Part 8
"You know, I really could get used to waking up with you in my cage."
Jane's voice filtered through the morning light as Alex stirred, still curled in the fetal position within the confines of Jane's sleeping cage. The rubber suit clung to every curve, warm and familiar after so many hours of continuous wear.
"I miss sleeping in there, but I have to admit, waking up with you as my cage toy might be even better."
Alex stretched slightly, the cage's bars pressing against her back, her limbs still heavy with the afterglow of last night's intense session. Through the slits of her barely-open eyes, she could see Jane kneeling beside the cage, already suited and masked for the day.
"All right, let's get you on out of there." Jane unlatched the cage door. "I know, I know you don't want to, but we have plans today, and it's gonna be a little different."
Alex reluctantly began to unfold herself, muscles protesting after a night in the cramped space.
"So come on. How about you stand up and stretch for me?"
Alex emerged from the cage on all fours, then slowly rose to standing, her joints popping as she extended her arms above her head. The rubber pulled and released with each movement.
"Good. You're already getting a little more used to it, aren't you? Sleeping in the cramped confines, so cozy and protected. The body adapts quickly."
Jane ran her gloved hands down Alex's sides, and Alex couldn't help but lean into the touch.
"Mmm, it almost makes me want to just push you back down and then seal you up." Jane's voice dropped to a purr. "But before I get carried away imagining keeping you as my personal toy all day, the AI has some other instructions for me, and it'll get a bit… insistent if I don't follow its orders."
Jane's hands stilled on Alex's hips.
"So you've been in that suit for almost thirty-six hours straight, and there's some rules. As much as I'm sure you want to stay in, it's time to get you out of there. Get you cleaned up a little bit."
Jane moved behind Alex. "I'm just gonna unzip here."
Her hand traveled up Alex's spine to the base of her skull. Alex instinctively leaned back, letting her head rest in Jane's palm as Jane wrapped herself around her from behind, pressing her rubber-covered hips into Alex's bottom.
"I know, drone, but it's time for a little something different now. Here, when I lift up, you take your mask off."
Jane helped ease the mask forward and over Alex's rubber-covered head. The cool air of the room hit Alex's face through the hood's material.
"There we go. And now the hood. I've got a towel here. It's gonna be cold out here in the real world, so we'll get you dried off."
She unzipped the hood and helped pull it forward, carefully prying it away from Alex's skin where sweat had made it stick. The sensation of air on her damp skin made Alex shiver. Jane caught the drips with the towel, patting Alex's neck and head, then coming around to dry her face. Alex took the towel and continued drying herself, her movements still sluggish.
"There she is. Yes, my beautiful Alex. And here we are again, like the old days, a human and a drone."
Jane's voice came muffled through her mask, her eyes invisible behind the tinted visor.
"I know it doesn't feel like it yet, but you are human in there still. And when the suit's off, I see you as one."
Jane tilted her head, studying Alex's face.
"You remember how good it felt to receive commands from a human? I'm gonna serve you now. Be your care drone, bring you to the showers, get you out of your suit and cleaned off."
"Okay," Alex said, her voice cracking slightly. Using her voice felt strange after so long behind the mask. She hadn't spoken at all during yesterday's estate sale, too nervous to speak as a drone and not really required for the work. And then during last night's reward session, her noises had been… less than intelligible.
Jane took her hand and led her out the door and down the familiar hallway to the shower room. The industrial loft's concrete floor felt cold under Alex's rubber-covered feet. Jane guided her into the bathroom and closed the door behind them with a soft click.
"Now you're gonna be pretty sweaty in that suit, so we'll step right into the shower here. I'll get the water going and warm."
The sound of water hitting tile filled the space. Steam began to rise.
"There we go. Now, just step under the stream."
Alex moved under the water, feeling its warmth through the rubber. It was a strange sensation, both immediate and distant.
"Good, let the water run down. I'm going to pull the neck back and let some water flow inside, and then unzip it."
Jane's fingers worked at the suit's main zipper, and suddenly cool water flooded in, mixing with the accumulated sweat. Alex gasped at the temperature change.
"There we are, pink and soft and vulnerable. Your human skin was sealed away for so long inside all that rubber."
