It certainly was going to be a party to remember.
Chapter Ten
“What’s the matter, honey? You look like you just lost your last friend.”
At the sound of English being spoken, Kat looked up eagerly. The party, which was being held at a huge structure that was reminded her of an opera house, with frescoed ceilings and elaborate carvings, had been horrible so far.
It wasn’t so much that she didn’t know the language—although that was a big part of it. But she also felt like a prisoner, being flanked at all times by Deep and Lock. She was on an alien planet for the first time—she wanted to go explore. There were amazing works of 3-D art all over the walls and vast rooms full of strange and exotic things to look at. Not to mention all kinds of new foods to try—though Kat was being careful about that. But instead of wandering through the crowd checking things out, she was stuck staying where it was “safe.” At least according to her two captors.
Kat couldn’t see that it was so very unsafe at the huge, bustling party. It was true that just about every male in the place seemed to be eyeing her hungrily, but none of them had made any off-color gestures or remarks. Kat assumed it was just the scent she was supposedly giving off. And come to think of it, she wasn’t even sure about that. She didn’t feel any different and she’d sniffed herself several times without smelling a thing. Could it be that Deep and Lock were making up the whole bonding fruit thing—or at least exaggerating it—in order to keep her close to them?
Entirely possible, she thought, eyeing Deep, who was scanning the crowd warily for possible threats. But at least now she had someone to talk to. The woman who had spoken to her looked to be about five years older than Kat and she was voluptuous in the extreme, her full curves draped in a peacock colored toga-type dress which seemed to be the traditional Twin Moons style.
Speaks English and she’s plus sized! Kat smiled at her, feeling like she’d just won the jackpot. “Hi,” she said, nodding gratefully. “I’m Kat. Kat O’Connor.”
“Piper.” The woman held out an elegant hand dripping with diamonds and Kat took it. “Oh, who am I kidding? Come here!” Piper pulled her into a warm embrace and held her for a moment before letting go. “Sorry.” She grinned unrepentantly at Kat. “It’s just that I’ve been out here on Twin Moons with my husbands for so long. I’m so glad to see another face from Earth I could cry.”
“That’s okay.” Kat grinned back. On Earth she would have been put off by such effusiveness but not here, under these circumstances. “I know how you feel,” she said. “I haven’t even been here that long and I’m already homesick.”
“Of course you are! I mean, it’s wonderful here. But sometimes you just want to go to McDonalds and get a Big Mac and some fries. And knowing the closest Mickey D’s is seven light years away can make a gal feel mighty lonesome.” Piper sighed and patted her honey-blonde hair which was piled on her head in an elaborate up-do. “Where are you from, anyway?”
“Tampa,” Kat said, smiling. “You?”
“Houston, honey. Born and raised.” Piper smiled wistfully. “You know, it’s a big, dirty, ugly city and around here it’s all quaint little fishing towns and unspoiled beauty—couldn’t be more different. I’ll be the first to admit it’s gorgeous and all, but sometimes I miss the traffic and the smog. Isn’t that strange?”
“Not at all,” Kat said earnestly. “I haven’t been here for long but before that I was stuck on the Kindred Mother ship. I miss downtown Tampa and the Tampa picture show—it’s this old theater that’s been running for the last hundred and fifty years. The acoustics are horrible and the seats are so hard they hurt your behind, but my girlfriends and I used to go there and watch all the indie movies that none of the multiplexes would play.” She sighed. “They have this old fashioned popcorn machine and they use real butter—not that nasty fake stuff.”
“Oh, don’t get me started on Earth food.” Piper’s lime green eyes lit up. “What I miss the most is good barbeque. You couldn’t get decent pulled pork on Twin Moons to save your life! I don’t even think they have an animal that’s anything like a pig. Everything is so lean and healthy and good for you.” She shivered.
“Which is probably why everyone’s in such good shape and all the women look like supermodels,” Kat said, looking around. Every Twin Moons woman she had seen was tall and thin with perfect cheekbones. They glided around the room, taking nibbles from the mountains of fruit which were piled on low pillars, and looking perfect in the warm lighting.
