Special Rewards (The Coursodon Dimension Book 2)

by M. L. Ryan

  Some Xyzok operatives were waiting in an air-boat, a fast, flat-bottomed vessel propelled by what looked like a gigantic room fan mounted on the back. On the way to dry land, we were followed by a couple of alligators. The pair slipped effortlessly through the brackish water and still floated near the boat when we disembarked. I thought it was just coincidence, but when the Xyzok who piloted the water craft joked that it looked like the nutria were coming out of the trees to greet us, I knew the bayou fauna were attracted to my Yterixa vibe.

  From the dock, we were driven into the French Quarter, where Sebastian’s need for Cajun cuisine was sated. I lunched on a huge bowl of the creole favorite jambalaya followed by a quick stop at the famous Café du Monde for powdered-sugar covered beignets and rich cafe au lait. By the time we settled into our seats on the fancy private Xyzok jet, I was in desperate need of a nap. My post-prandial somnolence was a blessing; I fell asleep almost immediately and woke as we touched down in Tucson.

  An absence of the usual strong headwinds meant we landed well before the scheduled arrival time. Alex tried to get Aiden or Cortez to pick us up early, but when he couldn’t get in touch with either, we just took a taxi. The entire ride home, all I could think about was how much I looked forward to seeing my cat and sleeping in my own bed. Comfortable as the palace digs were, there’s nothing like a good night’s sleep in familiar surroundings.

  When we arrived at the house, I was a little surprised to see Rachel’s car in the driveway. It was around four in the afternoon, and being a weekday, I assumed she’d be at work. Alex had someone on this side let her know we were coming back, so maybe she left work early to be here when we arrived.

  The moaning coming from inside was apparent before we reached the front door. Not quite sure what was going on, we glanced at one another with identical “What the fuck?” expressions. Alex tried the door, but it was locked. As I dug my keys out of the bottom of my purse, we heard a loud cracking noise, and then a woman’s voice screamed out a tremulous, “Stop, stop!”

  Alex reared back, and with one swift kick, broke down the door. He leapt into the dimly lit living room, and Sebastian followed right behind. There was more yelling, the sound of breaking glass and people scurrying around. I was going to stay put on the front stoop, but I heard a shriek. A shriek I knew came from Rachel. Without concern for my safety, or if my presence would make whatever Alex and Sebastian were battling more difficult, I ran through the door. The sight before me was even more disturbing than I could have imagined.

  Rachel was in the middle of the floor, naked. She was on her knees with the left side of her body pressed against the back of a dining room chair, her chest across the seat and her hands tied to the chair’s legs on the other side. Horrifying as it was seeing my friend in that position, the rest of the scene was even more unbearable.

  A man was on the floor, his back propped against the bottom of the sofa. He, too, was completely unclothed, except for a dark ski mask that obscured his face. Alex had both hands around the freak’s throat, pinning him in place. As I watched, Sebastian moved across the room and ripped off the knitted disguise.

  It was Cortez. Alex immediately released his grip and stared wide-eyed at his Xyzok friend.

  “Oh my God,” Rachel whimpered, “I’ve never been more humiliated in my entire life. Hailey, untie me or at least cover me with something.”

  Grabbing the afghan from the back of the couch, I threw it over Rachel’s most exposed bits. “What the hell is going on,” I demanded as I got to work on the bindings.

  “Yes, what indeed,” Sebastian remarked, holding a short lash with a multitude of thin strips of leather.

  Cortez was finally able to speak. “We were, you know, and we didn’t think,” he sputtered, shaking his head in disbelief. He suddenly turned to Alex and growled, “You weren’t supposed to be back until tonight!”

  The snickering started from Sebastian, but Alex and I joined in. Soon, the three of us were out-and-out guffawing at the absurdity of the whole situation. I was laughing so hard, it took me twice as long as it should have to free Rachel. Once I did, she wrapped the blanket around her and ran into the bedroom. Being the good friend that I am, I followed her to provide assurances that I did not think less of her now that I had seen too much. That, and to get more of the dirt on what had been going on between her and the Xyzok while we were away.

