“And yourself during the election cycle,” Meyso said with a wink.
“Of course, of course. With her woman’s intuition and feeling, Shalia will be able to bring across the emotions of many issues instead of just boring facts and figures. We can get beyond the practical and into the true guts of my causes.”
I liked the idea of flexing my creative muscles again. Sitting around playing hausfrau was not my idea of happily-ever-after. I missed the work I’d done on Earth. “As long as I agree with what you’re up to, I’d be thrilled to be a part of it.”
The Dramok grinned as his clanmates chuckled. “There is nothing wrong with having to convince someone of my worth in order to win her support. I look forward to finding out where we agree and on what matters we will debate.”
We talked for about an hour before I felt myself starting to flag. Mindful of my condition for a change, I arranged to speak to Clan Aslada again before the transport left wormhole access behind.
They are without a doubt a steady, self-assured clan. Maybe they are more reserved than Clan Seot, but I sensed underlying warmth there. I like that Aslada sees me as a potential partner in his work. Meyso would certainly take outstanding care of me and Anrel. And Nang would be a billion times an utter fool to fuck with Jaon no matter how obsessed he is. A girl could do a hell of a lot worse.
I’m looking at two very viable options to spend my life with. It’s giving me a spark of happiness. I look forward to discovering how this all shakes out in the end.
I returned to my quarters, ready for a nice long nap. I had surprises waiting for me.
Half a dozen boxes were on the low table before my sitting room’s lounger. On top of them was a vase filled with vibrantly colored flowers. Fresh flowers on a ship? Where the hell had those come from?
I saw a handwritten note lying on the small stack of packages. I picked it up and recognized Betra’s writing. For a moment my heart leapt, thinking perhaps he had decided to mend things between us already. But instead the note read, Gifts from Clan Seot. They send their apologies that it’s not as much as they would have wanted you to have, but our ship’s stores are limited. They will try to do better at our next shore leave on Alneusia.
I wonder how Betra had felt about bringing me goodies from one of my prospective clans. Poor Betra. I felt a stab of guilt that as my liaison, he was forced to be a link between me and the men making him jealous.
There was no help for it, however. It wasn’t my fault one of my prospective clans had decided to send me presents. It was just bad luck that Betra was caught in the middle of things.
I first looked at the flowers, really examining them. Oh my gosh, I could hardly believe it. They weren’t actual flowers. They were crystals, grown in the shape of flowers. Such arrangements had been all the rage on Earth before Armageddon. Just one crystal, carefully coaxed into the shape of a rose, daisy, or the like, would set the buyer back the price of a weekend vacation. A bouquet like the one in front of me was on par with a private shuttle. This arrangement was all extravagance, though I didn’t know what price the acquisitions department of the Pussy ‘Porter had put on it.
I ran my finger over one delicately shaped petal of an iris, the fabulous color shading from indigo to lilac at its tip. The arrangement was stunning with several crystal irises, along with sprays of white and gold arum lilies and pink roses. Even the leaves were detailed, with deep green veins. My mind boggled at the time and care it had taken to make this bouquet.
Avaricious excitement took hold of me. I like to think I’m not greedy, but I couldn’t wait to see what else the guys had given me.
I opened half a dozen boxes, gasping at the contents of each and every one. The first one was full of chocolate confections, made by the transport’s kitchen. With a bunch of Earther girls on board, the mess crew had gotten quite good at making our favorite treat. I couldn’t help but sample one. Oh glory ... it was so good I had to sample five more. After I lectured myself on self-control ... and ate three more chocolates to bolster that self-control ... I moved on.
The next few boxes held purely luxury items, the kind of things I was not about to spend my allowance on. Earrings dripping diamonds, sapphires, and rubies. Cologne that one of my monthly paychecks on Earth would have bought about an eighth of an ounce of. A gold bracelet for Anrel that was half the size of my wrist but still wouldn’t fit her for a few months. She could almost wear it as a necklace. There were also a couple of small vid projectors for photos and memories.
The last box I opened had another note, again in Betra’s writing but from a member of Clan Seot. I’ll get you a better one once you’re on Kalquor, but in the meantime, this will keep you in practice. I think you could use your skills to help me with my family’s cruise line. We will discuss it when you wish. Imdiko Cifa.
I opened the final package and gasped for the hundredth time. It was a professional vid recorder, the latest (and I guess last) in Earther video technology. Even my governmental department with its extensive budget and equipment hadn’t had one of these, though we’d all drooled over the promotional material we’d seen on it. I and a few others had talked the recorder’s specs in tones reserved for worship. Man, how we’d wanted to get our hands on one of these. Now I had one.
I switched it on and settled the grip in my palm. I brought up the view vid and panned across my quarters. Even though my arms were still weak enough to wobble holding the lightweight recorder, the motion it showed was smooth as silk. The readout was crisp, making things look almost hyper-real.
