“Well, I am just going to ease past you and grab a drink and then be on my way to my changeroom.”
She eased past the team and grabbed a sports drink from the fridge. She then eased past them again, and Zera watched as Torun and Tycho were looking at their available escorts, and Fifteen wasn’t on their listing.
Torun asked Zera, “Why can’t I see her profile?”
“She isn’t for you. She doesn’t have physical resistance, she has mental resistance, and you don’t need that.” Susara sipped at the tea that Zera had made for her. “There are other patrons rather than the ones who can lift cars.”
Zera nodded. “If either of you two got excited, you would tear right through her.”
They looked appalled.
She shrugged. “This is why the matchmaking aspect of the corporation is important. Making sure that patrons match the escorts is vital.”
They sat around discussing the plan to match patrons with acceptable escorts and vice versa.
Fifteen came through the lobby forty minutes later, and Zera walked over to speak quietly to her. Fifteen opened her cloak and showed the outfit of silk and lace. It was the sort of outfit a businessman would want his mistress to wear in public. Dignified but with the promise of sex. The four-inch heels sold the look.
“Have fun. Call if you need me.”
“Thanks, Mom. I will be fine.” She resettled her cloak, bowed to the team and Susara, and left via the lift, a security bot joining her in the elevator.
Zera sighed. “It’s her first date with him. He is a little on the brusque side, but she should be fine. I worry about all of them when they go out, and I keep an ear out until they are all back with their security bots.”
“The security bots. What do they do?” Tycho asked. “I have seen others with them, but they never do anything.”
Zera snickered. “Susa, do you want to take this one?”
“Sure. Attach a security bot to my life signs.”
Zera grinned and did it as Susara got to her feet. “Well, you are the best suited for it, so push me over, sis.”
Zera picked her sister up, shook her, and then threw her to the floor. The security bot arrived at Susara’s side and wrapped around the body on the floor. Susara stood upright in heavy armour and raised her hand to Zera. “Want me to blast you now or later?”
“We can skip the blasting, but this is what the security bots are. It keeps me safe while giving me the option to fight or run.” Susara’s voice came out of the bot.
The team members were fascinated by the bot armour.
Torun asked, “How many times has this been used?”
“Twice. Both times the active calmed the fuck down once pinned to the wall. They were removed from our roster and banned. The escort was offered and received counselling.”
Ryma asked, “How was she? Was it a she?”
“Good guess, in this case, yes, it was a she. Her clients had strong prey drives, and they got violent when she did what she was contracted to do and acted like prey. She still works with us but now is nearly exclusively first dates. She helps us introduce the patrons to the protocols. She does it so that no one needs to use the security bots.”
Tycho frowned. “Have I met her?”
“No, you were well entrenched with the escorts from the start. She prefers working with the new patrons. In case you think she is having sex with them, she usually isn’t. This is a new protocol that we are instituting for patrons with general interests. The ones with specific escorts in mind have to wait.”
Ryma smiled. “Like Salat.”
“Yeah, he had something specific that he needed, and to everyone’s shock, she turned up.” Zera nodded. “We have a few more patrons like that on the books, so we wait until an escort shows up for them. Thanks to Torun running his mouth, we have a flurry of applications for escorts and patrons.”
Susa laughed. “Good. I can get right back to the security checks and assigning monitoring to the patrons.”
“And with the increase in business, you can decide whether you want to join a team or not, Dainty.”
“Well, if I just passed, I have a few months to decide and look for a placement.” Dainty grimaced. “I also have to find a team where I haven’t had sex with any of the members, which is more difficult than it should be. I might join the family business after all.”
She flexed. “I need a new com.”
Zera nodded. “I have one for you. I also told the regen department that you would be returning to action. They will issue you your details when you show up and do the confirmations.”
“Nice. Is there any record of my test? I want to know how you managed it.”
Zera looked to Torun, and she smiled slightly. “I had to use your venom.”
“Why are you looking at him?”
“He was part of the test. I had to use your Suit Bait draw and then subdue him. It was not a fun test.”
Torun laughed. “It was for me. She used your venom to knock me out and shoved me at the team she was assigned, saying that they had a small window to cuff me and less time before I broke loose. You have a powerful weapon there.”
“Yeah, but it is hard to administer. I have to know the subject’s composition before I can make the toxin.” Susa smiled. “Which, I don’t really, so it was Zera’s knowledge that knocked you on your ass.”
Zera pulled the vids and put them on the screen. They watched the slender and trembling form that was Susa enter the warehouse and go about her business.
The kiss between Dainty and Torun did not look like a first kiss.
Torun asked Zera, “Can you do the same?”
“Yeah. I copied it
