Defiance (4 page)

Being plastered against him was far beyond what she had been prepared for. With a groan of surrender, she settled behind him and placed her hands warily on his waist. It was like gripping a steel column.

He shifted, and the cycle started up with a short jump forward. She yelped and wrapped her arms fully around him, holding tight as they skinned through the resort on a cushion of air.

They were approaching the tree line and a secondary motor kicked in, elevating them with a short burst above the trees.

Teeny had her eyes screwed tightly closed, but as the wind shifted and their elevation settled, she carefully opened them.

The coastline curved beneath them, a layer of black that curved between the trees and water. Volcanic rock must have contributed the sand over thousands or millions of years.

He flew them along the coast, north of the resort. The trees shifted from oak to other species. Woods that had more of a tropical feel than the ancient hardwood surrounding the resort. It confirmed her suspicion that it was some kind of a ritual zone. It had the feel of it in every inch of the space.

Her cheek was pressed against the fabric of his shirt, and she fought the urge to rub her skin against him. He was very warm, and the wind was cutting through her clothing with alarming ease.

She cuddled up against him, deciding that if he mentioned it later, she would go into full denial of her actions.

They were miles away from the resort when he began to reduce their altitude and line up with a break in the trees.

As they dropped, she felt a distinct increase in temperature that made her huddling against Zhomos rather unnecessary. She sighed and sat up straight, resuming her grip on his ribs in a more decorous manner as they skimmed into the village that bore the stamp of high tech mingled with the most basic of structures.

Heads turned toward them as they slipped along the main street. Teeny looked around and noted one thing that she hadn’t considered before. The Gakkada were looking for new genes, and there was not one redhead in the bunch. “Oh dear.”

Chapter Five

Zhomos stopped outside a shop that had ladies’ clothing in the display and an elegantly scripted sign declaring it
Akathika’s.

He waited for her to dismount the bike and then did the same. “Come along, my cousin is very good at what she does.”

Teeny blinked. “What does she do?”

“She is a seamstress of some renown. Come along. I believe she just opened her doors.”

The lock clicked audibly as they approached, and a woman with the same dark hair and eyes as her host smiled at them. “Zhom! Why are you here?”

“I am bringing you a customer, Akath. This is Christiena Montague.”

“The one who brought Thaka home?”

“The very same. She is here on vacation and wishes to wear some more comfortable clothing than is available at the resort. Can you assist her?”

The woman flapped her hands at him. “Of course I can. You go and file some paperwork or something. Come back in two hours.”

Zhom inclined his head. “We are going to Norcroft Beach, so take that into account.”

Akath nodded. “I get it. Swimwear. Now shoo. I need to run my questions past your companion to find out what she is after.”

In a moment, Teeny was staring up at the larger woman with a pugnacious expression on her face, and she didn’t care what the woman thought. “Greetings of the day to you.”

The woman paused for a moment and then grinned. “And to you. Call me Akath and come inside. If you stay out too much longer, every unattached male in the village will come sniffing around.”

Teeny stepped into the shop and admired the brightly coloured displays. “It is a very nice shop.”

“Thank you, Miss Montague.”

“Please, call me Teeny.”

Akath’s eyes crinkled in amusement. “Teeny, then, what did you have in mind?”

“I am looking for tunics and trousers in light-weight materials. I like being comfortable most of the time.”

Akath looked her up and down. “They don’t really suit you. They make you look like a child.”

Teeny looked down and shrugged. “It is a bonus in my occupation to seem small and harmless.”

“Fine. I will set you up with some sets of clothing, but will you let me pick the cut and the colour?”

Teeny stared at the woman and saw an eagerness to do the best job possible in her eyes. “I agree. You pick the colours and the cut.”

The light of challenge came to Akath’s eyes, and she bustled Teeny to the back of the shop and had her stripped to the skin in under a minute.

