by Viola Grace
"I can't believe I hired a Misrael barmaid." Shewna smiled as Tia returned with empty glasses and additional orders. Two weeks later and she still couldn't believe it.
The draped woman had an instinct for serving that made the other barmaids look like newbies. Tia could cruise past a table and come away with drink orders and food requests in a matter of seconds. It was like having a colourful ghost floating and serving the men and women who chose the Burning Orb to relax in.
Tia's tips alone were astonishing. For someone who didn't show any cleavage or leg, she raked in the extra money with little effort.
"I don't know how you do it, Tia, but if you keep it up, you might have your ship paid for in no time."
Tia chuckled, "Thank you, Shewna. Without your kindness, I would not be close to even starting payments."
A group of Hashka came in and took a table in Tia's section. Shewna recognized a few of them as chronic troublemakers. She was going to warn her ghost in blue, but the woman drifted over before she could say a word.
Shewna blinked as one of them made a grab for Tia and she moved out of reach before he could make contact. The truculent man got to his feet and made another lunge.
Tia dodged again.
He chased her and she led him around in a circle until his lunge took him back into the seat he had vacated.
Calm as stone, Tia took the orders from the table that was now restraining their companion.
Smoothly, she turned and walked back to the bar and when the male lunged at her again, she stepped swiftly out of the way. The crowd in the Burning Orb applauded while the bouncer expunged the troublemaker from the bar.
"How did you do that, Tia?"
The cowled head inclined toward her, "Practice and instinct. I didn't like his voice."
That statement made Shewna freeze. It was a Hashka reference to finding a man's voice unappealing for the purposes of mating. She had never heard another race use it. She looked more closely at Tia, trying to see under the fabric, but it was of no use.
"He may stay around for revenge. Don't go home without Raven's escort again."
"Yes, Shewna. Here is the order."
Shaking her head, Shewna filled the drink order while Tia floated away to gather empties and take orders for refills.
There was something not quite Misrael in that woman.
* * * *
Tia sensed the moment that General Mathwin entered the Burning Orb. Her body throbbed and his low tones made her ears strain to hear him. He joined one of her tables and she drifted over to take his order.
"Tia, how are you enjoying working at the Burning Orb?"
She inclined her head. "I enjoy it very much. It is always busy and very interesting."
"I am on call, so I will just have a caf."
She inclined her head again, took the refill orders for the rest of the table and steeled her knees for the walk back to the bar.
Her body reacted fiercely to him and she was terrified that he would be able to scent her.
She waited for the caf and placed it on the tray with the refills, carrying it over to him and his table as quickly as she could.
The arch of his nose fascinated her as his nostrils flared while she handed over the caf. He looked up at her, startled by something and he tried to glare his way through her clothing. If anyone's eyes could have managed it, it would have been his.
With a nod, she turned and attended her other tables. A few of the Hashka males lifted their heads as she passed and that was enough for her.
"Shewna, I must leave."
The concerned woman looked her over. "Aren't you feeling well?"
"A little dizzy. It must have been that dance that I did with the angry one," she laughed lightly.
"Go. Do you want me to send Raven or Harl with you?"
"No, Shewna. I will be fine." She left by the back door as quickly as she could, heading down the alley. A shadow separated from the wall and she came face to face with the furious face of the man she had danced with.
"Time to show what is under those layers." His tone was raw on her ears. Her Hashka instincts screamed for her to run away, so she did.
She was halfway back to the Orb when another shadow came toward her.
"Get down, Tia."
Following the instructions of the black-magic voice, she tumbled to the alley floor. The shriek of a stunner echoed over her head and a scream and a thud followed immediately.
Her hands were bloody and her robes were torn. Tia's knee throbbed and she got slowly to her feet, her practiced grace long gone.
"Are you all right?"
"I am fine, General Mathwin. I will get one of the bouncers to escort me home."
He looked down at her and sighed. "I will take you."
Those words echoed in her ears. On her home world, that sentence would have been enough to start a courtship.
Pain dulled her hormonal reactions, but his nostrils still flared.
"Where are you living?"
"A small apartment on Bore Street. It isn't far. I won't detain you long."
With no warning, he lifted her into his arms. "You hurt your knee, your hands are bleeding."
She shuddered at the contact of the broad plane of his chest against hers and he took it as a different sort of shudder.
"Are you injured elsewhere? Should I take you to medical?"
"No, just thwarted adrenaline from the near miss."
