Title: Claim Day
Chapter 23: Peer Pressure
04/08/2025 — Gabriel
I sat at the far end of the cafeteria, fighting to stay awake pulling another all-nighter with Ramona and Phoebe, picking at my bland lunch while my claimed women chatted around me. The space felt cavernous now. Designed to accommodate hundreds of Echelon employees during peak hours, the large room with its industrial lighting and long tables now held barely twenty people. The sound of our voices echoed slightly against the high ceiling, emphasizing how empty the place had become.
“The viral protein coat shows remarkable adaptation capabilities,” Dr. Nia Fenwick was saying, her usual shyness diminished when discussing her work. “It’s almost as if it was designed to evolve rapidly in response to the host’s immune system.”
“I’m not surprised. It has to stay long enough to inject its payload, and the changes can take a while,” Imani replied, though I noticed how her eyes kept darting to me, checking if I was interested in their conversation, if I needed anything.
The food was uninspiring: canned vegetables, some kind of reconstituted protein that might have been chicken in a previous life, and instant mashed potatoes. Duncan’s women were on kitchen duty today, and I could see him hovering near the serving line, looking uncomfortable with his supervisory role. We’d established a rotation for essential services, and food preparation was high on the list. The dwindling fresh supplies meant we were increasingly relying on the emergency stores—practical but hardly appetizing.
The cafeteria doors swung open, and I nearly choked on my food.
Wendy walked in alone, but it wasn’t her solitary entrance that shocked me, it was her appearance. My wife, who had always dressed with tasteful elegance, now looked like she’d raided the wardrobe department of an adult film set. She wore a tight, low-cut top that pushed her breasts up and together, creating a cleavage you could lose a pen in. Her skirt, if you could call it that, barely covered the essentials, revealing long legs enhanced by impractically high heels. Her makeup was heavier than I’d ever seen her wear, with dark smoky eyes and bright red lips.
A table of male scientists, three of the ones who’d stayed to help, visibly perked up at her entrance. One of them, Dr. Michaels from the physics department, actually stopped mid-sentence, his fork suspended halfway to his mouth as he stared.
Wendy noticed their attention and seemed to revel in it. She smiled, giving them a little wave as she sauntered past their table. “Afternoon, gentlemen,” she said, her voice carrying across the cafeteria. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
Dr. Von, the youngest of the group, turned bright red but couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. “Y-yes, very beautiful,” he stammered, clearly not talking about the weather.
Wendy laughed, a genuine, musical laugh I hadn’t heard in days, before making her way to our table. She slid onto the bench beside me, meeting my stunned expression with a challenging gleam in her eyes.
“What the hell is this?” I hissed, keeping my voice low despite my anger. “Why are you dressed like that?”
Wendy shrugged, helping herself to a spoonful of mashed potatoes from my tray. “I thought the poor guys might be bored,” she said lightly. “Not everyone has a harem to keep them entertained. A little eye candy might brighten their day.”
I felt heat rising in my face. “Did Cedric put you up to this? Did he command you to parade around like some kind of—”
“Some kind of what, Gabriel?” Her voice remained casual, but there was an edge to it now. “Some kind of slut? Some kind of whore? Some kind of fucktoy?” She emphasized the last word, throwing my treatment of her back in my face.
“He has no right—”
“Cedric has every right to make me act any way he wants,” Wendy cut me off, her voice suddenly harder. Then she relaxed, leaning back slightly. “But unlike some people, he’s respectful of me. He values me as a person, not just a body.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded, though I knew exactly what she meant.
Dr. Imani Ral, sitting across from us, leaned forward. “I don’t think that’s fair,” she said to Wendy, her loyalty to me overriding her usual tact. “Gabriel has been under enormous pressure, and he—”
“Shut up, Imani,” I snapped, immediately regretting my tone but too angry to apologize.
Imani fell silent instantly, her expression hurt but compliant. She looked down at her plate, clearly unhappy with how Wendy was speaking to me but unwilling to disobey my command.
Wendy’s eyes narrowed as she watched this interaction. “And that right there is exactly what I’m talking about,” she said, her voice low and cutting. “I told Cedric about how you’ve been treating me, Gabriel. How you’ve been using me like a ‘cum dumpster.’ Your words, not mine.”
I felt the blood drain from my face as my own claimed women studiously avoided looking at me, pretending to be fascinated by their food.