Gakkada underwear was comfortable if very miniscule. The clothing that Akath picked out for her was a light silk that was swiftly pinned and tucked into an hourglass shape. Deep purple, vibrant green and dark burgundy were the colours chosen by the seamstress. Akath was an expert at altering existing clothing to fit but even her skills were tested when it came to the swimwear.

The suit that Teeny finally wore consisted of two long panels of fabric that covered her breasts turning into one as they passed through her thighs and covered her butt before wrapping low around her hips again. Akath was sweating by the time she finished that piece of work, and Teeny was impressed.

She twisted from side to side, and the suit stayed in place. “Is this traditional as swimwear?”

Akath chuckled. “For children, yes. A woman swimming alone with a male she is interested in would forego clothing.”

“I am…I mean…I didn’t…Wow. Is it that obvious?”

Akath chuckled. “It is for one of us. Pheromones are coming off you in waves. You are a walking invitation to any of our males. I am amazed that one has not tried to take you already.”

Teeny blushed. “There have been some comments and a bit of interest, but most of the people I have run into have been mated males.”

“Lucky for you. The hunt may be tradition, but there are no rules on Gakkada about capturing their mates.”

Teeny sighed. “What exactly is the hunt?”

“Well, in the old days, captured women would be pampered and massaged, dressed and coifed and then gathered in the grove. As the moons rose, the unmated men would charge out and find a mate whose scent called to them. The women would invariably run, hence the term hunt.”

“So, the current version…”

“The women still run. They can’t help themselves. In case you wonder, we run too when the men shift and come after us. The excitement adds a memorable flavour to the event.” Akath winked at her.

“Here, I thought that locking my door would keep all the men out, that they would respect my boundaries.” She was scowling and her hands turned to fists.

“They might. They might not. A woman who isn’t willing to take part in the events is rather rare at the resort.”

“Well, meet one. I don’t care what my body is saying, my mouth is saying no.” She fought the urge to stamp her foot.

“Very well. We will see how that turns out. Zhomos has never brought a woman from the resort to the village before. That alone will generate interest in you.”

Teeny groaned and took the new clothing that Akath held out. She changed quickly and had to admit that the dark gown suited her far more than her baggy clothing.

Akath nipped and tucked the gown along the seams until it was flawless then peeled her out of it. “And that will conclude your vacation wardrobe. Put on the purple for your trip. I think I have a leather vest that we can lace into place for warmth.”

The vest in question was a rich brown that worked well with the dark purple. It also had the added effect of pulling everything in and outlining her curves.

Akath ran the gown through her sewing machine and smiled at the changes as they were fixed in place. “There is a pot of tea on the table behind the counter. Help yourself.”

Teeny smiled politely but inwardly cringed. She enjoyed tea, but the Gakkadan version was rather pungent for her taste. She much preferred the caf that was served at the resort.

With a polite smile, she poured a cup of tea for herself. “May I pour you a cup?”

“Please. Thank you. I will be done here in a moment.”

Teeny poured a second cup and brought it to the seamstress. “Zhomos is your cousin?”

“Yes, our fathers are brothers. We grew up together.”

“Is he always so intense?”

Akath tilted her head, picking up her cup and walking to stand next to Teeny. “What do you mean?”

“I mean every time he looks at me, I can see that he is watching every move that I make. It is rather unnerving.”

Akath chuckled. “I can tell you that he does not look at other women that way. Whatever happened to impress you upon his senses, he doesn’t seem inclined to ignore his impulses.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Teeny wasn’t sure.

“If you are the same woman who rescued Thakasis, then it is a very good thing.”

“I didn’t rescue her. I extracted her. There is a difference.” She grimaced as she finished her tea, and she returned the cup to the counter next to the set.

“What is the difference?” Akath raised her eyebrows.

“I didn’t help her escape. I simply opened all the doors and took her with me. If I had orchestrated an escape, more of those kept would have made it to freedom.”

That part of her job still bothered her. She had to stop the retrieval at the person she was assigned to. Her methods of transport were always arranged for two and only two.

