by 1
Swelling was already taking hold in the broken joint. The mat was a common exercise mat and it was perfectly sized for the petite woman. Once Colei was in place, Teera nodded and the women all lifted by one handle. They slowly made their way out of the dance studio and toward the clinic.
The doctor met them just outside the door and he gave Colei a shot that sent her spinning out of consciousness in seconds.
The clinic attendant helped them get her onto the table and when her ankle was exposed to him, the doctor swallowed. “This will take some time. Good work, ladies.”
He dismissed them and Teera gathered the mat up, tucking it under one arm to walk it back to the gym.
She was completely bemused by the horror rippling through her system. She had seen a few disasters in her life but never something so sudden. One moment dancing and the next, the horrendous snap it was surreal. She hoped the Colei was all right or that she would at least heal well. The Mar wouldn’t like her not earning her keep for several weeks, but Teera hoped that Colei would be allowed a full recovery.
With a heavy heart, Teera dropped the mat off, confirmed that Colei was in the doctor’s care and returned to her rooms to shower and prepare for her afternoon of Mediation.
Life went on, even when injuries occurred.
Teera was into the ninth minor property dispute that she had handled since coming to the Mar Clan airship. The property in question was a gas harvester, which had come through the family line.
Tobrosh was claiming that as elder brother, he was entitled to the larger share of the generated profits, but Vobrosh claimed that he did the maintenance on it and therefore was entitled to the larger share.
Teera sat at her table on the deck and nodded as they each laid out their case. “Clan law is firm on this matter, Vobrosh. I am afraid that Tobrosh is entitled to seventy percent of the profit from the harvester.”
Vobrosh spluttered and she smiled and lifted her hand while Tobrosh sat back and looked pleased with himself. “That being said, how many hours do you put in on maintenance per week, Vobrosh?”
“Fifty-eight or more, Mediator. Why?”
She grinned. “By clan law, any time over thirty hours qualifies you as lead hand and entitles you to fifty percent of the profit generated by your labour. Since you receive thirty percent as partial inheritor and do the work, Tobrosh owes you for a minimum of one year’s salary of half of all his takings.”
Vobrosh grinned.
“Oh, and a minimum wage of one day’s pay per week for those times when the machine was unable to act in its harvester function.” She recorded the decision. “Tobrosh, please forward an accounting to the financial collection and have the funds rerouted. They will have a copy of my ruling by the end of the day.”
She clapped her gavel down on the table and a grinning Vobrosh led his chastened brother away.
Mako stepped up to her table with her cousin Rashi behind him.
She got to her feet. “Yes, Clan Leader?”
He smiled. “As you are no doubt aware, this evening we host the new Skylord of Leffuo.”
“I am aware.”
“We had planned to have the dance of seven in his honour, but Colei broke her ankle and will be unable to dance.”
“I am aware of that as well. How can I help you?” She tilted her head in confusion. This wasn’t making any sense to her. The women of the dances were actively looking for sexual partners, either permanent or for an evening. That was not something she was interested in.
“You have been training in the dances and Rashi says that you are quite good. If I promise you that you will be treated with respect and honour, will you dance?”
Rashi had her hands knotted together. She was really eager for a positive response.
“Is it a masked dance?”
Rashi smiled. “It is.”
“Fine. I will do it. One dance. When do I need to prepare?” There were costumes involved and the women were usually fairly indecently clad for the dances. The clothing looked thrown on, but it was strategically placed to remain in position no matter what the dancer was up to.
Rashi blushed. “We are getting ready now. The ship is already drifting toward us. They are ahead of schedule.”
Teera looked down at herself. She was wearing the most amorphous robes she owned. “Do you have the dance costume?”
“We do. Come on. Time is short.”
Rashi gestured for her to hurry, but Teera wasn’t having any of it. “I will take these documents to the clan registrar. There is no way I am going to let these rulings slide.”
Teera gathered her book and walked quickly to the registrar to file her rulings for the day. Neeta was waiting and smiling at her. “I hear that you are doing the dance of the seven.”
“How could you have heard that? I just agreed to it.”
“Your grandmother was bragging about it three minutes ago. Nallura is so proud.”
Teera blushed and forwarded the book to her aunt. “I imagine that she is, but I won’t be going unless you file those judgements, Aunty.” She crossed her arms and waited.
Neeta blinked and withdrew the documents in question while Teera watched her file each one in her computer. When the day’s work had been duly filed, Teera smiled and winked at her aunt. “Now, I will go and get changed for the dance. Thank you, Aunty.”
The book remained in the registrar’s offices until it was needed for the next mediation. Unencumbered, she made her way to the dance studio and blinked at the flurry of women putting on clothing, makeup and shoes, some trying to do all three at the same time.
