“What stopped you from going all the way?” Melanie asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Sahran did.” Sonja shook her head. “He said that he knew I wanted to wait until our wedding night and I would regret it if we went any further.”
“Well that was considerate of him,” Melanie said.
“I guess so. But I didn’t see it that way at all,” Sonja said. “In fact, I got mad and started accusing him of not loving me and not wanting me.”
“Oh, no!” Melanie looked at her with wide eyes. “Then what happened?”
“Well, he told me I wasn’t acting like myself—which I guess was true—but everything I was saying and doing seemed perfectly normal at the time.” Sonja shook her head and took another sip.
Her words brought a niggling feeling of uncertainty to Melanie’s mind. She had a vague memory of doing and saying things that were out of character for her as well. But again, when she reached for the details, they swam out of reach like slippery fish.
“What happened next?” she asked, frowning.
“Well, when I accused him of not making love to me because he didn’t want me and wasn’t attracted to me, he told me I should open the Secret Santa present he got me. He said it would prove how much he wanted to bond me to him. So I opened the present and what do I see?” Sonja dug in her oversized purse for a moment, pulled something out, and slapped it on the counter between them. “This.”
“An oven mitt?” Melanie stared at it blankly. “Why would he get you an oven mitt?”
“That’s what I asked—right before I kicked his ass out of my suite and told him not to come back.” Sonja shook her head. “Oh, I was so mad!”
“I can see why,” Melanie remarked. “I know you were expecting him to get you something sexy to wear on your wedding night.”
“I was.” Sonja nodded vigorously. “But see the thing is, he claims that he did.”
“I thought you said you kicked him out?” Melanie said, taking another sip of coffee.
“I did. But of course he came back this morning, wanting to explain.”
“Well, what did he say?” Melanie asked. “Did he have the idea that an oven mitt was sexy somehow?” She knew the Kindred didn’t think like humans—they were an alien species, after all—which sometimes led to misunderstandings and miscommunication.
“No.” Sonja shook her head. “He said the presents got mixed up. He told me he wrapped your Secret Santa present at the same time he wrapped mine—as a favor to a friend—and they must have gotten swapped.”
“But…Clear turned out to be my Secret Santa,” Melanie said blankly. “Are you saying he actually meant to give me an oven mitt?”
“I mean, it makes sense,” Sonja pointed out. “After you burned a hole in your hand trying to use the wave.”
“I guess you’re right.” Melanie frowned. She was feeling much more awake now that she’d had some coffee and the half-formed memories in the back of her mind were beginning to take shape. But she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like them when she finally saw them clearly.
“So anyway, here’s your mitt.” Sonja tapped it. “If you want to give me back the present that was supposed to be mine, Sahran is insisting that I unwrap it in front of him so he can prove he was telling the truth. I mean, I believe him, but that fight we had last night was a doozy. So if—oh, honey—what’s wrong?” She leaned forward, looking at Melanie with concern. “You’re pale as a ghost!”
“I…I…” Melanie shook her head. Finally the strange dreams and memories she’d been having had come into focus and she did not like what she remembered.
“What?” Sonja urged. “What is it? Did you already open the present? Don’t worry if you did—I won’t be mad.”
“I didn’t just open it.”
With a trembling hand, Melanie pulled open the collar of the black wrap dress she was wearing and looked inside.
“Oh my God,” she whispered faintly. “I didn’t just open it—I wore it! I’m still wearing it now!”
“What? Let me see it!” Sonja demanded.
“No!” Melanie clutched at her dress. “It’s not decent. I’m not decent. And when I think of the way I acted last night…”
“You didn’t get bonded to Strong and Clear, did you?” Sonja asked, wide-eyed. “I mean, I saw the three of you leaving together but I thought they were just walking you back to your suite.”
