Page 91 of Irene

Israla had said it was the aroma of Kalquorian arousal. Could that be true? Why in the universe would this man find her attractive? Maybe Israla had lied when she’d said this clan was fully aware of Michaela’s true form.

Govi came over with the glass of shel. He handed it to her and sat close on her opposite side. That left the third member of this group to look at...as if Michaela could miss someone that big.

Michaela had never seen such wide shoulders on anyone before. The dreadlocked Kalquorian was the epitome of the word ‘huge.’ All muscle, he made her feel as fragile as crystal waiting to be shattered.

He bowed as Korkla introduced him. “This is my Nobek, Michaela. His name is Raxstad.”

Raxstad straightened and smiled. “I hope I don’t frighten you. I sometimes have that effect on people, due to my size.”

She smiled back in self-defense.Be nice to the big Kalquorian ape-man and maybe he won’t swipe your head off your shoulders. Her heart pounded fit to jump out of her chest.

To cover her unease, Michaela said, “Your shoulders are almost as wide as you are tall. You’re like a damned gorilla.”

Raxstad’s brows lifted. “I’m unfamiliar with the termgorilla.”

Crap, he probably thought she had insulted him. Michaela curled into herself. “It’s a big animal. Not as big as you, but pretty big. Strong too.” She hoped he’d take it as a compliment.

Raxstad crouched down before her, putting his face on the level of hers. His features were broad, almost to the point of being brutish. His face matched his body. Michaela wouldn’t have called him handsome, but the Nobek was a compelling sight.

His fierceness eased with his smile. Something loosened in her chest to see him look at her with warmth. “I’m intimidating you, little one. Is this any better?”

Govi hurried to add, “Only Raxstad’s enemies need fear him, not lovely little Earther girls.”

But I’m not really a girl. She was a pretender, an abomination of a human. These men had come to Plasius to clan a woman, not a freak of nature. She’d teased them with her dancing, making swaying promises with her body that it couldn’t uphold. They looked at her in a certain way, as a fully female creature. She had lied, not with words but with the dance. They didn’t know what it was they looked upon.

Michaela drew in on herself again. Tears filled her eyes. A sob tumbled from her lips.

The trio moved in close as their faces registered alarm. Korkla’s arm closed around her waist. Raxstad’s hands covered hers where they clutched at her glass of shel. Govi stroked her cheek with a careful hand.

The Imdiko coaxed her. “Easy, Michaela. It’s all right. We only wish to talk to you tonight. Nothing else.”

Korkla added, “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Tell us about your dancing. Who taught you?”

While they spoke, Raxstad lifted her hands with her glass and pressed it to her lips. She took a sip, trying to steady herself. The shel wasn’t as good as leshella, but she liked it. The simple act of drinking helped her find her equilibrium.

When Raxstad lowered the cup, Michaela drew a shuddering breath. “My mother. It was my mother who taught meRaqs Sharqi.”

“Is it a popular dance on Earth?”

Michaela shook her head. Govi was the handsomest of the three, but it was Raxstad who knelt in front of her, commanding her sight. His strong features, while brutish and fierce, possessed a nice quality that she liked. The Nobek had a directness to him that appealed to Michaela. She had the feeling that no one ever wondered where they stood with Raxstad.

“Belly dancing isn’t indigenous to the people of the North American Bloc, where I lived. My mother’s parents were from Saudi Arabia in the Middle Eastern Bloc. The dance is outlawed on Earth.”

As Govi drew a breath to speak, Raxstad glanced towards him. Feeling as if she’d been released by the commanding Nobek, Michaela looked at the stunning face of the Imdiko.

Govi said, “I imagine it would have been outlawed. It’s seductive, and I’ve found Earthers tend to be repressed in their intimacies. Being that...sensual...would be far beyond most of your race’s capabilities.”

Michaela drank in the perfectly shaped eyes, nose, and especially the mouth of the psychologist. “The funny thing is, the dance didn’t originate to be salacious at all. It started as a form of child birthing exercises.”

Korkla snickered. “Really? I can imagine it often led to the occurrence of child birth itself.”

Michaela now had to look at the clan leader as she laughed. Once again she was struck by how the warmth of the Dramok’s smile made his angular face entrancing, almost as much as Govi’s.

She enjoyed ribald humor. The unexpected suggestiveness of Korkla’s remark delighted her. “Yeah, well you can see why it got outlawed on Earth. Heaven forbid sex be something anyone would want to do.”

Michaela was even getting used to Raxstad’s more primitive physicality. She had no trouble turning her smile in his direction as he joined in her laughter. The Nobek told her, “You don’t appear to be so repressed. I was concerned we’d never get you to speak to us.”

They seemed nice. Perhaps it was the leshella still in Michaela’s system that made her dare to be blunt. More likely it was the need to get the worst of this meeting done and over with. If they were to reject her, it needed to happen before she could entertain any thoughts that would lead her to liking them too much.

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