Chapter 46: Tigress

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Tigress enters the story properly~

-x-X-x-

The humiliation that they'd suffered the other day at the hands of the man who was supposed to be their target had been… embarrassing to say the least.

Puma Squad had been together for multiple decades now, even if cosmetic enhancements and cyberware kept them looking and feeling quite young. They were the last remnants of Danger Gal after Michiko lost her husband and was forced back into Arasaka's arms. They were her knife in the dark and her final line of defense.

So yeah, Tigress could very well understand why everyone else, especially Lynx, were currently beating themselves up and questioning everything they thought they knew about their own skills and experience. Even if Boss Lady wasn't upset with them (or at least wasn't showing it) that didn't stop them from being upset with themselves.

For Tigress and Michiko however, things were a bit different. The experience had been humiliating, yes… but that wasn't always a bad thing. Tigress was a strong, capable woman and considered herself easily in the top percentile of mercenaries operating in Night City. To get to her and the rest of Puma Squad's age, you had to be good at what you did.

That didn't change the fact that she had needs… and those needs involved being able to give up control once in a while. Of course, getting tied up and dominated wasn't something Tigress could just go out and do on the regular, not in her line of work. She would have to have someone she could trust, someone she could count on above all else, and while the members of Puma Squad met this requirements, she wasn't about to proposition any of them for this sort of thing.

For the longest time, Tigress had been forced to rely on braindances to scratch that itch for quite a while at this point. There were tons of pornographic BDs on the market to be fair, and plenty more still that featured the perspective of a woman bound and used by a man. Braindances were an amazing technology, allowing Tigress to indulge without risking her life or the lives of Puma Squad in some kind of honeypot situation.

And then V had come along and Tigress was left feeling distinctly unsatisfied. After years and years of using BDs to satisfy her sexual needs, she'd finally encountered the real deal. Taken down, tied up, and gagged so they couldn't raise a fuss. And then they were used as bargaining chips against their employer… though their value was somewhat questionable given Michiko apparently had a knife at her throat as well.

It shouldn't have been as exhilarating as it wound up being, but the truth was… BDs just couldn't ever replace the real thing. Tigress had been relying on Braindances to scratch her itch for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like to have actual rope binding her flesh, to feel helpless and at another's mercy.

V was supposed to be some wet-behind-the-ears mercenary. Totally green. Younger than them by decades. And yet, he'd moved like a natural. He'd acted with supreme confidence and treated them like they were the ones who were out on their first gig and in over their heads.

… It was as undeniably hot as it was embarrassing. And while Tigress knew the rest of Puma Squad didn't feel the same way, she got the impression from the boss lady that SHE might. If anyone was going to know the truth about Tigress' kinks, it was of course going to be someone like Michiko. She didn't know everything, but she certainly made sure to always know as much as she could.

So now here Tigress was. Her and Puma Squad were on a bit of a forced vacation, taking a couple weeks until Michiko found their next gig. Needless to say, nobody, not even Tigress, was actually treating it like the vacation it was. Instead, they were all training their asses off, constantly sparring with one another as well as anybody they had on speed dial. In the evenings, they met up to discuss every step of what went wrong against V, as well as other old gigs that had both gone wrong and right.

Training their minds, training their bodies, training their reflexes. What else could they do, really? They might have been reduced to little more than helpless kittens for a second there, but in the end they'd all gotten out of it unscathed and with their lives intact. With no injuries forcing them into recovery periods, that meant they had to get right back to work to make sure something like it never happened again.

Or, in Tigress' case… maybe something like it COULD happen after all. See, Michiko had asked her if she wanted to potentially 'liaise' with V in the future and Tigress had said yes. She'd expected the boss lady to be the one to eventually get back to her on that… but instead, continuing the trend of completely baffling and bewildering them, it was V who had contacted her about a meet up for… a spar of all things.

Stepping into the gym in question, Tigress isn't surprised to find the place emptied out. It was a small location and pretty late at night. The only person on the premises… was V himself. He's waiting for her already in the center of the ring, leaving Tigress to swallow thickly as her eyes glide along his lines for a moment. He's dressed down a bit more than the last time she saw him.

To be fair, she's dressed down as well. Wearing a tight top and a pair of leggings, the brunette mercenary makes her way forward into the ring until she's standing directly across from him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Just so we're on the same page, I'm recording all of this for the boss. She's the only reason I'm here… she's interested in opening a more permanent line of communication with you… through me."

Tigress smirks and raises an eyebrow.

"But you already knew that didn't you?"

It wasn't hard to figure out, really. Tigress didn't think V had noticed her arousal at being tied up or anything like that. Not only was she very good at hiding such things, but she was also pretty angry and more than a little worried for her teammates at the time. It wasn't until afterwards when V had left and they'd all been freed without more than a scratch on them that Tigress' thoughts had turned more to how good it felt to be so helpless and at the man's mercy.

So if he hadn't caught on then, it was incredibly likely he'd somehow bugged their comms and knew about Michiko and Tigress' one-on-one conversation separate from the rest of Puma Squad. Her theory is vindicated when V smirks and nods a moment later.

"That's right. You're to be my liaison, correct?"

Huffing at the blatant confirmation, Tigress just nods back.