Jane worked methodically, pulling the suit off Alex's shoulders and down her arms, the rubber releasing with wet pops as it separated from skin. Each inch revealed felt hypersensitive, like being born again.
"And now step out," she said as she pulled the suit down over Alex's hips.
Alex lifted each leg carefully as Jane removed the suit completely, moving it aside to be washed later. Alex stood naked under the warm spray, her skin flushed and marked with the patterns of the suit's seams.
Jane stood, put soap in her gloved hands, and began to wash Alex's body with gentle, thorough strokes.
"That's right. Just let me take care of you. Just enjoy. Just sink into my touch." Jane's voice took on the AI's hypnotic cadence. "My voice is almost hypnotic, isn't it? It's funny how easily we slip into the AI's tones, reminding each other what we are and what we can do for each other."
Jane moved around to face Alex, her visor reflecting Alex's naked form.
"Now remember," she said, her hands still moving in soapy circles across Alex's skin, "drones love receiving commands from humans, as long as the command is safe, doesn't make the drone uncomfortable, and doesn't interfere with the programming."
Jane's hands slowed, became more deliberate.
"And my sweet Alex, nothing you could ask me for would make me uncomfortable."
Alex blushed hard, heat spreading across her chest that had nothing to do with the shower's temperature. Her mind had been wandering as Jane washed her, imagining taking control, using Jane the way Jane had used her. And of course, she was the human now. She could give the commands. She knew how good it would feel for Jane to receive them, both from the drone programming and from Jane's own deep submissive desires.
A switchy, toppy feeling rose in Alex's chest, wanting to give Jane everything she deserved while taking exactly what she wanted.
She smiled, devious and hungry. Jane's body language shifted, a visible shiver running through her despite the warm water.
"Kneel," Alex heard herself say.
The word came out more forcefully than Alex expected, sending a thrill through her entire body.
"Kneel for me and lick everything. And don't stop until I've come twice."
Jane's moan was deep and guttural, more primal than any sound she'd made during last night's session. The AI didn't miss a beat, Alex could almost feel it ramping up Jane's arousal, taking her straight into submissive oblivion. Jane nodded dutifully, grabbing a folded towel to place beneath her knees, protecting both her knees and the suit.
She started at Alex's toes, her tongue working through the mask's mouth opening. The sensation of the warm, wet tongue against Alex's water-slicked skin was electric. Jane worked slowly up Alex's calves, worship in every movement. Her tongue traced the curves of Alex's thighs, moving higher, higher, around to her hips, across the small of her back. Jane's gloved hands gripped Alex's ass, her tongue dancing close to but never quite touching where Alex needed it most.
The teasing was exquisite torture. Jane's tongue traveled up Alex's stomach, circling her navel, tracing the undersides of her breasts, flicking across her nipples. Alex's hands found the shower walls for support as Jane reached her shoulders, her neck.
Here Jane turned feral. Her own need mixed with the commanded worship, and she not only licked but nibbled and bit, her tongue pressing hard into the sensitive skin of Alex's neck. She licked up to Alex's ears, then across her face like a wild cat grooming its mate. Then she kissed Alex hard through the mask's mouth hole, before licking straight across Alex's lips with a naughty glint visible even through the tinted visor.
Alex stood stunned and smiling as Jane began working her way back down—down her arms, taking time to suck each finger into her mouth while looking up at Alex's face. The sight of the masked drone servicing her so thoroughly made Alex's knees weak.
Down across her chest once more, straight down her stomach with clear purpose now, and finally, finally, to where Alex needed her most.
Alex whimpered as Jane's practiced tongue began its work, gentle at first, then more insistent, building her up, up, up. Today was no time for endless edging. Jane had a command to follow, and she pursued it with single-minded determination.
Alex's arousal rose like a rocket, simmer, to boil, to explosion. She gripped the shower stall's sides and made noises that surely carried through the loft's thin walls. As the waves of her first orgasm subsided, Jane never stopped, moving around to lick across Alex's perfect bum, down the backs of her thighs, behind her knees. Slowly, patiently working her way back up, drinking in every inch of skin.
"Make me come again, drone," Alex commanded, desperate now, knowing the thrill the command would send through Jane.