  Rachel’s back was toward the door as she hastily threw on clothes. When she realized I was there, she sat on the edge of the bed, still facing away from me, and buried her head in her hands. “I will never be able to look at Alex and Sebastian again without blushing,” she groaned.

  “I don’t know about Alex, but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t anything Sebastian hasn’t seen before.” Rachel moved her head slightly to shoot me a look of disbelief, so I clarified my original statement. “You know, he’s older and single. He’s probably experimented a lot.” And, having shared my body with him, that kind of kinkiness is right up his alley. “Wow,” I continued, “I had no idea you were into that kind of thing. Was that your whip or Cortez’s?”

  She shifted on the mattress so that she was looking directly at me. “It’s a flogger, not a whip,” she said, her voice filled with annoyance at my apparent ignorance.

  Okay then, if she is that well versed on the intricacies of S & M toys, I guess that answers my question. I plopped down beside her and we just sat there, not looking at one another or speaking. I’ve always hated long silences, at least the kind where you know someone should be saying something, yet no one is. In reality, this one only lasted for a few minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. To break the awkwardness, I quipped, “So I guess this means you and Harrison are not getting back together.”

  Rachel let out a long sigh. “No, and besides, he already moved to North Dakota.”

  “How exactly did you two meet?” I knew Cortez was supposed to deliver our messages while we were incommunicado in Coursodon, but I assumed he would simply phone-in the information. Because of the burning tree incident before we left, he was also tasked with watching over Rachel while she housesat in our absence. Who knew that Cortez would mistake keeping an eye on her with showing her his one-eyed-trouser-snake?

  “Cortez called one day to tell me you’d be away longer than you expected. He sounded nice, and we struck up a conversation. We met for a drink, then one thing led to another….”

  “Wait a minute. There was no transition from a nice phone call to tied-up and whipped?”

  “Flogged. I told you it’s a flogger,” she said with exasperation. “Of course there was a transition. We’ve been seeing each other almost every day since.” Rachel placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. “Did you really think I’d let someone I hardly knew have that kind of control over me?”

  “Hey, calm down,” I pleaded, holding my palms out in acquiescence. “I didn’t mean to insult you, but I’m not well-versed in the ins and outs of this sort of thing.” Smiling, I added, “No pun intended.”

  Rachel stuck her tongue out at me. “Ha, ha, very funny. Today was the first time either of us did anything like this. That’s why we weren’t properly dressed.”

  Confused, I reminded her, “You weren’t dressed at all.”

  “I know,” she said with a sigh, clearly irritated at my sub-standard S&M I.Q. “I was talking about leather crotchless undies or thigh-high fishnet stockings.”

  “For you or for Cortez?”

  Flinging her hands in the air, she griped, “I can’t have a conversation with you about this if you aren’t going to be serious.”

  “Sorry, Rach. You’re right, I’m sorry we mistook your sexual experimentation for an assault. Speaking of which, before Alex broke the door down, you screamed, ‘Stop.’ Is that your, what do you call that, your safe word?”

  She looked at me like I was insane. “Who uses ‘stop’ as a safe word? Mine is ‘rutabaga’.”

  I blinked in amazement. Then, I started to giggle. “Rutab
aga? If you’re going to go with a produce-based safe word, why the hell wouldn’t you choose ‘kumquat’!”

  I could tell she wanted to chastise me for my sophomoric response, but when we looked at each other, she gave in to the ridiculous absurdity of it all. Soon, we were both laughing so hard, my sides started to ache and Rachel was gasping for breath.

  It took us a few minutes to compose ourselves, and when we went back to the scene of the crime, Cortez was dressed. Between his slumped shoulders and inability to look anyone in the eye, I couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed or just duly castigated. Maybe both, Alex and Sebastian sported identical you-are-in deep-shit expressions, but if their barely-contained smirks were any indication, underneath they were rather amused. Poor Cortez. By this time tomorrow, the tale of Rachel’s Tail and the Masked Xyzok will be the talk of the enforcer ranks.

