“Except we’ll be cooking jumja soup and frikencorn paste instead of Wagyu steaks and lobster tails,” Jillian pointed out, laughing and they hugged each other again.
It felt good to laugh with a friend—it made Jillian feel safe and normal. She just wanted to put the events of this horrible day behind her and forget everything that had happened. In time, she hoped it would all just seem like a bad dream.
Except not all of it was bad—what about that erotic massage Kalis gave you? whispered a sly little voice in her head. What about the way he rescued you and sacrificed himself for you? Are you really going to try to forget about him too?
Jillian tried uneasily to push the voice to the side. She didn’t want to think about the big B’varren Kindred right now—she just wanted to concentrate on getting back to normal.
She had no idea that things were going to be anything but normal the next day…
26
It started when Jillian got to the kitchen of Pat-ar and realized she was the only one there. Where were Lor and Lydia her line cooks? The two of them were a couple—a Beast Kindred and his human bride who had met and bonded over their love of cooking and food. Shortly thereafter, they bonded in a more literal sense and came up to the Mother Ship, where Suzanne had hired them to work at Pat-ar.
Jillian liked them a lot—they were hardworking and good at their jobs and above all, dependable. Neither of them had missed a single day of work since she’d come up to run the restaurant two years ago and they knew there was an important dinner to prep for today. So where were they?
She got her answer a moment later when she had an urgent feeling that someone needed to talk to her. Opening her mind, she waited for the Think-me message to come through.
“Hello?” she thought. “Who is this?”
“Chef? It’s Lydia—I’m sorry to call you on the Think-me but I can’t come see you in person.”
“Really? What’s wrong?” Jillian was instantly concerned.
“Well, remember I told you that Lor and I were going to take a trip to Yanna Globen yesterday?”
Jillian nodded, and then remembered her line cook couldn’t see her.
“Yes,” she sent back.
Since Pat-ar was closed on Mondays, it was everyone’s day off and her two line cooks often took the opportunity to do a little sight-seeing on different planets. The fact that the Mother Ship could fold space to allow you to get to almost any destination in the known universe was a great advantage for people who loved to travel and explore other cultures and worlds.
“Did something happen while you were there?” Jillian sent to her line cook.
“Well, we didn’t think so but after we got back last night we were really itchy. We took a shower and got, ahem, distracted with other things. The itching went away and we didn’t think any more of it,” Lydia explained.
“Go on,” Jillian sent dryly. She could imagine what “other things” had distracted the pair, once they got into the shower together. They hadn’t been bonded that long and they were completely crazy for each other. In fact, she’d often wished she could have a relationship with a man that was anywhere near as good as theirs.
“Well, this morning when we woke up and started getting ready to come in, we both had big blue spots all over our skin,” Lydia sent. “We called the Med Center and they said we had to stay in our suite. Apparently, we’ve both contracted Itcher’s Rash from someone on Yanna Globen and once the spots pop out, it’s extremely contagious. So I’m afraid that we’re under strict quarantine until the spots fade. I’m really sorry, Chef,” Lydia added, her mental voice sounding sincerely upset. “I know we were supposed to prep for the big VIP dinner tonight. Lor and I both feel awful leaving you high and dry like this on such short notice!”
Jillian took a deep breath. Well, today had just gotten a lot more interesting. Still, she’d been short-handed in the kitchen before—she could manage.
“Don’t give it another thought,” she told Lydia. “You and Lor just get well. Did the Med Center say how long it would take for the spots to fade?”
“They said seven to ten days. I’m so sorry, Chef.” Lydia’s mental voice honestly sounded like she might cry. “I know that’s a really long time for us to be gone.”
It was extremely bad news—being short-handed that long was going to seriously screw with her productivity. But Jillian told herself she could manage.
“Just get well,” she told her line cook. “And give my best to Lor. I’ll see both of you when the spots clear up.”
She broke the connection and took a deep breath. All right, it was going to be a race today to get everything finished. Even with Suzanne’s help, there was a lot to do and she was going to be working with alien ingredients she’d never handled before.
Still, she could do it. Stress in the kitchen was still a hundred times better than being drugged and dumped in the Dark Market and abducted by a Trollox. Today was definitely going to be better than yesterday.
“I can do this,” Jillian told herself. “I know I can.”
She hoped.
27
But she had cause to doubt herself several hours later…all because of the thaelite.
Jillian had called Suzanne and the two women spent all morning prepping ingredients and cooking the parts of the dinner that needed to be prepared ahead of time. The jumja stew was bubbling in a huge stock pot and it was time to add the thaelite. Hard, Suzanne’s Dark Twin Kindred husband, had been enlisted to bring it from the shuttle and place it on a reinforced countertop. Finally, they were all set to carve off the recommended amount and put it in the soup.
“Okay, here goes…” Jillian had the ion-scoop—which she had cleaned thoroughly several times, considering the use she’d put it to the day before—poised over the small black brick. Suzanne and Hard were watching with interest as she flipped the switch on the ion-scoop, which hummed to life, and dug out a chunk of the ultra-dense ingredient.
Or tried to, anyway. Because no matter how hard she pushed the ion-scoop into the brick of thaelite, she couldn’t make even a dent in the stuff.
“Ugh—I don’t understand this,” she complained, after several attempts. “I was able to carve through solid metal with this thing yesterday. It was like cutting into a hard cheese or a watermelon—I got some resistance at first, but then the scoop went right on through.”
She didn’t want to think about how easily the same scoop had carved out Ripper’s eye. It was a traumatic memory she would much rather forget.
“Maybe you should let Hard try it,” Suzanne said, looking at her tall, dark-haired husband. “He’s a lot stronger that either one of us.”
“Sure, I can try.” Hard nodded amiably. “I can only imagine how difficult it would be to dig into that stuff—it was heavy as fuck when I was carrying it from the shuttle.”
Suzanne sighed. “Language, honey.”
“Sorry. Okay—here goes.”
He took the scoop carefully in one large hand and attempted to scoop out a chunk of the thaelite. But though the Dark Twin Kindred pushed until he was sweating and red in the face, he only managed to make a small, barely visible dent in the ultra-dense brick.
“Son of a motherless whore!” he swore, putting down the scoop at last. “Sorry, baby,” he said to Suzanne remorsefully. “That stuff is fucking impossible to work with.”
“That’s because you’re doing it wrong. And you’re not strong enough. Don’t feel bad though, Brother—almost no one is.”
Jillian’s head jerked up and she saw that Kalis was standing there, in the doorway to the kitchen.
The big Kindred was dressed differently than he had been when she’d first met him in the market. Instead of his brown leather kilt and boots, he was wearing the standard Kindred uniform of tight black trousers tucked into tall black boots. The uniform shirt he had on was emerald green, which went well with his black and iron-gray hair and picked up the green in his silver-green eyes.
“Sorry to
interrupt you, Mistress,” he said formally to Jillian. “But I thought I’d stop by and see if you needed help with the thaelite.” He shrugged. “And it looks like you do. If you’re trying to make jumja soup with it, you need to scrape off a few really thin shavings that will dissolve—a big chunk of it will be too much and it’ll make the broth curdle.”
Jillian felt a chill run through her—a complicated emotion that was half fear/ half desire. She couldn’t help remembering the incredibly erotic massage the big Kindred had given her the day before…but she also couldn’t forget the huge, terrifying beast he’d turned into. He seemed so warm and gentle and unassuming right now…but then, he had seemed that way right up until he turned into a huge green Grizzly bear-thing, too.
She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him defensively.
“How do you know about the jumja soup? I don’t remember telling you what I needed the thaelite for.”
He shrugged again, his broad shoulders rolling under the silky green uniform shirt.
“What else can you make with it? Nebrian cuisine is about the only kind that calls for it. Plus, I can smell it cooking.” He nodded at the pot on the stove which was still simmering. “Very distinctive smell—nothing else quite like jumja soup.”
“How do you know so much about Nebrian cuisine?” Jillian demanded, still on the defensive.
“My old Mistress—the one who bought me after my Blood Circuit days—had me trained in domestic duties,” Kalis said mildly. “Including cooking. And she had a lot of Nebrian guests and trade-partners. Since Nebrians are bisexual, the Yonnites are willing to do business with them—when they’re in their female mode, that is,” he added.
“Wait…what? They’re bisexual? Meaning they love both males and females?” Hard asked, frowning.
“No, bisexual meaning that for six solar months a year they’re female and then for the next six solar months they’re male,” Kalis answered. He frowned. “It’s when they’re male that you want to watch out for them. They get hyper-sexual and they’re prone to latching onto any female they take a fancy to and wanting to ‘own’ her and implant her.”
“Implant her with what?” Hard asked.
“Well—” Kalis started, but Suzanne interrupted him.
“Um, before we go any further, do you mind introducing us?” she asked Jillian. “I’m assuming this is Kalis?” She nodded at the big B’varren Kindred.
“You told her about me, Mistress?” Kalis looked at Jillian, who felt her cheeks getting hot with an unwanted blush.
“Of course I did—she’s my best friend,” she said shortly. Though she had omitted the part where he’d given her a “happy ending” at the end of the massage, she thought guiltily. “And I’m not your Mistress,” she added.
“In the kitchen, you can just call her ‘Chef,’” Suzanne said helpfully. “And it’s nice to meet you, Kalis—I’m Suzanne and this is one of my husbands, Hard. The other one, Kind, is at home with our triplets.”
“Good to meet you, Brother.” Hard offered his forearm for a warrior’s clasp. “So you think you can help us with this fucking stuff?” He nodded at the brick of thaelite. “It’s fucking impossible.”
“Hard, honey, language,” Suzanne said, frowning a little.
“Sorry baby.” The Dark Twin looked remorseful. “I’m trying to watch what I say before our boys get old enough to understand,” he admitted to Kalis.
“Because I don’t want their first words to be ‘fuck’,” Suzanne said crisply. “Or ‘shit’ or ‘son of a motherless whore’ or any of the other colorful phrases that come out of your mouth.” She sighed and looked at Kalis appraisingly. “So can you help us with the thaelite?”
Kalis shrugged.
“Sure. Happy to do it.” He looked at Jillian. “If it’s alright with my Mi—er, with Chef, that is.”
Jillian sighed and nodded.
“All right, fine. Please help,” she said, nodding at the thaelite and the ion- scoop. “We need to get it into the soup as soon as possible so it can simmer long enough.”
“All right.” Kalis stepped up, and she couldn’t help noticing how good he smelled. She had noted his warm, spicy scent the day before at the Yonnite spa, but then it had been mixed with lots of other scents too—the massage oil and the tea and the air freshener they’d been blowing into the room. Now it was mixed with the warm smells of cooking from the kitchen and Jillian thought she liked it better somehow because of that.
Why are you thinking about how much you like the way he smells when you swore to stay away from him? yelled a little voice in her head. Seriously, Jillian—what’s wrong with you? He’s dangerous—remember?
She tried to ignore the little voice as she watched the big Kindred pick up the ion-scoop and brace it against the thaelite.
“Now look—it’s like this. You don’t want to scoop out a chunk—you just want to scrape off a long, thin curl,” he instructed. And as he spoke, he matched words to actions, peeling off a long, thin curling bit of the thaelite with the scoop as easily as a man shaving off a piece of butter or chocolate, Jillian thought.
“Hey, how did you do that?” Hard demanded. “I was trying to do it for fifteen minutes and I barely made a dent in that fucking stuff!”
Kalis shrugged neutrally.
“It’s all in the technique.”
“Is it? So you think I could do it too, if I tried again the way you just showed us?” Hard asked.
Kalis looked uncomfortable.
“You can try,” he said, offering the scoop to Hard. “But you might find it difficult.”
“What are you not telling us?” Jillian looked at him sharply. She could tell the big Kindred was hiding something. “Why can you cut the thaelite when no one else can?”
Kalis sighed.
“Because, Mistress—I mean Chef—I’m able to call on the strength of my other form,” he said quietly. “It makes me roughly four times as strong as any other kind of Kindred male.”
“Your…your other form?” Jillian found herself backing away. “You’re not going to change again, are you?” she asked, her voice going high as her stomach knotted itself into a fist.
“No—no, absolutely not!” Kalis assured her. He frowned. “My other form is under my control you know, Mistress. He doesn’t come out on his own without me allowing him to—and I only let him out yesterday because you were in such grave danger.”
This made Jillian feel better—but only a little.
“I see,” she said neutrally and cleared her throat, trying to get her voice to go back to normal. “That’s, um, interesting.”
“Yes, it fucking is!” Hard said enthusiastically. “So you’re a B’varren Kindred? I’ve never met your kind before, but I’ve heard you turn into a fucking huge Ursus.”
“Yes, I do,” Kalis admitted. “My other form stood me in good stead during my years in the Blood Circuit. Ever since, though, he’s become…something of a problem.” He glanced at Jillian, who deliberately didn’t meet his eyes.
“Well, I’d say it came in handy today, at least,” Suzanne said briskly. She smiled at Kalis. “So you know all about Nebrian cuisine?”
He nodded warily. “I do.”
“Excellent. How would you like a job?”
Kalis nodded again.
“I’d love one. I just got to the Mother Ship yesterday and I’m not employed yet.”
“What?” Jillian glared at her. “Suzanne, can I talk to you in the pantry?” she asked her friend.
“Of course. Excuse us, boys. Oh, and Kalis, would you scrape off some more of that thaelite and put it in the jumja soup?” Suzanne asked.
“Happy to.” He nodded and eyed the pot of soup. “About two more curls of the stuff ought to do it. Any more than that and the broth will curdle.”
“Thanks. We’ll be back in a moment.” And she went with Jillian into the large, walk-in pantry at the far end of the kitchen.
28
“What the hell do you
think you’re doing?” Jillian demanded, the minute the pantry door was closed. “Why are you hiring people to work in my kitchen?”
“Because we’re desperately short-handed and neither one of us has ever cooked Nebrian cuisine before,” Suzanne shot back. “Plus, at some point, I have to go breastfeed the triplets—we need help!”
Jillian put her hands on her hips.
“When you asked me to come run Pat-ar, we agreed that I would be in charge of hiring and firing!”
“And you mostly are. But I can see that you’re too wound up over this guy to give him a fair shake,” Suzanne said.
Jillian ran a hand over her hair, which was in a tight ponytail to keep it out of her face.
“Suzanne, come on. I told you what he turns into—it’s fucking terrifying!”
“He’s promised that this other form of his—this bear-thing—is completely under his control and that it can’t come out unless he lets it,” Suzanne pointed out. “I have to believe that’s the truth, or Commander Sylvan would never have let him on board the Mother Ship in the first place. Plus, Hard trusts him—he told me so, through our link.”
“He just met him, though!” Jillian protested.
“I know, but that doesn’t matter. My Dark Twin hubby might have a foul mouth, but he’s also got infallible instincts about people,” Suzanne said with certainty. “If Kalis was any kind of a danger to either one of us, he wouldn’t let us be in the same room with him for even a minute.”
“But…but…” Jillian ran a hand over her hair again. She just didn’t know what to say. Being around the big Kindred twisted her up in knots inside. She was torn between being incredibly attracted to him…and frightened half to death of the beast he turned into.
“Look, Jilly, don’t you remember what you told me when you first hired me at The Palms?” Suzanne said gently.
“I said everybody deserves a second chance,” Jillian admitted reluctantly.
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