The Genius

by Elin Peer

  “You like Marco?”

  “Yes, he’s very strong and fit and also kind and funny.”

  “But he’s ten years older than you.”

  “That doesn’t bother me. My dad is nine years older than my mom and they are very happy together.”

  “But do you love him?”

  “Who, Marco?” Mila had such an innocent look in her blue eyes. “No. I’ve never been in love, but I’m told that those feelings can often grow within a marriage.”

  “Did Marco tell you why he wouldn’t fight for you?”

  “Yes. It’s because I used to be his student. He said that would be weird.”

  “He’s right.” My pulse was starting to come down again. “It would be just as weird as me marrying Hunter.”

  “Nonsense. You and Hunter would make a great couple. So would you and Tristan. He really likes and admires you.”

  “Mila, Tristan and I are just friends.”

  “That’s good. A strong friendship is the best foundation for a marriage anyway.”

  “Why do you even want to get married, Mila? You wouldn’t even be thinking about it if you were in the Motherlands. It’s outdated and serves no purpose.”

  “I disagree.” Mila’s words were soft but firm. “There is something beautiful about two people uniting.”

  “There’s no need. Not everyone finds the love that your parents have. Look at all the couples from the Matchmaking Program. Many of them are getting divorced.”

  “I blame it on the Motlanders.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they want to change the Nmen.”

  “I think that goes both ways, though.”

  We sat for a while, watching the game and cheering every time someone scored. When they were done playing, Hunter showed off, keeping the ball bouncing in the air using his foot, knee, shoulders, and head.

  “Khan and my dad are hoping that this weekend will result in some new couples,” Mila said out of the blue. “Who do you think would be likely to end up together?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Make a guess, then.”

  “You and Tristan.”

  Mila laughed. “I don’t think he would go through the trouble of fighting in a tournament. Do you?”

  “No, but if you fell in love he wouldn’t have to, would he?”

  Mila plucked some grass. “My parents wouldn’t like it if I married someone who hadn’t fought for me. They are old-fashioned that way.”

  Just when I was about to go into a discussion about being an independent woman, Marco came over and put down Dina on the ground. “Thank you so much for letting me borrow your sister. She was a great help,” he said with a large smile.

  “You’re welcome.” Mila got up and brushed off her long flowery skirt. “Did you have fun, honey?”

  The little girl nodded and began telling Mila about the game.

  “I’m thirsty. Wanna grab something to drink?” Marco asked me.

  “Sure.” I lifted my hand and he pulled me up from the grass.

  “I could use a drink; how about you, Mila?”

  “Sure, I’m just going to send off the kids. They are going back to the Gray Mansion where Grandma Isobel is hosting a party for them.”

  “That sounds like fun.” Marco smiled and bowed down. “Hey, Dina.”

  “Yes?”

  “If there’s a party, make sure you dance for me, will you?”

  “Uh-huh.” She gave him a shy smile.

  “I’m a real good dancer, so you gotta show me how you’re going to dance.”

  Encouraged by Mila, Dina gave us a small performance, swaying her hips and swinging her arms in front of her. We all clapped and laughed.

  “I should’ve known you would be a much better dancer than me,” Marco complimented Dina. “I think I’m going to steal some of your moves. Would that be okay?”

  She agreed with pride before Marco and I split up from them. As soon as we were out of earshot, Marco said, “I saw you talking to Nero.”

  “Yes, he was asking about my work.”

  “You two were laughing a lot.”

  “Were we?” I shrugged. “He was making fun of my cooking.”

  “He’s single, you know.”

  I frowned a little. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Just keep your distance, okay?”

  “Marco, I’m not here to pick up a man.”

  “That’s right, because you already have me. But it doesn’t change the fact that every single Nman who came here will be hoping that maybe he has a chance with one of you women.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Oh yeah? How many chances do you think we Nmen have to be around single women? I’ll bet you that most of these men have signed up for the Matchmaking Program, but that still leaves a small chance of success.”

  “But they are all so young. Solo was the oldest student and he’s not even here. The others aren’t even twenty-four years old.”

  Marco rolled his eyes. “Just because you don’t want to marry, doesn’t mean the rest of us feel that way. I don’t like the idea of any of the men coming on to you.”

  “They wouldn’t, I was their assistant teach…” I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence because Marco pulled me behind a tree and began kissing me.

  “They fucking would, and that’s why I need to tell every one of them that you’re mine.”

  “Don’t. At least not until I’ve told my sister,” I breathed.

  Marco had me pushed up against the tree, lifting my leg and grinding against me while kissing my neck and jaw. It occurred to me that his behavior was almost animalistic in nature and a way for him to put his scent on me. If I didn’t stop him, I had a strong suspicion that Marco would take me against the tree.

  “Not here. People will hear us.”

  “I need you.”

  “There are children around.”

  Marco’s breathing was heavy against my neck. “Tonight then.”

  “It’s better if we wait until we get back home.”

  Pulling back a little to look into my eyes, Marco raised an eyebrow. “I don’t fucking think so. I’m already bursting to have you.”

