A thousand Yessat Years could tick by and a wimpy man like that would still fail to arouse her. That acknowledgment was more than a little depressing so she thrust it from her thoughts and resumed her open-mouthed marveling of the surroundings.
The decadence and sparkle of Crystal City had no rival. She was going to make the most of her three moon-months here and enjoy every Nuba-second of the experience. She smiled as she walked, excited by the prospects this new undertaking presented. Exploring Crystal City, if nothing else, would be an adventure unto itself.
She spotted a bartering stall where the most beautiful zokas she’d ever seen were on display. Kari picked up her pace, making a beeline straight for it. The gold zokas would make perfect gifts for Klykka and Dorra, while the sparkly one spun from black gemstones would look great on her. If nothing else, Kari thought, staring at it, the black zoka provided an interesting contrast against her porcelain skin—great for her upcoming performances on stage.
“You don the dress of a Galian warrior, but ‘tis a certainty you haven’t the look of our kind.” The owner of the stall gave Kari the once-over. “Nor the height.”
“I’ve been here seventeen Yessat Years, though. My Mistress sent me to Crystal City to wait tables and perform.”
The Galian inclined her head. She implicitly understood the underlying implication. Namely that Kari was a warrior in training.
“You are galishi?”
Galishi—the Galian term for what amounted to a naturalized female citizen with full rights. The word was more meaningful than that though because it also denoted that Kari had been taken in by a High Mystik and raised as her own. “I am.”
“From which sector?”
“Gy’at Li.”
The owner looked impressed. “I herald from the Zha’Ri sector.” She waved a hand toward the array of zokas. “’Tis an honor to trade with you. Purchase what you will.”
“Thank you. I already know what I want though.”
A minute later the three G-strings and their matching sandals were wrapped in a vesha pelt and handed over to her. Kari held up the palm of her hand so the Galian tradeswoman could laser-scan it, which would automatically transfer the credits from her account to the stall owner’s.
“Next time.” She waved the proffered credits away. “Tell your Mistress ‘tis a gift from Nyoki whose allegiance is sworn to The Zha’Ri.”
“I will. It was a pleasure to meet you, Nyoki. I am Kari.”
“Likewise, Kari. Do you find yourself in need of aide, you have an ally in me and any warrior of the Zha’Ri sector.”
Kari smiled. She inclined her head then resumed her stroll down the main path of the city centre. Lost in thought, she was too busy wondering over Nyoki’s parting words to care about sightseeing. It wasn’t so much what the Galian female had said as the manner in which she’d said it. Were there warriors in Crystal City from sectors hostile to The Gy’at Li? She would put the question to Klykka the next time they spoke.
A tingling sensation zinged through Kari’s body as an odd feeling stole over her. Her senses instinctively kicked into hyper vigilance mode. Someone was watching her. No, watching was too weak a word for this feeling, she decided. The jolt of apprehension and awareness that was causing the hair at the nape of her neck to stand on end was what she expected a hunted animal felt like when trying to evade a large predator.
She came to a standstill and looked around. “Always trust your instincts,” she knew Klykka would instruct her if she were here. “’Tis a gift from the goddess bestowed upon women, this is.”
Kari’s gaze darted around, looking for the one who was causing the gift to kick in. Just when she was about to give up and resume walking, certain that her instincts had failed her and she was reacting in an overly sensitive manner because of her conversation with Nyoki, her silver-blue gaze honed in on a massive, muscled chest.
Holy. Shit.
Kari’s breath caught in her throat. They were separated by the street, yet she was still forced to tilt her head back to look up at the largest giant of a man she’d ever before seen. His hair was black as the night, his skin and eyes as golden as finely aged whiskey. Standing nearly eight feet in height, his four hundred to five hundred pound frame was carved of solid, unyielding muscle. She swallowed roughly. This was no Galian male. Even had his eye color been violet, which it wasn’t, his gaze was too commanding to belong to a male native to this planet.
