Tasha checked the chronometer on the wall and smiled. “I’m ready just in time. Damn, I’m good. Be a sweet girl and say hello to my dates.”
With a wink and a grin for Cissy, Tasha left the sleeping room. Cissy followed her to the greeting room, making sure doors to messier areas were all closed. If Mr. Perfect Diltan saw what a slob Tasha was, he’d probably run away and not look back.
She looked to the door that connected her quarters to her twin’s. Despite the order to greet Clan Diltan, she knew she should leave Tasha alone with her dates. Yet her feet wouldn’t move in that direction. Instead, they carried her to the middle of the greeting room. She watched Tasha smooth her outfit over one last time before calling to her door to open. Cissy quelled the urge to fuss with her hair.
I don’t care what they think of me. I don’t. I don’t.
The trio of Clan Diltan entered at Tasha’s invitation. Right away Cissy realized Tasha had over-dressed for her date.
Diltan was as classy as ever despite wearing a casual well-fitted tunic and slacks. It was the most dressed-down Cissy had seen him, and she swallowed a thick wad in her throat to view how his clothes clung to a powerful body. Stupid handsome thing.
Wal and Rolat were similarly dressed, their clothing casual but hiding none of the very nice attributes of their bodies. With his mass of curls tied back in a ponytail and his shirt untucked, Wal looked like a professor on vacation. Apparently his face never shed that thoughtful, worried look except when he smiled that devastating smile of his.
Rolat had on shorts, which showed a lot of the corded muscles of his thighs and calves. There were scars too, thick, jagged ones on one tree trunk thigh. Those marks upped the Nobek’s savagely masculine quotient. Cissy wondered if she should find it as sexy as she did. Heaven have mercy.
The clan bowed to Tasha, though they looked at her outfit with uncertainty. Then they noticed Cissy standing there. Three pairs of eyes widened.
Cissy couldn’t imagine why the men drew up so suddenly at the sight of her. Her clothing was sedate compared to how they’d seen her last time. It was just jeans and a blouse. Okay, so the blouse was a little low-cut and she had a generous amount of cleavage showing. Still, it wasn’t like her nipples were waving in the air or anything. Hadn’t Clan Diltan ever seen boobs before?
After a pause, the Kalquorians bowed to her too. That was more like it.
Diltan spoke first. “Good evening, Matara Cecilia. You are looking – well.” He swallowed and managed a forced-looking smile.
“Right as rain, Dramok Diltan.” Cissy forced her own nonchalance. Her heart thundered in her chest, as if it would jump out just to defy her.
Of them all, Rolat seemed the most comfortable with her presence. His gaze was warm on her, making her feel good all over. “Tell me you’re not staying in this evening? The weather is perfect for a beach stroll and dinner outdoors. That’s what we planned for tonight.” He looked over Tasha’s outfit again, as if trying to hint at her to change. She only smiled in return.
“Scintillating,” Cissy said, though a beach stroll in the warm spring weather did sound pretty good. “I’m hitting a lemanthev concert at one of the clubs tonight. It should be fun.”
She watched for Diltan’s reaction in particular and wasn’t surprised to see a pained look cross his features. His tone matched his expression. “Those lemanthev concerts can get out of control, given the number of younglings that attend. Young Kalquorian men do not always handle their urges with great maturity.”
Cissy hated the paternal tone, though Diltan had a point. There had been a couple of altercations between the dates she’d gone to concerts with and other attendees. Lemanthev tended to wind the young men up. They always wanted to want to show off to the few Earther girls in the crowd.
Still, who did this clown think he was telling her what she should do? Cissy planted her hands on her hips and looked Diltan in the eye. “They can’t handle themselves, huh? Then I guess I’ll have to handle their urges for them.”
Rolat made a sound that had a suspicious resemblance to a snicker. Wal ducked his head, but not before Cissy saw the transforming smile taking over his face. Tasha rolled her eyes while Diltan glared.
Cissy switched to her Big Fake Smile that she used when her patience had run out. “Don’t worry, Pops. I’ll be okay.”
Confusion darted over Diltan’s face. He didn’t know what ‘Pops’ meant. A prime insult gone to waste.
