Of Another Dimension (11 page)

"Are you always such a whiny bitch?"

Teivel didn't seem to like my attitude and glared at me.

I could care less right now.

Chub kept up his defense of me, gums pulled back to showcase an impressive set of chompers.

"Chub
, knock it off," I told my little buddy.

He stopped immediately.

Teivel muttered under his breath.

Probably more
‘I hate Lil’ bologna.

"What's a bitch?" Sieren asked curiously.

"What's a brartna?" I retorted, raising a brow at him.

"Who said
that
?" Sieren frowned, crossing his massive arms over his chest.

That dude is huge.

"A little birdy," I muttered sarcastically, smirking at Teivel when he looked as if he thought I was going to out him.

The stupid yellow eyed demon has a lot to learn about me.

"You need to wash up," Sieren said after a moment.

"Not with
you
I don't."

"I'll help," Teivel offered again, reaching to take off his pants.

What is his problem?!

"Not in this dimension or the next! Why are you still here? Why do you want to help
now
? Get your jollies off by pissing people off, demon man?"

Teivel growled at me, spun on his heel and stomped from the room.

I let out a sigh of relief.

"You still need to bathe
, little one," Sieren chuckled.

"No.
No. No. N. O. No. Read my lips, demon moose, No!"

Sieren's lips formed a thin line and that scary calm washed over him.

He crossed his arms over his chest and the showdown began.

Well
, fuck me and call me Billy!

Chapter 9

"You humans are odd, little one," Sieren chuckled, amused at my bathing attire.

"I don't bathe in this all the time. I usually bathe naked," I explained.

"Then why do you wear it now?" He smirked, letting me know he knew
exactly
why I did.

Butt face! The demon is a butt face, I say!

I glowered at him, adjusting my knees under my shirt, so he couldn't see my breasts through the 'see through when wet' shirt I was wearing.

Wish I'd known that before I chose this to wash up in.

Too late to fix it now.

So
, now I have my knees curled up in front of me to keep myself from inadvertently flashing the girls at him.

"I don't need you to baby
sit me in your crazy version of a bathtub," I huffed.

"But if you slip under the water in the bathing bowl, who will rescue you
, little one?" he asked impishly, irritating me even more.

He's a huge, giant tease!

"If I drown in
this
tub, you can resuscitate me and let Teivel finish me off. How do you guys get outta this thing anyways? It's huge?" I snapped peevishly, eyeing the rim of the tub.

"We aren't all tiny
like you are," he teased, his hand resting over the rim, playing lazily in the water, unperturbed with my mood.

"I am not tiny. Where I'm from I'm considered a big girl," I said defensivel
y, but still flattered that he thought I was petite in his eyes.

"Then your humans are a
small species." He shook his head in mock sadness.

I splashed some water at him.

"Oh, shut up!"

He laughed heartily and grinned at me.

He wiped his face and grew thoughtful, watching the water for a moment.

Swirling his fingers through it, making little patterns, I caught him watching me through the corner of his eye.

"Will you tell me about your home world, little one?" he asked earnestly, turning, eyeing me hopefully.

"Only if you stop calling me
little one
and tell me what a
brartna
is?" I haggled.

He grimaced,
and wavered, looking like he was about to chicken out, but reluctantly nodded.

His curiosity had won out.

"A brartna is a derogatory word, referring to a female who is beneath you... lower than the ground... a..." he trailed off, searching for a word.

"Unworthy of notice? Ugly?" I suggested.

He shook his head.

"Someone with a bad heart or someone with no morals. Not nice...
or
it can mean someone who gives out her favors to a lot of males. It's the nastiest word we have for a female," he admitted.

"A bitch or a whore," I said quietly, my face falling a little.

"Who used that word, little... uh, Lil?" he asked quietly, leaning his head on his forearm, which was resting on the lip of the tub now.

I shook my head in the negative, hoping he'd drop it.

I’d just started to drift off into la la land, staring at my shirt covered knees when he spoke again.

"What is a chimichanga?
"

I laughed, grateful for his tact at the moment.

"It's a tortilla, flattened bread, stuffed with rice, maybe beans, lots of meat and
or
whatever else you want in it. I like mine covered in a red spicy sauce, smothered in cheese, guacamole and sour cream. It's really good."

"
Those things, cheese, guacamole, you make those where you're from? You like to make food?"

"Sure. Well, I've never tried to make cheese... I usually just buy it at the store, but I c
an make a mean guacamole," I bragged, smiling a little.

The memory of Daddy and his football buddies always insisting I make some for them for the super bowl every year made me laugh a little.

"What's funny?"

"What els
e did you want to know?" I changed the subject, not comfortable talking to him about my family just yet.

I unbraided my hair, letting it fan out around me.

Ahhh,
I thought happily as the weight of the braid vanished.

I eyed my hair as it fell down past my waist and into the water.

Guess I should probably cut it soon.

I'd braided it before we'd left the woods to head here and my scalp was itching from my hair being pinned back for so long.

