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Authors: Arwen Jayne

Tags: #romance, #scifi, #fantasy, #paranormal, #bdsm, #metaphysics

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BOOK: Don't Call Me Kitten!
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“Call me Lena
and while we’re doing this you can fill me in on how come your boss
is living with my sister.”

9

George had
just finished laying out the food and had lit the candles when
there was a knock on the door. He opened it to a rather cautious
looking Ally. She’d never been in his loft apartment before. “Come
in.” He noticed Ally bent down to remove her shoes. “Hell, no. Be
comfortable. Leave them on or off, doesn’t bother me.”

“Oh, cool. I
wasn’t too sure.” She opted for leaving them on. “Still getting
used to taking them off when I go around to visit Doc and Kit.”

“I think its
an Asian tradition, even more so with those from Japan. Sudanese
etiquette towards a guest requires that I slaughter a sheep in your
honour.

“Tell me you
haven’t.”

“Nah. Just
some simple fare Simon helped me to put together. Truth be told I’m
not that much of a cook but I gave him a few ideas and then helped
him prepare it. The result is sort of a hybrid between traditional
Malakim vegan and Sudanese cuisines.” He offered her a pyrex glass
of hot steaming liquid karkadeyh, a vibrant red hibiscus tea spiced
with cinnamon and cloves.”

“Thanks. I
thought this was an Egyptian drink.”

“Not just
Egyptian. Ready to eat?

“Sure, but hey
George. I have to know. This is just dinner isn’t it?”

George did his
best not to wince. “Of course. Why would it be anything else?”

She eyed the
romantic candles pointedly then glanced back at him. “Because
you’ve always looked at me in a certain way.”

“Hey, I’m a
guy, I can hope can’t I?” A little honesty couldn’t hurt.

“It’s just I
wouldn’t want to lead you on. You’re a real good friend. You know
that don’t you?”

Damn, the only
want to be friends talk. “Yes, I know it. And what about you?”

Ally still
looked awkward but nodded. “You know it too George.”

“Well then,
let’s eat.” He indicated the pillows at the edge of the low table.
“Lentil soup spiced with cumin, lime juice and coriander. The salad
is a mix of lettuce , red amaranth leaf, purslane, mango and mint.
The main course is of green hamburgers which we call Tamayya,
served with lightly sauteed okra seasoned with ginger. The dessert
is a banana and date mouse. A lot of lentils and beans I know but
they’ve all been partially sprouted.”

Ally grinned.
“So no wind. Now tell me what do you think of the electrical
generation system I’ve proposed?”

Phew! Looked
like he still had Ally as his intellectual friend. He was glad he
hadn’t tried to push things any further than dinner. They seemed
past the initial awkwardness of the evening. He was just going to
have to respect that was the way she wanted things and accept it. A
piece of his heart was sad but his mind was still happy to engage
with her. “Your proposal is sound. In theory anyway. The physics of
using dark energy though... We’re going to have to advance the
science before we can even think of the engineering to make it
work.

“Upal and
Mendal might have some ideas. Din science is way ahead of our human
knowledge. Their spacecraft propulsion systems certainly don’t run
on fossil fuel.”

Good grief.
Was that a flash of lust he saw in her eyes as she said their
names. If only she’d looked at him in that way. He wondered if the
two ex-Din even knew. “If the four of us can put our heads together
on this we might crack it. A new source of energy would certainly
solve a lot of the planet’s problems, not just Boswell’s goal of
getting off the grid. It’s a matter of how we tap into the source.
We’ll need to create a small constant negative pressure within a
vacuum...”

 

Ally was
relieved that George had accepted being kept in the friend category
so easily. She loved him but not in that way. Not like she loved
Upal and Mendal. She didn’t want to lose any of them from her life.
She’d rather keep them all as friends and enjoy their time
professionally rather than become intimate with one and lose what
she had with the others. In her fantasies it was different of
course. She often got wet late at night visualising what it might
be like to be with Upal and Mendal. Imagination and modern sex toys
were wonderful things. Of late she’d even been experimenting with a
beginner’s butt plug so she could play at the dream of having both
of them at once. But that was fantasy and this was reality. Sure
Tyra had her close-knit relationship with Thex, Arion and Simon.
That was different, the three guys were Malakim, none of them with
any specific gender preference. Nothing seemed to be black and
white with the Malakim.