Tasha didn’t wait for him to ask for clarification. With another glare for Cissy, she flapped her hands towards the door. “Shall we go? See you later, Cissy.”
She fairly shoved the men out ahead of her. They seemed strangely reluctant to leave, but Tasha managed the job. She pulled a face at Cissy just before the door shut behind her and her dates.
Cissy shook her head. Well, what had she expected from Diltan? That he might suddenly find his inner cool? Just once she’d like him to look at her with something besides disapproval.
“Yup,” she told herself as she headed for the connecting door that would take her into her own apartment. “Rolat and Wal don’t seem so bad. I think I’d like them if I had the chance to get better acquainted. That Diltan though – that Diltan sure does have one huge stick lodged way up his proper, pretty ass.”
It didn’t make him any less tantalizing though. Damn it, of all the men to be infatuated with, why him?
* * * *
“...so it turns out Cissy had hidden the liquor in the shuttle. By the time the liaison figured out where we’d gone to, we’d drunk his private reserve of leshella.”
Rolat and Wal roared with laughter, their humor mixing with Tasha’s tinkling giggles. Even Diltan had to chuckle over the exploits of their date’s sister. It was no surprise to hear how rowdy Cissy had been on the transport from Earth to Kalquor. What was surprising was how much he enjoyed hearing about it.
Diltan’s mind was not on his date, however. Even her funny stories couldn’t hold his attention for long. His thoughts had wandered during the dinner they’d enjoyed, and he couldn’t make himself appreciate the beach that they now walked upon. His mind wasn’t even on how inappropriately Tasha had dressed for their outing. The long-sleeved blouse she wore had to be too warm even with the breeze blowing off the sea. She had to gather her skirt in her fists to keep it from fluttering up to her waist. Wal carried Tasha’s shoes, since they were a far cry from beachwear. Diltan had told her to dress casually, yet she’d done the opposite, appearing as buttoned up as her sister was showy.
These things barely touched on Diltan’s consciousness. Instead, he worried over what he’d discovered in Zarl’s records.
If only he’d glossed over that letter as yet another unimportant bit of the former emperor’s meticulous attention to detail! That Diltan had stumbled across such a document had his mind twisting in one direction and then another.
How could he expose the evidence of Zarl’s complicity in the Earther women’s abductions with the powder keg of rebellion the Empire now sat upon? How could he hide such a thing when he believed in utter transparency of Kalquor’s government to its people?
I’m in over my head. This task is too big for me.
The burst of laughter from his companions brought Diltan out of his confused thoughts. Damn it, this was not the time or place for him to worry over political concerns. He needed to pay better attention to Tasha. After all, this might be his last chance to attract her to his clan.
He returned to the conversation in time to hear Rolat say, “Your sister is a wild one for an Earther.”
Tasha chuckled. “I suppose it sounds that way, but she’s got a good head on her shoulders. It’s only since we’ve gotten free of Earth that she’s gone a little crazy. We’ve never known this level of liberty before.”
Diltan eyed her prim outfit. Tasha could take a lesson about loosening up, he thought. She didn’t need to be as crazy as Cissy, not by any means ... but it would be nice if his potential mate showed a littl
e more enjoyment of her newfound freedom.
Tasha laughed harder than ever. “You should see the soaksuit Cissy got. It’s utterly scandalous!”
Wal’s gaze went distant. “Oh yes.” The Imdiko’s tone was breathy, and Diltan knew his clanmate was remembering how Cissy had looked in her scanty sunbathing wear.
That brought on a lustful turn to Diltan’s thoughts as well. What the hell; it was better than dwelling on his troubles at work.
Yet he was supposed to be attending to Tasha. He plastered a smile on his face. “You’ve managed to hang on to your dignity despite being free to express your, ah, freedom.”
Tasha shrugged. “I had my own little wild period on the transport. I figured I’d never see those people again anyway, so why not?”
“Too bad,” Rolat muttered in an undertone. “I would have liked to have seen that.”
Diltan kept his mouth shut while Wal bit his lips together.
