by Viola Grace
Lera sighed. “Then, why did you repeatedly try to get me here? Let’s get this over with. I have a dinner to get to, and Hormik is paying.”
Lance sighed. “Fine, Shatter, she is your opponent. I will not raise a hand to her.”
It was all the warning Lera got. Shatter attacked, and the ground under her feet cracked and rocked.
She sidestepped the attack, and when the next one came, she dodged the column of power instinctually. She shifted, moving closer to Shatter but still avoiding his attacks until she was able to kick him in the abdomen and elbow him in the sternum.
He dropped to the floor, and she stepped away as the audience gasped. Lera nodded to Coma and swept out toward the shadowed hallway where Hormik was waiting for her.
They laughed together and headed out to the restaurant for drinks before dinner.
* * * *
“She’s the one that I want. She’s the scent that has driven me to the edge of control. Impressive against Shatter too. He wasn’t expecting that.” Lance laughed. “Neither was I.”
Shatter rubbed his chest. “She’s good. I will give you that. But a Guardian? She only has the one ability. To see the weapons that people hide.”
“She has one ability that we know of. Who knows how it could be developed if she practiced a lot. Not to mention, she knocked you down without ruining her dress or her nails. That has to count for something.” Coma was firm.
“Can we get authorization from the Alliance?” Shatter was grim.
“I already have it. And authorization from the Nyal Peacekeepers organization. They both say that if she will agree, we can have her.” Coma nodded.
Lance grinned at the phrasing. “We can have her? Excellent. I have been looking forward to someone giving me a nod in her direction.”
Coma grinned. “Well, if you want to accidentally bump into her this evening, she is dining with a gender-neutral colleague in town. You could ask her to dance or something.”
He was surprised. “She told you all that?”
“No. She was broadcasting it while talking with her friend. They were headed for drinks when I saw them last.”
“Where are they going?” Lance got up and was ready to leave that instant.
Coma looked him up and down. “You are going to need a shirt.”
He sighed and headed to their shuttle where more formal clothing was waiting. He was trying to make a good impression, and now that he had seen her out of uniform, he was even more determined to make her his. The curve of her thighs and hips was going to haunt him. She was made for his hands, and he knew it. He just had to figure out a way to introduce that fact into conversation.
Coma and Shatter followed him.
Shatter checked his notes as they walked. “Well, we found four candidates for Guardianship, not including your Peacekeeper friend.”
Lance sighed, “She isn’t my friend, but she did knock you on your ass, so that gives her extra points on my front.”
Coma laughed, “Mine too. She did a good job, and I don’t think she smeared her pedicure.”
Shatter was scowling. “Fine, she knocked me over fair and square. With that talent for finding weapons, she would be a great candidate to be a Guardian. Satisfied?”
Lance shuddered at Shatter’s turn of phrase. “No. Not yet. But I hope she will be agreeable.”
* * * *
Hormik raised its glass. “To showing the Guardians that they aren’t the best fighters on the planet.”
Lera lifted her own glass and grinned. “To a good day off and a better evening.”
They sipped and set their beverages down. Hormik had taken on softer features in the last four months. The hard-sculpted mahogany blank that had been Hormik’s face was gradually shifting into something a little more recognizable as a face.
“So, you have decided on female then?” Lera chuckled as the server came by to bring them new drinks.
“I have. You seem to have so much fun with it that you were able to bring an aspect to it that I hadn’t considered before. I do love to tease, and it will be easier to do as a female than a male.” Hormik smiled, and the soft curve of its lips was definitely taking shape.
“So, you want to be a female to satisfy your sense of humour? I can get behind that. If you don’t like it, can you change again?”
Hormik shrugged. “Sure, it will just take a year or two. With my kind, the physical is changeable. Besides, I have already had my requisite five offspring. My body is my own now.”
“It must be nice to self-procreate without a worry about sexual roles and such. Where are your children now?”
“Two are adults and the other three are in the crèche. They will be educated and eventually find their own way in the worlds, or they will die. Hopefully, they will reproduce before they leave home.”
“So, that is your only social duty?” Lera sipped at her third drink and was feeling decidedly relaxed.
“Pretty much. I got into peacekeeping because it let me use my peculiar strength to an advantage. Plus, it would give me the opportunity to meet the greatest spectrum of life forms on which to base my retirement shape.”
“So, who have you picked?” Lera idly looked around the elegant lounge attached to the most exclusive restaurant in Feural.
“You. Well, your species. I am using you as my template.”
Lera spluttered. “I knew you wanted to ask me about home, but I had no idea that you were going to use me as a building block.”
“Why wouldn’t I? You have a skill that sets you apart, but you still thrive in a group environment. You are well respected by your peers but have an independence aside from the group dynamic. You are yourself, and it is a very rare thing in social species that a member can be a solid individual and an excellent co-operator. You are a wonderful role model.”
Lera blushed and swallowed. “Thank you. That is quite the honour. I have never considered myself as a role model.”
