“Can’t cook or won’t?” Jannike asked, her spurt of curiosity bringing satisfaction in Lynx.
“Never learned.” There was so much they didn’t know about each other. The voyage to Viros would be good, give them a chance to become more intimate and cement their bonds before they faced his parents. Oh, he knew of the outcome already. They’d kick him out of the House of the Cat for good. Jannike was not of the House. And Shiloh…well, Shiloh would be an even bigger source of tension.
Fun times.
And Jarlath, his older brother and heir to the throne—Lynx could imagine his pompous reaction. Ellard, Jarlath’s bodyguard and Shiloh’s older brother, he might be more accepting. Shiloh’s parents—no, he doubted they’d approve.
Yep, anyway he looked at the situation, they were phrulled.
“Recreation room. Training room,” Jannike said. “We train most days when we’re between destinations. Ry likes us to keep fit and battle-ready. It’s saved our butts a time or two.”
At his side, Shiloh radiated approval. A selection of weapons from swords to stun blasters and fighting sticks sat securely in racks. Much of the equipment in this area was similar to that on their ship. A halo machine to turn the entire room into a fuller training experience. The recreation room, however, was different with more of the strange equipment.
“I don’t know what half of the stuff is in here,” Shiloh said.
“Much of it comes from Earth.” Jannike gestured at a pile of boxes strapped into a wall cage. “Some belongs to Camryn and some like the games and puzzles and books, we purchased during our visit. We have entertainment discs from Earth. Photos and videos from our visit.”
“We haven’t visited Earth before. What quadrant is it in?” Shiloh asked.
“It’s not in this galaxy. It is far away. We have traveled for many portion rotations and used four different gates to get closer to Viros.”
Lynx nodded and studied the pictures and posters decorating the walls. In this room, they were like a snapshot of the different places they’d visited. Colorful and full of family again. He increased the length of his strides to catch Shiloh and Jannike.
“The cabins are down this corridor. We each have one of our own.” She hesitated. “There is one spare.”
“Do you want us to use it?” Shiloh asked.
“No!” she blurted. “No, you can share mine.” She frowned at them. “If you want to.”
“We want,” Shiloh exchanged a glance with Lynx. “But we’re not intending to hurry you either.”
“I…thank you,” she said in a formal tone. The next instant she rolled her eyes and laughed. “I like you both—I’ve told you that—but this…this urge to mate with you feels weird. I don’t like the element of coercion. When Ry and Camryn met I thought…” She snorted, a sound of self-derision. “I didn’t realize how hard it was to fight the compulsion.”
“Why do you fight?” Shiloh asked.
“I…I like my life aboard the Indy. I don’t want to leave my friends and start a new life. One of our crew—Amme—she fell in love with an Earthman. She stayed on Earth, but at least she knows she will see us again. Ry has promised Camryn we will visit her family in the future.”
Lynx jumped in before Shiloh said something he shouldn’t. He sensed if Jannike knew of his royal heritage, she’d flee in the opposite direction. “Shiloh and I have spent rotations trading and running freight. We don’t spend much time on Viros.”
“What does Ry intend to do after visiting Viros?” Shiloh asked.
“We’ve discussed it, but haven’t come to a decision,” Jannike said. “We’re a team,” she added. “We all have a financial interest in the Indy and our decisions have equal weight.”
“We’ll have to pick up our ship from where we left it—if it’s still there,” Lynx said.
“It better be,” Shiloh growled.
“This is my cabin.” Jannike pressed a button before the door slid open.
He and Shiloh followed her inside. The cabin was bigger than he’d expected and the gel-bed large enough to fit them all. Photos and travel souvenirs covered one of the walls. Several swords and blasters sat in a security rack. Storage cupboards filled another wall. Like the rest of the ship, her cabin was tidy.
“I have my own sanitizer room through there,” Jannike said.
“Way better than our ship,” Shiloh said.
“I want to cleanse,” Jannike said without warning.
“We’ll go and see if we can help Ry with anything,” Lynx said.
Her expression of relief told him it was the right thing to do—give her privacy—even though every instinct shouted at him to stay.