  “You’re not being rational. It’s only two days.”

  “I don’t care. You knew what you were getting into. If you wanted a nonsexual man you should have chosen a Motlander.”

  “Marco, you’re being ridiculous. Stop acting like a caveman high on testosterone who feels threatened by all those single men. You already impregnated me, so you can relax now.”

  “Oh, so I’m a caveman now?”

  “No, but you’re behaving like one.”

  He took a step back, his jaw tightening. “Then you’d better run back to the civilized people. I hear them calling.”

  He was right; I recognized Raven’s voice calling out for us to gather.

  When we walked back to the school, Marco looked straight ahead avoiding my attempts to soften him up with small talk about how hungry I was. He was angry at me for my comment about him being a caveman, and my refusal to let him make our relationship public.

  I didn’t understand why he was in such a rush when I needed time to get used to the idea without adding other people’s opinion to the mix.

  Being that it was a beautiful summer day, we grabbed plates with food from the dining table when it was time to eat and sat on benches and chairs outside. Some people were standing, some were sitting, but everyone was catching up with old friends and there was a lot of laughter.

  Marco took the last seat at one of the picnic tables where Hunter, Boulder, Finn, Archer, and Nero were already sitting. It was a tight squeeze with their broad shoulders.

  “Are you starting some kind of brotherhood?” Raven called out to them. “How come you are not mixing with women?”

  “Because you talk too much.” Boulder winked at Raven, his adoptive daughter.

  “Nonsense.” With a big grin, she waved a dismissive hand a
t him before turning to me. “Come sit with me, Shelly. I heard you’re designing sex-bots and I’m curious to learn more about it.

  At least ten people turned around giving me a strange look, but Raven couldn’t be bothered and just pulled two chairs together and signaled for me to sit down.

  “What is it you do exactly?” she asked and put her drink down on the ground while balancing her plate.

  “You just said it. I design sex-bots.”

  Raven’s black hair reflected the sun with her curls popping out in all directions. As a child she had always looked a lot like Kya, who had brown skin too, but now that Raven was an adult, her features were more pronounced with high cheekbones, full lips, and eyes full of life and fire.

  “You’ve gotta give me more than that, Shelly. I’m sensing a juicy story here.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you.” I crossed my legs and smiled. “It’s a fun project because it challenges my skills as an engineer and at the same time I’m using psychology to make the robots more realistic.”

  “Are the robots male or female?”

  “At the moment I only work with female robots. I have a dream about making a natural-looking robot for the Nmen.”

  “Interesting.” Raven nodded her head and chewed on a stick of celery.

  “When you look at the specifications for the sex-bots here in the Northlands they are based on old-fashioned evolutionary psychology. For instance, the robots have long legs and high-heeled shoes on. The reason for that is that men recognize that a female with long legs is no longer a child and therefore able to bear children.”

  “But she’s a robot, she can’t bear any children.”

  “No, of course not. But that doesn’t change that men are attracted to an imitation of a childbearing female. The high heels elevate her behind and make it puff out by twenty-five percent and that’s a big hit with men too.”

  “Why?”

  I sighed. “It’s the same with breasts. Curves are sexy to men because it’s a visual sign of health and that a woman has enough fat to go through a pregnancy. Of course everything has to be perky and firm to signal youth as well.”

  “But none of those things should matter, since it’s a sex toy.”

  “I can’t argue with that. My conclusion is that sexual arousal trumps rational thinking. People do really stupid things when they are horny.”

  Raven nodded her head and used the celery stick to underline her words when she stabbed it through the air, “I’ve read about that. My parents have a lot of antique books and some of them are quite steamy.”

  “You’ve read them?”

  “Uh-huh. They’re very entertaining, and some of the books are making me curious to see if I could lose my head like that.”

  “You probably could. You’re very spontaneous and adventurous by nature.”

  “Thank you.” Raven gave me a lopsided smile and popped the last piece of celery in her mouth.

  “I didn’t mean it as a compliment. I just meant that it can happen to the best of people.”

  “Except you. You could never lose your head like the people in those books, could you?”

  It was tempting to tell her the truth and see how shocked she would be, but instead I picked up a piece of broccoli pie, making my response sound as casual as possible. “I would like to say no, but in reality, none of us are safe from our biological dispositions.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Just that intelligence is no armor against arousal and attraction.” Tilting my head, I gave her a sharp look. “And neither is being a fierce fighter, by the way.”

  “That’s a shame, because I’m a pretty badass fighter.”

  “I know you are, but if the day ever comes when you get physically attracted to someone, you can’t punch your way out of it.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Raven reached down for her drink and looked around with a mischievous smile. “Too bad I’m not attracted to anyone here or we could put it to the test. There are a few of the boys that I wouldn’t mind punching a little over what they did to us back when we were kids.”

  “Violence never solved anything.”

  Raven looked amused and stood up. “Hey, boys, who wants to go for a few rounds and have your ass kicked by a Motlander woman?”

  All the men turned to look at her. “Did she just call us boys?” Nero asked.

