by Viola Grace
“Do you have a sonic or solar shower?”
The attendant nodded. “We do, but you should really use a soak if you can to help with muscle spasms.”
She nodded. “I will keep that in mind. I just don’t want to create a hazard on the walkway.”
Hreon had a small smile as he wrapped her in a clean towel and picked her up. “Your feet are slippery.”
She was carefully set in the solar unit, and he made sure she was steady before he closed the cubicle. She dropped her towel and turned the controls down so that she wouldn’t fry herself before she activated the unit. It was like being in a tanning booth that tingled and killed surface oils and bacteria. In this case, it also broke down the gel that hadn’t bonded into her body. When she started feeling crunchy, she turned it off and wrapped herself in the towel again. She opened the door carefully, and Hreon was standing there with clothing that was definitely new. Bright blue fabric hung from his fingers. “Um, what is that?”
“A change of clothing.”
“Two in one day? What’s the occasion?”
He smiled. “I have a few things to celebrate.”
She blushed. “Did you beat Hrothan at P’cha or something?”
“Well, it wasn’t that spectacular.” He smiled. “That would be impressive, indeed.”
He handed the clothing over, and she got dressed. She looked down and then back at him. “Can I have the icon?”
He beckoned her closer. “I will trade it for a kiss.”
She paused. “What about the shoes?”
He smiled. “I am willing to negotiate.”
“Uh, I have to kiss you for the icon and negotiate for footwear?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm. What do you want for the shoes?”
He cocked his head. “A hand massage would be fair.”
“Agreed, now as for the other...” She stepped toward him, reached to touch his neck, and guide him down to her. She brushed her lips across his, flicked her tongue against the firm curve until he responded, and then, she slid her tongue alongside his. When he joined the kiss, she inhaled sharply, pressing against him until her head spun, her blood was rushing in her veins, and her body was preparing to host him again.
Breathing heavily, she stroked his closed hand. “The icon?”
She jumped slightly as he knelt and pinned the fabric together. It looked different. “What did you do to it while I was out?”
He smiled. “Nothing.”
He brought out some silvery shoes that matched the trim on her neckpiece. “I will give you these on delayed payment.”
She stepped into the shoes and blushed at the mental Cinderella references because if this was Prince Charming, she had been woefully misinformed. He looked into her eyes, and the constellations were moving slowly.
She bit her lip, and he reached out and eased her lip from under her teeth. “Let’s head home, Dorra. Ymara will have dinner ready by now.”
She nodded. The attendant was nowhere to be found. “Where did he go?”
“Oh, he is filing reports to send to me so that I can forward them to the Hmrain council.”
“Reports?”
“On your biology. Whatever can be found to increase the chances of Hmrain getting proper companions to keep them from preying on local populations is a desirable end.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah, I suppose the sacrificial lamb theory can work in that kind of situation.”
He smiled. “I am glad you understand the necessity.”
“Having been on the receiving end of some light play, I can understand how some more intense activities could become exhausting if you were still... uh... hungry.”
“It is charming that you acknowledge my earlier restraint. What I wish to do with you will take weeks to explore fully, but I have duties that require my attention.” He stood up and wove his fingers with hers. “Today, dinner awaits.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
They headed out of the treatment area and into the lobby. He nodded to the medical attendant, and he bowed. The receptionist stared, and Dorra fought the urge to wave. She nodded instead.
As they walked, she asked, “So, what is this place? I know there are other cities on Hellaz. This place seems smaller.”
He nodded. “This village was designed for the comfort and maintenance of the overseer. At first, it was for my great grandmother, then my grandfather, and now me.”
“What happened to your great grandmother?”
“When Hrothan was able to take over as overseer, Mrara returned to the stars and began to move between different planets and worked with the design of the education stations.”
“What happened to her companion?”
“Hrell was at her side for nearly two hundred years and sired her son, but Mrara didn’t have enough energy left over to keep him alive.” He sighed. “He died, she mourned, and then, when Hrothan was up to taking over, she left.”
“What about your mother?”
He smiled. “My mother, Hradeen, met my father, Kormer, the overseer of the Thaluth system, when he came to do an exchange of plants for some specialists. As a rule, Hmrain don’t react to the opposite sex in Hmrain bloodlines, but two generations removed was enough, apparently. She acted as Hrothan’s hostess, and Kormer apparently took one look and asked Hrothan how much for his eldest daughter.”
“Oh, so, you always buy your companions?”
“It is tradition. It enriches the society that the companion is removed from and shows their value in the bluntest of ways.”
“And locks them into a situation where they are indentured for their lives.”
He smiled. “Ah, I did not show you the contract, did I? The entire debt disappears if there is a child born. At that point, the companion can leave or stay. Some choose to leave with their completion bonus, and others choose to stay and turn their funds into trusts for their children to purchase the bonds of their own mates in the future.”
“Wait. So... children? You glossed over that.”
“The species we are attracted to have the characteristic of being able to breed with Hmrain or their blended species, in my case.”
