I buy it from Jack. He grows it."

I smiled. That was a nice coincidence. I wondered if it meant anything. Did it mean Daddy Jack had exactly what I needed?

"I'll get some," Bill said.

"No need," Jack said. "I've got plenty at home."

I looked Jack over. "You're so hot!" I said.

He grinned.

"You may still want to get fucked after your heat is over," Jack said.

"You can fuck me, then, Daddy Jack."

Jack let his head fall back and sighed.

"I can't believe you thought I wanted to be your parent. If you only knew how often I jack off thinking about you."

I smelled him, again.

"You like the way I smell?" he asked.

"I do!"

He grinned.

"Do I smell like your mate?" he asked, eagerly.

"No. You just smell really good."

I bent down and swallowed Jack's cock. He ran his fingers through my hair while I sucked him. I was surprised when he grabbed my hair with one hand. He pulled his cock out of my mouth and stroked it with his other hand. I held my mouth open, trying to get his cock back inside my mouth, where it belonged. But he held me by my hair. He groaned as his semen shot out of his cock and hit my face. I groaned, too.

"I bet your parent doesn't do this!" he said, as his cum struck my face. It was so erotic. What a stud he was! After he was done, he pulled me up. He licked some of his cum off my face and stuck his tongue in my mouth. I sucked the cum off his tongue and he licked more and fed me the same way. When he was done, I told him how much I liked it and how much I liked him. He looked very, very happy.

I ran my fingers through the hair on Jack's chest.

"You like all that hair?" he asked, grinning.

"I love it."

I pulled on his nipples.

"You are so fucking beautiful, Ral," Jack said.

"Oh, yeah. Those green eyes and red, red lips. It was so hot seeing those lips wrapped around my cock," Bill said.

"Yeah. Those lips are a perfect fit around my cock," Jack said. He grinned at me.

"I want to feel you inside my throat, again," I said into his ear.

Jack sighed, happily.

"Do you think you can skip two heats?" Jack asked me. "If so, we can do the same thing during your next heat."

I hugged Jack. I cried, but this time from happiness. Jack pushed a finger in my ass and I came, hard. I held onto him and gasped.

"After your heat is over, it will be my cock inside that hole."

I kissed and licked Jack's shoulder. He tasted good. I began licking his neck and cheek. The black stubble on his face felt rough on my tongue. I kissed him and Jack's tongue entered my mouth, again. I came again, as Jack continued moving his fingers inside my ass.

Bill moved next to us.

"I've got something better than fingers, and safer than your cock," Bill said.

I pulled away from Jack's mouth and looked behind me. Bill was holding a dildo. I smiled at him.

Jack pulled my mouth to his and kissed me. While we kissed, Bill pushed the dildo inside me. I held onto Jack's sweaty body as I orgasmed. Bill kept the dildo moving and another orgasm followed immediately. I pulled away from the kiss and rested my head on Jack's shoulder. Jack's hand caressed my back while Bill kept the dildo moving and gave me more orgasms. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't think of Til once, during that whole encounter. Jack's scent and my heat had control of me.

"Sweet baby," Jack said. "My sweet baby. You finally belong to Daddy Jack, at least for a little while."

I kissed Jack's neck and he sighed.

"I want you! I want to sleep in your arms."

Jack sighed, again. "You will, for as long as you want."

We kissed again, while Bill continued giving me orgasms with the dildo. I never knew so much pleasure existed. I didn't understand how the orgasms could be better with a mate. Finally, my ass was sore. I reached back and grabbed the dildo.

"That's enough," I said. Bill slowly pulled it out of me.

"Wow! That was incredible!" I said.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it!" Bill said.

"Why don't you move in with me?" Jack asked me. "You'd be leaving home, anyway. We'll be lovers."

For a second, I loved the idea. Then I thought about Til. Poor Til. My lust for Jack had made me forget all about him. It would crush Til. If I was with my mate, he could accept it, I hoped. But to just take another man as lover?

"There's a boy who loves me and I love him. I sort of wish he was my mate," I said.

"Is he the one you're always with?" Jack asked.

I nodded.

"Do you mean you wish he was your mate, but not yet?" Bill asked.

"Exactly!" I said. "He lives next to us, though and we couldn't fool our parents."

Jack looked hurt, but what could I do about it?

"What if it ends up being me?" Jack asked. "What if I'm your mate. You have to admit, you want me."

"That's just fine. It could be anyone. If I knew it would be you or Til, I'd be glad. I like you both. I think you'd be a terrific mate."

Jack smiled.

"We should go. The market will only get busier," Jack said. He shook his cock. "You'll get plenty more of this bad boy. He's been longing for you."

I grinned.

"You sure can come a lot of times," I said.

"I haven't had sex for a while and you've got me really excited. I've wanted you for years, Ral. Like I said, I've jacked off thinking about you many times. Shooting on your beautiful face is one of my favorite fantasies and I actually got to do it!"

I smiled at him.

"You can do it whenever you want," I said.

Jack giggled like a little kid. I smiled. I thought it was adorable.

"Thank you, Bill," I said.

He chuckled.

"Thank you, sweetheart!"

Bill handed me the bag of groceries. Jack took them from me.

"If you need help tying him down, let me know," Bill said to Jack.

I looked at Bill in surprise and he laughed.

Jack opened the door for me. I walked out and froze. A scent made me dizzy and I fell back against the shop's window. A group of men stood in front of The Last Woman. All of them were looking at me. In front of them was one enormous man. He had to be seven feet tall, at least. That meant he was almost certainly a Noble, the other type of artificial human the Sphix created. I knew without question that he was my mate. I could smell him and he smelled wonderful, but it was more than that. I had the weird sense that we were connected, like with invisible strings. It was the oddest thing.

"What is it?" Jack asked me.

"Him!" I said, pointing. "It's him!"

"Who?" Jack said.

Three

The huge man walked up to me. And he wasn't just huge. He was absolutely the handsomest man I'd ever seen. And muscular. And hairy. And his scent was unbelievable. He was without question, perfect. He was everything I'd ever thought was attractive in a man, multiplied. He was older than me. It was hard to say how old, because Nobles lived longer and didn't age like normal men. I learned that from a Noble who spoke to my class. He was there to tell us about what they did and how the area government worked, but all I could think about was how much I wished I was a Noble instead of a Birther. This Noble was more handsome than the one who spoke to us. He looked like he was Sul's age, in his early thirties, but he could have been sixty. He made Daddy Jack look like a toad, by comparison, and I thought Daddy Jack was very attractive! His biceps were bigger around than my thighs. All he wore was a transparent silk pouch over his genitals. It was a big pouch because he had an enormous cock.

"It's a Noble. So what?" Jack asked. "Haven't you ever seen one before? Let's go," Jack said, taking my arm in his.

"You have my mate, there," the Noble said to Jack. Jack gasped.

"Is he your mate?" Jack asked me.

"Um..."

"He's my mate, and I got him first," Jack said to him.

I looked at Jack. He was brave!

"You are lying. He's not your mate," the Noble said to Jack.

The Noble stood right in front of me. I looked up at his face. He was so handsome! He had eyes the color of gold. I looked into them and he smiled at me. I felt my heart pounding in my chest.

"You don't want a mate. Did you forget?" Jack whispered. I looked at Jack and shook my head. I hadn't forgotten.

"Is that true?" the Noble asked me.

"I...I...didn't," I said.

"Why?"

"Because he isn't ready to die!" Jack said. "He wants to postpone dying for six months! We can afford to give him those six months!"

I looked at Jack. He was wonderful. I took his hand and squeezed it.

"Let's go, Ral," Jack said, as he put his arm around my waist. Jack looked up at the Noble. "Come see him in six months!"

A rumbling sound came from the Noble. He got down on one knee.

"I'm Michael, dearest," he said. He had a sweet smile on his face and I smiled back at him.

"I'm Ral," I said.

"Hello, Ral. I'm sorry, but I can't let you go with that man," Michael said.

He took my hand. My body exploded with pleasure just from his touch. I gasped. Now this was an orgasm! It was indescribable! Ten times, a hundred times more intense than the ones I'd had that day. Even my fingertips and toes felt pleasure. I knew from school that I was having a full-body orgasm. I gasped and watched a little fluid shoot out of my own erection. Only my mate could give me an ejaculating orgasm. I fell forward and he grabbed me. I had another full-body orgasm. His scent triggered another, as that one was ending. Michael was still on one knee. I panted as I rested my head against him. When it was over, I looked at his face.

"Let me make you happy," Michael said.

I looked over his shoulder. A Birther I knew walked up to us. I knew him from Birther school, although he was a year older and in a different class. His belly bulged hugely.

"Hi, Tim," I said. "You're pregnant."

"Hi, Ral. I am! I'm going to have three! Isn't that marvelous? I'm so happy! Congratulations on finding your mate! And look at him! A real stud and a Noble! I love mine to death, but he doesn't look like that!"

Actually, Tim's mate was loving Tim to death, but I seemed to be the only person who thought that way.

I agreed with Tim that Michael was a stud. He was absolute perfection. But I wished I'd left the market before seeing or smelling him. And poor Tim. With three babies, and as big as he was, he probably didn't have long left. I looked at the seam in the middle of his belly. It had already turned red. I tried not to picture the terrifying image of Tim bursting open. I had seen a video of a birth at school and it gave me nightmares for a month.

"I heard you say you want to wait. It's because you don't know how wonderful it is," Tim said.

"Really? Why? Is it worth it, Tim? Are you happy? Don't you feel cheated out of life?"

"I've never been happier. It just feels so right, like...I don't know, having a drink of water when you are really thirsty. The time with your mate is the happiest time of your life. You don't want to delay that! Believe me! You don't look happy, right now. Do you want to stay that way? Uh...Uh..."

Tim stopped talking and began gasping. Then he cried out. I knew he was having an orgasm caused by his babies. Saliva ran out of his open mouth as he groaned. He almost fell over. Michael grabbed him and held him upright. After a minute, he resumed speaking. "Unbelievable! I hope I get another one soon. Anyway, I'm not worried about dying. I'm worried that my kids will be OK." He rubbed his stomach. "But my mate and my parent and brother assure me constantly that they will be loved and cherished. I know we don't live as long, but we have far more pleasurable lives," Tim said. "Normal men suffer a lot of misery that we don't. Your mate will suffer. The longer he lives, the longer he'll be unhappy."

I'd heard that argument so many times, I was sick of it. What he was saying was true. Just because you live longer doesn't mean you will be happy. But normal humans—and Nobles—were able to find happiness, again. Sul could find happiness, again. I didn't want Sul to die to keep him from being unhappy. Why should I want that for me? And some men had other men as lovers and were happy for decades together. I wished I could be like that with Til or even with Jack.

"Your mate has given you your first orgasm. They get better. Much, much better," Tim said.

I thought about the full-body orgasm and was shocked.

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know, but they do. The longer you are with your mate, the more intense the orgasms grow. And they last longer, too. You get a second kind of orgasm from the babies. The bigger the babies get, the more powerful those orgasms become. Your mate continues to give you orgasms, so you can get both kinds at the same time. And every time, they are stronger than the time before. I came here because I needed a break from the pleasure. I pass out when the pleasure gets too intense, and that means missing some of it. Here, only the babies are giving me orgasms." His eyes seemed to lose focus, for a few seconds, and his body trembled, again. "Ah. That was a little one. But pleasure isn't really the right word for it. I think 'joy' describes it better," he said. "It's something you hope will never end. And it won't!"

"Um. Thanks," I said.

"You don't really have a choice, but you can change how you think about finding your mate," Tim said. "I mean look at him!"

I did. Michael smiled at me, again. I sighed. Tim was saying what Sul had. Focus on the positive. I looked at Michael. He was so handsome and his smell was indescribably terrific. But there was something wrong. I didn't feel about him the way I'd been told I would feel about my mate. I was supposed to be unable to think of anyone but him. Meanwhile, Jack had put his arm around me, again, and I liked it. I knew I shouldn't. I wondered if it was because Michael was a Noble, and Nobles were very different from normal men. That had to affect my reaction to him. Things would have been a lot simpler if Til had been my mate.

"Come with me, please," Michael said. "Please?"

I looked at Jack. Jack looked scared.

"He'll still be around in six months, Ral!" Jack said to me. "You can just tell him to wait until then."

"That's not right!" a man called out. "He's his mate, he must go with him."

"Oh. Is that what the Sphix told you?" Jack called out to the man who said that. I was proud of Jack.

"I will fight for him," Michael said to Jack.

I couldn't let that happen.

"Fine! Only you can't fight. You're a Noble!" Jack said.

"I didn't mean an altercation. I could simply tie you up and take Ral," Michael said.

Michael stood up and I looked up at his face. He was incredible looking, but that was because he was artificial. Nobles were the second human caste the Sphix created before they all died. They planned to split humans into castes the way they were, and then eliminate all the natural humans. There were to have been Birthers, Nobles, and Farmers. Sphix had Royal, Scientist, and Warrior castes, too, but they weren't going to create human versions of those. Nobles were bigger and smarter than unaltered humans, although the Sphix had designed Nobles, like Birthers, to be completely non-aggressive. Who wanted aggressive slaves? The Sphix wanted us naked and docile. Sphix Nobles were rulers and administrators and human Nobles were designed to run the Earth efficiently, for their masters, the Sphix. Human Nobles remained in charge of everything after the Sphix died. A lot of normal men resented that, but it made sense to have the smartest people running things. Plus, Nobles weren't greedy and didn't use their positions to make themselves wealthy. Sul would be very pleased to know my mate was a Noble. His grandchild or grandchildren would be Nobles.

Suddenly, Michael's erection split open the pouch and fell heavily. I groaned as I saw it. It was well over a foot long, maybe fourteen inches. It was enormous, but on a seven-foot-tall man, I supposed it was proportional.

I wrapped my hand around it. My fingers could only reach about halfway around it. It was heavy, and hot, and beautiful. Michael groaned as I stroked it. After a few strokes, it became wet and the scent of him and his drooling cock seemed to be shutting my mind down. I bent down—slightly—and licked the head. I cried out as the strongest orgasm yet hit me. Meanwhile, my tongue triggered an orgasm in Michael. Hot semen shot out of his cock. I took the head in my mouth and began swallowing. Much more was being pumped into my mouth than I could swallow, though. It ran down my chin to my chest and belly. Michael groaned as he came. He held my head in his two enormous hands. I had orgasms, one after another, but I couldn't think clearly. But both our orgasms ended. And as I regained my senses, I worried. He was enormous! How long would I live with two or three of his huge babies inside me? I backed up against Jack, who immediately wrapped both arms around me.

"That's it. Don't do it, Ral. Don't go with him," Jack said. "I want you, sweet baby. I'll take care of you. I'll make you happy, I promise," Jack said. "And if you want him, he'll wait for you."

I sighed.

Jack tilted my head back and tried to kiss me. But the Noble put his arms around me and gave me another full-body orgasm while he pulled me away from Jack. I gasped as I looked at Michael. There was pleading in his beautiful golden eyes. And there was also the connection I felt between us. I knew if I walked away with Jack, Michael would just come with us. If I followed Jack into his house, Michael would be right behind me. If I reached for Jack, Michael would wrap his arms around me.

"Tim was right. I don't really have a choice, do I?" I asked Michael.

"Come with me. Please?"

I couldn't say no. Part of me wanted to, but part of me was saying "Are you crazy? Look at him!" He was such a stud, and a Noble! And look at his cock! It was twice the size of Jack's and had a more beautiful shape, too. I nodded my head at Michael.

"No!" Jack cried.

I turned and hugged Jack.

"Thank you," I said to him. "I think you are wonderful. I hope you get the mate you deserve."

I could see Jack was ready to cry, but was holding it back. I felt so sorry for him. And what was going to happen to me? I didn't want to think about it.

Michael ignored Jack. He bent down and picked me up like I weighed about as much as a banana. I shuddered in his arms as I had another orgasm while he began walking. He walked fast and on his long legs, we were out of the market in a couple of minutes. I wondered why I felt the way I did. Michael was my mate. I was certain about that. But he wasn't irresistible to me and I knew he should be. Was it me? Was something missing in me? Or was it him, because he was a Noble? I didn't know how Birthers were supposed to feel if their mates were Nobles. That had never been mentioned in school. It was a mystery and it worried me. I should be begging him to fuck me. That was what normal Birthers did. I sighed. I'd never been normal.

"You aren't happy. Why not?" Michael asked. "Is it because I'm a Noble? I would never hurt you."

I lied.

"I'm worried about my parent. He is going to be alone and lonely. He has no close friends."

"We can visit him."

I nodded.

"You smell like that man," Michael said. "And many other men."

"Um. Sorry."

"You don't need to be. You were in heat. It's expected that you have a little fun. But you could use a bath."

I was surprised at his cool reaction.

"I would have thought you would be angry or jealous or something."

Michael shook his head.

"You are worth fighting for," Michael said. "I understand why he wanted you. I even admire him a little. But he isn't your mate. And in a moment of weakness, yours or his, he could impregnate you. And then?"

"But you couldn't fight, could you? Being a Noble?"

"No. But I could have lifted him by his nipples."

Michael smiled.

I burst out laughing.

"You'd be surprised how effective that is," Michael said.

"No, I don't think I would be surprised! It sounds extremely effective!" I said, laughing. "Ouch!"

"I like seeing you smile. You are even more beautiful."

I was embarrassed, but glad he liked the way I looked.

"He wasn't your mate but you both gave that impression. What was happening? Have you known him long?" Michael asked.

"No. I knew his name before today, but that's all. I asked him to take me to his home and keep me there until my heat was over. We would pretend we were mates to others and just enjoy ourselves with sex, but not impregnation, until my heat was over."

He looked shocked.

"That's ah...unique."

I shrugged. I wasn't like the other Birthers I knew.

"I didn't know Nobles had regular Birther mates. I've never heard of one."

"It is rare. There is a reason for that," Michael said. "The Sphix didn't want or need too many human Nobles. And we live longer, so we rarely reproduce."

I never thought of that. But it made sense.

"I'm not much like other Birthers, Michael."

Michael laughed.

"I noticed that when I was trying to convince you to choose your mate over a man you just met."

"That sounds awful when you say it. I'm surprised you aren't furious."

"Actually, I find it very interesting. I'm not a normal Noble, either. As I said, it is rare for a Noble to take a mate. You will meet a lot of jealous Nobles."

"So a poor mate is better than none?"

"You don't need wealth. I have plenty."

I didn't mean money, but I was afraid of his answer. I let it drop.

"Do you live here?" I asked.

"I live about ten miles away, in Westal. I caught your scent this morning and it led me to you."

The Westal was the headquarters part of the Sphix compound. The government was there. The Sphix area next to our farm and the market was a residential area.

"Wow! You smelled me from ten miles away?"

Michael nodded.

"You said you don't want to get impregnated during this heat. Do you ever want to get impregnated?"

"I don't want my death to be meaningless, so I suppose I do want to have a baby or babies, but I want to delay it as long as possible."

I expected a reaction, but Michael just nodded.

"I don't see how it harms the human race if I wait."

"It doesn't. You don't have to defend your feelings. There is nothing morally wrong with wanting to live longer before pregnancy. I'm as human as you are, Ral. I understand. I don't want to die, either, and I'm much older than you. Why should anyone die giving birth? It's only the Sphix who thought that was a good idea, and that is only because that is the way they evolved. I'm a scientist. I hope to change that. My goal is human reproduction without death. But it's slow work. Very slow."

I smiled at him. It made me feel better knowing there was hope. Probably not for me, but I might have a Birther baby. And he might live to grow older than me.

"We need females," I said.

"Yes, we do." He sighed. "If we only had one! Just one!"

We walked. Well, he did. I was being carried. I liked it.

"I can smell my semen on your breath. I'm surprised you swallowed so much of it," he said.

"I like it. Does that bother you?"

"Hell, no!" Michael grinned. "Would you like more, later?"

I smiled.

"I want more, often."

He chuckled. He looked really pleased. He stopped walking and kissed me. I pulled away and gasped from the orgasm that he gave me.

"Wow!"

He chuckled.

In the distance I saw the ruins of the city of San Lucas. It was about twenty miles away. Fifty million people had lived there two hundred years earlier. Some of the buildings had supposedly been almost a mile tall before the Sphix destroyed everything. It was incredible to think that twenty-five million women had lived there. Females. They were practically mythical. There were preserved bodies of Sphix in many places, the museum was one, but no one had ever seen a woman, living or dead. There weren't even any videos with women. Thanks to the Sphix, there were less than a million humans left on Earth. The Styx killed around fifteen billion people including just about every single person in every city. The Sphix began killing as soon as they arrived in our solar system. Thousands of ships arrived at once and immediately began firing. They destroyed all the space defenses and then went into orbit and began destroying every population center and military target. You couldn't call it a war or an invasion, because it was over so quickly. Fifteen billion people were dead and the Earth was conquered in less than a day. The few survivors were gathered up by the Sphix, forced to live with them in their compounds and weren't allowed to have technology of any sort. Lots of people hid, but the Sphix had ways of finding them, even deep underground. The technology we use, like video machines, had belonged to the Sphix.

Michael led me off the road into Sphix residential ruins after we'd travelled a couple of miles from the marketplace. I knew no one lived there.

"Why are we in the Sphix area?" I asked him.

"You'll see."

He continued walking. I couldn't help wondering if he was going to impregnate me. During this heat. He said he understood how I felt, but that didn't mean he would cooperate. He was a Noble. They were the ones who made the rules. Could he just ignore some?

We passed a pink sphere. It was solid rock and about twenty feet across.

"I wonder if we could get it to roll down one of the creeks," I said, pointing at the ball of rock. Michael chuckled.

For some reason, the Sphix liked to use spheres as decorations. They were made of the pink rock, of course.

I saw a piece of Sphix exoskeleton.

"You're supposed to step on it," I said, after we passed it.

"Step on what?"

"A piece of Sphix."

"Ah. A game. I have several preserved Sphix in my home. I throw darts at one."

I smiled. "That sounds like fun! Can I jump on one? I love to hear the exoskeleton crack."

Michael laughed.

"Not mine. I made up names for them."

I laughed.

"What do you call the one you throw darts at?"

"Target," Michael said.

I laughed.

"That's a good name. Do you get extra points for hitting its eyes?"

"Yes, but not too many points," he said. "They have so many eyes!" he said, laughing. I laughed, too.

A strange expression appeared on his face.

"You are so beautiful," he said.

I was embarrassed.

"You said you are a scientist. I didn't know Nobles could be scientists," I said.

To my surprise, Michael laughed.

"If you can be an abnormal Birther, I can be an abnormal Noble."

I smiled at him. I thought about that.

"Neither one of us want to be what the Sphix made us," Michael said.

That was true. I liked thinking of it that way.

"But you're ambitious and I'm just a coward," I said.

Michael frowned. "Wanting to live longer is not cowardly. The human race advanced because some people didn't accept the status quo. They thought of better ways of doing things. Your idea to avoid pregnancy was very creative and I think you would have been successful."

I decided Michael was wonderful. And I didn't think it was just because he was my mate. He was so calm, he made me feel the same way. I had been worried that my mate would be someone I didn't like, but I liked everything about Michael. He was kind, smart, very attractive, and he seemed to understand me without effort.

Michael led us to a building. He put me down on the ground. Then he placed his palm on the door and it opened.

He took my hand and led me down a typical ramp which spiraled down as it descended inside the building. Where humans would use stairs, the Sphix used ramps. It was probably because they had six legs. Sphix liked being underground. Their buildings were always deeper than they were tall. Lights automatically turned on above us as we walked. Our walkway leveled off and I looked around. It was a large, empty, dimly lit chamber. There was a groove on the ground that ran the length of the chamber. At first, I wondered if it was part of the water system, but it was shaped differently than the creeks.

"Am I the only person who doesn't know about this place?" I asked.

"I doubt anyone who isn't a Noble is aware of it. The doors only unlock for Nobles.

"What is this place?" I asked.

We were headed for some sort of large metal box that sat in the groove in the ground. I wondered if it was a vehicle. But it had no wheels.

"It's part of the Sphix transportation system. It connects different parts of the Sphix compound. It will take us to my home."

I had never heard of it. I was pretty amazed. I wished I could show it to Til. We approached the Sphix vehicle. Michael picked me up and carried me onto it. The roof was low, he bent almost over. scared. I was jarred out of my thoughts when Michael picked me up and carried me onto the vehicle. There were no seats, since Sphix didn't sit. He sat on the floor with his legs crossed under him. The vehicle began moving.

I rested my head on his shoulder. Michael let out a sigh. He kissed the top of my head.