“Oh no, honey.” Piper shook her head. “You and I, we’re the supermodels here. And that’s the one thing Twin Moons has over dear old Earth.”
“Uh, because we’re ‘elites’?” Kat dropped her voice, not wanting Lock and Deep to hear her discussing it. “I mean, the guys I’m with, they’re always talking about how curvy women are valued here—”
“Valued? Honey—we’re the cat’s pajamas! Just look at the way they’re looking at us.” She motioned to the hungry glances that were coming from several different sets of twin males scattered around the large gallery. “Why, every single man in this room would be on us like a duck on a junebug if we weren’t already mated!”
“I’m not though—mated, I mean,” Kat said.
Piper’s perfectly shaped eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Not mated? Then what are you doing here?”
“It’s a long story.” Kat glanced up again to see if Deep or Lock was listening. She really wanted to pour her heart out to a sympathetic ear but she didn’t want them hearing everything she said.
Piper seemed to understand the situation. “Come on, honey, let’s go powder our noses and you can tell me all about it,” she said, hooking her arm through Kat’s.
Suddenly Deep was blocking the way. “Where do you think you’re going?” He frowned at Kat.
Piper looked at Kat. “I thought you said you weren’t mated?”
“I’m not.” Kat frowned unhappily. “Look, Deep, this is Piper and as you can see she’s female. We’re going to the ladies restroom—” She looked at Piper. “Uh, they do have a ladies restroom here, right? I mean, it’s not unisex or anything?”
“Heavens no!” Piper smiled sweetly at Deep and Lock who was now standing beside his brother. “You two just run along for a little while. I promise I’ll keep your little gal safe.”
Deep didn’t budge. “Oh you will, will you?” he murmured, one black eyebrow cocked in obvious disbelief.
Lock cleared his throat. “Forgive me, my lady, but we don’t even know you.”
“I’m Piper. I’m the mate of Ambassadors Knows Much and Thinks Swiftly.” She patted Lock on the arm. “You two just go on over and talk to Much and Swifty, as I call ‘em,” She nodded her head at a pair of Twin Kindred who were standing off to one side. “While we run along to the ladies room.”
“Her mates are males of renown,” Lock said, talking to Deep.
“Well, if you’re just going to the room of convenience…” Deep was still frowning.
“That’s all. I promise.” Piper nodded at both of them. “It’s okay—we just want a little Earth girl talk.”
“We’ll accompany you,” Deep decided.
Kat sighed as the two of them flanked herself and Piper and they moved in a unit through the milling crowd. It felt like all eyes were on them and she couldn’t help feeling embarrassed. This is so stupid! Like I’m some helpless little girl who can’t go anywhere without her bodyguards. Finally they came to a large pink and gold archway set in the back wall. It was right beside a flamboyant hologram display which appeared to be naked people covered in red, green, and brown paint pretending to be trees.
“From Earth,” Piper said, nodding at it. “You wouldn’t catch any native Mooners doing nonsense like that but they think our stuff is just to die for.”
“Mooners?” Kat raised an eyebrow.
“That’s just what I call ‘em.” Piper nodded at the crowd of Twin Moon natives before turning to Lock and Deep. “All right now,” she sai
d, giving them a bright smile and a nod. “You two just run along. We’re going to be in here a little while.”
“When will you be back?” Deep wanted to know. He was still scowling, presumably at the idea of having to leave Kat alone.
“When we’re damn well good and ready,” Piper snapped, apparently losing patience. She towed Kat into the pink and gold entrance which curved off to the right, putting them out of sight of the main room. “Lord, those two are overprotective! And you say you’re not even mated to them yet?”
“No and I’m not going to be either.” Kat looked around the large, parlor like room they found themselves in. “Hey, this is really nice.”
It looked like an old fashioned power room down to the deep, plush chairs and red velvet wallpaper. Though when she took a closer look she saw that the wallpaper was some kind of moss, not velvet, and the chairs had an almost organic look—as though they’d been grown instead of made. There were also hanging plants, dripping exotic looking pink and gold and pale green blossoms everywhere.
