“I have a question,” I said. “As a mental health professional, what do you suppose will happen to Matara Hina? I know what the officers told me, about her having to accept help. Will she be all right?”
“Do you mean, would she come after Anrel again?”
“Oh, I don’t imagine she’ll do that. She was too outraged by her own actions.” I thought of how Hina had claimed she would have killed anyone who’d done to her what she’d done to me. “I’m just concerned about how she’ll live with herself after all this. If she’ll be able to get over her grief at last.”
Dr. Cafir regarded me for several seconds before replying. “I’m not acquainted with the Matara, so I can’t speak to what the future might hold for her. You’re concerned about her.”
“I’ve been reflecting on how alike our situations could have been. Had the It succeeded in destroying Anrel before she was born, I’d also be staring at every little girl, wondering what I’d lost. Thinking of the theft of the dreams I’d held for my child. The death of a baby has to be the greatest possible loss.”
“How kind of you to care about Matara Hina.”
I blinked at her. “Of course I care. She’s hurting.”
I got the impression it was a big deal to the doctor. Did she believe I would bear ill will because Hina had dealt me sheer terror for those few harrowing minutes? I could have, I suppose. But I identified too closely with the loss she’d endured. I wanted her to be all right.
My clan agreed with that assessment. As we headed home following therapy, Seot said, “There is a lot of pressure on Kalquorian women to bear children, particularly healthy female children. I don’t believe there’s been a successful female live birth in over a decade though.”
Cifa scowled. “It’s an unfair situation. Ila has admitted she’s afraid to get pregnant. Her fertility has been confirmed, but the odds are stacked against producing a female without fatal abnormalities. If the same situation occurred to Ila, she’d blame herself. No doubt Erom’s Matara feels the same way.”
“It’s a chromosomal issue,” I said. “They shouldn’t be told they’re responsible.”
“Nobody ever claimed they were. It’s the big deal made over women who are fertile and who give birth to healthy girls that makes the rest feel they’re somehow less.” Cifa sighed. “We can’t refuse to celebrate such births, not when they’re so rare. Yet it does appear as if we’re rubbing the other women’s noses in it.”
I tried for a happier subject, turning to Seot. “Have I thanked you for the tracking device?”
He chuckled. “At least a thousand times.”
“I meant in the last five minutes. It seems like I should tell you over and over.”
He hugged me close. “Then let me thank you yet again for consenting to have it implanted. May we never have to use it again.”
“Amen to that.”
January 16
It’s been a couple of days, but Candy finally felt as if she could face me and my clan again. We didn’t blame her at all for Anrel’s abduction. She took it hard anyway. I’m glad she’s starting to pull out of the guilt.
We’re all regaining our equilibrium, thank goodness. Seot returned to work today. Larten plans to go to his afternoon training classes. Cifa and I’ll go back to work tomorrow morning, with Anrel in tow.
I was talking about Candy, though. Bless her heart, she showed up with a bottle of leshella that must have cost her entire month’s government allowance, just to try to make it up to us. Since she’s planning to ditch the lottery, it was money she could ill-afford to spend.
After a round of hugs and tears and assurances that she had nothing to apologize for, Cifa told her, “You may as well have a drink with us. We need to celebrate. You have a job with the cruise line.”
Candy and I squealed to hear the news. Anrel squealed to be a part of the excitement. Larten winced at the high-pitched sounds. “Mataras, I am thrilled you are so cheerful, but my ears can’t take it. I’ll be on the other side of the home if anyone requires me.”
“What’s my position? When do I start?” Candy asked excitedly as Cifa poured.
“You start in two weeks. Will that work with your schedule?”
“Perfect!”
“Wonderful. You’ll be in charge of the line’s childcare division for all our ships, reporting to the Recreation Department. Each vessel is to have a facility where parents can entrust their little ones to a trained staff while they enjoy the more adult amenities on board and at ports of call. You’ll hire, train, and oversee the department.” Cifa grinned. “With Earther women joining clans and Kalquor’s birthrate climbing, we have an obligation to the parents who take our cruises. It’s a perfect solution for you and me.”
Candy stared at him with her mouth hanging wide open. I was astonished too, but I recovered faster than she did. “What an amazing opportunity. Congratulations, Candy!”
She didn’t appear happy when the initial shock wore off. In fact, she seemed close to tears. “How can you trust me after what happened with Anrel?” she choked out.
Cifa looked her in the eye. “Who better to watch out for children than the person who knows the worst that can come to pass? I have no fear that you’ll do your best. You’ll be downright militant when it comes to the well-being of our littlest patrons.”
She blinked. “Militant? I’ll want to personally be on each ship to be sure any children on board will be okay.”
He chuckled at her near-snarl of protectiveness. “You see? I knew you were the person for the job.”
“Can I hire security for the childcare facilities on each ship? If someone would snatch a kid in the middle of the market, right under her caregiver’s nose, it can happen anywhere.”