“But—”
Lynx grabbed Shiloh and dragged his friend from the cabin.
“What the phrull?” Shiloh protested.
“If we push her, we’ll lose her,” Lynx said. “She might have admitted our mate claim earlier, but she’s had time to think. It’s enough that she’s allowing us to share her cabin and sleep beside her. She’s not shutting us out totally.”
“I don’t like it.”
“This isn’t about you,” Lynx snapped. “We should contact home.”
“I don’t like that idea either.”
Lynx scratched an itchy spot on his back. “On that we agree. One call. Who do we talk to and what do we tell them?”
“I vote for Ellard. He’ll listen before he lectures,” Shiloh said.
“Agreed. Don’t tell him anything. Just say we’re on our way home.”
“Works for me.”
Fifteen mins later, with the engines of the Indy vibrating beneath their feet, Shiloh pushed in his brother’s comm code. They’d left Manx Two five mins earlier and already the planet was a small red circle on the horizon. Lynx watched Shiloh shift his weight from foot to foot—fidgeting, a sure sign of nerves. He stepped closer and slipped his arm around Shiloh’s waist.
“Shiloh?” Ellard’s voice was much clearer than he would’ve expected.
“Yeah.” Shiloh paused to clear his throat. “We’re on our way home.”
“Good. That’s good.” Ellard sounded pleased. “How long?”
“We’re coming from Manx Two. Maybe quarter of a rotation.”
“Excellent,” Ellard said.
The eagerness in his voice surprised Lynx. Shiloh shrugged, and Lynx wished the communicator had visual as well as audio.
“You remember Marcus Cloud?” Ellard asked. “He had a farm out of the city.”
“Past the lake.”
“That’s right. Once you land at the spaceport, call me then tender out to the Cloud farm. Jarlath and I will meet you there.”
“The spaceport,” Shiloh said. “But—”
A loud crackle sounded.
“Ellard. Ellard? Phrull, he’s gone.”
The ship jumped beneath their feet, and at the controls Nanu cursed. “Damn storm. We hit this coming in to Manx Two. Slowed us down. You’d better strap in.”
Ry ran onto the bridge and strapped into the last empty seat. “Report.”
“The same space storm,” Nanu said. “We lost communications. What about the passengers?”
Ry scanned the instrument panel. “Kaya and Mogens are with them. They’ll make sure they’re safe. Did you manage to get through to Viros?”
“Spoke to my brother,” Shiloh said.
“He said something about a spaceport.” Lynx’s brow furrowed. “We don’t have one on Viros.”
“We’re to meet him at the Cloud farm. He called your brother Jarlath.” Shiloh’s face telegraphed the puzzlement Lynx experienced.
Nanu tossed his head and the beads on the ends of his hair clacked together. “What else would he call him? Does he have a nickname?”
“Yeah,” Lynx said. “I’ve never heard him call my brother Jarlath before.”
“Weird,” Shiloh agreed. Ellard is always so proper.
And why wouldn’t we meet at home? Why out at the farm?
He so
unded pleased to hear from us.
He did, Lynx said. Did you plug in the right number?
Shiloh snorted aloud. You think that wasn’t Ellard. It sounded like him.
“You’re speaking telepathically now,” Ry said.
“Sorry,” Lynx said. “Didn’t mean to be rude.”
“Is this common amongst felines?”
“Not that we know of,” Lynx said. “We haven’t always been able to do this. Not until we arrived on Manx Two.”
“What about Jannike?” Ry asked.
“Not so far,” Lynx said. “But we haven’t… I mean…”
“That’s good.” Ry’s expression belied his words. “She…that bastard…”
“We want her,” Shiloh said. “It will be at her pace, but we don’t intend to let her back away either.”
Ry tapped his fingers on his knee. “A routine will be good for her. And with the two of you around, she won’t have time to go into her head too much.”
“Any advice?” Lynx asked.
“Don’t treat her like a sick person,” Ry said.
“Give her a bit of romance.” Nanu added his opinion. “Feed her. Make sure she eats.”
