“Yes?” J’orn frowned at him.

“I’ll be using theSorb’tatechnique,” the male, whose name J’orn thought was “Nono,” told him. “Are you familiar with it?”

“Uh, not really,” J’orn admitted. “But I’m ready to follow your lead,” he added. He’d given a few massages before but the other male spoke with authority and really seemed to know what he was doing.

“Good.” Nono nodded. “TheSorb’tatechniqueisn’tabout deep tissue massage,” he added. “It’s all about sensual touch and bringing your Lady pleasure. Now first, we use the warming oil to get the muscles nice and loose.”

He held up the bottle he was talking about and J’orn found it on his own cart as well. He poured some into his palm and rubbed his hands together, just like the other male was doing.

“Use long, slow strokes,” Nono instructed. “First warm her muscles and then we’re going to gently stretch them.”

He demonstrated, staring at the back of his lady’s neck and sliding slowly downwards, over her arms and down her back and sides.

J’orn did the same. He couldn’t help loving the feel of Kara’s soft skin under his hands but he was careful as he worked. Human women were delicate and Kara was so much smaller than him—he didn’t want to hurt her and it would be all too easy to mark her skin.

At first she felt tense under his hands, but as he continued to slide his palms over her body, she began to relax. He intentionally avoided her ass because he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. But Nono saw what he was doing and frowned.

“Why have you neglected your Lady’s posterior?” he demanded. “That is one of the most sensuous parts of her—you must stimulate the erogenous zones. That’s the whole point of theSorb’tatechnique!”

“Er…all right. I just wasn’t sure if my Lady would like it or not,” J’orn said, trying to make an excuse.

“Ofcourseshe likes it!” Lady Winthrip said, turning her face to frown up at him. “Didn’t I tell you this was to be a mirror massage? If you can’t handle following Nono’s instructions, I can always call another attendant down here.”

“No, no—that’s all right,” Kara exclaimed, looking up. “I’ll be all right—I don’t need a new attendant.”

J’orn wasn’t sure if she was saying that because she really wanted him to touch her…or because she was trying not to “blow his cover” as she had put it earlier. But either way, he had little choice.

“I’ll be sure to follow your technique in the future,” he growled, frowning at the other male.

“Very good.” Nono nodded loftily. “Then let us continue with a full-bottom massage.”

J’orn nodded. What else could he do?

19

KARA

Kara tried not to tense up when she felt J’orn’s big, warm hands caressing and kneading her ass. Then he leaned over her and murmured,

“Sorry, baby,” in a low voice.

The soft apology made her feel better somehow. She knew he was just doing what he had to do in order to keep his cover intact. And besides, it was just her ass—what was the big deal?

Actually, he wasreallygood at it. Who knew you could have so much tension in your ass? Kara hadn’t had any idea how tight she was back there until the big Kindred started working on her. Also, she knew thiswasn’tsupposed to be a deep tissue massage, but he was using a good amount of force—which she actually liked.

“And now for the stretching,” Nono said after a while. “Observe and copy what I do.”

She heard J’orn’s murmur of ascent and then the massage changed.

Kara found herself relaxing even more as the big Kindred continued to work on her. His hands felt like magic as he rubbed the oil into her skin and then used the stretching techniques that Nono was instructing him in.

She especially liked it when he braced his hip on the table beside her head and gripped the back of her hair gently in one hand. Then he used the other hand to slowly but firmly pull down her shoulder. She could feel the tension leaving her neck and body as he did the move over and over again, running his hand down her neck and then pulling gently on her shoulder and arm, which was draped over his thigh.

By the time he had finished both sides, her neck felt pleasantly loose and she was so relaxed she was right on the edge of falling asleep.

Of course, that was when Nono said,

“And now it is time to show your respect by kissing.”