  Cortez got up, mumbled a quick, “Sorry,” to me and headed for the door. With one hand on the knob, he turned and looked back at Rachel. “I’ll call you later,” he said quietly, and slunk out. I wondered if he was walking to wherever he needed to be since I had only seen Rachel’s car outside. He could take care of himself. After all, he was a big boy, although, curiously not as big as one might assume.

  “I’m going to get going too,” Rachel announced soon after Cortez had departed. “The sheets are clean” — thank God! — “and last time I saw Vinnie, he was sleeping in the laundry hamper in your closet.” She grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter and started to leave.

  “Hey,” I shouted. “Where are you going, did you find an apartment?”

  She stopped half-way out the carport door. “Yeah, near Sabino Canyon. I moved in yesterday.”

  “What about your clothes and stuff?”

  “I packed everything and brought it over to the new place this morning.” Glancing quickly at Alex and Sebastian, she lowered her head and added, “Uh…yeah…nice seeing you.”

  Rachel sprinted to her car, and as she drove off, Alex looked down at the coffee table. “She forgot her whip,” he noted mischievously.

  Simultaneously, Sebastian and I corrected, “It’s a flogger.”

  ~27~

  Alex helped me clean up the broken glass – which came from a framed picture that fell off the wall when he tackled Cortez – while Sebastian ordered pizza to be delivered. Every once in a while, I noticed one or the other would randomly snicker and shake their head. I assumed they were reliving the afternoon’s shenanigans. Hell, whenever I thought about it, I could barely contain my own cackling. When the pepperoni and green olive pie arrived, I paused before sitting down at the dining room table.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to use that particular one ever again,” I lamented as I shifted one place over, avoiding the chair that just an hour before played a central role in the unwelcomed image of my best friend’s ass, now permanently burned into my retina.

  “How on earth will you keep track of which one it is?” Sebastian inquired.

  Staring at the offending piece of furniture, I responded with a frown, “The scratches on the legs from the ropes are a dead giveaway.”

  Sebastian looked at the chair and nodded. “Such neophytes, they should have used scarves. They are much more attractive and less likely to cause damage.”

  For some reason, the mental image Sebastian’s comment evoked increased my discomfort. “Maybe I’ll just burn the thing,” I said with a sigh.

  After dinner, Sebastian called a cab and departed. He’d made a reservation at a swanky resort nearby, one that was renowned for its spa services. I noticed the flogger also made its exit; apparently, Sebastian took it as a souvenir. Frankly, I was happy to have it out of the house.

  Between the travel and the rest of the day’s excitement, by nine o’clock I was exhausted. I had barely enough energy to brush my teeth and wash my face before I collapsed into bed. I was half-asleep and already curled on my side when Alex crept under the covers. He pressed his chest against my back and draped one arm across my waist. Soon, I felt Vinnie curl up in the crook of my stomach, the vibrations of his contented purr like a lullaby. About time you got out of the hamper, you ungrateful beast. Typical cat. Never let your person know right away you missed them; let them think you couldn’t care less.

  I woke with the sun. Alex was still asleep, so I went for a much-needed run. Aside from aviating Yterixa-style, I had done far too little exercising while away. Flying provided an excellent cardio workout and helped keep my arms toned, but it did nothing for my leg strength. I definitely paid for the jogging layoff, my legs felt like rubbery noodles after less than a mile. I plowed through, and eventually finished almost three.

  I smelled freshly-brewed coffee even before I entered the kitchen. Alex was at the stove, flipping blueberry pancakes and frying up some Canadian bacon. Fortunately, breakfast wouldn’t be ready for another ten minutes and, not wanting to spoil Alex’s meal with my sweaty, stinky self, I used the time to jump in the shower. When I emerged from the bathroom, clean and somewhat refreshed, Alex handed me a mug of coffee and directed me to the back patio. It was summer in southern Arizona, and it would be blisteringly hot later, but this early it was still relatively pleasant with temperatures in the mid-seventies. If you want to enjoy the outdoors this time of year in the desert, you do it first thing in the morning or after the sun sets.