“Cedric was disgusted,” Wendy continued. “He said that’s not how a man treats a woman, claimed or not. So he’s made a decision.” She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I’m off-limits to you until you learn to show me some respect. You don’t get to touch me. Not until you remember that I’m still a person.”
“Is that what this is about?” I asked, my voice rising. “Cedric’s finally decided to keep you for himself? To stop sharing his toy?”
Wendy snorted, rolling her eyes. “No, Gabriel. Cedric has been a perfect gentleman. He hasn’t touched me once since claiming me.” She leaned forward, her eyes boring into mine. “Unlike you, he actually respects me. He sees me as a person, not just a hole to fill whenever he’s feeling frustrated.”
Something inside me snapped. I slammed my palm against the table, the sound echoing through the cafeteria. Every head turned toward us.
“That’s bullshit!” I shouted, beyond caring who heard. “You admitted to me yourself that you didn’t care how I used you! You said Cedric wanted you to be there for me. You didn’t seem to mind it when I was fucking you.” I leaned closer, my voice dropping to a venomous hiss. “If Cedric told you to get naked right now and let every man in this room take turns with you, you’d do it with a smile on your face. So don’t pretend this is about your feelings. I wasn’t hurting you, and you didn’t mind it at all.”
The cafeteria had gone completely silent. My claimed women stared at their plates, mortified. From the corner of my eye, I could see Duncan frozen near the serving line, a ladle suspended in mid-air.
Wendy shrugged, maddeningly calm in the face of my outburst. “You’re right,” she said simply. “I would do whatever Cedric told me to do, and I wouldn’t mind it. But he finds your behavior disrespectful, and that’s what matters to me.” She tilted her head, her expression almost pitying. “If you’ve got a problem with that, take it up with him. But until then, you don’t get to touch me.”
She stood up, smoothing her obscenely short skirt. “If you need someone to take care of your small dick,” she added, loud enough for everyone to hear, “I’m sure one of your girls will be happy to oblige until you learn to show your wife some respect.”
The casual cruelty of her words left me reeling. Was there anything left of my Wendy in this woman? The Wendy I knew would never have spoken to me like this, never have humiliated me publicly, never have taken such obvious pleasure in my pain.
“Was dressing like a slut Cedric’s idea of respect too?” I spat.
“Actually, that was my idea,” she replied with a smirk. “Cedric came back with a van full of clothes.” She ran her hands down her sides, emphasizing her curves. “Thought I’d put them to good use.”
I didn’t believe her for a second. This had Cedric written all over it. Another way to twist the knife.
As she turned to leave, something broke inside me. “You’re not my wife,” I said, the words torn from somewhere deep and wounded. “You’re not the woman I married. Wendy is dead. You’re just some… creature walking around in her body.”
She paused, looking back at me over her shoulder. “If I’m not your wife,” she said softly, “then you’re not my husband.” She took her ring off and tossed it at me. The tiny circle of metal bounced off my chest and fell onto the table, rolling to a stop next to my tray. “You can give it back to me when you start acting like a husband again.”
With that, she walked away, putting an extra sway in her hips as she passed the table of male scientists again. Dr. Von nearly fell off his chair trying to get a better view.
I sat there, shaking with rage and humiliation, as the whispered conversations slowly resumed around me. My claimed women remained silent, not daring to speak after witnessing my outburst.
I stormed across the cafeteria, my vision tunneling until all I could see was Dr. Von’s stupid face, his eyes still fixed on Wendy’s retreating form. Something primal had taken over, drowning out the rational part of my brain that knew this was a terrible idea.
My fist connected with his jaw before he even registered I was there. The impact sent a shock of pain up my arm, but the satisfaction of watching him topple backward off his chair was worth it.
“You think that’s funny?” I shouted as he scrambled backward on the floor, blood trickling from his split lip. “You think it’s okay to stare at my wife like that?”
I lunged for him again, but strong arms wrapped around me from behind, yanking me backward.
“Gabriel! That’s enough!” Duncan’s voice bellowed in my ear as he struggled to hold me back. Two of his claimed women, Dr. Kephart and Dr. Callen, rushed forward to help, grabbing my arms while Duncan maintained his bear hug around my torso.
“Let me go!” I snarled, thrashing against their restraint. “Did you see how he was looking at her?”