“Wow. That is not something I had considered.” She glanced at him and tried to figure out the schematics of a Hmrain child fitting into her. “Nope. Not possible.”
He chuckled. “We start off smaller.”
“What happened to Sagar’s mother?” She asked it quietly.
“She’s still alive. Still on Hellaz. She married a trader from Lekthon and has only had the one son.”
“So, your entire family is alive back three generations?”
“Yes.”
She nodded. “Nice. How long do companions last?”
He looked down at her. “Until we lose the energy to maintain them.”
“Oh, what causes that?” She was looking at local shops and the different species who were present and just wandering around with friends and lovers.
“If I lose energy to the point where I can’t maintain my companion, my companion will have ceased to maintain me. Together, we can last for centuries, but we have to work with each other, for each other.”
She frowned. “I don’t... oh. I see.”
“Do you? I can give you a demonstration.” He was smiling again. “I want to give you a demonstration.”
Dorra’s cheeks were hot. “Yeah. I gather that. No. I am fine.” She cleared her throat. “While we are out and I don’t have to look you in the eyes, why do your fangs disappear and reappear?”
“Ah, mine fold in. They extend when I am aroused.”
“Oh. Right. That explains why I can’t see them all the time.”
“Yawning in your lover’s face to show off your teeth is a little crass even for me.” He squeezed her hand.
“So... you’re venomous.”
“Only to you, my sweet.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
“It is a means of efficiently tuning you to me. I can already consume your energy, but a bite will allow there to be more equilibrium. I will have a better sense of how you are doing and how much I can take.” He chuckled. “And how much you can take.”
She didn’t have a response for that, so she looked at the shops, the advertisements for theatre, concerts, sporting events in different cities, and the startling news vid showing Hreon in formalwear and speaking to a crowd. “When was that taken?”
He paused. “Three days ago when I opened parliament.”
Dorra nodded. “Oh. Right. Well, it is a very nice outfit.”
He chuckled. “It is stiff and irritating, but I suppose it is a pleasant design.”
She nodded politely and shrugged, not fantasizing about him leaning over her with the sleeveless robe opening and forming a wall to either side so she could draw her fingers up the ridged abs of his torso. She shivered.
He frowned. “What was that?”
She looked at him and tried to cool the fantasy engine in her head. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
He smiled slightly. “I am going to ask you again... later.”
She shivered again and cursed silently. Her fantasy engine kicked into high gear at the promise.
Chapter Nine
The housekeeper, Ymara, was standing with a grin on her face as they took their seats after washing their hands.
Dorra watched as Ymara explained each of the thirty small dishes on the table, what they were and how they were cooked. She learned which ones were seasonal and which were stored dry.
They were even arranged in the common order for consumption.
“So this is the main course?” Dorra frowned as she tried to remember it all.
Hreon shook his head. “No, this is the first course for dinner. Not usually all at once, but Ymara is making this a lesson.”
Ymara grinned. “And it is a lot of fun.”
Dorra took her plate and stood up. She squeaked when a man came out of a shadowed alcove.
Hreon covered his mouth as he smirked. “Liador will serve you. Sit and point if you can’t remember the names of things. Liador, small portions at first, please.”
The Hellaz man in the dark uniform took her plate and got her ten tiny portions from the first round of plates.
Once her plate was back in front of her, she looked around. Ymara stared into space, and Liador returned to the shadows.
Dorra took a deep breath and nibbled her way through the samples.
Hreon smiled. “Which ones do you like?”
She reached out and pointed at the plates. “The frondy one, the lumpy one, the dark orange one, and the blue one. Never show me that stalky one again unless you want to see it on the table.” It had looked like asparagus; it did not taste like asparagus.
Ymara nodded. “Got it.”
Dorra turned behind her. “Liador, the next round, please.”
He exited the shadows with a smile, and they went through the same process. This time, she liked six out of ten. The final set she only liked three out of ten, but it was still thirteen items that she could eat.
The ones she liked were set around her, and Liador filled her plate from the ones she chose. Hreon got the seventeen remaining dishes, and when she was done with the cooked vegetables, in the tradition of male companions around the cosmos, he got what was left on the sampler plates.
She knew there were at least two courses coming, so she was surprised to find that she was actually gaining more appetite.
A maid came from the kitchen and cleaned all the plates up, removing them and returning them whence they had come.
Ymara and two other maids brought in the next course and set it down. Each item was one large and three small plates. “We deconstructed traditional foods, and everything is designed to be eaten at the same time.”
She ran through the name of meats and accessories, and Dorra paid attention. The procedure was the same. Liador got her teeny portions of everything for each item, and she tried them all. She knew that she made a few faces, but in general, the foods and combinations were pretty good.
She set down her eating implements after finishing her second course, and Hreon had already finished his. Ymara looked pleased with herself, and the plates were taken away.
Dorra looked at Hreon. “How many courses in total?”
“Only two more. Dessert and a fruit course.” He chuckled. “Losing your enthusiasm?”
