Stress Relief (6 page)

“Saber,” she whispered, forgetting about her own state of dress—or
undress—in her worry. “What…what is that?” Her hand darted up to touch the
thick black collar fastened around his corded neck. Dangling from it was a long
leather strip with a loop at the end.

“It’s a leash,” Kat said matter-of-factly, stepping forward.

“A leash?” Lissa looked at her, horrified. “But…you can’t expect
Saber to wear something like that. He’s not an animal or a
pet
for the
Goddess’s sake!”

“No, he’s lower than that—he’s your body-slave,” Kat said. “And
you’d better get used to treating him like one or you’re going to blow your
cover before you even get your foot in the door at Yonnie Six.”

Lissa opened her mouth to protest but Saber cut her off.

“She’s right, Lissa,” he said quietly. “Males on Yonnie Six are
considered little better than domestic beasts. They exist only to protect and
serve their mistresses.”

“And you’re willing for me to treat you like that? Like a slave?
Like a pet?” Lissa demanded. Saber was a Kindred warrior—a proud male who was
next in line to be the leader of their people. And she…she was just an orphaned
girl with no family who had been exiled from her home world for the sin of
caring for him. How could he humble himself to act like her slave?

Saber frowned, as though guessing her thoughts. “I’m willing to do
whatever it takes to keep you safe,” he rumbled. “If that means wearing these
clothes and calling you ‘mistress’, I’ll do it without hesitation.”

Kat nodded approvingly. “See? Saber gets it. This isn’t some game
you’re playing here, Lissa—both your lives depend on it. So you act the
part—really
inhabit
it.”

“Says the girl who spent all of
one
summer at acting camp.”
The new voice came from Olivia, who was moving ponderously because of her
advanced state of pregnancy. Behind her was Sophia, her twin sister who Lissa
knew was also pregnant. She wasn’t nearly as far along in her pregnancy as her
sister but she was still showing quite prominently—possibly because she was
carrying twins.

“Sorry to sneak up on you,” Sophia said apologetically. “But we’re
both out of peanut butter and I was hoping you might have some, Kat.”

Kat sighed. “Ah, the things I give up for my pregnant friends.
Sure, help yourselves, raid the kitchen. I have a couple of jars in the
cupboard.” She nodded at the food prep area of her suite but to Lissa’s
discomfort, the two sisters didn’t immediately follow their friend’s prompt.

“So, is this one of the gowns you’re going to wear on Yonnie Six?”
Olivia asked with obvious interest. “It’s gaudy but gorgeous—looks great on
you.”

“Thank you.” Lissa still had her arms clutched protectively over
her breasts. “Kat had it made up for me from some sketches she found while
researching the Yonnite culture.”

“Yes, Kat’s good about that. She’ll plan your wedding, host your
baby shower, even manage your undercover infiltration of an alien culture.
Anything
but plan her
own
joining ceremony.” She raised an eyebrow at Kat.
“Isn’t that right, hon?”

Kat frowned. “Very funny. With everyone around here popping up
pregnant and Lauren and Xairn getting married, I haven’t had time to work on my
own stuff. So don’t say another word, Liv—I’m not doing anything else until I’m
sure that Lissa here is ready to go.”

“Well, she looks ready for anything in that gown,” Sophia said,
smiling. She looked at Lissa. “Do you like it?”

“It’s…not exactly what I’m used to,” Lissa said, not wanting to
hurt Kat’s feelings by telling the truth—that she was absolutely mortified to
be wearing the revealing gown.

“Well, at least it’s not alive.” Sophia patted her arm
consolingly. “The
tharp
I had to wear when I went to Tranq Prime gave me
fits. Of course, we get along just fine now but I wanted to
strangle
the
darn thing at the time.”

“Oh.” Lissa crossed her arms tighter over her partially bared
breasts. Sophia had a point—things could be worse. “I guess I didn’t think
about that,” she admitted.

