A bevy of butterflies took flight in Leah’s stomach and she found herself trembling in spite of the man’s obvious practiced greeting.
“In a moment, we will begin seating you at the tables. As the rule sheet indicated, you will remain in your seat and have the opportunity to spend seven minutes with each of your dates as they rotate around the room. Time that you are encouraged to use wisely to determine if he might be a man, one you would like to get to know better. At the end of the evening, you will then turn in your selection sheets and can expect an email tomorrow with the list of men that are anxious to see you again.”
Leah quickly did the math and realized with twenty men making the rotation for seven minutes each, she was going to be stuck in her chair for more than a couple of hours.
“We will have two breaks to allow you to grab another drink or to use the restrooms but in order to stay within the time constraints, we ask that you return from your breaks as quickly as possible.” Although Michael’s face held a dazzling smile the entire time he spoke, it never quite reached his eyes. “Are there any questions?”
“Are you one of the participants?” A flirty voice called from the back of the group, causing a chorus of giggles that broke some of the tension Michael’s speech had incurred.
“Sadly, no,” the man responded with a small shake of his head. His professional smile never faltered. While good-looking, Leah found him a little too smooth for her taste. “If there are no other questions, you may now enter and choose your table.”
After half-beat of stillness the stampede of women crowded the doorway, their heads swiveling back and forth trying to find the ‘best’ table before making a beeline for it. It was like a Black Friday sale with everyone shoving and moving quickly in order to get exactly where they wanted and at the soonest possible moment! Leah and Pam were the last handful of women who entered. Only two empty tables remained and the friends swiftly snagged them.
As they made themselves comfortable, another set of doors opened directly across from the ones the women had used. A short, buxom redhead with a blindingly white smile entered first and waved the men forward. The line of guys strode through the aisles, their assessing eyes darted over the tables before stopping behind an open chair.
“Remember gentlemen, you are to move to the next wonderful lady as soon as the bell sounds.” The woman’s voice was a throaty purr and just a shade too sexy, too intimate for the mixed company setting.
It seemed the host and hostess were to tantalize rather than calm the attendees. Leah snuck a glance at Pam to gauge her reaction. However, her friend wasn’t paying any attention to the room at large or even the petite but well-endowed hostess who’d accompanied the men.
Pam’s eyes didn’t stray from whoever stood behind the chair directly in front of her and Leah’s gaze couldn’t help but follow the same path. Large hands rested lightly on the top back and she witnessed thick arms covered by both a dress shirt and jacket. No tie but his open collar exposed a strong tanned neck hooded by shoulder-length brown wavy hair. Leah’s eyes continued up towards his face.
However, her trance broke when the man standing in front of her own table availed himself of the chair.
“Hi, I’m Ted.” The man across from her smiled on his overloud announcement and shoved out his hand, only missing the single lit candle by millimeters.
“Leah,” she mumbled and pressed her palm to his. She schooled her features at the moist touch of his skin on hers.
Maybe he’s just as nervous as you are, she scolded herself and dropped her hand back into her lap to wipe it on her traitorously short skirt.
“I’m a homebody who enjoys model trains, just about all sports and have two adorable cats.” Ted drummed his fingers on the tabletop which was just a minor annoyance compared to the sound of his tenor voice. “What about you?”
She hated to do it but both she and Pam had decided that the best way for them to ‘cull the herd’ (so to speak) was to ensure that they described themselves as the exact opposite of what their potential partner relayed about their interests.
“Wow, we couldn’t be more different!” Leah tried to inject some enthusiasm into her voice and to stop mumbling but it was an effort. “I like to go and do and try new things. I don’t know about trains, but I’m not into sports.” She offered a smile and hoped it only felt faked before adding, “And I’m horribly allergic to cats.”
Ted’s smile faded and he wiggled in his seat before casting an eye over his shoulder. “So no love at first sight for us, huh?”
The smile that lit Leah’s face was one of the true varieties and she shrugged. “Doesn’t seem like it. But we still have five minutes left.”
“Ever been to one of these things before?” Ted looked a lot better after he relaxed although he still wasn’t the kind of man Leah would consider for herself.
“Nope. You?” She hoped they could fill the time remaining with inane albeit socially acceptable chatter before he moved on.
“Yeah,” he admitted with a rueful shake of his head, causing the overhead lights to catch on his receding hairline. “They’re okay, I guess. You get to meet a lot of new people. And sometimes those people show up at some of the other single events here in town.”
“There are other places for singles, too?” Her interest piqued at the idea of other activities where unattached men and women in the twenty-one to thirty-five age group got together.
“Sure! They’re all over the valley.” The wink accompanying his words had Leah shifting in her own chair. “You need a tour guide, DeeDee?”
“Uhm, it’s Leah,” she corrected, while managing not to roll her eyes at how quickly Ted had forgotten her name. “Are they listed on the internet?”
He raised a hand and swished it through the air. “Some are, some aren’t.” He dropped his voice both in volume and in timbre as he leaned closer. “And some, Dana, are by invitation only.”
