“It was not entirely his fault he was such a troublesome boy. I knew since he was a youngling that he would never stay put. It was like someone knotted his tail around a fish. He was always all over the place, and he held a special hatred for the industry that keeps our economy moving.” His expression grew sad. “For good reason of course… bah! The past is done. I am just very glad my Lerix has returned home.”
He beamed down at them, the spitting image of a doting father. Cara felt the sharp nibble of guilt on her conscience.
“Well,” he boomed, “I am off to bed. Come on, Gordix. Let the newly mated couple enjoy their privacy.”
Gordix winked at them and followed his father out of the room, leaving Cara and Lerix alone. Lerix cleared his throat while Cara fidgeted.
“I guess we’d better head to bed… uh, our own beds in our own rooms, that is,” she clarified with haste.
“Yes, of course,” Lerix agreed with visible relief.
Both turned away from each other and headed toward their own rooms. Lerix had shocked his father by insisting on separate rooms, but when he explained that it was due to them still getting to know each other, the male had nodded. Clearly, they still expected something R-rated to go on in the common room from the way they’d beat a hasty retreat. Cara was thankful for Lerix’s forethought, despite how awkward the whole situation felt.
The door slid closed behind her and Cara leaned back against it. She was supposed to be searching for Ben and yet this whole situation was so different than what she’d thought it would be. She didn’t know what to think.
Chapter 7
Early the next morning, Lerix left with his jeweled gains from his previous employer at such an early hour that no one would notice him sneaking off. Jewelry and jewels were remarkably easy to sell for credits on Kadesh. Most merchants didn’t even question the origin of said jewelry if it was a nice enough piece. Of all such places, that of his childhood friend, Viri, was the one he most trusted.
The door chimed as it slid open and Lerix stepped into a store painted in soft hues of rosy beige with a pale trim. Viri inherited the business from her mother and ran it with taste and a steady hand. There was nothing garish to this shop. To his estimation, Cara would probably like it. Lerix shook his head. Ridiculousness on his part.
At the sound of the bells, Viri swept in from the back room. The deep red, almost purple female stopped mid-stride, eyes widening. He grinned as she shrieked with happiness and leaped at him. He almost fell over from her sudden added weight before she dropped to her feet and shoved him, her tail playfully whipping the side of his leg.
“Lerix, you vurnol’s posterior, where have you been all these years? I wouldn’t have thought it would take you that long to find a mate,” she said.
“Always a pleasure to see you, Viri,” he said. “You females have it easy, just sitting here in the webs you weave waiting for some hapless offworlder male to stroll right in. I suppose you have a mate now?”
Viri preened as she gloated. “I’ve had a mate for six revolutions now and bore two offspring. They are at present keeping my mother busy.” She took a quick look around and frowned. “Where is your mate then?”
“She is home. We traveled far yesterday, and I did not want to wake her yet. It is best to let her sleep after the long night we had,” he said with a theatrical smirk.
Viri slapped him again and laughed. “Of course! I am sure you kept your new mate very busy indeed. Before long, you will have as many offspring as me if you keep that up.”
In truth, the idea of tiny, evil Kadesh younglings running around was enough to make his blood run cold with panic.
“I am not so sure about all that,” he began, unaware until Viri began laughing that he’d backed up a step in his horror. He swallowed thickly and recovered enough to give her a cocky smile. “What I mean to say is that I am not sure we are quite ready for that yet.”
His friend offered a knowing nod. “It certainly isn’t for everyone. I already told Avor that I am done pushing out little ones for him. It would be nice now that they are getting older to have a bit of time for us without worrying about any more babies being in the way. It is a bit hard to enjoy my big Lorgor male without a little Kadesh trying to slide between us. I have only just managed to get Lilu to sleep in her own bed and she is four rotations in age.”
Lerix’s brows climbed. “This is the second Lorgor I have seen this week after passing years without seeing one. How did you manage to catch a Lorgor? They rarely do anything other than serve the Calysii Empire. I wasn’t aware that they even know how to relax and have a good time. If it weren’t for the fact that they obviously reproduce, I wouldn’t have thought any of them would know how to unbend enough to have sex without saying ‘yes, sir.’”
Viri rolled her eyes and snickered. “You are not far off. He accompanied a Calysii noblewoman as her armed escort. She wanted to sample the local culture, and he got to sample something a little more interesting. It was difficult for him to stay and disobey her orders when he was trained to obey her in all things. But once he stopped performing to amuse her in her bedchambers, she was determined to go, and he refused to be separated from me.”
Lerix whistled, his tail curling with interest close to his leg.
“But enough about my family, I would rather hear your news. Tell me about your mate,” Viri insisted.
“She is human.”
Now it was Viri who raised her brows, her nasal ridges wrinkling with surprise.
“Now that is unexpected,” she said slowly. “Earth doesn’t allow their unmated females offworld. I wouldn’t have thought you would have the credits to afford their service. A friend of mine thought of getting one of their males since she wasn’t thrilled with anything we saw coming to the planet, but the cost for a male, even at half of what they charge for their females, was twice what she could have afforded. We do see human males here from time to time, but it is difficult to catch them since most of them are only here looking to gamble in the pleasure district and are already mated.”
