by Reagan Woods
Sesk’aa stood and looked down at Lacy thoughtfully. “The science expedition attached to General Darvan’s armada has published quite a bit about you Earthers and your breeding capabilities. As a race, we struggle to keep our numbers up, but your people do not have that problem.”
“We’re different species.” Lacy observed guardedly.
“Hardly,” Sesk’aa rebutted, expression bland. “At the cellular level, most humanoids are genetically similar.”
Chewing her lower lip, Lacy returned Sesk’aa’s unblinking stare. At length, she stammered, “Wh-what are you saying?”
His mother didn’t answer. Instead, she produced a small box from her waist band and turned to Bram, “I’ll give you the chits and you can go.”
Lacy sprang to her feet and tried to tug him along. Bram didn’t budge. He knew this wasn’t over.
“If you keep in contact,” Sesk’aa finished. “And you will owe me a future favor.”
There it was. Whatever she wanted, it was big.
Lacy bobbed her head impatiently.
Sesk’aa’s eyes stayed on him. Waiting.
Slowly, Bram stood. “Agreed.” A heavy weight settled like a stone around his neck. He had no choice. They needed the chits.
He accepted the small case and opened it. Two tiny, bioneutral silicone circuits nestled on a foam gel pad.
“Gratitude.” Bram placed a hand over his heart, promising, “I will contact you when we’re settled.”
“I had my properties on Cuva transferred to your alias’s possession,” Sesk’aa told him as she led them back to the exit. “The lodge and the hunting cabin are yours. I’ve also paid off any neighbors that might have known you in your youth.”
Her words stunned him and increased his suspicion of her motive exponentially.
“You mean because they might sell Bram out to the Council?” Lacy asked.
“Or you,” Sesk’aa answered with an arched brow and an assessing look. They’d reached the hatch and she plucked a white drawstring bag off a nearby hook. “Here,” she handed it to Lacy. “There is no great love between the denizens of Cuva and the Council, but you’d be wise to use this disguise until you’ve cleared the port.”
Lacy accepted the bag with thanks. Before they sealed the door behind them, Bram heard Sesk’aa murmur, “Go straight to the docks. Do not delay.”
Chapter 42
It took effort, but Lacy had kept silent all the way back to the skimmer. She didn’t like that Bram’s mother had an IOU from them now. It fairly reeked of a set-up, but who was Sesk’aa setting up and why? At least, Sesk’aa had kept up her side and procured new identities for Lacy and Bram.
Bram took the helm of the little ship and turned their nose toward Cuva. It took them two days to reach the primitive world. When they arrived, it was night at the docks. The view screen showed a few twinkling lights in the distance. Otherwise, there didn’t seem to be much by way of civilized activity on the ground.
Now, Lacy stood in the skimmer’s tiny privy and tried to make her disguise believable. She’d wanted to try hiding in the storage compartment where Ssszit’s bullet had been, but Bram didn’t think that was wise. Instead, he encouraged her to don the disguise. Screw it, she decided, sliding the straps of the barely-there red negligee over her white painted arms. The airy purple contacts didn’t quite cover the blue in her eyes, but she would pass for Doranos. Hopefully.
Her identity chit listed her age as fifteen. Given that she was nearly twice that age, the whole thing felt pretty hinky, but according to Bram, many Doranos females didn’t hit their growth spurt until their later teenage years. She was too short to be an adult.
The negligee wasn’t sheer and didn’t have any cut outs, so that was at least something. It still struck her as wrong to sexualize children like these Doranos clearly did.
With one last skeptical glance at her reflection, Lacy joined Bram in the main cabin of the little skimmer. “What do you think?” She asked, pivoting to show off her skimpy disguise.
Bram’s eyes bugged. “I wish you didn’t have to wear the paint and the wig,” he answered huskily. “Even in a young girl’s dress, you’re the sexiest female I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure what that says about me.” His mouth turned down self-deprecatingly.
“This is a dress?” Lacy blanched. “Just wow.”
“Our cultures are different,” he reminded without heat. Then he grinned as he caught sight of her back. “Um. I think you missed a spot.”
He took the little pot of paint from her and smoothed a dollop over her back before saying, “We have clearance to dock.” His tone warned that something was amiss.
“What’s the problem?” She asked, heartbeat kicking up a notch as she spun to face him.
He scratched his ear uncertainly. “It’s not exactly a problem. The inspector is coming to our ship to log us in. Usually, we would present ourselves at his office.”
“That is odd,” she commented, unsure of what it could mean. “What if it’s a trap?” They’d discussed Sesk’aa’s possible motives for helping them at length. In the end, they couldn’t reach a solid conclusion.
His hands went to her shoulders and squeezed encouragingly. “Pack anything you think we might need – extra rations and your other clothes, for instance – in your bag. I don’t know what’s going on and we need to be ready to run.”
“I’m on it.” Lacy gave a mock salute. “You can count on me.”
Bram kissed her chalked lips. “I do count on you – and,” he added with a grin, “in case you were wondering, I don’t think that paint will come off easily.” He waggled his brows and leered suggestively. “When we get home, we’ll have to see exactly how much friction it can withstand.”
