Manifest (7 page)

He stroked the clawed tips of his fingers down her spine. “You will learn.”

“You look lovely, now stop fidgeting and let them touch you.” Heneeva-lor stood at her side.

Mel was fighting the urge to fidget while wearing lace strips that covered her breasts and groin, but not much else, though the skirt touched the floor. If she had known that this reception would involve the neighbours coming up and touching her, or even licking her, she would have stolen a ship and gotten off world.

The first wave of folk to meet had been those that she would be working with. It was odd to have the warehouse manager lick her neck with his forked tongue, but everyone else took it as a normal event.

After every ten greetings, Neeva wiped her down. By the time Mel had greeted all the tahbeck, she felt practically pruney.

Dornin was nearby being congratulated by the workers and occasionally throwing her commiserating glances. This had not been in his portion of the briefing, but she was getting used to him not telling her anything that might make her bolt.

Yirka was acting as host and Koru was on beverage duty. He helped keep Mel hydrated.

During a lull in the introductions, Neeva asked casually, “So, when do you think you will want to start a family?”

“I am not sure it is possible.”

Neeva nodded. “It is. I have spoken to your physicians. Your genes can blend with ours, and we will purchase a donor egg. It is done frequently when someone can’t biologically bear a child.”

“How many aliens are on Reuval? Mated to Adru-Skari, I mean.”

“Twelve hundred and fifty-three.” She rattled out the number without hesitation.

“I thought you didn’t get out much?”

She looked proud. “They come to us. My nephew is married to an alien woman. He is about to become a father for the second time.”

“I have not really given having a family a thought. It didn’t seem very plausible.”

“It is. It is a fact of life here.”

A wave of workers had come through and greeted her formally. The warehouse had sixty employees and she had met each one. This was her new team and she paid attention to names.

There was an hour between meeting the workers and being introduced to the neighbours who would be her social circle in the beginning of her life as Melia-tah.

Neeva smiled when an older man came into the room and directly toward them. He caught the older woman in his arms and bent her backward in a passionate kiss.

Heneeva blinked and patted her hair straight when he let her go upright. “Melia-tah, this is my husband and your new grandfather, Tebreen-lor.”

He was handsome, charming and his grandson had his nose. The military uniform was also a giveaway that Dornin had followed in a family tradition.

“Greetings, granddaughter. Welcome to the family.” He pressed a soft kiss on her cheek, and she felt the light flick of his tongue. It was quick without being a slurp.

“Thank you for your welcome, Tebreen-lor.”

“I have read your file, Melia-tah. You have an impressive aptitude for getting yourself blown up.”

She smiled shyly. “It is a habit I am trying to break, Tebree—”

“Just Tebreen. Or Breen, as my wife is Neeva. We are family. Formalities are not required.”

“Thank you, Tebreen. I am trying to avoid trouble, but then, I ran into Dornin and everything went peculiar.”

Tebreen laughed. “Dornin has that effect on people. He shakes worlds just by flying past.”

She smiled, a full grin, and he paused.

“There it is. You are pretty, to be sure, but that moment showed your soul. I am guessing that you have shaken a few worlds in your time.”

She was left stunned but more newcomers arrived and Tebreen walked over to congratulate Dornin.

Mel straightened her shoulders and faced the incoming horde. It was only another twenty people, but with them all touching and tasting her, it took all of her nerve to remain standing.

Neeva finally put a hand on her shoulder. “You can move from the receiving spot now. Eat, circulate and stand with your mate. You are now officially Melia-tah.”

Mel hugged Neeva and went to Dornin, curling up against his side with a sigh of relief.

He put his arm around her, kissed her softly and smiled, “You did well.”

She sighed. “If anyone comes near me to lick me again, I think I am going to cut their tongue off.”

“Don’t be so hasty.” He stroked her arm.

She looked around the room and the women were dressed in a similar manner to her, with slightly more fabric, but only slightly.