“No, we didn’t bond but I did do a whole lot of things I shouldn’t have.” Melanie shook her head as images flashed in front of her mind’s eye, like pornographic snap shots. The way she had pranced around in the naughty little outfit, teasing the twins and showing off her assets…kissing both of them…playing Truth or Dare…
Sucking both their cocks and letting them finger you, whispered a judgmental little voice in her head.
“Oh God!” Melanie groaned, putting her head in her hands. “Oh no, I can’t believe the way I acted!”
“What? What did you do?” Sonja demanded.
Melanie shook her head.
“Basically I acted like some cock-hungry cougar on the prowl for fresh meat! Ugh, I can’t imagine what the two of them must think of me now!”
“I know how you feel,” Sonja admitted. “I don’t know what got into me last night but I was so determined to get busy with Sahran! And then so angry when he wouldn’t do it. And now today I just feel like dog shit somebody stepped in.”
“I feel pretty horrible myself.” Melanie got up suddenly. “I can’t stay here.”
“What? Here in your suite?” Sonja looked at her, confused.
“No—here on the Mother Ship. Where I might run into Clear or Strong—or both of them!”
Melanie couldn’t bear to see the pity in their eyes—or possibly the scorn—the next time they saw her. She’d behaved like a complete party girl—acted like what Aunt Marge would call ‘a floozy.’ And she’d done it all with men almost fifteen years her junior.
I probably looked so desperate to them, she thought, feeling sick with shame at the thought. They’re probably laughing at me right now for making myself ridiculous.
She remembered how Strong had stopped the three of them from going too far and possibly bonding. No doubt because the two of them would never want to be tied to someone like her.
Washed up and over the hill, whispered a nasty little voice in her head. And unlike the night before, when she’d been able to push the bad thoughts easily out of her mind, this time they seemed here to stay. The balloons had turned back into bricks and they piled on top of Melanie like…well, like a ton of bricks.
“I have to go,” she said and hurried into her bedroom.
“But where are you going?” Sonja demanded, following her.
“I don’t know…” Melanie was already throwing clothes into a suitcase. “Probably I’ll go to my Aunt Marge’s house early.”
“Well, are you coming back?” Sonja demanded. “I mean, you can’t avoid what happened last night forever. And I’m sure if you just talk to Strong and Clear—”
“Talk to them? I hope I never see them again!” Melanie exclaimed.
“Now, honey—you don’t really mean that,” Sonja objected.
Melanie rounded on her.
“Look, I made a complete fool out of myself last night!” she snapped. “I don’t know what got into me but the way I acted was mortifying.”
“I know how you feel, but running away isn’t the answer,” Sonja said, frowning. “Look at me and Sahran—we’ve already made up.”
“Sahran is your fiancé and you two are pretty much the same age,” Melanie pointed out. “I’m way older than Strong and Clear, and I barely know them. Well, I mean, I know Clear better than Strong, but the fact remains that I went over to their suite last night and did things you should not do with your coworker and your doctor who also happens to be your coworker’s twin brother!”
Oh God, she hoped that Clear wouldn’t spread rumors of her behavior at work! She would never be able t
o show her face aboard the Mother Ship again!
“Melanie—” Sonja began, but Melanie was already slapping her suitcase closed.
“I’ve got to go,” she announced. “Don’t try to stop me. I’m going.” She gave her friend a brief hug and then headed for the door.
“But when will you be back?” Sonja demanded.
“I don’t know. Probably never.” Melanie shot her a glance over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Sonja—thank you for being such a good friend. You can let yourself out.”
The last sight she had before the door whooshed shut behind her was her friend’s face, filled with concern and anxiety. Then she headed down the long silver corridor towards the Docking Bay.
She needed to catch the next ship down to Earth and the way she felt right now, she was never coming back.
16
“How long do you think we should wait before going to see her?” Clear asked, for perhaps the fifth time since they’d woken up that morning.