She smiled. “There is always room for dessert, but two of them might be a little much.”
“You consider fruit dessert?”
“It is sweet, isn’t it? Sweetness is my big identifier.” She shrugged. “Liador, do you live back there?”
She heard a laugh, and he answered, “No, Lady. I have quarters near the garden.”
“Has it been mortifying cutting up my food like I am a child?”
“No, Lady. Hellaz children can do it for themselves.” He was chuckling.
She snorted, and Hreon laughed.
Ymara brought in the first tray of small cakes, and the maid brought in the second one. They lined them all up, and Dorra wanted to squeal. They looked adorable.
Ymara smiled. “It is the same cake but topped twelve different ways. Tomorrow, I will have more variety.”
Dorra looked at her with horror. “A twisted part of you is enjoying this.”
Ymara grinned. “I am rarely challenged. This has been interesting.”
Hreon chuckled. “Just wait until breakfast.”
Dorra blushed. “I am getting the hang of breakfasts.”
Liador stepped forward and gave her tiny slices of the first six. She grimaced at him, and he grinned.
She started her nibbling and ate her sixteenth of a cupcake with what tasted like blueberry, another that tasted like cheesecake, and then some that had a variety of flavours that did not match their colours. She sat back. “I like them all.”
Liador set up the next six, and on the third, she did something she hadn’t done before. She spit it out. “Sorry. That one hurts.”
Hreon frowned. “Hurts?”
“Burns?” she sipped at her water glass. “Yeah. It burned.” She touched her tongue. “Just a little. Please excuse me. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“It is not a bad reflex, and that is what this is about. Are you all right?”
She ate the next sliver of cake. “Fine.” The last samples were good.
She took her fork and shoved the dangerous cake around the others, and steered it toward Hreon. “There you go. One just for you.”
Ymara covered her mouth, and Liador chuckled from behind her.
Hreon looked at the cake and shrugged. “I don’t care for Jinarth fruit. We won’t have it in the house again.”
“Does Hrothan eat it?”
Hreon paused.
Ymara stated, “It is one of his favourites.”
Dorra shrugged. “Then, it stays. I am fine, just avoiding it now that I know what it looks and tastes like. If you like it. Eat it.”
He picked up the cake and was about to take a bite when she said, “Just remember where your mouth will be later.”
The cake hit the plate.
She grabbed her favourite of the teeny cakes and growled at Liador when he appeared at her side. He asked Hreon, “Does she bite?”
“Not yet, but I have only known her a day. There is always hope.”
She coughed in surprise, and when she caught her breath, she looked at Hreon with narrowed eyes.
He ate one of the cakes with an innocent expression. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, that was just the sound of hope dying.”
He winced, and Ymara put a hand over her mouth before she disappeared around the corner. Liador receded to the shadows and snickered.
She got up and moved around the table to sit in his lap. “So, aside
from the Jinarth fruit, what is your favourite?”
He smiled. “You ate it.”
“Oh. That’s too bad. It tasted pretty good.”
He tilted her chin up and kissed her, his tongue sweeping in after a moment, and she stroked his tongue with hers. His hand gripped her hip, and the other slid between her thighs. She inhaled sharply as his fingers teased at her before slipping into her.
She pulled away. “What about dessert?”
“I am having dessert.” He bent and kissed her neck. She shivered when she felt the graze of his sharp canines against her skin.
Ymara came in with a platter of fruit and put it within reach. She didn’t do anything but leave the room with a slight smile. Dorra was embarrassed, but his fingers were moving easily inside her now.
“This penchant you have for doing this in front of people is disturbing.”
He responded by dragging his tongue along the line of her throat before pressing his thumb to her clit while his fingers moved inside her.
She pressed her hand to her mouth when she would have made a sound. She was letting out tiny squeaks and clutched at him with her free hand when a sharp jolt of pleasure ran through her and ended in waves of shivering while his fingers coaxed every remnant of pleasure from her.
She was limp, but her blood was surging in her veins when he slid his fingers out of her and slowly licked them off. Dorra blinked. “That’s...” She couldn’t finish the sentence. It was both disturbing and hot. The fact that he had no problem putting his tongue to any part of her was both flattering and mortifying.
He chuckled. “So, one final course, and then, we can retire for the rest of the evening.”
She groaned and then looked at the fruit. “Oh. Pretty.”
He went through the fruits, and he picked up a piece, holding it to her lips. She blushed but opened her mouth and took half the piece, chewing slowly.
Hreon’s eyes were bright. “Now you.”
She took a slice of something that seemed like it would be appley. She put it in her mouth and turned her head to him. He took the hint and bit carefully, leaving her with her own bite. Huh. Peaches.
When she swallowed, he kissed her and said, “Do that again.”
She picked the large grape and leaned up to him, he bit the fruit in half, and she caught the juice, licking her lips as she chewed and swallowed. Licking her lips was a problem. He licked her jaw and her lips before kissing her again.