“I know, that is what makes you perfect for my template. You honestly don’t care.” Hormik raised her glass, and they toasted each other.
A server came up to them, and he seemed a little star struck and nervous at the same time. “Ladies, your table is ready, but there has been a slight alteration to your reservation. I am sure that it will not be objectionable to you.”
Hormik and Lera looked at each other, getting to their feet slowly.
Hormik scowled. “I made these reservations last week. What is wrong?”
“Well, Peacekeeper, the Guardians are in town, and they didn’t have time to make a reservation, so since you are both in law enforcement, we put them at your table.”
Lera groaned. “Wonderful. The restaurant is picking up my beverage tab for this inconvenience. Is that understood?”
“Yes, lady. It will be done.” The waiter looked relieved.
He led the way into the dining room with the fountain in the centre of it. Tables and booths were arranged in a wide circle that allowed for both privacy and maximum people watching.
The Guardians were ensconced in a large booth, and they got to their feet as Lera and Hormik arrived.
“Ladies, we apologize for hijacking your reservation.” Coma smiled winningly.
Lera gave her a narrow-eyed look. “Really? I do not accept your apology as you planned this event. Let me guess, passive telepath?”
Coma blushed, and Lance immediately spoke. “She knew I wished to speak with you again, Peacekeeper. This was the most expedient way, as we leave tomorrow.”
Hormik was amused. Lera could almost see her making notes in her mind.
“Fine, let’s just have dinner and some polite conversation as you are leaving tomorrow.” Lera inclined her head, and they all shuffled back into seats in the curved booth.
Lance ended up on Lera’s left, Shatter on Lera’s right. Coma and Hormik immediately launched into a quiet conversation, and Lera caught the waiter’s attention. She definitely needed another drink.
Chapter Three
Lance’s thigh was pressed against hers under the table, and she was having a hard time concentrating on Shatter’s question.
“Do you always drink this much?”
Lera grimaced. “When I only have one day off every eight weeks, when that one day is taken over by my being weaseled into a public display and then my nice evening with a friend is run over by three bullies, then yes, I drink this much. Do your ribs still hurt?”
He looked at her with dark silver eyes that were almost lost in the grey mask that was made of skin pigments against the midnight of the rest of his skin. His black hair was tipped with red. It was the only colour nature had provided him with. The rest of him was monochrome.
“My ribs are fine. Coma also has healing skills. How is it that you were able to dodge my strikes?”
“Well, you were not trying very hard, and I have been training for the last six years to avoid getting struck. It comes as second nature by now.” She shrugged and took the cocktail that the waiter placed in front of her.
Lance spoke softly. “Why did you come to the recruitment?”
She swallowed and looked at him under her lashes. His gold eyes glowed in the pale expanse of his face. “Into the arena or in the audience?”
“The audience.”
“I wanted to watch. You are very graceful.” She inclined her head as she gave the compliment.
He smiled. “Thank you. Years of practice. Have you ever done any blade work?”
“Not like that. My work has been mostly with short blades at close range. It is how I learned to dodge and how I was able to check out the Feural medical system.” She chuckled and sipped at her drink again.
That got Shatter’s attention. “You have been wounded in the line of duty?”
“Of course. Several times. It is part of the Peacekeeper job description. Our bodies for theirs.” She shrugged and sipped again as their waiter came up to them and respectfully offered the daily specials.
Their gathering was getting plenty of attention, and Coma and Hormik were oblivious.
Lance pressed his thigh to yours. “That drink is having an effect on your senses, isn’t it?”
She smirked and sipped again. “Not only is it deadening my susceptibility to pheromones, but it is relaxing me on several levels.”
Shatter let out a bark of a laugh. “So, you knew he would be here?”
She smiled at him. “No, but I know that watching his warm up and processing of the recruits started my body warming up. Cooling down with a little beverage was always on the agenda.”
Lance was grinning. “You enjoyed watching me?”
“I am a living, breathing woman, and you have a way of moving that catches my attention and holds it. Is there something wrong with that?” She blinked innocently.
Lera felt a foot hit her leg under the table, and she jumped. “Ow. What?”
Hormik scowled, “I am fairly sure that you would not want to say that if you were not drinking.”
She shrugged. “Probably not, but I am here and he is here, and the only way I cannot crawl into his lap is by continuing my beverage consumption.”
It was the most logical thing she could think of at the moment. She was staring into Lance’s eyes, and he had a pleased amusement in his expression.
“You are defending yourself against your response to me?” He reached out and took her hand.
Heat shot up her arm, across her breasts and pooled between her thighs. She blinked and leaned away from him, into Shatter. “Um, yes.”
Hormik covered her face with her hand.
Lance lifted her hand to his lips and smiled after he placed a soft kiss against her skin. “That is the most charming thing I have heard all day.”
Lera sighed and pried her hand out of Lance’s grip.
“You were flirting all day with anything you had a chance with, Lance. Leave Lera alone.”
