Nono pressed his face to her pussy mound, kissing earnestly, as though he couldn’t get enough. Soft groans of desire came from his throat—he really seemed to love what he was doing.

The sight sent a bolt of pure desire through Kara as she remembered J’orn doing the same thing to her. His breath had been so hot on her pussy and when he’d slipped his tongue into her slit…

“That’s enough, Nono. Save some of that energy for later,” Gaela ordered, tapping the monk on the top of his head. “Speaking of a later—do you want to come with me to get a massage tomorrow?” she asked Kara. “I’ve already had one today but I justhategoing by myself! It’s much more fun to enter the Relaxation Grotto with a friend.”

“Well, Idolove getting massages, but I’m not sure if my attendant, Brother Feex, is going to want to give me one,” Kara said uncertainly. She couldn’t picture the sullen monk being happy to do anything to serve her.

“Oh, don’t worry about him.” Gaela made a shooing gesture. “There are always extra massage attendants down in the Grotto to massage you in case you want to try someone new. Just come with me—you can’t imagine how relaxing it is.”

“Icoulduse a little relaxation,” Kara said, thinking of the extremely tense shuttle ride she’d just taken. “What time are you going?”

“Oh, an hour before dinner. Tell you what, are you going to be here in your room? If so, I’ll send Nono to come get you and guide you to the Grotto at the right time,” Gaela promised.

“That would be nice—thanks. I’ll be here.” Kara nodded and the Paradisian woman clapped her hands.

“Oh goody! I’ll see you tomorrow then. Come on, Nono—shopping,” she added, nodding at her attendant.

The two of them strolled off down the hall, leaving Kara alone again to explore her new suite.

13

KARA

The inside of her suite at the Fem Lovely Resort was absolutely gorgeous, Kara thought. She soon saw why it was called “The Twinkling Stars Suite.” Embedded in the ceiling were thousands—maybe millions—of teeny, tiny lights that emitted a soft, golden glow that filled the entire suite with an air of magic.

Kara found a remote on the wall that controlled them and soon discovered that she could change the color from gold to silver or any other color she wanted. She decided to leave them gold for now though. The color softened the mostly white interior of the suite and made everything feel grand and luxurious, like the low lighting in an expensive restaurant.

She was standing in the living room area which had a vast white couch filled with fluffy cushions. Across from it was a fireplace with a screen mounted above it. Kara spent some time studying the fireplace to see how it worked but there was no wood in it or any way to light it. She thought for a moment that it might be like one of those gas fireplaces you could turn on with a switch, but there was no switch to be found either.

“Well, that’s kind of a bummer,” she muttered to herself. Probably her attendant was supposed to take care of making a fire for her, but she was sure Brother Feex would only resent her if she asked him to do his job. Actually, she didn’t even know how to reach him—he’d just left her without giving her any contact information at all. His superior, Father Gobash, probably wouldn’t approve, but she wasn’t the type to tattle on anyone. She could make do without a fire, she decided —even though it really would be nice to have one.

The screen had a small remote control which she used to turn it on and flip through the entertainment options. The different channels were helpfully labeled at the bottom right corner.

“Love Channel,” said one which showed a scene of two Paradisian actors staring soulfully into each other’s third eyes. “Fight Channel,” said another which showed two men punching each other as hard as they could. There was also a Food Channel that showed mouthwatering photos of unfamiliar alien cuisine and a Sports Channel, that showed people jumping and hopping through a complicated series of swinging ropes—it reminded Kara of playing Double Dutch when she was a kid.

The Sex Channel was what she lingered on the longest. It showed Paradisians giving each other the “Kiss of Pleasure” in many different ways and positions—they seemed toreallylike oral sex here, Kara thought dryly.

At last she snapped off the screen and went to look at the rest of the suite. There was a small kitchenette with a cold unit, sort of like a mini refrigerator, but no other appliances that Kara could see except for one. Sitting in the middle of the small table, which was just big enough for two, was something that looked a little bit like a microwave oven. It had a door with a handle and a knob in the front and a long cord coming from the side of it.

At first Kara thought the cord was to plug into the wall, but she couldn’t find an outlet. And when she looked more closely at the cord itself, she saw that it didn’t end in any kind of plug. Instead there was a small black suction cup, a little larger than a coil—howstrange.

She opened the odd appliance but it was empty inside and there was nothing to see so she closed it again and left the empty kitchenette. Probably it was another feature that Brother Feex was supposed to show her and hadn’t.

There hadn’t been much to see in the last room, but once Kara stepped into the bedroom she immediately fell in love. The bed was vast and pillowy with a puffy cream linen spread and lots of fluffy pillows. There was a tall window with a rounded top and a picturesque view of the city down below.

The nightstand beside the bed held a collection of books that seemed to be written for women, by women. Some of the titles were deep—The Light Within You: Unlocking your Divine Feminine Power,read the spine of one book. But others appeared to be of the smutty variety.Belinda’s Adventures with Three Well Hung Brothers,andTrapped in the Magic Cabin with My Sexy, Muscular Coworkerwere two that stood out to Kara.

Apparently the Paradisians weren’t coy about their love for written porn. Or it could just be that her Translation Bacteria was translating things extremely literarily—either way, she was interested in reading several of the books.

The tiny lights embedded in the ceiling above cast a golden glow over the entire bedroom and a faint floral scent floated through the air. The whole room was inviting and relaxing—Kara was glad all over again she hadn’t let J’orn talk her out of staying here.

Speaking of her ex-assistant, she wondered where he was right now. Had he found any clues about the kidnapping ring? It was certainly a good thing she’d booked herself into an all-female resort, she thought. It was nice not to have to worry about that kind of thing. This was going to be the most relaxing vacation she’d had inyears.

She stepped into the bathroom and saw that the luxury continued there. The marble walls were a deep, cerulean blue studded all over with tiny specks of silver. They looked like stars in the night sky, Kara thought.

There was a broad bathtub that looked almost deep enough to swim in and a large shower stall that was big enough for four or five people to use at once. Kara found a plush bathrobe hanging on the back of the door and a selection of blown glass bottles all filled with what she assumed were shampoo and bubble bath sitting on the edge of the tub. There were also several long-handled back scrubbers as well as a large scrubbing mitt which was soft on one side and abrasive on the other.

This brought to mind what Gaela had said about having her attendant wash her hair and scrub her. Just the idea of letting the creepy Brother Feex see her in the nude—let alone allowing him to touch her and wash her—made Kara cringe. She wasgladthat he was so inattentive—it would have been extremely off-putting if he actually wanted to care for her in that way.