Sought...Book 3 in the Brides of the Kindred series (12 page)

“Oh no, honey.” Piper shook her head. “You
and I,
we’re
the supermodels here. And that’s the one thing
Twin Moons has over dear old Earth.”

“Uh, because we’re ‘elites’?” Kat dropped
her voice, not wanting Lock and Deep to hear her discussing it. “I
mean, the guys I’m with, they’re always talking about how curvy
women are valued here—”

“Valued? Honey—we’re the cat’s pajamas! Just
look at the way they’re looking at us.” She motioned to the hungry
glances that were coming from several different sets of twin males
scattered around the large gallery. “Why, every single man in this
room would be on us like a duck on a junebug if we weren’t already
mated!”

“I’m not though—mated, I mean,” Kat
said.

Piper’s perfectly shaped eyebrows lifted in
surprise. “Not mated? Then what are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story.” Kat glanced up again to
see if Deep or Lock was listening. She really wanted to pour her
heart out to a sympathetic ear but she didn’t want them hearing
everything she said.

Piper seemed to understand the situation.
“Come on, honey, let’s go powder our noses and you can tell me all
about it,” she said, hooking her arm through Kat’s.

Suddenly Deep was blocking the way. “Where
do you think you’re going?” He frowned at Kat.

Piper looked at Kat. “I thought you said you
weren’t mated?”

“I’m
not
.” Kat frowned unhappily.
“Look, Deep, this is Piper and as you can see she’s female. We’re
going to the ladies restroom—” She looked at Piper. “Uh, they
do
have a ladies restroom here, right? I mean, it’s not
unisex or anything?”

“Heavens no!” Piper smiled sweetly at Deep
and Lock who was now standing beside his brother. “You two just run
along for a little while. I promise I’ll keep your little gal
safe.”

Deep didn’t budge. “Oh you
will
, will
you?” he murmured, one black eyebrow cocked in obvious
disbelief.

Lock cleared his throat. “Forgive me, my
lady, but we don’t even know you.”

“I’m Piper. I’m the mate of Ambassadors
Knows Much and Thinks Swiftly.” She patted Lock on the arm. “You
two just go on over and talk to Much and Swifty, as I call ‘em,”
She nodded her head at a pair of Twin Kindred who were standing off
to one side. “While we run along to the ladies room.”

“Her mates are males of renown,” Lock said,
talking to Deep.

“Well, if you’re just going to the room of
convenience…” Deep was still frowning.

“That’s all. I promise.” Piper nodded at
both of them. “It’s okay—we just want a little Earth girl
talk.”

“We’ll accompany you,” Deep decided.

Kat sighed as the two of them flanked
herself and Piper and they moved in a unit through the milling
crowd. It felt like all eyes were on them and she couldn’t help
feeling embarrassed.
This is so stupid! Like I’m some helpless
little girl who can’t go anywhere without her bodyguards.
Finally they came to a large pink and gold archway set in the back
wall. It was right beside a flamboyant hologram display which
appeared to be naked people covered in red, green, and brown paint
pretending to be trees.

“From Earth,” Piper said, nodding at it.
“You wouldn’t catch any native Mooners doing nonsense like that but
they think our stuff is just to die for.”

“Mooners?” Kat raised an eyebrow.

“That’s just what I call ‘em.” Piper nodded
at the crowd of Twin Moon natives before turning to Lock and Deep.
“All right now,” she said, giving them a bright smile and a nod.
“You two just run along. We’re going to be in here a little
while.”

“When will you be back?” Deep wanted to
know. He was still scowling, presumably at the idea of having to
leave Kat alone.

“When we’re damn well good and ready,” Piper
snapped, apparently losing patience. She towed Kat into the pink
and gold entrance which curved off to the right, putting them out
of sight of the main room. “Lord, those two are overprotective! And
you say you’re not even mated to them yet?”

“No and I’m not going to be either.” Kat
looked around the large, parlor like room they found themselves in.
“Hey, this is really nice.”

It looked like an old fashioned power room
down to the deep, plush chairs and red velvet wallpaper. Though
when she took a closer look she saw that the wallpaper was some
kind of moss, not velvet, and the chairs had an almost organic
look—as though they’d been grown instead of made. There were also
hanging plants, dripping exotic looking pink and gold and pale
green blossoms everywhere.