The gambling districts in every major city were the largest source of income for the Kadesh. They were also the most popular hunting grounds for Kadesh females looking to lure a mate.
Lerix considered the entire ploy brilliant. Despite their reputation for luring males, a Kadesh female would never accept a mated male saturated with long-term exposure to his mate’s pheromones. Kadesh evolved large scent receptors for more than one reason.
This told him all he needed to know of Cara’s relationship with her male. Unlike Cara, who reeked with pheromones of the human male when they’d met, her male was not committed enough to allow sole exposure to her over a length of time without diluting it with another female’s scent. If he had, the female Kadesh would have discarded him. It took months of separation before the scent markers disappeared.
Lerix felt an unexpected pang of sympathy for the female. One he ruthlessly squashed.
“I didn’t get her through the service,” he chuckled. “It was more a matter of being in the right place at the right time. It is not a very interesting tale, suffice to say that she was traveling illegally on a vessel that I ended up on.”
Viri slapped a hand down on the counter. “I like her already. You must bring her by for dinner tonight—I insist.”
Lerix shifted uncomfortably. Although Cara had agreed to play along with his story, he hadn’t planned on making her perform the part so rigorously outside of his own family. He hoped she would go along with it because he could tell, despite the smile on Viri’s face, his friend was also conveying a stubborn insistence that wouldn’t be denied by anything short of the powers of the gods themselves.
“Of course. We would be delighted. Give me time and I will hurry home and give her the news. But before I go, perhaps you can see if you are interested in this trinket she wishes to part with,” he said, pulling the ornately jeweled necklace out of his pocket.
Viri plucked the necklace from his
hand and examined it with keen interest.
“This is a beautiful piece. Superb flawless gems, beautiful setting.” She lowered it and looked at him with surprise. “Are you certain she wishes to sell it? I can’t imagine many females willingly letting something this high-quality go.”
“Oh, yes, said it belonged to a distant relation who she never got on with. She inherited it but would rather have the credits than the reminder of the female. I don’t understand it either, but the female mind is not something I have ever understood,” he said, making an effort to convey more charm with his smile.
She frowned, studying him as she tapped a finger on the counter. Finally, she shook her head regretfully, gently putting the necklace into a soft bag from beneath her counter before handing it back to him.
“I cannot, in good conscience, take this. At least not until I speak with your mate first. If they are her inheritance, it is better for her to keep it. Even if she does not care to wear them, maybe her daughter will, or granddaughter. It feels wrong for me to buy them. Truthfully, these are worth a significant fortune. The stones look incredibly rare. I don’t know of anyone who might be able to give you even a fraction of their true value. They almost look like a piece from a set of crown jewels. Is your mate Earthen royalty?”
Lerix shook his head, a niggling feeling of dread settling somewhere in the depths of his gut as he wondered at his previous employer’s social status. Surely, she wouldn’t chase him down over a necklace…
“No, she isn’t royalty, but perhaps her relative had some significant wealth. It is difficult to know with humans.”
“Hmm,” Viri hummed distractedly as she waved at another customer who ducked into the shop. Lerix stiffened but didn’t give more than the briefest glance to the young slender male looking at some less expensive baubles at the far end of the counter. He laughed at himself for thinking even for a second that it was a thug sent by Koriee.
The sooner he could part with the necklace, the better. Lerix gnashed his teeth beneath his understanding smile. Truthfully, he hadn’t expected this reaction from Viri. He’d assumed she would have looked at them with that familiar predatory gleam of counting profits shining in her eyes. Apparently, mating and producing offspring had made her unexpectedly sentimental.
“Of course,” he interjected smoothly. “Make no mention then of this to her. I do not want her to feel embarrassed. She will accept such words best coming from me,” he said, already plotting where he would try next.
He wouldn’t have time to try another shop today. He needed to get back to his father’s house before Cara noticed his absence and prepare to move to their next destination. Maybe he would find someplace suitable there if he found a free moment. If not, he could try other jewelers after he resolved the situation with the human female.
“Certainly,” Viri agreed with a sympathetic look. “I will be certain not to mention it at all when I meet her. Speaking of which, is the sixth hour after midday good for you?”
“Perfect.”
***
Cara yawned and pulled back the curtain covering the transparent door. To her delight, miles of beach stretched out before her. They still had several hours before they needed to head back to catch the next train. Plenty of time for a quick stroll down the beach and to enjoy some of the beautiful scenery without a sourpuss shooting down anything romantic.
The door slid open at her touch and, wrapped in a thin robe, she stepped out onto the warm pink sand. With the peculiarly colored waves lapping at her feet, Cara set out to enjoy her morning. As she walked, she suffered a pang of sadness.
She should have been walking these beaches with Ben. Instead, she was alone in one of the most romantic places in the universe, and he was holed up somewhere with his “new love.” The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that there had to be something that Ben was reacting to. Some sort of chemical reaction to a Kadesh female’s pheromone, probably. He wouldn’t have cheated on her if he was in his right mind.
