by Elin Peer
William leaned his head back to look up at Finn. “I’m telling you, something is seriously wrong with that guy. I feel sorry for him. But you know what?”
“What, William?”
“When I grow up, I’m going to be the richest man in the Northlands.” He grinned and looked at his friends. “And I’m sure as hell not going to share my money with all you fuckers.”
Cindy, Varna, and James, the factory owner, exchanged disturbed glances with each other.
“I apologize,” Kya said quickly and shot a reprimanding glance in William’s direction. “We talked about not cursing while in the Motherlands, remember?”
When we got back to the hotel after our long day at the factory, Kya insisted that we all needed to meditate to digest all the impressions.
For me, that thirty minutes meant napping because even though I had tried getting into that meditation stuff, it still felt silly.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t excited about it, because three of the boys snuck off to go to the pool.
I wouldn’t have found out if they hadn’t come back bragging that they had seen naked women.
Finn immediately sat up. “What do you mean you saw naked women?”
Oscar, Nikola, and Storm were all speaking at the same time so it was impossible to understand what they said.
“Calm the fuck down, this is a serious matter,” Finn declared. “Did or didn’t you see a naked woman?”
“We saw nine.”
That brought Finn to his feet in a flash. “What are you waiting for? Show me the way.”
The three boys stormed out the hotel door with Finn after them. “Stay here,” Finn ordered Marco before the door shut, but the young man took one look at me and sputtered. “Not a chance.”
There was a moment of tension in the room when seven boys between the age of eleven and fourteen stared at me.
“Who wants to go swimming?” I asked and they all flew up.
We didn’t tell the women that we were going to the pool. It wasn’t on the packed schedule, and in the back of my mind I recalled something about going to a museum, but there was no museum in this world that could offer something as fascinating as the rare sight of naked women.
The pool was in the basement of the hotel, and I stopped for a moment reading the sign on the door saying: Changing Room – Men and Women.
“Are you ready?” I asked, but the push from seven eager boys behind me answered that question, and we almost fell on top of each other to get through the door first.
The boys hadn’t been lying. Inside the changing room a number of women were putting on their clothes. Two of them were still topless, but with a scared grimace in our direction they hurried up and put on their shirts.
Seeing their tits would’ve been a lot more exciting if they hadn’t been at least seventy years old.
My own disappointment was fully matched by the group of boys, whose shoulders sagged.
“Can we still go to the pool?” Plato asked after the last Motlander hurried out of the changing room.
Finn, who stood a little farther into the room than us, turned and nodded. “You can go and see the pool, and tonight when we get back from the museum, we’ll all go swimming.”
“With the girls?” Solomon asked.
“Everybody who wants to come, can come,” I announced and added, “We’ll just give the girls a head start to get in the pool. We don’t want to change at the same time.”
“But then we won’t see their bodies,” Nikola concluded. “I thought that was the whole idea.”
“Eww, I don’t want to see their naked bodies.” Nero scrunched up his face in a grimace of disgust.
“If you don’t want to see naked bodies why did you hurry down here?” Solomon asked him sarcastically.
“There’s a difference between strangers and people we know,” Nero pointed out. Hunter instantly supported him.
“I don’t want to see my sister naked.”
“I do,” someone muttered and snickers broke out.
“You do realize,” I said calmly to the group, “that for you to see them would mean that they would see you too.”
Solomon raised his chin. “So? I’m not ashamed of my body.”
Clearly, the teen hadn’t thought this through, but I was an adult and I wouldn’t allow him to make a fool of himself when I knew perfectly well that the minute Willow walked into this changing room and started undressing, not only would he be sporting a raised mast with nowhere to hide it, but several of his friends would too – something that would no doubt create unnecessary tension between the boys.
“You won’t be changing with the girls, and that’s that! Now get your butts back to the room. We have a museum to visit.”
CHAPTER 20
Beach Life
Kya
Our first five days in the city went by really fast. When I spoke to Christina, I was happy to tell her that the boys seemed impressed with what we had shown them in the Motherlands. The hotel pool was an especially big hit, and they went down there as often as they could.
Christina thought that made perfect sense: “They’ve probably never seen a pool, and I’ll bet it’s an upgrade from all the cold lakes they swim in back home.”
On Thursday morning, we flew two hours further south and checked in to a lovely beach hotel.
We were all excited to go down to the beach, but I needed something else first.
“Okay, listen up,” I said to the restless group of children. “I know you’re all eager to get in the water but I want you to remember the buddy system we talked about. Shelly, Finn, and Marco will take you now and you will listen to what they say, understood?”
The younger children bobbed their heads affirmatively while most of the older boys were impatiently shifting their weight from one foot to the other.
“Archer and I will see you later; we have some work to do to prepare for the afternoon lessons.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Marco shot Archer a look of pity. “But it’s the beach.”
“I know, but hopefully this won’t take long.” Archer sent a longing glance after the group.
