Seven Sisters

by Eileen Troemel

  ‘There are no funds,” Lydia said.

  “Funds are not an issue,” Mycos said. “We picked up generic clothes. I thought you and the girls would like to pick out your own clothes.”

  “I won’t be in debt to you,” she said.

  “I spend my money how I want,” he said. “You have no need to worry about it.”

  “It won’t influence my decision on the contract,” she said.

  “I do not expect it to,” Mycos said. “After lunch, we will take a transport to town. There are several shops I have contacted who will accommodate our security needs.”

  Lydia scowled, “What do you mean?”

  “I told you,” Mycos said. “There have been threats. Security will go in first, secure the location before we go in with the girls. I will not risk you or them.”

  “Why have there been threats,” Lydia asked.

  “Some people do not like your government negotiating with us,” Mycos said.

  “You need to do better public relations,” she said.

  “What do you mean,” Mycos asked.

  “Are you trying to sell them some of the machines Justinian used on us?”

  “Yes and other technology,” Mycos said.

  “Weapons,” she asked.

  “My world has a policy against selling weapons,” Mycos said. “We brought medical, education, and other non-military technology.”

  “You need to bring in doctors and let them use the equipment on the ill, make vids, put the vids out as public service type announcements,” Lydia said. “The more you inform, the less resistance you’ll get. You’re dealing with a society raised on literature and movies of alien invaders trying to take over. Aliens equals bad in these movies.”

  Mycos shook his head. “Why do humans like to scare themselves,” he asked.

  “I don’t know. There’s enough scary stuff right here on earth,” Lydia said softly. “Abby, come on, honey. We need to go in.”

  ***

  The transport lifted from the grounds. The interior of the transport felt like a comfortable movie theater with seats on either side of a center aisle. Unlike earth’s helicopters, it glided with little noise. Quiet and smooth, Lydia didn’t understand how it worked. She looked back at all the girls. They gaped out the windows watching as the grounds got smaller beneath them. The girls chattered at lunch, daring to sit between the men who shared their meal. Mycos took her hand. “It is perfectly safe,” he said kissing her knuckles. “They will enjoy the treat of the flight.”

  In minutes they arrived in the center of town atop one of the tallest buildings. Mycos exited the transport holding out his hand to help her. He picked up Abby as she stepped to the hatch and held out her arms. Hannah clung to Lydia’s hand as they walked across the roof. Already in place, his men guarded the group as they crossed the rooftop to the elevator.

  When they entered the elevator, Mycos whisked them down to a children’s clothing shop. “Pick whatever they need,” he said. “Get plenty.”

  The girls stood dumbfounded. Lydia asked, “What do you mean?”

  “The clothes you came in were little better than rags,” he said. He walked to the nearest rack and picked up something and showed it to Abby. Abby’s eyes got large, she looked away hiding her face in his shoulder. “Will you try it on for me,” he asked her softly.

  “I’ll freeze in it,” Abby said shuddering. “I’ll freeze.”

  The manager said, “We can add layers. It’s meant to go over some of our other items.”

  Abby clung to Mycos, trembling. “It is all right,” Mycos assured her. “You won’t freeze. We will get you sweaters. The house is warm. You will be warm.”

  “Not when you throw me out,” she whispered.

  “I will never throw you out,” he said appalled. His heart broke with her words.

  Lydia motioned to the younger girls. “Let’s gather up what you like and try it on,” she said. She had no idea what sizes they were or what types of clothing were appropriate. She planned to make sure warm clothes made the purchase pile so if they left in a week, they could take it with them.

  Hannah tugged on Lydia’s hand, “Can I really have whatever I want?”

  Lydia looked at Mycos as he helped Abby choose clothing. She picked warm clothes with no frills, and he teased her into choosing more decorative clothing. Every time she nodded, he grinned and rewarded her with a light kiss on the head. Lydia swallowed and considered how could she resist such a gentle man?

  “Lyd,” Hannah tugged again.

