Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
“Oh, that’s right—you got Twin Kindred, didn’t you?” Liv remembered Kat’s bowlegged impression of the aftereffects of sex with two huge warriors at once and had to smother a smile.
“Uh-huh. Thinks Hard and Sees Much—don’t they have great names? They’re literal translations of their abilities and personalities. It’s a Twin Moons thing. But I just call them Grumpy and Happy—like from the seven dwarves, you know? They’re both just amazingly wonderful and I love them to death.” Jillian grinned. “So how about you? Who are you bonded to?”
“Uh…” Liv didn’t exactly want to admit that she wasn’t truly bonded. “I’m, uh…my guy is a Rager. A Beast Kindred.”
“Ooo!” Jillian shivered. “Omigod, is he an animal in the sack? They say sex with a Beast Kindred is so intense it leaves you sore for like, days afterwards.”
“Really?” Liv raised an eyebrow at her, feeling slightly irritated. “Because that’s what I heard about the Twin Kindred.”
“Well, I mean, it can be a little difficult at first. Especially if you’re not used to, uh, taking two guys at once. And they’re both so big.” Jillian blushed and giggled. “Look, you know I love to dish but this isn’t the way to do it. We need to get together and have some girl talk. What do you say?”
“Sure, I’d love to,” Liv said, thinking that maybe she could get Baird to finally take her out of the suite if she had an excuse to go somewhere. He could hardly deny her a visit with an old high school friend, could he?
“Great,” Jillian said brightly. “I’ll send my coordinates to your suite. If you hurry up we can grab lunch together. Of course, I don’t cook—you remember that from that horrible home-ec class we had together.” She shivered. “But there’s this wonderful little place that does cuisine from the Twin Moons mountain region that’s just to die for and they deliver.”
“Oh, uh, I’m not sure I can today,” Liv said apologetically. “Baird is gone to a conference on the moon and he told me not to leave the suite. He seemed to think it wouldn’t be safe.”
“Pooh.” Jillian made a face. “Silly overprotective alpha males. There’s nothing that will hurt you on board the ship as long as you stay away from the unmated males’ area. Now, I’m looking at your coordinates and it looks like you’re directly across the ship from me. So the fastest thing would be to bring you right through the center. Ooo, have you seen the temple of the Mother of Life yet? Omigod, it’s just gorgeous. I’ll plot you a course that takes you past it so you can grab a peek as you go.”
“But…” Liv shook her head. “Look, Jillian, I hate to disappoint you but I don’t even know how to use the public transportation here. I mean, the ship is huge and Baird has only taken me to places around our area.”
“You don’t have to use the sub-tram,” Jillian said, sounding impatient. “I mean, you’ve got a Take-me, don’t you?”
“Sorry, a what?”
“A Take-me. It’s kind of like a little scooter-type animal thing you ride on? They’re used more in the center of the ship than the perimeter so you might not have seen one yet. I always think they look like that push-me pull-you animal from the Doctor Doolittle books, except for the green fur. Did you read those when you were a kid?”
“I—” Liv started but Jillian steamrolled over her.
“My mom was big into retro-reads and we had the whole set. Anyway, it rests when you’re not using it. Just look for a blue wall panel in the food prep area and push it. It lives off the stuff you put down the waste disposal unit in the sink.”
“Hang on.” Jillian’s chatter was making her dizzy. “Just give me a minute—I’ll go look.” She left the disembodied head hanging above the holo-link and went to the kitchen before Jillian could go off on another tangent. Really shouldn’t be doing this, she told herself as she searched for the wall panel. Well, I’ll just see what she’s talking about. If there is a form of transportation here, I need to know about it in case of emergency. She couldn’t actually imagine an emergency wherein she would have to climb on the back of a push-me pull-you with green fur to escape, but the justification sounded nice.
Sure enough, when she found a small blue square the size of her palm beside the sink and pushed it, a large wall panel, about five by five, slid out of place. Liv looked cautiously into the dim area revealed behind the panel and found herself staring into the big purple eyes of a creature about the size of a large pony—all three of them. The creature made an enquiring humming noise deep in its longish throat and shuffled out into the kitchen. Liv couldn’t help noticing that it had a neck like a llama—or make that two necks. Because right where the creature’s backside should have been, was another long, shaggy neck and head complete with three more large purple eyes. The second mouth appeared to be chewing something—probably whatever she’d shoved down the sink disposal following the breakfast she and Baird had shared.