He’s a Trystonni warrior…
There went the gift again, telling her the one alien species of male she least wanted to interact with was watching her like a cheetah stalking a gazelle. Her gaze flew to his forehead where a skull had been tattooed into his skin, then down to the necklace he wore.
A Trystonni bridal necklace.
The gift hadn’t lied. There was no question about it. She’d heard the stories of those necklaces, knew that if a Tryston warrior removed the one he wore and placed it around a woman’s neck, she was bound to him forever—literally. The necklace made him able to track her should she flee and wouldn’t unclasp until death, if even then.
Kari’s breathing grew heavy, causing her breasts to heave and jiggle. The giant’s gaze flicked down to study them. His eyes narrowed in arousal.
Kari’s body responded against her volition, her pink nipples hardening and jutting out. Her heart rate picked up, causing her breathing to become impossibly more labored.
For seventeen Yessat Years she had worn the zoka; for more than sixteen of those years she’d grown so accustomed to near-nakedness in public that she no longer felt the vulnerability that went hand-in-hand with nudity back on Earth. Or at least she hadn’t, Kari conceded, until this moment.
Standing in the heart of Crystal City, surrounded by more people than she’d ever before encountered, the silver zoka and turquoise sandals she wore provided no shield from the giant’s covetous gaze. His golden eyes flicked back and forth between her painfully erect nipples and the G-string hiding her pussy from his view. The gift was screaming that he found the zoka a nuisance as it kept him from seeing what he most wanted to be inside of.
Kari blinked. She shook her head slightly, as if forcing herself to snap out of a sorcerer’s spell.
Their gazes clashed again. The warlord’s possessive, hungry eyes were at once arousing and frightening.
Kari dashed away, running as fast as her feet would carry her. She could feel the giant’s gaze following her, branding her…
And promising her that they would meet again.
* * * * *
“This place is incredible.” Kari stared in amazement at the penthouse she’d be calling home for the next three moon-months. “And the technology? Whoa!”
“Whoa? This is another one of your Earth words?”
“Yeah.”
“’Tis not translating in my mind, that word.”
“Because there’s no Galian equivalent.”
“I see.”
Kari realized she was being rude. She forced herself to stop examining every inch of her new, temporary home so she could give The Gy’at Li’s hologram her full attention. She plopped down on a purple crystal chair—then immediately shot back up to her feet. She gasped.
Klykka smiled. “You assumed a seat carved from crystal would feel hard and cold, aye?”
“Of course!” Kari frowned as she eyed the chair suspiciously. “But it felt like the softest vesha hide on the planet.”
“’Twill not eat you, child,” Klykka teased. “Be seated.”
Kari hesitantly prepared to sit. She didn’t really have a choice. An order was an order.
“For the love of the goddess,” Dorra grunted, her hologram appearing next to Klykka’s, “The Gy’at Li did not send you to Crystal City to kill you, sister. Leastways, she would have done so long before now did she not find your primitive reactions bemusing. Sit.”
“Primitive reac— Now listen here, Dorra!”
“Remember the time you gave shelter to the visiting Tu
mians?” Dorra said to Klykka, effectively ignoring Kari. “’Twould have thought they were heeka beasts the way she screamed.”
“Aye.” The Gy’at Li grinned. She shook her head slightly. “’Twas a passing fair laugh she gave us.”
Kari’s nostrils flared. “I don’t trust anything that has more than two legs,” she gritted out.
“And the time she thought a yoma was trying to eat her?” Dorra continued. “The poor beast did naught but look at her.”
“By the sands, aye!” Klykka said, chuckling. “I remember!”
Kari sat down on the chair. “Well maybe if you rode around in cars like normal Earthlings instead of on the backs of flying monkeys with huge fangs…” She folded her arms across her breasts. “And for the record,” she huffed, “those Tumians are creepy, okay? They have eight fucking legs.” She held up eight fingers to underscore her point. “Eight!”
“Wait until she spots a visiting pugmuff in Crystal City,” Dorra mused. “Ahh—to be a holo-mirror on the wall when it happens.”