‘Yuck’ her mind yelped and she quickly raised a hand to her nose to prevent him from seeing how she’d involuntarily scrunched it in derision at his obvious come-on. “Looks like I’ll be doing some research!”
His mouth formed small moue of disappointment but if that was Ted’s opening gambit when meeting a woman, Leah figured he was going to be extremely frustrated by the time the night had finished. The tinkling of a bell-sound saw him up and out of his chair so fast that he had to rescue it from tumbling onto its back before he quickly moved to Pam’s table.
Leah turned her head to glance at her friend when the table underneath her forearms rocked, signaling her next partner had arrived. Pasting on a small grin before looking at the newest man, she had a fleeting thought, a prayer that Ted would be the worst she would encounter.
However, she was wrong and knew it the second the man started speaking.
“Damn. You’re tall,” he grumped with a frown. “I can tell. Just by looking at how long your forearm is, I can tell you’re close to six feet. I don’t date tall women.”
Momentarily nonplussed, she blinked before replying. “Yes, I am. And I’m guessing by your reaction that you aren’t.” Sure, it was a shitty response but Leah figured she had nothing to lose. “So what do you want to do for the next six and a half minutes?”
“Do you mind if we just sit here? I’ve been on my feet all day and my dogs are barking.” The gentleman, if he called himself one in the loosest of terms, twisted and turned in his chair, checking out the other women at the surrounding tables. “I don’t wanna be rude or nothing but I’m tired of coming to these things.”
“So why are you here then? I mean, if you’re tired and everything.” It was a valid question, especially in light of how Leah felt about the experience so far.
“It’s my ma. She’s always after me to find a nice girl and move to a place of my own. She just don’t get it, though. Says I’m too picky and that everybody’s the same height when in bed.” Leah took in the round face and sparse hair, the hunched shoulders and hands that gesti
culated as he spoke. Yep, he had the look of a man already well set in his ways. “Says it’s not normal for a man of forty…ah, I mean thirty-five…to still be living at home.”
Leah cocked her head as she studied him and decided to go for the truth. “She might have a point.”
For the first time, the man looked straight at her. There was a beat or two of silence before she heard him whisper, “Bitch” and the bell again sounded. He, like Ted, moved out of his chair like a shot anxious to get away from her. This was more than okay.
And so it went.
One after another, they came, they sat, and they talked. Some tried their version of charm or used their form of humor in order to present themselves in the best possible light. Leah tried to respond in kind and hoped she didn’t fail as badly at the forced camaraderie as the men did.
“I don’t think I’m being choosy,” she explained to Pam as they stood elbow to elbow at the ladies room sink, reapplying their lipstick and finger combing their hair during the break. “But I haven’t been impressed so far.”
“I thought Ted was nice.” Pam finished with her hair and took out a small bottle of perfume for a quick spritz.
“He was slimy, with all that business about ‘by invitation only’ garbage. Ick, Pam!”
Pam smiled at her reflection before moving her eyes to Leah’s image. “Yeah, that part wasn’t so cool but I think he was nervous and just talking shit.” She stepped back to allow another girl to squeeze in for some mirror-time and pulled Leah with her. “That first guy, though? Mister tall, dark, and oh-my-god? He was seriously hot.”
“Yeah?” Leah really couldn’t have cared less at this point and was just hoping to make it through the rest of the evening without yawning.
“But he couldn’t see me for nothing. Every time I looked up at him, he was eyeing you!”
Wait…what?
Leah frowned and glanced at her friend.
“And he was still trying to catch your eye when we got up for break!” Pam didn’t sound disappointed, though. “Put the man out of his misery and smile at him or something, would you?”
“Has he been to my table yet?”
“No, silly. He’ll be your last partner of the evening with the direction they’ve got the guys moving.” Pam yanked the restroom door open but continued talking over her shoulder as they left the crowded lavatory. “Let’s get a refill and see if the second half is better than the first, shall we?”
Leah leaned down a bit, trying to adjust her stride to Pam’s much shorter pace. “Could you point him out to me?”
Pam lifted an eyebrow before a giggle broke through her newly shined lips. “Of course, honey. That’s a wing-girl’s job!”
Leah had no clue what that meant but if there was someone out there who was tall, dark and oh-my-god as well as even remotely interested in her, then she’d like the chance to see him before he hit her table.
Keeping her fingers crossed that maybe, just maybe the night wouldn’t turn out to be a bust after all.
Chapter Seven
Rykhan and Wyst stood on the outer fringes of where the humans gathered in the bar and sipped at their drinks as they talked quietly. Making a point of speaking in the more formal Picari dialect, they did not care if others overheard but kept their voices low nonetheless.
“These females seem different than the ones on the sites we studied.” Wyst’s frustration came through his tone. “And act different than those on the vid feeds we received.”
“The vids were of females engaged in sexual pleasure. The ones on the sites are looking for mates.” Rykhan was frustrated as well but not for the same reason as his warrior-brother. As soon as he had walked into the vast room dotted with small tables, he had felt her. Had absolutely known beyond any doubt that his mate, his legitimate and true other half had been present. Moreover, when he had seen her, had caught the light floral scent of her skin, had been hard-pressed not to gather her to him and escape the confines of the event.
