by Elin Peer
“Me neither,” I admitted, because except for the tongue thing, his kiss had felt exciting and I wanted more.
My words set him off again and soon he was all over me. His hands roamed my back, my neck, my hair, and with his eyes closed he kissed me like this would be his last chance to ever kiss a woman.
Only when he tugged up my shirt did I set my boundary. “Stop,” I whispered and pulled back.
But again, Archer only tightened his grip on me, his hands making their way up.
“Archer, stop!” I repeated and this time I pushed at his torso. He finally let go and with him taking a step back we stood facing each other, out of breath from the kissing.
I was trying to process what had just happened and considered if I would’ve had the same reaction kissing someone else. I looked down at my shaking hands and felt my heart pump like I had run a marathon.
Arousal. The way my whole body was humming was clearly arousal.
With some confusion, I lifted my eyes to meet his, and while I watched Archer, the hunger in his eyes faded and made way for something accompanied by deep frown lines on his forehead.
“We should get back,” he said and brushed his dark shoulder-length hair back.
I nodded and blinked a few times, wondering if my eyes were blazing with emotions like his.
“If Boulder or Magni finds out…” he trailed off, but I understood.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell. We were just curious and now we know what it feels like to kiss in the light of fireflies.”
He gave me a skeptical glance. “You sure?”
“Uh-huh. We’re two consenting adults. What we do is our business and no one else’s.”
“But…” I had already started walking and Archer walked up beside me with a stern expression.
“But what?” I asked. “It was no big deal, and no one has to know.”
My words made him knit his brows even closer together and, putting his hands in his pockets, he said: “If you say so.”
CHAPTER 3
Sharing Responsibility
Archer
Never had I imagined that my first meeting with the teacher from the Motherlands would go so well. Kya was sweet, funny, and surprisingly open-minded and curious about our culture.
We had talked for hours and ended up on a late-night stroll to see fireflies.
And she had let me kiss her!
Not just a peck on the cheek but a deep, passionate kiss that had made me so horny I almost cried when she stopped me from going any further. If kissing could feel that good, I didn’t even want to think about how amazing being with a woman for real would feel. But of course, I did think about it. All night!
Meeting Kya the next day, my heart was hammering. Partly because I remembered the exhilarating feeling of her body against mine, but also because Magni stood next to her. Her assigned protector was back from his other duties and as always, Magni was scowling as if the man had some painful case of chronic hemorrhoids or something. I never liked him much to begin with and in all honesty, it was mostly because he was considered the best fighter in the Northlands; a title I would like for myself. Boulder greeted me as he passed me on his way to two of his men who were working in the kitchen area.
But I was mostly interested in Kya and when she smiled at me, it immediately released a surge of hope in my chest. Surely the woman would have to be more than mildly interested in me to kiss me back the way she had yesterday. My head was like a big balloon with all sorts of lofty ideas. If I played my cards right, I might convince her to marry me like her friend, Christina, had married Boulder and then… ahh, the thought of a long passionate wedding night with Kya Janae had me grinning like a fool.
“What are you smirking about?” Magni said gruffly and for a second I feared Kya had told on me because he walked straight into my personal space. Luckily, he just slammed his chest against mine and patted my shoulder in a manly greeting.
“I’m just a generally happy person,” I said. It was a better answer than telling him that I was smiling because I pictured myself having sex with Kya.
“Is that so? Well, I’m sure we can fix that personality disorder.” He shrugged. “I heard you two already started discussing the future of the school yesterday?”
“We didn’t get to that, but it’s on the agenda for today,” Kya said in that deep pleasant voice of hers that made every word feel like a caress. She stepped up to us. “We’re supposed to come up with a schedule for the kids and have it approved by Pearl and Khan.”
“I’m afraid Pearl went back to the Motherlands, so until she’s back it’ll be my brother who has the final say,” Magni clarified.
We moved into the schoolroom, where boxes stood stacked, and Magni ripped a box open. “The supplies arrived so I sure hope the two of you can talk and unpack at the same time.” He stiffened. “What the hell is this?” he asked and I came over to see.
Pulling up a cushion in pink with one hand and a heart-shaped cushion in purple with the other, I shook my head. “Fuck! They got the deliveries mixed up somehow.”
Kya peered over. “Ahh, my pillows. Wonderful, just leave them in the boxes until we’ve unpacked the rugs for the cozy corner.”
Magni’s eyebrows snapped together when he turned to me and asked: “What the hell is a cozy corner?”
But I was as clueless as him.
“We use the cushions for the morning ritual of gathering and having quiet reading time,” Kya explained.
“The kids can read in their chairs,” I pointed out and stuffed the soft cushions down in the box again.
“Yes, if they prefer that, but the cushions are popular; and besides,” she continued, “the students also need them when they meditate and when they massage each other.”
Magni and I went quiet for a second before I asked, “When you say massage, what exactly do you mean?”
“Well, typically it’s a gentle back, neck, or foot rub.”
