Sazar winced in the brilliant light which bathed the corridor and tried not to stare.
Why did the old fool only send me vids of males? he wondered, glaring at the old Councilor’s back. I never would have brought Sarah if I’d known this was the way she would have to dress. How will she deal with this?
He knew that she’d been raised in an extremely restrictive environment—the fashions of Alquon Ultrea probably seemed shocking and deviant to her. However, she said nothing but only stayed by his side, following obediently behind Minister Obglod and Chandra.
Sazar wished he could close his eyes and find his way by touch instead of sight. Not just because it would be easier not to look at all the exposed female flesh but because the brilliant light was giving him a blinding headache and sapping his strength. Pitch-Blood Kindred had a sensitivity to sunlight or intense UV radiation which made functioning in it difficult. His throat felt dry and even though he had slaked his thirst with Sarah’s blood only the night before, he again felt the Blood Hunger clawing at him.
He supposed the Alquons kept their undersea environment lit brightly to emulate the surface levels of sunlight which they had been used to before their world became submerged. But it was extremely unpleasant. How was he going to function when the environment around him aroused his thirst and sapped his strength?
Sazar sighed inwardly. Well, he would just have to do his best—there was no other possible course of action.
Chapter Ten
“Here we are! This is the clothier I was talking about,” Chandra said brightly. She pointed at a small tunnel with a sign over it up ahead on their left.
“Oh good,” Sarah said, trying to smile. She certainly hoped the shop they would be visiting would be a little less brightly lit than the street area. The long, underwater tube which housed the part of the city of Idd they were walking in was brightly lit from both above and below. Outside its glass walls, Sarah sometimes caught glimpses of what she assumed was the ocean but the bright illumination inside made it difficult to tell.
It wasn’t just that the bright light was annoying, although it certainly was— but the blazing illumination was also making her worried about Sazar. The big Kindred strode along with a stoic look on his face but Sarah thought he looked paler and his eyes were narrowed in apparent pain. And had she seen them flash red—the same dull, almost-maroon color they’d turned the night before when he was so thirsty?
This light really isn’t good for him, she thought anxiously. He’s beginning to look like he did when he needed blood so badly.
Would she have to feed him again? The thought gave her a strange shiver in the pit of her belly. She was glad that Kat and Liv had given her the blood replenishment pills. If Sazar needed to bite her again he could without fear of draining her—she would be able to slake his thirst as often as she needed to.
But where will he bite me? She couldn’t help dreading that initial moment of pain. Would it hurt less on the neck? Or maybe—
Her thoughts were cut off as they entered the small side tunnel which dead-ended in a round bubble of glass that housed a cool, dim shop. Beside her, Sarah heard Sazar breathe a sigh of relief. She couldn’t help feeling relieved herself. It was like stepping out of the brilliant sunshine of a Florida day into a cool, dim, air-conditioned house.
But not everyone liked the change.
“My goodness, it’s so dark in here I can hardly see a thing!” Minister Obglod complained.
“That’s just because the proprietor, Lemesh, has light sensitivity,” Chandra explained. “She spends most of her non-work hours in the depths. Don’t worry, Minister. We won’t be here long.” She raised her voice and called, “Lemesh? Oh, Lemmy—I have some customers for you here.”
Her call brought a girl to the front of the shop, which was crowded with hanging swaths of fabric in every conceivable color. Like all the other females they had seen, she was dressed in a manner which showed off her assets, though her clothing wasn’t quite as bright as Chandra’s. Her skin was also a darker green and Sarah thought the gill slits at the sides of her neck looked much more pronounced. Chandra had said she spent a lot of time “in the depths”—did that mean swimming out in the dark ocean, which was much more visible in the dim bubble of the shop, than it had been in the brightly lit outer tunnel?
“Hello, my dear.” Lemesh flowed forward with a graceful gesture that was almost like swimming and hugged Chandra, pressing her cheek to the other female’s for a moment. “What can I do for you? The Breeding Ball isn’t until tomorrow night and I thought you had your outfit all ready. Do you need to make an alteration?”
