The Shifter's Kiss, Book 1

THE SHIFTER’S KISS, BOOK 1

The Shifter's Kiss, Book 1

Lucky Simms

Copyright Lucky Simms 2014

Published at Smashwords

Publisher: Lucky Simms

The right of Lucky Simms to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Please note that this is a work of adult fiction and contains graphic descriptions of sexual activity, graphic language, and violence. It is intended for mature readers aged 18 and over only.

Lucky Simms writes about love for readers who take their lust very seriously. She lives in Illinois with her children and a big ol mean black cat.

Other books by Lucky Simms:

• Camille, Halfway Home Book 1
  - Everybody wants a piece of Camille! She’s trying to put together the deal of a lifetime before her past catches up with her.
  
• Amy, Halfway Home Book 2
  - A chance encounter from Amy’s past, while her current situation is so humiliating, leaves her wondering - can she be forgiven?
  
• Ruby, Halfway Home Book 3
  - Ruby’s near perfect life with Tesa can resume, if she can just be sure that Ganz isn’t going to tell her secrets! Can she really trust the mysterious Frida to “fix” her problems?
  
• The Boy, Louis, and other stories
  - A collection of steamy stories that explore our connections and our lusts with emotions that range from exultant to desperate.
  

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Sunshi’s legs quaked beneath the diaphanous silver gown the elder women had given her. Maren rubbed the back of the girl’s neck and stared out the small window to the courtyard, past the makeshift gate, to the gathering dust cloud on the horizon. They were coming for her, finally.

Maren ran her thumb gently over the small implant at the base of Sunshi’s skull, trying to trigger her Placid programming. It didn’t seem to be connecting. She kept her thumb on the raised ridges and tapped several times. No immediate response.

She massaged the girl’s shoulders. Even through the gown, she could smell alarm pheromones beginning to condense on the girl’s skin. She would have to remember to strip that from the uplink, next time.

The cloud grew larger. Sunshi’s breath started to catch in her throat and her eyes widened in fright. Maren stepped behind her and stroked the ridges of the girls hips. It should have worked - every girl she had grown had throttling implants situated conveniently over the hip bones. But even as she gripped the girl’s hips and pressed against her back, she could hear her respiration increasing ominously. At this rate, Sunshi would melt down before they got here.

She squinted and thought about trying to jack in and re-route whatever was overwhelming the program, but there was probably no time. There was a notebook pad by the door and enough battery and cabling, and she figured she could probably write a subroutine in about four minutes, if she could figure out what was jamming the Placid.

But it could be anything - there were at least two dozen other normal function subroutines that could be at red levels right now. Maybe she was overwhelmed in a dozen ways. Re-writing everything to compensate for stressors was… Well, at this point it was probably impossible.

“Sunshi,” she cooed calmly, “I need you to engage the Placid.”

No dice. She was starting to tremor. Maren grabbed one hand and dug her thumb into the palm. No response.

“Sunshi!” She stepped to the girl’s front. “Look at me!”

The girl tore her eyes away from the horizon. She angled her gaze to meet Maren’s. Her eyes were wide with fright, and a mist of sweat covered her freckled nose, her unlined brow.

Despite herself, Maren wanted to take her in her arms and sweep her out of the room, back to the small outbuilding where she lived, and hide her under the bed. But no matter how much she looked like Kasey, she reminded herself, this girl was not Kasey. She wasn’t even really a girl - she was just a very convincing facsimile.
A very convincing facsimile that would get us all fed for another year
, Maren reminded herself.

Sunshi blinked, and tiny drops of water leaked from around the silver jacks at the corners of her eyes.

“Oh please stop that,” Maren said softly, and reached up to smooth Sunshi’s ginger hair - the most expensive hair on the planet right now. It looked so much like her own, but better. Shinier. Younger. “Really, it’s all right.”

She sighed heavily through her nose. Something must have gone wrong during the uplink. If Sunshi’s Placid programming wouldn’t kick in, what else was going to go awry? Would she even make it out of the courtyard in one piece?

“Can you soothe yourself?” she asked the girl. Sunshi nodded but her hands kept their tremor. Maren shook her head in frustration. Of all the possible errors, this was the one she just couldn’t fix. A physical shortcoming, she could repair on the fly. A hormonal imbalance, she could tweak with a series of cleverly hidden buttons, dials, and sensory inputs all over the girl’s body. But a programming error, a possible series of sub-routine conflicts… she just didn’t know where to begin.

By all measures, she should just begin again. But there was no way she could ask for an extension. They needed food now.

“You look beautiful,” she whispered encouragingly. “You were made for just this moment, sweetheart. You’re going to save us all.”

“Save us all,” the girl echoed. Drops of water trailed down her perfectly round cheeks. They dropped off her chin and onto the gown, leaving it transparent in streaks across the perfect ginger nipples. Maren cursed herself for even installing the proto-sadness protocols. It had seemed like a good idea to give the girls a hint of emotional breadth, but this spelled disaster.