“What the fuck for?” I asked, completely taken aback by the idiocy of what she was saying. “This is a school, not a damn spa.”
“I’ll be over there.” Magni pointed to a stack of chairs and tables. “You two figure this out.”
We didn’t even look at him. The flirtatious looks between us from yesterday had been replaced by challenging stares and building tension.
“Look,” I said and held up my palms. “Clearly we do things differently, so why don’t you just tell me what the Momsi kids are used to and I’ll work it into my curriculum as much as I can.”
“Do not refer to the children as Momsi kids. They are Motlanders. And it’s not your curriculum, it’s mine.” Her pleasant voice lost its magic when it turned a bit shrill.
“It kind of is mine since I’ll be the mentor in charge here,” I informed her calmly.
“Will you?” Kya said with a sharp tone. “I’m pretty sure that I was chosen to be in charge.”
“You’re both in charge,” Magni called to us from the corner and we turned to him.
“Nooo,” I said, slowly and drawn out. “I was told I would have assistants and that a Momsi… sorry, a Motlander… would help with the curriculum.” I pointed to her. “That would be you.”
Kya was tapping her foot. “You were misinformed then, because I’m not just here for the week, I’m here to teach the children. I’m their teacher!”
Sucking in a deep breath, I took a step back. “All right, that’s fine,” I said. “I don’t mind a second assistant, as long as I’m in charge of the school.”
“Huh!” She sat down on a table as if to signal that she wasn’t going anywhere. “Is that all that matters to you? To be on top?”
I swallowed a smug smile. “That depends on what we’re discussing,” I said and felt Magni’s disapproving glance burn my neck. “But yeah, I want to be the boss, that’s for damn sure.”
“If a title is all you care about, then call yourself the boss of that broom closet.” She pointed to a small door. “I won�
�t challenge you for it and I’ll even put a big golden name tag on the door as long as you leave me to focus on what really matters: the kids.”
Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms. “There’s no need to be hysterical.”
“Hysterical?” Kya said incredulously. “That’s rude. And to think that I actually kissed you.” I watched her zigzag to Magni between the tables that he was spreading around the room. “Magni, I want to speak to Christina and Boulder. Surely there’s been a mistake. Christina would have told me if I had to share the responsibility.”
Magni had stopped working. “Boulder is here, so talk to him,” Magni said and turned his attention on me with a menacing glare. “While I have a few words with Archer.”
Kya didn’t seem to realize what a bomb she had dropped, but I did. Not only had I betrayed Boulder’s trust yesterday, but I had violated one of the most fundamental laws in our society. With only around one hundred women to a million men, the offense of touching one of them without the permission of their protector was among the greatest in our country. One that could cost me my life.
“What did she mean about kissing?” he asked in a low growl.
“Nothing,” I said and tried to hide the panic I felt inside. Magni was a big motherfucker but I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Magni raised an eyebrow and moved closer. “Don’t fucking lie to me. Did something happen between you two yesterday? If you touched her, I’ll break every bone in your body before I kill you.”
I swallowed hard and tensed my jaw. “Cool down, does she look broken or harmed to you?”
My words didn’t calm him. They had the opposite effect and made him get in my face, shouting. “You know the laws. Unless you’re her protector or husband, you don’t touch her.”
When his shouting caused droplets of spit to land in my face I pushed him back harshly. Adrenaline was rushing through me and when Magni took a swing at me, I welcomed it. Let’s see who the better fighter is.
Boulder’s voice boomed from the doorway. “Take it outside, will ya?”
But neither Magni nor I was thinking straight, and we went at each other. He was like a wild beast: strong, fast, and precise in his movements. The rumors of his fighting skills weren’t exaggerated, and he knocked the air out of me when he got a clean hit to my abdomen.
It took Boulder and two of his workers to pull Magni back.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Boulder shouted at him. “You’re supposed to help get the school ready, not tear it apart.”
Looking around I saw chairs, tables, and boxes tumbled over.
Magni tore his arms free from the men and stomped outside with a demand to Boulder. “Outside now!”
I followed them and ignored Kya’s shocked face when I passed her. Clearly male aggression wasn’t a normal sight for her.
Magni waited for Boulder to join him outside before he spoke. The two workers, Kya, and I stood watching.
“Where were you when they kissed yesterday?” The blame in Magni’s voice was thick.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Boulder’s head swung to me with ten different shades of angry.
I opened my mouth to speak but Kya beat me to it. “Stop it! All of you. This is nothing but a misunderstanding.”
The sound of a drone made me look up to see Boulder’s hybrid approaching.
“You better talk fast before Christina and Raven land,” Boulder said and stabbed the air with a threatening finger at me.
“Like she said, it’s a misunderstanding,” I insisted.
“In the Motherlands we kiss all the time. It’s no big deal,” Kya said and stepped in front of me.
Boulder frowned. “What kind of kiss are we talking about?”
“Just a peck on the cheek,” Kya lied. “And I kissed Archer, not the other way around, so there’s no need to punish him for it.”