"That one who wanted to fight for you. He really cares about you," Michael said. "He wasn't your mate, but I think he would have died for you."

I was shocked. Had Jack fallen in love with me, or was it just my scent? He didn't know me, so I wondered if it was possible to love me.

"He must be very unhappy," I said.

"You thanked him. There is nothing else you can do."

Michael was silent for a moment.

"Do you love him?"

I thought about Jack.

"No. But I liked him a lot. He stopped a man who was trying to fuck me. The man wasn't my mate."

I could feel Michael's fury.

"What...did...he...do?"

I didn't think I should say anything. It would make things worse.

"Uh. They stopped him before anything happened," I said.

"You're lying. Be honest."

I sighed.

"He pushed his cock inside me while I was sucking Jack."

Michael looked stricken, not angry.

"He could have impregnated you."

"But he didn't."

"How do you know?"

"He was only inside me for a couple of seconds. He didn't come."

"The pre-ejaculate of unaltered men sometimes contains sperm."

"What's pre-ejaculate?"

"Precum."

I was stunned and terrified. Was I pregnant already? Was it all over? Would I die without even giving the world a replacement? If I wasn't a coward, why was I so scared? I didn't realize I was crying until Michael wiped my cheek.

"All is not lost, beloved. My work uses Birther eggs. I can check to see if you have a fertilized egg inside you and remove it."

I gasped.

"You can do that?"

"Yes. In any case, I would like to remove your eggs. Then I can fuck you without impregnation, and I can use your eggs in my research."

I was stunned, but this time in a good way. I hugged him tightly. I really did have a wonderful mate. He was exactly who I needed.

Michael pulled my mouth to his and thrust his tongue into me. I came twice during the kiss, both times gasping into his mouth. After the kiss ended, I rested my head on his shoulder, again. His scent was strong inside the Sphix vehicle. It was comforting and exciting.

"You are so precious to me," Michael said.

I leaned forward and kissed his neck.

"Was it just gratitude or did he appeal to you?" Michael asked.

"I like hairy, masculine men," I said.

"I'm hairy," Michael said.

"I noticed that!" I said, smiling.

"Do you miss him?" Michael asked.

I thought for a moment.

"Not really, but I do hope he is happy again soon. I doubt he is right now. I miss Til. He's a boy I grew up with. He lives next door. He's in love with me and I love him. And I miss Sul, my parent."

"There is no reason you can't see them, again. You can't discuss my work with them, but we can visit them."

"I found out today that Til had hoped to be my mate. Seeing me with you might make him unhappy."

"It sounds like you didn't have the same hope."

"It never occurred to me before today. He is my best friend. I love him, but I never really thought about him being my mate."

"Oh. I am sorry for him. He never told you he wished that?"

"No. He said he knew I didn't want a mate—to impregnate me. He said he thought that if he told me he wanted to be my mate, I would have thought he wanted to kill me. It was a big surprise. We spent most of our time together. How did I not know how he felt? I don't have any siblings and he was practically one."

"Ah. That's why I was unaware of you," Michael said.

I had no idea what that meant. But before I could ask, the vehicle stopped and Michael got up. He carried me off the vehicle, again, bent almost in half. I think my head would have touched the ceiling of the vehicle, and Michael was much taller.

"You can put me down," I said.

"I like carrying you."

I wondered if he was afraid I would run away. I felt bad about that.

Outside the vehicle, there was another spiral shaped ramp. This end of the tunnel was much more brightly lit than the end where we'd started. The floor, walls, and ramp were all made of the pink Sphix stone. Michael's scent was strong. I knew we had to be close to his home.

"What did you mean by you were unaware of me?"

"I keep track of Birthers. We look for Birthers with two siblings eligible to join the project."

"Oh. And I had none."

I wished Til was with me. I was used to sharing everything with him.

"Michael."

He stopped at the bottom of the ramp.

"I know I'm not what you expected. Does that bother you?" I asked him.

"Are you asking me if I'm disappointed?"

"Yes, I guess I am."

"No. You are clear-headed. I think that's a good thing. You like my cock, but you are looking at my face, and you don't have a fatuous expression on your face. I'm fairly sure it's because one or more of your Birther hormone levels are low. They are produced when you find your mate. They are basically just drugs, addictive drugs. If the levels were normal, you would feel a sense of euphoria right now. You would have completely ignored your friend Jack, once you saw me. The Sphix intended you to be deliriously happy about getting impregnated and dying. You are supposed to be so high and so addicted to the pleasure the drugs give you that you'd rather die than give up the pleasure. If you were behaving the way the Sphix intended, I would be aware that it was due to the chemicals flooding your body. I prefer you clear-headed. I want you to love me because of who I am, not because of what the Sphix did to us."

I smiled. I had never heard anyone else talk that way. I loved it.

"What does fatuous mean?"

"Stupid."

"Oh, like me," I said, chuckling, nervously.

"You seem surprisingly intelligent." I smiled. "Your strategy to avoid a mate was clever. No one would have questioned whether you were actually mates. I don't want you to ever think I disapprove of your desire to live. You should have a normal, human lifespan." He shook his head. "We were treated badly by the Sphix. But they paid the price for their actions," he said. "Even if some survived End Day on ships, they had nowhere to go. If they landed on any planet where other Sphix had been, they'd become infected and die. The Alucard viruses that killed the Sphix remain activated, so death would be quick. There is no possible way they could devise a treatment or cure before they died. If any survived, they are starting from scratch on an unpopulated planet."

I nodded. I hadn't thought about that, but it made sense. It was wonderful to know that if any ever landed on Earth, they would die.

"What will you do with my eggs?"

Michael opened a door and we entered a small room with a table and four chairs. He put me down and closed the door. He sat and pulled me onto his lap.

"There is no point in trying to keep secrets from you. You are intelligent enough to understand my work. But before we discuss my work, I must stress the importance of not discussing it with anyone, unless you are certain I would allow it. We would be stopped if word got out."

"Why?"

"I'm working on two projects simultaneously. The first project is extending Birther life." I gasped and Michael grinned. "The second project is the most secret. We—my brother works with me—are trying to clone a human female."

My mouth dropped open. I was shocked.

"But how? There aren't any live women. Til said you need, um—" I tried to remember. "Is it genes?"

"Yes! I'm surprised you know what they are. DNA contains all the genes. We take the DNA out of one cell and put it in another."

"But the women are dead."

"I never said it was easy. We've taken DNA from dead animals and cloned it, but the animals hadn't been dead long. We haven't succeeded with human females, but we keep working."

"You can't tell anyone about it. That is vital. Not even the Birthers working with us know about the cloning. They just know we are trying to extend Birther lives. You may not be aware of it, but the Alucard would destroy my lab if they found out what we are trying to clone. They are completely opposed to cloning. Evidently, centuries ago, they had some crisis involving clones. Some Alucard are religious and they believe clones have no souls. That only the original has a soul. They don't approve of genetic engineering at all. The Sphix had started working on remaking the Alucard in their image."

"Yeah, but the Alucard are on another planet!"

"There are Alucard on Earth and we must stay on good terms with them."

"I didn't know that. Why are they here?"

"There are things they want from us, minerals, foodstuffs, and a few other things. In exchange, they give us technological help. They provided some of the equipment I use. They know about the life extension project and they approve of that. Basically, we are trying to undo some of the Sphix genetic engineering. But just letting Birthers live longer isn't enough."

"Oh, I know that! I think it's wonderful! Either! Both!"

"I want to see a world where Birthers and Nobles don't exist. I want the human race to be what it was before the Sphix. Does that upset you?" he asked me.

Four

I almost said, 'Of course it does'. But I thought about it.

"I don't know. I know why you want it. It feels weird to think no one like me will exist, but if Birthers have to die to give birth—" I shrugged.

"The two projects are related this way. If Birthers live longer, it's good for them, but it also allows us to get more eggs for the cloning experiments. If Birthers don't die giving birth, it's good for everyone, but it also means we can implant eggs with female DNA into Birthers without killing the Birthers."

I gasped. "Is that possible? Giving birth without dying?"

"Theoretically, yes. But we aren't close to that goal. We've had success at extending life. I can give you more years."

I got choked up. I couldn't speak.

"I hope those are happy tears," he said to me. I nodded as I wiped my cheeks.

"Of course they are! How close are you to cloning a woman?"

Michael sighed. "I have no idea. I wish I did. Success could come suddenly or never. I have to try."

I agreed completely.

"Have any Birthers died in the experiments?"

"We haven't implanted or impregnated any, if that is what you mean. Birthers we work with die because of their age."

I sighed. Their young age.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Sixty-nine. But I don't want you focusing on my age or anyone else's. I want you to know that I am going to keep you alive for as long as possible. One of the Birthers who supplies eggs for our research is twenty-two."

I gasped.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I don't think he will survive another year."

"Still! That's terrific!"

Michael smiled. "Focus on that, will you?"

I looked at Michael. I could feel my smile disappear. He was sixty-nine and didn't even look middle-aged. I knew I should be happy, but my mate was sixty-nine and if I had all the luck—and science—in the world, I would never live that long. Twenty-three was barely a possibility. But I realized my attitude was all wrong. If I found out I could live to forty, would I be bitter that I wouldn't live to fifty? And if I could live to fifty, would I be angry I couldn't live to be sixty-nine? It would never end, not unless I lived longer than anyone else ever had! I decided I had to look on the positive, or I would never be happy. I ought to be very happy. I had a smart, kind, handsome mate who was going to work to keep me alive. But I was focused on his age. And then it suddenly made sense. Sul and Tim had been absolutely right. I would always be able to find something negative, and if that was all I saw, I would never be happy, no matter how wonderful my life was. I looked at Michael, again. I wasn't unlucky! I was the luckiest Birther who ever lived, luckier than even that twenty-two-year old Birther. I had Michael as my mate and he would be trying even harder to keep his mate alive. I hugged him as tightly as I could. He looked pleased, but a little confused.

I nodded. Focus on the positive. I could finally do that! Before, the positive wasn't very...positive. Twenty-two! Seven more years of life! And I was hoping for just six more months!

We got up and left the room. While Michael walked, I looked down and watched his erect cock swing and bounce.

"Oh. You like it, now," Michael said.

"It looks like a tree in the wind. It's a big tree, so it has to be a big wind, like a hurricane, maybe."

Michael laughed.

He kissed me, giving me an orgasm. I sighed when it ended. He smiled at me and stroked my cheek with his thumb. I felt different inside when I looked at him. There was a tightness in my stomach, and breathing became a little difficult. I wondered if I was in love.

"The other Nobles know about the Birther life extension project. I said it's secret, but you can discuss that project with other Nobles, but not anyone else. Only my brother—and you—know about the other project. I'm trusting you to keep the secret."

What he was saying slowly sunk in. I was one of only three people who knew about the most important project on the planet. I didn't deserve to be one of the three. I had done nothing in my life, except try to stay alive.

At the top of the ramp was a hall. I could see a living area ahead, and he walked down the hall. We passed two doorways. I saw machines in one room. The room opposite was empty. We continued into a very nice living room. Michael put me down. Michael's scent saturated the air. My cock began bouncing up and down. I looked around the room. A large window ran from floor to ceiling. Flowers grew outside it. But past the flowers, the ground was covered with the Sphix pink rock. Looking around the room, I saw expensive looking furniture and paintings on the walls. One of the paintings was of a Birther. I wondered if it was Michael's Birther parent. I saw two Sphix heads mounted on the walls. One was the head of a Sphix Warrior and the other was one of their Nobles. I shivered at the sight of the Warrior. His head was covered with spikes. Sphix Warriors were absolutely vicious. Their job was killing everything that wasn't Sphix and they loved their job. There were horrifying stories about the things they'd done and how much they enjoyed it.

"How can you bear to look at that thing all the time?" I asked, pointing at the Warrior.

"It keeps the hate fresh. It keeps me motivated when I'm discouraged, which is most of the time. It bothers you?"

"I used to have nightmares about Warriors."

Michael nodded. To my surprise, he took the head off the wall and crushed it under his foot. It crunched wonderfully, but then there were bits of Warrior mixed into the beautiful rug.

"I guess I should take the one out of my bed," he said, with a serious expression. I stared at him and then laughed. What a bizarre joke!

"You don't need it anymore. You can have sex with me."

Michael laughed and a man laughed behind me. I turned around. A man who looked almost exactly like Michael walked into the room. He was Michael's size. Fortunately, he wore a beard, while Michael did not. Otherwise, I might have had trouble telling them apart. It had to be the brother. He looked at me and groaned. Edward smelled very good. From smell alone, I might have thought he was my mate. But I didn't feel the connection I felt with Michael.

"My brother, Edward. He works on the project with me."

Edward licked his lips while he looked at me. I watched his cock grow erect. It looked just like Michael's. I gulped as I watched a spurt of precum run down the underside of the shaft of Edward's cock and drip off his balls onto the floor. My heat was really affecting him.

"My mate, Ral," Michael said to his brother.

Edward looked shocked. Unless I was wrong, he also seemed jealous. I was flattered such a big, handsome man would be jealous about me.

"That's why you ran off?" Edward said to Michael. "I thought you brought him for the project! Your mate?"

"I smelled something and followed the scent," Michael said to his brother.

"You poor thing," Edward said to me. "You got the dumb, ugly brother."

I laughed.

"At least he smells good," I said.

Edward burst out laughing.

"If I couldn't smell you, I wouldn't believe you are in heat," Edward said, after a moment. "You aren't fawning over Michael."

"I believe his metabolism is abnormal," Michael said to his brother. I cringed at that. He turned to me. "Have you had any illnesses?"

"No, but my Birther parent lost a lot of blood in an accident while he was pregnant. They thought my sibling and I died. But I survived. My sibling died."

Michael nodded his head.

"Things like that give us useful leads in our research. And it's a good thing it happened to you. You don't feel compelled to get impregnated as soon as possible, which means you'll live longer," he said to me.

"Ral had difficulty choosing between me, his mate, and another man who wasn't his mate," Michael said to Edward.

I was embarrassed. It sounded awful. I wanted to run away.

"You aren't serious!" Edward said.

"I am. They hugged and kissed in front of me. I was only a few feet away."

They both looked at me. I felt even smaller. I saw a door. I ran to it, opened it, and ran outside. I was so embarrassed. I had ruined everything. I cried as I ran. I was somewhere in the Westal, but I had never been there and was completely lost. I didn't even know where the road was. But I ran in the direction of my village. Before I'd gotten more than a quarter mile away, I tripped over something and fell face down on the hard stone. I lay there and cried. Michael bent over and picked me up. I was too ashamed to look at him. I didn't have an orgasm from his touch and I was glad. I didn't deserve it.

"Did you decide you want Jack more than me?" he asked, softly.

I wiped tears and dirt off my face. I shook my head.

"Then why?"

"You must have been so humiliated by what I did. I didn't think of that at the time. You had to beg for your mate. You! You deserve better, Michael. Much, much better. You are trying to help the human race and I only think about myself."

"You can help me help the human race."

I gulped as I looked at him.

"I'm so sorry!" I said. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know why you did what you did. You don't need to apologize. I admit I was frustrated. But I was aware that you were refusing to behave the way the Sphix intended you to behave. And that is admirable."

Michael smiled. It was a sweet smile and for the first time, I was certain I was in love with him.

"I'll be better. I'll start thinking about what will make you happy, too. I am so lucky to be your mate. I'll do my best to make you happy."

"No one can ask for more than that, dearest. I will do the same."

Michael carried me back to his home.

Edward was sitting. He stood up when we entered. Michael put me down. I looked down at the floor. I was too embarrassed to look at either of them.

"What happened?" Edward asked.

"Ral was worried about my feelings. He thinks I was humiliated in the market."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry!" I said, again.

"Are you sure Ral is your mate?" Edward asked.

"Yes."

"Ral, do you think Michael is your mate?" he asked me.

"Yes. I'm sure of it."

"Then why didn't you feel drawn to him?"

"I did. I...I guess I feared death more than I wanted him."

"Fascinating," Michael said.

He didn't seem the least bit upset. I looked at him and he was smiling. He didn't seem to be bothered at all. It was a mystery until I remembered that he was a Noble. Who knew what the Sphix had done to them? Maybe they couldn't get upset or angry. After all, they couldn't fight.

"So he has a weak mating bond," Edward said. "How do you feel about him?"

"I think he is the most gorgeous creature I've ever seen," Michael said, while looking at me.

"Yes, but he is, or he was before his nose was bleeding—" I wiped my nose and got blood on my hand. "—so that isn't the bond," Edward said.

"I don't understand. 'Is' what?" I asked.

"Gorgeous," Edward said. "I agree with my brother and I'm not your mate. You can kiss me, though. Michael is over three feet away!" Edward winked at me and Michael laughed. I laughed, nervously.

"I'm never kissing anyone else," I said.

"Hmm," Edward said. "That is not an improvement."

Michael sat and pulled me onto his lap. He gave me another orgasm.

"Ral, your behavior at the market was completely rational," Michael said, after I finished gasping. "You seem to think it was wrong to fear death more than you wanted me. It wasn't and it isn't."

"Even so, I humiliated you."

"I wasn't humiliated, I was frustrated. I had no idea what to say to convince you to come with me, and I needed you. But the fact that the normal rules didn't apply made it an interesting challenge. It made you more interesting. I would have loved you if you were normal, but I like you better the way you are. If you were a normal Birther, we wouldn't be having a very interesting conversation right now. All you would want to do is have sex. I love sex and I know you love sex. I can smell all the men you had sex with. But we won't just be having sex. That makes me very happy. Do you understand?"

I looked in his eyes. He was completely sincere. And I understood. I nodded my head.

"And I don't want you to feel ashamed of being different. For one thing, it is not your fault your parent had an accident. But most importantly, I want you to realize that being different is not always bad. It can be good or bad or neither. In your case, it's good, as far as I'm concerned. And it's good for you. You won't be trying to impregnate yourself as soon as possible."

I smiled at him.

"We aren't typical Nobles," Edward said. "We decided we want to be scientists."

"I understand."

I leaned my head on Michael's shoulder.

"I think you are wonderful, Michael. And not just because of the orgasms."

He smiled. "Thank you, dearest. I promise you I will keep you alive as long as I can. And it is a good bit longer than your friend Jack could."

"Twenty-two years?"

"We can do better than that," Edward said.

Michael nodded.

"We know more and we are starting sooner on you," Michael said.

I smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

"I love you," I whispered in his ear. I meant it.

He sighed and smiled. I could hardly believe it. I thought it was the worse day of my life, the beginning of my death. But it was turning out to be a very happy day.

"Ral knows what genes are," Michael said to Edward.

"He didn't learn that in Birther school!" Edward said. "He seems very intelligent for a Birther."

"He is," Michael said.

"Birthers aren't dumber than other people," I said, defending my sex.

"Yes, they are," Edward said. "It was deliberate on the part of the Sphix."

I frowned. I looked at Michael. He nodded his head. I was confused. I knew I wasn't like other Birthers. I did much better in school than the Birthers in my class, but I assumed it was because Til talked to me so much about the things he was learning.

Michael told his brother about my plan for living through my first heat. Edward was impressed.

"Reasoning is supposed to shut down completely during heat. It certainly didn't with you."

It was one more thing to think about.

"What are you going to do about Vare?" Edward asked Michael.

"Hmm. I guess see how he reacts and how Ral feels about him."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Vare is one of the Birthers, here. He is...in love with me," Michael said.

That happened. Sometimes men who had lovers found their mates. They left their lovers.

Michael sighed.

"Do you love him?" I asked.

Michael paused. He seemed to be giving it a lot of thought. I hoped he'd say no, but he didn't say anything. How could he not know?

"It's hard to say," Edward said. "You have to understand how things are, here. The project is secret. There are no other men or Nobles. When the Birthers go into heat, Michael and I, well, we—"

"Fuck them," Michael said.

"Non-stop," Edward continued. "But they don't die. They lose most of their interest in sex until their next heat, but they continue living here and see us every day. And they remember the intimacy and know it will happen again."

"I don't know if I love him," Michael said, finally.

I didn't like it at all. But I understood. The rules were different in Michael's house. And I still loved Til. Unlike Michael, I was certain about that. I couldn't condemn Michael. Why wouldn't Vare love Michael? Michael was handsome and kind and was keeping Vare alive.

All of my thoughts and feelings were confusing me. I wished Til was there. He could help me make sense of it all. I needed to talk to him, get his opinion. I wanted to hear his voice. I missed him, already. Would that stop? I wouldn't be dying anytime soon.

"Are you angry? You don't look angry," Michael said to me.

"No. I'm not angry. I understand how Vare feels and how you feel."

"He sure doesn't sound like a Birther!" Edward said. "And he's in heat!"

"You are right," Michael said to him.

"Why don't I sound like a Birther?"

"During heat, Birthers are very emotional. You should be angry and jealous and lustful. You aren't."

"So we're dumb and emotional," I said, a little annoyed.

Michael surprised me by laughing.

"Except you. You aren't either."

I sighed.

"I've never been your typical Birther."

Michael and Edward both nodded.

"I don't plan to have sex with the Birthers, anymore," Michael said.

I nodded and smiled at him.

"A man penetrated Ral's ass today," Michael said to his brother. Edward looked shocked. "We should check for pregnancy and harvest his eggs."

"Yes. Right away. I'm sure you want to screw him."

Michael looked at me and smiled.

"If he'll let me."

I nodded my head. I could feel his stiff cock under me. I wanted it.

"I want to suck you, too," I whispered in his ear. He grinned.

A Birther walked into the room.

"Chad, this is my mate, Ral," Michael said.

He had to be one of the Birthers. He didn't look old. He looked shocked. He stared at me and he didn't seem friendly.

"What? Mate?" Chad asked. "Was this supposed to be a surprise?" he asked. I didn't like his attitude.

"Finding a mate is always a surprise," Michael said, calmly.

"I wouldn't know about that!"

Chad turned around and left the room the way he'd entered.

"That could have gone better," Edward said.

I looked at Michael.

"I'm sorry about that. They'll adjust," Michael said.

I tried to think about it from his point of view, but I had no idea what it was!

"Is he bitter about not having a mate?" I asked.

"Not bitter enough to leave."

I understood. These Birthers were in a difficult position. I would fit perfectly in Michael's project, because I wanted to live more than I wanted a mate. But these were probably typical Birthers, who'd looked forward to finding a mate. They wanted love, like anyone, and who better than the men who kept them alive and fucked them?

"What are you thinking so intently about?" Michael asked me.

"The tough position your Birthers are in," I said. Michael laughed, again. I didn't understand why.

"And you just told me all you think about is yourself. I don't think you know yourself very well," Michael said.

"Maybe not."

"You need a bath. I need to get the smell of other men's sweat and semen off you. Then we'll check for that fertilized egg and check your blood."

I nodded. Michael picked me up and carried me to another room.

"I can walk, you know," I said, grinning at him.

Michael chuckled.

"I won't run away. I promise."

"I like holding you."

I smiled.

"Tell me about yourself. What do you do? What do you like?"

"Um...I grew up on a farm. We grow melons and citrus fruits, mostly. I don't have any siblings, but I am very close to the boy who lived next door."

"Til."

I nodded.

"Wow!" I said, as he put me down and we walked into an enormous tub. It was large enough for five or six people and, like everything but the furniture, was made of the pink Sphix stone. Michael turned the faucets on. "Don't make it too hot."

"I won't."

He sat and I sat next to him while the tub filled. He put his arm around me and I groaned as he gave me an orgasm. He sucked on my earlobe while I shivered with pleasure. He kissed me, then, and shuddered through another orgasm as his tongue explored my mouth.

"Tell me about Til."

I did. I told him everything, including about the sex we had. He thought it was really interesting that I enjoyed sucking Til so much. He told me it was because Birthers were not normally interested in sex until their heat, and I'd had a sexual relationship for years.

"And you had sex every day?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Usually twice. Til and I both wanted his cock and cum inside me. Even my parent approved. He thought it was good practice for when I got my mate."

Michael shook his head, smiling.

"Do you like mine as much?" he asked.

I smiled and nodded. He looked pleased.

Then he wanted to know about Jack. Specifically, how I felt about him and details about the sex we had. He wasn't upset at all, and in fact, he seemed to get excited when I told him how Jack had licked my face while his cum was on his tongue. He thought Jack was very creative and I got the impression he even admired him a little.

"I want to shoot on your face. Will you let me?"

I laughed.

"You think I would let a stranger do it, but not my mate?"

"I don't want to push you."

"If something excites you, I want to do it. I want to excite you. I want to make you come all the time. You should be able to give me a lot more cum than Til."

"I can and I will."

"What do you like, sexually?" I asked.