Well actually, it was more like afternoon. Strong couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so deeply and so hard. When he had finally woken up, he found he had slept through his alarm—by several hours. It was a good thing he had today and tomorrow off or he would have missed his shift at the Med Center!
“I told you,” he growled at Clear. “You have to give her some time. Human females don’t like to be rushed. So stop fucking asking me!”
His head was pounding and though he and his twin usually got along so well their interactions were seamless, this morning he felt irritated at almost everything Clear said.
“You don’t have to be so snappish,” the Light Twin said, frowning. “You’re really acting like an anus hole today, do you know that?”
“You mean an asshole?” Strong raised an eyebrow at him.
“Whatever the humans call it—yes. You are.” Clear glared at him.
Strong opened his mouth to give an angry retort…and realized that his twin was right. He was being an anus hole today. What was wrong with him, treating Clear like that?
“All right—I’m sorry,” he made himself say. “I just have the worst fucking headache today and I had strange dreams all night.”
“I had strange dreams too—I don’t remember them much, except I think they all had Melanie in them.” Clear frowned. “And my head aches as well. I feel almost hung-over, but I didn’t drink much at all yesterday.”
“Me either,” Strong growled. “Just a cup of that Goddess-damned punch. Maybe it was the Fireflower juice they spiked it with.”
“But we’ve had Fireflower juice before and it never made us feel this bad afterwards,” Clear objected.
“Who knows?” Strong shrugged. “Maybe it was really concentrated.”
“Maybe.” Clear sounded doubtful. “But if—”
Just then their front door chimed, cutting him off.
“Oh!” The Light Twin’s frown cleared at once. “I’m sure that must be Melanie! She probably wants to help us frost the Christmas cookies since we never got to that last night.”
He hurried to the door, but when he pulled it open, it wasn’t Melanie but Sonja and Sahran who stood there.
Strong felt his twin’s deep disappointment but he still tried to smile.
“Oh, hello…” Clear stepped back, gesturing for them to come in. “What can I do for you two?”
“It’s what we can do for you two,” Sonja said, stepping inside. She handed Clear something as she walked past him and he took it automatically and looked down at it.
“What’s that?” Strong came over to join him.
“The oven mitt!” Clear exclaimed, turning it over in his hands. He looked up at Sonja. “How did you get it? It was supposed to be my Secret Satan—I mean Santa—gift for Melanie.”
“That would be my fault,” Sahran said sheepishly. “I mixed up our gifts when I wrapped them yesterday, I’m afraid.”
“Which means that I got your oven mitt and Melanie got my gift,” Sonja added.
“What was your gift then?” Clear asked, looking puzzled. “And why didn’t the two of you just switch?”
“You’ve already seen my gift—at least I think you did,” Sonja said. “If what Melanie told me about last night is true, I think you saw quite a lot of it—and quite a lot of her in it.”
“What are you talking about?” Strong growled, losing patience. “My head is pounding today from that fucking punch last night. So just tell us what you mean.”
“Welcome to the club—we’ve all got horrible headaches today,” Sonja snapped. “And what I’m trying to say is that Sahran’s gift to me was a sexy red nighty trimmed in white fur with panties to match. Now have you seen it or not?”
“Goddess…” Clear’s eyes went wide.
“Yes, we saw it,” Strong said, frowning. “Melanie came over wearing it last night.”
“I thought so.” Sonja nodded. “And I’m assuming the three of you got up to some monkey business?”
“Monkey business?” Clear frowned. “What do primates have to do with it?”
“And why would we do business with them?” Strong asked, frowning.
“Sonja is using a human expression for doing something you perhaps should not have been doing. Something mischievous, or in this case, sexual,” Sahran put in helpfully.
“What concern is it of yours if we did this ‘monkey business’ with Melanie?” Strong growled, glaring at the two of them. “What a warrior and his twin do with the female they care for is private.”
“Well, excuse me for trying to help you out!” Sonja threw up her hands. “Come on, Sahran—we’re leaving.”