Maren ran down the list in her mind - Kari, Tinnery, Chaim, Notem - none were ready. And Lucent had failed the uplink spectacularly, resulting in a total loss of resources for that one. The elders had watched in horror as Lucent descended into gibberish during the trial run. She started with a complicated seduction, easing her leggy body over the human test partner. Everyone nodded their admiration. She had a playful aspect to her, and the tester started to banter. They engaged in some fairly witty repartee - she on top, he below, and a circle of elders all around.

But when the tester began to respond to her pheromones, her auto sensors recorded his blush response and autonomic sweat levels and assigned them to alarm status. Somehow, it triggered a simultaneous danger aversion protocol that set her onto an emotional feedback loop which started with sweet nothings and spiralled quickly into threats. The tester looked from person to person, his eyes wide with horror. The elders looked to Maren for direction, who stood stunned into inaction. Lucent started spouting increasingly psychotic diatribes at her test partner, her eyes blazing, then finally seized him under the scrotum and pulled, pulled… and…

Maren shook her head, trying to clear the image. It was tragic, but she barely had the equipment she needed to grow a humanoid, let alone program it with any kind of real sophistication. Sometimes there would be errors. They were lucky they had anything to trade for food at all.

Five years ago, she would have been horrified at the thought of making a person just for… parts. She would never have consented to her technologies being used for something so barbaric. But now, this was life. For the rest of her outpost to survive, she had to offer the traders something. And this was what they demanded.

Sunshi had to be ready. She was the only one who was even close. The others were barely more than fetuses right now. But she had to keep it together if she was going to make it out of the gate.

“Think about your little sisters,” she said helpfully.

Sunshi’s face seemed to brighten a little bit. “My sisters,” she repeated.

Maren nodded. “Yes! Kari, Tinnery -- “

“Chaim, Notem,” Sunshi smiled, seeming to relax, “And Lucent?”

Maren kept her expression unchanged. “And Lucent!” She nodded enthusiastically, trying to keep the pain of the loss hidden behind her eyes. “That’s right! You’re saving us all, sweetheart. This is what you were made for.”

“I know,” Sunshi said, and bowed her head with a small, sad smile. “This is what I was made for.”

Maren took Sunshi by the shoulders and angled her back toward the small window to watch the caravan approach. She could see the black vehicles ahead of the dust cloud now, three huge trucks, single file. A group of four men had gathered at the gate, ready to pull it open when they were close enough to enter.

It would only be a few moments now. Sunshi began to tremble again as the vehicles grew closer. Maren bent down and pulled up the diaphanous skirts, reaching around to the front of Sunshi’s perfect, smooth hips. She slid her fingers over the sculpted ginger pubic mound and into the warm furrow between, finding the hidden pink button and flicking it back and forth.

“Ahhhhhh,” Sunshi sighed, as the action triggered a warm flood of hormone release. She leaned her head back onto Maren’s shoulder and accepted the pleasant sensations, letting it fill her body with relief and desire.

Maren smiled wanly. At least the oxytocin sub-programming was still online. The optimized pheromones would allow anyone receptive to instantly find Sunshi charming. Someone they wanted to hold - to protect, to possess.

It also meant Maren would miss her even more.

Small children peeked from the windows as Maren and Sunshi walked across the barren, dusty courtyard. The houses all faced inwards, and Maren knew everyone’s eyes were on the transaction.

The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the empty, dusty space. Maren positioned Sunshi in the remaining light, letting the sun bathe her, set her aglow. The gown rippled around her subtly, curving to her long legs, her smooth belly.

The last of the three big trucks rumbled into the courtyard, kicking up a huge cloud of bronze dust. Maren covered her mouth and nose. Sunshi obediently followed.

Pushing the gates closed behind the trucks, the men disappeared back into their homes or found places to watch the transaction without being seen.

Maren shook her head in disgust. Adversity was supposed to make heroes out of ordinary people, wasn’t it?

A few dusty men left their vehicles and stood against the wheel wells with their arms across their chests. Most had black or grey scarves wrapped over their heads, and the dull black rebreathers strapped over their faces. Squinting into the pack, Maren could make out a few human faces here and there, and few that were definitely… not.

“Ahem!” she cleared her throat, hoping the negotiator would show his face. The light was getting low, and she didn’t want to be in the courtyard after dark again.

Nothing happened.

Sunshi swayed where she stood, still glowing. She seemed to have calmed down immensely and had a smile on her lips. Maren scowled. The effect wouldn’t last much longer.

“Where is Dowd?” she demanded. The travelers shifted their weight and stared at her from behind their goggles and bandannas.

“Dowd!” she yelled again, forcefully.

A truck door opened and a man got out. He pulled the bandanna off his face and tossed it on the seat, slamming the door behind him. Walking slowly forward, he pushed his hair back and gave Maren a sarcastic smile.