He squeezed her, and she looked up at him. He must have seen her distraction in her eyes because they made the rounds, hugged his father and brother, and headed to their private quarters.

The moment he closed the door behind them, she peeled off the dress and headed for the shower. A quick solar blast and she felt moderately cleaner.

She could see Dornin’s amused expression as she walked past him naked and headed for the walk-in closet. She slipped on her robe and sighed in relief.

“Better?” Dornin watched from the doorway.

“Much. I am not used to that much contact with strangers.” She shivered.

“We are a tactile people. We like to touch.”

She made a face. “And the licking?”

“Now they know who you are. That is one of the first social hurdles and the largest one that you will face.” He held out his hand. “Come with me.”

She took his hand, and he pulled her into the bedroom and against him. He whispered something she didn’t hear and soft music filled the room. He swayed with her until she relaxed, and when she finally looked up at him, he kissed her, sliding a hand through her curls and holding her head with delicate care.

She sighed against his lips and draped her arms around his neck, swaying with the soft music.

He walked her back to the bed and eased her down at the edge, parting her thighs and settling between them with his knees on the floor and hers bent at the edge of the bed.

He ran his hands up her inner thighs and pressed her knees further apart.

“What are you doing?” She knew very well what he was doing, but she wanted him to say it.

He flicked his tongue at her, “I want to prove to you that the Adru-Skari tongue is not something that you need to dislike. It can be very beneficial to a woman of your sensitivities.”

He leaned in and applied his mouth to her in a focussed attack that had her moaning in seconds and arching against him a minute later. She gasped, she twisted, she groaned, and when she screamed and he joined their bodies, she had to admit that his tongue was a far superior specimen than those that she had been licked by earlier in the evening.

“Why are you wearing that?”

Dornin was putting on his uniform while she was putting on her body suit.

She snickered and buckled on her belt with her mini toolkit.

“Because I am doing a job and this is how I dress for a job.”

“There are work gowns that are suitable.” He went to the closet and pulled out a few more gauzy numbers.

“Not for what I am going to do. I plan to do a complete examination of the warehouse today. That will involve some creeping around.”

“Fine, but bring a gown in case you feel pressure to change at some point.”

She sighed and grabbed the grey and fawn dress with the black piping. “Fine. Are you happy?”

He kissed her quickly. “More than you can imagine. I will see you this evening. Koru will take you to the warehouse.”

“I will see you later. At least I get to do something that I know about.”

He chuckled and took her hand as they walked to the common area of the compound.

Koru was waiting for her and he drove her to the warehouse. It was six buildings wedged together, and she realized it might take longer than a day to take an inventory.

“Take care, Melia-tah.” He handed her a small com. “Call me if you need a ride home or just lunch.”

She grinned. “Thank you, brother.”

“I knew you would be for our family the moment that I saw you. I am delighted that I was right. Sister.” He winked and got back in his vehicle, spinning as he drove away from the site.

She stiffened her shoulders and walked into the tah interplanetary warehouse. It was time to claim her territory.

When Koru claimed her, she was grimy, her hair was standing up and there was a streak of slime on one cheek. She also had a grin that wouldn’t quit.

It was Dornin behind the steering column, and he laughed at her appearance. “You look like you had a productive day.”

She got into the vehicle and grinned. “You could say that.”

Over dinner with Yirka and Koru, she explained her day, and Dornin was staring in amazement as she re-enacted her battle with the infestation of dolla bugs hidden in a tech shipment.

“It was amazing. Everybody went to the flamethrowers, and we all cornered them. Not one escaped, but the shipment was damaged. I have a requisition for more personal coms to replace the ones we cooked.”

Yirka nodded. “It came across my desk earlier today. The order has been renewed and the credit note requested.”

She smiled brightly and ate with good appetite.

Yirka looked to his son with amusement. “What planet is she from?”

Dornin smiled. “She is a Terran.”

“I must make that known at some of the council meetings. I have already had a few queries about her after the
kiksa
. Melia, where do your people find employment in this sector?”