She paced restlessly for a moment.

Akath cocked her head. “You are not what you seem to be at first glance, are you?”

Teeny shrugged. “It depends on what you think you are seeing.”

The seamstress chuckled. “Apparently, my eyes are not giving me accurate information.”

Zhomos came in and inclined his head. “Cousin, where is my visitor?”

Teeny moved out of the shadows and tried not to blush as his gaze ran over her with almost tactile appreciation. “I am here, Zhomos. Where to next?”

Akath made them wait while she retrieved the swimsuit and wrapped it in a length of fabric. “Have fun. I will have the rest of the clothing packed up for your trip home, or should I just send it to the resort?”

Zhomos nodded. “Directly to the resort, please, Akath. Thank you for your help. You know where to send the bill.”

Teeny froze. “Akath, I will pay for the clothing.”

Akath grinned. “Are you sure?”

“What methods of payment do you take?”

“Oh, I will take Alliance credits. Don’t worry about that.” Akath rubbed her hands together with glee.

Teeny used her seventeen-digit access code and paid for the clothing while Zhomos scowled at her. She chuckled at him. “Don’t worry, Zhomos. You are technically paying for this. Some of this currency was for retrieving Thaka.”

A smile flirted around the corner of his mouth. “Then proceed, and I will keep my feelings on this matter to myself.”

Akath and Teeny snorted in unison before bursting into synchronized laughter. Teeny was sure that she had not heard the last of it, and they had the rest of the day for Zhomos to rake her over the coals.

She was looking forward to defying him at every moment possible, and she had a month to get it right.

Chapter Six

She started out with her hands in the same position they had had on the initial flight.

Zhomos looked back at her and smiled. “Hold tight.”

He throttled forward, and she was forced to abandon her prim attempt at balance for flattening herself to his spine with her arms tight around him. Teeny counted herself lucky that the engine was silent and didn’t have the rumble of a motorcycle back home. The vibrations were notoriously bad for a lady’s self-control.

She sighed and watched as they skimmed above the shoreline. They approached a rocky break, and he dropped them down to rest on the far side of it.

“Welcome to Norcroft Beach.” He turned off the cycle and dismounted.

She followed him, watching as he opened the storage area of the cycle, and she took the swimsuit as he handed it to her. A large basket came out next, as well as two large towels.

“You can change into your suit. I won’t peek.” He smiled and winked as he walked down the beach, choosing a site in the shade before he began to shuck his own clothing.

Teeny blinked as he stripped to the skin and walked casually to the water. He waded in until he was knee deep, and then, he dove forward, a tail flipping where his legs used to be.

“Well, he’s a man of his word. He isn’t peeking.”

She walked over to the towels and followed his lead, slipping the new swimsuit on with only a few false starts. With her feet bare, she moved quickly across the hot sand, stepping into the waves with relief. The waves lapped at her legs as she moved deeper into the surf.

Zhomos surfaced a few meters away, and she kept wading until she could swim out in relative comfort. The current tugged and pulled at her, but she was stronger than she looked, and it was a relief to use her strength to its full capacity.

When Zhomos surfaced in front of her, he rose to clear his shoulders from the water. “You seem fairly at home in water.”

“I like it, yes. I don’t have a tail, but I get by.” She treaded water in place as he slowly circled her.

“Akath did a good job on your suit. It looks lovely.”

She flicked water at him. “The fact that you are peeping under the waves is rather creepy.”

“I said I would leave you alone while you changed, I never said I wouldn’t look at you after that.” He laughed and moved around her again.

She shifted and jerked as something touched her under the water. “What was that?”

“My fins. They do take up a bit of space. Sorry.”

“Zhomos, you have an entire sea to swim through. Keep your fins off my legs.”

He laughed, and she felt the subsurface caress once again. She splashed him and yelped as he sank beneath the surface and grabbed her to take her with him.