“It’s not something you usually
have
to think about,”
Olivia pointed out. “Unless you’re determined to wear a creepy living fur
blanket as a dress. In which case whatever problems you have are on you.” She
stroked the crystal encrusted material admiringly. “That really shows off your
figure—wish I could fit into something like it. I’m beginning to feel like I’ll
never have a waist again.”

“You will again once the baby comes, doll,” Kat told her friend
consolingly.

“Well, until then at least I can eat as much peanut butter as I
want.” Olivia turned toward the food prep area and caught sight of Saber who
had been standing silently in the corner of the room. “Wow—didn’t see you
there, sorry.” She looked him up and down and gave a low whistle. “Is this from
Yonnie Six too?”

“Of course. You think he dresses up as a sex slave for the fun of
it?” Kat demanded.

Olivia shrugged. “He might—how do I know? Saber is the first Touch
Kindred I’ve ever met.” She smiled at him. “And you’re a really nice guy
too—despite all the weird rumors we heard.”

Saber nodded gravely. “Thank you. I’m doing my best to represent
my people without giving offense.”

“Honey, you couldn’t give offense to
anybody
in that
getup.” Olivia grinned at him and then looked at Kat. “I want something like
that for Baird.”

“I wouldn’t mind getting Sylvan into something like it too.”
Sophia smiled. “And I thought the Tranq Prime traditional outfit was hot.”

“No fur boots but the tight leather pants more than makes up for
that,” Olivia commented and laughed. “Sorry, Saber, we don’t mean to be looking
at you like you’re a side of beef. We really only came for the peanut butter.
C’mon, Sophie.” She tugged at her sister’s arm and they both disappeared into
the food prep area.

“Those two…” Kat shook her head affectionately before turning back
to Lissa. “Now listen, hon, the gown looks great on you but it’s not going to
do the whole job. If you want to carry this off, you have to act the part.”

Lissa frowned. “You said that before but I really don’t
understand. What part do you want me to act?”

“God, I wish I had some time to show you around South
Tampa and give you some real life examples but it’s too late for
that now.” Kat sighed. “Basically you have to ditch the shy and humble
priestess routine and become a rich, tyrannical bitch mistress from hell.”

Lissa put a hand to her cheek. “But…I can’t do that. I can’t be
that person. And I don’t want to go out in public wearing these clothes. And I
can’t treat Saber like a…like he’s nothing more than an animal. Like a slave.”
Her voice almost broke on the last word and she could barely force it out. When
she’d volunteered for this mission, she had never imagined it would involve
such personal degradation, or worse, such abject humiliation for the male she
cared for most in the universe.

Saber stepped forward. “Lissa,” he said in a low voice. “
Amalla—”

But hearing the sweet, forbidden term of endearment was more than
Lissa could bear.

“Forgive me,” she whispered. Turning, she ran past Kat into the
sleeping chamber where she had left her clothing and buried her face in the pillows.

* * * * *

Saber watched her go and had to force himself not to follow.
She
is nothing to you now,
he reminded himself for the hundredth time.
She’s
a kinswoman—a member of the same clan. She’s off limits.

Still, he ached to go and comfort her, as he used to back when
they were attending the same school and the bullies came after her. He wanted
to fight to defend her honor, to keep her safe and protect her at all costs. If
wearing the ridiculous skintight trousers and the black leather leash was the only
way he could stay by her side and guard her, he would gladly do it. Why did it
bother Lissa so much?

He wished he could ask her but his hands were tied—he had promised
her he would keep his distance emotionally during their mission and he had to
keep that promise. He shouldn’t even have called her
amalla,
but the
endearment had just slipped out.

Even if he could have gone after her, it was awkward to try and
comfort someone you couldn’t actually touch. Any kind of touching—physical or
mental—between male and female members of the same tribe of the Touch Kindred
was forbidden. In the past, Saber had broken that taboo but he couldn’t do it
again—not now and not ever again. The thought made his chest tight.

“Oh dear.” Kat sighed, breaking his train of thought. “I’m sorry,”
she said to Saber. “I was going to see if your outfit needed any alterations
but I think I need to go check on Lissa.”