“Can we move on?” Kari bit out. “For two women who rarely smile let alone belly laugh, you’re sure making up for guffaws gone by.”
“More of her Dearth words?” Dorra asked her sister.
“Aye.”
“Earth!” Kari seethed. “They are Earth words!”
Dorra waved a dismissive hand. “Mayhap my most favored memory ‘twas the moon-rising when she…”
Kari sighed, tuning her so-called sisters out. This had the makings of a long day. She grabbed a chalice from the table next to her. “Fuck the pici juice,” she muttered under her breath, “I’m ready for the matpow.”
“Oh aye, ‘tis one of my favored memories as well! Leastways, ‘tis almost as amusing as the eve when she…”
Kari stood and poured herself a drink. “To matpow and a raging buzz.” She raised the chalice and toasted the air. Her lips smoothed into a grim line. “And to beating the shit out of my siblings.”
* * * * *
“Have you familiarized yourself with the penthouse?” Klykka’s hologram asked. “Need I explain aught else to you?”
“Oh I had plenty of time to look around while Dorra was here,” Kari said drolly. “I’m sure I can manage.”
Klykka hesitated. “You realize Dorra was not there, aye? Leastways, nor am I.”
Kari slithered out of her zoka. “Yes, I realize that.” She kicked off her sandals and sighed. “I won’t pretend to understand how holograms and holo-images work, but my primitive mind grasps the fact you aren’t actually here.”
“Kari…”
“It’s fine, Klykka. I’m fine. I just want to get some sleep.”
“Kari, look at me.”
She tried to school her features before obeying The Gy’at Li’s command, but she’d never been much good at that.
“Your heart is in your eyes,” Klykka murmured. Her violet gaze softened. “’Tis sorry I am your feelings are smarting. We should not have teased you thusly.”
“Were you teasing?” Kari asked the question, but wasn’t altogether certain she wanted the answer. “Or do you really only keep me around as your personal court jester?”
“Oh, child…” Klykka held out her hand. “I would that I could hold you right now. Alas, ‘tis naught I can do but extend a hand that is not really there to you.”
Kari blinked back tears. She blew out a breath. “That’s the only part that hurt,” she quietly admitted, “when Dorra said you haven’t killed me only because I amuse you.”
“Dorra loves you with all of her hearts, as do I, child.” Her smile was at once reassuring and comforting. “Leastways, Dorra is as talented at making jests as you are at breaking bread with Tumians.”
Kari snorted at that. “Point taken.”
“I forget at times how young you still are. Mayhap because there are parts of you that are wizened. You are possessed of what you might have called an ‘old soul’ back on Earth.”
“Thank you, Klykka.” Kari inclined her head. “I needed to hear that.”
“Take yourself to the vesha hides and rest. Your training begins on the morrow’s moon-rising. Leastways, you will need your energy and wits about you at the tavern.”
Kari raised an eyebrow. “To serve matpow and perform a show in the erotic arts? I might not be a High Mystik, but I’m pretty sure after all these years of training I can do that in my sleep.”
“Nay, child. ‘Tis not your ability I doubt. ‘Tis my fear that visiting Trystonni warriors will attempt to lure you to their vesha hides. In a heightened state of arousal, ‘tis a wicked powerful temptation to ignore.”
“I saw one today.” Kari’s eyes rounded. “He was the biggest man I’ve ever seen.” He was also the most primal, arousing, and handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on, but she decided not to mention that part. Klykka seemed worried enough. “They do not rape women, do they?”
Klykka waved that fear away. “Only weak, cowardly men rape women. Leastways, your training has made you too powerful an adversary for a male such as that.”
She blew out a breath of relief. “Thank goodness for that.”
“’Tis a rare beauty you are,” Klykka said. “Most males—if not all males—shall covet you. Take to the vesha hides any humanoid of your choosing so long as they do not herald from Tryston.”
Kari’s cheeks pinkened. “You’re saying that because you love me. I’m actually quite ordinary looking. What Trystonni would want me when thousands of females who look like that—” She waved her hand at Klykka. “Are walking around this city?”
