“Are these for the public?” I whispered to her, feeling self-conscious at the prospect of any people nearby hearing my ignorance.
“I think so,” she replied uncertainly, glancing into one herself. “I haven’t gone inside any, but they have really weird rooms if they’re not stores.”
We passed through an intersection, and I started to recognize my surroundings. The road to the left would bring me back to the infirmary and, if I were to continue along it, I would end up at the Headquarters. We didn’t turn left, though; we continued straight, and I let Donna guide the way. She looked around a lot, gathering her bearings, but she seemed generally comfortable with navigating the Ward and memorized landmarks easily.
Finally, after veering right, I found myself standing at the head of a street that split two rows of peculiar tents down the middle. I couldn’t tell how far down the street they stretched, but what I was able to see was a vast array of merchants and products I had never even fathomed before. It was like being at the mall for the first time again.
“Oh my God,” I gushed, reaching for Donna’s linked arm with my free hand. “This is so—”
“What do you think you are doing?”
15
Lokos
When I saw the sheet of mahogany hair, I was certain I was seeing things. When I noticed it was attached to a heart-shaped face atop a curvaceous figure, I knew I had not gone mad. And then I got mad.
“What do you think you are doing?” I barked, storming forward.
Celine was reaching for Donna’s arm, and I snagged her wrist in mid-air. She leaped at least two inches into the air in surprise, and, the moment her eyes fell on me, her face dropped. Guilt flooded her cheeks in pink heat as she realized I had caught her disobeying my order.
“I was just…” she began. Her voice died off in an unspoken explanation, and she looked to her friend for help.
Donna unwrapped her arm from Celine’s and stepped forward brazenly. “She was getting out of that house,” she said loftily, tilting her chin upward to look me directly in the eye. “She’s been stuck in there for too long.”
“You were told to stay inside,” I growled.
“I know!” Celine said, her voice high-pitched. “But I haven’t been out in eight days!”
“Irrelevant.” I tugged on her wrist, pulling her to me. Gazes were turning in our direction from all sides, and the incessant chatter that was the soundtrack to the Fifth Ward market quieted to a meager buzz. Celine blushed a deeper hue of crimson as she realized the abundance of attention on us.
“Can you not treat me like a child?” she intoned.
I glared at her. “When you behave like a responsible adult, I will treat you as such.”
“What are you going to do?” she challenged, that spark of defiance lighting in her eyes. “Throw me over your shoulder again and carry me back home?”
“I have had worse ideas,” I retorted.
In truth, I was itching to do just that. I wanted to grab her arousing body, march her back to the dormitory, and take her up to her room to exhaust her until she had no desire to do anything but sleep. With the number of people staring at us, though, I refrained and, instead, I jerked her wrist.
“Come,” I commanded.
“She’s fine,” Donna insisted. She sounded angry, but she was looking at me with something I could only identify as desire. I was far from interested.
“And lucky she is,” I snapped at the blonde. Throwing a sharp look back at Celine, I repeated, “Come. Now.”
“No,” she replied stubbornly. “You don’t get to dictate what I do outside of these laws and regulations you never told me about even though you’re supposed to be my guide. If everyone else is allowed out until dark, I am too. Contrary to what you think, I don’t belong to you.”
It was as if I had been slapped squarely in the face. Had her words been a hand, my cheek would have turned navy with the impact. In my mind, my order for her to remain inside was purely for her protection—a little overzealous, perhaps, but the intentions were good. Clearly, she had interpreted it differently than I had, along with a number of other things. I eyed her for a long moment, reeling with her venom, then released her wrist and stepped back.
“Perhaps you are right,” I said coolly. “It was my mistake. I apologize.”
She opened her mouth to speak, looking a little rueful, but I turned around and walked away without another word.
Silah was standing near one of the meat vendors where I had left him. He either had no opinion about what just so publicly happened or he hid it well because his expression was mild and unobtrusive. When I drew up to him, he wisely said nothing and returned to studying shanks. The merchant, however, was less tactful.
“Your girlfriend?” he asked in A’li-uud, grinning toothily at me.
“Hardly,” I answered impassively. I plucked the first cut of meat I saw from the ice-packed table and held it aloft. “I will take this.”
He packed it in a parcel of frozen skin for safekeeping until I returned home and handed it to me, extending his palm upward for payment. I gave him the beads, fingernail-sized globes of aspex, and waited for Silah to make his purchase. He, too, paid with the aspex beads. They were a form of currency used only in Montemba, and they were generally only accepted at the markets. Most citizens operated by trade, exchanging goods of equal worth. Vendors sought the beads, though, to sell to citizens of other kingdoms at markets across Albaterra where aspex could not be found and was, thus, a valued commodity.
“Did you tell her about the Novai?” Silah asked when he had finished his transaction, and we had walked a respectable distance from any needling merchants.
“The Elders have not approved the informing of the colonists yet,” I responded matter-of-factly.
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. We were going to the Headquarters to meet with Dane, but we had a bit of a walk yet, and I could see plainly that Silah was interested in talking.