Unaware of their reactions, Tasha continued blithely, “I don’t like passion to rule my actions. Bad things happen.” For a moment, her face went dark. It cleared so quickly that Diltan thought he must have imagined the strange expression.
Tasha smiled, the serious turn done. “Still, I like to cut loose from time to time.”
“But not as much as your sister?” Diltan had more and more difficulty imagining Tasha cutting loose at all.
Tasha wrinkled her nose. “These days, she’s wild enough for both of us.”
Rolat sighed. “She is something.”
Wal sounded even more wistful. “Yes, she is.”
The expressions on his clanmates’ faces told Diltan what he’d suspected since their first date with Tasha: they were far more interested in Cissy than her sister.
Mother of All, that’s just what I need on top of everything else that’s going on.
Yet in his present state of mind, Diltan knew he could no longer deny that it was Cissy his thoughts turned to when he wasn’t focused on work. Tasha’s assertion that her twin’s outrageous behavior was a reaction to leaving a repressive society behind made sense.
Maybe Cissy will calm down a little while maintaining some of that lively spark. Maybe she’ll stop goading me every time I set eyes on her. And maybe I can stop judging her just because she’s a bit rough around the edges. Rolat and Wal are right; I’m still something of a snobbish bastard.
Whether or not Diltan would ever be able to tolerate Cissy and vice versa was beside the point. It was Tasha he’d set out to woo, with the knowledge he’d have to find common ground with her sister if things worked out. Now he knew there was no reason to worry over how to cope with Cissy. It was painfully clear to the Dramok that Tasha was not the Matara for his clan.
If only they’d been triplets, with one girl a happy medium between the other two!
This was the wrong time to contemplate any woman. Diltan knew all his attention was needed to figure out how to deal with Zarl’s records. The worst part of it was that Diltan would have to do that on his own.
There was nothing he wanted more than to confide in his clan about the issue. Unfortunately, Wal’s position as a high judge discounted any hope of that. If Imperial Fathers Yuder and Tidro had been aware of Zarl’s order to abduct Earther women – if they had been part of that decision – they could be indicted. To speak of the matter with Wal would mean his judge clanmate would have to make the issue public. It would be wrong to expect the Imdiko to keep such a potentially illegal matter quiet. Rolat’s work within the justice system made talking to his Nobek similarly hazardous.
Diltan needed to speak to someone though. He needed to confide in someone who would know what to do, someone who was all for honor and Empire. Someone with a record of putting what was best for Kalquor above everything else. Oiteil would be his first choice, but his mentor was busy putting together a task force on investigating the Bi’isil issue. Spearheading the allegations of Bi’is involvement with the Basma and Earth’s former Holy Leader was fast becoming Oiteil’s obsession. He’d already expressed relief that Diltan had made overtures to Maf—
Diltan could have slammed his skull against a wall. The answer had been there all along. How could he have forgotten? He’d already made the agreement to ask for help from the very man who should have been given the assignment of reviewing Zarl’s records in the first place.
Diltan thought the matter over. Maf was among the government leaders dedicated to tracking down those ultimately responsible for the order to abduct Earther women. He was no fan of Earthers and Kalquorians breeding together, calling for more scientific inquiry into figuring out how to make Kalquorian women fertile again. Maf was one of the few who thought they had given up on their own females too soon despite overwhelming evidence that it was a lost cause. He often spoke of the superiority of Kalquorian women. Some said he even preferred that their culture die out over continuing it with Earther blood, a position in line with the Basma’s madness.
Yet Maf was also known as fair, even when it went against his preferences. After all, he’d issued a glowing, if slightly grudging report of Haven Colony that many claimed was an open invitation to mix the species. It was proof that the man could be objective when it was called for. He did not let his prejudices stand in the way of doing what was correct.
A weight lifted from Diltan’s shoulders. He found himself giddy from relief. Maf would know how to handle this. Despite all his calls to have an investigation launched into who had ordered the abductions of nearly 2,000 women, precipitating a war with horrific casualties, Maf would not want to expose Zarl’s orders if such exposure could harm Kalquor.