  “Guess so,” Lydia said.

  They visited several stores – shoes, clothing, books, and toys. The girls stood in the toy store and stared. Lydia put her foot down. “Two items each,” she said. “No more.”

  Mycos leaned down, “Surely, four or five isn’t spoiling them.”

  “You have enough at your house,” Lydia said firmly. The girls watched as he negotiated more for them.

  “Not anything they can call their own. These would be for them, something individual they each pick out,” Mycos said. “Four, surely four isn’t too much. I don’t mind paying.”

  Lydia looked at the eager faces waiting for her to say yes. She bit her lip, remembered how deprived they had been, remembered how her mother always gave her limits. “Three,” she conceded.

  Mycos bent down, brushed his lips over hers, pulled her close to his body, felt the heat of her, the curves of her. His mouth teased, tempted her to soften. “Four,” he murmured.

  “You’re spoiling them,” she said wanting so much to give in to him.

  “Please,” Abby said pushing between them, tugging on Lydia’s hand. “I won’t cry tonight. I promise, even if I get scared.”

  Mycos picked her up. “You get scared, you cry out, and we will all come to protect you. Look.” He pointed to his men standing behind them. “Look how my men protect you now. They keep all the danger away from you.”

  Lydia melted. “Four but not any more than that.”

  Abby hugged her, hugged Mycos, and squirmed to get down. Mycos took her hand, kissed the knuckles. “They’ve had so little why do you deny them anything?”

  “They’ll have to leave them behind when we leave,” Lydia said honestly.

  “You do not think you will stay,” he said.

  “I think once we have sex, you'll become bored and want to move on,” Lydia said.

  “You have no faith,” he said his brow furrowing at her words.

  “I’m realistic,” Lydia said watching as the girls scattered throughout the store. “Men want sex and take it. Once they’ve gotten it, they leave women to deal with the consequences.”

  “Is that what your father did to your mother,” Mycos asked.

  “I don’t want to talk about before,” she murmured watching as Gregor reached down a bike for Hannah.

  “It must have been bad,” Mycos said. “If you will not even talk about it.”

  “No,” Lydia said. “It was a dream, an illusion. Nothing like what life is now. There’s no point in remembering or talking about it because it can’t ever be that way again.”

  She walked down an aisle to talk to Nic, who chose nothing in the store. Her answer stole his breath, his mind. He felt a knot in his throat he had to swallow hard to get through. He wanted to give her that dream again. The urgency he felt about it rushed over him, nearly knocking him off his feet.

  Abby came to him her arms loaded with a dozen stuffed animals. She asked, “Is this four?”

  He laughed, loud and long. “No. Let us see if we can pick a couple of friends for you to take.” Kneeling on the floor, he helped her whittle it down to two of her favorites.

  “They’re soft and cuddly,” she whimpered. “I like soft and cuddly. It doesn’t hurt if it’s soft and cuddly.”

  “Four,” Lydia said firmly. “Just because you’re cute and little doesn’t mean you can wheedle more out.”

  Abby pouted but spoiled it by peeking at Lydia, who held firm. She stuck o
ut her tongue at Lydia. “Did you see the smaller bikes,” Lydia asked. “You don’t want Hannah to outdo you by having a bike when you don’t.”

  “Hannah’s getting a bike,” Abby said. “I want a bike.”

  “You better choose then,” Lydia said. “This time you get four things. Pick carefully what four things you want.”

  Two hours and many pouts later, they finally left the toy store. By the elevator, Mycos said, “I have two more stores to take you to but they are for Lydia. I am sending the rest back with Gregor.”

  “No,” Nic said fiercely. “You aren’t separating us.”

  Mycos was about to overrule her but Lydia put her hand on his arm. “I’ll have dinner with just you tonight at the house. Send them to the food court for supper.”

  Mycos planned to take her out to dinner but she offered a compromise. He saw how distressed the younger ones got at the thought of her being separated from them. “As you wish,” he said. With a flick of his hand, Gregor and most of the men took the six sisters to the food court.