“No, but I was under the impression she was special to you,” he pressed.
I frowned. “She is my charge, and I am her guide, as I am sure you heard,” I said. Celine’s words ran through my mind again, but I tried to shake them free from my consciousness. “She is due no different treatment than any other colonist here, and that includes access to information still under discussion by the Council.”
“Of course,” Silah said with an inclination of his head. He spoke respectfully, but I could tell he no more believed me than I believed myself.
We had not even come within sight of the Headquarters when I saw Dane. He was waiting at the corner of a crossroads expectantly. When he spotted us, he jerked his chin in greeting, but he continued looking around immediately after. We approached him.
“Were we not to meet at the Headquarters?” I asked, glancing around as well as if to locate what he sought.
“Yes,” he said with a sharp nod. “I am waiting for our guests.”
Silah and I exchanged glances. “Who will be joining us, Fierce One?” Silah inquired curiously.
Dane jerked his chin again, but his gaze was directed over my shoulder. I twisted my neck, and my jaw nearly fell open.
“I have called upon Sevani and Khrel,” he announced in a low tone, meant only for Silah and I to hear. “Desperate times.”
As the brawny A’li-uud strode up the street, their gait forceful and confident, their skin shimmering teal beneath the sun, I took in a sharp breath. If Dane had requested the presence of Sevani and Khrel, we were more than desperate.
We were doomed.
16
Celine
Eight days trapped inside the dorm without seeing or hearing from Lokos was awful, but I gladly would have traded in my freedom-until-nightfall for it if it meant the tension between us would be gone.
I hadn’t intended to hurt his feelings by saying the things I said about him as my guide and my not belonging to him, but I’d been so embarrassed by the scene he was making t
hat I just wanted it to stop. Then again, I wasn’t even sure I had hurt his feelings. Maybe I’d just bruised his ego. Or maybe I’d crossed some A’li-uud line I didn’t know existed. No matter what it was, the result was the same: another six days had passed since the incident at the market, and, though Lokos had come to the dormitory several times for “living on Albaterra” lessons, he refused to look me in the eye.
The first time he showed up at the door, I was so stunned to see him I almost didn’t let him in. He gruffly said, “We need somewhere quiet to talk,” and I assumed he wanted to discuss the argument. I led him to my room, which Donna had vacated hours before to take the gawky glasses-wearing guy who’d walked in on Lokos and me to the dance competition some of the soldiers were performing on the Ward’s west side.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized the moment he closed the door behind him. He turned to face me, but there was no emotion on his face. “I shouldn’t have been so rude.”
Part of me was expecting him to apologize too. Another part of me anticipated a gracious acceptance of my regret. A small but very inwardly vocal piece of my mind was hoping against hope he would punish me for my behavior by bending me over the bed and taking me for all I was worth. I’d never been a nymphomaniac like Donna, but something about Lokos brought it out in me, and even our fight had me salivating for his touch.
He had done none of it. Crossing the room brusquely, he sat on the sturdy wooden chair at the desk and shuffled it around to face me.
“We need to discuss the laws of the colony,” he said reticently. “And the laws of Albaterra.”
I immediately assumed that I had, indeed, crossed a line in his culture by snapping at him the way I had and waited for a lecture, but it didn’t come. Instead, he launched into a lesson about crimes, their various degrees and suitable punishments, and the tiered system of justice officials. Much of it was similar to Earth, or at least to America. Murder was a capital crime, the most grievous of offenses, and a murder charge was always brought before the Council of Elders. Assault and other transgressions causing harm to another were a distant second and most times handled by the Elder who ruled the kingdom in which the crime was committed. I heard a peculiar one, a crime against the Grand Circle which was essentially any act of disrespect toward nature and its bounty, but I began to tune him out. I was rapidly numbing as it dawned on me that, not only did he not forgive me, but he had no intention to make amends.
He left that day without exchanging many words with me outside of his lesson. After asking if I had any questions, he left with a cursory goodbye, and I was alone again.
The second visit was almost identical to the first, the only difference being the topic of his lecture. This time, it was about the Grand Circle. He’d touched upon it when discussing it in the context of a crime, but I hadn’t properly grasped its weight to the A’li-uud people. Even through his frosty wall of emotionless monotony, I could see the Grand Circle was a source of reverence to him. It was like the human version of God, Mother Nature, and fate rolled into one. The Grand Circle was the essence of life. It lived within all and amongst all, keeping the cosmos in balance and ensuring the cycle continued wholly and purely. He spoke of honoring hunted wildlife after a kill, recycling the fallen leaves from aged plants to nourish the seedlings of new sprouts, and repaying the planet by living naturally and sustainably. Most A’li-uud superstitions were in some way related to the Grand Circle, be it due to an imbalance or wrongdoing that hitched the cycle. It was like their religion, but it was much deeper than that. They weren’t functioning on blind faith; they were dignifying what they had.
Finally, when he arrived for the third time, I couldn’t take the cold indifference anymore. He hadn’t even shut the door to the bedroom before I started in on him.