“I agree. We already have a department that manages security on board the ships. You can coordinate with its director, Nobek Odup. The two of you can determine if the shipboard facilities require dedicated protection or if he wants to assign guards under a standard rotation schedule.”
“The caregivers have to be certified in emergency medical response.” I could see the wheels turning in Candy’s head. “We’ll offer activities that are fun and educational. The kids can’t sit around, expected to amuse themselves. Babies are not to be left in their cribs if they’re awake. Child-friendly exercise equipment. Bright, interesting colors. Soft flooring for falls, but easy cleanup for spills.” She grabbed her handheld. “I have to note this down.”
Cifa laughed, enjoying her enthusiasm. He put his hand over hers, keeping her from firing up her device. “Slow down, Candy. Bask in the moment. You can freak out in a couple of weeks when you walk into your office and realize you have to start from scratch, as Shalia has with her division.”
Candy put the handheld away. “Okay, I’ll enjoy drinks for now. But don’t expect me to wait to go nuts with this. I can have a couple of assistants, right? To manage concerns along the lines of nutrition and medical? Because I’m weak in those fields.”
Cifa patted her shoulder. “You’ll determine an overall plan then submit to Ila what demands must be met as far as personnel is concerned. The two of you will discuss your team and all you hope to accomplish for the rollout of the childcare program. Fair?”
“Yes.” Candy squealed again, hugging herself in delight. It apparently wasn’t enough, because she asked, “Shalia, can I hug your Imdiko? I swear it’ll be platonic.”
“It had better be,” I joked, winking at her.
“Thank you, Cifa,” she gushed, claiming her brief hug. “I won’t let you down. Cross my heart, hope to die.”
“Don’t hope for that,” he said, unaware of the old saying. “I have every confidence in you doing a great job.”
“Goodness,” she exclaimed, sitting back in her seat. “A pair of big projects. I’m the woman who makes miracles materialize.”
“What else do you have on your plate?” I asked.
“I’m starting to put together my campaign to allow non-traditional clans
to have legal rights matching those of conventional clans.” She beamed at us.
“Wow. That is a big deal.”
“Huge,” Cifa agreed. “I wish you luck. You and Stidmun are certainly content.”
“I’m monogamous at heart,” Candy sighed. “I can’t contemplate another man, much less two. Why shouldn’t we be recognized as a valid clan? We’re not hurting anybody. Kalquor should get with the program.”
“As long as you realize it’ll be an uphill battle the whole way,” Cifa counseled. “It could take years to build real support for your cause. People are used to the system.”
“Once Candy has her heart set on something, she doesn’t quit.” I grinned at her.
She nodded, blond curls bobbing cheerfully in contrast with her determined expression. “I’m in it for the long haul. I think I’ll have the most luck building my base with unclanned Nobeks. When they see how an Earther woman can prefer just one man, and a member of their breed to boot, they’ll understand they don’t have to be left out. If I reach out to the women who didn’t come to Kalquor because they can’t fathom being with more than one man, it’ll be even more impressive to the empire’s lawmakers.”
“Don’t forget to present your case to the Dramok-Nobek pairings too,” Cifa added. “My breed is the second-most rare, making for many incomplete clans who can’t vie for Mataras for lack of an Imdiko.”
Candy laughed. “Do I have my first recruits for this revolution?”
We pledged our support. Candy and Stidmun are invested in each other, with no room left for other clanmates. Why shouldn’t they and those like them be protected by the law? Am I the only soul who feels it’s a no-brainer?
January 17
It’s crazy, but I can’t get Hina out of my thoughts. Whatever I do, wherever I am, I keep circling back to her. What she’s gone through. What she’s going to go through, what with counseling and trying to cope with her losses.
Last night, after Anrel had been put to bed and my clan was able to relax enough to consider making love, I couldn’t untangle my thoughts from the woman who’d taken my child.
I stepped into the sleeping room, naked and damp from my shower. I had it in my mind to ask my guys if they’d heard about her court appearance, which had happened the day before. The Terrific Trio were sprawled on the mat, all staring at their handhelds and tapping away. Larten lay the length of the foot of the tall mat. Looking down the line of his back to his gorgeously rounded derriere, I forgot about Hina. I thought it might be fun to swat his butt since he was on his stomach. Approaching as silently as I could, I peeked over his shoulder and figured out he was working on his class schedules. Yeah, he needed to be distracted with a hearty smack.
“Try to spank me, and you’ll be the one with a red rear,” he said without glancing at me. I could hear the laughter in his tone.
Seot and Cifa, propped up against the pillows against the headboard, looked at each other and grinned. Tossing their handhelds aside, they sprang at Larten. He must have been concentrating on me too hard to notice them coming, because Cifa immobilized his legs and Seot flattened his shoulders to the mat.
Whooping with glee, I sat my naked fanny down on his broad back. Straddling his struggling body, I played butt bongos with great enthusiasm, much to my Dramok and Imdiko’s delight.
