Candidate (Selected Book 4) (67 page)

"Where are you taking me?"

"How would a walk along the beach sound?"

"I think I'd enjoy that quite a bit."

A minute later we were in the air. We talked easily during the twenty-minute flight, and then I felt the jumper set down.

"I think barefoot sounds good. How about you?"

"Barefoot sounds wonderful."

I felt her hands on my feet. She took off the shoes and then the ankle restraints. "I'm keeping the wrist restraints, Andromeda. Frankly, I'm enjoying it too much."

"I can tell," I said.

She released me from the chair then tugged me from the jumper. At the bottom of the ramp, we stepped out onto the sand, and I could hear the surf. We walked a short distance, and the sand grew firm and damp. She tugged me into place beside her, wrapped an arm around my waist, and then the visor brightened.

We were standing on the beach, facing the ocean. The sun was low in the sky, and it would be sunset soon.

"Earth has beautiful sunsets," said Charo. "Do you know where we are?"

I looked around. "This is the coastal arena. The typical starting point for the mating candidates is..." I looked around. "That way, I think."

"Have you used the cameras to explore?"

"Of course. The aquatic cameras are especially fun to play with. There's a reef offshore that's filled with colorful fish."

"How about the edges? Do you know the limits?"

"Yes," I said. "Why do you ask?"

"You've seen the fence."

"Charo," I said, putting as much reproach into my voice. "I'm not going to try to escape from you. I'd get three steps and you'd blind me."

"You could hurt me first."

"Charo," I said, hurt in my voice.

"You're bigger than I am. Stronger."

"Where would I go?" I asked. "All I know is we're somewhere in western Africa, I presume slightly south of the equator. This is not a politically stable region, but I don't even know what country we're in. I don't know which countries are particularly unstable. I don't know if the local villages would give me back to you. I bet you could post a big reward for me, and these people are so poor, they'd give me back for ten bucks. I wouldn't know which direction to go. I don't know how to live off the land. I'm barefoot, Charo. I don't know how to find water. I certainly don't know how to filter it. I don't know how to find food. I can't take the visor off."

"You could break it," she said.

"Fine. So I could break it. But the only thing I can accomplish by hurting you is committing suicide."

When she didn't respond to that, I shook my head. "I'm not happy about the situation."

"You threatened-"

"I did not! Jasmine asked me what my options were. Suicide is an option, but I never threatened it or suggested I was considering it. It's an option. Admitting it isn't making a threat to do it."

I sighed. "This was a stupid conversation, and now it's your responsibility to put me back in a good mood."

She didn't say anything, but she collected the chain, wrapping it around her arm, and then we turned down the beach and began walking quietly.

Neither of us spoke for the next several minutes. I spent most of it looking around. It really was pretty here. To our left was the ocean. To our right, more beach, then jungle, and then cliffs, forming quite the wall. I knew that periodically the wall was broken, and one could climb to the top of the cliffs. But the jungle was sufficiently thick it wasn't always easy to see where those spaces were.

"Is sharing your life with me such a horrible thought?"

"Charo, stop it," I said. "I was mad at her. And I made no such threat. But I'll also point out you haven't offered yet. You could leave like all the others have left or turned away from me. You aliens don't seem to think I'm such a good catch." But now she had annoyed me. I shook her arm off and plopped down in the sand, turning to face west to watch the sunset. After a moment she sat down beside me, not touching.

"Are you from the Kitsune home world?"

"Yes."

"What's it called?"

She made a noise I couldn't have duplicated. I laughed.

"I suppose it doesn't have a name I could pronounce."

"No."

"Is it like Earth?"

"In some ways. The land masses are smaller, and we have more islands. It has a low axial tilt, so the seasons aren't as extreme. But it is on average a little warmer, so the weather can be violent, anyway."

"You have trees?"

"Yes, abundant vegetation. And there are sapient creatures swimming our oceans, as you have here."

"Do they resemble our whales?"

"They are smaller, but yes, in a way."

"When you sit here, does it feel like home?"

"The space station has been my home for a long time. It is home now. But I know what you are asking." She looked around. "Yes, in some ways. Looking out over the ocean while sitting on the beach, this could be anywhere from our home. But if I turn around, it is different. We have some green plants. And you have some purple and red plants. But yours are primarily green, and ours are not."

Then we sat, but I moved closer to her until we were touching. She leaned against me, laying her head against my shoulder.

"Are we being watched?"

"Yes, but the cameras will leave at sunset. There's something we should do before they leave."

Then she shifted, climbing onto my legs to straddle me. She released the ring at my wrists, letting me spread my hands apart. And then she moved closer and leaned in.

We kissed, gently at first, then she began to tease me with her tongue. I wasn't sure how I felt about doing this for the cameras, but I wrapped my arms around her and decided to enjoy it.

She teased, and then she pressed further, and I let her press me backwards until I was lying in the sand with a warm, passionate Kitsune perched over me.

She pulled away and looked at me. "I want you, Andromeda." She looked over her shoulder, then back to me. "The sun touches the horizon."

"I guess we have five minutes more of kissing," I said. I reached up, very gently pinched her ears, and used them to guide her mouth back to me. But she squeaked instead of kissing. I released her instantly.

"I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No," she said, still squeaking a little. "No one has ever done something like that to me before. I haven't decided if I like it."

I reached my fingers up, teasing the tufts. "Maybe I should keep doing it until you decide."