As if in contrast to the organic appearance of the room, the walls were filled with wide angle, full length 3-D viewers for checking your makeup and dress. Kat saw dozens of herself reflected in the viewers. The new deep green toga-dress Lock had picked out for her complimented her auburn hair, which she’d decided to wear down for once.
“It is nice, isn’t it?” Piper looked around, smiling fondly. “Of all the Kindred trade planets, Twin Moons is the closest you’re gonna get to Earth. The islands, anyway—all bets are off on their continent but nobody goes there, so who cares?”
“You’ve been to the other trade planets?” Kat asked, interested.
Piper nodded. “Oh sure, honey—not that they’re much fun. Rageron is just this horrible, humid blue jungle full of critters so scary they’d make a gator cry. And on Tranq Prime they all live in caves and eat bugs.” She shivered. “Can you imagine? Of course here on Twin Moons they have the Grieza worms, but I can handle those since they taste like chocolate.”
“Those are good.” Kat had eaten some at Liv’s wedding and really enjoyed them despite their unappetizing appearance. “I haven’t eaten much Twin Moons food yet,” she confessed. “And what I did eat…well, I really shouldn’t have eaten it. I just…” She trailed off, not sure how much she wanted to reveal.
But Piper’s curiosity was clearly piqued. “What, honey? You can’t just leave a girl hanging like that—what did you eat?”
“Bonding fruit,” Kat admitted in a low voice. “Almost a whole bowl full of it. That’s why my guys—uh, Deep and Lock—are being so overprotective. They say I’m giving off some kind of a, uh, scent, because of it.”
Piper’s vivid green eyes widened. “You ate a whole bowl in one sitting? Was it a big bowl? How many did you eat?”
“Five or six,” Kat said with a sigh. “I’d just woken up from a long, uh, illness, I guess you could call it, and I was famished. But so far I don’t feel any different.”
“Oh you will, honey. You will,” Piper assured her. “But if it’s the first time you’ve had bonding fruit, it will probably take a little time to kick in—that’s how it is with us Earth girls. But once it does—watch out! You’re gonna be hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July.”
“Seriously?” Kat frowned unhappily. “I was hoping that Deep and Lock were just exaggerating. Or maybe that it didn’t work on me.”
“Oh, it’ll work all right. But if you’re lucky it won’t start until after the party when you can be alone with your men.” Piper grinned at her and shook her head. “If you’re not bonded yet you sure as hell will be pretty soon.”
“What?” Kat began to feel panicky. “But I don’t want to be.”
“Is it the whole two poles in one hole thing, honey?” Piper clucked her tongue sympathetically. “Don’t let that worry you. Now I’m not gonna lie to you, it is kind of a tight fit. But once that bonding fruit gets working on you, you’ll be feeling no pain. It’s like a mixture of Spanish fly and valium—you’ll be hopped up and cooled out at the same time.”
“No, it’s not that. Or not just that,” Kat protested. “I don’t get along with them at all—one of them, anyway.”
“Now let me guess—that would be your dark twin. Am I right?” Piper raised an eyebrow at her and Kat nodded.
“Lock is really sweet. But Deep…we just can’t get along.” She looked down at her hands. “My parents divorced when I was twelve and my grandmother raised me but before then, they were constantly yelling and screaming at each other. I just…I don’t want to be stuck for life in a relationship like that and…” She looked up. “And I don’t even know why I’m telling you this when I just met you.”
“That’s ‘cause I’m easy to talk to.” Piper smiled at her. “Everybody says so. I was a bartender back on Earth back before my men called me as a bride. Worked at a club in downtown Houston called Foolish Pride. I bet I listened to fifty sob stories a night and you know what? I kinda miss it.”
“You’re good at it.” Kat smiled at her. “Did…do you have the same problem with your, uh, guys? Not that Deep and Lock are mine or anything,” she continued hurriedly. “I mean, we kind of all got stuck together by accident and now I’m having a really hard time getting away.”
“Isn’t that just the way?” Piper nodded sympathetically. “As for dark twins—they’re always a problem. Ask any female on God’s green Earth who’s mated to one. They’re contrary and irritating and just plain ornery and yours seems to be worse than most.”
