Not in Kansas-Kindle

by Alexander, R. G.

The silence grew awkward while his fingers fumbled over the lacings in the front closure. He was used to buttons and jeans. Why would people wear something this complicated? Plus, he doubted they were designed to fit around a hard-on.

  He heard a pained sigh and then Z was there, lean fingers slapping his clumsy ones away to finish the job. Kansas inhaled sharply at the feel of those hot knuckles pressed against his shaft, only one thin layer of material between them and his cock. “I don’t think you should—”

  “Try to listen. The reason the king’s current malaise affects you is because he will see you as the cure to it. You are unique. Something new for him to study and explore. Your eyes alone could fixate him for days.”

  Kansas closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing. “My eyes?”

  “I’m sure you’ve seen for yourself how rare you are. How attractive.” The efficient fingers had slowed. Each time a lacing was pulled through and tightened, Kansas was sure he felt an extra caress, a subtle pressure. He wanted to rub himself against Z’s hand, but he couldn’t allow himself to come.

  He may never get another pair of pants.

  Z continued. “Which is why the only way you can get what you want, is to deny him what he wants.”

  At those words, his eyes popped back open. “Huh?”

  “He will want you to submit to him, to give in and allow him to ask you a thousand questions about your world. He will no doubt want to experience intimacy with a human. With you. You must reject him, at least for now, if you ever want to get back home.”

  Kansas stepped back abruptly, the laces dangling as he stared at Z in disbelief. “Hold the phone, what the hell are you talking about? ‘Experience intimacy’? Like I’m a sample on some dessert tray? Damn straight I’ll reject him. If that’s what you’re worried about then you haven’t done enough homework on humanity. I’m not the kind of man to give myself to anyone I’m not attracted to. No matter who he is.”

  Z’s smile was grim, his gaze knowing as he stared pointedly at the erection straining against the lacings on Kansas’s pants. “Ah, but what if you are attracted? You’ve noticed, I think, that our world has an underlying energy of sensuality that infuses everything. Our magic, our food, the air we breathe is alive with it.”

  “I’ve noticed.” Boy, had he.

  Z nodded. “I imagine it could be overwhelming to a species used to sexual restraint. I also imagine that experiencing actual attraction in this new environment might make it even more difficult to resist. Even if resisting it is the only way you will ever be able to return to the world you knew.”

  He stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and without breaking eye contact, completed the lacings until they were tied with a flourish. “I’m trying to help you, Kansas Frayne of Iowa.” The wizard stepped back. “You’d do well to heed my advice.”

  “Why?” Kansas slid on the shirt, but the sleeves were much too small for his arms, and they ripped at the seams as he forced it over his shoulders. “Damn.”

  Kansas paused as he ripped the shredded sleeves off his arms. “Why are you trying to help me, if your job is to make sure the king is happy?”

  Z stared at him enigmatically before turning toward the main hall. “Join your friends, Kansas. And summon your will. You’ll need it.”

  Chapter Four

  Kansas shoved his torn off sleeves into a large vase filled with flowers before following the wizard into the receiving room.

  Great. He was going to meet a king dressed like a pleather-pantsed punk rocker.

  Still better than being naked.

  “Sea eyes, over here.” The room was filled with people, but Kansas saw Fenna and Lenard waving at him from a crowded corner closest to the door. Z caught his gaze and nodded, and Kansas headed their way while the wizard continued toward the front.

  “Nice outfit. I can’t see any dangly bits, so I hope you’re happy.” Fenna grinned, giving his arm a friendly squeeze. Kansas posed and gave Lenard a wink that had the tall feline blushing. He’d only known them for two days, but they already felt like old friends.

  “I’m very happy, thank you. Now will one of you kindly tell me who all these people are? And what clan is that guy from?”

  Lenard’s chest rumbled with good humor when he saw where Kansas was pointing. “Equus. They’re always fun at parties. Arrogant, but they have the equipment to back it up.”