Sure, during their relationship there had been some uncomfortable moments with women in his staff, and he often pulled long nights, but he’d never given her a reason not to trust him. She certainly never expected him to completely cast her aside. He’d always seemed eager to get married. It was good for them, and it was good for his career. Ben said more than once that it was the best move for their future.
And sure, it was rare that he invited her to his apartment. She had never liked that, but he’d explained that it was nothing more than a bachelor’s pad and he would rather stay the night at her place until they got a house of their own. It made sense to her.
These weren’t the actions of a fickle man, right?
Cara was so lost in thought that she wasn’t aware of how far she had walked or that someone was running up behind her until she felt a touch on her arm. She jerked in surprise, tripping over her own feet as she tumbled onto the soft sand. Her eyes snapped up to meet a concerned gaze. Lerix frowned down at her, the strange ridges of cartilage and flesh running along his cheekbones declining slightly as he did so.
“You are okay?” he rumbled.
Cara flushed and nodded her head, embarrassed at being caught wool-gathering. She pushed herself up to her feet, less than graceful in her state of discomfort. By some miracle, she managed to get on her feet again without any more embarrassing incidents. She brushed the sand off her hips and upper legs, far too aware that sand had crept into zones she didn’t want to inspect too closely under his watchful eye.
“Yes, sorry. Had my head in the clouds. I didn’t hear you coming up behind me.”
His brow puckered further as he inspected her head.
“I don’t understand.”
“It means I was too busy thinking rather than paying attention to where I am going,” she admitted, her skin heating as her flush deepened.
His yellow eyes scanned her face thoughtfully with such intensity that Cara nearly forgot to breathe. His lips then quirked up and he nodded.
“Yes,” he said with a small chuckle. “I am very familiar with this activity. Still, not one wise to engage in outside of the security and privacy of one’s own home.”
“Maybe you’re right,” she laughed.
Lerix grinned down at her, his rows of lethal teeth gleaming at her in the sunshine, and for once Cara found herself not at all bothered by it. She figured that she must be getting used to his alien appearance—all sharp angles, ridges, heavy muscle, and dangerous edges.
Very lightly, with a playful air, he nudged her. “Come on. Let’s return to the estate. I am sure the entire household is wondering where we are at. We will need to leave tonight to travel and reunite you with your mate. We have much to do between now and then.”
Cara took a deep breath and smiled appreciatively up at him. “All right.”
Thirty minutes later they were stomping the sand off their feet just inside the doorway when Gordix and Mokav wandered into the hall from the common room.
“See, what did I tell you?” Gordix laughed loudly upon catching sight of them. “I told you that Lerix probably just whisked his mate off for a bit of privacy. Probably didn’t want anyone else hearing his mate screaming out her pleasure,” he observed with a suggestive wink.
Cara wanted to melt into the floor right then and there.
“Don’t be embarrassing the girl,” Mokav snapped, making his younger son smile at her sheepishly. Cara could’ve kissed the older male. She knew Gordix didn’t mean any harm, especially not when they were leading the whole family on, but it sure was awkward to have someone point that out, regardless. Still, she smiled so that he’d know that he was forgiven.
“Told you they would be wondering,” Lerix put in dryly.
Chapter 8
After a generous breakfast that saw more food loaded onto her plate than she’d ever eaten in one meal in her entire life, Cara settled in for a leisurely afternoon. Lerix was touring the property with Mokav, leaving her with Gordix for
company. After being peppered with numerous questions about Earth, Gordix made his apologies and left to tend to his shift overseeing the resort. Apparently, several cousins and distant relations helped operate it, though the business itself belonged to Gordix and was ultimately his responsibility.
As entertaining as he was, Cara was relieved to have some time to herself. She first explored the numerous rooms of the interior, before taking herself out in the massive gardens that surrounded the rear of the house.
Exotic alien flowers were in bloom everywhere, and Cara felt a deep appreciation for the ambiance. No wonder couples booked the gardens for mating ceremonies—despite Lerix’s disdain over the entire thing. The grounds obviously had a great deal of care and attention go into their maintenance.
The gardens seemed to curve and unwind in complicated patterns that she wished she could see from above. At various points, she saw benches set in little romantic hideaways, but it wasn’t until she found a delicate swinging bench nestled into a thickly vined alcove near a fountain that Cara decided she’d found her perfect happy place.
Settling into the swing, she pushed off with her toes and leaned back into the seat, allowing herself to doze under the warm sunlight as the water babbled as it rolled from the carved stone figure of an elegant alien female of a species she did not recognize.
She didn’t track how long she lay there peacefully until a shadow moved over her and to the left as Lerix sat down beside her, his tail draped over his lap. With a gentle push, he got the swing moving again and looked pensively at the water. He sat there so quietly Cara had to work hard not to fidget. She was never good with long stretches of silence. When he finally spoke, his voice was so low and deep that she had to pay close attention so not to miss anything he said.
A Kiss on Kaidava Page 5