  Nic started to object, “I don’t think…”

  “It will be all right,” Lydia assured her, hugging her. “It’s what we talked about, Nic. Go with the girls. I’ll be fine.”

  “You hurt her,” Nic said to Mycos. “I’ll rip your heart out.”

  “I have no doubt,’ Mycos said amused by her threat. She was small but serious.

  He took her to a store with practical clothes first. He wanted to dress her in silk and lace but knew she wouldn’t take it. He gave her denim, cotton, warmth, and comfort in the first store. He watched as she tried on, tested the fit, looked in the mirror minimally. She seemed to not realize how beautiful she was. He said nothing, just watched as she worked her way through the practical clothes in the store. When she only selected the minimum, he urged her to get more. “You will need more,” he said.

  “It seems a waste,” she said trying to resist. She remembered the last shopping trip with her mother. New clothes for school, they had spent an afternoon wandering through stores. She’d sulked when her mother refused to buy her expensive name brand clothes.

  “No,” he said. “It is not. You have nothing. Let me give you this, see you wrapped in clothes that please you.”

  She chose a few more, looked at the prices, made sure none were overpriced. When she was in the dressing room, he told the salesclerk to pull more from their stock. The woman offered options, which kept Lydia in the dressing room longer trying on so many outfits she lost track of how many.

  “This next store, you will not look at a single price tag,” Mycos said. “It’s money. I’m wealthy and it pleases me to see you happy.”

  “I won’t take advantage of your kindness,” she said.

  “No looking at the price tags,” he said. “Promise me.” Before she answered, he pulled her into a gentle kiss, brushing his lips over hers, teasing them apart to plunder her mouth with his tongue. He pressed her soft curves against his hard body. Slow, sensual kisses, slow sensual caresses from her shoulders down her back, his hands cupping her bottom, pressing her against him.

  He raised his mouth, demanded, “Promise.”

  Blinking, she took an unsteady breath. She put space between them, stepped away even as her body ached. “I’ll try not to,” she said. “You’re only demanding this because the stuff in the store will be ridiculously expensive.”

  “Not ridiculously, just more expensive than the last store,” he grinned.

  He led her into an exclusive store filled with fancy dresses, outfits she’d seen on models when she stared at the newspaper stands. “None of these,” she stopped only a few steps into the store.

  “With my position, you will need formal dresses, pants, and more,” he said. “You are beautiful, try one.” Putting his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her into the store. He walked up to a red gown. “This one,” he whispered in her ear.

  She scowled, crinkling her nose, “I don’t like red.”

  Laughing, he said, “Choose one, try one on.”

  Pulling away from him, she tucked her hands behind her back, grabbing her wrist and wandering through the aisles. A bright blue gown drew her. A saleswoman smiled, “The coloring will look amazing on you, ma’am.”

  Mycos nodded at the woman. The woman lifted one from the rack, guessing at her size. “Let me show you to a dressing room,” she said.

  Lydia wanted to refuse, wanted to run from the store but if she became him mate, his lover, she would have to fulfill her social obligations. With a reluctant sigh, she nodded.

  While helping her dress, the saleswoman asked, “Do you need intimate apparel? I could bring you some to try.”

  “I… I guess I do,” Lydia said.

  She tried on several dresses, pants, tops, and intimate apparel. She was breathless with all the choices. She didn’t look at any price tags but when the total showed on the register, she gasped. Mycos laughed and kissed her. “You deserve it and more, mo chroin.”

  One of his men carried the items. “Which will you wear to dinner tonight,” Mycos asked.

  Shell shocked from the whole shopping experience, she said, “I don’t know.”

  ***

  Dressed in casual clothes, gray cotton pants and a soft green silk shirt, Lydia left the hall as the girls played with their new things and put away their clothes. Laughter sounded throughout the hall, which made her smile. Several of the men standing guard smiled when the girls laughed.