"I want to do the things Jack did, to make you forget him."

Michael stood up. I started to stand, but he pushed my shoulder gently down. He brought his cock to my lips. I wrapped both hands around the shaft and began licking the head of the thing. The taste gave me an orgasm. I pulled away and cried out. Michael's cock began shooting. He grabbed my hair the way Jack had and completely covered my face with his semen. I had another orgasm before the previous one ended. Michael began smearing the cum around with his cock.

"Vincent is here," I heard Edward say. My eyes were closed to keep the semen out of them. Then I heard Edward laugh. "Kinky!"

"How are you doing there, Ral?" Edward asked me. Then he laughed, again. I wondered what I looked like. I tried to turn towards him, but Michael had a handful or my hair and held me still. He continued moving the cum around on my face with the head of his cock.

"I'm great!" I said.

Edward laughed. "OK!"

"You might as well send Vincent in," Michael said.

"With me looking like this?" I asked.

"My thoughts, exactly!" Edward said.

"Yes," Michael said.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Edward said. I heard his footsteps as he walked away.

"Who is Vincent?" I asked.

"My lover."

I groaned. And I was worried about Birthers! How many lovers did Michael have?

Michael continued what he was doing. Why did he want his lover to see what he was doing to me? Then it occurred to me that it was going to make his lover very angry and pretty much prove things were over for them. I wasn't sure that was what he was doing, but it seemed likely.

"Michael!" I heard a man say. It had to be Vincent.

"Oh, my god! You've lost your mind! Is that—is that a new Birther?"

Michael thumped my face with his erection.

"No, Vincent. It is my mate, Ral."

Vincent gasped.

"Your mate?"

"Yes. I met him this afternoon."

"That's impossible!"

"As you can see, things are over for us, Vincent."

"He can't be your mate! You're a Noble!"

Michael sighed.

"Ral, am I your mate?"

"Yes, Michael."

"Even if it's true, why have you done that to him?" Vincent asked.

"He likes it." Vincent barked out a laugh. "And I want him to smell like me. It's a mate compulsion. He had another man's semen on his face when I met him."

I groaned. If he asked me to tell Vincent about Jack, I was certain I would scream.

You'll understand if you ever get a mate. You won't be able to control yourself."

"You're a rotten bastard, Michael. I won't forget this!" Vincent said. I heard footsteps.

"And I will be able to control myself," Vincent called out as he walked away.

Michael sat next to me. He wiped my face with a wet towel.

"Why?"

"It was better than another argument. It left no room for any doubt in his mind. Do you see that?"

I nodded.

"I bet he was shocked."

"Yes. As I intended. It's unfortunate, but I thought it would produce the quickest result of ending the relationship. And it had to end."

"Is he a Noble?"

"Yes."

"How does Vare feel about him?"

"Vare despises him."

I sighed. Vare could start despising me.

"Are you in love with him?" I asked.

Michael whispered, "No. Not for ten years, at least."

I was surprised.

"Does Vincent live here?"

"No."

That was a relief, anyway.

"Was it really a mate compulsion? Is that why you did it?"

"No, but it was fun," Michael whispered. He winked at me.

I laughed.

"It was fun!"

He grinned and kissed me, again. The sensation of his tongue in my mouth gave me another orgasm. We smiled at each other as we pulled away from the kiss.

I wrapped my hand around his cock. I stroked just once before he cried out and came. A stream of semen arched out and splattered into the water. He stretched his legs out and groaned as I swallowed the end of his cock. He shot in my mouth while I had an orgasm of my own, triggered by the incredible taste of him. I continued sucking him and he came, again, a couple of minutes later. I wanted more, but he pulled me up and kissed me. He gave me another orgasm.

He slid into the water and I moved next to him. He put his arm around my shoulders and I snuggled against him.

"What do you think of my semen," he said.

"I love it."

He smiled.

"How big do Nobles get?" I asked.

"About this big," he said, holding his hands a couple of feet apart."

I laughed.

"I meant how tall."

"Oh. About a foot taller than me. The older you get, the slower you grow, so that will be years and years from now."

I got sad. I wouldn't live to see my mate that tall. But I forced myself to be happy with what I had. I would have my mates longer than any Birther ever had. There was a lot of love and great sex in my future.

"I never imagined this would happen, having a mate," he said.

Michael washed my hair and then the rest of me. I had two orgasms just from his hands washing me.

Michael got out of the water and took my hand. He dried me with a towel. I felt pampered, and he seemed to enjoy doing it.

Edward walked back into the room.

"Vincent's gone. I have things ready for extracting Ral's eggs."

"Thanks, Ed. Let's do it."

Michael took my hand.

"We're going to the lab."

I was very nervous as I walked alongside Michael.

"Don't worry," Michael said to me. "It's painless."

"It's not only painless, it's pleasurable. Birthers always orgasm during the procedure, sometimes more than once," Edward said.

We walked down a different spiraling ramp than the one we'd used to enter the house. This one coiled around several times, which meant the lab was deep underground. We entered a large room full of very weird machines. Michael had me sit in a strange looking chair. I put my feet where he told me. The chair slowly tilted back until I was on my back with me legs spread. I looked up at the ceiling. Michael pushed a finger inside me. I groaned as he gave me an orgasm. As my ass spasmed from the orgasm, something cold and hard, but slippery slid into me. I gasped through another orgasm. I turned my head and saw Michael sit down at a desk. I felt like I was being stretched, like the thing inside me was getting thicker. I groaned as it made me come, again.

Michael and Edward looked at a box on the desk and moved something that looked like a pen with a wire attached to it, through the air. It looked like he was drawing on the air in front of him. At the same time, I felt something moving inside of me. Edward walked back over to me.

"Are you all right?" he asked me. "Any discomfort?"

"No."

A couple of minutes later, Michael spoke.

"This is strange. I can't find any eggs at all."

Edward walked back over to Michael.

"Could it be because that man got his cock inside me?" I asked.

"No. A fertilized egg would be even easier to find," Michael said.

"Show this area over here," Edward said, pointing at the box on the desk. As Michael moved the pen, I felt something move inside me. It looked like he was controlling the thing inside me with the pen he held in the air. It wasn't unpleasant, but it definitely felt strange.

"Yes."

"The strag body is deformed," Michael said, a minute later.

"And there," Edward said to Michael.

I felt it move inside me, again.

"That's missing, too," Michael said. "And this isn't enough."

"Look at the color of the tissue."

"Yes, I see."

I didn't like what I was hearing. Part of me was missing and part was deformed and I had no eggs.

Michael sighed. He and Edward looked disappointed.

"I don't understand how he can go in heat," Edward said to Michael.

"Evidently there is enough tissue for that," Michael said.

I began to panic. Without really intending to, I tried to get up.

"Stop moving!" Michael shouted.

I did. I lay my head on the chair and began crying. No wonder I felt different. Parts were missing and others deformed.

Five

"Calm down, Ral. You're fine," Michael said.

I looked at him.

"I'm not fine. That's the whole point!"

He walked over to me. He wiped my face dry with a piece of paper.

He pulled the machine out of me. Then he tilted the chair up.

"We knew you are different and we assumed it was because of your Birther parent's accident," Michael said. "All that has happened is that now we know what exactly was causing you to be different."

"I can't ever have a baby," I said.

"No," Michael said.

I was terribly depressed, but then I wondered why. I didn't long for a baby. I'd always wished I wasn't a Birther. But it meant my life had no point and I was useless.

"Did you really want to have a baby?" Michael asked me.

I sighed.

"Yes and no. I know the human race needs to grow and every Birther is needed. But I always hoped I could postpone giving birth as long as possible. What I really wanted was to have babies and live to raise them."

Michael nodded.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it," Michael said.

Michael stuck a needle in me and removed some blood. Then he had me lie down on another table. He placed a piece of some weird, thick fabric over me. It covered me completely.

"This will allow us to scan your entire body, including your brain and internal organs," he said. "It takes about two minutes. Lie perfectly still until I remove the cover."

"OK."

It felt strange being scanned. I could feel something happening, but I couldn't really say what it felt like or even where I felt it.

"Look! I don't believe it!" Edward said, excitedly. "Do you think they are functional?"

They? What did that mean?

Edward pulled the cover off me.

"Why don't you just lie there while Edward and I look at the data?" Michael suggested.

I nodded.

I was nervous. Would they find other things wrong with me?

"Look at the cellular decay," Edward said.

I got very nervous. That didn't sound good at all.

"It could be a fluke," Michael said.

"Except that it's consistent with the other findings."

Oddly, enough, I fell asleep while they spoke softly to each other. I woke to find Michael carrying me back into his living room. He sat, and put me on his lap.

He looked at me and sighed.

"We can't say for sure until we run more blood tests after your heat is over, but we do have some very startling news."

"Good or bad?"

"Good, but strange."

I was relieved.

"It seems you aren't a Birther, Ral."

"What? Look at me!"

"I know! Externally, you look like a Birther. I think you are what is known as a chimera. A chimera combines characteristics of two people. I think your sibling was not a Birther. When he died, your body incorporated his tissue into your own. You're a mixture of the two of you. You have no eggs and you never will produce any. That's because the strag organ which produces eggs, is so small it is barely visible. It should be the size of a hen's egg. It is non-functional in you. Instead, you have a spleen, which is only found in natural men. Neither Nobles nor Birthers have spleens."

"That's possible? A combination of two people?"

"It had never been observed in Birthers before, but it occurred to humans before the Sphix."

"Well, that's the strange part. What's the good part?" I asked.

"You're not a Birther."

I heard the words, but they didn't make sense. I was two people? Me and my brother?

"There's a test we use that shows the cellular decay rate in Birthers. We use it constantly, because our goal is to slow it and thus lengthen the Birther's life. We have performed several decay rate tests on different Birthers during the first day of their initial heat and they all showed measurable decay. Not a lot, but it is measurable. Your cells show no signs of decay. I can't say at this time that decay will never start, but I believe whatever triggers the decay is missing in your body. That is enormously important to our work."

"If we can identify everything that is missing inside you, we will be close to locating that trigger and it is possible we can destroy it in other Birthers," Edward said. Michael nodded.

I was stunned.

"It explains your intelligence, your rationality during heat, and your early interest in sex."

"So I'm not a Birther or a normal man."

"You are both, or neither, depending on how you choose to look at it."

There was a pounding on the door. Michael frowned.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Edward asked Michael.

"No."

"I'll see who it is," Edward said.

"Let me talk to Michael," I heard a voice say.

"Go away, Vincent," Edward said.

I cringed. Michael lifted me and put me on the floor. I stood there uncertainly, while Michael went to see Vincent."

"What the hell?"

I heard a gasp and a thud.

"What did you do?"

I had a bad feeling. I ran to where they were and saw Michael on the ground with a knife sticking out of his chest. Edward was struggling with Vincent. I fell to the ground next to Michael. His eyes were open, but he wasn't breathing.

"Michael! Michael!"

I began sobbing.

I heard someone running away. Edward squatted next to me. He checked Michael's pulse, but it was obvious he was dead.

"Oh, my god! I can't believe it," Edward said.

I looked at Edward.

"Oh, Ral."

I ran outside, looking for Vincent. I saw him standing still. I ran towards him, he crumbled to the ground before I got to him. He had stabbed himself.

I don't remember what happened after that. When I became aware of things, again, I found myself wandering around in the Westal. I had no idea where I was, or where Michael's house was. I sat down on the ground and cried. I was right next to a creek, designed into the pink Sphix rock. I walked down into it and sat. If it rained, I would probably drown. I hoped it rained.

After a few minutes, Edward called my name. He squatted next to me.

"I'm so sorry," Edward said.

I looked at him.

"I thought...Nobles don't do things like this," I said.

"Sadly, we are still human, just as you are. But it must have been very difficult for Vincent to kill. He must have lost his mind. He always seemed a little unstable. His unpredictability was what initially attracted Michael. As you know from your own body, we aren't always what the Sphix planned us to be. They weren't gods, they just pretended they were."

I nodded my head.

"He's dead, too," I said. "Vincent."

"Yes. I saw his body. You didn't—"

"Kill him? No. He's twice my size. I don't think I could have, if I tried. He did it to himself."

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Edward said. "It was Michael's project. I just assisted."

I looked at Edward's face. He looked broken and lost. I realized that he'd been with Michael for sixty-nine years. I'd been with Michael a few hours.

"Will you go back to your parent?" Edward asked.

I hadn't even thought of that.

"I guess. Will I die when I'm eighteen?"

I hated myself for thinking about myself when my mate had just been murdered.

"No. I don't think you will. I can't be certain, but I don't think you have enough Birther in you to initiate the death progression. If I do another cellular decay study next week, I can be more certain."

That was something, anyway.

I ached inside, but Michael had only been in my life a couple of hours. Poor Edward. The expression on Edward's face was heartbreaking. I felt so sorry for him.

"Edward, what will you do? Are you going to continue the work?" I asked him.

"I don't know."

Edward put his face in his hands and sobbed. I put my arm around him. It felt awkward, but I didn't know anything else to do.

'The work is so important', I wanted to add. But I was certain Edward didn't want to hear about work.

Four Nobles walked up to us. One of them was much taller. He had to be over eight feet tall. I stood and then Edward did. Edward climbed out of the creek and brought me with him.

"We just heard," the tallest Noble said. "Who is this?" he asked, looking at me.

"Michael's mate, Ral."

One of the Nobles gasped.

The tallest one put his hand on my shoulder.

"I am so sorry, Ral. Were you impregnated?"

I shook my head.

"I suppose that is for the best," the Noble said. "What will you do? You smell like you are still in heat."

"I guess I'll go back to my parent and stay indoors until my heat is over."

The Noble frowned.

"Hmm. Well, talk it over with your parent."

I got angry.

"So should I go looking for another mate, now?" I asked. "Should I hope I find one before my heat is ended? Does the human race require that I forget all about Michael and get pregnant as soon as possible?"

After I said it, I remembered that I couldn't get pregnant.

The Noble looked startled. He even took a step back away from me.

"No! I don't...know. I can't say. Do what you feel is best in these...circumstances," he said to me.

"Vincent had to be insane," Edward said.

"Did he act irrationally, prior to this...event?" the tallest Noble asked.

"He was always very emotional," Edward said.

The Noble nodded.

"A defect."

I got very angry. I forced myself to keep silent.

"There's no record of any Noble ever killing. Do you know what drove Vincent to do it?" the Noble asked. I wondered if seeing my face covered with Michael's cum in the bath had done it. "Do either of you have any idea?"

"Um. It may have been—" I started to say. Then I decided to keep my mouth shut.

"What?"

"I can't!" I said.

"Well, it would help if we knew, but I understand how upset you...are."

I looked at the ground.

"The bodies have been taken away," another Noble said to Edward.

Edward nodded.

"We'll leave you with your grief. We will speak more tomorrow," one of the Nobles said.

I remember sitting again. I don't remember anything at all after that, until I felt Edward shaking me. "Ral!"

I looked at him. The other Nobles were gone.

"Will you tell me what you couldn't say to the others? Do you have any idea what happened?"

I sighed.

"Michael showed Vincent my face covered with his cum. He rubbed his cock over my face while he talked to Vincent. My eyes were closed. I didn't see Vincent's reaction. But it must have been upsetting."

Edward sighed.

"I'm certain of that."

"I just couldn't tell the other Nobles...that."

"I understand."

"Michael. Michael. Michael," he said. "I'm sure he thought it was the most efficient way to sever the relationship. It was also brutally blunt. He'd been trying to break up with Vincent for years, but Vincent knew how to manipulate Michael. Vincent was obsessed with Michael. I was inside Vincent's house, once. There were dozens of paintings he'd done of Michael. Everywhere you looked, you saw Michael's face, there. Some were abstract, others were almost photographic, with everything in between."

"Do you think that, um, my uh...face had anything to do with it?" I asked.

"Maybe. Hmm. Probably. But who knows? I really need to tell someone about that. Otherwise, mysteries have a tendency to linger."

"I guess it's OK to tell them. It isn't like it was my idea."

"That is a good attitude. I don't want you to ever blame yourself for any part of this, Ral. I think the exact same thing would have happened if Michael found any mate. Michael would have done the same thing and Vincent would have reacted the same way."

I nodded.

I wished I'd had a chance to get to know Michael. I wished he'd fucked me. I wished a lot of things, including that I'd rejected Michael and gone home with Jack. Michael would still be alive. My handsome Michael. I began crying. Edward took me in his arms and cried, too. Eventually, we both stopped.

"Will you stay here?" Edward asked. "Or would you like me to take you to your parent?"

"I can't stay. Would you take me? Please? Thank you."

Edward and I both cried as he took me back to Michael's house. The body was gone, fortunately. Edward left me for a moment. He came back wearing shorts. We went below and got on the transportation system.

"I would like to see you occasionally. Would that be all right?" Edward asked. I hugged him and sobbed.

"Yes! Yes!"

We both cried the whole way to Sul's house. I was back home. I needed Til like I'd never needed him before. I opened the front door of the house.

Sul stood up from sitting and had a broad smile on his face. Then he frowned when he looked at my face. I hugged him and buried my face against his chest.

"I heard the, um news. Congratulations. What's wrong? Ral, what did you do?"

"My name is Edward. Ral's mate was my brother, Michael."

Sul frowned.

"I'm Sulley. Please call me Sul. 'Was' your brother?" Sul asked.

"Yes. I'm afraid Michael is dead."

Sul gasped. I hugged him, tighter.

"He was...he was murdered by a jealous lover."

Sul gasped, again.

"Oh. Oh. Oh," Sul said.

"Please, sit."

We sat. No one said anything for several minutes.

"I can't get pregnant," I said.

"What do you mean?" Sul asked.

"It appears that because of the accident when Ral's Birther parent was pregnant, he has a birth defect," Edward said. "Ral's body doesn't produce eggs. In fact, despite his appearance, he isn't a true Birther. I would like to run more tests on him later, to be certain, but Michael and I don't believe he will die when a Birther would."

"Oh, my god! I can't believe it. Ral!" Sul said.

I forced a smile on my face.

"It's the best day and the worst day of my life," I said.

Sul nodded and stroked my cheek.

"At least you have Til," Edward said to me.

I nodded.

"I want to be your friend, if you'll let me," I said to Edward.

"You are my family, Ral. You aren't just a friend."

That started me crying, again.

Edward stood. Sul stood and then I did.

"There are arrangements to make," Edward said.

"Of course. I wish there was something I could do," Sul said.

Edward shook his head.

He took a communicator out of his pocket. I was curious about it. I had never used one. We weren't wealthy enough to have one. No one I knew was that wealthy. To my surprise, he handed it to me. He showed me how to use it to reach him.

"Call me any time," he said.

I nodded.

"I'll come see you tomorrow," he said to me.

I hugged him and he turned to leave. Sul walked him to the door. Then he turned to face me.

"I'm so sorry about your mate. But—" Sul shook his head and smiled. "I can't believe it! You're going to live!"

"I'm not going to look for another mate," I said.

"Oh, no! I understand completely."

"I don't care if I have a mate. I can't get pregnant. I think I'll take a lover, instead."

Sul nodded.

"There's Til and there's also Jack, from what I hear."

"Oh. You know about Jack?"

Sul smiled. "News spreads fast. Jack is an attractive man. He...um... Anyway, I spoke to Bill. He stopped by. He wanted me to know about Michael."

"Oh. Well, I really like Jack and he's very sexy, but I love Til."

Sul smiled.

"He loves you. He will be so happy. But I don't think you should make any commitments for a few days."

"Because of Michael," I said.

"I got the impression Edward is attracted to you."

I was shocked.

"He barely took his eyes off you. Maybe it's just his grief. But you might find yourself turning to him as a replacement for Michael."

I didn't think that would happen, but I understood what Sul was saying. I nodded. It wouldn't hurt and I could still spend time with Til. I thought of Jack, then. What would I do when I saw him again? He looked so heartbroken when I saw him last. The next time I saw him, would I want him, again?

"I know I shouldn't be thinking of sex," I said.

"You're in heat. You may not have eggs, but you smell normal for a Birther in heat. It will probably be hard to think of anything else until it's over," Sul said.

"Oh, yeah. Anyway, the sex with Jack was fantastic."

"Do you want both of them?" Sul asked.

I nodded.

"In different ways."

"That's not unusual. Don't take a lover. Not yet. You can see both of them. You're young, Ral."

I nodded.

"Are you disappointed at all about the...birth defect?" Sul asked.

"I don't know how I feel."

Sul sighed.

"Ral, your heat is affecting me. I may have to leave."

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that. I can go," I said.

I looked at the communicator. Would I have to wear pants to keep it with me?

"You want a neck strap for that?" Sul asked me.

I nodded.

Sul went into his room and came out with a silver chain. He slid it through a hole in the communicator and then put it around my neck.

"It looks nice. You're someone, now," he said.

I laughed.

"I thought I was someone, before!"

He chuckled.

I decided to go see Til and tell him the good news. I hugged Sul and left.

Kit answered the door when I knocked. I watched his cock grow erect. I licked my lips and thought about how good his cum had tasted.

"Is Til here?"

"What are you doing here? Sul told me you found your mate," Kit said.

"I don't want to talk about it. It's too terrible."

"What happened?"

"Is Til here?" I asked.

"No. I haven't seen him since this morning. He was gone when I got back from the market."

"You don't think he would have hurt himself, do you?"

Kit looked panicked. "Did he say something?"

"No. I'm just worried."

Kit nodded.

I watched his cock bounce. I wondered if he was going to come all over me, again.

"When I see him, I'll tell him you are looking for him."

"OK."

Kit shut the door while I still stood there.

I wondered what I should do. Til usually went into the Sphix compound when he wanted to be alone. I could look for a month and not find him, if he was inside a building. I walked to the road. I looked both ways. One way led to the market, and the other way led to other farms until it reached the Westal. I didn't want to go there. I wondered if Til could be working in the fields. I decided to look. While I looked, I thought about Michael's projects. Thinking about Michael, himself was too painful. I hoped Edward kept going. If they could keep every Birther alive until he was twenty-two, Birthers would live fifty-percent longer! That was important. But then I thought about the fact that Birthers wanted to get impregnated during their first heat. Maybe teaching Birthers to wait, instead of just lecturing us about duty could change that. Of course, there wouldn't be any babies born for seven years. That might be a problem. I wanted to talk to Edward about it.

To my great surprise, I saw Til walking towards me. Unsteadily. He might have just left The Last Woman. He began running.

"Ral!" Til said, as he hugged me. I could smell beer on his breath. He lifted me off the ground and swung me around. I laughed.

"I'm so glad to see you! I've been so worried! But why aren't you with your mate?"

"Oh, you heard about him," I said.

"I just left Jack at the bar. He told me everything."

"Oh."

"We were both really depressed. The beer didn't really help. I hope Jack doesn't do anything dumb," Til said.

"Like what?"

"Like kill himself."

I gasped.

"No! No! No more! There's too much death!"

I sat down in the middle of the street and cried.

"Is this about Jack?"

I looked at him.

"What is it?" Til asked. "Please tell me."

"My mate's lover killed my mate and then himself."

Til's mouth hung open but he didn't say anything.

"My mate, that I just met, is dead! His lover killed him and himself after Michael told him I was his mate."

Til pulled me up off the ground and over to the side of the road as a wagon pulled by two horses went by.

"Oh, shit! Did the lover hurt you? You look OK."

"He didn't hurt me. I feel so weird, Til! I feel like I should be mourning him more or maybe differently than I am. I didn't really know him, but he was my mate and I think I loved him and I—I just don't know! I'm so confused! I'm so glad to be back with you and I wouldn't be if he was alive. I don't want to cry anymore! And I especially don't want Jack to die over me. Two people are already dead because of me."

Til hugged me. He rubbed my back with his hand. I felt myself calming down.

"Oh, baby. It's not your fault, Ral."

"I know, but they are just as dead."

"Do you still need this if he's dead?" Til asked, as he touched the communicator.

"His brother gave it to me. We're family, now, I guess."

Til nodded.

"Are you...pregnant?"

"No."

Til looked very relieved.

"Do you want another mate?"

"No. And there's no point, anyway. I'm not a real Birther."

Til frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't produce eggs and I have a...a splang? Was that it?"

"You mean strag?"

"No. I don't have a strag thing, but I have a splang."

"Splang. Was it 'spleen', maybe?" he asked.

"That's it! I have one of those."

Til looked surprised.

"Birthers have strag bodies and no spleens."

I nodded. "That's what Michael said. It's because of Lud's accident. He said I was a...a kimmer something."

"I don't know what that is."

"Me, either. My body is made up partly of my sibling's."

Til's eyes widened.