“Feed her?” Shiloh glanced at Ry to see if Nanu was joking.
“Spend time with her. Learn about each other.” Ry grinned. “Woo her.”
Lynx frowned. Phrull, does that mean we can’t wander up to her and suggest we get busy in the cabin?
Shiloh barked out a laugh.
“If you don’t want the benefit of my experience…” Ry said.
“Did Ry woo Camryn?” Lynx asked Nanu.
Nanu burst out laughing. “No, every time we turned around he had her up against the nearest wall with his hands and mouth on her.”
“I was wooing her,” Ry said.
“If that’s what you want to call it.” Nanu checked his instruments.
Smirking, Lynx changed the subject. “What can we do to help out while we’re on board?” He figured between them, they’d manage to seduce Jannike to their way of thinking sooner rather than later.
“Tell us about Viros,” Ry said.
“Sure. It’s not a perfect place but at least none of the people are slaves.” Lynx started to tell Ry and Nanu about the class system on Viros, the available opportunities and how they’d decided to go into trade. He sidestepped several salient points such as their positions within Virosian society. That could wait until their arrival.
Once the ship was safely through the storm Shiloh followed Lynx and Ry to the galley.
“You could start on the feeding thing,” Ry said, his sly grin bringing a twitch to Shiloh’s own lips.
“I don’t know.” Shiloh winked. “What do you think, Lynx? Do we feed her or shove her up against the nearest wall?”
“Both,” Lynx said.
“See, that’s what I was thinking.”
“I don’t want to know. Just promise me you won’t hurt her. She’s been through enough.”
“We know,” Shiloh said. “We shared some of the ordeals with her.”
Kelvin wandered in and Royal held up his long arms in a demand for Shiloh to pick him up. He tucked the calibore on his hip and stroked his soft fur.
“How be Jannike?” Kelvin boomed.
The markowls tweeted and chirped from their perch on top of his head.
“She is resting,” Lynx said.
“Good. That is good. All of you need to rest.”
“You too.” Shiloh’s gaze went to the wounds at the spots where they’d drunk. They were still evident on Kelvin’s arms. “Will you heal?”
“They will scar,” Kelvin said. “It matters not. For you and Lynx, Jannike and the creatures I would do this again. Tell me, are there forests on your home planet?”
“Yes, outside the city there are farms and forests. The forest is beautiful. Lynx and I used to ride our cambeests there most days. Our brothers too.”
“I wish a haven to grow roots and mourn the loss of my mate, my sons. I wish to become one with the land,” Kelvin boomed, his expression sad and solemn.
“You wish to die?” Ry asked.
Kelvin’s hair rattled when he shook his head. “Life is not the same without my mate. Not die but go into stasis.”
Shiloh squeezed Kelvin’s shoulder. “I know of several places that might suit. We’re to meet our brothers at the Cloud farm. I’ll show you then.”
“Thank ye,” Kelvin boomed.
“We’ll be in Jannike’s cabin,” Lynx said.
“Wait,” Mogens said. “I have made a potion for Jannike. It will aid her sleep. And I have a salve. Rub it on any wounds to speed healing.”
“Thank you.” Shiloh nodded at Ry. “Call us if you require our presence.”
With Royal still clinging to him, he and Lynx made their way to Jannike’s cabin. Feminine voices came from within and he hesitated. Lynx showed none of the same hesitation. He hit the door button. The feminine chatter ceased, and Jannike and Camryn watched them with varying reactions. Camryn’s expression held intrigue and excitement while Jannike was plain wary.
Suddenly Nanu’s suggestion of feeding her made sense. It was a caring act, yet not confrontational.
“We brought food and a potion from Mogens,” Lynx said. “Some salve too.”
For once Shiloh was pleased of his friend’s confidence and swagger. If it were just him, he’d back off, and his gut screamed they needed to strike a balance between the two approaches.
“Can I pat this handsome fellow?” Camryn asked.
“Royal. He doesn’t bite, but he’s timid.” Shiloh blinked as the calibore sighed in contentment and pushed against Camryn’s stroking hand. “Traitor.”