“Look, I said I was sorry,” I said hotly. “Which, by the way, would have been nice to hear from you too. I don’t know what else you want from me.”
He looked at me without a scrap of feeling. “I want nothing from you.”
“Really? Because it sure seems like you’re holding a grudge.”
“I do not hold grudges.” He walked past me to the chair and sat, but I wasn’t through.
“Then, why haven’t you talked to me about anything but this mentor stuff since the market?” I demanded, spinning on my heel to face him. “Why are you treating me like a stranger?”
He met my furious gaze with a frigid one of his own and said, “I am your guide. My job is to teach you the ways of Albaterra and help you with anything you need to be comfortable here.”
“I’d be a lot more comfortable if you’d stop being passive-aggressive,” I lashed.
“I do not intend to be passive-aggressive,” he replied tonelessly. “I intend only to do my job so you can live your life happily.”
The sheer lack of emotion was beginning to infuriate me, and I could feel my temper rising. “So, I imagined it all then?” I cried, unable to keep the anger and hurt out of my voice. “The chemistry and the…attraction? I know we never said it out loud, but I’m pretty sure there was something starting between us that seemed to go to hell when the whole thing happened at the market!”
Finally, there was a glint of response. His eyes narrowed, and I saw the same sultry shadow drift across his face I’d seen when he lingered over me on the couch. The divots on the edges of his lips deepened as he said, “You did not imagine it. But you made your point, and your desires, very clear. I wish only to respect that.”
“I just wanted to be allowed to live!” I exclaimed, relief shooting through me. “I was going crazy in here!”
“I did not want anything to harm you. The threat that nearly took your life is still very real and very near.”
“Just because I almost died doesn’t mean I need to be treated like a helpless little girl,” I said softly. “And, believe me, I’m very grateful to you for saving my life. But what’s the point of saving my life if you won’t let me live because you’re afraid I’ll get hurt?”
He stared at me for a beat, and then, in one swipe, he threw the chair to the side. His body was on top of mine in a flash, pressing me back onto the bed and enveloping me in his thick, woodsy scent. Our mouths crushed together in a long-awaited kiss, and, as his flavor flooded my tongue, I let go. I released all of the pent-up frustration, irritation, and worry I’d been feeling for days and simply bathed myself in his taste, his hot and savory and heady taste. My lips rolled against his, suckling and caressing, as our slick tongues wrestled for control. He was so warm. His skin felt almost feverish against mine as if he ran a few degrees warmer. I closed my hand around the back of his head and pulled him closer.
His groin ground into my hip. He was already solid and thick, ready for me, and the growl that spurred from the back of his throat into my mouth sounded like a command. I didn’t hesitate. I reached down to his waistband and shimmied my hand between his skin and the fabric. My fingers curled around his girth, my palm almost flattening against his impressive diameter, and he groaned against my lips. His teeth darted forward to nibble the tip of my tongue, and I rewarded him with a smooth stroke along his length.
A stream of clacks poured from his mouth. They had unnerved me before, but now, with his face contorted in pleasure and our bodies molded against one another, they were nothing short of erotic. Even though I couldn’t understand what he was saying, I was certain he was releasing a string of expletives as his nerves took control. Relishing my power, I stroked again. This time, it ignited his inner beast, and I was shoved upward on the bed as he greedily thrust the hem of my shirt up to my neck.
“All right, little human,” he gnarred, clamping his teeth over the edge of my left bra cup and tugging it down until my breast sprang free. “Let me show you how helpless you can be.”
17
Lokos
I caught her nipple between my teeth and suckled. Her entire body shuddered, and her back arched into the most graceful curve I had ever seen. My lips rolled over the sen
sitive skin, massaging and caressing, while my teeth nibbled and my tongue flicked. She yowled with need.
My groin was on fire. The way she had touched me was so gentle, yet extraordinarily pleasurable, and seeing her respond to me with such primal lust was, perhaps, the most arousing thing I could think of. I fluttered the tip of my tongue over the hardened, peaked nub and delighted in the way her moan rippled from her throat. She was wrong. She did belong to me.
Just as I skimmed my hands down her sides to locate her sweetest of spots, however, the door to her bedroom suddenly flew open.
“Well,” said Dane’s voice from the threshold in A’li-uud, “I suppose it was only fair I walk into this.”
I scrambled upright as Celine hastily tugged her shirt back over her torso. Dane was, indeed, standing in the doorway. His eyes were averted, but there was a noticeable grin on his face. I understood why. I had walked in on him when he had been about to make love to Roxanne. It had been embarrassing, but it was definitely more embarrassing being on this side of the coin.
“Silah said I would find you here,” he went on, staring fixedly at the wall. “I would have sent him to fetch you, but he was finishing a training session with several colonists, so I came myself. I need you to join me at the Headquarters.”
“Of course,” I replied, also speaking A’li-uud. Though Celine was unable to comprehend the exchange going on before her, she seemed wholly uninterested. Her only preoccupation was ensuring her clothes covered her private bits.
Lokos: A Scifi Alien Romance: Albaterra Mates Book 4 Page 7