  By the time we’d finished eating, my critter posse had gathered in the yard. It was not a huge group; just a few snakes, a squirrel, two deer and a variety of birds. I suppose most of my followers got out of the habit of coming around while I was gone, but I was particularly happy to see Maris and Ferris. They were perched on the wall around the patio because their favorite tree was the one torched by the wacko who tried to kill Alex and was now just a charred stump. I was anxious to find out how they would react when I was in bird-form, but Alex made me promise to wait until Hewlyxnathin visited next week in case I had any problems without the more focused magical energy of Courso.

  While we lingered over our coffee, I got up enough nerve to broach a subject I’d avoided up until now. There always seemed to be something more important going on, but now that we were home and things were back to normal – or as normal as things could ever be for me – I had no excuses.

  “You know, when we were in Coursodon, Tannis mentioned something about you calling me ‘carisa’.” I tried to sound as nonchalant as I could, like this was something I was just wondering about, no biggie.

  Alex leaned back in his chair. “She did, did she?” He locked his bright blue eyes with mine. “What did she say?”

  I looked away and peered out at a Gila monster that had just crawled onto the top of the wall around the patio. Taking a deep breath, I plunged ahead. “She said it meant more than just ‘dearest’.” There; I’d said it. No going back now. “She said you were sort of making a public declaration that you….” Crap. I can’t do it. I can’t say that. I settled for ending the sentence with, “That I was yours.”

  He leaned forward, took my hands and kissed them. “It means much more than that.”

  “I know, she told me that, too.” We stared at each other for a few moments, and finally, choosing my words with great care, I added, “Why did you tell me it meant ‘dearest’ if it meant something else?”

  Alex smiled. “I was concerned if you knew all it implied, you’d freak out. And judging by the way you are hemming and hawing right now, my worries were well-founded.” He inclined his head and arched one brow. “So, are you freaked out?”

  I shifted in my seat. “Uh, a little.” It’s not that I don’t feel that way about you – I do – I just am not sure that I am ready to actually say it, or have you say it, or have other people know that we are saying it.” I guess ‘a little’ was an understatement, I thought with displeasure.

  He smiled again. “I have an idea,” he said softly. “When I first learned English, British English, actually, I thought the word ‘wanker’ was fantastic. I used it all the time until Se
bastian told me that it really was a quite course expression.”

  “Is there a point to this story?” I interrupted.

  “Yes, there is, I’m getting to it. The point is, to me, having not grown up with that particular pejorative, the word itself didn’t have the same connotation as it did to the upper-crust Brits I was around at the time. So, if you don’t feel comfortable using the word that I think you are avoiding saying, if you want to, you can use the Courso equivalent of what a woman would say to a man in response to being called ‘carisa’.

  “And what’s that?”

  “Caryxa.”

  I let that float around in my brain. Caryxa. That sounded nice. And he was right, it wasn’t nearly as scary as the other sentiment. Caryxa; it kind of just rolled off the tongue. Easy to say, succinct. Of course, it could be the Courso equivalent of wanker, for all I knew, but I was fairly certain Alex wouldn’t punk me like that. Sebastian, yes. Alex, no way.

  “I think I can handle that,” I said. I plunked myself down in his lap and rested my head on his shoulder. “I think I can handle that just fine, caryxa.”

  We sat there like that, talking about nothing in particular until it got too hot to remain outside. Shortly after we returned to the air-conditioned comfort of the house, Alex got a call from Sebastian. They talked for a few minutes, and Alex scribbled some notes on a piece of paper before hanging up. “Sebastian and I have some Xyzok business to attend to,” he explained as he went to the bedroom to grab his duffle. “Can you drive us to the airport?”

  “Sure,” I nodded. “Courso miscreants gone wild again?”

  “Actually, it’s more of an administrative matter. I’m not sure why this wasn’t taken care of before we left Coursodon.” Alex rummaged through the bag, and seemingly happy with its contents, zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder.