“If you ask me whether I want to come with you, I’ll be greatly offended,” Iffon warned.
“The last thing in the good great galaxy I’d ever want to do is offend you, Iffon, so I won’t ask.” There were a few chuckles around the table, but Iffon ignored them. Instead, he leaned over and rubbed his head against her cheek.
“I’m coming with you, too, Vari,” Pandora said. “Don’t even think about trying to tell me to stay behind.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely,” Pandora replied. She looked at Bean, bit her lip, looked at all the faces around the table, and made a decision. “Bean, how big of a shield can you make?”
“Big enough to enclose all of us in a transparent ball.”
“What if I were say…several times bigger than Star?”
Vari turned her head sharply to look down at the tiny sylph. “Pandora?”
“Bean is right, Vari,” Pandora said, patting her gently with one tiny hand. “There are reasons for everything, and this is one reason why I exist here and now.” Vari blinked away tears and nodded, having no words that could possibly express her feelings. Pandora smiled her understanding, then turned back to Bean.
“Don’t worry, Pandora,” Bean said. “I’ll make a shield as big as we need it to be.” She looked down at Iffon. “What about you, Iffon? You going to want your full size?”
“Not while you’re shielding us, no,” Iffon replied. “Since I’m capable of choosing my size, there’s no need for me to put a strain on your power. I’ll use my full size when you’re not shielding us.”
“Good plan.”
“Yes, I agree,” he said. “There is one more thing you must say, Bean.”
“I know,” she said, then sighed. “This is going to be difficult for you men, I’m afraid.”
“It’s all right, Bean,” Declan said gently, sensing her worry. “We understand that the battle you speak of is yours to fight. Like you, we will do whatever it is we are intended to do.”
“As much as I wish I could tell you that you’re all supposed to come with us, I can’t. It’s meant to be us, and now that they’ve all made their choices, I know that our companions are meant to be with us. We have to stand as one. If we don’t do that, or if we try to alter what we’re meant to do in any way, we will fail. This I know for fact.”
“We have to stand back and watch you go into battle?” Zander asked, stunned.
“Yes, I’m afraid so. I’m sorry.”
Zander glanced at his brothers, swallowed the words he wanted to say, and nodded. “It’s all right, Bean. Like Declan said, we’ll do what we must, just as you will. I wonder though, if you can wear mission cams?”
“I don’t see why not,” Bean replied. “Iffon?”
“I don’t see why not, either.”
“Excellent idea, Zander,” Declan said. “We’ll get some set up for each of you.”
“Do you know how much time we have before they arrive here?” Vari asked.
“Two days,” she said, glancing at the time on her hand terminal. “Forty-nine hours, to be precise.”
“We need to spend that time getting the Kinahns onboard the Askara and settled in,” Declan said. “Then we’ll move all of the ships away from Kinah. Far enough to avoid the arrival of the Colony, but not so far that Ria can’t see it when it gets here.”
***
Transporting the Kinahn survivors to the Askara took a great deal of time. Each transporter was given coordinates for a specific roped off space aboard the Askara which they transported the Kinahns to, about twelve at a time. Dividing the Kinahns up between the transporters on each of the four ships required each transporter to send roughly forty groups. Since they were close to maxing the number of people transporting at once, and since they were putting an unusual strain on the transporters themselves with so much repeated use, there was some concern that they’d burn out one or more of them. As a precaution against mundane malfunction and Chaos, they limited each transporter to sending only one group per hour. After each transport, pairs of inspectors--each one checking the other--used that hour to go over every key component.
Bean insisted on personally helping the Kinahns get settled. Iffon was concerned about frightening the Kinahns unduly, so he took advantage of the opportunity to go deep and rest up for the coming battle.
Vari, Ria, and Shanti transported to the Askara to help Bean since they were familiar with the Kinahns, which helped them to settle more quickly. Bean had a bad few moments when she saw Shanti the first time, but Ria took her aside and let her know that amends had been made, and apologies accepted.
After the first few groups arrived, Bean was relieved to find that everyone had been right. The Kinahns were surprised and excited at the accommodations which, to them, were luxurious beyond belief. The hardest part of the whole process for Bean was getting them to understand that they were free to eat as much as they wished, whenever they wished. They were also free to sleep whenever they wished, and use all of the other amenities provided for them whenever they wished.
The only restriction was that they couldn’t shower every day, but had to rotate, and for limited time periods to conserve the water. The Kinahns seemed almost relieved to have a rule to follow. It allowed them to prove their gratitude by following it to the letter, and not taking advantage of anything.
Bean hadn’t realized how long she’d been helping the Kinahns until her men came looking for her. She was a little surprised to find that Vari, Ria, and Shanti had left for their own beds hours earlier. After several of the Kinahn women insisted that they could show all newcomers around themselves, Bean allowed her men to drag her back up to her own room where she literally fell into bed.
Chapter 24
1 day to deadline…
Before Bean opened her eyes the next morning she was already wondering how the Kinahns were doing, and how many still needed to be transported. She tossed the blanket back and reached for the hand terminal on her bedside table.
The moment she turned it on she saw that she had a message from Zach. She opened it, then paused before reading when she saw Iffon appear on her forearm.
“Good morning Iffon,” she said while he unmelded.
“Good morning, Bean,” he replied while stretching his wings. “How’d it go with the Kinahns yesterday?”
“Very well until I got dragged off to bed,” she said. “I was just going to call down and check on things when I saw this message from Zach.”
“What’s he say?” Iffon asked before flying up to a perch with a dish of water.
“Well, let’s see,” she said, opening the message. “He says that the Kinahns are doing well, that there’ve been no problems with the transporters, and that all of the Kinahns would be onboard well ahead of the deadline.”
“That’s good news,” Iffon said.
“It is,” she agreed. “He suggests that you and I spend the day resting and relaxing, and that we order our meals in.”
“Excellent idea,” Iffon said. “Is that all?”
“He says that he, Zander, and Zain will be spending a good part of the day working with the Dracon-Bats and the Katres. And that they’ll be back before dinner.”
“I can see that you’re not agreeing with the idea of staying in all day,” Iffon said.
“I’d like to spend a little more time with my sisters, and I want to go check on the Kinahns myself,” she admitted. “But I’ll order breakfast first.”
“I’d appreciate that very much,” he said. “I also think you should consider spending some portion of the day resting.”
“I will,” she said. “I know how important it is.”
After ordering breakfast, Bean washed her face and brushed her hair, then threw on a t-shirt and lounging pants. A few minutes later there was a knock at the door and she went to open it. She smiled at the young man carrying their tray and let him into the room. As she stood by the door, waiting for him to set the tray on the table and l
eave, she caught a scent that caused her heart to lurch in her chest.
“Lady BreeAnna?”
Bean blinked a few times before she realized the young man was standing in front of her with a worried look on his face. “Yes?”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you, I just thought of something and got caught up in it.”
The young man smiled. “Enjoy your breakfast,” he said before leaving. The door slid shut behind him but Bean remained where she was. After a few moments, she hit the door panel, causing the door to slide open again. She stepped out into the corridor and breathed in deeply. Then she grinned before going back into her room.
“What’s going on?” Iffon asked curiously.
“Zain’s suppressants have worn off,” she said as she prepared his food for him before tackling her own. It took a moment for her to realize that Iffon wasn’t eating. He was just staring at her.
“What?”
“I’m just extremely happy for you, Bean,” he said, hopping up to her shoulder and rubbing his head against her cheek affectionately. “So very happy for you.”
“Thanks, Iffon,” she said, smiling. “Good timing, too.”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Iffon said as he hopped back down to start eating. “Will you call them now?”
“Call them now?”
“To tell them, and ask them to come back.”
“No, they’re helping the other men with something and I don’t want to interfere with that. I think I want to surprise them, anyway.”
“Surprise them?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Since they obviously don’t know yet, I’d like to try to spring it on them. I’m not sure how to do that though.”
“How is it obvious they don’t know?”
“They left.”
“Ah, I see your point.” They ate in silence for a few minutes, while Bean tried to think of a way to surprise them.
“From all that you’ve told me about pheromones, it occurs to me that you can’t surprise them unless you can hide yours. As you scented them in the corridor, they’ll scent you, won’t they?”
“Yes, that’s the problem I’m trying to think of a way to get around.”
“Perhaps one of your sisters will have an idea.”
Bean’s eyes widened, then she grinned. “You’re brilliant, Iffon. Absolutely brilliant!”
***
Zander, Zach, and Zain stepped out of the Askara’s transport room and paused in the corridor while Zach pulled his hand terminal from his belt. He’d been trying to reach Bean for the past hour but for some reason she wasn’t responding to his calls or messages. He shook his head, and they all started up the corridor toward the stairs.
“I wonder why she’s not responding?” Zander said worriedly.
“Maybe she’s sleeping,” Zain suggested. “We did suggest that she and Iffon spend the day resting.”
“Maybe,” Zander replied. “Let’s move a little faster.”
Without waiting for a response, he used Air to get to the stairwell in moments. He paused to open the door, unsurprised to find Zach and Zain right behind him. They used Air to climb the stairs and a moment later exited, then hurried up the corridor to her room.
“What’s that?” Zain asked just before Zander knocked on Bean’s door.
Zander and Zach both turned around to look where he was pointing, surprised to find a small square of paper taped to Zander’s door. They approached it with a feeling of foreboding brought on by the last time they’d seen a note written on paper. The foreboding quickly became confusion when they read it.
Come to master suite please. I have something very important to show you. B.
Zander shrugged, then sniffed the air. “I don’t smell fear.”
“Nor do I,” Zach agreed. “Let’s go see what this is about.”
Zander nodded and led the way to the master suite at the end of the corridor. He tried the door, found it locked, thought for a moment then entered a six digit override code. The door slid open and they entered the room, pausing just inside.
The room was lit by a couple of dozen candles that had been scattered around the enormous room, filling the air with the same light, floral scent they associated with Bean. They heard music playing just loud enough to enrich the atmosphere, yet soft enough that it didn’t demand attention.
“This is…incredibly romantic,” Zach said worriedly.
“It is,” Zander agreed. “Maybe she changed her mind about waiting.”