  “I did. So how about you prove to me that you’ve turned into a man?”

  “I don’t fight women.”

  “No, I could see why you’d be afraid of fighting me.” She looked at the others. “Maybe one of you guys is braver than Nero?”

  “I’m not afraid of fighting you,” Nero defended himself. “I’m afraid Boulder is gonna tear me apart for hurting you.”

  “Ha! What do you say, Dad, would you be okay with me kicking Nero’s ass?”

  Boulder nodded. “Sure. As long as you use protective gear.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked, as I remembered Nero was a good fighter when he was a student.

  Raven just grinned down at me. “I’ve been training for this moment for ten years.”

  CHAPTER 24

  The Fight

  Marco

  There will be no fighting tonight!”

  I had never seen Mila so serious. She almost looked like her father, Magni, with the way she stood and stared the whole group down, her legs slightly spread and her hands firmly planted on her hips.

  “Raven and Nero, if you must be physical, let’s put on some music and dance.”

  “Isn’t dancing and fighting in the same category?” someone joked and laughter spread.

  Laura walked over to stand next to Mila. “We are all adults here; if people want some healthy fighting, I don’t see the problem.”

  “That’s right. A bit of fighting won’t harm anyone,” I chimed in. “I wouldn’t mind going a few rounds myself.”

  Not ten minutes ago I’d overheard some of the men comment on Shelly’s transformation and I was vibrating with frustration. I’d wanted so badly to tell them all that she was mine.

  Mila threw her hands up in the air. “But I have all these amazing party games planned for tonight.”

  “Mila, I think the Northlander version of party games is fighting,” someone called out.

  “Can’t we just have fun for one night?” Mila begged.

  “What could be more fun than seeing Nero get his ass kicked by Raven?” Tristan asked and grinned.

  Nero made a loud “tsk” sound. “Not even if I had both arms tied behind my back would she win against me.”

  Boulder, who was sitting next to Nero, laughed and patted his shoulder. “You have no idea.”

  “I wouldn’t mind going up against Marco,” Nikola called out. He had been one of the older students at the school and like the rest of the Nmen here, he was an excellent fighter. “I saw your fight against Neil Jefferson last weekend and I can’t say that I was impressed.”

  I was already annoyed with Nikola for making comments on how gorgeous Shelly looked so I pushed out my chest and spoke in a deep voice. “I was distracted.”

  “Sounds like an excuse to me. Maybe you just don’t have it anymore. Is that why you pulled out of the tournament? I could never take you as a kid, but now…” He gave a cocky smile. “I think it would be easy.”

  In a slow graceful movement, I rose up to my full height. “Challenge accepted.”

  Raven, Laura, and all the men of the North broke into excited chatter.

  Nikola stood up too. “Let’s do it.”

  Pearl and Mila were insisting on safety gear, but I was so provoked by Nikola’s calling me out in front of everyone that I wanted to do it the raw way. His grin wouldn’t be so cocky if he lost a tooth or two.

  Boulder made us take the fight to the soccer field where there was no chance of our destroying furniture or injuring other people.

  Despite the Motlanders’ aversion to violence, they all came along to see th
e fight. Unlike my fight with Neil, I was pumped and focused from the beginning.

  Nikola was fit and had packed on a lot of muscle since he was a kid, but I had seven more years of experience than he did and my pride on the line.

  The fight was messy from the beginning, and the drama only intensified when one of my punches gave him a bloody nose.

  With his right hand, Nikola tried to dry the blood off his face but only managed to smear it over his cheek and forehead.

  “Please don’t kill each other,” Mila shouted with her hands to her face and Laura holding an arm around her.

  Never had I been sharper in a fight. Shelly, the person I most wanted to impress in this world, was watching and I needed her to see that I was a strong mate.

  “Upfhh…” Nikola took a hard blow to his solar plexus and bent over.

  “You want more?” I asked and moved around him.

  With a face as red as an overripe tomato, he growled and took a swing at me.

  I blocked, and swept him off his feet, getting on top of him and pressing his cheek to the ground.

  He bucked and groaned from the weight of my body on top of him.

  “Tap your hand,” I demanded and spoke in a low tone. “You don’t want to miss out on the rest of the weekend because you’re injured, do you?”

  Nikola refused to give up and with the energy of a bull on steroids, he bucked me off him and we both got up again.

  “And here I was trying to go easy on you,” I muttered.

  Our audience was cheering and commenting when Nikola gave some impressive kicks that had me move back and block.

  “Careful, Marco,” Shelly shouted to me and it gave me a surge of energy for my fierce and aggressive counterattack. This time I didn’t go easy on him, and with my signature roundhouse kick, I knocked him back with such force that he fell into the circle of our audience. Oscar, Tristan, and Plato picked him up and pushed Nikola back to face me for another round of kicks and hits.

  When I knocked him down for the third time, he was smart enough to stay down.

  Mila ran to Nikola, worried that he was injured and calling for Finn to provide medical assistance.

  “I’m fine,” Nikola muttered and slid his thumb over his teeth to check that they were all there.