“Oh, I’m not here for me, Lemmy dear,” Chandra said. “These nice people are Sarah and her pair partner Commander Sazar of the Kindred. They have come to visit us all the way from another galaxy.” She motioned to Sazar and Sarah who smiled and nodded politely. “Minister Obglod here is their host and he’s anxious that they should be, um, properly dressed for their meeting with The Lord Magnate.”
“Oh my, another galaxy? Well, that’s certainly interesting. I just…” The clothier stopped short, her eyes flickering over Sarah. “Oh my dear—why are you dressed like a male?”
“We, uh, didn’t know how females dressed here,” Sarah said, feeling her cheeks get hot. “I’m really very sorry—the only videos we had showed men, er, males only.”
“I sent you very proper vids of our most famous law-making sessions,” Minister Obglod said, frowning. “If you had listened correctly, you would have heard our law about how males and females are to dress appropriately at all times with no exceptions.”
Sarah wanted to exclaim indignantly that if he thought they had time to listen to hours and hours of old men droning on about laws he had another think coming but Sazar spoke before she could say anything.
“Forgive me, Minister. The fault was mine—I did not interpret your laws correctly,” he said smoothly. He seemed much more at home in the dim shop and she noticed with relief that his handsome features had lost their strained expression and his eyes were no longer red.
“Well, well, it can’t be helped,” Obglod grumbled. “Let’s just hope Chandra and her friend can make your female presentable.”
“Oh, I’m certain I can. What lovely, unusual skin coloration,” Lemesh remarked, coming closer and tilting her head to one side as she studied Sarah.
“Um…thank you. I think your skin is lovely too,” Sarah said with a smile.
"Oh no," the clothier protested. "My skin is too green—my coloration is dark because of my blood." She smiled at Chandra. "But we can't all have such pure blood as my lovely friend here."
"Oh, Lemmy…" Chandra made a shooing motion.
“Well, it seems you have the matter in hand,” Minister Obglod announced, clearly bored of the female chatter. “I must go make some excuses as to the delay of our party to the palace.” He pointed at Chandra. “I’ll be back soon. See that she’s properly arrayed when I return.”
“Of course, Minister.” She kissed him affectionately on the cheek and he tugged at the chain between her breasts almost absently and then left the shop in a fast, shuffling walk.
“Well, you heard the Minister—we need to get moving,” Chandra said briskly. “What can you do for us, Lemmy?”
The clothier was still staring at Sarah thoughtfully.
“I think perhaps some lovely gold netting to set off the rings in her breasts—or maybe silver. Tell me dear, what color are your piercings?”
“Oh…” Sarah felt the blood drain from her face. “I…I don’t have any, uh, piercings,” she admitted. And she really hoped she didn’t have to get any either! The idea of someone poking a needle in her nipples was not appealing.
“What? No piercings? Let me see your breasts!” Lemesh demanded.
“Um…uh…” Sarah stuttered, casting a glance at Sazar. She couldn’t just start stripping in front of her boss, could she?
Sazar clearly saw the uncertainty on her face because
he considerately turned around, putting his broad back to her and the other two girls.
Sarah felt somewhat relieved but she still didn’t like getting undressed in front of strangers, even if they were female. Still, what else could she do? Alquon Ultrea could represent an important alliance with the Kindred—she couldn’t screw that up just because she was shy.
Taking a deep breath, she dropped the bulky robe and pulled the tight blue shirt over her head, revealing her bra.
This garment, which Sarah had bought yesterday, was a nice, new black one with plenty of support for her too-large breasts. It immediately provoked a lot of interest from both of the Alquon girls.
“But what is this?” Lemesh fingered the black elastic straps with interest. “What can be the meaning of covering your breasts with a top and then covering them again with this strange thing?”