"I'm part Birther, part normal male."

"Wow! I didn't know that was possible! Well, that explains a lot," Til said.

"Like what?"

"Like why you are so much smarter than other Birthers and why you aren't controlled by your hormones. I wondered about that this morning. You sounded so normal. You still do."

"We need to go somewhere," I said. "I don't want another mate trying to drag me away."

"You mean that?"

"Yes. I want you."

"Good. Let's go to my house."

"I don't know if Kit wants me around. Sul said he would leave if I didn't. I make both of them hard."

"You make me hard."

I smiled and took his stiff cock into my hand.

"But that's a good thing," I said. "It always had been."

Til kissed me. I stroked him while we kissed.

"Why didn't you ever kiss me, before today?" I asked him.

"I was afraid you wouldn't like it. I've never been exactly sure what our relationship is. Am I just your friend you like to suck? I'm in love with you and I have been for a while, but I didn't think you are in love with me. I was afraid you would get angry or be scared away if I tried to kiss you."

I nodded.

"It changed today," I said. "Today you became more than my best friend."

"I'm so glad.

"Where can we go?" Til asked, after the kiss. "Jack said you were going to wait out your heat at his house."

"That was my plan after you said you didn't want to be around me."

Til clinched his eyes.

"I must have been insane! Ral, I'm so sorry!"

"It's OK. I understood. Sul didn't want me around, either! I don't want Jack to hurt himself. But if I go to Jack's house, he'll want sex, and my feelings are confused enough, as it is. I don't even know how I feel about Michael, much less Jack. The only thing I'm certain about is you."

Til thought for a minute.

"We can stay in a Sphix house," he said.

"That sounds good. I'm hungry, though. Really hungry. All I've had all day is a banana."

"Oh! You'll feel better after you've eaten. Let's pick a house and then I'll go for food."

I smiled at him.

"I'll bring something we can sleep on, too."

I nodded.

We walked into the Sphix compound. Til seemed to have a destination in mind. I smiled when I realized where we were going. We entered a Sphix building. It was where Til fucked me the first time. Our parents knew I sucked Til, but Til didn't think they would approve of him fucking me, so we did it there. I didn't particularly enjoy getting fucked, but things were different. I remembered how good it felt when the farmer pushed his cock inside me. I would have enjoyed getting fucked by him if I hadn't been terrified of getting pregnant. And the dildo Bill used on me gave me lots and lots of orgasms. That made me think of Jack and how much I enjoyed being with him. And how he was willing to fight for me. I wondered what I should do about him. What would I do if he killed himself over me? Two people had already died because of me. It was too much! Too much! I began crying, again. Til took me in his arms.

"It's all right. You're with me. I'll take care of you," Til said.

I looked up at him.

"What will I do if Jack kills himself?"

"You can't control what other people do. You couldn't control the lover and you can't control Jack. It would be wrong to take Jack as your lover just so he won't be unhappy."

I nodded.

Six

"I'm going to get you some food," Til said.

"OK."

Til left.

Not long after he left, it began to rain. I walked out of the house and let the warm rain wash me. My face was crusty from all my tears. The rain washed the salt away, but I almost started crying, again.

I watched the nearest stone creek come alive with running water. Unlike regular rock, the pink Sphix rock didn't change color when it was wet. I always thought that was weird.

I went back inside just before the rain stopped.

I had a lot to think about. I tried to avoid thinking about Michael. That was too painful. But my life was going to be completely different than I'd thought it would be. I wasn't a Birther. I needed to decide what I was going to do with my life. Did I want to be a farmer? I wasn't sure. But I'd only been to Birther school. I called Edward.

"Hello, Ral. It's good to hear from you," Edward said.

"Do you think I should try to go to school? I just went to Birther school."

"Hmm. Is there a particular career you have in mind?" he asked.

I thought for a second. Til wanted to be a mathematician. He would probably work for the government. I had no desire to do that.

"I thought your project was very interesting. I would like to know why Birthers die and how they are different. Do you think I could be a scientist?"

"It's possible. Let me give it some thought. There's no hurry."

"OK. I'm going to be staying with Til at Jack's house, until my heat is over."

"Really? That's interesting. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"OK."

We were disconnected.

I ran my fingers over the machine around my neck. I felt important wearing a communicator. Like Sul said, I was somebody, and I liked that. I wanted to be more than a farmer.

I thought about Jack. Til was right. I couldn't control what he did, but I sure hoped he didn't hurt himself.

I sat down against one of the walls. I found myself coming awake when I heard a sound. I stood and saw Til carrying a basket. He put it down and offered me his hand. I stood.

He began taking food and drink out of the basket. He had water and beer, bread, cheese, and sliced meat. I made a sandwich quickly and started eating. He left the building. I started to ask where he was going, but he came back in with a rolled up cushion.

"We can sleep on this."

I nodded.

Til unrolled it and sat on it. I got up and sat next to him. He began eating. I finished my sandwich and felt much better. I was suddenly interested in sex, again. I reached over and began stroking Til's cock. He sighed.

"I want us to be lovers," I said. "Forever."

"Oh, Ral! I want that, too."

"I'm not going to take a mate. If anyone asks, you are my mate. According to Michael, there is no way anyone would know that we aren't mates. I think Michael could just tell when someone was lying."

Til looked very happy.

"That makes sense. How would someone else know how I smell to you?" he said.

I nodded.

"I guess we don't have to hide here, then," he said.

"No. I want to be alone with you. I can't face a crowd."

Til nodded.

"Will you let me fuck you?" he asked.

I told him about the farmer pushing inside me. He got mad, but I just wanted him to know how much I liked the sensation. I told him about Bill and his dildo. He already knew about that from Jack.

"Did it bother you to hear about what I did with Jack?"

"No. I was more concerned about who you left with—your mate. I told you I couldn't watch you find your mate, but once you were gone, I thought about how stupid that was. I was worried about who you would find. Not being there made it worse, not better. Jack is obviously in love with you. Once I knew that, I couldn't really blame him. He wanted to know every little thing about you."

That was my Til, sweet and understanding.

"Jack is a sexy man. I've seen you looking at him, before. With you in heat, and me alone and feeling sorry for myself, I wasn't surprised at all to hear what happened. I was really glad to know you had someone fighting for you. It should have been me. It really should."

"I love you, Til."

He smiled. "I love you, too."

"Does it bother you that I had sex in the bar with Jack?" he asked.

I was shocked. Til laughed. "I'm kidding!"

I chuckled.

Til handed me a beer.

"Are you going to get me drunk and fuck me?" I asked.

He grinned.

"I didn't bring enough beer. Let me go get some more."

I laughed.

We had both finished eating. I leaned my head on him.

"What did you like best about the sex with Jack?" Til asked me.

"He came in my mouth and told me not to swallow it. Then he kissed me. He got his semen all over his tongue and then licked my face. The smell of his cum and the feeling of his tongue on my face gave me an orgasm."

"Fuck! Why don't I have ideas like that?" Til said. "What else?"

"A man came on Jack's cock while I was sucking it. That was a lot of fun."

"We could let Jack come on mine while you suck me," Til said.

"Do you want to do that?" I asked him.

"It's fine with me! But it's up to you."

I nodded.

I had an idea. "If you hate this idea, just say so, but Jack could come on your cock and balls and I could suck them clean," I said.

Til groaned.

"That's the nastiest thing I ever heard! Let's do it!" Til said. I grinned. "I'll shoot on his cock, too."

I looked at Til's erection. Veins bulged on the outside of it. Talking about sex had made him very, very stiff. My ass began spasming and I felt it get wet.

"Fuck me, Til," I said.

"Are you absolutely sure you can't get pregnant?"

"Michael seemed sure."

I rolled onto my stomach. Til moved between my legs. He put his hands on my hips and pulled my butt up in the air, while my head was on the cushion. He pulled my cheeks apart and began licking my asshole. I cried out as he gave me an orgasm. He pushed two fingers inside me and gave me a second one.

"I need your cock!" I said.

I felt him place the head at my hole. He pushed and it slid inside. I cried out and pounded the floor as an intense orgasm hit me. Til moaned.

"It feels perfect!" he said. "You seem to like it more than the last time I fucked you."

That was a joke.

Til began fucking me. He gave me one orgasm after another. But then I thought of Michael. Michael never fucked me.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lied.

Til fell onto his side and pulled me with him.

"What is it, Ral?"

"Oh, I was thinking about Michael. I feel so mixed up."

Til's arms were wrapped around me and that was a great comfort.

"How much should I mourn? Should I be sadder than I am? I didn't want Michael, at first, but I found out he was a wonderful person. He wanted Birthers to live longer! He was working towards that. Did you know he has kept alive a twenty-two-year old Birther?" I asked. After I said that, I remembered it was a secret.

"Oh, Ral! No. I didn't know. He must...have given you hope."

"He did. And still, I missed you. Was that wrong?"

"Oh, baby."

Til pulled out of me. He kissed me.

"I can't answer those questions, Ral. I'm sure he was a lot smarter than me. But just remember him. What more can anyone do for someone who has died?"

Til always knew what to do. It's why I always wanted him close to me.

"It's a secret about his project with the Birthers."

"OK."

He placed the head of his cock at my ass. I pushed back while he pushed inside. I came as he slid into me.

"Damn! That feels so good!" he said. He began thrusting. He wrapped his hand around my erection and stroked it while he fucked. To my amazement, I had an ejaculating orgasm. Only Michael should have been able to give me those. But then I thought how mixed up my body seemed to be, part Birther, part normal male.

"I'm close to coming," Til said.

"Shoot in me!"

"That's where my semen belongs," Til said, repeating what I said to him all the time.

Til gasped and the most intense pleasure yet followed from his orgasm. I felt heat spreading inside me. The sensation began at his cock and spread outwards. I screamed as more pleasure than I thought possible overwhelmed me. Til was saying something, but I couldn't hear him. The pleasure seemed like it lasted forever, but it slowly faded. I wanted more.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" Til asked. His cock had softened and slipped out of me.

I began laughing, weakly. I felt exhausted. I understood why Birthers want to get impregnated. I understood why Tim told me in the market he needed a break from the pleasure. He said the pleasure got more intense. I wanted more! Michael said it was addictive.

"Can you come, again?" I asked.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "It sounded like you were in pain."

"No. It was pleasure."

"Wow! It must have been something!"

I had another intense orgasm while neither one of us were doing anything. I wondered if just having his cum in my ass was enough to make me cum. When it ended, I needed more.

"Oh, fuck! I need more cock, more cum. Jack will give it to me, tomorrow."

"OK."

I had a craving for men. I thought about other cocks; Jon's, Kit's, Edward's, Bill's, and Jack's. Bill from the shop knew how to use a dildo on a Birther. I thought about how much better Bill's pretty cock would feel inside me. Each of those men could give me more pleasure than I thought was possible. I thought about going inside The Last Woman and letting every man in there fuck me two or three times. Orgies like that happened in there all the time. I began shivering at the thought of what that would feel like; the pleasure Til had just given me multiplied by thirty or forty. I shivered harder.

"You're shaking! What's wrong?"

I found myself remembering what Sul's cock looked like when he stroked it. How wonderful would it feel inside me? I shocked myself with those thoughts about my parent, and I told myself to stop. How did other Birther's deal with the craving for sex I was experiencing? Then I realized the answer—they had mates and they didn't want anyone else. I didn't have a mate, not any more. I remembered what Bill said to Jack, that I would beg to get fucked and cry and say I needed it. Bill knew. He'd had two mates.

"Ral! What is it?"

I groaned.

"It felt too good. All I want is to get fucked. Over and over by every man with a stiff cock. I...when you fucked me, it set something off inside me," I said to Til.

"Something bad?"

"I guess. Maybe. It's a craving for more sex. For more pleasure than..." I shook my head. I couldn't put it into words. "It's a craving," I repeated.

"You said you needed more cock."

"I think it's what Birthers go through when they meet their mates. They have this craving to get fucked. I have it. I want more, more, more. I want every man in town, including our parents. I want to get fucked until I'm unconscious."

"Oh, shit!" Til said.

"Yeah."

"There's just me," Til said.

Til rolled me onto my back. Then he climbed on me and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him. I loved feeling his weight on me. I felt better as we kissed. It was exciting, but it also calmed down the cravings. We kissed for several minutes.

"I feel better," I said, when the kiss ended. I leaned up and licked his lips. Til looked pleased. "How did you know to do that?"

Til grinned. "I got jealous. I didn't know it would do anything besides make me happy."

"Maybe it's what my mate would have done between sex," I said.

"Maybe. Do you still want more men?"

I thought about it.

"The craving isn't nearly as bad."

"And our parents?"

"Yuck!" I said, laughing.

Til smiled.

"Do you want me to fuck you, again?" he asked.

YES! I almost screamed. "Part of me really wants that, but another part is scared."

"Yeah," Til said. "I'm a little scared. If the craving makes you go out looking for men, you could find your mate. You need to be in full control of yourself, I think, to say no to him. If you beg your mate to fuck you and he does..."

That was very true. Could I resist the mating bond and the craving at the same time? I was able to resist Michael when I first met him, but I wasn't craving a fuck. That big cock of his might have been irresistible.

"We'll just make sure you aren't craving a fuck before we go out in public."

I smiled. Til was terrific. He was smart and sweet and sexy.

"I feel better."

"So do I," Til said.

He was still on top of me. I could feel his cock was hard, again.

"If you need more men, I can handle it. Hell! We can find all the cock you need at The Last Woman. And why worry about your mate? If you meet him, I'll pick you up, throw you over my shoulder and take you home. Jack's not the only one who will fight for you!" I smiled at my Til. "I never dreamed I would have you for my lover. If I have to share you, it's a small price to pay for the one thing I've always wanted the most."

"I'm not sure I like being a thing, not even a one thing," I said, joking.

"What? No! No!"

I laughed.

"I love you," I said.

He grinned and kissed me. I guess I fell asleep. That was the last thing I remembered before I woke. When I did, it was the middle of the night. We were both sleeping on our sides. Til's arms were wrapped around me. I started to worry. I'd fallen asleep twice without intending to. But it could be related to my heat. I didn't remember anything about falling asleep in my Birther classes, but that didn't mean anything. I wasn't a typical Birther. But I could ask Sul whether he noticed it with Lud. Maybe the same thing happened with Lud. I decided to do that. I closed my eyes and slept.

I woke up alone the next morning. I was still hard, which meant I was still in heat. I walked outside to see if Til was near, but didn't see him. I peed into a stone creek. I looked up at the sky. I saw dark clouds to the west of us. I heard a distant crack of thunder. I went back into the building and ate a piece of bread. I felt great, but horny. I decided not to worry about the falling asleep. An awful lot happened the day before.

"Good morning!" Til said, as he walked into the house carrying fruit. It began raining.

"I just missed it!" he said.

"I'll have bananas," I said. I took a banana from him and wrapped my other hand around his erection.

Til laughed.

"I happen to know you like my banana best!"

"It's the only one that moans when I eat it," I said.

I put the yellow banana on the ground and knelt. I began sucking Til.

"I thought this would never happen, again," he said, softly. "I thought I lost you forever."

I caressed Til's nuts with my fingertips. He shuddered. With my other hand, I reached up and pulled on one of his nipples. I couldn't wait until Til was as hairy as his father, Kit. If he was like his father, Til's cock would continue growing. Kit's was about an inch longer.

"I want to fuck you," Til said.

He pulled his cock out of my mouth.

"Do you want to eat first?" he asked.

I licked the underside of his cock.

"I was eating."

He laughed.

"You better finish. You'll be having a lot of sex, today."

"I hope I'll be having a lot every day."

"I wonder how you'll feel when you aren't in heat," he said.

I shrugged.

"I may only want to suck you twice a day."

"Aww."

We both laughed.

Til sat down on the cushion with his legs crossed under him. He patted the cushion next to him. I sat. Til picked up a banana and peeled it. He held it in front of my mouth. I took a bite.

"I'm glad you know which banana likes teeth," he said.

I laughed, then turned serious.

"I don't want to keep secrets from you, Til. I ran into Kit, yesterday."

"He told me. He felt really guilty about shooting on you."

I was relieved Til already knew.

"Did it upset you?" I asked.

"No. How could I get mad when he was so upset about it? He said you both tried to control yourselves, but it was difficult."

"It was."

Til grinned.

"I told him you probably ate his cum."

I laughed.

"I did! It tastes like yours."

"Oh! So you loved it!"

"I did, but I felt guilty, too."

"Don't. Stop worrying! I know you, Ral. Before you were in heat, I was the only man you wanted. If that changes, I know it's biology, and there's no point in either one of us getting upset about it. Besides, lots of men have open relationships, including Kit. Ben sleeps every other night with Kit. I can adjust to any relationship. Speaking of relationships, do you want to live together?"

"Yes. To be honest, I don't want to hear Sul's opinion about us being lovers or going out and looking for a mate. He might think it's still my duty to find my mate or the best thing for me. You're the best thing for me."

"Oh? Am I a thing?" Til asked, repeating my words.

I laughed.

"You are. I'm not," I said.

"Oh, very fair!"

We both laughed.

Til was silent for a moment.

"What do you think about moving in with Jack? He told me how lonely he is. And, to be honest, I'm not sure what we'll face. What if your real mate wants to fight for you? I'm not a fighter. Having Jack with us just seems like a good idea."

"That's a good point. Sure. I really like Jack, and I told you I think he's sexy."

Til nodded.

"Later, we can get our own place, if we don't like living with him. "

"Let's do it," I said. "Maybe Sul will start dating if I'm not there."

Til nodded.

"Jack is going to be happy," I said.

We ate and then Til fucked me. This time I was on my back, with my legs wrapped around Til's waist. Til kissed me while he ejaculated inside me. The orgasm was even more intense than the fuck the night before. The wonderful warmth spread through my body, again. But this time, the main orgasm was followed by shorter ones that faded away like an echo. Tim had said the orgasms got more intense each time with your mate. Maybe it didn't have to be your mate.

I wanted more. Fortunately, Til did, too. He pulled out, but wanted my legs up. He stuck his tongue inside my ass. I screamed as another intense orgasm swept over me. It was followed by another and another.

"No more, please!" I said.

He stopped.

"You didn't like it?"

"I loved it, but you can have too much pleasure. Tim told me that, yesterday. He was right."

Til nodded.

"How's the craving? Do you want fifty or sixty men to fuck you?" Til asked.

I groaned. I did crave cock. It was strange, but I wanted cocks more than I wanted orgasms. Sucking! That was what I wanted.

"Yeah, I think forty will be enough. I want to suck them."

I groaned and had a mild orgasm when I thought of having forty cocks shoot into my mouth.

"Hmm."

Til climbed on top of me and kissed me for several minutes. Once again, it calmed my lust.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm afraid you may have to kiss me every time you fuck me."

"I'll stop fucking you, then," he said, seriously.

"Good!"

He looked worried.

"Really?" he asked.

I laughed and he did, then.

"Let's go look for Jack. If you are still craving sex, we'll go by The Last Woman later. You'll be able to find lots of men. With your scent, no one will say no. I'll fuck you while you suck."

"And we'll get free beer!" I said.

Til laughed.

Til's cock was very stiff. The idea of me sucking other men obviously didn't bother him.

I sighed.

"Yeah, but another mate might be there..."

"Don't worry about him. If I can't get you away from him by myself, Jack will help. You know that."

I smiled.

"I sure hope Jack is OK," I said.

We left the house. It was still raining, so we left everything Til had brought inside it. I brought the communicator, though.

We took the road to the market. We held hands and played in the puddles the way we had when we were much younger. We stopped twice and kissed in the warm rain.

We stopped to watch a man fuck another one on the side of the road. I stroked Til while we watched them. The fucker's balls hung low and I watched them swing back and forth. The man who was getting fucked looked at the ground. But the man who was fucking him looked at me. I knelt and sucked Til. Another man stopped to watch. Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell he was stroking himself. I pulled off Til and watched him. I recognized him, but couldn't remember his name. I went back to sucking Til.

"Two more just started," Til said, a minute later.

I looked around. One of the men who had just stopped was very sexy. He was a hairy blonde, like Kit. He looked really hot with his body hair plastered against his wet skin. I smiled at him and he walked up to me. I looked up at Til. Til nodded. I bent over and took the blonde man's cock into my mouth and began sucking. He tasted very good. His cock wasn't as big as Til's, which made it easy to suck. I held onto the blonde's balls. Til moved behind me and pushed inside my ass. It felt wonderful. Til didn't fuck me. He just left his cock there.

"Oh, god! His smell! Is he in heat?" the blonde asked Til.

"Yeah."

Til stroked my back while I sucked. I was very contented, despite the weather and the fact that we were standing in mud.

Two men groaned. One was the blonde. I felt warm semen hit my skin on my back and run down it. At the same time, the blonde shot thick cream into my mouth. Giving these men orgasms was so satisfying to me. The blonde shot five or six powerful spurts into my mouth before the flow slowed. I squeezed every last drop out of his cock before I stood up. Til pulled out of me I looked around. There were eight men, counting me. All of them were either stroking themselves or having sex in the warm rain. My heat had me wanting every one of the cocks I saw.

"We may be at The Last Woman this afternoon," I said to the group. I looked at Til to see if he changed his mind, but it didn't seem like he had.

"Oh, fuck! A Birther orgy!" a man said.

The blonde held out his hand.

"I'm Joe," he said. I shook his hand.

"Ral. This is Til," I said.

Joe was still hard. I stroked his cock and pulled on one of his nipples.

"I've wanted you for a long time," Joe said to me.

"You have?"

I didn't even recognize him.

"Will you suck me again this afternoon?" Joe asked.

"Sure!"

Joe grinned.

"Is Ral your mate," Joe asked Til.

"Yes."

"Finally! A mate who is willing to share! I think it's great you are letting him have fun with other men."

Another man shot on my back, but the rain had gotten heavier and it rinsed away, quickly.

"Let's go. This is getting too heavy," Til said.

I let go of Joe's cock. Til took my hand and we began running towards the market.

"I love you!" I called to him.

"I love you!"

Then Til laughed, for no reason I could think of. He was just happy, I decided. I was, too. I missed Michael, but I was happier than I'd been in a long time. I was amazed when I realized I had everything I ever wanted. The last couple of years, I worried constantly about getting pregnant and dying. About leaving Til and Sul for a stranger. Now I had hope, which I was realizing was a powerful thing. I no longer had to worry—except maybe that Jack was all right. My last worry was about running into my mate, but I knew Til meant it when he said he'd throw me over his shoulder and take me away. And Jack would definitely help him.

The rain slowed as we approached the first stalls of the market. The market looked dead, as it usually did when it was raining hard. Bill's shop was probably packed. I was happy for Bill. Jack's stall was empty, as many were, which disappointed me. It could mean Jack was waiting for the weather to improve. I hoped so.

The farmer, whose name I finally remembered was Roy, avoided looking at me, at first.

"Look! I'm sorry! I really am!" Roy said. "Your scent shut my brain down. I thought for some reason you were my mate."

I did remember that Roy smelled very good. I couldn't smell him that morning because of the rain. But maybe I did smell like his mate to him. Besides, he couldn't have hurt me, even if he ejaculated in me. I didn't have any eggs.

"You ought to be sorry!" Til said to him. "You could have killed him!"

Roy looked down at the ground.

Despite the weather, I was in too good a mood to want to think about it.

A man who'd been there yesterday morning walked up to me. He was hard. I reached out and stroked his cock.

"OK. I forgive you," I said, looking at Roy.

Roy sighed in relief.

"I heard you found your mate," Roy said.

My good mood evaporated when I thought of Michael.

"The mate's lover killed him and himself, yesterday," Til said.

Roy's mouth fell open.

"Really?"

I nodded.

"But it worked out for me. It turns out I am Ral's mate," Til said.

Roy's mouth fell open.

"You two have always been a couple. That's amazing. It doesn't bother you that he's jacking off another man?" Roy asked.

Til shook his head.

"No. He's in heat."

"Damn!"

"I'm going to come!" the man I was stroking said. I caught his semen in my other hand. When he was done, I lapped it up.

"Oh, fuck! That's the hottest thing I ever saw!" he said to me. "Eating my sperm while your mate watches! You like it?"

"Yeah. I love the taste," I said.

"Shit!"

"Where is Jack? Do you know?" I asked Roy, who was openly stroking his big, pretty cock.

"Hasn't shown up. He was pretty drunk the last time I saw him. He's probably sleeping in, with a hangover."