"Yeah, if that's acceptable."

V's smirk becomes a grin and he makes a blatant show of looking her over. Tigress blushes like a woman half her age at the gaze, but it's not like she can complain when she'd done the exact same thing to him on approach.

"Heh. More than acceptable, in my book."

This young man was far too precocious! Before Tigress can respond however, a feminine voice suddenly whispers in her ear as arms drape over her shoulders out of nowhere.

"Mm… mine too~"

The brunette mercenary freezes in place, her eyes widening in time with V's grin. What the… where the hell did she come from?! Tigress' situational awareness was NOT that bad. Sure, she might have been a teensy bit focused on V, his looks, and the knots he'd been able to tie with those dexterous fingers of his, but not nearly to the point where someone should have been able to sneak up on her!

Before she can fully recover and react appropriately, the woman in question unwinds from her and steps around, giving Tigress her first solid look at her. The faceless masked visage sends a shiver down her spine, even as she can't help but admire the body clad in all black. The tight, form-fitting jumpsuit that this Stealth Operative is wearing leaves little to the imagination and might as well be painted on for all that it 'covers up'.

Tigress relaxes a little bit once she actually sees the woman in all her glory. Michiko had described the infiltrator who had managed to sneak all the way into her office and hold a blade to her neck with no one, even Arasaka's best, being any the wiser.

In comparison to that, it was no surprise that she'd managed to get the drop on Tigress as well, she supposed.

"Like what you see, sweetheart?"

The operative's drawl causes Tigress to blink and jolt out of her stupor. For a moment, she's tempted to throw out some line about how she's 'old enough to be this bitch's granny'… but she doesn't for several obvious reasons.

Not least of which that she doesn't want to date herself, but also she can't say for sure how old V's partner actually is. Perhaps this is even the younger merc's mentor, the reason that he's so capable at such a young age.

In the end, Tigress just smirks and shrugs her shoulders.

"What's not to like?"

The masked infiltrator preens under her gaze, posing for a moment until V finally cuts in again.

"So. The liaison stuff could have been handled over a call. I assume since you're here, you're interested in that spar."

Stepping off to the side, V's female friend leans back against the nearest wall with her arms crossed over her chest. Tigress refocuses on V himself even as she unwinds her own arms, slowly nodding and moving from foot to foot to get a little bit more limber.

"Sure, I'm down. Admittedly, I'm a sniper usually. If I find myself engaging in hand to hand combat, something has gone VERY wrong. But then, given what happened with you… it seems like I need a refresher, don't I?"

To his credit, V is nice enough not to just outright agree with her. He does continue to grin a little bit though, his eyes glittering almost like he's remembering how their first encounter had gone. Tigress huffs, blushing a bit as she watches him carefully.

She's not entirely sure how to go about approaching the subject of doing more than just sparring together. Truthfully, she probably shouldn't be trusting V with her desires in the first place. Sure, he didn't harm her or any of Puma Squad before, but that was just business.

And yet, something about him just feels right. Something about submitting to him causes heat to bloom between her thighs. She can't help but grow a little aroused by the thought of him taking her down, tying her up, and having his way with her.

The only question is… how to approach that desire. Does she just tell him outright? Does she drop hints until he gets the idea of what she wants from him? Ugh, clearly she's been out of the dating scene for way, way too long.

"Alright then. Ready when you are. Heck, I'll even let you have the first move."

Tigress' narrows her eyes at his cocky attitude. Curling her hands into fists, she lifts her arms in a basic guard and slowly moves forward. V watches her without lifting his own arms up or creating any sort of guard to match hers. Instead, he looks completely casual, making her feel like she's about to attack someone on the street or something.

Scowling, Tigress pauses for a moment.

"… You're not going to take this seriously, are you?"

V's grin widens and he shrugs casually.

"I will once you make me take it seriously."

Make him… funny, given that it was Tigress who wanted to be made to do things here. Huffing again, she rolls her eyes and cautiously moves forward until finally, she can throw a left jab right at his face.

For a split second it looks like he's really going to let her connect with his jaw and Tigress almost starts to pull back, not wanting to actually hurt him… but then, V just sways to the side, dodging easily. He all but dancing around her as he easily slips past her guard… and lays a light love tap across her ass that causes Tigress to yelp and stumble forward.

Eyes widening and then narrowing, she's quick to reset her stance and whip around, glaring at V as he gives her a not-so-innocent grin. Tigress tries not to enjoy the humiliation too much, but it's a little difficult given the low stakes of the encounter. This isn't like last time where she had to worry about whether or not V would kill or hurt her or the rest of Puma Squad.

This was a friendly spar with nothing on the line except for pride… and Tigress had to admit, she kind of had a fantasy for having her pride shredded by a handsome guy. To say nothing of the sexy mysterious femme fatale watching from the side.

… Michiko better be grateful to her for this, because once they were done here, Tigress was going to send the boss lady this entire recording. She could live vicariously through Tigress for now, until such time as things could be arranged for Michiko to join in on the fun~

-x-X-x-

The Vote:

[ ] V uses the Sandevistan during the spar to toy with Tigress more - 8%[X] V saves the Sandevistan for after the spar to really rock her world - 92%

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