“That was…” He didn’t have any words.
“Amazing.” Nina’s voice was shaky. “I never knew it could be so hot to be in control.”
“I never knew it could be so fucking hot to give up control,” Reddix admitted. “Although we did kind of switch back there toward the end.”
“Did you mind?” Nina rolled over to face him. “I was just getting so hot and bothered but I couldn’t quite get where I needed to go. That thing felt good inside me but it just wasn’t you.”
Reddix chuckled. “Glad to hear I can’t be so easily replaced.”
“Of course not.” She kissed his cheek. “Never. But you didn’t mind that I, uh, stopped in the middle?”
“Nah.” Reddix shook his head. “I wouldn’t mind finishing the other way another time. But this…” Smiling he cupped her cheek in one hand and looked into her eyes. “This was perfect.”
“I like that we can both give and receive without anybody feeling weird about it,” Nina said thoughtfully. “Do you know how lucky we are?”
“We’re blessed by the Goddess. We always have been—even before we found our way back to each other.” Reddix stroked her cheek again. “She can take any situation and turn it to her purposes.”
Nina sighed and a troubled look came over her face. “I hope you’re right. And I hope she’s looking after Maggie right now. Wherever she is.”
Chapter Ten
“Where in the world are we?” Maggie demanded, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings. One minute they had been walking through a fragrant pink mist so thick it was impossible to see a foot in front of your face, and now they appeared to be in the middle of a very strange forest. The trees were of varying shapes and sizes with leaves every color of the rainbow. Even stranger, was their bark, which appeared to be made of all kinds of different material. For instance, the tree closest to Maggie was a slender young sapling with bark that seemed to be made of pure white satin. In fact, it looked so soft and sleek she wanted to touch it.
Beside the first tree was a bigger, thicker one with bark made out of gold lamee. Past that one was a trunk with bark of purple spandex, then one with bark made of delicate lace, and a tiny tree with pale blue and pink bark that looked as soft as a baby’s first blanket. They were so interesting and unusual Kat wanted to study them all, but she had an idea she might get kicked out of the spa if she took samples of what was clearly a rare botanical garden. So she had to content herself with looking and speculating on how in the world such trees had been bred and cultivated.
“I think this is the Dreaming Wood.” Kor frowned and looked around. “My patroness never talked about this place much. She said she was too old to have many dreams left—she preferred the Remembrance Pool.”
“Okay, so we’re in the wood.” Maggie sighed. “Remind me again of why I had to put on this ridiculous outfit just to go for a walk in the trees?”
She tugged at the too-tight black cat-suit Kor had insisted that she wear. Then again, all the clothes she’d had to pick from were too tight because they belonged to the boney Lady Pope’nose.
“Because it allows for maximum sensation,” Kor said, his pale blue eyes flicking over her body. “Besides, it suits you.”
“The top, maybe.” Maggie tugged at it again. The suit molded to her entire body, but at least it covered everything—which was more than she could say for most of what Lady Pope’nose had packed. She wasn’t too thrilled that it couldn’t be worn with undergarments, though—the black stretchy material hugged her breasts and outlined her nipples, making it more than clear she wasn’t wearing a bra.
But the top of the suit wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as the bottom. It clung to her overly-large hips and ass as though it had been painted on. Not only that, but it kept wanting to ride up between her legs, making it even more embarrassingly obvious that she had no panties on.
“The top is nice,” Kor agreed. “But I like the bottom, too.” His eyes flickered over her again, straying to her behind and staying there.
“Stop it! Stop looking at me like that,” Maggie hissed, her cheeks getting hot. “You promised not to laugh at anything I had to wear while we’re here.”
“Who’s laughing?” His pale blue eyes were half-lidded as he studied her. “I mean it—the suit looks good on you, blondie. More than good.”
“You…I…” Maggie didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t used to getting compliments on her appearance. Donald almost never noticed anything about her, even when she tried something different with her hair or bought a new outfit. Not that she would ever buy something this outrageous to wear around him. She could almost hear him now, Take that off, Margaret! You look ridiculous!
But Kor wasn’t looking at her as though he found her ridiculous. In fact, the way he was staring reminded Maggie of how she’d washed all the verium dust off his body and the feel of his hard muscles under her bare hands…
Stop it! she scolded herself. You’re engaged, remember?
“Um…so what do we do?” she asked, trying to cover her confusion.
Kor shrugged. “What the other mistresses are doing, I guess. Just watch and copy what they do.”
“Of course.” Maggie nodded. Now that he mentioned it, she saw that there were a few other women spread out among the trees, mostly dressed in the same kind of skin-tight outfit Maggie was wearing. They were wandering slowly through the forest, apparently communing with nature.
Maggie watched one in particular—a mistress with tall, white-blonde hair that had purple streaks like the Bride of Frankenstein. Every now and again, she would stop and caress one of the trunks with her fingertips, an expression of ecstasy overspreading her face. Her slave trailed behind her looking bored. Sometimes if the look on his mistress’s face grew intense, he would tug her gently away from whatever trunk she had been touching and she would smile and nod and go on to the next tree.