A huge shudder racked Jane's body. She nearly came just from the words, from being used as Alex's toy, commanded, wanted, needed. Her breath came in ragged gasps even as her body instinctively followed the order, her tongue thrusting hard and deep this time, no teasing, just hungry, needy, forceful.
"Oh!" Alex exclaimed. Though Jane was more insistent now, the afterglow of the first orgasm changed everything. The sensations took on a different quality, deep and wonderful and slow. The second orgasm built gradually, lick after lick, sigh after sigh. Alex's mind began to melt away. She existed for this. To have drones at her command. Never, ever stop.
Jane's own hands pressed between her legs, grinding against them through the suit, nearly losing herself in the act of service, in the need to make Alex come.
The crescendo built like a volcano until finally it was too much. Alex came hard, her back slamming against the shower wall as Jane pursued her hungrily, still licking, extending the orgasm, pushing her further. Another wave crashed over Alex. Then another. Time seemed to stop. Everything faded.
And then it was over.
Jane was still licking languidly across Alex's neck and shoulder. Alex had slid down the wall to sit on the shower floor, her knees drawn up, dazed and spent.
Jane slowly worked her way down one of Alex's arms, turning her hand over to lick the inside of her wrist, cleaning her palm like a cat grooming its kitten.
Alex felt everything suddenly, her bare skin under the shower spray, the square tiles pressing against her naked bottom, the cool air beyond the steam. As the afterglow receded, something deep inside her snapped.
Her breath hitched. She sniffled.
And then she was sobbing, her face contorting as tears mixed with the shower water.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know why…" she said to Jane, trying to hide her face.
"It was so… you're so good to me…"
Jane gently and quickly removed her hood, tossing it aside, and wrapped herself around Alex on the shower floor, cradling her.
"Oh, baby, it's okay. It's okay." Jane's voice was soft, soothing. "Sweetheart, it's okay. I know this isn't gonna sound true, but this is normal, honey. This is part of why we get you out of the suit."
Jane pulled Alex closer, rocking her gently.
"To remind you, you're still you, you're still human with everything that came before. We've all still got our traumas, all of our baggage, everything that came with us."
Alex's sobs began to slow as Jane continued.
"The drones, the house, it all feels so real, but we still gotta take care of who we were. Still gotta care for ourselves and each other. So just stay here with me, okay? I've got you. I'm gonna take care of you. This is all right."
"I don't even really know why I'm crying," Alex managed between hiccupping breaths.
"It's called drop, baby. The feeling when the scene's over. But for us drones, you don't know whether that was you, or if this is who you are, or what you want. You question everything that just happened, even if it's the best scene of your life."
"It was, it was!"
"I know, but that doesn't mean it's not intense. It doesn't mean you don't have to reconcile that with everything that happened. This is part of the work, taking care of each other through this stuff. It's part of why we're here. It's not just rubber and sex. We're all here to grow, to learn, to change, to take care of each other. For real."
"I think," Alex sniffled, starting to regain her composure, "I think maybe that's it…"
She took a shaky breath.
"I've just been so alone, and I don't… God, this is so embarrassing. I don't know if anyone's ever taken care of me the way you have. It's only been two days, but I…"
"You've got some really big emotions. It's easy to feel overwhelmed." Jane smoothed Alex's wet hair back from her face. "But if you're wondering, I feel it too. There's something between us that's more than all of this. Like you and I were kind of meant to find each other."
"Oh God, I feel like such a dork." Alex laughed through her tears. "Two days ago, I didn't even know you could talk."
"I'm real, baby, and I'm not going anywhere." Jane looked directly into Alex's eyes. "If you want, I'll be your ride or die through all of this."
Alex's eyes shone big and bright, fresh tears threatening but different now, grateful rather than overwhelmed. Jane just held her, letting the last of the emotional storm work its way through.
When Alex was ready, Jane helped her stand, finished washing her gently, and got her dried off with soft towels. She led Alex back to the room, her skin still pink from the hot water.
"Now," Jane said, pulling open a dresser drawer, "today's gonna be a little different. You're off duty for the next twelve hours. Why don't we play a little dress up…"