Roy slapped his meaty erection in the palm of his other hand and I groaned. I wanted his cock, but I didn't want him. I turned to Til and kissed him, instead. Wet fingers pushed inside my ass and gave me an orgasm while I kissed Til. I pulled away to see who it was, hoping it wasn't Roy. It wasn't. It was a man I'd never seen before. He was fairly good-looking. I smiled at him before turning back to Til. I bent over and began sucking Til. The stranger behind me kept his fingers moving inside me. I came again.

Til nodded.

"Where does Jack live?" Til asked.

"Why? Are you mad at him about yesterday?" Roy asked.

"No. Ral thinks Jack may be his mate, too," Til said.

I almost laughed at the expression on Roy's face.

"Jack told me he almost went with him," Roy said.

Roy told us where Jack lived. We set out for Jack's house. It was in the direction of our houses, but a couple miles further from the market. It was behind a large cattle farm. We turned off onto a small dirt trail. I knew there were a couple of houses and a slaughterhouse in that area, but hadn't spent much time exploring there.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked Til.

"I think so. Why?"

"I don't want to make Jack happy by making you unhappy."

Til stopped and took me in his arms. He kissed me, thoroughly. I smiled after the kiss.

"Kit shares Ben and he's happy. I'll be happy as long as you are around."

I nodded.

Seven

We walked up to a small house. Til knocked. A minute later, I heard a crash and a man cursing. The door opened. It was Jack and he was holding his leg, while his expression was hilarious. He looked like he was injured, hungover, and hallucinating. I watched his cock grow erect.

"Ral? Is that really you?"

"Yes."

"Where's the asshole?" Jack asked.

I sighed.

"He wasn't an asshole. He was actually a very good person. But his lover killed him and himself when he told him about me."

Jack looked shocked. Then he tried to look sympathetic, but mostly, he look hungover.

"I'm sorry...I guess. Hi, Til. So are you two back together?"

"Yes. We were wondering if we could live here with you," Til said.

Jack looked stunned.

I stepped forward and wrapped my hand around Jack's cock. He gasped.

"We're back to the original plan," I said. "I'll live with you but I'll have two lovers."

Jack looked like he wasn't sure he believed it, but a smile slowly formed on his face. He seemed more like himself. He wrapped his arms around me. I pulled the communicator back out of the way. Jack looked into my eyes and I could see how much he loved me. I hugged him, tightly. I felt Til's hand slide between my cheeks. He pressed a finger inside me. I shuddered through an orgasm, while I hung onto Jack. Til pulled his finger out. After a few moments, I had calmed down.

"I've got good news, though—"

Jack started laughing and kept it up for a while. Then he groaned about his head.

"Better news than that?" Jack asked. "That's not possible, boy."

"Yes, it is. You can fuck me."

Jack groaned.

"I found out my body doesn't produce eggs. I can't get pregnant and I probably won't die anytime soon."

Jack looked amazed.

"How do you know?"

"Michael was a...doctor. He ran some tests. I'm only part Birther. Internally, I'm more like a normal male."

"My god! It is better! Much, much better!" Jack said. "Oh, baby! I'm so happy for you. For all three of us."

I nodded.

"And you really want me to be your lover?" Jack looked at Til. "One of them?"

I nodded.

He didn't look hungover any more. He looked very happy. I smiled up at him.

"I'd kiss you but my mouth is foul. Come on in! You want coffee?"

"Oh, yeah!" Til said.

"Me, too," I said.

"Hmm," Til said.

"What?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure coffee when you are in heat is a good idea. You might wear all the skin off our cocks," Til said.

Jack and Til both laughed.

"I'm willing to risk it," Jack said, still laughing.

Til and I followed Jack into a small kitchen. Jack poured us coffee and then said he'd be right back. He left.

Til and I looked around.

"It's a good thing I know how to cook," Til said. "It doesn't look like Jack does."

"He can cook coffee," I said.

Til laughed.

"Well, he can!" I said.

"You don't cook coffee," Til said.

"Oh. Then why is it hot?"

I didn't cook. They taught us how in school, but I didn't pay attention. Sul didn't want me cooking; because Lud's accident, when he was pregnant, occurred when he was chopping vegetables. I wondered if Sul was fucking him, at the time, but I had never asked. Sul got up before me, each morning and the coffee was already made when I got out of bed.

Til was wonderfully stiff. I'd always made him hard. It was even easier when I was in heat. I took his erection and aimed it at my ass. Til grinned and put his coffee down. He pushed inside me. It felt terrific and gave me an orgasm. But I spilled my coffee as I came. Til grabbed my cup and held it. Til pulled out slowly and slid back in. I groaned.

"Oh, fuck!" Jack said, as he walked into the room and saw us.

Jack began stroking himself.

"I want that bad boy," I said, looking at his cock.

"You got it, baby boy. I love you, Ral."

I smiled. "I'm falling for you, Jack."

He grinned.

"I thought you were wonderful, yesterday, the way you stood up to a Noble," I said.

Jack grinned.

"Til, I think you are pretty great, too," Jack said. "I know this wouldn't be happening if you refused to go along with it. I'm grateful."

Til smiled.

"Are we going to sleep in one bed?" Jack asked.

"Is yours big enough?" I asked Jack.

"It will be cozy."

"Then I think so," I said. I looked at Til. "I don't want to change bed partners every night. Is it OK with you?"

"It's fine, as long as you're in the middle," Til said to me.

Jack walked up to me. He took my head in his hands and thrust his tongue into my mouth. His mouth tasted good. He must have rinsed it out. While we kissed, Til began fucking me. I had an intense orgasm. I pulled away from Jack's mouth and cried out.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, alarmed.

"He's coming," Til said.

I hung onto Jack through the orgasm.

"That's it, baby. You just enjoy that," Jack said.

I bent a little and began sucking and biting at one of Jack's nipples.

"Can I come inside you when I fuck you?" Jack asked.

I let go of his nipple.

"Yes, but I love the taste of your semen," I told him.

Jack grinned.

"Then most of it will go in your mouth," Jack said. "I'll cock-feed you, baby boy. You'll get lots of milk from your Daddy Jack."

I fondled Jack's nuts in one hand.

"Ral loves the taste of cum. You have no idea how long he's sucked my soft cock trying to get more out of me," Til said.

"Well, no wonder you need two lovers," Jack said to me.

I smiled, a little embarrassed.

"I don't know how I will be once my heat is over," I said.

"I'm sure you will still want to suck us," Til said.

I nodded.

"Ral has been sucking me twice a day for years," Til said.

"Well, fuck! That's plenty for me! Twice a day with the man I love? How many men get that?" Jack said.

I smiled at Jack. I felt his stubbly cheek.

The communicator began beeping. I took it in my hand.

"Ral? It's Edward."

"Hi, Edward."

"There's going to be a memorial service for Michael. Will you attend?"

It all came flooding back, and suddenly I was grieving, again.

"When will it be?" I asked.

"This afternoon."

I didn't want to go, but I needed to go. What would it look like if his mate wasn't there, especially since he would still be alive if not for me? Michael deserved to have his mate remember him. I looked at Til. He looked terrified. I started to worry. I had no idea what he was afraid of, but if Til was afraid...

"Edward, this is Ral's friend, Til. Ral is still in heat. Won't that be distracting?"

Til looked really scared but he was talking about distractions. I didn't understand, at first. Then I thought I understood why. Another mate could be at the memorial service and Til wouldn't be there. Could I resist another mate with no one to help me? Maybe, but it wasn't certain. I couldn't run away during the service.

"I should have thought of that," Edward said, sighing. I felt sorry for him. His life had to be changing dramatically. Would Michael's projects go on? I sure hoped they would.

"It will be the only memorial service where every person attending is thinking about sex," Til added.

Edward barked out a laugh. Then he sighed.

"True. And they are supposed to be thinking of Michael, not Ral," Edward said.

Til looked relieved. I smiled at him.

"Tomorrow would be better," Edward said.

"I think so," I told him.

"That's fine. Ral, I want to remind you that you shouldn't speak of some of the things Michael told you," Edward said.

"Yes. I know."

"Good. I will speak to you again when I know the time of the memorial service. I would like you to bring Til with you."

That was a surprise. I looked at Til. He looked surprised.

"Til, will you go with me?" I asked him.

"Of course."

"Good. Good-bye," Edward said.

I put the communicator down.

I tugged on the end of Jack's foreskin. He had a really long piece of skin.

"You like my big boy, don't you?" Jack asked me.

"I love him." I looked at Jack's grinning face. "I love you."

"Oh, baby!"

Jack moved the communicator out of the way and wrapped his arms tightly around me. We kissed as Til began fucking me. I came twice while Jack's tongue moved inside my mouth and my hands roamed over Jack's muscular back. I heard a crack of thunder, just as I had an ejaculating orgasm. It was eerie having them happen at the same time. This was the second ejaculating orgasm Til had given me. I'd been told several times that only a mate could give you one of those. Was Til my mate? He was my chosen mate. Was that why he could do it, or was it my weird body?

I pulled away from Jack's kiss and turned my head back. I wanted Til to kiss me and he knew, somehow. We kissed while he made short thrusts into me. I came again while we kissed.

"How long have you two been lovers?" Jack asked, after the kiss ended.

"All my life," I said. "But I never realized it until my heat started."

Til smiled.

"Ral always liked playing with my cock," Til said.

"Til never said no," I said.

Jack laughed.

"You won't hear me say it, either!" Jack said.

I smiled at Jack.

"I've never jacked off. Ral has always done it for me. He started sucking me when I was eleven or twelve. We've been having sex twice a day since I was what? Thirteen?" Til said. I nodded. Jack shook his head in amazement. "Ral let me fuck him, too, but he never really enjoyed it until yesterday." I nodded, again.

"I'm glad it didn't have to end and I'm even more glad you want me," Jack said. "I know I shouldn't be happy Michael died, but it's the best thing that ever happened to me."

That upset me a little, but I needed to look at it from his perspective.

I ran my hands over Jack's body.

"All these muscles," I said, as I felt him.

"You like them," Jack said.

I nodded.

"Hmm. I think I need more muscles," Til said.

"You're perfect as you are," I said.

"You wish I was hairier," Til said.

"You will be."

I wrapped my hand around Jack's cock and began stroking it while I tugged on his balls.

"When can I fuck you?" Jack asked.

"Anytime you feel like it," I said. "You don't need to ask."

Jack groaned. "I'm afraid I will wake up and this is all a dream."

Til pulled out of me. I turned around to face him. Til kissed me as Jack pushed inside. I pulled away and gasped as I came. I hung onto Til to keep from falling. Til wrapped his arms around me. We kissed again, as Jack began fucking me. He gave me several orgasms, one after another. It was wonderful having two men.

"I want to shoot on your face," Jack whispered into my ear.

I groaned. I pulled away from the kiss with Til.

"I want you to," I said.

"When I pull out, lay on your back on the floor," Jack said.

"OK."

Jack thrust a couple more times, then he pulled out. I lay down. Til moved away to watch. Jack stood over me, with a foot on each side of my head. He pointed his cock down and stream of hot semen splattered on my lips. I licked them.

"Shit!" Til said.

"Leave the cum alone!" Jack said, as a second spurt hit between my eyes. A third and fourth spurt hit me.

"This is his breakfast," Jack said to Til.

I laughed as Til said, "I can learn a lot from you."

"I'm older. I had time to think up nasty things."

My eyes were closed to keep the cum out of them. But I felt Jack moving. A tongue licked my face. Then I felt it at my mouth. I sucked Jack's semen off his tongue and he licked more off me. Jack fed me all his semen that way, while Til and I both moaned. When they were clean, I opened my eyes and smiled at Jack.

"I'm going to do that to you," Til said me.

"Good."

"You like this?" Jack asked.

"I love it!"

When he was done, Jack stood and pulled me up.

"When I was your age, Til, I had an older lover," Jack said. "He called himself Daddy Don. He loved feeding me cum, his and other men's. I wasn't quite as wild about the taste as Ral is, though."

"That's why you told me your name was Daddy Jack," I said.

"Yeah."

I laughed.

"And I thought you wished I was your child!" I said.

"No. That wasn't it at all! I wanted to be your older lover, the way Daddy Don had been to me."

I smiled at Jack.

"How long were the two of you together?" Til asked Jack.

"Maybe a year. I started out deeply in love with him, but it faded. He did things I didn't particularly like, like loaning me out to friends of his."

"How do you mean, loaning?" I asked.

"He'd tell me he wanted me to spend the night with some friend of his. He'd make it sound like I didn't love him if I refused."

"What a rat!" Til said.

Jack shrugged. "He had some good qualities, but not enough to make me want to stay with him."

"If I get loaned out, I want sixty percent of the profit!" I said.

Til and Jack both laughed.

"I was loaned, not rented," Jack said.

Til kissed me. While we kissed, Jack pushed back inside me, giving me another orgasm. I wondered if I could have orgasms when I was out of heat. I hoped so, but even if I lost interest in sex after my heat ended, I would still have two lovers.

Kissing Til was still a new experience for me. It seemed odd to think that his cock had spent so much time in my mouth, but his tongue hadn't. Til wasn't as good a kisser as Jack. Jack had a lot more experience. But a kiss with Til meant more to me than a kiss with Jack.

"Have you ever kissed anyone else?" I asked Til, after we separated.

"Not open-mouthed. You are the only person I ever wanted to kiss that way."

I smiled.

"You were the first person to fuck me, too," I said.

Jack pulled all the way out of me and then buried himself in me, again. I gasped as he gave me another orgasm.

"Why didn't Michael fuck you?" Jack asked. "Did he die as soon as you got to his house?"

"No. Do you remember when Roy stuck his cock in me, yesterday?"

"How could I forget!" Jack said.

"Michael wanted to find out if Roy impregnated me. He said precum contains sperm, so it was possible."

"Oh, shit!" Jack said. "Had he?"

"No. Michael had equipment that let him look inside me. He was going to remove the fertilized egg. But he found I wasn't much like a Birther, internally. My insides look like a normal human. I don't produce eggs at all. Anyway, that took time. Then he wanted me to bathe, because I smelled like other men."

"Me," Jack said.

"Yeah. And others," I said.

I looked up at Til. "He shot on my face and his lover saw me for the first time like that. Michael introduced me to him but I couldn't even open my eyes."

"Shit!"

"That doesn't sound right," Jack said.

"I didn't get the impression Michael liked his lover very much. He admitted he didn't love him."

Til shook his head.

"I'm glad his lover took it out on Michael and not you," Jack said.

I started to get sad, again. But Jack grabbed my hips and began fucking me, hard. Til tried to kiss me.

"I want you to fuck my throat," I said to Til. Til groaned. I bent down and swallowed his cock. Til held my head and thrust all the way inside me. I quivered and shook as an intense orgasm hit me. He and Jack began an alternating rhythm as they fucked me at both ends. Til's balls slapped against my chin. I loved the feeling. I began swallowing and made Til groan.

"I'm not going to last long," Til said.

"He doesn't want you to. He wants a drink from your nuts," Jack said. I moaned around Til's cock. Jack was right about the drink. "Our sweetheart loves the stuff and it's our job to keep him happy."

"Yeah. Fuck!"

I stopped swallowing, though, because I didn't want it to end. Til took over and began fucking my throat, again.

"You seem to know how to really excite him," Til said to Jack. "I want to learn from you."

"It's because Ral likes the things Daddy John did with me. Daddy John loved shooting on my face and in my mouth. And he loved watching other men do the same things to me. He'd jack other men off to make them shoot in my mouth and on my face." I groaned, again and Jack laughed. "You like that idea, huh? You want me to bring men home and milk them for you? All you'll have to do is hold your mouth open."

"Damn!" Til said.

"It sounds so nasty!" I said.

"Oh. And you don't like nasty things," Jack said to me.

"Uh..." I started to say.

Til laughed.

"Daddy John loved smearing his cum around on my skin with his cock." I moaned around Til's cock. "See what I mean? Anyway, I'm just doing the things to him that Daddy John did to me."

"Do you enjoy it?" Til asked Jack. "Doing those things with Ral?"

"Hell, yeah! I'm making the man I love happy by having orgasms! It doesn't get any better than that."

Jack pulled out of my ass. I was disappointed. I still had Til inside my throat. But then I started to feel strange. I pulled off Til and gasped, as I suddenly lost my balance. Til caught me before I fell. He frowned at me.

"Are you feeling all right. You suddenly look pale," Til said.

"I feel weak and...dizzy."

Jack bent down and picked me up. He carried me to his bed. Til climbed onto the bed next to me. He felt my forehead.

"You don't seem to have a fever."

That was the last thing I remembered for a while. I opened my eyes. I heard Til and Jack talking in another room. I got out of bed. I felt a little tired, but not dizzy. I walked toward their voices. They were sitting in the living room.

"How do you feel?" Til asked, as he stood. Jack stood, too.

"Tired, but otherwise, good. I don't know what happened!"

"I think your heat ended," Jack said. "At least your scent changed."

"Oh."

I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

Til walked up and sniffed my shoulder.

"You do smell different. I couldn't tell, before, but now I can," Til said.

"Does it bother you?" I asked Til.

Til frowned.

"No! You know I loved you long before you went into heat! You must know that!"

I smiled at him. "I do."

"How about you, Jack?"

Jack shook his stiff cock.

"Do you still like my bad boy?" Jack asked me.

"Hey! He's my bad boy, now!" I said.

Jack laughed.

"That's just fine."

"I don't crave getting fucked, but I do want to find out if I will still enjoy it."

"Maybe tonight, if you aren't still tired," Til said.

I wasn't tired, but I understood why Til was worried.

"Kiss me, will you?" I asked Til.

We kissed and I enjoyed it. I turned to Jack and kissed him. Jack wrapped his arms around me and kissed me, thoroughly. He was a great kisser!

I pulled away. Jack looked uncertain. I stroked the side of his head and smiled.

"Still great," I said.

Jack smiled.

"Yeah?" he asked.

I nodded.

The three of us sat down on what looked like a very old sofa. I sat between Jack and Til.

"My heat didn't last the full 48 hours. I guess it's because of my weird body. Edward said he couldn't understand why I went into heat in the first place, so I guess I should have expected it to be short."

"Your body isn't weird, it's beautiful," Til said. I smiled at him. "It's also wonderful, because it won't stop working soon."

I smiled as I thought of that.

"Do either of you wish I was more like a regular man on the outside?"

Jack laughed.

"Do I wish you were less beautiful? Let me think," Jack said. "No."

I smiled at him.

"I've always thought you were perfect," Til said.

I was happy.

"There are going to be some disappointed men at The Last Woman," Jack said. "Til told me you were planning to go there and make lots of people happy." I thought that was a nice way to put it. "Unless you still want to go."

Jack and Til were both erect. I took a cock in each hand and began stroking.

"I still want cum," I said.

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure Til is, too."

"I'm not surprised," Til said. "Ral has always wanted my cum. I bet I was the only twelve-year-old around who was getting sucked two or three times a day."

"Damn! I wish Ral had wanted me that way," Jack said.

"I kind of did. But I thought you wanted to be my daddy," I said.

Jack groaned. "What an idiot I was to tell you to call me Daddy Jack!"

I smiled.

"I probably would have been too scared to do anything," I said. "Til and I grew up together. You were a stranger. And older."

Jack nodded.

I got up. I climbed onto Til's lap, facing him. He smiled at me. I reached behind me and aimed his cock at my hole. I sat down on it. The look of pleasure on Til's face made me smile.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, as I slid slowly down it.

"How does it feel?" Jack asked. I watched Jack stroke himself.

"It didn't give me an orgasm. It feels...interesting. It doesn't feel as pleasurable as before, but it does feel good."

Til nodded.

"It made your cock hard," Til said to me.

I looked down. To my surprise, he was right. Birthers only get erections while they are in heat. But maybe my heat was fading slowly.

Jack stood up. He moved behind me. He put his hands under my arms and lifted me. I wasn't sure what he was trying to do, until he lowered me. Then he lifted me, again. Til moaned. I could tell he was enjoying it. Jack continued to fuck me on Til's cock, lifting me and lowering me. I cried out as I had an orgasm.

"Oh, yeah! Come, baby! Come for Daddy Jack!" Jack said.

"I love what you are doing, Jack," I said.

"I'm close. You want it in your mouth, don't you?" Til asked.

I nodded.

"I think we should slow things down a little. You look little worn out to me," Jack said to me. "I really want to fuck you, but you need rest. You've been through a lot, Ral."

I felt tired, then. Jack was right. A lot had happened.

"I think I'm afraid this will all end, and I don't want it to," I said.

"I know exactly how you feel. It won't," Jack said. "Til is in love with you. I'm in love with you. If you continue to want me, I will always be with you." I smiled. "You have a new family, now, the three of us. This is where your family lives. We'll be here when you wake."

"I love you, Jack," I said.

"I love you, baby," Jack said.

"I've always loved you," I said to Til. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me. I kissed his chest.

I walked back to the bedroom and got on the bed. I must have really been tired. I don't remember anything after climbing in bed.

When I woke up, I was shivering and Edward was leaning over the bed. The first thing I noticed was how he smelled. Good. Since I wasn't in heat, I was a little surprised he still smelled so good to me.

"How do you feel?" he asked me, as I opened my eyes.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Til called me. He said you were ill. You've been shivering and moaning in your sleep."

I was shivering, but I wasn't cold. I was hot and my skin felt like pins or thorns were being pushed into me, although it wasn't as painful as that sounds.

"I feel weird. I'm hot and my skin feels...like...I don't know...needles are pressed lightly against it."

Edward's expression didn't change.

"We need to get you to the lab. I need to perform blood tests."

"Could I speak to Ral in private?" Til asked Edward.

Edward nodded. He turned and left the room. I looked for Jack, but didn't see him.

"Where's Jack?"

"I'll get to that," Til said. "Edward wants you and me to move in with him."

"What?"

"He spoke to the school about me and decided he wants me to work for him in his lab. He said the school told him I was smart," Til said.

"You are brilliant," I said. Til smiled.

"He wants me to work with him on the project. He was very angry when he found out you told me about it. He was a little less angry when he found out you didn't tell anyone else. I explained that we don't keep secrets from each other."

I groaned. I didn't want to make Edward mad.

"He said he needs to run cellular decay tests on you each week, so he can take action if your body starts to behave more like a Birther. Anyway, Edward wants us to live with him, you and me, but not Jack. He said Jack insulted Michael yesterday." I groaned, again. "Edward ordered Jack out of his own house."

"No! No! Oh, shit! Shit!"

I felt very tired. I let my head fall back.

I opened my eyes, again. I was alone in bed, but not Jack's bed. It looked like Michael's house. They had brought me all the way from Jack's house and I hadn't woken up. That scared me. But the bed smelled like Michael and that was reassuring, somehow.

"Hello?" I called out. No one responded, so I called out louder. I heard footsteps, before Til ran into the room.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

Edward walked into the room, then.

"How did I get here?" I asked, before realizing it was obvious: they'd brought me.

I scratched my leg. It felt itchy. Actually, I felt itchy all over. I scratched my arm and saw I had red insect bites.

"When you lost consciousness, again, I thought it best to bring you here," Edward said. "Tell me how you feel."

I thought about it. I felt better, but I was worried.

"The prickly feeling is gone." Edward nodded. "I still feel tired, though. And itchy."

"I've run tests on you. I found no infections, but general inflammation. It's possible, your body is reacting badly to the Birther hormones produced during your heat."

Edward took my arm and looked at the red bite marks.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"As Michael told you, your body is more like a normal human's than a Birther. A Birther's body is designed to...hmm...handle the Birther hormones. Your body isn't. It's reacting in a bad way. This is just a theory, but these, um, hives that have broken out support the idea. The itching should stop soon. I gave you medicine to reduce the inflammation."

I looked at my arm. They looked like mosquito bites.

"Aren't they bites?" I asked.

"No. I believe they are the result of an allergic reaction to the hormones."

"Is it serious? Will I die?"

"Yes. We all will." Edward looked so sad. I figured he was thinking of Michael. "But I don't think you will from this."

Edward sat on the edge of the bed and looked defeated.

"Do you remember when Sul got that body rash?" Til asked me.

I nodded. It was embarrassing. I'd bought Sul scented soap for his birthday and it made him sick.

"That was hives. Do you feel better or worse than you did at Jack's?" Til asked me.

"Better."

Til looked relieved.

"That's good, right?" Til asked Edward.

Edward nodded his head.

Eight

"I want you to live here, Ral," Edward said. "I want the two of you to help me with the Birther project. It's important work. I can't do it by myself. Nobles, in general, accept the status quo in our reproduction. Michael and I don't. Didn't. And neither do you two."

"I know it's important," I said.

"Will you do it? Will you live here with me?" Edward asked. I didn't understand why, but Edward seemed desperate.

I looked at Til. "Are you willing?" I asked.