“Looks simple enough,” Kor remarked as they stepped into the forest, which was carpeted in soft dark blue moss.
“Sure does,” Maggie agreed. “Touch a tree, make a face, move on. Okay, let’s go. I want to get done here and go back to the room to take samples.”
“We still have to visit the Remembrance Pool too,” Kor reminded her.
“That’s right. Damn it!” Maggie could scarcely contain her irritation. Here she was on a strange alien world filled with new plant and animal specimens but was she allowed to study any it? No. Instead, she had to prance around in a ridiculous, embarrassing outfit that showed way more of her private areas than she was comfortable with and pretend to take part in some useless social ritual that was just completely—
Just at that moment, Maggie’s hand landed on a tree trunk. Actually, it was the white satin one she’d first been admiring. And then everything changed…
Immediately, she was transported from the forest and straight to the tiny wedding chapel in Key West where her parents had been married. Her brother and older sister had been married there too—it was a family tradition but one Maggie hadn’t been sure she would ever get to participate in. Because, though Donald had finally broken down and asked her to marry him two years ago, he had shown absolutely zero indication to actually set a date for the actual wedding.
Yet, here she was in the chapel with the warm, tropical breeze blowing through the open windows. The faint cry of sea birds could be heard outside over the low, tuneful sound of an ancient pipe organ playing.
Looking around, Maggie saw the whole place was filled with flowers—white orchids and pale pink roses that gave off a sweet, lovely scent. Her whole family was there too—filling the rows of pews and smiling at her. Her mother was even wiping away a tear. She had been very against Maggie getting engaged to Donald in the first place—mainly because she was certain he would never actually get around to getting married. The relieved look on her face told Maggie she was glad to be wrong.
Suddenly someone nudged her in the back.
“Come on, Maggie—they’re pla
ying the march. Better get moving!” hissed her sister, Trisha.
“Trish?” Maggie looked behind her and saw her oldest sister wearing a gorgeous green gown and looking fierce.
“Come on,” she insisted. “You can’t keep Donald waiting! God knows it took him long enough to agree to a date. If you don’t go right now, he might get cold feet and run away from the altar.”
“But I can’t…I’m not dressed to…” Maggie looked down at herself and gave a little gasp of shock. Instead of the tight black cat suit, she was draped in white satin. The gown swished against her ankles with a whispery sound when she moved and it had a sweetheart neckline, exactly like what she’d always imagined wearing when she pictured her wedding day.
“Go,” Trisha urged her again. “Lucy’s almost out of flower petals!”
Looking forward again, Maggie saw that her youngest niece, wearing an adorable white lace gown, was just reaching the end of the aisle. As Trisha had said, she was scattering the last of the pale pink rose petals which had been in her little white satin basket. She finished and looked back at her mother for reassurance.
“Good, Lucy,” Trisha whispered loudly at her daughter. “Now go stand by Auntie Tammy—good girl.”
Lucy toddled off to stand by Maggie’s younger sister who was wearing a pale pink bridesmaid’s dress and holding a bouquet of pink roses and white lilacs.
“Go on!” This time Trisha practically shoved her and Maggie took off down the aisle though she still had no idea what was going on. She reached the end and turned to face the man beside her.
It was Donald. He was wearing a badly fitting tux which seemed to hang on his skinny frame—probably because he had refused to take time off from his research to go be fitted. He glanced down at his watch, a scowl on his face.
“Margaret, you’re throwing off the timing of the ceremony,” he complained in a low voice. “You promised if we did this, it would be over in time for me to get back to my experiment. The parameters are most specific and if I miss my projected window—”
“I’m sorry,” Maggie gasped. “But I never expected to get married today.”
“Neither did I but tradition and the expectations of your family dictate that as we have been engaged for two years and in a romantic relationship for five, it is time to formalize our living arrangement.”
“I know that, Donald.” Maggie felt a little less disorientated now—this really was the way Donald talked and the idea of him doing an experiment on their wedding day wasn’t surprising at all. Her fiancé ate, breathed, and slept molecular biology—it was really the only thing that interested him. Pulling him away from his work—even to get married—would definitely make him irritable. “It’ll be over in a minute,” she assured him. “So just—”
“Dearly Beloved,” began the minister, staring at Maggie pointedly. “We are gathered together here to join these two people in the sight of God in Holy Matrimony…”
Maggie faced forward quickly, feeling liked she’d been caught laughing at a funeral. The minister was giving her and Donald both the evil eye—had they been talking louder than she’d thought?
“Maggie,” whispered Donald.
“Shhhh!” she hissed out of the corner of her mouth, keeping her eyes straight ahead.
“Maggie!” he spoke again but somehow his voice was deeper.
“Your experiment will have to wait. Now be quiet,” she muttered. Then it occurred to her that her fiancé had never called her anything but her full name, Margaret. So why—
“Maggie!” he insisted.
“What?” Fed up with his rudeness on what was supposed to be the most beautiful and important day of their life, she finally turned to face him—and got a shock.
Donald was gone. In his place, Kor was standing there. His broad shoulders filled out the black tux admirably. Maggie couldn’t help thinking he looked all kinds of delicious dressed up but the look on his face was worried.