As for Upal
and Mendal, they were the product of some kind of integration of
Din and human she could hardly get her mind around. They’d been
reptilian demons inhabiting their human hosts’ auras but had
pledged themselves to the Earth goddess Ma in order to find
redemption for their past. In return they served that same goddess,
mostly by helping out around the town with their scientific and
engineering knowledge. Upal was the scientist and Mendal the
spaceship engineer keeping the town’s small but growing fleet of
extraterrestrial craft in going order. Whatever, the fact was they
weren’t entirely human. They were rumoured to still be able to
shapeshift into their reptilian form, that and their eyes had
orange irises that they kept hidden behind shades most of the time.
There was simply no knowing what they would think of the depth of
feelings she held for the two of them.

The guys,
including George, had worked with her on numerous projects the town
needed, not the least working to get the town off-the-grid. If she
couldn’t enjoy their bodies at least she’d enjoy their minds. She
owed it to them all to keep it at that.

10

Tyra parked
the Bentley right outside the council’s meeting room. That was the
easy part. Getting out of the car was going to be something else
again. She’d hardly turned the engine off by the time a small swarm
of reporters had the car surrounded. “Damn.”

Simon opened
his eyes from his trance. His face serene. “Leave them to me. Thex,
Arion?”

“Yeah, we’ve
got her covered.” Thex glared at the reporters and they parted like
the red sea. Tyra followed with Arion bringing up the rear.

Arion scanned
the crowd for threats but spied none. He did sense the welcome
presence of John, invisible but patrolling the vicinity. John had
teleported ahead of them.

Simon calmly
walked up to the lead reporters. “You have questions.”

A particularly
pushy red head shoved a microphone in his face. “Is it really true
that you share the new mayor with those other two men.”

“Tyra has made
no secret of her relationship with us. You should know that
already.” He looked down at her meaningfully.

‘Yes but how
does it work? Do you have a roster or something?”

Simon cracked
a laugh. “Hardly. Where you see four individuals who should be
competing with each other we see a fusion. A seamless blending.
There are no boundaries between us.”

“But, that
would mean...”

“That our
relationship with each other isn’t limited to the heterosexual norm
you hold so dear.”

“Wow, but
you’re all so ... how should I say this ... so alpha.”

“So we don’t
comply with your stereotypes. Is that it? Should I shake your hand
limply and raise the pitch of my voice, offer to interior decorate
your house or something?”

“Ah, no not at
all.” The reporter let the topic drop and stepped back to let
another of her colleagues have a go with the aggravating man.

“Sir, what can
you tell us about the mayor’s plans for the council?”

“A good
question.” Simon rewarded his interviewer with a benevolent smile.
“Tyra feels strongly that growth in the shire is being stymied by
excessive building regulations, multiple and costly permits and
standards that require materials over and above what is practically
necessary. This makes it hard for not only developers like
ourselves, who want to invest in rural towns, but also for owner
builders. It’s about building strong, environmentally sustainable
structures through a cost effective permit and oversight
system.”

“Isn’t that
the system we currently have?”

“Not by a long
shot. Ask any builder in the area. The permit system alone milks
prospective builders at every stage of the building process. The
red tape is endless. Even a simple carport requires a university
trained building surveyor to sign off on it whereas in the old days
a hand drawn plan showing dimensions would have been enough.”

“So the mayor
will work to reduce the red tape?”

“Definitely,
but mindful of the need for some regulation to stop dodgy and
environmentally unsound buildings going up. It also needs to be a
system that allows for innovation. At the moment its hard to get
even a square box built let alone a geodesic structure the likes of
the Eden complex in Cornwall. We need to let builders and
architects break away from the past so that they can deal with the
problems we now face by building smarter.”