"Yes. Definitely."

"OK, but..."

"Not Jack," Edward said. "Is that what you were going to say?"

I nodded.

"I can't allow that. Ever."

I knew it was wrong to single out Jack for what had happened when I first met Michael . I had done the same thing to Michael that Jack had done.

Edward reached over and stroked the side of my head. I watched his cock stiffen a little. Then I understood. Sul had told me he thought Edward might be interested in me. It looked like he was right. Was that part of the reason Edward didn't like Jack? I was flattered and I was torn. I wanted Jack, but I loved the idea of helping Birthers to live longer. I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do more. Living with Jack, what would I be? A farmer? Besides, Edward smelled terrific. His smell drew me to him.

"We could visit Jack," Til said to me.

"We could?" I asked. I looked at Edward. It seemed like Til wanted to live with Edward. If Til wanted it, I wanted it. I wouldn't be breaking up with Jack, we just wouldn't be living with him.

"I can't stop you," Edward said.

"OK."

Edward smiled.

I watched his cock grow erect.

"I'm sorry about that. You have that effect on me."

I smiled at him.

"You smell really good to me," I said.

"Do I? You smell wonderful to me."

"I suppose we are almost mates," I said. "Is that possible?"

"Oh, yes," Edward said. "The more genetically compatible you are, the better you smell to each other. Your scent makes me hard."

I nodded.

"Michael never did fuck me," I said, remembering my mate.

"I will, if you'll let me," Edward said. "But not today. Not before the memorial service."

I nodded.

"Then you'll let me?" he asked.

I nodded. "I want you to. You're a very handsome man, Edward. Very, um, sexy."

Edward looked happy.

"Will you always smell so good to me?" I asked him.

"I wish I could say. It's something we will have to discover."

"Wait! Is it all right with you, Til?" I asked.

"Of course."

"If you like, you two can sleep in my bed," Edward said.

"With you?" Til asked.

Edward nodded.

"I would like a three-way relationship with you. I want what Til said you planned with Jack. You two probably need to talk. You can tell me your decision later."

"How will the Birthers feel about it? Are any in love with you?" I asked.

"I've tried hard to keep that from happening," Edward said. "Will it bother you when they are in heat?"

"You mean you'll have sex with them?" I asked.

"Someone has to," Edward said.

"I don't understand," Til said.

Edward explained to him how he and Michael took turns fucking the Birthers after removing their eggs.

"It would really help if you could participate," Edward said to Til. "Otherwise, I won't be able to get much work done during heats."

"What do you mean by participate?" Til asked.

"Fuck the Birther in heat," Edward said.

Til looked as shocked as I felt.

"There's no hurry. We have plenty of time to decide what to do. It should be a month, at least before one goes into heat."

I nodded.

Edward got up and left the room. Til climbed into bed with me.

"You think staying here is the right thing to do?" I asked.

Til frowned. "I don't know about being right, but I want to work on the project. Don't you?"

"Yes."

"Did you have your heart set on living with Jack?" he asked me.

I thought.

"No. It just seemed the thing to do."

Til nodded. "That's how it is with me. Living with Jack would have been fine, but this is better. There's not only the work of extending Birther's lives. Edward wants to keep a close eye on your cellular decay, and now that I know what that is, so do I."

I nodded.

"And what if you have another health scare? We're just much better off here. He has medical equipment and medicine. I'll worry about you less, here."

I hadn't thought of that. Who knew what my body would do?

"You're right," I said.

"How do you feel about a relationship with Edward?" I asked.

"I'm willing to give it a try, if you are."

"I feel the same way," I said.

Til smiled.

"We hardly ever disagree," he said. It was true.

I wrapped my hand around his cock and felt it stiffen.

"You must feel better," he said, grinning.

"Do you like Edward? As a person, I mean," I asked, as I started stroking him.

Til rolled onto his back. I rested my cheek on his belly as I took the head of his cock in my mouth. I closed my eyes. I stroked the shaft while I ran my tongue over the head. Til sighed. Soon, I was tasting Til's precum.

"I do. He's the first person I ever met who wants to make everyone else's life better. Maybe it's because he's a Noble. Um. He wants to fuck both of us."

That was a surprise to me. I lifted my head.

"Would you let him?" I asked.

"I don't know. I'm curious, but he's awfully big."

"He is."

I swallowed the end of Til's cock and began stroking him, again. I closed my eyes and focused on the feel and taste of Til.

"Soon, baby," he said, after a couple of minutes.

I felt his muscles tense, briefly before his warm cum began shooting into my mouth. I tugged on his balls the way he liked when he came. Til sighed and stroked my hair as I swallowed his semen. His orgasm ended, but he stayed wonderfully hard. I kept sucking.

"He's been doing this since I was twelve," Til said, after a few minutes.

I opened my eyes and saw Edward in the doorway. He stroked his very large cock while he watched us. I sucked Til while I watched Edward.

"Do you know how lucky you are?" Edward asked.

I nodded my head, as best I could with Til in my mouth, but Til answered.

"I've always known," Til said.

Edward smiled. Then his expression changed and I knew he was thinking about Michael. He looked so sad. I pulled off Til.

"You have us," I said to Edward.

His smile returned and I was glad.

"You should sleep, Ral," Edward said. "Your body needs to recover."

I nodded. I lay down and closed my eyes.

I was alone when I woke. I lay there deciding how I felt. I looked at my arm. The rash was just about gone. The red blotches were barely visible. I decided I felt good.

I got up and went looking for Edward and Til. The sun was setting, but it was still bright outside the house. Artificial lights had come on. The house seemed to be empty. I wondered if they were with the Birthers. I thought about looking for them, but I was nervous about meeting the Birthers, especially Vare, who'd been in love with Michael, and I really wanted Edward with me when I did. I sat down on the sofa and waited. After a few minutes, one of the Nobles I'd met the day before walked into the house. He was the enormous one. His head almost touched the ceiling. Unlike Michael and Edward, he was not at all hairy. He didn't even have hair on his legs. He was wearing a pair of short pants and a shirt. I couldn't help wondering how big the cock of an eight-foot tall man would be. The Noble looked surprised to see me. I stood up.

"Hello, Ral." He sniffed. "Has your heat ended?"

"Yes. I think so."

He nodded. He looked me over carefully. I started to feel uncomfortable.

"I wasn't aware you were...here," he said.

I didn't know what to say. I stood there, awkwardly.

"Are you staying until after the service, the memorial service? That's why I'm here. I want to speak to Edward about the service."

"I'm not sure where he is. Edward asked me to live here."

"He did? And what did you say?"

"I said yes."

"You're to be part of the project?" he asked.

"I...yes."

The Noble nodded.

"Please tell Edward I need to speak to him."

"I'm sorry. I don't know your name."

He looked surprised.

"Oh. Of course. I just assume everyone knows me. I'm Joseph. I'm the governor."

I couldn't believe I was speaking to the governor! He ruled over a quarter of the population of the planet!

"Oh! I'm very pleased to meet you, sir!"

He smiled.

"Wait until I tell my parent I met you!"

Joseph looked pleased.

"I wish it was under better circumstances." I nodded. "Did you, um, find another mate?"

I wondered if my condition was a secret. But if I was going to live there, how long would it be a secret?

"Before Michael died, he ran tests on me. I'm not much like a Birther inside. I...my body doesn't produce eggs and he said I have a...spleen, I think it was."

Joseph looked very surprised.

"He found a spleen?"

I nodded.

"And no strag, um, body, I think."

"And yet you went into heat. That's amazing. You must be unique. How could this happen?"

Joseph took my chin in his hand and tilted my head as he seemed to look at my face from all angles. I felt like a farm animal at a stock show. It was a little embarrassing to be examined by one of the most important people on the planet. When he let go, I glanced down and saw he was erect. From the outline in the fabric of his pants, his erection seemed just a little smaller than my forearm! He looked a couple of inches bigger than Michael and Edward, and they were huge. I realized my mouth was open and shut it. Was it possible I had given the governor an erection? I forced myself to look at his face. Unfortunately, it was several feet above mine.

"Um. My Birther parent had an accident while he was pregnant. My sibling died during the pregnancy, I guess because of my parent's blood loss. I lived, but it affected me."

"Ah. A birth defect," Joseph said. "That's very interesting." He tapped on the tip of his nose. "I can see how you could be a great asset to the project. You are part normal human and part Birther. And my! You are certainly pleasant to look at."

I smiled.

"I noticed you looking at my crotch, Ral." I looked down. I was really embarrassed.

"Oh, I don't mind a bit," he said. He took my chin and raised my face up. "Lust is always a compliment."

I was embarrassed. He thought I wanted to have sex with him.

"I didn't mean...I mean I didn't...I wouldn't..." I couldn't get the words out. I put my face in my hands.

Joseph laughed.

"Calm down, Ral."

I forced myself to do just that. Then, without really intending to, I found myself looking at his crotch, again. It was right in front of me. I groaned when I watched a wet spot appear in the fabric at the head of his cock. I was making the governor leak precum! Then I realized he said it was a compliment. He probably wanted to be complimented. I felt a little calmer, then.

Joseph sat down and had me sit next to him.

"What of your decay rate?" he asked me.

"Michael told me it wasn't like a Birther's. At least not yet."

"Fascinating. Ask Edward to call me."

"Yes, sir."

Joseph stood.

"Good bye, Ral," he said. He turned and walked away. "I'll see you at the service," he said, before leaving the house.

I was a little stunned by the meeting. The governor knew my name and he thought I was attractive. I wanted to call Sul and tell him about meeting the governor, but Sul didn't have a communicator. I wondered how Sul was. Was he lonely?

I sat back down on the sofa and waited.

"Ral," a voice said, as I was shaken.

I opened my eyes and was disoriented. It was Sul. At first I thought it was a dream. I looked around. I saw Til and Edward walking up the ramp that led into the living room.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Edward and Til brought me."

I stood up and hugged him.

I turned to Edward.

"Why do I keep falling asleep?" I asked Edward. "It started yesterday. I fall asleep instantly."

"Your body has been through a lot. I've also given you medication which might have made you drowsy. I plan to do lab tests on you, later. They will show us if anything is seriously wrong. Your body is unique, though. You need to expect to feel differently."

I sighed. There were worse things than falling asleep unexpectedly.

"I've invited your parent to live with us," Edward said.

I was completely shocked by that. But Sul looked very happy. I smiled at him.

"Oh. Good," I said.

"Come with me, Sulley. I'll show you your room."

Edward and Sul left the room. I looked at Til.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

Til stood next to me and leaned forward. He spoke softly into my ear.

"I'm not sure. I was surprised, too. I thought we were just going to tell our parents where we'd be living. I've been thinking about it on the way here. I think it may be to make sure you stay here with Edward. He didn't invite Kit. Maybe he's madly in love with you. Or maybe you're his link to Michael. Or maybe he's hoping Sul will fuck the Birthers. You can always ask him. Are you angry?"

"No. I'm just shocked."

Til nodded.

Sul and Edward walked back into the room.

"How do you feel about me living here?" Sul asked me.

I hugged him.

"I'm very glad. I won't worry about you."

Sul smiled.

"But what about the farm?" I asked him.

"The hired hands are going to keep working until we are certain this is permanent. If it is, I will sell the farm."

"I was lining you up sex partners," I said. "They won't know where you are."

Sul laughed.

"Jon stopped by yesterday evening. He almost begged me to suck him."

"Well, I did ask," I said.

"I love you, too," Sul said. I smiled.

"I met the governor!" I told Sul. "The continental governor! Oh. Edward, he wants you to call him," I said.

"Thanks. I'll do that now."

Edward left the room.

"The governor!" Sul said.

"He knows my name!" I said.

Sul shook his head.

"So much has happened!" he said to me.

Sul took my hand.

"Come with me."

I followed Sul to his room.

"Sit," he said.

I sat down on a chair. Sul sat on the bed.

"Edward is in love with you."

"Oh. I knew he wants me."

Sul nodded.

"The thing I want to know is whether you love him," Sul said.

I frowned.

"I don't know. Like you said, so much has happened. But I want to stay with him. Til and I both do."

Sul nodded.

"Good."

Edward walked into the room.

"I want to run some tests on you, Ral."

I stood.

"OK."

"Bye, Sul."

Sul smiled.

I followed Edward. Til joined us.

"How do you feel?" Edward asked me, as we walked down one of the ramps in his house. Til took my hand and held it.

"I feel fine. I'm worried about falling asleep so much."

Edward nodded.

"The tests will tell us if anything serious is causing that."

I smiled up at him.

We entered the same room I'd been in earlier.

"Climb into the chair," he said.

Edward took some of my blood and put it inside a machine. Then he tilted my chair back. He looked at my asshole, which was a little embarrassing. He pushed a finger inside me.

"Can you still achieve anal orgasms?" Edward asked me.

"I don't think we know," Til said.

I nodded. I smiled at Edward.

"One of you could try to give me one," I suggested.

Edward smiled. I looked down and saw Edward was erect. He wanted me. But why? Why me?

"Why do you want me when you already have Birthers living with you?" I asked.

Edward smiled.

"You're nothing like them, Ral. Not one of them would have thought of asking that question. Conversations with them are never deep. They have very little interest in the project."

How could that be? It was keeping them alive!

"I've told you before that you are smarter than other Birthers," Til said. "You want to learn things that bore other Birthers."

Edward nodded.

"You have the beauty and desirability of a Birther, but you are curious and clever. You want to help with the project, don't you?"

I nodded.

"There you are," Edward said. "You're beautiful, desirable, curious, clever, and you want to help with my work. Isn't that enough?"

I smiled at him.

"I love both of you," Edward said.

Til looked surprised.

"Do you find that hard to believe?" Edward asked him.

"Um."

"He does," I said.

"I think you are adorable," Edward said to Til. I could tell Til wasn't thrilled about being 'adorable'. I was used to being called that, but Til wasn't.

"I love how you care for Ral. I love the way you look. I love your youth. I love your eagerness about the project. I told you I want to fuck you while you fuck Ral." I groaned. "Of course, I want to fuck Ral, too. I..." Edward paused. "I love Ral more, but I'm beginning to love you, too, Til."

Rather than looking bothered by that, Til looked very happy. I wondered if he thought he was there because he was with me. I realized I had thought the same thing, that it was just me Edward wanted. Of course, part of the reason I thought that was because I had been Michael's mate and I assumed Edward's desire for me had something to do with that.

Edward moved next to me and fiddled with something on the chair. I reached out and wrapped my hand partway around his erection. I stroked it. Edward groaned.

"It's so big!" I said.

"Is that good or bad?" Edward asked.

"It's beautiful, Edward. Like you. I love it," I said.

Edward looked happy.

"I thought my life was over when Michael died. But with you, Til, and Sul here, I'm looking forward to the future."

He didn't mention the Birthers. I was curious about that. And how did Sul help him look forward to the future?

"Why did you bring Sul?" I asked.

"I thought you would be happy," Edward said. "Are you not?"

"No. I'm glad. I'm just curious."

"Well, I hope he will work with the Birthers. I spoke to him about it. He is willing. They complain constantly about everything. Michael had much more patience with them than I ever had."

I nodded.

"Are they bored?" I asked.

"Yes. But because of the secrecy of the project, they aren't allowed to leave. A house full of new people will hopefully help relieve some of their boredom."

I nodded. It sounded like a good idea.

I suddenly remembered Jack.

"Jack! He must be worried about me!" I said.

"I sent a message telling him you will be living here," Edward said.

"Oh. I wonder if he's OK."

"Would you like me to give him a communicator so you can speak to him?" Edward asked. I was a little surprised he was offering. "That way you might not need to visit him in person." Then I understood. Edward didn't mind me talking to him, but that was all he wanted me to do with Jack. I was still stroking Edward's big cock. It had softened some, when I mentioned Jack. It was stiffening up, again.

"Do you think that will be OK, Til?" I asked.

"I think it's how it has to be, unless we leave here. Edward doesn't want to share either of us with Jack."

"I..." Edward started to say. He sighed. "I don't want to share you. I'll do it if I have to."

As much as I cared for Jack, I was certain Edward was my future. It just seemed wrong to make him unhappy by visiting Jack a few times a week. I decided to try just talking to Jack and see how it went.

"Will you give him a communicator?" I asked.

Edward smiled. "I certainly will. If you like I can also arrange to get him a good job. I know you care about him."

I smiled at Edward.

"Are you willing to give up sex with him?"

I nodded. Edward looked very happy. It was a shame Jack and Edward couldn't both be happy, but that didn't seem to be possible.

I tugged on Edward's cock. He moved up against me. I leaned forward and swallowed the head of his cock. He tasted good. Edward started stroking himself.

"Feed him," Til said to Edward.

"I will. I took something that should improve the flavor of my semen. I hope Ral likes it."

I moaned around the tasty head of his cock. Til moved between my legs and pushed his cock into my ass. I moaned, again. It was perfect. Til began fucking me. It felt good, but I didn't have an orgasm. Several minutes later, Edward's cock began shooting. There was an enormous amount of semen and it sprayed out of the sides of my mouth. At the same time, Til gave me an orgasm when I felt his cock shooting inside my ass. I swallowed as fast as I could. I reached out and fondled Edward's large nuts. I felt them twitch as they pumped cum out of his body and into my mouth. It was a few moments until I noticed the taste. Whatever he had taken had worked. His cum was delicious. My own pleasure was intense. I was stuffed full of cock. My lover's and my mate's. I corrected myself. Edward was my mate's brother. But he smelled so good and tasted so good, he was practically my mate.

Edward pulled his cock out of my mouth when he was done. He thumped it against my face. I laughed. I looked up at him. He had a big smile on his face.

"I can't believe how satisfying that was," he said. "I can't wait to fuck you."

I smiled.

"Maybe I'm being disloyal, but I enjoyed that as much as when I sucked Michael," I said. Edward didn't seem to mind. He seemed happy.

Edward bent down and kissed me. I felt for his cock and stroked it while we kissed. It was wonderful. He pulled away and smiled at me.

"Fuck me. Please."

He nodded. "I need to."

I stroked his bearded cheek. "I feel the way I did with Michael, like it is right and...perfect."

Edward didn't seem surprised. "I feel the same way about you. When I first met you, I thought Michael brought my mate to me. I had to wipe up a puddle of my precum off the floor. That's not normal for me. Part of me wants to kill Jack," Edward said. "Not that I'm capable of that," he added, quickly.

"You don't feel that way about Til, do you?"

"No. Not at all. I just watched him fuck you. I want both of you. I want to fuck Til, but pull out in time to shoot on your face, Ral." Til and I both groaned. "I want to see your face covered with my cum."

"Fuck me."

Til pulled out of me. Edward took his place between my legs. I groaned as he pushed inside me, slowly. It was uncomfortable, at first, but I loved it. I felt the way I did when I sucked him. It felt so right, so perfect. Getting fucked by Michael would have felt the same. I closed my eyes and tried to picture Michael, but I pictured Edward's face, instead. Maybe that was a good thing. I opened my eyes and looked at Edward and his hot, sexy body. He grinned at me.

"You want me," he said.

I nodded.

"You like having me inside you?"

"Yes, Edward. I love it!"

He took about a minute to get fully inside. He pulled almost all the way out and shoved the whole thing back inside me. I cried out as I came.

"Did that hurt?" he asked, alarmed.

"No! You...gave me an...orgasm!"

Edward grinned.

He leaned forward, placing his hands on the arms of the chair I was in. He began fucking me. Til stood next to me, stroking his cock while he watched us. Edward leaned forward and kissed me while he continued thrusting. I came a second time when his tongue entered my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He pressed his torso against mine and I loved the feel of his hairy body against mine. He began making short, rapid thrusts. He gave me a third orgasm. He pulled away from the kiss.

"Your mine!" he said. I smiled. "Jack will never touch you, again," he said.

My smile disappeared. I wasn't sure why he seemed to hate Jack. Was it just jealousy? I was much more in love with Til than with Jack. Edward had to know that. Why wasn't he jealous of Til? It didn't make any sense to me. I wasn't sure I should ask him about it. What if it caused Edward to get jealous of Til? That would be awful. If Til decided not to live with Edward, I would leave with Til. Did Edward realize that? Was that why he accepted Til?

Edward began chewing on one of my nipples while he fucked me. It hurt like hell, but it also make me come, again. He pulled away and looked directly into my eyes while he fucked me. After several minutes, he stopped thrusting and I felt his cock jump inside me as he came. That made me come, again. I looked away as I groaned. Edward turned my face back and looked into my eyes. The intensity of his gaze was a little frightening. But I knew there was no reason to fear him. He loved me. I was certain of that.

"Kiss me, please," I said.

Edward smiled and did just that. I wrapped my arms and legs around him. After a couple of minutes, he pulled away and smiled.

"That was the best fuck of my life," he said.

I smiled.

"Was it?"

I felt proud. I also felt tired.

"We should finish your exam. Then you need to go to sleep. I want you to get a lot of sleep for the next couple of days. By then, the effects of your heat should fade."

I nodded.

Edward ran more tests on me, explaining to Til what each one was for. I didn't understand very much of what Edward said, but Til seemed to. One test I did understand, or at least I understood the results. It was the cellular decay test and mine was identical from the day before. It was a huge relief to me. I wasn't dying. I had worried that my tiredness was because my body was shutting down like a Birther's. In fact, none of the tests showed anything wrong with me. I did weigh a pound less than the day before.

"Did you eat enough while you were in heat?" Edward asked me.

"Um...what is enough?"

"He hasn't had that much to eat," Til said.

"You have to eat more when you are in heat. Didn't they teach you that in Birther school?" Edward asked.

I was embarrassed. I didn't pay attention in Birther school. Lots of times I read Til's books during class. The teacher didn't mind. Birther classes were annoying or depressing or terrifying, depending on what the current topic was. And the other students kept asking the teacher to repeat things I didn't want to hear even once.

"Ral wanted to learn other things," Til said to Edward. "He learned fractions on his own, using one of my books."

"I used to read books during class," I said.

Edward looked pleased, not disappointed.

"Well, that is why you are tired and why you've lost weight. Your body uses up a lot of calories during heat."

"What's a calorie?" I asked.

"Let's just say you use up energy and need food to replace it," Edward said.

I nodded.

"I've eaten a lot of cum in the past two days," I said.

Edward burst out laughing.

"It's what he likes best," Til said. Edward continued laughing.

"I'll make sure you get cum and food," Edward said.

"Come on. Let's get you some food. Then you can go to bed."

I nodded.

Nine

Edward lifted me up off the chair and put my on my feet. I could feel my hole was still open. Edward had really stretched me. Edward's and Til's semen began running down my legs. Edward got a towel and wiped my legs dry. Then he wiped the cum off the floor. We left the examination room and went back into the house. Chad and a Birther I hadn't met were in the kitchen with Sul. Chad laughed at something Sul had said. I could tell by the way Chad was looking at Sul that he liked him. I had no idea whether Chad was interested in sex when he wasn't in heat, but if he was, he didn't have much chance of it with my parent.

"Ral! This is Vare, and Chad," Sul said. "Vare is the eldest Birther."

"Hello," I said to the two of them. I looked at Vare. He was twenty-two and he had fallen in love with Michael. How could he not? Michael was handsome, a nice person, and he had given Vare many more years of life. A twenty-two-year-old Birther! Michael had doubted Vare would live another year, but Vare didn't look like he was dying. He was very thin, though. I wondered how he was dealing with the loss of the man he loved.

"I'm so sorry about Michael," I said to Vare. He frowned. "I miss him, but I know you loved him and for a lot longer than I did." Vare nodded.

"He would still be alive if he hadn't met you," Vare said.

I didn't know what to say. It was true. I suddenly felt very sad, again.

"It isn't Ral's fault," Edward said. "He actually tried to avoid Michael."

Vare frowned.

"Why?"

"I didn't want a mate. I didn't want to get pregnant and die," I said.

"You wanted to live longer," Chad said.

I nodded.

"We can understand that," Chad said.

"I thought I could wait until another heat. I didn't think about Michael's feelings."

"What happened?"

I told the whole story of my first heat, from the time I woke up the morning before. I looked at Edward most of the time. I was worried he would get angry about my behavior when I met Michael, but he didn't. Everyone was silent for a few moments, after I finished.

"I wish now I had gone with Jack, instead of Michael," I said.

"He wouldn't have let you go," Edward said. "He would have followed you. You don't know how unusual it is for a Noble to get a mate. He would have picked you up and brought you here, anyway."

I sighed.

"I can't believe he's gone," Chad said. "I'm really sorry I got mad at him, yesterday when he brought you here. He was a good man."

I nodded.

