by Viola Grace
He grinned, and he nodded to the new hostess who saw the expression and blinked. “Uh, Dr. Krizt, please, come this way.”
They walked slowly through the restaurant, and based on a few physical specifics, she identified at least one of her patrons in a booth.
They were led to the booth that they had been in hours earlier. “Um, this is a strange coincidence.”
The hostess smiled and nodded. “I will let the chef know you are here, Dr. Krizt.”
Arcady chuckled as a slightly confused Krizt helped her slide into the booth without flashing the skyline that was now going from red to purple.
“That is odd. Ledine is usually very friendly.”
“She has a crush on you, and seeing me with you was a nasty shock.”
“Ah. I see.”
At least he didn’t pretend that he didn’t know about it. He was just connecting cause and effect.
Klauz came to them, and he was looking harried until he saw them. He looked at Arcady, and he grinned. “When you came into his room, he closed his eye so I couldn’t peek. Wow. You look lovely. If you ever need a job as a hostess, keep me in mind.”
“I have done the job before. I can manage the clients and the menu, but I am not a fan of the groping.”
Klauz chuckled. “We don’t tolerate that here. If you ever want to try a shift, you can shadow Ledine.”
“Not a good idea. I would rather follow Carly. She won’t try and kill me with a skewer or something.”
Klauz smiled. “I will keep that in mind when the holidays come around. We can always use extra hands.”
Krizt murmured, “Her hands are busy. She has a full-time job.”
Klauz chuckled. “You shut down for a few weeks around the holidays. You are always glooming around here.”
Krizt grumbled. “They lock me out of my lab. Zera’s orders.”
Arcady laughed. “We can find something for you to do. Maybe you can go to the resort in Aksalla.”
He turned to her and raised his brows. “Will you come with me?”
She blushed. “Uh, it is for patrons and escorts, and we are kinda in between here.”
Klauz was grinning.
Arcady sighed. “And he is going to go blind or cut off a finger if we do what I have in mind.”
Krizt laughed out loud. “When he is gone, I will ask you to explain in detail.”
Klauz groaned. “Fine.”
He bowed to Arcady. “May I see what the lady wants tonight?”
The moment she made contact with Klauz, she thought about all the bits of Krizt that she had only guessed at.
His eyes went wide, and he coughed. “Well, you are hungry. That’s a good start to the night.” He looked at his brother and shook his head. “You lucky bastard.”
Arcady laughed brightly, and Klauz’s head came up, as did Krizt’s. She covered her mouth. “I am guessing there is an audio cue.”
Krizt nodded. “I am going to want to analyze that.”
She sighed and nodded. “Fine, but it will cost you.”
He grinned. “I have told you, I am willing to pay. Nothing else to do with the money.”
She blushed, and Klauz laughed. He was still holding her hand. “Okay, that is better; I can work with that.”
He kissed her knuckles and winked. “I had better get back to the kitchen before they burn the place down.”
“Warn me about the frozen stuff.” She smiled.
“Nothing frozen this evening. Something special.” He nodded and left them alone.
She exhaled and sat back. Krizt eased her against him, and she cuddled up to him. She was there when a stranger walked around the corner, and she saw the man from Hyreno, and Krizt sat up with recognition as well. “Juro, how nice to see you here.” Krizt leaned forward and extended his hand.
The aquatic ambassador leaned in and shook Krizt’s hand. “It is good to see you, Doctor.”
Krizt gestured. “Please, have a seat.”
Juro paused. “Who is your companion? I can’t help but think that we have met.”
Arcady looked at Krizt apologetically. She held her hand out to Juro. “We have met.”
He took her hand and kissed her knuckles then turned her palm and licked her skin. His smile was slow, and his teeth were sharp. “Seventeen. Congratulations on your recovery.”
She pushed aside the oddness of being identified by taste. “Thank you, Patron. I would not have made it if not for Dr. Krizt.”