Diltan smiled with feeling for the first time that evening. Even looking at proper Tasha and seeing Cissy’s taunting smile instead couldn’t erase the sense that tragedy had been averted. It didn’t even matter that the conversation had flagged yet again into uncomfortable silence.
Everything was going to be all right.
* * * *
Rolat felt more than a little relief when their date with Tasha was over. He could stop pretending interest in stories that didn’t include her twin Cissy.
Tasha was nice. Too nice. Too sedate. The Nobek felt no spark at all with her. He could tell Wal felt the same way. Even Diltan seemed hard pressed to exhibit any enthusiasm. More than once, Rolat had noted his Dramok’s distant gaze and the line between his eyes deepening with some internal worry.
Even my prestige-loving clan leader is second guessing this particular link to the royals. Thank the ancestors, because I can’t see myself clanned to Tasha no matter how lovely and sweet she is.
Along with his clanmates, Rolat bowed to Tasha in front of her quarters as she murmured her goodnights. Then the door closed and the date was over. A few of the knots in Rolat’s shoulders untied.
He opened his mouth to suggest to his clanmates they all go out for a few drinks. The Nobek had been planning on doing so for the last two hours. It might sweeten Diltan’s mood a touch, and Rolat would tell him they needed to give up on the lovely but boring Ms. Salter. If Wal was on board with that – and Rolat was quite sure his Imdiko was – Diltan would concede the issue.
Before the invitation for a few rounds of bohut could leave the Nobek’s mouth, the thudding of uncertain footsteps came from the corridor around the corner. Someone was approaching. Judging from the lightness of the steps, it was a female. To Rolat’s sensitive hearing that someone walked as if she’d had a few drinks herself.
His chest squeezed tight when Cissy stomped into view. She caught sight of the men and stopped in the middle of the hall.
Mother of All was the most rational thing that Rolat’s mind spit out. He was vaguely aware that his clanmates were staring as openmouthed as he.
Cissy was a vision in black leather. Her halter top covered everything salacious and yet still managed to tease what with the exposed midriff and shoulders. Her skin had turned a deep gold from the sunbathing she indulged in. A few freckles had appeared on her shoulders. Rolat had t
he insane urge to lick those freckles.
Her skirt wasn’t too tight and it wasn’t too short, brushing just above her knees. Yet its cut accentuated the wondrous curves of her delectable body. She looked soft enough to wallow on all night. Rolat’s cocks jerked at the idea.
The silver stiletto heels of her ankle boots were at least four inches high. Rolat had the searing image of her wearing nothing but those boots ... with her feet up in the air. His cocks jerked again, with stronger demand.
The one bit of color Cissy wore was the polish on her fingernails. The bright red tip of her index finger tapped the huge bottle of bohut she held in her hand. Rolat’s brow rose to see it was half empty. Few Earthers could handle more than a glass or two of the potent drink. Between the high heels and alcohol, it was not surprising her walking sounded off-balance.
Then she smiled her cocky smile at them. That particular expression always made Rolat want to put her naughty ass in the air for a sound spanking. His cocks did more than jerk now; they filled with warmth. Damn, damn, double damn. When Cissy lurch-swaggered towards them, it was all he could do to not hurry over to meet her.
She purred throatily. “Well, well. Clan Diltan is back from romancing my sister. May I assume you got her home safe and sound?”
Diltan bowed stiffly, though Rolat could see the heat in the Dramok’s eyes. “Of course, Matara Cecilia. Tasha’s well-being is of the highest priority.”
Rolat noted that as it always seemed to happen when Cissy was around, Wal looked stunned. He had the appearance that someone had hit him over the head with something particularly hard and heavy. Tasha never made his Imdiko look like that.
Cissy drew to within a couple of feet of them and paused. She stared at Diltan with an expression that was a mix of several emotions: irritation, bemusement, and ... desire?
Rolat’s eyes narrowed. Diltan had a nearly identical look on his face. Up until now, the pair rubbed each other wrong every time they met. It would be humorous indeed if attraction mixed in with their otherwise combative acquaintanceship. Maybe a mutually unwanted attraction was why they couldn’t get along? It was an interesting thought.
Alien Indiscretions Page 11