"There is no point in anyone blaming Ral for what happened to Michael. You should blame Vincent and the Sphix," Edward said. Vare nodded his head. "And Michael certainly didn't have to introduce Ral to Vincent when his face was covered with Michael's semen. Michael did that deliberately."

Everyone's mouth fell open, even Til's. I was embarrassed.

"Why did he do that?" Sul asked Edward.

"He'd been trying unsuccessfully to break up with Vincent. Michael didn't like confrontations. No Noble does. There's an old saying, 'a picture is worth a thousand words', and I'm sure Michael hoped that when Vincent saw Ral like that, he would give up and go away without another confrontation. But Vincent was unstable..." Edward shook his head.

"I never understood why Michael liked Vincent," Vare said. "No one else does—did."

"They were friends growing up. I never was Vincent's friend. And...I suppose it is all right to tell you this," Edward said. "It's because they both liked some unusual sexual activities."

I wondered what that meant.

"Like what?" Sul asked.

"For example, Michael liked to piss on Vincent. He even pissed into Vincent's mouth and had him swallow it."

"Oh, yuck!" Chad said. I agreed!

"He wanted to do that once to me. I said no," Vare said.

I was shocked.

"You don't want to do that to me, do you?" I asked Edward.

"No. I have no desire to do it to anyone."

I was relieved.

I turned to Sul. "Have you ever heard of that?"

"Oh, yes. I know a couple of people who like that sort of thing. One of them is our neighbor. Once, when I was taking a piss in The Last Woman, a man was on his knees jacking off while he looked at my cock. I didn't mind letting him look. He asked me to piss into his mouth. I didn't do that, but I did piss on his chest. He came while I was pissing on him. He really seemed to love it. It didn't excite me, though."

It didn't appeal to me, either.

Edward handed me a plate of sliced meat, potatoes, and fruit. I took it and walked into the living room. I sat and began eating. Til sat next to me. He had a plate of food, too. I looked at him and smiled.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Fine," I said, between bites.

"Do you miss Michael?"

I wasn't sure. Edward had taken his place and I'd known Edward longer. I tried to explain my feelings about Michael and Edward.

Edward joined us. He sat on the other side of me. He had food, too. Just meat.

"I heard what you were saying. It's inevitable, considering how short a time you and Michael were together. There's no point in feeling guilty about your feelings for me. Hopefully, we'll be making love several times a day. That's something you never got to do even once with Michael. We could be together fifty years. By then, you'll probably barely remember my brother. "It's sad, but it isn't wrong and you shouldn't

I looked at Edward's cock. It had become erect. A drop of precum formed at the head. I wiped it off and stuck my finger in my mouth. Edward groaned.

"You don't want piss in your mouth, but you do want cum," he said.

"Is that weird?" I asked.

"I'm glad I can make you happy in such a pleasurable way," Edward said.

"That's how I feel," Til said.

"I told you I took something to improve the taste. I want you to enjoy it. Do you like the way my semen tastes?" Edward asked.

"I love it."

Edward smiled.

"Suck me whenever you like. I'm very glad you haven't lost interest in sex now that your heat has ended. Testosterone can affect sexual desire and the blood tests today showed your testicles are producing a lot of it. We didn't think to test for it, yesterday."

"What?" Til and I said, at the same time.

"I have testicles?" I asked, amazed.

"Yes. They are internal."

"No! Can I produce sperm?"

"I don't know. If you do, the sperm would have to be removed surgically. Your testicles are not connected to your urethra."

I grinned at him. I had balls! I was happy. I took his erection in my hand and squeezed it. "Are my testicles why I want this so much." I looked over and wrapped my other hand around Til's cock.

Edward sighed and leaned back. "Yes," he said. "I would like to thank them."

I laughed.

"Can you come twice before bed? I want you to fuck me, again, too," I said.

Edward smiled. "I can have many orgasms in a day. My record is thirteen."

"How?" Til asked. "Is it because you are a Noble?"

"Partly."

Sul came into the room and sat.

"That was during the heat of one of our Birthers," Edward said. "The scent of a Birther in heat affects us more than it affects normal humans. That's why Michael was able to smell you from here, miles away from you."

"So you and Michael really could fuck them continuously," Til said.

"Yes. It was definitely something to look forward to," Edward said.

"I don't know what I'm going to do when one goes into heat," Sul said.

"I really hope you will help," Edward said to Sul. "I have a lover of my own now, Ral. I'm sure he would rather I have sex with him than with the Birthers. But someone has to relieve the tension in the Birthers. Do it for Ral, if not for them or yourself."

Sul looked unhappy. He was the only person in the room who didn't want to have sex.

"Sul, you can always think of Lud. He didn't want you to give up sex," I said.

"You have a beautiful home," Sul said to Edward, changing the subject away from sex. He did that a lot. It had been over fifteen years since Lud died. He didn't seem to be grieving any less, though.

"It's your home, now, too."

"I appreciate being invited," Sul said.

"I need you, Sul, to help with the Birthers. I'm going to be spending a lot of time training Til. The Birthers will be even more bored. I'm not talking about sex, here. The sex is only the days they are in heat. They need interesting things to do."

Sul nodded.

"That's the truth," Chad said. He sat down on a chair opposite us.

Vare came in and sat on an arm of the same chair. He looked very sad. It made me feel guilty for not missing Michael more than I did.

"The Nobles all know about the project, right?" Sul asked.

"No. Many do, but not all," Edward said.

"Is there a problem with other Nobles finding out about it?"

"No. I suppose not. But it's not our decision. Joseph would have to approve whatever we wanted to do that involves outsiders."

"Is it risky for the Birthers to go into areas where only Nobles are allowed?"

"There are no such places. Government Building usually only has Nobles inside, but I've seen normal humans there many times," Edward said.

Sul looked like he was thinking about something.

"With a little makeup, we might be able to make them look like normal men," Sul said. "We could at least go walking outside. Or is that too dangerous?"

Edward was silent for a moment.

"Try it. Let's see what you can do," Edward said. "Joseph will be here tomorrow afternoon for the memorial service. We can ask him about it."

Chad and Vare looked excited.

"I'm going to tell Jim and John," Vare said, as he stood.

"I'll go, too," Chad said. They both left the room.

"Did you hear Edward?" I asked Sul. "He said I have balls!"

"Testicles?"

I nodded.

"They are internal, but they are functioning," Edward said.

"So that's why you wanted to have sex with Til," Sul said. He turned to Edward. "They were at it all the time. Til's parent Kit and I were both amazed and a little jealous. Our children have had much more sex than we have. They've had sex several times a day for years."

I grinned at him. I began stroking Edward's cock. I noticed Sul was watching. My parent's cock started to stiffen. But he looked away and it softened, again.

I finished eating. Til and Edward were both finished, too.

"Time for you to be in bed," Edward said to me.

"I'll take care of the dishes," Sul said.

"Thank you."

Edward stood up. I started to, but he bent over and picked me up. He started to walk.

"Come along, Til. Unless you want to visit."

"No. I'm coming."

Edward took me to his room.

"I want you," I said.

He smiled as he put me down on his bed.

"I want you more than you know," Edward said.

We heard raised voices from outside the bedroom.

Edward sighed. "I hope it's not another Birther fight."

He turned and left the room. I got out of bed.

"You should rest," Til said.

"I can't with all that noise," I said.

Til and I both walked back to the living room. To my surprise, Joseph was there. He told Chad to go to his room and keep the Birthers out of sight until they were told. Chad left. Three Nobles walked into the house. I'd seen one of them the day before, with Joseph, after Michael was killed. But I'd never seen the other two.

"Irregularities pertaining to Michael Sharpe's death have been discovered," one Noble said. It was the one I'd seen after Michael died. I wondered if he was a policeman.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked.

"Fingerprints on the murder weapon do not show Vincent, the accused, holding the knife in a position consistent with the angle of the wound. The only other fingerprints on the knife are yours, Edward Sharpe."

I looked at Til. I was mystified for a second.

"You think Edward killed his brother?" I asked, in shock.

"An investigation is warranted," Joseph said, looking at me. "No accusations are being made. Yet."

"I started to pull the knife out...I had no reason to kill Michael!" Edward said.

"Explain your relationship with Michael Sharpe's mate," the Noble who seemed to be leading said.

"Why he's..." Edward was silent for a moment. "I love him."

Joseph pursed his lips.

"I'm afraid that is a motive, Edward Sharpe," Joseph said.

"I did not kill my brother!"

I looked at Til. He was frowning and looking at Edward.

"I was there!" I said, shouting.

"Please calm down, Ral of Bayton," Joseph said.

I forced myself to do that.

"Now, tell us what you saw. You may be able to clear this up in an instant." I nodded. "Did you see Vincent stab Michael?"

I started to say yes, but thought back to that horrible event.

"No. When I saw Michael's body, he'd already been stabbed. He was dead."

"Tell us what you saw."

I told them everything I'd seen and heard, up to the point when I saw Vincent bend over and kill himself.

"You say you saw Vincent stab himself. Vincent died from poisoning. There were no stab wounds," the lead Noble said. That was the last thing I remembered.

I woke up in bed, in Til's arms. I flipped over to face him.

"Oh, Til. What happened?"

"You fainted or fell asleep. Or both."

"Why do they think Edward killed Michael? I don't understand."

Til sighed.

"There was evidence to suggest that he did. Some of the things he did seemed suspicious, obsessive, and they thought were related to the motive."

"What kinds of things were suspicious?" I asked. I was starting to get scared, even though I still didn't believe Edward killed Michael. Edward looked like he was ready to die after Michael died. I was sure that wasn't an act.

"Bringing Sul and me here, for one. He admitted that he brought Sul and me here just to keep you here."

"So you think he did it?"

"No."

I sighed. I was relieved.

"The evidence wasn't proof. For example, the murder weapon was a knife from this house, not Vincent's. But Vincent took things from here all the time. Edward mentioned some of the things Vincent had taken and they were found in Vincent's house. And the fingerprints on the knife weren't really conclusive because the handle was unfinished wood and he might have held it without leaving fingerprints. The motive was important. Edward said he didn't have a motive because he told Michael how good you smelled to him and how much he wanted you. Michael didn't mind at all. Michael told him that as long as you agreed to it, he was willing to share you, and that he could have as much sex with you as he wanted." I gulped. "He said that Michael wanted to have three-ways with Edward, liked they had with Vincent." I felt very uneasy about that. "Michael said he wanted to fuck Edward while Edward fucked you." I gasped. Til nodded. "It was all dependent on you being willing. Michael emphasized that. Edward was afraid that Michael would change his mind, so he had Michael repeat all of it while he recorded it. We listened to the recording. At that point, I think they gave up on the idea of Edward murdering him. We listened to Michael giving permission. We heard Michael saying he wanted to know if you liked the taste of Edward's cum as much as you like his. The Nobles were disgusted by the incest idea, except maybe for Joseph. Edward looked incredibly embarrassed, and angry, too."

"I can imagine. Why do you say that about Joseph?" I asked.

"He got very hard. It was obvious. He's huge."

Til held his hands a couple of feet apart. I laughed. I didn't think Joseph wasn't quite that big.

"Joseph look embarrassed about that," Til said. He crossed his legs and it stuck straight up.

I laughed, although it wasn't really funny.

"Edward told us Michael liked weird sexual practices," I said.

Til nodded.

"I should tell you that in the recording, Michael talked about how wonderful he thought you are."

I wasn't sure why he thought that, but I thought Michael was wonderful. Maybe it was a mate thing. Or maybe we were both really wonderful. I doubted that, though!

"Anyway, Joseph got a call that seemed to upset him. He stood up, said he was satisfied and that the whole investigation was over. Vincent had threatened violence before, in public, which meant his sanity was questionable, and Edward was innocent. Then Joseph left, just as fast as he could. The investigator was shocked. He stood still for a couple of minutes, like he couldn't believe it. I guess he had more questions. Edward asked the Nobles to leave. The other Nobles seemed relieved it was over. They were all talking about why Joseph left so suddenly, as they left."

I was glad it was over. I wasn't sure how I felt about all of this, especially about Michael being so willing to share me. Maybe they were used to sharing the Birthers they worked with. The incest part was a little disgusting, but I still wished Michael hadn't died. He wasn't perfect, but no one was. I was sure he was basically a good person, the only person I knew who wanted Birthers to live as long as possible. He devoted his life to that. That counted for a lot, to me. It was sad that I knew so little about Michael. Til stopped talking. He looked angry.

"Was there more?" I asked.

"Edward told me he loved me! He was just using me to get you to live with him."

"Oh."

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to feel.

"We have each other," I said, finally.

Til smiled.

"Always?" he asked.

"Always. If you want, we can always move back with Jack."

"Please don't do that," Edward said.

We turned. He stood in the doorway.

"Til, I like you very much. I'm sorry I hurt you," Edward said. "I wouldn't have asked you to live here if I didn't want you to live with me. I didn't invite Jack, and I know Ral would really like that." That was true. I looked at Til. "I even want you to sleep in my bed!" Edward continued. "I could have offered you your own bedroom."

Til sighed.

"This is just too weird," Til said.

"I know, believe me, I know," Edward said. "But I didn't lie when I told you and Sul that I needed you. I can't run this project on my own. I need help with the science and with the Birthers. I'm not patient enough with the Birthers. I know that. I didn't think Ral would be able to work with them, because they are already jealous of him. And Ral is smart, but not nearly smart enough to fill Michael's shoes. I don't know if you can, but you are willing to try. I can't give the project up. Not just because it was important to Michael. Ral shows us that it's possible for Birthers to not decay. Ral isn't a normal male who looks like a Birther. He goes into heat. He couldn't do that if he just looked like a Birther. But his Birther cells are just fine. They aren't decaying. We've just been trying different things to keep our Birthers alive. It's been hit and miss. Using Ral as a model, we can have concrete goals. It would be a real tragedy if the project died, right when we gain this incredible insight into Birther biology."

I looked at Til, again. He was thinking.

"I want everyone to be honest," Til said.

"I'll do my best," Edward said. "Will you stay?"

Til was silent for a moment.

"If Ral wants to," Til said.

I wanted Jack to live with us. I thought Edward might agree. But I wasn't sure it was a good idea to press the issue. Edward might not ever like Jack. Would Edward become furious if I had sex with Jack? If Jack lived with us, I would want to have sex with him. I had to stay with Edward. I wanted to help Birthers. I couldn't leave, just so I could have sex with Jack. And I wanted to stay. I was falling in love with Edward and he smelled so incredible.

"We'll stay."

Edward smiled.

"I've cancelled the public memorial service," Edward said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Two reasons. The first is that I don't want to see any of their faces for a while. I'm furious they thought I would kill my brother, when they all know what a temper Vincent had. He threatened to kill his last lover, after they broke up. Those Nobles all know that. Michael was convinced Vincent was just making empty threats. And the second reason is that soon everyone will know about the recording and I don't want them thinking about that during the service."

I sighed and nodded.

"We'll have a private service," he added. "Just family."

I smiled.

"Is Sul OK?" I asked.

"He seems to be. I spoke to him and told him I do need him here."

Edward was silent for a moment.

"Do you feel differently about me?" he asked me.

"Not really. I...I know so little about Michael. I wish that wasn't one of the few things I do know about him."

Edward smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way. I'll tell you about him—the good things and the bad."

I smiled.

"You need to sleep," Edward said to me. I nodded. "I'm going to turn off the lights and join you."

He left the room. I turned and kissed Til.

"I love you," I told him.

"I love you."

I was falling asleep when I felt Edward climb into bed. The last thing I remember was him kissing the back of my neck.

I woke up on Rebirth Day in Edward's arms. Til was snoring softly. Til was sleeping on his back and his cock was stiff and resting on his belly. I lay there and admired it. I wasn't sure, but I guessed it was about twice as big as it had been the first time I sucked it. I smiled as I remembered that first suck. Til had asked if I might do it again, sometime. I did it constantly!

Then I thought about how my life had changed over the last few days. I knew going into heat meant the end of my old life, and the start of a new, final chapter. Could anyone have guessed how it would really change? I was sure they couldn't. And all the changes were good, except for one: Michael's death. I missed him, but I had Til. In a strange way, it felt like I traded Michael for Til. I couldn't say for sure, but I felt Til wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed if Michael was still alive.

Edward stirred behind me. I felt his enormous erection pressed against me. I smelled Edward and his scent was exciting me. I flipped so I was facing Edward. He was awake. He smiled at me. I pressed my mouth to his and we kissed. It was just as passionate as the kisses with Michael. I was glad I decided to stay. I pulled away after a couple of minutes. I could see the lust and the love in Edward's eyes.

"I love you, too," I said.

Edward closed his eyes, smiled, and sighed.

"Do you still mean to stay with me?"

"Definitely. I never really considered leaving. I never thought you killed Michael, either. I could see how upset you were. You were really worried about the project, too. I wish I hadn't lost consciousness and had been able to tell your accusers that."

Edward smiled.

"But you still miss Jack," Edward said.

"He's a sweet guy and he was willing to fight a Noble to help me live six more months."

Edward sighed. "I'm trying to think of him from your perspective, but it isn't easy. I told you I want a relationship with you and Til. I feel Jack would destabilize it. But if it's what you want, what you need..."

I wasn't sure Edward was wrong. It might hurt our relationship.

"We can talk about it more another time. I want you more than I want Jack." Edward smiled. "I just want Jack to be happy and I'm pretty sure he isn't."

"Is that your main concern? If he's happy, can you be content without him?"

"Yes, I think so."

Edward smiled. "I will try to arrange that, with money, or a job, or even a lover. How would that be?"

"That would be wonderful. I don't want to worry about him."

"I completely understand that. I'll see what I can do. I promise I will try."

I sighed. I was relieved.

I wrapped my hand around Edward's cock.

"It's so big," I said, as I started stroking it. I looked down at it. "I love it, Edward."

"I'm so glad, Ral. I'm always going to be hard around you, and I will never say 'no', if you need it."

I smiled at him.

"Even when you're working?"

"I can work while you suck me. In fact, I would like that a lot. Fucking might have to wait, if I'm doing something important."

I let go of his cock and explored the rest of his body with my hands. He seemed to enjoy it very much.

"I want you to plan to take a couple of naps each day, for the next few days. I spoke to Til and he said you didn't eat much. Do you normally skip meals?"

I thought about that.

"I haven't gotten hungry the last couple of days. Can being in heat do that?"

"You are unique. I

"I kind of wished we'd had a three-way," I said.

"With Til or Michael?"

"Michael. Would you have let him fuck you?" I asked.

Edward didn't answer.

"Sorry," I said.

"No. You don't need to apologize. Joseph asked me that last night. I told him no, but to be honest, I might have. If Michael was sharing you, I might have felt I owed him that." I nodded my head. "You aren't disgusted by that, are you?"

"No. I understand. It just means you really want me and would do almost anything."

"That's it," Edward said. "It's nothing I ever desired." He paused. "Well, when we were teens, we sucked each other once, but that's the only time we ever..." I nodded. "You don't seem upset."

"I'm not. Really. Til and I know a couple of siblings who jack each other off."

Edward smiled. Then he looked past me.

"Good morning," Edward said.

"Good morning," Til said. I flipped over and kissed Til. I felt for his cock and stroked it while we kissed. After the kiss ended, I slid down and swallowed his cock, resting my cheek on his belly. I ran my tongue over the silky-feeling head. Til let out a long sigh. I stopped after a minute or so. I didn't want him to come, yet.

I thought of something. I flipped over to face Edward, again.

"What was that about Vincent dying of poison?"

"Cyanide. He obviously intended to kill himself after he killed Michael. You saw him bend over with a knife in his hand and just assumed he stabbed himself." I sighed. "He was actually still alive when he was found, but he died before anything could be done."

"How old is Joseph?" Til asked.

I was surprised, but Edward smiled.

"It's a valid question," Edward said. "You know I'm sixty-nine."

I nodded.

"Joseph is much older."

I frowned.

"How old is that?"

"He's over one hundred and fifty. He was an adult before End Day."

"He was alive when the Sphix were here?" I asked, astounded.

"Oh, yes. No Nobles have died of old age, not yet. The ones who've died have died of accidents or violence. Four may have died of disease, but that is not certain. You can use the cellular decay test on Nobles, too. Our cells never show any decay. That's why it's so rare to take a mate. Few of us die."

"Why did the Sphix do that?" Til asked.

"We think it was because they didn't want to have to keep training new Nobles," Edward said.

"So they made you so you wouldn't age, just to keep from having to train you?" I asked.

"That's what we think," Edward said. "It sounds absurd, I know. But they didn't think like we do."

"Why is he hairless and you so hairy?"

"I can remove the hair, if it bothers you," Edward said.

"Don't! I like it!"

Edward chuckled.

"Birthers were created before Nobles. Joseph was one of the first Nobles. They share a lot of Birther biology, and Birthers have no body hair. The second generation of Birthers were deliberately a little different. They had more natural human characteristics, including body hair, although we are still closer to Birthers than natural humans on a cellular level. The Sphix felt the second generation were more successful and no more like Joseph's generation were created. No one in Joseph's generation has ever found a mate. By that measure, my generation was an improvement."

"So no one is enjoying that huge cock of his?" I asked.

"Are you saying you would like that? Do you want Joseph?"

"No. I like hairy men like you and Til," I said.

"And Jack," Til added.

Edward nodded.

"I didn't say they don't have sex. I've heard Joseph is extremely horny and has a lot of sex--several times a day, in fact."

I looked down at Edward's cock. As far as I was concerned, it was perfect. I couldn't imagine Joseph's being any more desirable.

"I know you want to have sex. All three of us do, but I want you to eat first, Ral," Edward said. "You're losing weight and you shouldn't."

Edward got out of bed. Then Til did. They were both hard. I sighed, and Til laughed.

"We took away his toys," Til said.

"Just for long enough to eat some food. Then he can eat us," Edward said.

Edward held out his hand and I took it as I got off the bed. I was really happy. I trusted Edward would do something for Jack.

Ten

We walked into the kitchen. It was crowded. All the Birthers were there, talking and drinking coffee. I heard Sul's name before they saw us. I hoped the Birthers liked Sul.

"This is Ral and Til. Til is Sul's child," Edward said to Jim and John, two Birthers I hadn't met. Like Vare and Chad, they didn't seem friendly to me, although they smiled at Til. I really felt like I was intruding and unwelcome. But then I remembered I wasn't an outsider to Edward, Til, or Sul. When the Birthers resumed talking to each other, they spoke to Til, but not to me. Edward moved next to me and put his arm around me. I smiled up at him. Then I watched his cock grow erect. The other Birthers noticed. I was a little sad. I had no idea how to get them to like me. I wasn't sure I'd ever made a friend on my own. As a kid, I spent all my time with Til. I made friends through Til. Then I stopped worrying. Til would take care of it.

"What do you like for breakfast?" Edward asked.

"I usually have fruit and eggs."

"Til?" Edward asked.

"The same for me."

"Who is cooking today?" Edward asked the group.

"I am," Chad said.

"Will you make all three of us scrambled eggs and fruit?"

"OK," Chad said.

Edward led us to a table and we sat. Til brought us coffee.

I looked at the Birthers, especially Vare. It was difficult to believe he was twenty-two. He looked fifteen or sixteen.

"Why is the project so secret?" I asked Edward.

"Two reasons. As you probably know, the government wants to do whatever it can to increase the population. Our project does just the opposite. First by removing Birthers from the general population. Our Birthers might have given birth to twelve or thirteen babies. We aren't sure they will give birth to any. Vare may be allowed to find a mate during his next heat. But because of his age, he may not have a successful pregnancy. Both he and the babies could die. Secondly, if word leaks out that we can make Birthers live longer, Birthers in the general population might refuse to get impregnated." That made me uncomfortable. Edward meant they would act the way I had. "Then there is also the fact that Nobles were designed by the Sphix not to question things. This makes them very conservative. Most, but not all Nobles, want to maintain the status quo. Fortunately, Joseph is not one of them. I think the Sphix weren't satisfied with Joseph's generation because they had too much initiative."

"That's very interesting," Til said.

I nodded.

Sul walked into the kitchen. He looked like he just stumbled out of bed. I got up and hugged him.

"Good morning!" I said.

He hugged me back and yawned.

"I didn't get much sleep. What a night!" he said.

"I missed it," I said.

"You're lucky," Sul said. "It was very upsetting."

I nodded. Maybe he was right. I would have been furious and scared.

"Sul, I don't know what you are used to, but we have sex casually in this house," Edward said. "I see no reason to hide it and I don't plan to start."

Sul nodded.

"I may not be sexually-active anymore, but I'm definitely not a prude, if you are worried about that. Before I met my mate, I had sex in public almost every day. I never had a lover, and before I met Lud, I thought the more men who were involved, the better the sex."