He walked with her in his arms, drawing stares and some concerned remarks. Tia was amazed that they were asking about her well-being. The cynical part of her wondered if they would react the same if they knew she had been using her psychic talents to serve
them at the Orb.
With her body cradled against him, her scent had to be hitting him strongly. She tried to stay perfectly still and think thoughts about drinking capacity while he carried her to Bore Street.
She pointed out her apartment, moving as little as possible. His grip tightened every time the wind blew and even she could smell her own heat. The drugs weren't working anymore.
The only saving grace was that he didn't know she was not a Misrael.
"Which apartment."
"Third floor, first on the right." She fumbled her key out from under her gown and when he paused outside the door, she opened it.
General Mathwin carried her in and gently deposited her on the bed. She perched on the edge of the bed while he examined her hands. "You hurt them quite badly. You will not be able to return to work tomorrow."
"I will wear gloves."
"You will not be able to lift anything. Wait here." He stood and walked into the bathroom.
She heard running water and when he returned, he had her small aid kit and a series of wet towels. He wrapped her hands in warm towels and she hissed as he held her still.
"There is dirt in the wounds and we need to soak it out."
"Fine. Thank you."
"I have washed your Scorian and Morclin down the drain, by the way." He didn't look into her hood when he said it, but she hissed and tried to pull her hands loose.
"I need them."
"You don't. I will remove you from the city and nature can take its course." There was an anticipatory gleam in his eyes.
With her hands bound in the towels, he reached out and removed her drape and hood. His gasp was gratifying, but his shock was not precisely flattering.
"Hashka. But not from Emicar. Your skin bears the mark of a different sun, but your hair…"
She knew what he was marvelling at. Her yellow hair had strands of blue, green, gold, red, purple and colours that she couldn't name. Her eyes were dark with the same rainbow dancing inside.
"Since my ruse has failed, I will await my death. My people will
find me soon and then I will die at the hands of our priests."
He sat back on his heels, "What priests?"
"The priests of Lassing. They have sworn to kill me when I go into heat, to please their god."
; His eyes widened in shock, "Kill you? Lassing doesn't demand Hashka deaths."
"If you are psychic, female and in heat. On my world you are dragged to the temple and splayed out before being stabbed to death in a horrific manner."
A hot flare came into his eyes. "A psychic?"
"Yes. How else do you think I could serve drinks from inside a tent?" She had slipped into Hashka without thinking about it.
He tore the fabric over her knee and placed his lips on the red skin.
The touch of his mouth on her sent a bolt of heat through her and she shuddered in reaction.
He looked up at her with his pupils dilated and his breath coming rapidly. "Come with me."
He lifted her and since her hands were still bound, she didn't fight him. Well, she didn't fight him until the moment that they approached the temple of Lassing. She didn't take any notice of her surroundings, merely fought her hands free of the towels and started to scratch and claw at any piece of skin she could reach.
He hissed and changed his grip. He stopped, pinned her hands behind her back and walked her into the heart of the temple.
In the centre was the same type of cross that she had seen at home, but this one was set at an angle that sloped the great X into a reclining position. A priest came toward them with a kind expression on his face, but the tears filling Tia's eyes blurred it.
"Jenner, what brings you here?"
The priest was looking her up and down, her muddy and torn clothing confusing him.
"A psychic has appeared on Emicar, just in time for the culmination of the festival."
The priest looked delighted. He rushed up to her and kissed her cheek. "Bless you, child. This is one day that the people of the city won't forget."
"I have seen the Lassing sacrifice on Morvigeth. I know I won't survive this one." She shuddered and put her head down. There were still two weeks in the festival, she might have chance to survive.
The priest looked shocked. "Morvigeth. No wonder. They have demented the holy scrolls in an effort to keep their people powerless. Emicar is quite different. You will survive the sacrifice and live to tell the tale." He stroked her cheek in a fatherly manner.
He could obviously see the scepticism in her dark rainbow eyes. "Bring her, Jenner."
Jenner carried and dragged her forward. He hauled her to the cross. It was padded with leather for comfort, no blood stained it. The priest came over and opened a book in front of her. It detailed the sacrifice in a manner so blatant that Tia almost fainted.
A Lassing sacrifice on Emicar was not the same as one back home. She would physically survive it, but it would be up to her sense of self to walk through the town afterward.
Public sex was not allowed at home, but here, a psychic would be the centrepiece to the festivities. A man in a Lassing mask would stand between her thighs and take her, right then and there.
Her mind reeled. She was in heat, she would be receptive, but the idea of being splayed out for public display was not her idea of a festive event. Her inner muscles clenched and she groaned, perhaps part of her would enjoy the festivities.