As if in contrast to the organic appearance
of the room, the walls were filled with wide angle, full length 3-D
viewers for checking your makeup and dress. Kat saw dozens of
herself reflected in the viewers. The new deep green toga-dress
Lock had picked out for her complimented her auburn hair, which
she’d decided to wear down for once.

“It
is
nice, isn’t it?” Piper looked
around, smiling fondly. “Of all the Kindred trade planets, Twin
Moons is the closest you’re gonna get to Earth. The islands,
anyway—all bets are off on their continent but nobody goes there,
so who cares?”

“You’ve been to the other trade planets?”
Kat asked, interested.

Piper nodded. “Oh sure, honey—not that
they’re much fun. Rageron is just this horrible, humid blue jungle
full of critters so scary they’d make a gator cry. And on Tranq
Prime they all live in caves and eat bugs.” She shivered. “Can you
imagine? Of course here on Twin Moons they have the Grieza worms,
but I can handle those since they taste like chocolate.”

“Those
are
good.” Kat had eaten some
at Liv’s wedding and really enjoyed them despite their unappetizing
appearance. “I haven’t eaten much Twin Moons food yet,” she
confessed. “And what I
did
eat…well, I really shouldn’t have
eaten it. I just…” She trailed off, not sure how much she wanted to
reveal.

But Piper’s curiosity was clearly piqued.
“What, honey? You can’t just leave a girl hanging like that—what
did you eat?”

“Bonding fruit,” Kat admitted in a low
voice. “Almost a whole bowl full of it. That’s why my guys—uh, Deep
and Lock—are being so overprotective. They say I’m giving off some
kind of a, uh, scent, because of it.”

Piper’s vivid green eyes widened. “You ate a
whole bowl
in one sitting? Was it a big bowl? How many did
you eat?”

“Five or six,” Kat said with a sigh. “I’d
just woken up from a long, uh, illness, I guess you could call it,
and I was famished. But so far I don’t
feel
any
different.”

“Oh you will, honey. You
will
,” Piper
assured her. “But if it’s the first time you’ve had bonding fruit,
it will probably take a little time to kick in—that’s how it is
with us Earth girls. But once it does—watch out! You’re gonna be
hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July.”

“Seriously?” Kat frowned unhappily. “I was
hoping that Deep and Lock were just exaggerating. Or maybe that it
didn’t work on me.”

“Oh, it’ll work all right. But if you’re
lucky it won’t start until after the party when you can be alone
with your men.” Piper grinned at her and shook her head. “If you’re
not bonded yet you sure as hell will be pretty soon.”

“What?” Kat began to feel panicky. “But I
don’t
want
to be.”

“Is it the whole two poles in one hole
thing, honey?” Piper clucked her tongue sympathetically. “Don’t let
that worry you. Now I’m not gonna lie to you, it
is
kind of
a tight fit. But once that bonding fruit gets working on you,
you’ll be feeling no pain. It’s like a mixture of Spanish fly and
valium—you’ll be hopped up and cooled out at the same time.”

“No, it’s not that. Or not
just
that,” Kat protested. “I don’t get along with them at
all
—one of them, anyway.”

“Now let me guess—that would be your dark
twin. Am I right?” Piper raised an eyebrow at her and Kat
nodded.

“Lock is really sweet. But Deep…we just
can’t get along.” She looked down at her hands. “My parents
divorced when I was twelve and my grandmother raised me but before
then, they were constantly yelling and screaming at each other. I
just…I don’t want to be stuck for life in a relationship like that
and…” She looked up. “And I don’t even know why I’m telling you
this when I just met you.”

“That’s ‘cause I’m easy to talk to.” Piper
smiled at her. “
Everybody
says so. I was a bartender back on
Earth back before my men called me as a bride. Worked at a club in
downtown Houston called Foolish Pride. I bet I listened to fifty
sob stories a night and you know what? I kinda miss it.”

“You’re good at it.” Kat smiled at her.
“Did…do you have the same problem with your, uh, guys? Not that
Deep and Lock are mine or anything,” she continued hurriedly. “I
mean, we kind of all got stuck together by accident and now I’m
having a really hard time getting away.”

“Isn’t that just the way?” Piper nodded
sympathetically. “As for dark twins—they’re
always
a
problem. Ask any female on God’s green Earth who’s mated to one.
They’re contrary and irritating and just plain ornery and yours
seems to be worse than most.”