"What?" I asked when Sieren stopped and gawked at me.

"By the seven moons. Your
hair is very beautiful, Lil. I've never seen it in that color before… Or this long."

His fingers ran over the tips of my hair and I tried not to
jerk and snatch them out of his hands.

I shrugged and pulled all of it back behind me.

"Brown is plain and nobody's ever thought mine was anything special," I said on a laugh, hoping he'd slough it off. "It's not a big deal. It's actually very common, brown hair."

"No one has brown hair here
, Lil. No one looks like you either. You are one of a kind on Orbit 9 and any of the twenty other orbits I've been to. There is nothing
common
about you."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" I worried, thinking of Kieve, bi
ting the inside of my cheek nervously.

Am I just a novelty to him?

Will the thrill of being with someone so different than him wear off?

"Do not be troubled by this
, Lil. You look like you're going to cry again." He talked softly, going for a light teasing tone.

I worried my lip on my teeth and went ahead and asked him what I
was worried about.

"Is that why Kieve likes me? Because I look different? Will he... could he...
? I don't want him to leave me when he realizes I'm actually quite boring," I eventually blurted.

Sieren boomed out a laugh and looked at me incredulously.

"You are anything but boring! And Kieve is very lucky to have you. He knows this too and is lording it over us," he said on a laugh.

"Really?" I perked up a little at that.

He nodded and studied me, sobering up.

"Do you really care for
, Kieve?" he asked a little disbelievingly.

What? D
oes he think I'm incapable of caring for someone? I'm not a shrew! Well, not with Kieve I'm not.

"Yes, not that it's any of your busine
ss, but I like him a lot," I snipped snootily.

He raised his brows at my condescending tone, giving me one of his stupid smirks.

My eyes narrowed to slits.

Ugh!

Well, I do! The cretin!

How dare he give me questioning looks about Kieve!

Kieve is mine!
I thought possessively.

"Kieve is kind and sweet and he treats me good. I even think I might already be in love with him, crazy as that sounds. So
, you can wipe that stupid look off of your face and 'shut to the up'!"

He put his ha
nds up defensively.

"Do not get riled, chomcharra. I was merely curious."

"And I am not a dog!" I growled, splashing him again.

He laughed, unfazed by my attitude and smirked, wiping the water drop
lets from his face.

"A chomcharra is a Morclen word, Morclen are
a species inhabiting a planet a few moons over, meaning 'fiery tempered one'. The creatures called chomcharras are fierce protectors and very loyal companions, that's how they got their name. It is a compliment. I do not know of any dogs."

"Oh," I mumbled
, my ire deflating.

"You are feeling better after your bath?" he observed.

"Yeah, actually. I feel pretty good." I wiggled my toes in the water and slunk down more, sighing at the warmth of the relaxing bath.

I thought about everything that's gone on, the impromptu trip here, my scary first encounter wit
h Teivel, my trek in the woods.

I thought of Kieve and our camping days, those passion filled nights in each other
’s arms.

I shivered a little
, remembering.

That brought on another thought, hot on the heels of the first.

Has it really been weeks, going on a month, since I left Earth?

Is it wrong that I'm not nearly as upset about all of this as I should be?

I contemplated that for a minute.

Daddy always did say I was a little too accepting of situations sometimes...

Is that what I'm doing now? Accepting my situation?

Or am I just glad of the escape from the life I had been headed towards on Earth... A lonely spinster lady, who can't even graduate to 'cat lady' because she's allergic.

"I'm going to hurt my brain if I over think this too much," I muttered and groaned.

That's another one of my supposed shortcomings. I over think things too much sometimes.

I'm the gal that just has to keep harping on something sometimes, beat the dead horse, so to speak.

You haven't been doing that lately though
, Lil, have you?
The little voice in my head chimed in.

Now you're mated
to a demon and living in his house with him and his two eccentric brothers on a shaxna farm.

"Shut up, stupid inner voice," I grumbled, trying to muffle it in my knees as my mouth rested against them.

I don't need any crap from myself right now!

Good Lord
, I sound crazy! Just listen to me talking to... well, myself...

Fuck it,
I decided,
I don't care.

Crazy acquiescence of my situation or not, I'm actually happy with Kieve and I'm not going to question it anymore.

Sieren heard my knee mumbles, despite my efforts to smother them and laughed so hard he clutched his belly.

"Do you always berate yourself, chomcharra?" he asked between laughs.

"Only when I might be wrong," I retorted, cracking a tiny smile, laughing along with him.

It felt good to laugh about it.

"Tempting my brother, baby?" Kieve called from the bathroom's doorway, my head snapping up in his direction.

Hey! How long has he been standing there?

"Kieve!" I gave him a warm smile, "Never in a million years!"

"Hey!" Sieren
huffed, offended.

"Sorry," I shrugged, not sounding sorry at all.

"Enjoying your bath, baby?" Kieve asked.

"I am
now
." I smiled playfully.