I must have played for an hour, zooming and recording my quarters, myself, the corridor and others I found. I showed anyone who would listen how wonderful my new toy was. I saw eyes glaze over as I rhapsodized over aspect ratios, settings, and in-vid editing. Okay, so no one else was as thrilled as me. Only a vid geek would be this entranced over a recorder. But this thing was AWESOME.
I couldn’t contain myself even after I’d exhausted everyone else’s patience. I hooked the recorder into my com system and rang up Clan Seot.
To my delight, a beaming Cifa answered. “Shalia! What a nice surprise. How are you?”
“I’m wonderful! How is the picture? You may need to adjust it for max definition on your end. Not that I want you to see me in all my post-invader takeover awfulness right now—”
“Stop that,” Cifa said, his tone managing to be firm and gentle all at once. “You are still a lovely woman who will be even lovelier as you recover. So you got the vid recorder? Do you like it?”
“I love it!” I squeal-shouted. “It’s amazing! Thank you so much! Oh, and for everything else. It was all terrific and so sweet of you and your clan to give me all these things.”
He chuckled, his face beyond adorable. I wished I was recording him instead of me. “We thought you could do with some indulgence. I wasn’t so sure the recorder would count as that since it was what you did for work back on Earth—”
“Are you kidding? I love shooting vid and creating through it. Sometimes the work I did stunk in that regard, but it still beat anything else I could have done to make a living.” I blinked, thinking about that. I’d been thrilled when Dramok Aslada had talked about me making vids for his needs. “You know, I didn’t realize until today how much I missed doing that.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Cifa said. “I don’t know if Earthers did luxury ocean cruises or anything like that—”
“The ones with money did,” I affirmed.
“Good. Then you’re probably at least a little familiar with how vid can promote such things.”
“Oh yeah.” My excitement built as I saw where he was going with this. “But not just promotion. Recording memories for your passengers. Stuff like weddings. Or in your case, clannings on board your ships. Celebrations. Training for staff. Recruiting new hires.”
“Exactly.” Cifa fairly bounced with enthusiasm. “We’ve talked about moving such a service in-house rather than having contractors come in and deal with t
hose matters. Sometimes our guests hire companies to record their events, and the vendors turn out to be not so skilled. Even though it has nothing to do with the cruise line, our reputation tends to suffer in those cases.”
“Because one wrong thing puts all of it in a bad light.” I knew just what he was talking about.
I could see so much opportunity in the idea beyond just the cruise line itself. Travelogues. Documentaries about far-flung places and their histories. Restaurant reviews for foodies. The possibilities were endless.
Cifa and I might have brainstormed decades’ worth of shows, but Seot and Larten appeared in the feed. “Look at this pair with smiles on their faces,” Seot grinned.
“They look entirely too pleased with themselves,” Larten agreed with mock suspicion. He winked at me to make sure I knew he only teased. “How are you today, Shalia? It’s a joy to see you looking happy.”
“I was comming to thank you all for the wonderful gifts,” I said. “You really were too generous.”
“Hardly.” Seot pulled a face that did nothing to diminish his good looks. “There wasn’t much to choose from. Your ship’s acquisitions officer did not put in much effort to gather goods before leaving Earth. Especially when it came to things for the baby.”
“I think us Earther girls might have put a few dents in the inventory,” I laughed. “Particularly me. I cleaned out everything I possibly could for Anrel before she even got here.”
“We’ll do better next time,” Seot promised.
How sweet of him. Of all of them. There they stood, looking so glad to see me even though I was a wreck. As usual, they looked good enough to wallow all over. That made my thoughts go where they had no business going. All at once I got warm down below, happy feelings trilling through my girlie parts.
Thank goodness they weren’t there. If Larten is half the Nobek Oses is, he’d have smelled my sudden arousal.
Embarrassed to be feeling amorous with these three near strangers – no matter how gorgeous, muscled, mouthwateringly delicious they seemed – I hurriedly tried to put up a barrier I didn’t want. “I should let you get back to whatever I interrupted. I just wanted to thank you. I do appreciate the gifts.”
“You weren’t interrupting anything,” Seot said. He smiled. “We have plenty of time to talk if you wish. Larten’s trainees didn’t destroy themselves too bad after all, so he’s not wasting away in the camp’s infirmary.”
Larten looked a little worried. “Are you all right, Shalia? You are suddenly quite flushed. Perhaps you should summon a medic.”
“Um, no, I’m okay,” I stammered, getting even more flustered. “I guess I just got overexcited.” (Ha-ha, if they only knew.) “The vid recorder was something I’d wanted back on Earth and I’ve been running around seeing how it works.”
“Sit down,” Cifa urged. “You’re still recovering from that horrible organism. You need to rest.”
What I needed was to run to my bedroom and get that dildo Katrina had given me for Christmas. Despite my humiliation, I had visions of naked Clan Seot dancing in my head. The more concerned they acted with me, the more I thought of being surrounded by them, taken care of by them, soothed and loved by them.