Lera blinked and sat back. The cold sensation of hearing that Lance had been after other women rapidly sobered her. When the waiter returned, she placed her order and remained silent for the rest of the meal, no matter who tried to engage her.
It was one thing for him to try with other women when she wasn’t around, but she had been right there in the same arena with him. She ate her meal in silence and even Shatter was trying to draw her into conversation by the end of the third course.
Lera eventually started answering in monosyllables.
Hormik propped her chin on her fist and watched.
Coma asked, “So, Lera, what do you miss most about your home?”
Lera answered as many of her kind did. “Coffee. It is similar to caf, but it provides a much harder kick to start your brain in the morning. Several countries on my world prefer tea, but I grew up in a coffee area.”
She prodded at her dessert with her eating prong and put another tiny bite between her lips.
Lance frowned. “Why do you not find a substitute?”
“Caf is the substitute, but it is not the same. You and Shatter are similar, but you are not the same. Close only gets you so far.”
She ate another nibble of her dessert as music started up on the dance floor. She watched couples take to the floor, and she smiled at the grace and style with which they moved.
Shatter smiled at her. “Would you care to dance?”
She blinked in surprise. “Um, sure. I am not very good though.”
“That will be up to me. Come, you can work off some of your intoxicants.” He grinned.
Lera slid across the seat and put her hand in Shatter’s. Lance made a noise, but she didn’t look back.
Shatter was wearing a pale grey tunic with a scarlet sash that matched the ends of his hair. He held her against him politely and started to move around the dance floor with her.
“So, Shatter, why are you dancing with me?”
“Because Lance was an idiot, and he needs to admit it. He means well, but he is so outgoing and used to women fawning all over him that I am afraid he might not know when it is time to change his ways for the woman he wants more than anything.”
That brought her head up with a jerk. “What?”
Shatter sighed. “I may not be of his exact kind, but I know the signs of when one of our kind finds their mate. You feel it too, I can see it as well as sense it in the air.”
She blushed. “I don’t care whether I feel it or not. It is outside of the parameters of my exchange program. I am here to be a Peacekeeper, not a Guardian’s girlfriend.”
He turned her in a slow loop. “Why can’t you be both?”
“I only get one day off every eight weeks. The timing would be unlikely.”
Shatter grinned. “He doesn’t have much patience so that would be an issue. He would probably find a loophole in your program.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps something like creating a Peacekeeper-Guardian liaison position. Something like that.” Shatter chuckled, and he dipped her before bringing her back up to upright.
She blinked. “That position doesn’t exist.”
“Didn’t exist. The paperwork should be through by the end of the week.” He chuckled. “It was Coma’s idea technically, and it was also the reason that she wanted you to demonstrate your skills in front of the Feural arena.”
“Oh geez.” She was about to add to her statement when hands spun her around and she thudded up against Lance’s body. The music was moving at a faster beat, and he stepped and twisted with her in a rapid set of moves that left her dizzy and clinging to him.
“I thought you were supposed to ask me if I wanted to dance.”
Lance grinned. “I didn’t want to take the chance. I wanted to explain.”
He twirled her, forcing her to cling to him from shoulders to ankles.
She gasped and held onto him with desperation. His black tunic fit him well, and she felt hard muscle under her fingers as she struggled to find a grip.
The chalky colour of
his skin and the pale gold of his hair stood out in sharp relief against the high-collared black tunic with the brilliant blue sash.
“Explain what?”
There were image captures going on around the room as Lance slowly twirled her around.
“Explain why I was flirting with the other females. Frankly, I didn’t know you were there.”
“So, if you had known…”
“My attention would have been on you. It certainly was after I saw you. Once you entered the arena, I could not think of any other woman.” His words were whispered against her ear.
“So, I need only be out of your field of vision and you will forget me? Good to know.”
His breath whistled past her ear as he exhaled sharply. “That is not possible. Now that I have been in contact with you, you are definitely impressing yourself on my senses.”
She wanted to say that the feeling wasn’t mutual, but her body was humming happily where she was in contact with him. Fortunately, it was the entire front of her body, so she was getting quite the buzz.
“I see, well tomorrow, you head off to wherever you guys go between assignments, so this is a one-time thing.” She licked her lips and whispered into his ear. “I don’t do one-time things.”
His hands clenched on her waist as the music slowed, and their dance took on more of a sway. “This is not a one-time thing, Lera. This is simply a beginning.”
She slid her hands under his arms and around his back. “Fine, it can be a beginning, but I still don’t screw around on day one. Are we clear?”
He sighed. “It would be easier if we could.”
“No. It would not be easier. It would be harder for me to face work tomorrow. At this point, I am already going to be dealing with any number of morons who are going to take this dance as proof we are intimate. Tomorrow is going to be awkward once this hits the news vids.”
“You could just come with us tomorrow. I am sure that Coma could manage whatever paperwork was necessary to keep you with us.”
“I will not blow my contract with the Nyal Imperium. I am a Peacekeeper. The next day off that I have is eight weeks away. If you choose to return, that could be our second date.”