“You seek to flatter me.” Klykka grinned. “‘Tis working.”
Kari studied her adoptive sister from head to toe. The High Mystik was as naked as she was—no doubt heading to bed when the transmission ended—so it was easy to do. Everything about Klykka was Barbie doll perfect. From her long, silky black hair, to her violet eyes that glowed against the caramel coloring of her skin, to her perfect breasts, pouty lips, and bald pussy…
“I need not enter into lesser thought-lock with you to know where your mind is going.” Klykka sighed. “On your Earth I might be extraordinary, but here I am quite ordinary.”
“You’re fucking perfect.”
“And you’ve just become my favored sister.” Klykka’s smile, as brilliant as the rest of her, caused Kari to smile back. “Yet you are missing my point.”
Kari’s forehead wrinkled in thought. “You’re saying that what is ordinary on Earth is extraordinary on Galis.”
“Not just Galis, but all of Trek Mi Q’an. Mayhap even beyond.”
That knowledge was as sobering as it was empowering. All her life she’d felt like the ugly duckling. The thought of Trystonni warriors finding her red hair and pale skin provocative was heady indeed. They were men further from ordinary than she’d believed possible. While she realized she couldn’t have sex with one, just knowing they’d want to bumped her self-esteem up several necessary notches.
“Rest up, child. As I said, you’ll need it.”
“One last thing since I don’t know when we’ll talk next.”
“Aye?”
“The woman I bought the zokas from…” Kari quickly recounted their conversation. “Am I being paranoid or—”
“Nay, you are not.” Klykka frowned. “Leastways, no Galian warrior would dare to cross you so think no more upon it.”
“Why not?”
“Because their sector would incur my wrath. ‘Twould be my right under the holy law to wage war and no sector could withstand my assault.”
Kari grinned, causing the dimples in her cheeks to pop out. “I knew you were a bad-ass, but I didn’t know you were like the bad-ass.”
Klykka winked. “Never forget it.”
Later that night, alone in her bed, Kari’s thoughts returned to the grim giant with golden eyes. The way he’d looked at her, the way her entire body had responded to his brazen stare…
Her hand slid down to her pussy. Her fingers found
her clit and began rubbing.
She might not be allowed to fuck him, but she could damn sure fantasize about it.
Chapter Seven
Last night’s orgasm must have knocked her out like a sedative because she slept in a hell of a lot later than she’d planned on. Kari had hoped to explore all the technological gadgets in the penthouse, not to mention take in some sightseeing, but she barely had time to figure how to shower and grab a bite to eat before she’d need to leave for the tavern.
Still quite groggy, Kari stepped into the bathing chamber and prepared to figure out how it worked. Standing in a conventional Galian room, she gasped when, a blink of an eye later, she found herself standing in a lushly green jungle under a cool, tropical waterfall. Macaws flew by, spider monkeys hunted for berries in the treetops…
Tears of happiness spilled from her eyes. She was home, back on Earth, drinking in the glorious Amazonian sun. The bathing chamber was somehow able to sense exactly what she needed and where she needed to be—the only thing missing was the sight of her sister.
Kari half-laughed and half-cried as she craned her neck and basked in the warmth. The waterfall’s temperature and pressure was precisely what her body craved. She ran her fingers through her soaking wet hair and smiled up at the yellow sun she sorely missed. A cool breeze wafted past, hardening her nipples.
“I don’t want to leave,” she whispered. “I want to stay here forever.”
Her brain knew this wasn’t real, that either technology or magic was responsible for this earthly reunion, but neither did she care. She was home. And she was going to enjoy every moment of it.
The sounds of the rainforest were at once calming and stimulating, which Kari supposed was the point. The perfectly simulated environment felt so good, so reassuring, that she didn’t care if she had time to eat before going to training—she wanted to stay exactly where she was for as long as she could. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever.
A blink later and Kari was back in the ordinary bathing chamber, her hair dried and flawlessly styled, her body washed, exfoliated, dried, and polished. Even her mons had been trimmed and waxed into a perfect triangular patch.