Lacy choked out a laugh, loving that he could goof around with her and still be a badass ex-Warrior intent on keeping her safe. “Deal.”
She set about her task while he piloted them to the allotted slip. Of course, she feared what the special treatment from the inspector might mean, but she was with Bram. Nothing too horrible could happen because they were together. For the first time in her life, someone had her back and she had his – no matter what.
The banging at the portal spurred them to action. “That was fast!” Lacy’s stomach clenched nervously.
“Get on the bunk, cover up and pretend to sleep,” Bram commanded softly. “Let me do the talking.”
It was a good plan, Lacy decided, sliding beneath the coverlet and rolling to face the wall. She did her best to keep her breathing even as, moments later, the inspector crowded into the tiny skimmer.
“Your daughter sleeps?” The low whisper sounded disappointed.
“She does,” Bram rumbled back, a hint of warning in his voice.
“I won’t keep you long, then. Since you have such a distance to travel, here is a dispensation to fly your own skimmer to the surface rather than pay the docking fee and wait on public transport,” the inspector said. “The shift changes in half an hour, you should get underway before that.”
Lacy waited until she heard Bram seal the door again before she sat up. “Did he even ask to see our chits?” She rubbed the spot in her wrist where Bram had slid the chip beneath her skin days before.
Shaking his head negatively, Bram added, “He didn’t register the ship in his logs either.”
Swinging her legs to the floor, she turned to face him. “Think your mother bought him off?”
“Probably,” he acceded, sliding into the pilot’s chair. “Let’s go home.”
“I like the sound of that,” she agreed, impulsively standing to wrap her arms around him. She rested her chin on his shoulder to watch as he set the coordinates and turned on the grav drive. “I can’t wait to learn to fly this thing in an atmosphere.”
He turned to place a kiss on her lips before reversing away from the dock. “It’s complex, but you’re a fast learner. In fact, we can work on it now.”
Chapter 43
“This is magical.”
Lacy spread her arms and turned a circle in a patch of lilac dust.
Solid ground beneath her feet felt weird, but it was the colors that made everything so surreal. The light purple soil, the white and pale, pale green foliage gave her kind of a mental vertigo.
“I told you Cuva is nothing like Earth,” Bram said as he approached. He seemed happier, more at ease than before. However, he was not relaxing. If anything, he moved faster and got more done. He’d just stored the skimmer in an outbuilding while she explored the enclosed acreage. “I’m going to inventory supplies and see about opening up one of the rooms. Do you want to come?”
“I’m good here,” Lacy demurred. There was a clean, almost piney tang in the air that she couldn’t get enough of. Bram was a Warrior trained to withstand long periods in space. She wasn’t. Tomorrow, she would roll her sleeves up and help.
“It’s tempting to just sleep out here after breathing recycled air for so long,” he commented.
“You bring the mattress out, I’m game,” Lacy agreed and immediately regretted it. A roar and a loud screech made the fine hairs on the back of her neck prick. Slowly, she backed toward the main building. “I changed my mind!”
The terrifying sounds of a life and death battle sounded close despite the twenty-foot high wall around the property. Once, she’d seen an old-school movie called Jurassic Park. The dinosaur screams sounded a lot like this.
“Nothing can get over the wall,” he told her as he moved toward the back door. “You’ll be fine if you want to stay out here.”
“What if they do?” She asked, eyes wide as the conflict ended with the squeak and gurgle that her imagination insisted was one massive reptile ripping another’s throat out. “I think that was a fucking tyrannosaurus.”
“You get used to the sounds of the jungle,” Bram assured seemingly unperturbed. “You’re safe. I’ll leave this door open.”
Lacy consciously decided to relax. She took a deep breath, very aware of Bram’s concerned gaze. He would never leave her in danger. She shooed him away, but couldn’t resist calling, “You’re going to feel like shit when all that’s left of me is a gnawed-on pile of bones.”
He grinned and waved before disappearing inside. Despite the crazy noise, she’d been cooped up for months and needed some alone time. It was almost evening in this hemisphere and she wanted to watch the last light fade out of the pink tinged sky.
On the other side of the huge wall, the white and mint foliage rose for another fifteen feet. They were in a low-lying area outside the city, Cuva Proper. It was sticky-hot but not unbearable as dusk approached.
The main building was constructed of a dark purple stucco-like substance. Shiny silver metal covered the roof. She’d glimpsed a wide, welcoming front porch but hadn’t made her way around to check it out yet.
Light green ferns nestled against the building attractively. When she wandered over to a pad of sparkly purple pavers, she saw several dry fountains and what might have been a fire pit. From here, her view was all lush jungle foliage. More plants were strategically placed to block the fence and outbuildings from sight.
Letting the tranquility of the spot calm her, Lacy sat down on the warm pavers to enjoy the lingering light. Bram referred to this place as his base camp. According to him, there were six guest rooms as well as the master suite inside. The furnishings, he said, were old but good quality.
This was where he planned to re-establish his guide business. Lacy wasn’t sure how smart that was now that they were indebted to his mother. That whole situation bothered her.