My own women surged forward in my defense. Imani grabbed Dr. Kephart’s arm, trying to pry her fingers loose. “Get your hands off him!” she demanded. Dr. Abbott confronted Duncan directly, her normally calm demeanor replaced with fierce protectiveness.
“Stop this! All of you!” Duncan shouted over the chaos. “Gabriel, listen to me! Everyone in this room, even that idiot, is working to fix this. We’re trying to get Wendy back to normal. We’re on the same side!”
His words penetrated the red haze of my anger. I stopped struggling, my breath coming in ragged gasps.
“That’s it,” Duncan continued, his voice lowering. “Think about what matters here. This isn’t helping anyone.”
I nodded stiffly, and Duncan cautiously released his grip. “I’m fine,” I muttered. “I’m good now.”
“Stand down,” I told my women, who immediately backed away from Duncan and his team, though Imani still glared at Dr. Kephart.
Dr. Von was on his feet now, holding a napkin to his bleeding lip, his colleagues flanking him protectively. “I’m sorry,” he said, though his tone suggested he wasn’t entirely sure what he was apologizing for. “I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
“Just… stay away from her,” I said, the fight draining out of me as quickly as it had erupted. I turned to my women. “Finish your meal and report to Dr. Quinn. I need some air.”
I grabbed Wendy’s ring and stalked out of the cafeteria, aware of the stares following me but beyond caring. The fluorescent lights of the corridor seemed too bright, the air too thin. I heard footsteps hurrying behind me.
“Gabriel, wait,” Alva called, catching up to me. “Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?” Her voice was gentle, concerned, but with that practical edge that was so essentially Alva.
I stopped abruptly in the middle of the corridor and turned to face her. Something shifted inside me as I looked at her—her flushed cheeks, her slightly disheveled hair from rushing after me, the genuine concern in her eyes. Without a word, I stepped forward, backing her against the wall. Her eyes widened in surprise, but before she could speak, I pressed my mouth to hers.
For a split second, she froze, clearly caught off guard. Then, as understanding dawned, she melted against me, her lips parting eagerly beneath mine. Her hands came up to grip my shoulders, then slid into my hair, pulling me closer. There was nothing tentative about her response. Once she understood what I wanted, she gave herself over to it completely. I wasn’t an afterthought to her. I wasn’t just a task on her to-do list. I was all that mattered.
I kissed her roughly, one hand braced against the wall beside her head, the other gripping her hip, fingers digging into the soft fabric of her skirt. She moaned into my mouth, her body arching toward mine. I didn’t care if anyone walked by. I didn’t care about anything except the heat building inside me, the desperate need to lose myself in something, someone who wasn’t Wendy.
Alva’s hand slid between us, fumbling with my belt, then my zipper. “Let me take care of you,” she whispered against my lips, her voice husky with determination. She sank to her knees in front of me, her movements fluid and purposeful. My cock sprang free, already hard and aching, and without hesitation, she took me in her mouth.
The wet heat of her tongue sliding along my shaft sent a jolt of pleasure through me. She worked me with surprising skill, one hand wrapped around the base of my cock, the other gripping my thigh for balance. Her lips stretched around my girth as she took me deeper, her tongue swirling around the sensitive head before she plunged down again. The obscene, wet sounds of her mouth filled the empty corridor as she bobbed her head faster, her cheeks hollowing with the force of her suction.
I tangled my fingers in her neat bob, messing it up completely as I guided her movements, thrusting into her mouth with increasing urgency. She didn’t gag or pull away, just adjusted her angle to take me deeper, her eyes watering slightly as I hit the back of her throat. The sight of her, always so composed and professional, on her knees, her lips stretched around my cock, her eyes looking up at me with that claimed devotion, pushed me over the edge.
“I’m going to—” I didn’t even finish the warning before I was cumming, pulsing hot and thick down her throat. Alva didn’t flinch, swallowing every drop, her throat working as she took it all. When I finally finished, she pulled back slowly, giving the head of my cock one final, gentle suck before releasing me with a soft pop.
Reality crashed back in as the pleasure subsided. What the hell had I just done? I hastily tucked myself back into my pants, unable to look at Alva as she rose to her feet, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Gabriel?” she said uncertainly, reaching for me.
I stepped back, shame washing over me in a nauseating wave. Without a word, I turned and walked away, my footsteps quickening until I was nearly running down the corridor, leaving Alva standing alone, confused and disheveled, her lips still swollen from what I’d just done to her.