The calibore jumped from him to Camryn and she cried out in delight. “Can I take him with me? I’ll bring him straight back if he starts to get upset.”
“As long as that’s all right with Jannike.”
Lynx was sitting on the corner of her gel-bed and plying her with food. Yep, maybe Nanu’s idea of feeding her wasn’t so stupid.
“Jannike?” Camryn asked.
Jannike ripped her gaze away from Lynx and Camryn chortled.
“Can I take Royal with me?” Camryn repeated her question.
“Sure. He seems to like you.”
“I wonder if he’d like some toys. I’m sure I can find something for him to play with—a ball of some sort,” Camryn said.
“Maybe you could set him to find Kaya’s chocolate stash. I swear she’s still got some hidden,” Jannike said.
Camryn tapped the side of her nose. “I know where it is. I tracked down the scent. She tried to camouflage it with perfume, but she can’t beat a feline’s nose. I might go and have a chat with her, tell her a pregnant woman who is chocolate deprived is a crafty adversary. She might as well give me some.” Camryn laughed again, and strode from the room with Royal clutched in her arms. A feline on a mission.
“What is chocolate?” Shiloh asked.
“A food?” Lynx queried.
“It’s an Earth treat. A sweet. We got hooked on it when we visited Earth at Christmas. Kaya is addicted to the stuff and purchased a large amount before we left.”
Lynx frowned. “It’s a drug?”
Jannike laughed, and Shiloh found himself smiling at the joyous sound.
“No, it’s not a drug though the way Kaya guards her supply you’d think her chocolate more valuable than currency.”
“What else did you do on Earth? Tell us while you eat,” Lynx said.
“I’m starving,” Shiloh said. “We brought enough food for us too. I didn’t recognize half of the things on your ration menu. Mogens picked out the things he said you like.”
“A sandwich.” Jannike gestured at the nearest dish. “That’s an Earth food. After our visit we all missed the food. Mogens is good with food and he designed a new menu for us. We were there for a month, which is an Earth word for a portion of their rotation. They celebrate the birth of a god, which is very confus
ing because many of the people don’t believe in his presence. The weather was hot. We swam in a pool and went to the beach. We got a Christmas tree. Wait,” Jannike said. “We have photos on a gadget. It will be easier to show you later instead of trying to paint word pictures.” She paused to take a bit of her food, which consisted of two squares of light brown stuff and a different type of food squashed in the middle.
“Can I try your food?” Lynx asked.
Jannike held it out to him and he nibbled on the corner, chewing then swallowing.
“My turn.” Shiloh was pleased at Jannike’s more relaxed state. He directed her hand and the food toward his mouth and bit down.
“My, what sharp teeth you have,” she said.
“All the better to nibble you with,” Shiloh said.
She froze, her gaze connecting with his, and his heart drummed against the wall of his chest.
Don’t scare her, Lynx said.
“Do I scare you?” Shiloh tried very hard to appear nonthreatening. Difficult given his size.
“I know you won’t hurt me,” she whispered.
Shiloh reached out and brushed a finger over the softness of her cheek. “That’s not an answer.”
“Eat your meal before it gets cold.” Lynx sent him a disapproving glare. She’s not some floozy at the tavern. Jannike isn’t a sure thing, and we need her. Do. Not. Scare. Her.
“Sandwiches don’t get cold.” Jannike paused and swallowed. “My heart knows neither of you will hurt me, but my mind keeps telling me all men are pigs, that they’ll use me, hurt me.”
“We won’t,” Lynx said. “Never on purpose, at least.”
“I don’t want to eat the rest.” She handed the sandwich to Shiloh. “You finish it.”
Lynx shifted the tray off the gel-bed. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m so tired. I want to sleep but every time I close my eyes, I see the jailor and the widow, their gloating faces.”
“Mogens said the potion will help you sleep. Why don’t you drink that and try to rest. Shiloh and I will sleep with you.”
“I don’t— I…”
“We’re not intending to force you to do anything,” Lynx said. “If we feel the urge for sex, we have each other.”
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