He nodded silently and she bustled away, calling his kinswoman’s
name. He turned, intending to go back into the small guest bathroom and change
back into his normal clothing, when the door to the suite opened again and two
large males walked in. One had light brownish blond hair and brown eyes and the
other had black hair and black eyes. Saber had never met them but he guessed
from the holo-pics he saw scattered around the living area they must be the
Twin Kindred Kat was mated to.

Saber was standing in the shadowed hallway that led to the
bathroom and at first the two were too busy arguing to notice him.

“I told you, Lock” the dark twin said in an angry tone. “She’s
ashamed of us.”

“She’s not—she never would be,” the light twin protested in a low,
vehement voice. “She’s just been distracted by everything else going on lately.
You know she’s become the unofficial coordinator of every special event in our
immediate circle lately, Deep. It keeps her busy.”

“Too busy to introduce us to her kin? To busy to—” The dark twin
stopped abruptly, appearing to notice Saber for the first time. “Hey—who are
you and what the hell are you doing in our suite dressed like that?” His eyes
narrowed. “Where’s Kat? If you’ve hurt her—”

“I’m Saber,” Saber said quickly, stepping forward and holding out
both hands, palms up, in a gesture of friendship. “Forgive me for startling
you—I’m not here to harm anyone. Your bride was simply helping me prepare for
my mission.”

The light twin snapped his fingers. “You’re the Touch Kindred
Baird has been telling us about. The one who’s been addressing the Council and
speaking on behalf of Rast about the Hoard problem.”

“I have been charged with speaking with the Councilor’s voice,
that’s true.” Saber nodded his head in agreement.

The dark twin frowned. “Well Rast may trust you but I
don’t
.
I don’t like having a Touch Kindred on the ship—especially not around my female.”

“Take it easy, Lock,” his brother said soothingly. “Baird says he
felt the same way at first but both Rast and Sylvan have spoken for Saber and
he’s promised not to use his Touch abilities on any female while he’s on
board.”

“A promise I have scrupulously kept.” Saber frowned at the glaring
dark twin. “If you knew how intimate a mind Touch is, you’d realize I would no
more use it on an unknown female than
you
would go around fondling
females you didn’t know at random.”

Deep continued to frown. “That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. The
stories I’ve heard—”

“Don’t apply to me,” Saber finished for him. “Look, I know you’re
not thrilled to have me aboard—none of the other Kindred males are. But I’m
here on a mission and I have no interest in molesting any of your females,
either physically or mentally.”

“You should give him some credit, Deep” Locke, the light twin told
his brother reasonably. “He has behaved honorably so far. And besides, you’re
the last one I’d think would be predisposed to think the worse of our new
brother. You and Xairn get along fine and he’s Scourge.”

“That’s different,” Deep growled. “Xairn doesn’t have the ability
to go around
Touching
every innocent female he sees with his mind.”

Saber felt a surge of irritation. “Let me ask you something,
brother,”
he said, frowning at the dark twin. “Would you say you’re physically stronger
than any female on the Mother Ship?”

Deep nodded shortly. “Of course. We love our Earth brides and they
have great strength of character but physically, they’re no match for us.”

“So you could, if you wanted, go around raping every female you
saw,” Saber pointed out. “I mean, you have the physical strength to do it,
don’t you?”

“You sick bastard,” Deep snarled. “I would never—”

“I wouldn’t either,” Saber said quietly.

“I think what he’s trying to say is that just because you have the
ability to do something, doesn’t mean you’ll do it,” Locke said.

“I know what he’s saying.” Deep shot him a mistrustful look. “I
just don’t like the way he’s saying it. And I
don’t
like him being alone
with Kat.”

“I’m not.” Saber held out his hands again, still silently asking
for peace. He could understand the dark twin’s anger—after all, he wouldn’t
want Lissa to be alone with a strange male, especially not one dressed as he
was right now. “Lissa my…my kinswoman is here as well.”