“What
problems? You’re not one of them climate scare mongers are
you?”

“Whether you
believe in climate change as a threat or not I don’t think even you
would argue that people are struggling with their electricity
bills. There is a fixed amount of energy in any system but the
system we call this planet has more industry and more population to
contend with than ever. If we can build to reduce our energy use it
frees up that energy for others.”

“So geodesic
domes?”

“That’s one
idea and has only limited applications. The point is we need to
allow people room for some creativity. We should also let them keep
their costs down by using recycled materials, as used to be the
case. The current system doesn’t allow any of that.”

 

Tyra walked to
the podium, flanked by Arion and Thex. She sensed John nearby.
Despite a swathe of death threats and the more obvious and tangible
threat of the Din she felt safe, relatively speaking.

Peter Stein
stood abruptly as she entered and pointed at her men. “The whore of
Satan brings her devils’ spawn.”

“Really Peter,
if you’re going to rant at least be correct about it. Thex and
Arion are my mates not my children so they can hardly be my spawn.
As for their presence here I choose to have them with me. Unless it
is particularly stated in the rules of the council chamber that
members’ spouses cannot accompany them to a meeting then I suggest
you let it rest and we get to matters in hand.”

“They are not
your spouses under law. You live in sin with The Seer and his
cohorts.”

“Oh shut up
you old fool.” Some anonymous voice yelled from the crowd.

Tyra ignored
the well meaning but abusive interjector. “Peter. As you rightly
point out I have not entered into a marriage contract with any of
my mates. Firstly this country doesn’t allow marriage with multiple
partners and secondly I am not their possession any more than they
are mine. I have no wish to go through some archaic ritual that
declares me as such. Now can we get down to business?”

Peter shook, a
fine tremor of anger flushing his face ruby red. The rest of the
council’s elected members watched in horror as he pulled a gun from
beneath his jacket and began waving it around. “You may have
convinced the voters that your relationship is irrelevant to you
doing your job. Some may have even voted for you because of it. But
I will not stand here while you sully this chamber with your
whoredom.” He took aim only to have an invisible being knock it
from his hand and wrestle him to the ground. Thex and Arion were on
him in short order as well.

Tyra surveyed
the man they held to the floor. He was no Din. No large reptilian
beast stared back at her from within his aura. If anything his
slate gray almost lifeless aura marked him as a man devoid of love
or pleasure but not evil. Her heart went out to him. Threads of her
compassion streamed out of her body wrapping around his. Like a
virus they started worming their way into his body. Tyra watched in
almost horror, what had she inadvertently done? Yet the process was
fascinating to watch. She hadn’t known she could heal someone’s
aura in this way. It was a different kind of healing to the the one
Sally had explained to her. Yet Sally often used hand contact when
she healed someone physically. Maybe if she touched the poor man
she could accelerate the process.

Thex looked up
worriedly as she approached. He’d read what was in her mind to do.
“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I feel
like I must go with this flow of compassion. I need to accept it as
the gift it is and open up to it.”

“But this
man?” Arion looked down at the man who was still cursing and
struggling to free himself.

“Is in need.
Let me.”

Simon, who’d
quietly entered the chamber while everyone was busy, reached into
his pocket and passed a black crystal and a clear quartz pendant to
Tyra. “Put the tourmaline in your pocket and wear the quartz
crystal over your heart. They will protect you. Do not try to
attack the grey thought form that holds him. It is a powerful
collective consciousness and will attack you back if you try.
Instead simply observe it and surround it with the healing energy
drawn from the spaciousness within your heart and mind.”

Tyra accepted
the protection and the wisdom. She pulled down white light through
her crown chakra as Simon had taught her. She connected her heart
and mind and then she approached.

Arion and Thex
continued to hold Peter down but they moved a little to the side to
make space for her.

She knelt next
to the agro councillor and laid two hands on him, one on his heart
and another on his forehead.

BOOK: Don't Call Me Kitten!
11.24Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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