With a sigh, Teera lunged into the chaos and took the clothing that was thrust at her. In fifteen minutes, her image in the mirror was unrecognizable except for one thing, the tattoo of her mother’s name above her right hip. Her father had objected, but it was within the protocols of the Asku to put the name of deceased loved ones on their bodies. It was a glyph in the words of the ancient Leffuo crossed with those of High Asku. The mark itself was tiny, but looking at it in the mirror, it meant so much.
To one of the Leffuo, it would look like a lover’s mark. Some women collected them, after all.
They all felt the shudder as their ship locked in with those of the Skylord’s airship. Silence fell while they waited and when the gong sounded, they walked to the surface of the ships and started to dance.
Chapter Four
Dirko sat comfortably on the deck of his ship, the low table in front of him held a number of offerings of the Mar Clan. The other offerings were dancing in front of him.
The women were masked, but that only disguised the fine details of their appearances. The rest of their bodies were firmly on display under gauze, silks and gemstones.
The drummer was on his ship and he controlled their dance.
Mako was tense whenever the seventh dancer came close to them and it didn’t take much assessment to figure out that the older man was nervous.
“Who is the dancer, Clan Leader?”
“Which dancer, Lord Velu?” Mako feigned sudden interest in one of the platters.
“The woman with the white blonde hair and the golden eyes. It is an unusual combination and with her grace and charm, she no doubt has her pick of the men.”
“Ah, one of my granddaughters recently returned to me.” He smiled briefly.
Dirko blinked. It was unheard of for women to disappear for long stretches of time on Leffuo. “Where was she?”
“My daughter made an arrangement with the girl’s father and lived with him until her untimely death off world.”
Dirko’s focus suddenly sharpened as he watched the woman twist, writhe and shift. “She is the halfling that everyone is talking about. The woman born to a previous Asku Skylord.”
Mako seemed intensely uncomfortable. “That is correct.”
His appreciation of the dance suddenly took on a new attitude. He was not allowed to take women to his bed who were not virgins or Asku. She was Asku and she was fair
game.
* * * *
Teera moved, twisted and trailed with the others back and forth between their joined decks. When the drum ceased, she followed protocol and knelt decorously on the metal plates where she had just been dancing.
Sweat coated her chest as she fought to control her breathing. To her amusement, a few women wandered over to the men on the airship when beckoned.
Shock struck her when the very man they had trotted out here to impress was beckoning her.
Knowing the protocols and enacting them were two completely different things. She blinked and the skylord of the Asku beckoned again. Rashi nudged her with an elbow and the small pain woke Teera into action.
She got to her feet and paced toward him, not putting the extra swing in her hips that the other women used. To her surprise, he held out his hand and aimed his hand toward her leg. The moment she positioned herself with her left leg forward, a band snapped into place around it.
“Your dance was riveting, miss. Please, have a seat.” Dirko nodded to the spot next to her grandfather.
Blushing, she took the seat and settled next to Mako. “Thank you, Skylord.”
“Dirko, please.”
“Dirko then. My name is Teera.” She inclined her head.
“Teera. A lovely name.”
Mako got to his feet. “Thank you for your hospitality, Skylord. I will leave you two for the evening.”
Teera blinked in surprise as she was left alone with the man wearing trousers, muscle and tattoos. “I don’t think I should be here too long.”
“Why not? You have the evening free. I have the evening free. A little light conversation is in order.”
Dirko leaned back in a casual manner and Teera relaxed slightly. Even at home, she had never been allowed to be alone with an Asku warrior, let alone have an in-depth conversation with one.
“I suppose that conversation is okay.”
He chuckled and poured a glass of wine, sipping lightly before setting it down. “I am glad. How have you enjoyed your time on Leffuo?”
“It is different. I worried about what to do with myself when I got here, but I seem to be making myself useful to my grandfather’s clan.”
He raised one dark eyebrow over his midnight eyes. He had the dark star eyes of his ancestress and they were hypnotic.
“You are a Velu.”
“I am. My eldest brother recently found his mate and so now, the rest of us are out searching for a woman of our own.”
She snickered. “You are looking for a woman of your own here on Leffuo? There are few virgins on these ships.”
He grinned, “So I am learning. How do you adapt to living here?”
“Well, you have to throw yourself into it. Enjoy what they have to offer while keeping a grip on yourself. It is a peculiar thing, but one does get used to it.”
The selection of food on the table was mouth-watering, but she had not been offered the opportunity to eat and so, she had to wait.
A casual glance showed her that the other dancers had already disappeared off the deck, either back to the Mar ship or into the skylord’s vessel. She quickly refocused on the meal.
He scowled. “I am being a horrible host, please have some.”
“Thank you. It has been a while since breakfast.” She daintily took some of the fresh fruits that were kept under close watch on the Mar ship and nibbled while wondering how to phrase her question.
“Dirko, how did you come to be here on Leffuo? It seems a little peculiar to assign the son of the overlord to a policing post.”
He sat up and smiled. “Very astute. I was sent here to police Leffuo and assess their needs in the coming years. It is an action that the overlord engages in every fifty years or so.”