“It’s a foundation garment,” Sarah tried to explain. “It…gives you support. Especially if your breasts are on the, uh, large size,” she added in a low voice. “We’re not all as perky as we’d like to be.” She nodded at Chandra’s tea-cup sized breasts which were small and perfectly formed.
"She does have extremely large breasts," Chandra remarked. "I don't think I've ever seen such big ones." She giggled. "You're going to be quite the center of attention once we get your outfitted properly!"
"I'm a triple D," Sarah said, trying to keep her voice low. "But that's not that unusual back on my home planet of Earth." She knew for a fact that there were women with bigger boobs than hers. Mostly porn stars, not that she ever watched porn, but still…
“I still don't understand the use of this garment." Lemesh was frowning at Sarah's bra. "If you need support, why do you not simply wear a float dot under each breast? So much easier and they don’t hide your lovely breasts like this ugly thing does.” She plucked at the elastic strap again disdainfully. “Ugh.”
“Float dots? What are those?” Sarah asked.
“Lemmy will show you. Come on— take that that nasty black thing off,” Chandra commanded. “Hurry—the Minister doesn’t like to be kept waiting and The Lord Magnate likes it even less.”
There was no choice. With trembling fingers, Sarah unhooked her bra and let it slide down her arms. She cast a nervous glance over her shoulder but to her relief, she saw that Sazar was still facing away, although she could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was listening to everything they said.
“Oh, you do have large breasts,” Lemmy exclaimed. “Very large. My—we might need two float dots under each one.”
“They’re nicely shaped though,” Chandra remarked. “And I don’t think I’ve ever seen pink nipples before—how unusual. Lovely, though.” She spoke in the conversational tone someone complimenting a new pair of shoes might use.
Sarah did her best to take their remarks in stride although she couldn’t help wondering what Sazar was thinking of all this.
“Um, thank you,” she said. “Pink isn’t an unusual color for my people.”
“Oh no? What a strange planet you must live on,” Chandra mused.
Lemesh, however, was all business.
“Now then—you’ve never been pierced at all?” she demanded.
“No, and I really don’t want to be if I can avoid it,” Sarah said quickly. “I mean if it would give offense not to, I’ll do it, but—”
“Don’t worry my dear—I’m not set up for piercing here,” Lemesh told her comfortingly. “I’ll tell you what—let’s just get your outfit settled first and then we can see about nipple jewelry. I think I have some non-piercing sets for clients with sensitive skin in the back. But of course we’ll need the help of your pair partner to put it on.”
Sarah had no idea why Sazar’s help would be required but before she could ask, Chandra was already holding swaths of cloth up to her front, looking for the perfect color while Lemesh took her measurements using a tiny hand-held machine which pricked her skin lightly without drawing blood wherever it touched and beeped intermittently.
Before she knew it, Sarah had been fitted for several outfits which were, unfortunately, every bit as revealing as the ones Chandra and Lemesh were wearing. One was a stretchy, gold lame' material which molded itself to the tops and sides of her breasts while leaving her nipples bare. The skirt that went with it was of the same fabric and clung to her hips and behind with a slit up both the back and the front. Lemesh had apparently made it for another client who decided to wear something else so it was all ready to go.
“That one is for the Breeding Ball,” she explained as she had Sarah try it on. “I’m assuming you’ll be invited since you’re important guests of the Minister and you’re visiting the palace today.”
“She’ll need the right undergarments too,” Chandra reminded her friend.
“So she will. I’ll pack them with the dress when I wrap it up for you,” Lemesh promised Sarah.
“Undergarments? But I thought…thought you didn’t wear, uh, bras here?” Sarah asked in confusion.
“You mean that ugly breast-hider thing you were wearing? No, of course we don’t! We show off our assets as is right and proper and feminine,” Lemesh exclaimed. “But you’ll need the proper breeding panties—it isn’t good etiquette not to wear them during public breedings, especially in a formal setting like the palace.”
“While you’re…breeding?” Sarah heard the tone of uncertainty in her own voice but Lemesh was already moving on to other things.
“Now, as for your outfit for today, I think something a little less formal but still eye-catching. I have a gorgeous deep, sea green I’ve been dying to use but it didn’t quite match any of my client’s nipples.”
“It won’t match Sarah’s either—they’re pink,” Chandra pointed out.
“It won’t match but it will accentuate,” Lemesh said. “Here, let me show you.”
She went to the back of her shop and returned with a bolt of deep green, silky fabric. Holding the same machine she’d used to take Sarah’s measurements, she ran it over a length of the fabric and several pieces of pre-made clothing simply fell out of the cloth.
“Wow! That was fast.” Sarah marveled at how quick and efficient the process was. She couldn’t help remembering how laborious making clothes was back home—how her mother and the other women of the Compound had labored for hours cutting and using their sewing machines. Sarah had helped too until she had been promoted to working in the office—sewing was something she hated with a passion but with a tool like Lemesh’s, it would be a breeze.
“Yes, the measure-maker really does come in handy. Don’t you have anything like it on your planet?” Lemesh asked.
“No—I wish we did,” Sarah said as the other woman pulled the top over her head.
“Maybe we can get you one while you’re here,” Chandra remarked. “Oh Lemmy, you were right—that color is just stunning against her pale skin!”
Sarah had to agree they were correct—the deep green looked wonderful with her ivory skin tones. The material was silky and cut in an inverted V neck which started at the hollow of her throat and then sloped down and away, framing her full breasts beautifully. If the top hadn’t exposed her so much, she would have really liked it. As it was, though, Sarah couldn’t believe she had to wear it out in public. Had she thought she felt exposed before when she’d been wearing the close-fitting clothing Kat had talked her into? Well this was a hundred times worse and there was no way to get out of wearing it!
The one thing she didn’t like was that her breasts weren’t as perky as Chandra’s or Lemesh’s or really as any of the Alquon girls she’d seen. The Alquon people seemed to tend towards small breasted women and there was no denying that small, tight breasts looked better in this particular style than her own full to overflowing type of bosom.
Lemesh seemed to see the problem too because she announced, “Time to get out the float dots!”
Before Sarah could ask again what they were, she produced a small black box and opened it to reveal
tiny red jewels that looked like rubies.
“Here we go,” she said, picking one out carefully with her fingertips. It made a slight humming sound and Sarah bit her lip as the Alquon clothier lifted her right breast in a professional manner and placed the tiny ruby-looking thing directly on the crease where the bottom of her breast met her chest wall.
At once she felt a soft vibration and her breast began to lift. Not in a strange, unnatural way—it was as though some invisible hand was cupping her from underneath and giving her support.
“Hmm, another I think,” Lemesh said, looking critically at the result. She added another float dot to the underside of Sarah’s right breast and then two to the underside of the left. When she was finished, Sarah’s too-large breasts looked every bit as perky as Chandra’s teacup-sized ones and the deep green top fit perfectly as it molded to the sides of her breasts without covering the undercurves or nipples.
“Wow, that’s…amazing.” Sarah looked down at herself. No wonder nobody wore a bra here—the float dots did a perfect job of support without the need of tight elastic straps or uncomfortable bands. “How long will they last?” she asked Lemesh.
“Hmm? Oh, as long as you keep them on, my dear,” the clothier assured her. “I’ll give you a special box to keep them in—you have to keep them charged up of course, and that’s what the box does. But once you put them on, they draw power from the warmth of your skin.”
“So you can wear them multiple times?” Sarah asked.
“As often as you want.” Lemesh smiled brightly. “Many of my clients wear them all the time and just never take them off. They work so well.”
“They certainly do.” Sarah regarded her breasts which, now that the effects of gravity had been removed, suddenly looked like she’d had a boob job. They jiggled when she moved but they stayed full and firm no matter what she did, apparently immune to gravity.
Healing the Broken: A Kindred Christmas Tale (Brides of the Kindred) Page 10