“No, not yet.” Sahran put a hand on his fiancée’s arm to get her to wait. “Now look,” he said to all of them. “None of you is feeling his or her best this morning—that much is clear. But we would be doing our friends a disservice if we didn’t tell them the whole story here.”
“All right.” Strong crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re listening.”
“Fine.” Sonja took a deep breath and blew it out, obviously trying to calm herself. “Melanie has left the Mother Ship,” she announced at last.
“What?” Clear looked worried and Strong could feel his twin’s sudden anxiety through their link, just as he was sure Clear could feel his.
“Why?” he asked.
“Why, because of whatever it was you three did together last night, of course!” Sonja sounded exasperated.
“What did we do wrong?” Clear asked. He looked at Strong. “We’ve offended her somehow. We need to find out what we did!”
“We stopped before we bonded her to us,” Strong pointed out. “Even though we did other…sexual things, we held ourselves back from making a rash decision before discussing it.”
“She’s upset she did anything at all!” Sonja said, frowning at them.
“Anything at all? You mean she feels that she demeaned herself by allowing two younger, low-status males to pleasure her?” Strong demanded.
“But she didn’t treat us like she thought we were low-status last night,” Clear objected. He frowned. “Though she has pointed out several times that she thinks we are ‘too young’ for her. Maybe you’re right, brother. Maybe she decided that a mature Elite like her is too good for the two of us.”
“No, no, no! You two just do not understand at all!” Sonja exclaimed.
“Darling…” Sahran put a hand on her shoulder to steady her and she shook her head.
“Sorry, honey. This headache is just the worst.”
She pressed her fingers to her temples and took several deep breaths before opening her eyes and looking at Strong and Clear.
“Okay, let me explain this to you…I know, because Sahran here explained it to me, that on Twin Moons, a woman with extra curves—an Elite—is valued, right?”
“Of course.” Strong and Clear both nodded.
“And it’s apparently even better if she’s a mature Elite—a woman who’s a little older and secure in
her profession, correct?” Sonja asked.
They nodded again.
“Okay so try to wrap your heads around this,” Sonja told them. “It’s the exact opposite down on Earth.”
“What do you mean?” Strong growled.
“I mean older women who have more curves are valued less, not more by men on Earth. At least in the society Melanie and I both come from, they are,” Sonja explained.
“What?” Clear looked as shocked as Strong felt. “But…how can that be? An Elite is the most beautiful creature the Goddess ever created!”
“And a female with wisdom as well as beauty is the pinnacle of perfection,” Strong pointed out.
“Not on Earth, unfortunately,” Sonja said firmly. “Men prefer young, skinny women down there.”
“They do?” Strong shook his head.
“I had a hard time believing it too, Brother,” Sahran told him. “Especially the part about wanting stick-thin females over those with curves.” He shrugged. “But it’s true.”
“Exactly,” Sonja put in. “So when Melanie was saying that you two are too young for her, she didn’t mean it as a put down and she wasn’t trying to act superior. She honestly thinks the two of you don’t want her because of her age and her curves.”
“But…but nothing could be further from the truth!” Clear protested. “We thought she wouldn’t want us because of our youth and lack of status.” He turned to Strong. “We must go find her and tell her at once about this misunderstanding!”
“Not so fast, there,” Sonja said, frowning. “She’s not just upset about the age difference thing. She was also pretty rattled about whatever it was the three of you did together last night.”
Strong frowned.
“I told you, whatever ‘primate business’ we ‘got up to’ is private.”
“Monkey business,” Sonja corrected him. “And whatever it was, I think Melanie feels like she acted…” She cleared her throat. “Inappropriately.”
“I didn’t think she did,” Clear objected. “Although I was surprised to see her in the present that Sahran had bought for you. I wondered why she wore it. I…” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, I know why! I told her to wear it.”
Secret Santa Surprise: Book 29 in the Kindred Tales Series Page 12