  Kansas found it hard to look away from the centaur-like beings and their…equipment. And he’d though Lenard had a monster between his thighs. “Noted.”

  “Those women over there are Weavers. Stay away from them, they’re all hands.” Fenna sounded sincere, but when Kansas looked away from the six-armed beings across the room and caught her gaze, they both burst into hysterical laughter, drawing a few judgmental gazes.

  Kansas wiped his watering eyes, still chuckling softly, when he saw one group sneering with what he thought was an excessive amount of venom. They looked familiar. “Fenna? Why are your people glaring at me like I crawled out from under a rock?”

  “They aren’t glaring at you. They’re glaring at me.” Kansas heard the vulnerability she couldn’t quite hide and turned his body protectively, shielding her from their stares.

  “Why?”

  Lenard caught her gaze and spoke softly. “He’s bound to find out sooner or later.” He looked at Kansas with a somber expression. “We should have told you as soon as we made the decision to bring you to the king. Fenna and I are outcasts. Tainted. Both our clans have set us aside, and I’m sure they believe we shouldn’t be allowed in the city at all, let alone in the king’s presence.”

  Kansas scowled back at the crowd. He knew what being abandoned felt like. “Why would they do a shitty thing like that?”

  Lenard hesitated, blushing. “The Felix are a very dominant species, Kansas. Male and female alike are strong and warlike—even their mating rituals are a battle for supremacy.” He shrugged. “I’m different.”

  “You’re an artist. The kindest soul I know. Just because you aren’t a warrior…” Lenard rubbed Fenna’s shoulders in gentle gratitude for her defense before he continued.

  “I’m also submissive by choice, which in their minds, is a worse offense. While the Felix are open to other cultures being different, they are not as understanding about their own.”

  “And Fenna can’t—” Lenard cut himself off when he saw Fenna flinch, and Kansas knew that he’d been right. Gliders were known for their sense of direction.

  If she didn’t have one…

  “I can’t find my way through an open field,” she confirmed glumly. “And I’m no good at flying either. My greatmother was a leader of my people and kept me safe from their ridicule. Once she died, the rest of the family couldn’t disown me fast enough. Not that I care.”

  Kansas stepped closer, surprising all of them by wrapping his arms around them both for a quick, heartfelt embrace. “Well, I’m not even from this world, and you can’t get more different than that. I’m just grateful that the two of you found me instead of them. You accepted me, kept me alive and got me here in one piece. If they don’t want you around, if they can’t see how special you are, it’s their loss. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be on this adventure with than you.”

  He was strangling in feathers and fur before he knew it, Lenard and Fenna both squeezing him tightly in thanks.

  Trumpets blared, echoing off the gilded walls of the chamber, and the chattering crowd grew silent. “What’s going on?”

  Fenna released Kansas and attempted to climb up Lenard’s back, determined to get a better view. “New business. The king blesses those newly born, those newly wed and listens to any new issues his people may need him to preside over.”

  Lenard nudged Kansas forward. “You should get in line, my friend. You are new business, after all. This is where you meet the king.”

  He couldn’t see the wizard. Couldn’t even see the throne at the back of the room. He swallowed nervously. “You two are
n’t coming with me?”

  “We’ll step forward as witnesses to your arrival.” Fenna looked down from her new perch on Lenard’s shoulders and ran a taloned hand through his hair. “You don’t have to go home yet, sea eyes. You can stay with us as long as you like.”

  Kansas leaned into her touch with a kind smile. “Thank you, Fenna. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  He took a bracing breath and pushed his way through the crowd, heading toward the back of the small line forming in the middle of the room. He caught sight of Z, standing off to the left on the dais, his amber gaze honing in on Kansas. There was an air of impatience about the sorcerer that made him suspicious. What exactly was he expecting to happen here?

  Two members of the Equus Clan and their new foal bowed and stepped away from the throne, leaving an opening for the next in line. In that moment, Kansas got his first look at the king.

  What if you’re attracted to him?