“Kor?” she whispered. “What are you doing here? I don’t understand.”
“This isn’t real.” He tugged at her hand. “You need to come away. You’ve been touching this damn tree too long.”
“What?” His words didn’t make any sense. “But…I’m getting married,” she protested weakly.
“To who? That pissed off little male who cares more about his work than you?”
“Donald’s just like that. He doesn’t mean any harm,” Maggie protested.
“We can debate that later. Right now we need to get you out of here.”
Taking her hand more firmly, he pulled her down the aisle and away from the minister and the assembled friends and family.
“Wait!” Maggie wailed as he dragged her along. “Look, I know it’s not perfect but I’m finally getting—”
Suddenly she was surrounded by the strange forest again. The soft blue moss under her feet and the strange pale green sky barely visible through the branches reminded her that she was on an alien world.
“Married,” she finished in a small voice. She looked up at Kor who was still holding her hand and looking anxiously down at her. “What happened?”
“You went into the tree’s dream too deeply.” His voice sounded rough with worry. “For a minute I didn’t think I’d be able to get you back. You must want that dream pretty damn badly.”
“To get married…” Maggie blushed and put a hand to her cheek. “Oh, well…it has been a long time since Donald gave me the ring. I—” She shook her head. “Why am I talking about this to you?”
“Because I was there—I saw it all, remember?” he said patiently. “Is the male you’ve pledged yourself to really like that?”
Maggie bristled. “Like what?”
“Like…” Kor gestured with one hand, as though trying to find the words. “I watched you walk down the aisle wearing the dress you had dreamed for yourself. You were… glowing.”
“I was?” Maggie put a hand to her cheek which was hot all over again. “Um, thanks I guess.”
“It was clear you were happy to be a bride,” Kor went on. “But this Donald of yours didn’t look nearly so happy. All he could talk about was getting back to his work. Is that normal for him?”
“I told you, that’s just the way he is—he loves his work,” Maggie said defensively. “We both do. It’s one of the things that makes our relationship so perfect—we can concentrate on our research and not bother each other. Sometimes for days on end.”
“So that’s what you call love on your planet?” Kor asked doubtfully. “Being able to completely ignore each other in favor of work?”
“It’s our kind of love. I mean, we’re both scientists. What do you expect—a freaking bodice ripper romance?” Maggie demanded.
“I think the question is what do you expect?” Kor said frowning. He took her hand. “What do you want?”
Maggie lifted her chin, ignoring the way the touch of his large, warm hand made her pulse race.
“What I want is to study more trees.”
“Oh, no.” Kor frowned. “After I almost lost you in the first one? I don’t think so. Come on, Mistress, you’ve had enough tree dreams for today.”
Maggie pulled her hand out of his. “No, I’m not going. This is the most interesting phenomenon yet! How do the trees give the dreams? I’ve never experienced anything like that—it was the most vivid hallucination imaginable. I could feel the warm breeze, smell the flowers—”
“Hear the male you claim to have given your heart to express his irritation at having to join with you,” Kor finished for her dryly.
Maggie felt a surge of irritation. “For the last time, that’s my business—not yours! And I’m going to study these trees as long as I want to. After all, I’m the Mistress here, aren’t I?”
His face immediately went cold. “So you are, my lady. Please…” He made a sweeping gesture with one hand. “Be my guest.”
“I will.” Uncertain why she was so angry, Maggie flounced off, deeper into the woods.
* * * * *
Kor watched her go with a surge of irritation. What was it about this curvy little female that got under his skin so much? He’d only known Maggie a little while but it felt like much longer—probably because of the strange dreams they’d shared. A few things were clear however: she was brave, compassionate, beautiful, and completely dedicated to her work. She was also blindly committed to a male who didn’t appear to deserve her.
He shrugged uneasily. Why should it bother him who Maggie chose to spend her life with? True she had rescued him and true he had sworn to protect her—at least until he could see her safely back to her ship. But it wasn’t like they were bound together for life or anything like that.
The very thought of such a foolish, starry-eyed notion made him shake his head. Living as a slave, he had seen romantic attachments torn apart more times than he could count. It didn’t matter how much a master valued a slave—if he was offered a high price for the female that slave had foolishly allowed himself to love, then she would be sold away and her lover would never see her again. How often had he seen broken hearted couples parting for the last time, crying in anguish as one or the other was led away to a new master? Of course, it was even more heart wrenching when the parting was between a mother and her child. It—
Kor shut that thought down immediately and shoved it away. The point was, love was a fool’s game and there was no way he would allow himself to grow such an attachment to Maggie.
Why did you bring her here, then? whispered a little voice in his head. You could have hotwired a hovercar on Yonnie Six and had her back to her ship in less time than it takes to tell. Across the chasm is a good place to steal a ship, too—you could already be five systems away by now instead of hanging around in a place where you’re a wanted male.
Kor didn’t have an answer for the questions the little voice was posing. It was true, he was in danger here and any sane male would have acted to get himself out of it by now. Instead he was hanging around like a love-sick fool while Maggie ran off into what was possibly a dangerous forest like a spoiled brat.