"Maybe I should make you stop talking." And so she did.

We kissed, and then she began moving above me, and still we kissed. The world turned red, and I could feel her pressing against me, sliding against me. I knew she was teasing herself.

I tried to reach for her, to help tease, but I couldn't reach. However, she figured out what I was doing and pulled away.

"No, no," she said. "I am the one in control, Andromeda."

"You haven't won any challenges, Charo."

"I tricked you," she said. "I captured your wrists. Perhaps that was our challenge." Her ears twitched. "I should take you to the pillar and command it to swallow your hands."

"You don't really think we're going to make love here on the beach do you?"

"Well, not here, here," she said. Then she began licking again. I liked the licking, but now she had me nervous. I did not want sand everywhere she was going to be pushing sand if we tried to do this. I wasn't that thrilled it was probably already in my hair, and I began to worry about bugs, and... and...

I pushed her away. "Stop!"

"Why?"

"Because we're on the beach."

She looked over her shoulder. The sun was down. "Jasmine Brighteyes promised the cameras would leave at sunset."

"Did she also promise there aren't any sand fleas? Is this magic sand that isn't at all like normal sand?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Sand gets
everywhere
, Charo. Do you get what I'm saying? It's already in my hair, and that means I'm going to have a devil of a time washing later."

She flicked her ears and began climbing off me. Then she used the chain to pull me to my feet. She collected my arm and turned me the way we had come.

We walked for a while, as it grew darker.

"I'm sorry," I said a few minutes later. "It's just..."

"That you don't trust me."

"Of course I trust you."

I could see the jumper ahead of us now.

"You don't believe I thought of these things."

I didn't say anything. I couldn't judge her mood. I couldn't tell if she was teasing me or if she really was upset.

But my head itched.

Damned sand.

She led me to the jumper.

"We could walk longer, Charo," I said quietly.

"We're going to," she said. She turned me to face her as we stood in the aisle of the craft. "I want you to promise to obey me."

"Charo."

"I want this, Andromeda. Please, will you give me this promise?"

I thought about it. I decided this was a test but it was a test for both of us.

"I'll obey you."

And I quietly made a vow that no matter what she ordered, I would do it, without question or complaint. I also decided if she abused my trust, I wouldn't see her again.

Her ears twitched. Then she freed my wrists. "Put your hands on your head." I did, and she walked around me, releasing my clothing. I stood still, but I watched her. She loosened the clothing, pulling it from me until I stood naked before her. Then she circled me again, touching me, brushing against me, and teasing me a little.

Then she collected my wrists and wrapped the shackles around them. She did it slowly, watching my face. When she was done, her ears twitched. Then she turned away, trailing the chain behind her. When she turned back, she held some sort of black ring, perhaps six inches in diameter. It looked like it was made from the same material as the restraints. I was sure it wasn't plastic, and I knew the restraints were incredibly secure, but it looked like plastic.

"You may say 'No' for this part," she told me. "I want to see your eyes, but Jasmine Brighteyes will not allow me to remove your visor unless I take other precautions."

"That is the precaution?" I asked. "It goes around my neck, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

"Do I want to know what it is?"

"It is an unnecessary precaution."

I stared at it in her hands. "Is it produced by a species that keeps slaves?"

"Yes."

I sighed and nodded. She stepped closer, looked at the black ring, and it hinged open. Then she slipped it around my neck. It closed and tightened, just to the point of being snug.

"Can you stand it, Andromeda?"

"It's fine, Charoite," I said. I smiled. I think it was a little ragged, but I smiled.

The visor went dim, and then she removed it. She had the case for it, and she set it aside. Then she collected the chain. She stepped up to me, looking into my eyes. "As much as possible, you will look into my eyes. No matter what I do, if you are able, you will look into my eyes."

"Yes, Charo."

"Come, Prisoner." Then she tugged on the chain, walking backwards down the ramp. But at the bottom, she turned my back to the water, and instead of tugging, she walked forward. I walked backwards, staring into her eyes, trusting her to lead me. Trusting her the cameras were gone.

Trusting the Kitsune.

I stared into her eyes in the twilight. They really were quite beautiful. She was quite beautiful, alien, exotic, mysterious.

She walked me backwards almost to the water. And then we turned left, opposite of our path earlier, and we walked along the beach. I stared into her eyes; I stared the entire time. Her ears twitched; they twitched frequently.

And then we turned once more, took a few steps up the beach, and she said, "There is a series of steps behind you. One meter. Do not look away from me, but walk backwards carefully then up the stairs. Take small steps and feel with your heel."

I took a step. Another. It was uphill. Then my heel encountered something.

"That's the step," she said. So I worked my foot and stepped up. After that, even without looking, it was easy to climb the stairs. There were only three, and then she said, "Now a flat landing." She walked me backwards further across a flat surface.

"Kiss me."

She pulled me to her, and I bent my head. We kiss-licked, and kiss-licked. She touched, stroked, teased my skin, then pushed me back.

"You may turn around and climb in, and then you will watch my eyes again."

I turned, and there was a pool. Oh, it was a small pool, but a pool nevertheless. I smiled and didn't hesitate. I stepped forward.

There were stairs and a railing, and I descended. The middle was actually quite deep, although there were raised portions. The water was warm and felt good. I turned. Charo was waiting, and when she had again captured my eyes in hers, she began removing her own clothing.