  Gregor said, “You look lovely tonight. My Lord awaits you in his private dining. I’ll show you the way.”

  “Why are there guards posted on the hall,” she asked looking back at the double doors.

  “Not to keep them in but to protect them from intruders,” Gregor said.

  “Why would anyone break in here,” Lydia said.

  “There are those in the government and society who do not like what we offer,” Gregor said.

  “But we aren’t you,” Lydia said.

  “You are in his lordship's household, under his protection,” Gregor said.

  “It would mean nothing if we were gone,” Lydia said.

  “You are wrong. It would hurt his lordship,” Gregor said. He walked slowly, matching his stride to hers. He spoke softly, comfortingly. She wanted to believe him. “All of you are in our care. He takes this responsibility very seriously.”

  “Once I have sex with him, he’ll discard us,” Lydia said frowning at the idea. She liked the men. They smiled when the girls giggled. Gregor tended to them like a safe uncle. Mycos she didn’t know about yet. Something about him drew her to him but she held a great deal of distrust.

  “This is not our way,” Gregor said.

  “I’ve seen him in the media with different women,” Lydia said. “Are you telling me, he was just friends with them?”

  “No,” Gregor said. “Many women here want the experience of being with an alien. On our world, women are rare. To have so many available is like taking the girls into the toy store today.”

  “As I said,” Lydia said. “Once he’s had what he wants, he’ll move on and we’ll have to as well.”

  Gregor sighed, “I can see how you would see it this way. You are his mate. He could not have followed you, would not have done all this for you, if you were not his mate. With our people, when you find your mate, that is it. No other will do. No other will satisfy any of his needs.”

  “Sexual needs,” Lydia said. “I’m sure it won’t matter. He will take who he wants when he wants. That’s the way of men.”

  “On your world,” Gregor said. “I see this. With us, it is different.”

  “You expect a lot of faith,” Lydia said. A part of her longed for his words to be true. She wanted someone to love her like he described but her experiences taught her differently. Unless she considered her life before.

  “Faith, yes,” Gregor said. He stopped outside a set of double doors. “These are his lordship’s private rooms. I have never shown other women to t
hese rooms. He means for them to be only for him and his mate.”

  Frowning, she stared at him. “But you haven’t been in this house for long,” she said. “I have a lot to consider.”

  “Try for some faith,” Gregor said.

  She pushed open the door. Wood table, fireplace with blazing fire, chairs deep and comfortable, windows as tall as the wall. The opulence was missing. It was a simple room with comfort in mind more than show. She saw him by the windows, and felt a pull to him, felt a need to be with him. She swallowed hard. If she needed him, would he let her down? Could she take the risk?

  He rose from a chair by the windows. “You look lovely,” he purred.

  “Thank you,” she said. Gregor closed the doors behind her, leaving her in the room with Mycos. “This is a lovely room,” she said stopping in front of the fireplace. She reached out her hands, warmed them by the fire.

  “These are my rooms,” Mycos said simply. “Not for public viewing as is so much of the rest of the house. I wanted a space where I could retreat to when I did not need to fulfill my duties as a representative of my people.” He watched her wander the room, hoped she liked it.

  “It’s comfortable,” she said softly. Turning her back on the fireplace, she surveyed the rest of the room. Windows at one end let in the moonlight. “Do you get the morning sun in here,” she asked.

  “Yes,” Mycos said. “I look forward to when we share the room in the mornings.”

  “There isn’t enough room in here for all the girls,” Lydia said.

  “We will not spend all of our time with them,” Mycos said.

  “I won’t desert them,” Lydia said turning away from him. She frowned as she ran her hand along the back of a chair. Two settings lay on the table, china so thin it looked like a breath would break it. Sparkles glinted off the glasses with the flickering of the fire in the fireplace.

  “It is not deserting them to take time for yourself,” Mycos said.

  “They’re young and need the presence of parents or guardians. What type of parent would I be, if I left them to have a family of my own,” Lydia asked.