“There’s a difference? Does that mean that these Earth females who are seeking a pairing won’t want to join with us?” Wyst’s voice growled in low rumble with every question he threw at his warrior-brother.
However, Rykhan did not allow the other male’s demanding tone to temper his reply. “No and for you to ask means you need to do more research.”
Wyst had been instructed to study the culture of Earth, or more specifically the Phoenix portion of the state of Arizona in the United States of America in the northern hemisphere of the planet Earth just as he and the other males on their quest had. True, Wyst was not a scholar and preferred to be in motion rather than simply sitting and analyzing data. Nevertheless, it was not Rykhan’s job to ensure what the other warrior knew or did not.
That was up to Bronsyn, their quest leader and as far as Rykhan was concerned, Wyst needed to take his questions to the older man. Allowing Rykhan to get on with plotting how to ensure he left this ridiculous meeting with his one true mate in tow.
“How can I pore over all the information, Rykhan, when it is so dissimilar to the females I’m meeting here tonight? I mean, my tailpor was at the ready when we entered the room but as soon as I began talking with them, breathing in their aromas, my excitement left and I felt almost physically ill. Did they lie about themselves on the dating websites and video-feeds?”
Rykhan’s eyes took in Wyst’s posture and knew the male was not over-exaggerating, because he had felt the same at the beginning of their first venture out. At first, he too had felt his tailpor’s excitement in anticipation of meeting the females of Earth face-to-face. As he had moved through the tables though, their voices grated on his nerves, seeing greedy eyes move over him and the other males as if judging Nutrolian cattle until his desire had left him.
Most of the humans in attendance did not smell particularly pleasant. As if somehow knowing that their body odor was offensive, many of them added some kind of overlaying scent to confuse the nose. In the case of the Picari Alliance warriors, whose sense of smell was only one in their arsenal of skills as Protectorates, it was all too much. When combined with the aggressive approach of some of the females, Rykhan had felt his stomach turn.
Until he had caught a whiff, just the barest aroma that had both teased and settled him at the same time. He had moved with the other males, in and around the tables, as he had tried to determine which female projected the luscious scent.
Once his eyes had zeroed in on her, he had not been able to keep them away for any length of time.
She seemed unaware of him, as she had interacted with the others. Her inattention to him had only allowed his gaze free reign as he studied her. There was no denying she was beautiful but Rykhan could not determine exactly what set her apart from the other beauties in the room. Was it her creamy skin not covered in as many of the artificial colors the other females wore? On the other hand, perhaps it was the sparkle of her smile she seemed to flash so freely that captured his attention?
He had wanted to push the other males aside to be the one who sat across from her, who had her full regard and to find out if her voice was as beautiful as the rest of her. Instead of getting closer, he had been force to move further and further away. The distance between them had made him tense, curt in his speech. So much so, his temporary partners seemed to take his frustration personally.
Lifting his head, Rykhan spied his female across the room, surprised she was taller than most of the others in the room.
Beauty and height worthy of a Protectorate warrior, his mind supplied and he had to hide the smile that wanted to escape. Even his body agreed as he again felt himself becoming aroused while he watched her from his dimly lit corner. Admittedly, he did not approve of the attire she wore, but the skirt and sparkled top covered more of her flesh than those of the other females. The two warriors did not care for skin, especially of the breast flesh, that the human females freely displayed.
He liked her shiny, spiked shoes though. Liked the way they cau
ght the light and drew his attention to her breath-stealing legs. Long, long curvaceous legs that ignited a fire low in his belly and made his hearts beat very fast.
She turned slightly at the waist as she looked around the room. As their eyes caught and held, Rykhan felt something snap into place between them, almost as if their shared stare was something biological, a living connection that united them from their places on either side of the room. With their link beating between them, Rykhan discovered a faint knowing of what she felt, of curiosity edged in expectant optimism that coursed inside her. It was that, along with her alluring scent and the throbbing of his warrior’s wahrom on his right bicep that had him straightening to his full height. Stupefied by the three components coming together all at the same time and all because of one female, he felt chills of desire break out over his skin.
Her raked over him and Rykhan wondered if she found him pleasing. Until then, his appearance was never a consideration, but at that moment, he was very aware of the differences between himself and the other human males in the room. His light brown hair fell to his shoulders in gentle waves and although Wyst’s hair was even longer, he knew it labeled them as ‘different’. The females he had met had also commented on the blue-green of his eyes, one even called it ‘Caribbean blue’ whatever the Posket that meant. It was only from the admiration in her voice he had realized the female had given him a compliment.
Nevertheless, their attraction to one another physically was only one small portion of the equation. The connection, the link of their emotions and the pulsing of his wahrom held much more sway.
He had heard the tales from the older ones, the Galaxian stories of finding your legitimate and true other half, of the signals and signs which became a knowing deep inside a warrior, but Rykhan had not believed them.
Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) Page 6