"That's interesting," Edward said.

"Sul taught me to appreciate the taste of cum," I said.

Sul nodded.

"I sucked cocks in The Last Woman bar every day. My beer and liquor was usually free because I brought in customers. A man would have a beer or two while I sucked him. And I fucked and got fucked on tables there too many times to count. When I was at home, men stopped by to get sucked. I never said no. I've watched Ral suck Til many times and offered pointers for improving his technique. It won't bother me a bit if I see anyone having any kind of sex. I won't necessarily want to watch, though."

I smiled at my parent. I loved him so much.

"I wish I'd seen that," Vare said. "Seen you fucking."

Sul looked surprised and embarrassed.

"Why?"

"Because you're so handsome."

Sul looked even more embarrassed.

"Isn't he?" Vare asked the other Birthers.

"He is," Chad said.

Jim and John nodded.

"I wish I'd had the chance to watch you, too," Edward said to Sul.

I almost laughed at the look of shock on Sul's face. Sul needed to start living, and that included sex. But if he still refused, at least he had a new, large family, and would never be lonely.

"Why weren't we allowed to attend the trial," Vare asked, suddenly.

Edward looked shocked.

"There wasn't a trial. It was an investigation that might have led to a trial, but didn't," Edward said. "It was Joseph who asked that you not be there, almost certainly because of the secrecy of the project. I know for certain that one of the Nobles who was here is unaware of the project. And the project was not mentioned during the investigation."

"I told you that!" Chad said to Vare.

"Who knew Michael better than me?" Vare said.

"I did, for one," Edward said.

Vare went back to looking sad. Then he looked over at Sul and seemed happier. I thought Edwards idea of having Sul work with the Birthers might be a really good idea.

"I wonder what upset Joseph so much," Til said. "It was as though he stopped caring about the investigation. He just said it was over."

"Actually, Joseph summed it up perfectly. A number of people had doubts about Vincent's sanity—"

"I'm one of them," Vare said. "There was something very wrong with him. And it wasn't just jealousy, which is what Michael thought. Vincent was creepy. You should see some of his paintings."

Edward nodded.

"Vincent had threatened violence before. He had a strong, if twisted motive for killing Michael. Once my own motive was shown to be weak, the focus shifted back to Vincent."

"The investigator didn't seem happy about it ending," Til said.

Edward nodded.

"He looked a little angry. Maybe he was going to claim I didn't want to share Ral with Michael. Or that I would do anything to keep from doing what...Michael said on the recording."

That would have been embarrassing, I thought, if they discussed how willing Edward was to have Michael fuck him.

"Or he had more circumstantial evidence he wanted to discuss. The investigator knows a lot less about my relationship with Michael than Joseph does, but because of the project, I doubt Joseph went into much detail with him."

"What did Michael say on the recording," the Birther Jim asked.

"It was about sharing Ral with him," Edward said. "Michael gave me permission to have sex with Ral, if Ral was willing."

"How would you have felt about being shared by your mate?" Chad asked me.

I thought for a moment.

"I don't know. I really don't. I would have probably been upset, but mostly because I left Til for Michael. I think I would have tried to get Michael to share me with Til, too. I wouldn't have refused Edward. He smells really good to me. I think if I had never met Michael, I would have thought Edward was my mate. The feeling of connection was stronger, though, with Michael."

All the Birthers suddenly looked very interested.

"What is it like? Finding your mate?" John asked. "I don't suppose I will ever have one."

"You can leave the project, John," Edward said.

"I don't want to do that, but I'm still curious," John said.

Edward nodded.

"How would you keep the project secret if he left?" Til asked.

"It's not a simple matter, but it is possible. We would use post-hypnotic suggestion, technology, and he would have to be relocated to a place where no one knows him."

"I don't know that I can tell you what it would be like for you," I told him. "I can only tell you what it was like for me."

They looked confused.

"Ral isn't a full Birther," Edward said.

"What does that mean?" Vare asked.

I looked at Edward.

"Because of a birth defect, Ral is missing some Birther organs. His Birther parent had an accident while he was pregnant—"

"Ral's sibling died because of my mate's blood loss from the accident," Sul said. "We thought Ral was healthy, but he was affected, too."

"He can't produce eggs, for one. His hormone levels are different, too. His outlook on being a Birther is different," Edward said.

"I looked at Michael for the first time and I just knew," I said. "He smelled terrific, but I also felt a weird tug towards him. I thought it felt like we were tied together with invisible ropes. It's difficult to describe, but I knew with certainty it was him. If I'd met Edward first, I think I would have thought he was my mate because he smells so good to me, and that's what they told us in Birther school. But I don't feel the same tug towards him. That doesn't mean I don't love him."

"Thank you," John said. I smiled at him.

Chad brought us plates of eggs and bowls with slices of several kinds of fruits. I was amazed at the amount of food Chad gave Edward, but Edward was a lot bigger than me. I started eating. I looked over at Til. He smiled at me. I reached out and held his hand. He made an 'O' with his mouth. I laughed and nodded. That was our silent signal for when he wanted me to suck him. I couldn't wait. I started eating really fast and Til laughed.

"What is it?" Edward asked. "Why are eating so fast?"

"Til has something he wants me to eat," I said, with my mouth full.

I finished eating first.

"Edward, can I speak to you for a moment?" Vare asked, when Edward was finished.

"Of course."

Edward got up and followed Vare out of the room. I moved my chair next to Til's. I took his cock in my hand and started stroking it. Til sighed. The Birthers and Sul walked out of the room.

"How do you feel?" Til asked me.

"You'll have to feel me to find out," I said.

Til laughed. "How do I feel?" he asked, as I continued stroking him.

"Nice."

Edward walked back into the room. He grinned when he saw me stroking Til.

"Vare thinks Sul might be his mate," Edward said softly, as he sat.

I stared at him in shock.

"Is that possible?"

"Of course it's possible. He's still a Birther, but I doubt it. Sul would find Vare's smell appealing, even when he isn't in heat. Sul hasn't acted as if he is attracted to him."

If he was Vare's mate, my parent would not be happy. He didn't want a lover, much less a second mate.

Edward received a call. He answered it. I watched his expression change from annoyance to shock. I started to worry. Was the investigation still on?

"I have to leave. I'm not sure when I'll be back," he said, after the call ended. He was thinking intently about something.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Is it about the investigation?"

"What investigation?" Edward asked. "Oh! Oh! No."

I was confused. How could Edward forget the investigation? Something was very wrong and I had no idea what it was. He got up and left the room.

"'What investigation'?" Til said. "That is very weird."

I nodded.

Edward walked back into the room. He had put on pants and was putting on a shirt.

"This may take all day. I have no idea," he said.

"Is something wrong?" Til asked.

"I...I don't know," Edward said. He left.

"Does he do this often?" Til asked Chad.

"No. Never."

"It has to be something big to make him forget a murder investigation," Til said. I nodded.

"I wonder if it's about what got Joseph excited," I said.

Til nodded. "That could be. They both were ready to drop everything, suddenly."

I needed to use the restroom. I got up and walked to one of them. I looked at the tub where I'd sat with Michael. I thought about him and felt numb. I told myself I should feel sadder about losing my mate. It wasn't right that Vare should grieve over his death more than me. I was Michael's mate. I knew part of that was because I barely knew Michael. And part was probably because I wasn't a full Birther and had a weaker mating bond. But was that all it was? Was I cold? Unloving? I didn't want to be.

Til joined me in the restroom. He took a piss and then wiped his cock clean.

"You never know whose mouth it will be in next," he said to me.

I laughed.

"I know. I'm not sure why you don't know," I said.

"Oh? Will you give me a hint?" Til asked, grinning.

He took me in his arms and kissed me. Afterwards, I rested my head on his shoulder. We both sighed at the same time. Then we laughed, together.

"I love you, baby," he said.

"I love you. I always did, but it was different until my heat. It wasn't romantic."

"And now it is?"

I nodded.

Til and I left the restroom together. We ran into Sul. Til put his arm around my waist and Sul smiled at that.

"I'm going to go looking for cosmetics for the Birthers. Do you want to come with me?"

I looked at Til. He shrugged.

"Are there shops around here?"

"I called Edward. He told me where I can get them," Sul said.

"Sure," I said. "I haven't seen much of the Westal."

We left the house. We headed in the direction Edward had said. We saw several Nobles. They seemed surprised to see us. We came to where the shop should have been, but there was just another residence. We stood there looking around.

"Do you need any help?" a Noble asked.

"We're looking for the Daldan shop," Sul said.

"You don't need it, my dear," the Noble said to him. I frowned. What did that mean? "Or is for someone else?"

"Yes. For someone else."

The Noble nodded.

"It's right there."

"It looks like a home," Til said.

"It is, on top. The shop is underground, under the residence."

"Do we just walk in? Do we knock?" Sul asked.

"Knock," the Noble said.

I thought this was all very strange. Sul knocked on the door. After a minute or so, the door opened.

"Yes?" a Noble said.

"Um...is this...we're looking for the Daldan shop," Sul said.

The Noble looked carefully at Sul before smiling.

"Welcome," he said. "My name is Daldan." Rul introduced us to the Noble. We walked inside the house-shop. Daldan led us downstairs. He was taller than Sul and Til, although not as tall as Edward. I wondered how old he was. I was expecting a shop like Bill's in the market. This was very different. It had sex devices, wigs, and flamboyant clothing. One whole wall was covered with dildos of every size and color.

"Is that a dildo or a tree stump," Til asked, pointing at an extremely large one. Despite its unrealistic size, it looked very real.

We all laughed.

"You'd be surprised how well that size sells. And not just to Nobles. That particular device is named 'Joseph'."

I laughed.

"Is it really?" Sul asked.

"Is he that big?" I asked.

Daldan smiled. "I have no idea what you are talking about, but the answer is yes. It is an exact model of...ah...someone of that name. An impression was made of his erection," the owner said.

"He allowed that?" Til asked.

"He rather enjoyed it and was quite pleased with the reproduction. He has given many away as gifts. I remember the session fondly, myself, although I was unable to sit without pain for a week."

Sul laughed before I understood. Til and I both laughed.

I shook my head. I was amazed. I suppose I assumed the governor had more important things to do than have sex. The owner handed it to Til.

"It's warm!" Til said. "It feels real!"

Til handed it to me. It did feel real!

"If your eyes were closed, you'd think it was real," I said.

I pulled the foreskin back. It felt completely realistic. I rubbed my lips and tongue over the apple-sized head.

"It has a taste," I said.

"What kind of taste?" Sul asked me.

"A little salty, like someone's cock!" I said.

Daldan smiled.

"That's nothing. This one ejaculates," Daldan said. He pointed to a life-sized human torso which included a large penis and a pair of dangling testicles. It looked exactly like Daldan's torso and cock, except with no hair. Daldan touched something on the back of the torso and we watched the cock grow erect. It was amazingly realistic.

"What does it shoot?" Rul asked.

"I was the model for this device. It tastes like my semen. I supplied a sample to a chemist and had him create the formula. You have to add water before each ejaculation," Daldan said to Sul. For some reason, Sul got excited about that. I watched in shock as my parent got an erection.

"Can you control the consistency of the cum?" Sul asked.

"Oh, yes."

"I'd like to buy it," Sul said, surprising me.

"Are you sure you want my cum?" Daldan asked Sul. "You could alter the formula."

"No. No. There's no need."

"The penis can be changed if you like," Daldan said. "In fact, I have two other models, based on other men."

"I want this one," Sul said.

Daldan smiled.

My parent had a full erection. It didn't make sense to me. Daldan had grown erect, too. His cock was a little smaller than Edwards, but very nice. Then I realized why the torso and dildo appealed to my parent. He could have sex without feeling he was dishonoring Lud. And if he was planning to swallow the cum, which I thought was likely, it was Noble semen, not human. And it wasn't really semen, it just tasted like it. It made complete sense. It was as close to sex as Sul would allow himself to get.

"Can you fuck the ass?" Sul asked, looking at the torso.

"Of course," Daldan said.

Daldan bent over and whispered something to Sul. Whatever he said made Sul's erection bounce. I even saw some precum on the end of it. It looked like my parent was finally becoming sexual, again.

I stood next to the torso and felt it. It was body temperature. I wrapped my hand around the cock and began stroking it, while I pulled on a nipple.

"He doesn't groan," I said. Til and Sul laughed.

Daldan made a groaning noise.

"How was that?" he asked.

We all laughed.

"He doesn't have a head!" Sul said to me. "It wouldn't make sense for it to make sounds."

I stopped stroking the thing and moved next to Til. I started stroking him. That was much better.

"Are you in heat?" Daldan asked me. "It's just that you seem interested in sex."

"His heat ended yesterday. His mate was Michael," Sul said.

"Not Michael Sharpe!" Daldan said.

I nodded.

"I am so sorry. You seem...fine," Daldan said, frowning.

"Ral had only just met Michael. They didn't have sex," Sul said.

That wasn't quite true; I'd sucked Michael, but there seemed no point in correcting Sul.

Daldan nodded. "I heard Michael had just found his mate." He shook his head. "Incredible luck followed by the worst possible misfortune."

I nodded and sighed. That summed it up.

"The three of us are living with Edward, right now," I said.

"I'm pleased that Edward is not alone," Daldan said.

"He said it has made coping with the loss easier," Sul said.

"I'm sure that's true."

There was a large display of cosmetics. Sul walked over to it and looked. He began asking the shop owner questions. I walked over to another counter that had straps and rings.

"What is this?" I asked, holding up a circular object.

"That's a cock ring," the Noble said.

"What does it do?" I asked.

"It keeps your partner hard by preventing the blood from leaving his erection," Daldan said.

I put it back down on the counter.

"I wish I had some money, I'd like to buy that for you," I said to Til.

"Allow me," the owner said. He handed the ring to me.

"I'd like to pay for it," Sul said.

"There's no need. It's just a piece of plastic. This is more hobby of mine than an actual business. I love sex. I always have," Daldan said to Sul, smiling. Sul smiled back. "Everyone who comes here wants sex. I meet only horny men. I have sex with many of my customers."

Sul frowned.

"You don't remember me, do you?" Daldan asked Sul.

Sul looked down and shook his head.

"I do, Dan. I remember you very well. I didn't think you remembered me."

"I will never forget you," Dan said to him. That was surprising.

"You know each other? How did you meet?" I asked Dan.

"I used to go to The Last Woman almost every day to see Sul and have sex," Dan said. "Sul gave me the best head I've ever had. We fucked, too. But it wasn't just sex. We talked and laughed."

Sul didn't seem happy.

"What's wrong, Sul?" he asked Sul.

"He's thinking about Lud, his mate," I said.

"Actually, I wasn't," Sul said to me. "I was in love with you," Sul said to Dan. "I told you I was in love with you and I never saw you again."

"I know. Maybe it wasn't the best way to handle it, but I didn't see any alternative. I don't want you to think I stopped caring for you. I've thought of you often since then."

"Really? Then why?"

"I loved you, too. Maybe not as much as you loved me, but enough for a relationship. Only, you were eighteen and I was over forty," Dan said. "I can see you are thinking that it didn't matter. But how would you feel at your age to have a thirteen-year-old lover?" Sul frowned. "Even if you loved him deeply, you would think it better to wait until he was older. Am I wrong?"

Sul didn't answer, but he was obviously thinking about it.

"I knew some people would see it as taking advantage of a child. Not everyone, but almost every Noble would. We live longer, so eighteen seems younger. I was older than your parent, Sul." Dan paused. "I didn't tell any of this because I knew you would say it didn't matter. And I understand that. Love doesn't worry about such things. But we don't live in a vacuum. What if your parent complained? What if I was ostracized? You can't survive on just love. If you'd been older, even twenty, things would have been different. I checked on you the day of your twenty-first birthday. I learned you had found your mate and he was pregnant. I was disappointed, but happy for you."

"Are you telling the truth?" Sul asked.

Dan stroked Sul's cheek. I could see he loved him.

"Yes, Sul. I promise."

Sul smiled at Dan and then hugged him. I wiped a tear off my cheek. I was so happy for Sul. For both of them.

Til put the cock ring on and spun around. "How do I look?"

I laughed.

"Oh! It makes you even more handsome!" I said.

The others laughed.

"You're all dressed up for something!" I said.

"He's dressed for sex," Dan said. "It's all a proper fucker needs."

"Til and Ral were lovers before Ral met Michael," Sul said. Dan frowned. "Ral isn't your typical Birther," Sul said. "He was interested in sex long before his first heat."

"That's fascinating," Dan said. "How long before?"

"Years."

"You two have been having sex for years and you aren't mates?" Dan asked us.

I nodded.

"The only other time I heard of that happening was when two siblings were mates," Dan said.

"Are you serious? Is that possible?" Sul asked.

"It happened. The parent wasn't very happy about it, but nothing could be done about it. You can't keep mates apart," Dan said.

I shook my head. That was unbelievable. And my parent was stroking Dan's cock. That was also unbelievable!

"Did they have children?" Sul asked.

"Yes, three."

"You are a very lucky young man," Dan said to Til. "Ral is beautiful."

"I know!" Til said, smiling. Til put his arm around my waist.

"I assume Edward knows this," Dan said.

"Yes."

"Feel free to have sex, here. I'll keep Sul occupied," Dan said.

I grinned at Til as I wrapped my hand around his cock. As I began stroking it, Til pressed his mouth to mine and we kissed. I pulled away as Dan walked up to us. He handed Til a bottle of lubricant. Then Dan walked back over to Sul.

"Ral probably plans to suck Til. He loves the taste of cum," Sul said.

"Like you," Dan said to him.

Sul chuckled. "Yes. I realized how similar Ral is to me when I found him sucking Til at age ten. You should have seen how surprised they both were the first time Til came in Ral's mouth. He's been sucking Til off a couple of times a day since then."

Til and I smiled at each other as we listened. I continued stroking his cock.

"Ten and a Birther! That's amazing." Dan squeezed Ral's shoulder. "I think you liked the taste of my cum, if I remember correctly," Dan said to Sul.

"I loved it," Sul said.

"I hope something develops," I whispered to Til. He nodded. "And that it lasts."

"I hope I've lost a sale," Dan said. "You don't need a replica of my cock. The real thing is yours."

I knelt and began sucking Til. I wrapped one hand around Til's balls and pulled on them, earning a groan from him. A minute later, I heard slurping noises that I wasn't making. Til tapped on my shoulder and pointed. I stood and looked. To my amazement, Dan was leaning against a wall, while Sul knelt in front of him and sucked him. Sul was making loud sounds of enjoyment. Dan had put some kind of clamps on his nipples. I wondered how they felt. Dan looked at me and winked. I was so happy. Sul was finally allowing himself to live again. I stroked Til while I watched Sul and Dan. Til moved behind me. I heard him open the bottle of lubricant. Then I felt his wet cock at my ass. I pushed back as he pushed forward. We both groaned as he entered me. He began fucking me while I watched Sul and Dan. Dan grinned at me. I gave him two thumbs up and his smile broadened. I was witnessing something I never thought would happen. I wondered if Sul was allowing himself to have sex because Dan was a Noble, and not a normal man. Or was it because he'd been in love with Dan before he met Lud? Whatever the reason, I was almost as happy as I was when Michael told me I wouldn't die anytime soon. When I was younger, I heard Sul cry every night after he put me in bed. I knew he was crying for Lud and I blamed myself for his death. When I told Sul that, he was shocked and the tears stopped. Or maybe they were just silent.

Dan cried out and said, "Swallow it! Every drop!" I could hear Sul swallowing. That triggered an orgasm in me, I cried out, while Sul moaned, loudly. To my surprise and delight, when he was done, Dan reached down, pulled Sul up and kissed him. Then Dan fell to his knees and began sucking Sul. Sul didn't try to pull away. I could stop worrying about Sul. I turned back to Til and smiled.

"Finally!" Til whispered in my ear.

I nodded.

"I want to fuck you," Dan said to Sul.

"I want to fuck you, too. But first, I need to clean myself out," Sul said.

"Will you be my lover, Sul? Please?" Dan asked.

I was surprised and very pleased.

"I will, if Ral doesn't object."

Sul turned around.

"I don't object! I want you to do it!" I said.

Dan smiled at me.

"It doesn't have anything to do with Lud," Sul said.

"I know, Sul. Be happy," I said.

I turned around and knelt in front of Til. I swallowed his erection and began sucking him, but I didn't like the taste of the lubricant.

Suddenly, we heard the sound of a siren. That meant an announcement. They were usually about bad weather, but the day was sunny and fine, and it wasn't hurricane season. We left the shop and walked up the ramp and outside. We all gasped when we saw the biggest projection in the sky I'd ever seen. It showed the face of Joseph, three Nobles I didn't recognize, and unbelievable, an Alucard. Their images seemed to be floating high above our heads, and took up most of the sky. Joseph and the other Nobles were smiling. It wasn't bad news.

"Those are all the governors," Dan said.

I wondered why an Alucard would be with them.

"We have a wonderful announcement to make," one of the Nobles said. "Seventy-nine human female embryos were located four years ago in an abandoned Sphix laboratory in my province. The embryos were frozen and seemed viable. Fourteen hours ago, the first female baby was born."

All of us gasped. A newborn baby appeared in the sky. It was naked and it was obvious it was not a boy.

"We have named the little girl Eva. She represents the rebirth of the human race. Appropriately, this day will be known as Rebirth Day and will be celebrated each year. The next two days are official holidays to celebrate this first Rebirth Day. This would not have been possible without the aid of the Alucard. All of us owe them an enormous debt."

I nodded my head.

"No, no," the Alucard said in an oddly accented voice. "Oncesta ourselves re...con...vered, these...helping tee hoomans wasta always tee plan."

"We are grateful," the Noble continued. "Four of the embryos died before the process was perfected. With luck and the help of the Alucard, we are hopeful that the other seventy-four embryos will become sisters of little Eva, here."

I heard footsteps and looked around. I saw Edward approaching. To my delight, Dan's arm was around Sul's shoulders. Sul looked happier than I'd ever seen him. Maybe all the tears were finally gone. Edward stood next to me.

The images in the air disappeared. I looked at Edward.

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" he said.

We all nodded.

"The Alucard have also offered to help with Michael's project. Suddenly, they seem very eager to help us," Edward said.

"It sounds like they've been helping for four years," Dan said to him.

"No. The Alucard got involved a little over two years, ago," Edward said.

"Two years doesn't seem sudden," Til said. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, just that we've asked for help many times and the answer was always, 'we have our own problems'."

"Maybe they finally solved their own problems," Dan said. "We know they had them."

Edward shrugged.

"Whatever the reason, I'm glad they are helping. I just wish they hadn't waited a century to do it. Michael was convinced they could have solved the Birther problem in about two hours. Their scientists didn't all die," Edward said.

"What Birther problem?" Dan asked, frowning.

I realized then that he didn't know about Michael's project.

"Michael and I have been working on a project to extend Birther lives, including a way to let them survive pregnancy."

Dan looked very surprised.

"How long have you been working on it?" Dan asked.

"Almost forty years. But not being scientists, we started from scratch."

Dan looked shocked.

"Is it not a secret anymore?" I asked.

Edward shook his head. "I thought they were going to announce it today, but I suppose they didn't want to diminish the importance of Eva. She's the cure of the problem. We were just trying to improve things."

I understood. Having women who were built to survive pregnancy and have one baby after another was much, much better than even forty-year-old Birthers. Edward turned back to Dan.

"Have you had any success?" Dan asked Edward.

"We have kept a Birther alive to age twenty-two," Edward said. "But we've never managed to have a Birther survive Birth. We estimated it would be decades before we could do that, if it's even possible."

"I had no idea anyone was working on the problem," Dan said.

"It was kept secret in order to not disrupt normal Birther reproduction," Edward said.

"Does Sul know Daldan?" Edward whispered.

I nodded my head. I motioned with my finger. Edward bent over.

"Sul said he used to be in love with Daldan. Sul sucked him a few minutes, ago!"

"Well, I'm pleased he's getting back in the game," Edward said. "Maybe he'll be willing to help when the Birthers are in heat." Edward frowned. "But if it's no longer a secret, I suppose we can ask for volunteers."

I hoped Sul would have a relationship with Dan. He looked so happy. I smiled as Dan bent down and kissed Sul, again. While they kissed, Sul wrapped both hands around Dan's erection. I smiled at Til, whose arm was around my waist. It was the best day, ever!

I gasped as a thought occurred to me. "Could that chemist duplicate the taste of Til's semen?" I asked Dan. "I could have an unlimited supply!"

Sul, Dan, and Til all laughed.

The End

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