Biting my tongue, I swallowed my disappointment. Why wasn’t he excited that we would have some alone time? And why hadn’t he made an effort to be alone with me for the last three days? And worst of all, why was I behaving so irrationally? It was like I couldn’t think of anything else but him. I was hyperaware of his presence and every time he came near me, my pulse exploded. I would listen in on his conversations just because I liked the deep rumble of his voice, and more than once I had laughed at his lame jokes.
“So, what do you need me for?” he asked.
“It’s been three days,” I said with slight irritation. “Isn’t it obvious what I need you for?”
Archer blinked and tilted his head. “Wait a minute, this is new.”
“Hardly; we’ve been together six times already.”
“I meant you taking the initiative,” he clarified with an almost boyish smile erupting on his face. “I’m flattered.”
“It’s probably just hormones or something,” I said flatly, because there was no way I would admit how addicted I’d become to our lovemaking.
Archer’s eyes lit up and he moved closer to me, taking my hands. “What do you mean by hormones? Kya, are you pregnant?”
“Nooo,” I exclaimed with a grimace and lowered my voice into a whisper. “Of course I’m not pregnant.”
“How can you know for sure? It’s been a month since we were together the first time and you haven’t had your period, have you?” He was squeezing my hands and speaking fast.
I pulled my hands back since we were in a public place. “No, but it’s just a little late, that’s all,” I mumbled.
“Right.” He had a satisfied smile on his face when he nodded for me to come with him.
Maybe my hormones really were out of balance, because once we were in his room, I couldn’t get enough of hi
m. Kissing him wasn’t enough, I needed to taste him. Hungrily, I nibbled on his earlobe, bit his shoulder gently, only to move on to licking his nipples and finally sucking on lower parts of his body.
Every time, I had made love to Archer, I’d grown more curious and open-minded. Until now he had always been in control, but this time he lay back on the bed and allowed me to explore him. When I finally lowered myself on top of him, he closed his eyes and opened his mouth in a moan of pleasure. Straddling him, I slid down all the way and let him impale me, stretch me, and fill me to the hilt as I leaned backward and rotated my hips.
“Fucking hell – you’re killing me,” Archer groaned and lifted his hands to intertwine our fingers.
I liked being in control like this and let out all my pent-up sexual frustration on him.
“That’s right, babe, ride my cock all you want,” he said in a raspy voice, his hooded eyes staring at my bouncing breasts. “Come closer, I want to taste you.”
It was arousing to see his tongue circle around my hard nipple, and I made a small gasp when he gently bit it.
“I fucking love your tits.” His words were mumbled because of the way he was licking my breasts while massaging them. “I see you walk around with those perky tits of yours, and all I want to do is grab you and pull you behind a tree to make out with you.”
“Then why has it been three days?”
Archer stopped what he was doing and looked up at me with a small frown that quickly changed into a smile. “We were in the city, babe, there were no trees.”
“Excuses, excuses…” I shook my head.
“How could I know you’re becoming a little nymphomaniac?” he teased.
“Only in your dreams.”
We continued our lovemaking, changing positions and rumpling the sheets, before we returned to my riding him again.
“You like this position, don’t you?” he asked, slightly out of breath. “Is it because it gives you the illusion that you have control?”
“Don’t I?” Guiding his hands to my hips, I leaned forward, kissing him deeply, and lifted my butt just enough for him to intensify the pace.
“Ah, yes, Archer, it feels so good,” I moaned when he hammered inside me again and again.
“Good enough for you to finally admit that I’m your man?” Archer panted and locked those beautiful blue eyes onto mine.
“More, yes, yes, oh, Archer…” I leaned my head back, breaking eye contact, and feeling my insides start to convulse in sweet waves.
“Say it; say that you choose me,” he repeated and all I could do was lean down over him and stop his demands with more kissing.
Archer’s right hand slid up to the back of my head while the other wrapped around my waist, holding me in place while he made a last sprint of thrusts before he stilled inside me and moaned into the side of my neck. “Yeees. Fuck yes!”
I lay on top of him, out of breath, and weak-kneed from the intense lovemaking. When I tried to pull away, he tightened his grip around my waist, unwilling to let me go. “Just a little longer.”
“You shouldn’t have come inside me,” I said with disapproval. “I told you not to do that.”
When I got off the bed and started picking up my clothes from the floor, I repeated. “I mean it, Archer, don’t come in me again.”
He just smiled, but made no promises. Instead he said: “Let’s go to the beach! I think I’m in paradise. First I have amazing sex with you and then I get to go on a sandy beach with warm water.” He grinned. “Sex and the beach on the same day; ah, this is the life.”
He was too adorable to stay mad at, with him being in his paradise bubble, and I couldn’t help teasing him a little.
“Then imagine if we had sex on the beach.”
Archer sat up. “We can have sex on the beach?”
“Absolutely, because that’s what all people do when they want to hide that they’re having a sexual relationship.” I shook my head with a smile.
Archer threw his hands in the air. “I’m not trying to hide it, and I would definitely be up for sex on the beach.”