“He certainly is,” Kat agreed, thinking of
Deep’s tendency to get under her skin. “He’s sarcastic and moody
and dark…” She sighed. “But he’s very protective, too. And loyal
and gentle when he wants to be. And…”

“And you’re really confused,” Piper finished
for her.

Kat nodded gratefully. “I really am. But I
do
know I don’t want to be bonded to anyone until I’m ready.
And I am so far from being ready right now it isn’t funny.”

“Then stay away from them tonight when the
bonding fruit kicks in,” Piper said seriously. “Ask for a private
room or lock yourself in the bathroom but whatever you do,
don’t
wind up between them or it’s gonna be game, set, and
match. I promise you that.”

“Okay, thanks for the warning.” Kat crossed
her arms over her chest. “Damn it, all this could have been avoided
if I’d had a shot of translation bacteria before I came. Now I’m
stuck here on a strange planet with no idea of what anyone is
saying. It’s so
frustrating.”

Piper smiled. “I don’t know what to tell you
about your man problems but the translation thing is something I
can
help you with.” Reaching into a fold of her toga, she
pulled out a tiny little clutch purse the exact color of her dress.
“Now let me see, I’m sure I have one left…ah-ha!” Triumphantly, she
pulled out what looked like a small green caterpillar with a head
on either end and long purple hairs growing out of its hide. “Here
you go,” she said, handing the half-inch long, wriggling creature
to Kat.

“Uh, thanks.” Kat took it very
reluctantly—she’d never liked bugs or insects much. She wasn’t
afraid of them like Sophie, but she was more likely to step on them
than make them pets.

Piper took a look at her expression and
burst out laughing. “You don’t have any idea what it is or what
it’s for, do you?”

“No,” Kat confessed. “I don’t.”

“It’s a convo-pillar. You put it in your ear
and it picks up whatever you hear and translates it into your own
language for your brain. It works the other way, too—just think
what you want to say and it’ll send thought messages to your speech
center and help you talk the other person’s language. Isn’t that
great?”

“Uh, did you say you put it in your
ear
?” Kat frowned. “Look, I don’t like to sound squeamish
but I’ve seen
Wrath of Khan.
I mean, it’s an oldie but a
goody right? And anything alive that goes into your ear is bad news
as far as I’m concerned.”

“Oh, please, honey,” Piper said a touch
impatiently. “If you’re afraid you won’t be able to get it out
again, don’t be. Look how easy it is.” She tugged twice at her left
earlobe and a small orange caterpillar with pink hairs crawled out
of her ear and onto her finger. “See?” she held it out to Kat.
“Easy as pie.”

“How come yours is orange and pink and mine
is green and purple?” Kat asked doubtfully.

“That’s cause the one I gave you is a new
breed—special.” Piper smiled. “Supposed to be almost no lag time at
all between thought and translation with that little bugger. I was
saving him for a special occasion but I’d say you need him more
than me.”

“Well, thank you.” Kat was still reluctant
to put something alive in her ear but she didn’t see how she could
refuse now without offending her new friend. “Uh, what happens when
they, you know,
die?”

“Oh, they stop working
long
before
that,” Piper assured her. “When you stop understanding what people
are saying, just tug your earlobe, get him out, and get a new one.
If you can, that is. I don’t know of a supplier on Twin Moons—I get
mine from a colony near Rageron.” Lifting her hand, she allowed the
tiny creature to crawl back into her ear canal. “Now you. Go
on.”

Wincing, Kat lifted the green convo-pillar
to her ear.
Oh God, I
really
don’t want
to do this!
The tiny hairs tickled horribly as the little
creature crawled in her ear canal and she had to curl her hands
into fists to keep herself from yanking it out again. It was hard
to overcome the instinctive response to scream and freak out at the
feeling of something living going where it very clearly didn’t
belong. But she squeezed her eyes shut and reminded herself grimly
of the benefits of having it there. She’d be able to understand
everyone around her now and avoid any more disastrous mistakes like
the one that had led her to eat an entire bowl of bonding fruit.
And she could apologize in person to Deep and Lock’s mother, who
had been looking at her sadly ever since Lock had explained to her
that they weren’t really a threesome after all. And—