  What if that was an understatement of epic proportions? The floor dropped out from beneath him, his heart pounding loud in his ears as he saw the man who was his every fantasy rolled into one stand to greet the family of snooty Gliders who’d been glaring at Fenna.

  The king had the same golden skin as the others, but no one would ever be able to mistake him for someone else. He was so beautiful it was impossible for Kansas to look away. As tall as Lenard and just as broad and well muscled, only he wasn’t covered with fur, which to Kansas was a definite plus because it meant more skin for him to lick.

  Careful.

  He wore a long crimson and silver skirt, a circlet of silver around his clean-shaven head, and nothing else. His bare chest was peppered with small scars and piercings. The sheer masculinity on display took his breath away.

  It was more than attraction. Not only did he look a hell of a lot like the watery figure who’d taken him the day before, but this living, breathing version made something inside Kansas instantly wake up and roar, staking a claim. This one, it said. This one belongs to us.

  Kansas tensed. No. This was the leader of a world he’d never known existed. He wasn’t human, and he wasn’t meant for Kansas. Based on what the wizard told him, this monarch had issues with ennui. Even if he were staying, this would be the last person he would let himself have feelings for.

  Danny had gotten bored, too. Kansas couldn’t allow himself to forget that.

  But there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the view right now, is there?

  The king was speaking to his subject in a soft, soothing voice. Kansas leaned closer, attempting to hear the low murmur over the drumbeat in his head. If his voice was anything like the rest of him, he wasn’t sure how the man got through the day without people throwing themselves at his feet.

  “It is a travesty,” the Glider in front of him whispered. “I know you are generous to a fault with your people, Highness, no matter how beneath you, but to allow this insult in your own throne room is unacceptable.”

  “What exactly would you have me do?”

  “Have your guards drag her from the hall. Let Fenna spend a night in your cells before sending her back into the wild, and she won’t dare step foot in the city again.”

  “What the fuck?” Kansas blurted, causing the bird bitch to spin toward him in surprise. In an effort to get away from her flying feathers, he stumbled into her instead, toppling them both over in a squawking, ungainly heap at the feet of His Royal Hotness.

  “This was the surprise I was telling you about, Your Majesty,” Z said wryly.

  Surprise.

  “Get it off of me! Get it off of me!” Kansas scrambled off the pile of feathers and silk, more to escape the shrieking than out of politeness. That was the icing on the cake, as far as he was concerned. He’d been called an “it” more times in the last twenty-four hours than he cared to remember. It was starting to piss him off.

  “It apologizes for falling on you, Feathers. Please excuse it.” Kansas thought he was speaking low enough not to be heard over her squawks, but the surprised bark of laughter from the dais told him otherwise.

  His eyes clashed with the dark whiskey of the king’s gaze, pleasantly surprised to see the humor sparkling there. Kansas watched as he reached out to help the Glider back to her feet, his expression morphing into one of compassionate understanding.

  “Lady Livania, I will take what you’ve said under advisement, if you’ll recall my strong feelings about inclusion. Please accept my congratulations on your daughter’s match, and allow me to offer the new bride a gift of two of my finest gryfs and enough grain to feed her husband’s family for the season.”

  “But—oh, well I mean—yes, thank you, Your Highness. How generous!” The Glider was still flushed with embarrassment, but under the glowing approval of the king, she could do no more than bow and follow her family away from the dais.

  It was more than she deserved. This woman was obviously one of the relatives Fenna had told him about, and she’d tried to have her imprisoned just for showing up. How could they be so narrow-minded?

  “Are your thoughts so consuming?” The king’s voice was still amused, but sharper than before.

  Shit. He knew it was his turn to step forward, but suddenly he wasn’t sure what to do. He swallowed past a throat gone suddenly dry, his heart racing at having the king’s undivided attention.

  Following his instincts with the man would be as bad of an idea as confronting this Livania. He didn’t imagine the armed guards nearby would take too kindly to a stranger throwing their king over his own throne and fucking him senseless. The water had pleasured him and the wizard turned him on, but this man threw his entire world out of kilter, and they hadn’t even been introduced yet.