Krizt looked at her. “What?”
She looked at him and sighed. “Zera told me that you came to get me or, at least, to keep them away from me. I don’t know what you did or what you end up looking like when whatever you did happens, but I am glad that you were there.”
She had also used her credentials while in the tank to see the CCTV footage from the area, and something with horns had moved at blurring speed. It was a fair bet that she was pressing her thigh against the monster from the park.
Juro sat on Arcady’s other side, and he looked her over. It was funny, but she could see that there was something in his gaze that said she was no longer what he was looking for. “I just came back from Aksalla, and I have to say that the resort is coming along. The sculpture gardens are really coming along. The next one is going to be a challenge for the artist. Tirra and Gorith.”
Arcady laughed. “Right. That will be a lot of curves and angles. I wonder if the conceptual artist put in all the tentacles.”
Juro shrugged. “It will be a mystery until the sculptor starts working. I am planning to be there for each and every statue she creates. Her touch with stone is amazing.”
There was more than admiration for an artist there. Juro had a crush on the sculptor.
Arcady smiled and leaned against Krizt. “Tell us about her.”
Klauz arrived and paused when he saw Juro and then noted the distance. He exhaled in relief and presented Arcady with her first dish. She looked at it and smiled, glancing past Klauz to the amusement park in the distance on the peninsula. The viewing wheel was picked out, and each car had a tiny mouthful in it.
She laughed again, and Juro and the other two looked at her. She clamped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry.”
Krizt wrapped a hand around her and tucked her against him. “Don’t be sorry. It is a very nice sound. It goes directly into the pleasure centre.”
Juro chuckled. “How are your new experiments, Krizt?”
They discussed some of the new bio mods that he was working on, and Arcady ate the items in the wheel. Klauz returned to the kitchen with another wink.
Each tiny morsel was a mix of sweet, salty, sour, meaty, and rich. Several were fish-based, but she refused to let Juro share.
The guys talked shop, but she was aware of all the projects they discussed. They were overridden by existing actives and specialists who wanted to move to the underwater Hyreno but didn’t already have the gills or water processors.
She had seen the research but hadn’t realized that it was circumventing the natural activation process. She looked at her hair and blinked. Right. It was the same general situation that she had been in.
She idly combed her hair over one shoulder, leaving a wide swath of neck and shoulder exposed to Krizt. He paused mid-sentence.
Juro chuckled. “You are very good at knowing what people need, Seventeen.”
“When I am out of the mask, please call me Arcady.”
He inclined his head. “It was a pleasure to see your eyes, Arcady.”
“It is rather strange to actually be seen.”
He took her hand again and kissed her skin. “He’s very trustworthy, Arcady.”
She leaned forward and said, “I know. He’s my boss.”
Juro blinked and laughed. “Interesting situation.”
Krizt snorted. “Not yet, but it is getting there.”
Juro left with a nod, and she waved but sighed and leaned against Krizt the moment they were alone.
She touched his thigh and stroked the fabric unde
r her palm. She idly asked, “How often do you want to eat?”
She looked up at him, and his fangs were descending. “Oh. So, like, more than once a day if someone is dumb enough to snuggle up to you.”
He nodded slowly.
“So, I am the dumb bunny that crawled into your lap.”
He chuckled and nuzzled her neck.
Klauz smiled as he brought the next course and found her gripping the table while Krizt licked her from just behind her ear, down to the edge of her shoulder, and then he reversed the path.
Klauz smirked. “You look like a kitten getting a bath.”
She snorted. “I have met Khytten. I look nothing like her.” Krizt licked her again slowly, and she braced herself against the table.
The chef eased a plate in front of her, and he shrugged. “It is hot now, so—”
She grabbed one of the small bits of steak wrapped in bacon with an oyster. She twisted and jammed it in Krizt’s mouth.
Klauz nodded. “That will work. See you in twenty.”