“All right.” Boulder held up a palm toward Magni, who was rubbing his red fist. “Maybe you overreacted. I’ll ask Christina to explain our ways to Kya so it doesn’t happen again.”
By now the hybrid had landed and as the door opened, Boulder ran to help Christina out.
He looked so happy when he first set Christina gently on her feet and then reached his arms up again to help down the second passenger. It was the little girl I had heard about and been curious to meet.
“Hey, sweetie,” Kya called and although I knew her heart was probably racing as fast as mine from the whole drama, she reached her hands out when the girl came running. Raven reached Kya’s shoulder in height and was like a miniature of her with large brown eyes and big curly-brown hair.
“Is she your daughter?” I asked, surprised that Kya hadn’t told me yesterday.
“No,” Kya said. “Raven is a student.”
My head was spinning with excitement. To me Raven was like a mythical creature. In this country, little girls were as rare to see as an endangered species. I had heard about girls, but until I was offered this job, I never dreamed that I would see one with my own eyes.
“Hi, Raven,” I said in a soft whisper as if my dark voice might scare her. “My name is Archer and I’m your new mentor.”
Kya cleared her throat. “Raven sweetie, do you think you could help the men unpack some boxes? Christina and I need to talk about some grownup stuff.”
“Okay.” The girl nodded and took Boulder’s hand. Apparently, he’d made a good impression on her because she was grinning up at him and telling him something I couldn’t hear because I was too busy eavesdropping on Kya’s and Christina’s conversation.
Kya was threatening to go back home, saying she had been misled and calling me power hungry and uncooperative.
Christina listened and spoke in a calm way, and after a while they returned to the rest of us.
“I’m sorry we didn’t make it clearer that you would have to work together, and that you somehow misunderstood each other’s roles,” Christina said.
“There was nothing to misunderstand,” I pointed out. “I asked about her role and was told she would help me make up the curriculum. No one mentioned I had to work with her as an equal.”
“You don’t!” Christina said calmly. “No one is forcing you to work with Kya as her equal. I’m sure she’ll be okay with you being her assistant.”
“Very funny!” I said without a trace of laughter.
Boulder sat on a bench with Raven in his lap. “Look, you can blame this on Khan and Pearl when you see them but for now I think you need to ask yourself an important question,” he said. “If you two can’t work together despite your cultural differences, then how do you expect your students to do it?”
“Boulder is right,” Christina said. “You two are adults and should be able to talk this out.”
“I already said I’m okay with sharing power as long as I get to be the boss,” I declared.
Kya shook her head. “That makes no sense.”
Christina held up her hand. “Kya, don’t forget that Archer has no experience with democracy. He has never seen power shared before. They have no boards or councils, only rulers and bosses.”
Kya angled her head and closed her mouth.
“How about this,” Christina said and looked at me. “You call yourself the boss but when it comes to making decisions you and Kya have to agree on everything.”
“Then I’m not really the boss, am I?” I objected. “I’m willing to listen, but I want the final say.”
“That’s not happening,” Kya said firmly. “We’re sharing the responsibility.”
I tried arguing but she wouldn’t budge and when the others backed her up, I was forced to either walk away or work with her. After a whole lot of cursing, I chose the latter.
CHAPTER 4
Suffocating
Kya
After nine days in the Northlands, I was suffocating in testosterone.
Magni was being overprotective and controlling!
Archer was being unreasonable and stubborn!<
br />
The only thing the two men seemed to agree on was calling me naïve, and although I argued that I wasn’t, they did have a point.
After listening to Christina sob over Boulder for months, I might have romanticized the Nmen, which was the only explanation for what had happened between Archer and me when we kissed.
Now that I’d gotten to know him better, I was horrified that I’d actually felt attracted to him in the forest that first night. The man was a bigoted, prejudiced, and opinionated male chauvinist.
And he was primitive. They all were!
Sarcasm, insults, curses, and general crudeness was their native tongue and I worried how I would protect my impressionable students from their bad influence.
With his confrontational nature, Archer had cornered me on my second day here, hoping for a repeat of what happened in the forest, but I had told him calmly that it had been an unfortunate mistake on my part and wouldn’t happen again.
Archer might be the best-looking of the Nmen but not even Christina’s wistful sighs when she spoke about sex had me curious enough to sleep with a man like him.
Now, it was the night before the Motlander students arrived and I was alone at the school with Magni and Archer, who were arguing with each other, again.
“Will you stop it before you end up in another fight?” I said after Magni growled and narrowed his eyes at Archer.
It was late in the evening; Raven was asleep up at Boulder’s estate while I put the last touches on the preparations. Christina, Pearl, Raven, and I had prepared most of the lunch with help from Council Chairwoman Isobel, who was here to oversee the beginning of this important experiment.
I just needed the last batch of bread to be done and the table to be set before I could call it a night. Archer was helping me and of course Magni was here to make sure I was safe.
“I don’t like him touching you,” Magni grunted.
“I didn’t touch her. She touched me,” Archer pointed out and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. I didn’t blame him, as Magni was hovering constantly.