  The king wasn’t suffering from the same hesitation. One powerful step down and he was there, close enough to touch. Kansas hardly dared breathe as the intense, unblinking gaze covered every inch of his body before returning to study his face.

  The king circled him like a jungle cat stalking its prey. Kansas glanced up helplessly at the wizard. He was supposed to say no to this Adonis? Z’s nod was adamant. Kansas sighed. Fuck. And it was in that moment that the last minute possibility of this being only a dream faded away.

  This was real. All of it. His subconscious wasn’t that cruel.

  “I know every clan in my kingdom, and my realm is vast,” The king leaned down to murmur in Kansas’s ear. “But I have never seen anything like you in all my life.”

  Ditto.

  He stepped back and turned toward Z. “Tell me what you know.”

  “I know much on a wide variety of subjects your—”

  “Now.”

  The wizard held up his hands and the curious murmurs that followed the king’s unexpected outburst fell silent. “The king will receive no more business on this day.”

  Apparently that was their cue to leave. Within moments only two others remained in the large, emptied out hall— Fenna and Lenard. The guards stepped toward them, their unusual staff-like weapons at the ready.

  “Wait! They’re with me.” Kansas rushed over, intent on protecting them, particularly after hearing that harpy badmouth Fenna. “Z, tell them to back off.”

  “Z, huh? Just how well do you know my surprise, old friend?” Kansas glanced over his shoulder in time to see the king wave his guards away.

  The wizard smirked. “Not half as well as I’d like, Your Majesty.”

  “We just met,” Kansas said, still eyeing the guards suspiciously. “I wouldn’t have made it here at all without Fenna and Lenard.”

  His friends smiled at him in gratitude.

  “Yes,” Z agreed easily. “These two found him in the forest at the edge of the city. They kindly protected him and ensured his safe arrival to the palace.”

  “Found?” The king jumped on the word, his curiosity clear. “Were you lost then?”

  His throat was closing again, but Fenna and Lenard’s hands resting supportively on his shoulders helped. “This is going to sound so strange…Or ma
ybe not. I suppose it’s relative, right? I mean, clearly what I think is strange is different than—” He rolled his eyes at his own rambling. His only excuse was that all his blood had left his brain for southern exposure as soon as he had laid eyes on the masculine monarch.

  “My name is Kansas Frayne. I was brought by a storm. From Iowa? That’s in the United States…on Earth… So, yeah, you could say I was lost.”

  The king’s brow furrowed. “Eye-Oh-Wa? Earth?” His nostrils flared, eyes widening as he took a step back. “A Storm Child?”

  Fenna moved closer in response. “He says his clan is Human. He was naked as a babe when we found him, but for this. And we are witness to the fact that he is unique.”

  Kansas glared at Fenna as she handed over his now-cracked cell phone to her sovereign. “My phone? Where the hell did you get that?”

  “It was on the ground beside you. I put it in my pack for safe keeping and forgot about it,” she admitted under her breath.

  Great. He was fairly certain it wouldn’t get a signal but still. “The storm took my clothes, but not my electronics?”

  Did that not seem weird to anyone else?

  The king was turning the device over in his hands and randomly pressing things, the wizard hovering over his shoulder with an odd gleam in his eyes. “I should study that, to see what it might reveal about the land of Earth.”

  Kansas glared at him suspiciously. “Or you could give it back and just ask me what you want to know.”

  “He was naked, you say?” The king asked, ignoring Z and Kansas to and ask Lenard, who instantly started to tremble in response.

  “Pale as cream.”

  Oh Lord.

  A few moments of uncomfortable silence followed. Kansas wanted to melt into a puddle of humiliation on the floor until the king cleared his throat. “You are both welcomed in the palace for as long as you’d like as my honored guests. My guards will take you to your rooms.”

  “Real rooms?” Kansas interrupted. “Not cells?”

  “Kansas, stop,” Lenard whispered. “The king would never do something like that.”