“Where is she?” Zain wondered just as his eyes caught on the bathroom door. There was a small bit of light shining through under the door, so they all headed toward it.
They stopped in front of it and, after a moment, Zander knocked.
“Yes?”
“It’s us, Bean,” Zander said uncertainly.
“Come on in.”
Zander frowned, but didn’t reach for the doorknob. “Is everything all right?”
There was a long moment of silence. “Aren’t you going to come in?” she asked, her voice wavering just a little.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Zander asked.
Another long silence. “Maybe not.” They all heard the hurt in her voice which overrode any and all hesitation. Zander turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, then they all froze.
The moment the door was open they were all hit with a cloud of warm steam smelling of the familiar light floral scent and something else that was undefinable, yet unmistakably Bean. They all gasped in surprise when their mating fangs burst through their gums and their bodies hardened in the same instant.
They moved further into the large bathroom, dimly lit by candles just like the bedroom, not that they noticed. Their full attention was fixed on Bean who had just risen from the tub, her skin wet and shining in the flickering light.
They’d thought her beautiful from the first time they’d seen her dressed in jeans and a t-shirt in the Garrison. Seeing her now was, somehow, almost as though they’d never seen her at all. Tall, lean, with high, full breasts, small waist, gently rounded hips and long, well-toned legs, porcelain skin glistening in the candlelight, she was more stunning than they’d imagined. They could do nothing but feast their eyes on her for long moments. When they finally raised their eyes to her face, they saw that her expression was carefully blank, though her eyes revealed the hurt.
“We’re sorry, Bean,” Zander said, stepping closer to the tub. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to be careful for your sake.”
Bean’s smile formed slowly, but the hurt in her eyes vanished quickly. “Surprise!”
“Surprise indeed,” Zach said hoarsely. “You’re gorgeous, Bean.” He swallowed hard, unable to keep his eyes from roaming. “You’ve always been gorgeous, of course, but now you’re just…unbelievable.”
Bean blushed, her skin turning pink from her cheeks down her neck to her shoulders and chest, their eyes following it downward. Zach’s groan was completely involuntary. When he heard a soft exhale his eyes flew back to Bean’s face only to find her eyes fixed on him, the flecks of gold glowing softly, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.
“Please, please tell me you guys are be-fanged,” she said, then shivered a little when the cool air from the open door chilled her skin.
Zain looked around, found a stack of bath towels on the counter and grabbed one.
“Be-fanged?” Zander chuckled softly, his body so aroused it was almost painful.
Zain stepped close to the tub and wrapped a large towel around her. Then he lifted her out and set her on the thick carpet.
“Yes, we are definitely be-fanged,” Zain said as he began drying her with gentle pats of the towel against her skin.
“Good,” she said, smiling as she reached for Zain’s shoulders.
“No,” Zander said firmly pulling Zain back. “I’m sorry, Ederra, but we’ve been down on that planet and need to shower before we actually touch you, or let you touch us
.”
“Oh, I didn’t think of that,” she said.
“Let me take this towel, too,” Zain said. “I’m sorry, but I’ve contaminated it.”
Bean reached for a towel she’d left next to the tub and wrapped it around herself. “You needn’t apologize for protecting me.”
“What did you do to your hair?” Zach asked curiously when he noticed the curls piled up with long, thick spirals hanging here and there.
She looked a little shy as she reached up to push a curl back. “Actually, I didn’t do anything to it,” she said, reaching for a pale pink robe lying on a small bench. “I usually use a conditioner that relaxes the curls so it’s manageable enough to braid. But when I moved a few things in here earlier I grabbed the wrong bottle so, curls.”
“Those are natural curls?” Zain asked, smiling.
“Yeah,” she said as though she disliked them.
“They’re beautiful even from the little I can see.”
“I agree,” Zach said hoarsely. “I can’t wait to bury my fingers in them.”
“Me neither,” Zander said. “We’ll go to our rooms, get showered, and bring some things back here for the night. Sound good?”
“Sounds wonderful,” she said, smiling. Zander stared at her mouth for a long moment, then blinked rapidly.
“Sorry, I just want to kiss you so badly I feel a little off balance.”
“Then you know how I’ve been feeling all day.”
“Yes, point taken,” he said, smiling. “Back as soon as possible. You are stunning, by the way. Absolutely indescribably stunning.” He swallowed, smiled, then led the way out of the bathroom.
Bean watched them leave, unable to wipe the smile from her face. Getting caught standing in the bathtub naked and wet hadn’t been part of her plan and she’d been embarrassed at first. But the way they’d stood and looked at her, their mouths open, eyes wide, had been more than a little flattering. The rich, musky scent of their arousal hadn’t hurt, either.
She took her robe off, then reached for a bottle of lavender scented lotion and rubbed it into her skin. She slipped the robe back on, then looked at her hair in the mirror. She removed the pins holding it up to keep it out of the bathwater, letting the long, thick curls tumble down to the small of her back. She knew it was going to end up getting hopelessly tangled, but her men seemed to like it, so tangles were a small price to pay.
Bean's Heart (Hearts of ICARUS Book 7) Page 40