“He certainly is,” Kat agreed, thinking of Deep’s tendency to get under her skin. “He’s sarcastic and moody and dark…” She sighed. “But he’s very protective, too. And loyal and gentle when he wants to be. And…”
“And you’re really confused,” Piper finished for her.
Kat nodded gratefully. “I really am. But I do know I don’t want to be bonded to anyone until I’m ready. And I am so far from being ready right now it isn’t funny.”
“Then stay away from them tonight when the bonding fruit kicks in,” Piper said seriously. “Ask for a private room or lock yourself in the bathroom but whatever you do, don’t wind up between them or it’s gonna be game, set, and match. I promise you that.”
“Okay, thanks for the warning.” Kat crossed her arms over her chest. “Damn it, all this could have been avoided if I’d had a shot of translation bacteria before I came. Now I’m stuck here on a strange planet with no idea of what anyone is saying. It’s so frustrating.”
Piper smiled. “I don’t know what to tell you about your man problems but the translation thing is something I can help you with.” Reaching into a fold of her toga, she pulled out a tiny little clutch purse the exact color of her dress. “Now let me see, I’m sure I have one left…ah-ha!” Triumphantly, she pulled out what looked like a small green caterpillar with a head on either end and long purple hairs growing out of its hide. “Here you go,” she said, handing the half-inch long, wriggling creature to Kat.
“Uh, thanks.” Kat took it very reluctantly—she’d never liked bugs or insects much. She wasn’t afraid of them like Sophie, but she was more likely to step on them than make them pets.
Piper took a look at her expression and burst out laughing. “You don’t have any idea what it is or what it’s for, do you?”
“No,” Kat confessed. “I don’t.”
“It’s a convo-pillar. You put it in your ear and it picks up whatever you hear and translates it into your own language for your brain. It works the other way, too—just think what you want to say and it’ll send thought messages to your speech center and help you talk the other person’s language. Isn’t that great?”
“Uh, did you say you put it in your ear?” Kat frowned. “Look, I don’t like to sound squeamish but I’ve seen Wrath of Khan. I mean, it’s an oldie but a goody right? And anything alive that goes into your ear is bad news as far as I’m concerned.”
“Oh, please, honey,” Piper said a tou
ch impatiently. “If you’re afraid you won’t be able to get it out again, don’t be. Look how easy it is.” She tugged twice at her left earlobe and a small orange caterpillar with pink hairs crawled out of her ear and onto her finger. “See?” she held it out to Kat. “Easy as pie.”
“How come yours is orange and pink and mine is green and purple?” Kat asked doubtfully.
“That’s cause the one I gave you is a new breed—special.” Piper smiled. “Supposed to be almost no lag time at all between thought and translation with that little bugger. I was saving him for a special occasion but I’d say you need him more than me.”
“Well, thank you.” Kat was still reluctant to put something alive in her ear but she didn’t see how she could refuse now without offending her new friend. “Uh, what happens when they, you know, die?”
“Oh, they stop working long before that,” Piper assured her. “When you stop understanding what people are saying, just tug your earlobe, get him out, and get a new one. If you can, that is. I don’t know of a supplier on Twin Moons—I get mine from a colony near Rageron.” Lifting her hand, she allowed the tiny creature to crawl back into her ear canal. “Now you. Go on.”
Wincing, Kat lifted the green convo-pillar to her ear. Oh God, I really don’t want to do this! The tiny hairs tickled horribly as the little creature crawled in her ear canal and she had to curl her hands into fists to keep herself from yanking it out again. It was hard to overcome the instinctive response to scream and freak out at the feeling of something living going where it very clearly didn’t belong. But she squeezed her eyes shut and reminded herself grimly of the benefits of having it there. She’d be able to understand everyone around her now and avoid any more disastrous mistakes like the one that had led her to eat an entire bowl of bonding fruit. And she could apologize in person to Deep and Lock’s mother, who had been looking at her sadly ever since Lock had explained to her that they weren’t really a threesome after all. And—
“Okay, it’s in. You can open your eyes.” Piper sounded like she was laughing. “I know it takes some getting used to but believe me, in a minute or two you won’t even know it’s there.”
Sought...Book 3 in the Brides of the Kindred series Page 9