“What have you found so far?” She nibbled at more fruit and smiled at the wet sweetness as it trickled down her throat.
“A need for better equipment is definitely prominent, since there is no way to manufacture anything on this world.”
She continued to eat and they talked about the needs of the Leffuo people in general and those of the clan in specific.
It was the minute shudder of the ship that finally got her attention and when she turned to look at the Mar Clan ship, it was drifting away.
She cried out and got to her feet, running to the edge of the skylord’s ship and watching her home disappear.
“Teera, why are you upset? Surely you knew the intent of this evening?”
She swallowed and turned to look up into his eyes. He was close, inches away, and heat radiated off his skin. “That was never my intent. Mako promised me that I would be beyond expectations of a standard clan woman.”
Chuckling, he reached out and pulled her to him. His kisses tasted of wine and fruit and in a moment of clarity, she realized that he was a little more drunk than she had anticipated. He pressed his hips into hers and she swallowed at the bar of heat and rigidity that rubbed against her.
She was not getting off the skylord’s ship intact that was a certainty.
Chapter Five
His room was huge, ten times the size of the small room that Teera had on the Mar Clan ship.
Teera ran through the pros and cons of sleeping with the Asku skylord and then shrugged. She was on Leffuo now and if she were to remain with them, she had to abide by their traditions.
He kissed her again as he backed her toward the bed. His hands loosened the carefully placed clothing and it slithered to the floor in a heap. “Lovely. Every inch of you is lovely.”
She blushed and tried to look down, but the ridge in his trousers was not a safe place to stare.
Teera raised her hands and touched his chest, trailing her fingers over the marks of his family, mother, father and smaller marks of his brothers. The Asku looked primitive, but they wore their history on their skin.
His arms were marked with the battles he had fought and scars cut across the musculature in random intervals, highlighting the planes and muscles of his chest.
He stood still while she trailed her fingers over his body, learning his heats, textures and reactions to each light caress. He shivered under her touch and she was almost able to forget that she was naked except for the mask.
Remembering that she had a mask on gave her a feeling of anonymity. When he kissed her again, she leaned up into him, surrendering completely.
Dirko tugged her head back and trailed heated kisses down her neck.
She stifled a groan. If she had known that a man’s caress could feel that good, she might have tried it sooner.
When he reached her breasts, she whimpered and pressed her thighs together as liquid heat rushed out of her in reaction.
His teeth grazed her nipple and tugged before he closed his mouth over her breast and sucked hard.
Her body grew hot, shivery and then her knees buckled and she held onto him for support. Pleasure burned through her veins and she gasped for control while her mind spun at the reality of her first orgasm.
Sheets at her back brought her senses back under her control.
Dirko moved to cover her, his trousers a thing of the past. He parted her thighs with his own and held her arms above her head. “Tell me that you want me.”
She answered honestly. “I want you.”
He pressed against her folds and his cock worked its way into her in minute increments. The moment he butted against her hymen, she winced, braced her feet on the bed and shoved toward him with her hips. His own weight buckled his arms and he fell through her virginity with a grunt.
He lifted his head and stared at her in confusion. “I thought you were experienced.”
She tried to smile past the tears of pain in her eyes. “Why would I be? I was raised Asku and Asku women don’t sleep around. Now, are you done or is there more to this?”
She chuckled at the offended expression that ran over his features.
He retreated slightly and slid forward, giving her a thrill of pleasure that ran through her from the inside out
.
“Do you want more, Teera?”
She smiled and she knew that there was a lazy seduction in her features. “Yes, please. If this is my one night with an Asku, I want to make it count.”
He gave her an indecipherable look and thrust into her slowly again.
Dirko rocked into her carefully with attention to her every expression, increasing speed and force as she moaned and sighed with his every movement.
She held on for dear life as he reached between them to stroke the tiny nub of sensation that she had never bothered getting familiar with. When he touched her, she realized her oversight.
She screamed and arched into him and he shouted, thrusting in short, hard motions until his body shook and she felt a twinge of heat inside her.
He slumped on her for a moment and then rolled to the side, leaving the bed to patter into his lav and when he returned, he had a warm, wet cloth in his hand. She fought him when he rolled her to her back and parted her thighs.
Her blush was furious and she covered her eyes as he wiped the blood and semen from her. “This is humiliating.”
“This is losing one’s virginity. If I had known in advance, I would have been better prepared.”
She glared at him. “Why would you think I wasn’t a virgin?”
His hand stroked her hip where her mother’s name was etched. “This mark. It obviously isn’t a lover’s mark, so what is it?”
“My mother’s name in Asku and Leffuo. She died when I was young, I wanted to remember her.”
He sighed and pressed his forehead to her mask. “I see. Well, you will soon be wearing my mark as well.”
She widened her eyes. “That is not customary among the Asku.”
“But it is here and so you will get your mark in the morning.”
She yawned and when he gestured for her to move, she scooted to the unblemished side of the wide bed. He scooted in next to her and curled his body around hers.