Krizt growled, and she nibbled at a few of the dozen tiny bites on the tray.
She smiled. “Just thought that you could use a palate cleanser after licking the same thing for five minutes.”
He looked at her and slowly chewed the item. His teeth had to retract for him to chew, and it calmed him right down.
Arcady made a mental note to keep jerky in her purse or pocket while she was with him.
“You taste really good.” He pressed his nose against her skin. “And you smell really good. And you look amazing.”
“You sound a bit tipsy.”
He chuckled, and she felt something moving between her thighs. Dammit, the tail! She held her breath as the tip of his tail slid around against her sex. “And you feel hot and wet.”
She shook and cleared her throat. “I can ignore it.”
“Oh, but that will be frustrating. I don’t want you frustrated.”
She squeaked as the tail started moving with a lot of precision. Of course. Krizt did everything with precision.
He slid his fingers into her while his tail teased her clit, and it was only a few dozen strokes when she gripped the table and gritted her teeth as her body clenched hard.
He slowed his fingers and muttered, “You have quite the grip.”
She shuddered as the teasing eased, and she slumped back against him. “Jerk.”
He laughed and hugged her. “Dating is fun. I should have tried it months ago.”
“Months ago, I was still on probation at work, and something like this would have gotten me fired, and you would have gotten a frowny face on your file.”
“And the lecture from HR. Don’t forget the lecture.” He licked his fingers clean.
“Of course. The lecture. I got two of those when I didn’t bring cupcakes for Uranil’s birthday. One lecture for not bringing cupcakes, and the other lecture for not bringing donuts like he asked. I didn’t have a donut shop on my way to work.”
He leaned over and stared. “Seriously?”
“Yup. I got an eye-rolling frowny face.”
She glanced at him. “Yeah. That face.”
He snorted, and they cuddled together, waiting for the next course. She wondered how many were on the way.
Chapter Eight
Four courses later, the dessert had been shared, and Klauz was called away while the other clients slowly trickled away and more came in.
Arcady linked her arm with Krizt as they left the restaurant. He looked every inch the gentleman, and she looked like something small and fluffy that he had picked up for the evening. Well, that was the idea. He wanted to be seen with something cute, so she made herself into something cute. If he wanted dramatic, she was going to need something to restrain her hair and some makeup. It looked like she was going shopping tomorrow.
“What are you thinking about?”
She chuckled. “Tomorrow. I need to go out to grab a few things. Hair bindings for one. This texture requires more than some pins to hold it in.”
He ran his hands through it as they entered the elevator. “I like it.”
“I know, but I can’t have it loose and go through decontamination as many times as I do. The static would be tremendous.” She asked, “Who are on the floors in between you and the restaurant?”
“There is a private function floor, Klauz, and a private pool and gym. I own the building.”
She nodded. “Sure. That makes sense. I am guessing that you have been at the inventing game for a while.”
“A few decades.”
“Oh. Right. I guess I should have checked your age before I threw myself at you.” She sighed. “Oh, well.”
He chuckled. “Do you want to know?”
She pulled him through the open doors of the elevator into his apartment. “Let me have my way with you first. If it isn’t too much trouble.”
“Who am I to defy a lady?”
He swung her into his arms and walked her down the hall to his bedroom. She assumed that was where they were headed. He didn’t seem the type to launch her off the edge of the building.
“I haven’t done this in a while. I will count on you to lead me a little, Arcady. I don’t want to lose control with you.”
She grinned. “Let’s save that for an actual date.”
“What? Losing control?”
She touched his jaw and stroked him with the back of her hand. “Yeah, I only want to see that in the right circumstances.”
“I don’t want to lose control with you.”
Arcady stroked the curve of his ear with one finger. “Not even a little?”
His eyes narrowed as he opened the door and set her on her feet.
“Seriously? You just carried me down the hall?”
He grinned. “I wanted to make sure you ended up in the correct room. Now there are the clothes to deal with.”
She nodded. “Good start. Did you want some help with that?”
He blinked as if he hadn’t considered it. “How can you help?”
She walked around him, slipping the jacket off his shoulders and catching it as it fell. She carefully set the jacket over a chair, and then, she returned to him and loosened his tie. Arcady slid the silk through her fingers and sighed as she slipped it off his neck. He smiled when she draped it over her shoulder and went for the buttons of his shirt.
The buttons slipped free, and she trailed her fingers on the exposed skin. She kissed his neck and ran her tongue across the pulse that was thudding there. She worked her lips against his neck as she pulled his shirt free of his pants and wrapped her arms around him under the fabric. “Brace yourself; I am about to get shorter.”
He chuckled, and she stepped out of her shoes, dropping six inches in height. “Wow. Those are tall shoes.”
She giggled and just stood against him, holding him and inhaling the scent of him that she normally only caught when she was close to him at work. Arcady’s hands moved down the deep groove of his back, and she felt the movement of his tail against her hands. Delicate strokes at the base made him shudder, so she smiled, moved her hands around to undo the belt, and unbuttoned his trousers. He reached behind her and opened the cuffs of his shirt. She slid her hands up his chest, and his shirt shifted off his shoulders. She moved behind him and pulled it free of him. She straightened it and put it and the tie over the chair with the jacket.
He moved close to her and put his hands on her shoulders before moving his hands to her back and opening the closure of her dress. The fabric sagged and clung to her with friction only. His fingers opened and removed the strapless bra with the dexterity she had always admired. His touch caressed her back and rubbed at the pressure marks left by her undergarments. “Does that hurt?”
She shrugged. “You get used to it. It is the marks under the breasts that are sensitive.”
He slid his hands into the loose fabric of the dress and cupped her breasts. She inhaled sharply and leaned back against him, putting her hands over his w
ith the fabric between them.
Arcady moaned as he trailed his fingers over her skin, and her fingers followed. She sighed softly and turned her head as he lightly rolled her nipples in his fingers. She bit her lip, and her hips twisted against his in a slow rub.
“I really need to taste you.” His voice was a thick rumble.
She swallowed, and she nodded. “How and where?”
He wrapped his tail around her and picked her up, carrying her over to the bed, where the tail slithered away, and he peeled her out of her dress. It had to be shoved off her hips, but when it was down, he looked at her, and he let out a soft groan.
“You have seen me naked before. I was in the tank for a while.”
“Trust me. This is different, Arcady.”
“Yeah, the difference is that I think Klauz is about to lose a digit.” She could see the glow in the one eye.
He chuckled. “His own fault for looking. Allow me to ensure a bit of privacy.” He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, the glow was gone. Klauz had been ordered to bugger off.
She touched his chest and felt the thudding of his heart. “Privacy is not a requirement. That gets trained out of you, too.”
“I am not telling my brother that.” He pressed his lips to her bare shoulder and inhaled. “Oh, you smell good.”
“Uh, you have said that.”
“I mean it. And you taste amazing.” He flicked his tongue out. “But this isn’t enough.”
“To get me more naked, you are going to have to peel me.”
He nipped her shoulder. “Not what I meant, but I suppose I will have to explain it.”
She wrapped her arms around his ribs and pulled him toward her. “If this is going to be a lecture, I am going to need more coffee.”
He grinned. “I will try to keep you awake.”
Krizt lifted her and pried her arms off him, setting her in the centre of the bed before he crept on top of her. He widened her thighs and lay on his belly between them.
She swallowed. “Oh, that taste.”
He ignored her and pressed his lips against her. She whimpered, and he used his tongue, slowly scraping from her opening to her clit. The curl and flick that he engaged in made her flail for a grip. He grabbed her hands and put them on his horns, and she curled in a tight sit-up as he drove his tongue into her, and it coiled around inside her before slithering up against her clit. Arcady gasped and twisted as he repeated it over and over.