My imagination had slammed into overdrive. Moving towards my lounger, just because it was something to do, I turned my back on the tempting trio and tried to take a few deep breaths. I walked slowly, giving myself as much time as possible before having to look at them again. I sat down.
I looked up at the clan and almost groaned. Why did they have to look so damned yummy? I could have wallowed on those three bodies for days on end.
I crossed my legs, as if that might somehow shield my pussy from the overwhelming stud-storm I was enduring. I gave the men what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “Okay. I’m relaxing.”
They returned the smile with triplicate interest. My heart boomed. Seot’s unabashed handsomeness, the rampant adorableness of Cifa, and Larten’s dangerous magnetism ... how the hell was a girl supposed to not get horny looking at that?
Then Seot added fuel to the flames heating my core. “We talked about a great many things yesterday. Maybe I’m going too fast, especially considering what I’ve heard about Earthers.”
“Not to mention she’s still two months away from Kalquor,” Larten said. I had the distinct feeling he didn’t like where the conversation was going.
Seot gave him a look. Larten scowled but went quiet. There is was again, that control that managed to not be overbearing. I was again impressed with the Dramok. Then my naughty head wondered if I would ever get that look. My crotch spasmed at the thought and I tightened my thighs together. Damn those sexy men.
Seot returned his gaze to me. “It is early, and yet maybe it’s best to have everything out in the open before we get together. I thought perhaps we could discuss sexual compatibility.”
If I hadn’t been sitting down, my knees would have given out right then and there. “Sexual compatibility?” I repeated, my voice wavering.
Seot gave me an uneasy look. “It’s not a big deal to Kalquorians to talk of such things. Given that you told us you’re not a strict adherent to Earth’s official religion and you’ve had relations with other Kalquorians, I thought perhaps you’d be willing to have a conversation about it.”
Cifa made a kind of waving gesture with his hands that I assumed meant not to get upset. “If not, we can respect that. Let us know what you’re comfortable with and we’ll remain within those boundaries.”
I restrained the urge to bray hysterical laughter. Here I was with my crazy libido, and these three were worried that talking about sex would send me running away. Ha! I would give anything to fuck their brains out. The irony of the situation was almost too much for me to handle.
I had my fists clenched under the concealing folds of my skirt, trying to hold onto my composure. I still heard a giggle in my voice as I said, “It’s all right. I am fine with discussing what our mutual limits might be.”
Seot nodded and then exchanged an uncomfortable glance with his clanmates. “Good. Great. Because I don’t know what your previous lovers were like. Kalquorians can be very, um...”
“Passionate,” Larten supplied. Nobeks don’t squirm, but he looked like he wanted to.
“So I’ve noticed,” I said in a dry tone. I was seriously ready to die of laughter however. I wondered if I should make them more uneasy or let them off the hook.
“Yes, well, um, we’re pretty typical for our kind,” Seot said. He was no longer looking me in the eye. None of them were.
“Oh?” I couldn’t resist the opportunity to maybe startle them. “So I can earn a spanking by being either a really good or really naughty girl? And after that, maybe you big, strong fellows could hold me down nice and helpless while enjoying me the way you want?”
Ha! Didn’t they look me over then!
Larten’s face went dangerous in an instant. “It sounds like intimate compatibility will not be a problem,” he said in a slow, knowing voice. He no longer looked the least bit uncomfortable. Instead, he looked ready to pounce.
My panties were drenched. I so wished I was there in person to be pounced on.
“Oh ancestors,” Cifa said. His eyes were wide and that too-cute face held a world of anticipation.
A grin gradually took over Seot’s handsome face. “Matara Shalia, we may be on the same page. Is such a strong woman as yourself able to surrender to the power of her lovers?”
“I prefer it,” I admitted. “When I’m not having relations, I like being able to stand on my own two feet. I like to forge my own path and stand up for myself. But I like to give away that power to the right man ... or men ... when I’m having sex. It makes me feel good.”
“No wonder we had such an insanely high compatibility score,” Cifa said. “We appreciate your strength and think it is important for you to pursue your dreams. There is nothing more enticing than a woman who can take care of herself.”
“Though I do hope you�
��d allow me the privilege of being your protector if the situation occurs,” Larten added. “The thrill of earning the submission of a woman as strong as you cannot be overstated.”
I started to wriggle on the lounger. I made myself sit still. Man, their eyes were dark. I thought I saw some rising interest at the bottom part of my vision. I made myself not look. Holding my eyes on their faces was like trying to hold up an elephant with one arm. I kept catching myself getting to chest level before dragging my gaze back up.
“Yeah, I’m the kind of girl who likes the strong, in control type,” I said, my voice a lot huskier than usual.
“Excellent. And the kind of discomfort that comes from spanking? Not any more though.” Seot looked a little stern. “I am not one to put marks on my lovers.”
“No.” Cifa shook his head adamantly. “No marks. No severe pain. Control, light discipline, maybe a few games?”
Shalia's Diary #7 Page 8