If she were honest, that wasn’t the only thing that troubled her. She’d never had a real relationship before. Now, she was living with an alien man on his alien homeworld a millionbillionkachillion miles from Earth. What if he decided he didn’t want a child-sized ex-sex worker for a companion?
“I thought I might find you out here.” Bram’s low voice startled her as he dropped down beside her in the dark.
“You scared the hell out of me!”
He did something with his hand and light shone from the ground in a beautiful display throughout the garden. As she marveled, she heard the fountains sputter to life and the crackle of fire.
“This is seriously gorgeous,” she sighed appreciatively.
He scooted closer and pillared an arm behind her. She fit against him comfortably, her head resting against his shoulder. Physically, they were perfect together. What if that wasn’t enough for forever?
“Are you hungry?” He asked, laughter in his voice.
Frowning, Lacy turned her gaze to his. “No. Why?”
“You’ve chewed the paint completely off your bottom lip,” he told her with a raised brow. “What’s the problem?”
“No problem,” she mumbled and averted her eyes.
Warm lips found her temple before he whispered in her ear, “You chew your bottom lip when you’re worried. If it’s this thing with Sesk’aa, put it away. We won’t know what she wants until she tells us.”
“Okay,” Lacy agreed quietly. “I will.”
Bram began to peel the wig away. “What are you doing?” She put a hand up to stop him. “I thought you wanted to have a little roleplaying romp later?”
“Maybe another time,” Bram replied teasingly and batted her hand away. “I like my fiery-haired Earther. This teenaged Doranos look just isn’t doing it for me.”
“Speaking of,” Lacy began but stopped to run her fingers over her itchy scalp - and to gather her courage. “What happens when a man and a woman end their relationship? Like, because the guy decides he doesn’t want the girl anymore?”
Bram’s lips pursed briefly, and he squinted with one eye. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Oh, come on!” She scoffed and pressed, “Surely some man has decided he didn’t want his woman anymore.”
“Not that I’m aware of,” he answered, eying her intently. “Is this what has you so upset? Have you decided to leave me?” She couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his demeanor.
Sheepishly, Lacy dropped her gaze to her clasped hands and fidgeted. “No.”
An insistent finger beneath her chin lifted her head until they were eye to eye in the shadowy night. “What’s going on, Lacy?” His voice remained calm, but there was a determined glint in his eye. He wasn’t going to let this drop now that she’d foolishly brought it up.
“I-I love you,” she stammered, mortified to be having such a girly freak-out but unable to dismiss the worry. “And I just, you know, got to thinking about how everything is so temporary between men and women. I’m a long way from home, and…” she trailed off.
“You want to go back? Is that it?” he asked, gripping the back of his neck.
She shook her head. “No,” she croaked. “But what happens when you don’t want me anymore?”
“Lacy,” he enunciated both syllables clearly. “Let me be frank, I can think of nothing that would cause me to put you aside. If you became pregnant with another male’s offspring, - make no mistake, I would find and kill him - but I wouldn’t renounce you.”
“I’ve never loved anyone before,” she admitted, both appalled and weirdly pleased by his blunt words. “And I’m terrified because we are so, so different. Yet, I can feel it in my bones, down soul-deep - you’re it.”
He shook his head, clearly not following. “It?”
“My mate. My man. Mine.” She hoped he would ignore the crack in her voice.
Gently, he cupped her face and promised, “I want you for as long as you’ll have me.”
“So, what does that mean?” She pressed. “Are we in this forever or not?”
“Females can petition to join a House. The more females in a House, the more prestige the House enjoys,” he explained, pulling at his ear. “So, you are the First Female of my House.”
“What the fuck?” Lacy practically saw red. Here, she laid her heart on the line and he started blabbing about freaking sister-wives. “I better be the only damned
female of your House.”
“I don’t want another.” His hands came up defensively. “I’m explaining that a female might seek protection from a wealthier House and leave her old House if accepted. Selfishly, I don’t want you to do that, but it is an option.”
“Bah,” she retook her place next to him. When had she stood? She might have been slightly more worked up than she realized. “I’m not interested in other options. Are you mine, Bram?”
“I will do whatever it takes to keep you by my side,” he vowed. “I love you.”
Chapter 44
Bram herded the five males from Doranos Prime through the dense underbrush. Ever patient, he didn’t flinch when one of the idiots tramped into knee-deep mud and made enough of a ruckus to alert all animal life to their presence.
“Do you require assistance?” He asked mildly. Inside, he wanted to roll his eyes as Lacy was prone to do.
Of the many hunts he’d led over the years, this had to be the strangest group. They numbered five. There was an older male, his three nearly grown sons, and one much younger son. Usually, this kind of group would demand he extend the excursion by a night or two since they hadn’t found their prey. These males were more interested in bickering than hunting.
“No,” the youngling grunted, hauling himself out of the mire. “I’m good.”
Bram called for a break to let the youth get his bearings and reminded everyone to hydrate before stepping away to relieve himself. This was the final day of a four-day excursion deep into the Cuvan jungle. They tracked a rare gesh, a fierce animal renowned for its violet skin. The patriarch of this family had assured Bram all were experienced hunters and the gesh was something his House desired above all.