“But I am trying to hide it,” I said. “So if you want sex on the beach you’ll have to find someone else to have it with.”
“Don’t be stupid, you know I couldn’t do that. You promised to be faithful to me and obviously it goes both ways.”
I didn’t say anything, but secretly I was happy that he wasn’t flirting with all the women he came in contact with, the way Finn was.
“Why won’t you just admit that we’re good together?” he asked and lifted a hand to point a finger at me. “And just for the record: if you are pregnant, we are getting married.”
I lowered my brows. “As if you and I could ever agree on how to raise a child together.”
He got out of bed and walked naked to his bag, where he pulled out a pair of shorts. “We’ll figure it out.”
I shook my head. “I’m not pregnant, and you won’t come inside me anymore, understood?”
He nodded noncommittally.
As we walked to the beach, he said: “I should be offended that you’re embarrassed to be with me. I’m like your dirty little secret, aren’t I?”
“I never said you were.”
Two women came strolling in our direction. They had sunhats on and were carrying wet towels. At first they didn’t see us because they were deep in conversation, but then one of them looked up and stopped cold when she saw Archer in his shorts and tank top. She wasn’t the first to display a shocked reaction, but at least in the city the Nmen’s muscles had been covered by clothing. The tank top, however, did nothing to hide Archer’s muscled shoulders and arms.
Huddling closer, the women hooked their arms together as if Archer was in the market for kidnapping old middle-aged women.
“Hello, ladies,” Archer said politely, but that just made them hurry as far to the side of the path as possible.
“May peace surround you,” I greeted the two scared women as we passed them.
“It’s stupid that people are so frightened of us here,” Archer muttered low.
“It’s just because they don’t know you. Varna and Cindy overcame their fear pretty fast, didn’t they? From what I saw these past days, they’re having a great time with Finn.” I laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to seduce both of them before we leave.”
“I would give him extra bonus points if he seduces them at the same time,” Archer said.
“That’s probably a stretch, but my point is that my fellow Motlanders have been filled with horror stories that aren’t all true.”
He sighed. “It will take time to change that.”
I gave a shrug. “Maybe not as long as you think. I was never too frightened of you.”
His eyes softened in a grin. “Which is ironic. I mean if you knew all the things I want to do to you.”
For a moment, we stood an arm’s length apart and just smiled at each other. It was hard for me to understand how anyone could be afraid of this handsome man with his charming smile and warm eyes.
“Come on, I’ll race you to the water.” Archer took off with a happy howl that had me wonder about the contradiction of this man. How was it possible for him to be so boyish and playful with me in private, and at the same time be a strict disciplinarian with the kids? For some reason none of the Nboys seemed the least bit afraid of him, and that puzzled me since he was quick to punish them if he thought their behavior was unacceptable. At the same time, I had seen him play-wrestle with the boys, and he often made them laugh with his jokes.
Not finding an answer to my conundrum, I took in the beach, my eyes scanning for our group, which only took a second because they weren’t far away.
At least half of the children were in the water with Marco, Finn, Varna, and Cindy.
Nieall had ganged up with William and Sultan and were chasing some of the girls with seaweed hanging from their hands.
Mila and Paysey were playing in the sand and seemed in th
eir own little friendship bubble while the rest lay soaking up the sun halfway up the beach.
“Hey,” I said and walked over to sit down next to Shelly. “Everything all right?”
“Everything is fine.” She smiled and I once again considered asking her if she wanted my help getting rid of her acne. Still, fifteen was a sensitive age and I didn’t want to make her more self-aware than she already was.
“Can I sit with you?” Raven asked and slid into my lap, where she cuddled up against my chest with a sad pout.
“What’s wrong?” I asked and caressed her arm.
“Plato is being mean again,” she complained loudly.
A splash of water hit me and I looked up to see Marco shaking his wet hair in our direction. “Who is being mean?” he asked and pulled Raven up from my lap and onto his shoulder. She was wincing from the cold water on his body. “Just tell me who I have to beat up,” he joked.
“Plato said that all girls are weak as jellyfish,” Raven whined.
“Hey, Plato,” Marco called out to the boy, who raised his head up from the towel where he was lying. “Are you being mean to the girls again?”
“They are being mean to me too,” he said sourly.
Marco sat Raven down on the sand again. “What happened exactly?” he asked.
“It was just a small misunderstanding,” Shelly quickly said. “We really don’t need to talk more about it.”
But Marco didn’t back off. “Tell me anyway.”
Raven didn’t need to be asked twice, and started giving Marco her full report. “First Plato said that girls are weak as jellyfish, and then Shelly asked him to apologize. Plato was being really disrespectful, saying that Shelly is just a child herself and that there is nothing she could do to him since Momsies don’t hit.”
Marco stopped Raven with a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t forget to breathe, sweetie.”
She frowned. “Okay, but the best part was when Shelly put Plato in his place.” She narrowed her eyes and looked over at Plato. “She made him look really stupid and he’s been sulking ever since.”