Mel grinned. “In this sector, I have seen one of my people as a Companion, but he seemed occupied with his client. The other nearest Terrans are at a Guardian base, but they are mates of the local Guardians.”

Yirka stared, “You are joking.”

“No. The women who volunteer and those who are chosen tend to be strong of mind, with emotional strength and some even have developed latent psychic talents.”

Dornin perked up. “Your people have psychic talents?”

“Some of us. There are rumors in every family of someone a little peculiar, but it hasn’t been socially acceptable on my world to make it known.”

Yirka looked from one of them to the other. “Shall I begin looking for an egg?”

Dornin shook his head. “We have not discussed it.”

Mel finished her meal and daintily put her implements on the table. “No, we have not discussed it. Neeva brought it up, but I didn’t have an answer for her.”

Dornin smiled and took her hand, raising it to his lips. “We will go over it in private. It is a little more in depth than a normal plan. She has only just arrived.”

Mel reached for her water glass and smiled. “He is going to have to work very hard to earn the next generation.”

Yirka laughed and sat back. “I think he is up to it.”

She sat with her eyes twinkling until Dornin took her by the hand and hauled her off for negotiations.

He really had a very clever tongue.

She visited the incubator in the corner of their room again.

“Love, it isn’t going to hatch today.”

Mel looked over at Dornin where he was lounging in bed, and she smiled. “It is. A mother knows.”

Genetic samples had been taken from her, spliced to genetic samples from Dornin and inserted into an unfertilized egg donated to them by an unfixed woman having her cycle. To her, it meant nothing, but for Mel, it was a chance to be a mom.

Over the twelve months of incubation, she had visited the baby every day until the egg was stable enough to transport. Some Adru-Skari women wore the egg in a sling, but Mel didn’t have the neck muscles for it. She settled for the incubator being in her room, and she visited her egg, and read to it, sang it songs and generally made Dornin crazy.

He looked at her good-naturedly and patted the sheets next to him. “Come back to bed. It isn’t even dawn.”

The egg started rocking and she made an incoherent sound and pointed at it. “It’s hatching!”

Dornin came up behind her and put her robe over her shoulders. “It is. How did you know?”

“I could feel it.”

They watched the egg rock, and when the tapping started, Mel took the tiny hammer and mimicked it, making the tiny crack that the baby needed. Halflings lacked the forehead spur that full Adru-Skari babies had, so the parents had to watch the hatching closely.

It took four hours for the baby to make its way into the world, and when Mel held her son, she smirked happily. “I told you it was a boy. Pay up.”

“I will happily pay.” He laughed and took his baby reverently. “He has your hair.”

“And your eyes. He is going to be one attractive dude.” She hooked her finger in the baby’s hand.

“He is already perfect. He looks like his mother and is built like his father.”

She snickered. “We are just lucky that it wasn’t the other way around.”

He smiled and they finally clued in to the pounding on the door. She fastened her robe around her and opened the door to her family. Yirka and Koru pushed past her and ran into the bedroom to see the new baby.

Only one thing could have kept Mel and Dornin both from work and that was the new life that was a cherubic ten pounds with perpetual giggles.

She followed and leaned in the doorway as the men of the tah clan gathered around the new arrival. Dornin looked up and smiled at her. “Melkin-tah. What do you think?”

Mel entered the room and brought her baby over to the changing table, getting him dressed for the first time. “I think you were tempting fate and he might be your son, but he is mine too, so expect hijinks from little Melkin here.”

The beverage pack she had prepared during the hatching was just the right temperature, and she slipped the nipple between his lips. He clamped down and went after it with enthusiasm.

She sat in the chair, rocked him and sang in a low tone. When she looked up, three pairs of eyes were staring at her with varying shades of amazement.

Yirka cleared his throat. “Jemreeda sang just like that. Low and off key but filled with love.”

Yirka shoved Koru out of the room, and Dornin picked them both up, lifting them and sitting down with them in his lap. He sang the same song she did, and Melkin gulped down his dinner.