I shouted, “What was that about a red rear? I see only one hiney getting spanked.”
I shoved his pants down and found my rhythm again, my palms splatting on those gorgeous curved cheeks. Seot and Cifa guffawed uproariously, which loosened their grip on our Nobek. Larten jackknifed his body and struggled free.
He jumped to his feet to loom over the rest of us. No doubt he meant to appear threatening, or at least imposing, but we were chortling so hard that soon he was too. He stood at the foot of the bed and roared with violent laughter, as tickled as Cifa and Seot.
Tension had permeated our lives since the kidnapping. We laughed as much to gain release from that as finding humor in me swatting Larten’s delicious cheeks while the other two held him down. It felt wonderful to laugh like that.
We paid for it, of course. Larten saw to that. He proved he didn’t ascend to his position as a top trainer because he has big muscles and does the dangerous look so well. He might have joined us in enjoying him being overcome, but he recovered a lot faster than we did.
I learned something new about my Nobek. I discovered that man hides hovercuffs all over the place. He went after Seot to start with.
He brought out the first cuff from beneath my jewelry box, which sat on a shelf by the bed. Before any of us knew what was happening, he snapped it on our Dramok’s wrist, pinning him to the sleeping mat.
Cifa knew the danger we were in immediately. He yelped, “Run, Shalia!” as he made a desperate dash for the door. Larten was on him in an instant, shoving the Imdiko to the floor and pulling another cuff from beneath a black fur rug, which he circled Cifa’s ankle with.
I went in the other direction, thinking I’d lock myself in the bathroom. No such luck. Larten caught me a step away from safety, his arm circling my waist and hauling me to the sleeping mat. He sat on the edge, out of Seot’s reach. My fanny blistered under his heavy hand as he took me to task for daring to spank a Nobek of his stature.
I regret nothing.
Once he had me flailing and howling, Larten put me on my knees on the floor next to the mat. “Do not move while I deal with these other two, or you’ll be a sorry little girl,” he warned me.
With my ass roasting fit to burst into flame, I decided not to push my luck. I kept still as he turned his attention to Seot.
“Whose turn was it to sweep the rooms for his fucking cuff fetish?” our Dramok demanded of Cifa as the grinning Larten retrieved a pair of the metallic rings from beneath the head of the sleeping mat.
“Yours,” came the retort. “I cleared the house just before the cruise. This is on you.”
Seot sighed, watching as Larten claimed another cuff from behind a painting hanging on the wall. “We forgot to warn you about this, Shalia. We have to check the home regularly to keep Larten from getting the jump on us, as he has this time. Surprising us with the cuffs is one of our Nobek’s favorite tricks.”
“Why am I only now finding this out?” I scowled.
“I didn’t want to scare you away before you agreed to be our clanmate,” Larten laughed. He danced around as Seot kicked and punched at him, trying to keep him from slapping the other cuffs on his ankles and wrist.
“No full disclosure? I cry foul.”
“Cry whatever you want. It’s too late to run off at this stage.” The Nobek succeeded in cuffing our Dramok. I thought if Seot truly wanted to stay uncaptured, he’d only have to turn on that incredible voice of control that I can never refuse. A simple, “No Larten,” in his best lord-and-master voice would have put our protector in his place.
Larten forced Seot to stand helpless on one side of the sleeping mat with his hands behind his back. The two men made a lot of sexy growling noises at each other before Larten went off to search for more cuffs to incapacitate Cifa.
“Fetish, my eye,” I said in disbelief as I watched Larten grab three more cuffs from various hiding places. “That’s a bondage obsession.”
Funny enough, Larten had to work a lot harder to escape unscathed as he cuffed Cifa. Our Imdiko is not too proud to bite in defense of himself, as well as punch and kick. In the end, however, Larten had him on the opposite side of the bed from Seot, standing in the same pose. It also put him next to where I knelt, waiting to see what Larten had in mind for us.
In my case, it was more cuffs, though he had only two for my wrists. “Do you buy them wholesale?” I asked as the Nobek bent me over the sleeping mat. He immobilized my wrists to the small of my back, as he had Seot and Cifa.
“I have to. Seot and Cifa donate them to law enforcement agencies when they remember to look for them.” Larten patted my derriere, making me yelp as the spanked flesh reacted. �
��Don’t move. I have to fetch goodies for you three.”
“Shit,” Seot and Cifa chorused.
Larten chuckled. He went to the drawer where the smaller toys were kept. Lucky me; I was the first recipient of his gifts. Before he got to those, he knelt behind me and pulled me against him. “I want you nice and biddable,” he rumbled in my ear before his fangs sank into my neck.
I jerked against the sharp but brief pain. As Larten’s venom spurted into my veins, he rubbed my sex. I moaned, going slick against his fingers in an instant. A sweet mist formed in my brain, making me feel warm, euphoric, soft, and insanely aroused all at once. I rocked against the hand playing with me.
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