Her thoughts turned inward and she thought about the ugly scene with Liken. The more she tried to push it away, the more their angry words echoed in her head. She was trying to stay angry. Angry was a lot better than hurt.
The waiter came back with a small bowl and set it down in front of her. She looked down at it in surprise. It looked like cream of wheat or something. She couldn’t believe it. She was too shocked to say anything as he nodded and scurried away.
She felt defeated. Her shoulders slumped. Nothing on this planet made any sense. She muttered to herself, “Ask for a beer and they bring me baby cereal. I hate this place. I feel like an idiot. What am I saying? Men are idiots.”
She felt a big body drop gracefully into the chair across from her. Lifting her gaze from the bowl, her mouth dropped open in shock. In the chair across from her sat possibly the most gorgeous guy she’d ever seen. He had a face like a dark angel. His black hair fell in soft waves just ending at the top of massive shoulders. He could have dropped down from heaven if it weren’t for his eyes. They were dark brown, nearly black and the hardness in them said he’d seen hell.
His lips curved upward in a smile that never reached those eyes. “Even idiots have their uses,sherree, wouldn’t you agree?”
The sound of him calling her by the same endearment Liken used caused her heart to clutch. “What doessherree mean?” Yet another question she should have asked long ago.
He looked amused by her question. He spoke in English with just a touch of an accent. “It is an endearment that doesn’t really translate well. I guess the closest English word would be baby.”
Anger washed through her all the way down to her toes. “It figures. He treats me like a child. I should have guessed he’s been calling me one.”
His smile widened. His voice was like chocolate, soothing and wickedly tempting at the same time. “I cannot imagine any man treating you like a child.”
She blushed. She stammered out a reply as her heart beat against her ribs. “I didn’t mean…” There wasn’t anything to say that wouldn’t mortify her even worse.
He was openly grinning now and it transformed his face. He looked like a mischievous little boy. “I presume you are speaking of your missing pactmate?”
She was startled. “Why would you assume I have a pactmate? And why would you assume he’s missing? I could just be out on the town by myself to relax after a hard day at the office. Besides, I could be pledged.”
He shook his head. “You are unescorted. You are too beautiful to be unclaimed. And you are from Earth. Yet, you are still here alone. That means there is an unhappy pactmate somewhere close by.” His voice was persuasive. “Tell me his name. Perhaps I will not mind fighting him for a woman such as you.”
That scared her a little. She wasn’t the type of woman that men brawled over. She wouldn’t mind kicking Liken’s ass, but she didn’t want him actually fighting some other guy. Especially not someone like this guy. They would hurt each other for sure.
She needed to get rid of him. With a little shrug, she said, “Does it matter? Look, I just came here for a beer. I’ve got one idiot maleandI don’t really need another one, okay?”Sharon looked away, hoping he would get the hint and leave her alone.
His voice was firm. “What is your name? And his? I will not leave until I know.” Turning and staring into those dark eyes, she knew he wasn’t going to let the matter drop. And he wasn’t going to leave either.
“I’m Sharon Glaston. My pactmate is Liken da’Kamon.” Just saying Liken’s name made her eyes burn and her chest tighten. Suddenly, she felt despondent again. She looked away or she would have seen his obvious surprise.
When she had a little more control, she turned to face him and saw him eyeing her speculatively. His grin was back. “So, Liken is the idiot causing you such distress.”
Her eyebrows rose. “You know him?”
He said easily, “We have met. What has he done to make you so unhappy, Sharon?”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him. He seemed nice, but there were those hard eyes.
He saw her indecision. With a nod, he gestured the waiter over. Speaking in Shimerian, he had a conversation with the waiter, who then went to the back. Focusing on Sharon again, he flashed her a friendly, easygoing smile. “I am Jadik Listan’dy. I will buy you that beer.”
She smiled because she couldn’t help it. “That would be great. Thanks, Jadik.” For the next half-hour, they kept up a friendly conversation. Sharon was on her second beer at that point, so she was feeling much more relaxed. Jadik seemed a lot less dangerous now. His light question caught her by surprise. “Are you linked with Tair?”
He said it so naturally that she answered without thought. “No and I’m not going to. He can go to hell.” Her voicechanged from friendly to angry as thoughts of her earlier conversation with Liken came to mind.
His eyebrows lifted. “I would have thought… They are brothers, after all. Who has Liken picked then?” He seemed genuinely surprised.
Sharon smiled grimly and said, “Oh, he picked Tair alright. But it’s not going to happen.”
Jadik stared at her a minute. Finally he asked in a neutral voice, “You object to Tair?”
She gave an exasperated sigh. “No, I like Tair just fine. That doesn’t mean I want to link with him.”How could she make yet another male understand that she didn’t want to link with anyone?
His face turned serious. “You must link with someone, Sharon. It is for your own protection.”He paused, then continued, “and it is the law.”
Sharon’s expression closed up. “I don’t need this lecture from you, too.”
Jadik studied her curiously for a minute like he couldn’t figure her out. “Why would you object to linking?”
Her face turned red. “Look, it may be normal on this planet, but I’m notfrom here, okay? I don’t do threesomes.” His brows climbed higher. She mumbled a little and then finished with, “Hey, I’m a librarian” as if that explained everything.
Jadik laughed. He was really enjoying her. Too bad Liken was her match. “Sharon, I think what you have here is a cultural misunderstanding.”
He sobered. “Linking must be done at orgasm, there is no other way. The participants must be touching. The more contact the better. Again, there is no other way. But, it is perfectly natural. There will be touching, but it will go only as far as the three parties decide.”
She flashed him a skeptical look. “And how far is that?”
He grinned. “That will be up to the three of you. Whatever happens, I cannot see you doing something you do not want. Not the woman who burst through the door into this place and demanded a drink. I would say you will be fine.”
She flushed and looked uneasy. “I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of it.”
He leaned forward and his grin grew even broader. “Don’t you?”
Her face was on fire. She shook her head in denial. He laughed softly and reached across the table to catch her hand. Rubbing his thumb gently across her palm, he said softly, “Maybe I should ask Liken to let me substitute for Tair.”
Her eyes flew to his face in panic. He was only kidding, she was pretty sure. Her pulse was pounding so hard he could probably feel it. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She pulled on her hand, but he didn’t release it.
“Why don’t I ask them both? They should be here, any moment now.” As he said the last word, Liken and Tair came through the front door.
Sharon saw them in the doorway as their eyes landed on her. She didn’t need to be connected to anyone to know that they were both furious. She yanked her hand from Jadik’s grip and gave him a blistering look. “How did you call them?”