Chapter Three
"Can you summon Morrer to attend her wounds? She has some injuries." Jenner kept his grip on her and she moved toward the cross with his pressure against her spine.
"Of course. Come this way." The priest led them behind the cross and into a door cleverly disguised. He stopped a scurrying acolyte and the boy nodded and quickly ran through the halls.
"The dispensary is this way, Miss. What is your name?"
"Tia." It was impossible to be rude to the gentle priest. He had no malice in his eyes, unlike the ones she had grown up with.
"I am Brother Nal, Brother Morrer is our best healer. He will have you right in no time." The man held her upper arm and helped her up the stairs. Jenner still had not released her hands from the centre of her back.
Tia looked at the clean halls and felt the cheerful air of service that filled the building. The dispensary was tidy, neat and curtains that could be drawn for privacy separated rows of large cots.
Brother Nal helped her to a cot while Jenner watched the only door. When a large figure to rival Jenner's walked through the door, her breath froze in her lungs. Twins. The men greeted each other in a rough but affectionate manner, clasping their forearms together and exchanging pleasantries.
"What are you doing in the temple, Jenner? It isn't your style."
He still hadn't looked over in her direction, but when his nostrils flared, he zeroed in on her in a second. The predatory gleam in his eyes flared for an instant before he banked it.
"Tia is a psychic and she has suffered some injuries. Scrapes and bruises. You are the best healer I know."
Morrer's eyes widened. "Psychic? Really?"
"Really." Jenner's arms crossed over his impressive chest and he smiled at Tia with a masculine satisfaction in his eyes.
The priest approached her and smiled down at her. "Greetings, Tia. My name is Brother Morrer. Where are you injured?"
His voice had the same deep resonance as Jenner's. She felt a damp heat between her thighs. She extended her hands, palms up and mentioned, "I fell and struck my knee as well."
"I need to examine you. Will you permit me to remove your clothing?"
She felt her eyes widen. "I…"
"No one here will take advantage of your…condition. You are safe in the temple." His voice washed over her, calmed her, but it was lacking the sharp edge of sensation that Jenner's had.
She cleared her throat. "Then please help me for I cannot remove this clothing with my hands in this condition."
Jenner moved forward and he helped his brother with her outer robes and the three layers of floor-length tunics.
She was nervous when they lifted her last tunic and exposed her in her loose trousers and breast band. "Are you twins?"
Jenner grinned. "You picked up on that?"
"It is hard to miss. Your voices are almost identical."
The brothers looked at each other and she blushed. She shouldn't be commenting on the sounds that were affecting her.
"Oddly enough, not one woman has ever made that observation before." Morrer smiled softly and the riotous blush spread even more. His hands were on her trousers and without leaving her time to get in a knot of anxiety, he smoothly disrobed her, taking her shoes with her clothing.
Jenner's hands removed her breast band swiftly and just like that, she was nude in the temple of Lassing. It was a situation she had never imagined that she would greet calmly.
The cot was large but comfortable and she sat with her hands in her lap, waiting for Morrer to start his examination of her person. Jenner was already into his.
* * * *
She sat demurely, which was astonishing for a woman built by the gods for pleasure. Her breasts were high and full, dark tips peaked in the cool brush of air inside the dispensary. The golden blue skin of her body was pale in comparison to that of his family and he had the momentary image of a child with her skin, rainbow hair and his
black eyes.
One of his hands could probably span the narrow waist that had been hidden beneath her loose robes. The lush curve of her hips would fit his grip nicely as he thrust into her. He groaned silently as that last image hardened him to the point of pain. He caught his brother's look and Morrer grimaced at him. He was affected as well.
Her scent was a stronger version of the teasing musk of heat and female he had first encountered on her dying ship. He had heard of women subduing their bodies for the sake of convenience, but she had been doing it to save her life. That had to have taken an act of will.
She responded to both him and Morrer. That fact was undeniable. Morrer's vows of service did not include celibacy and that boded ill for Jenner if he left her in his brother's hands.
"How long did you put off your heat?" It was a bold question, but he loved the way her pupils dilated when he spoke. When she wet her lips with a small pink tongue, he stif
led a groan as his cock surged forward.
He was thankful that his uniform had a long tunic and his trousers could contain him. The pressure was intense, but falling on her and rutting would be worse.
Morrer was silently working on her hands, cleaning, applying salves and then a plastic skin that would help her heal.
She swallowed and whispered. "Eight months. My family supplied me with Chromial and it subdued the symptoms."
