Michaela (3 page)

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

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

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

When Raxstad lowered the cup again, Michaela drew a shuddering breath. “My mother. It was my mother who taught me
Raqs 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 found 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.

She told them, “No, belly dancing was not 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 all of Earth now.”

As Govi drew a breath to speak, Raxstad looked 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 is quite seductive, and I’ve found Earthers tend to be repressed in their intimacies. Being that ... blatantly sensual ... would be far beyond most of your race’s capabilities.”

Michaela’s gaze drank in the perfectly shaped eyes, nose, and especially the mouth of the psychologist. She said, “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 so 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 do not appear to be so repressed. I was concerned we would never get you to even 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 these three men were going to reject her, it needed to happen now before she could entertain any thoughts that would lead her to liking them too much.

Michaela told the clan, “As a man, I got away with being crass on board our ship in ways that no woman could. Swearing, telling crude jokes, acting like I thought with my cock ... Earth turns a blind eye to some things that men do. I could be a foul-mouthed asshole and even make some sexual jokes. As long as I didn’t act too outrageous in front of my superiors, there was no problem.”

Korkla studied her closely. “But you prefer presenting yourself as a female. That is correct?”

None of them had reacted to her profane language or overt references to having masculine qualities. They didn’t even exhibit morbid fascination, which had been the best Michaela thought she could hope for. She checked the three faces surrounding her, searching for a hint of disgust. She saw only kindness and patience.

She said, “I feel more female than male, even though I’m both.”

Govi reached up to stroke a curl. “It must have been hard for you to pretend otherwise, to have lived your entire life in fear of discovery.”

Raxstad touched her knee, a finger tracing a crease in her skirt. “Would they really have killed you for being born a – I’m sorry, Michaela. I’ve forgotten the word.”

“Intersex. Some would call me a hermaphrodite, but I like intersex better.” She barely contained a shiver to feel them touching her. It made her feel warm inside. Her attitude felt lighter ... was that hope? Did she dare to anticipate they would actually consider her a viable mate? “Yes, they would have euthanized me at birth if the truth had gotten out. If they had found out later, I would have been executed as demon spawn.”

Chapter 2

Korkla felt a pulse of anger in his skull at Michaela’s words. What kind of madness possessed the Earther government? How could they judge someone unworthy of life over something as inconsequential as how she’d been made? How could any religion declare such a person as damned because of an accident of birth? How could a court sentence someone to die over something she had no control over? The idea was unfathomable.

The Dramok saw a tremor run through Raxstad’s body. The Nobek breed was made for protecting others, particularly those who could not defend themselves. Little Michaela looked so damned vulnerable, too. No doubt her story upset the fiercest member of Korkla’s clan.

As one of the warrior breed of the Kalquorian people, Raxstad did not shy away from violence. He had been an officer for Global Security for decades now, determined to protect those who needed it most. Feeling upset over Michaela’s story as Korkla did, he knew Raxstad must be absolutely livid that she’d lived in such fear. The amount of control it took for the Nobek to not show it had to be phenomenal.

Govi’s voice shook a little as he voiced his opinion. “It is good you managed to escape. I shudder to think of such an unearned fate had you been discovered.”

Michaela’s smile astonished Korkla, given what she’d just divulged. She said, “Well, drinking leshella and dancing on Plasius is a hard thing too, but I keep reminding myself I’ve lived through worse.”

They all laughed. Korkla was impressed that Michaela had the kind of strength that allowed her to find humor in her circumstances.

He told her, “Being endlessly doted on by a clan on Kalquor is its own trial. Thank the ancestors you’re such a survivor. You might be able to withstand it.”

Michaela bit her plump lower lip. “That’s assuming a clan would even want me.”

Korkla’s brows rose. Here was the issue they’d been warned about, yet it still took him by surprise.

It was wrong on so many levels that Michaela would think of herself as anything less than desirable. She was stunning. Curls as inky as any Kalquorian’s hair framed a soft, round face. Her skin was as brown as his, making her look like a miniature version of one of his race ... until one noted the dark eyes with their rounded pupils. Her wide eyes spoke of youth’s innocence one moment, but experienced wisdom the next.

Her body was different from a Kalquorian’s too, in a wondrous way. She was toned, but not muscled like even the women of Korkla’s people tended to be. Michaela was not willowy like a Plasian either. Like her face, her physique possessed a pleasing softness. He could only imagine how tenderly her body would cradle his, how it would melt against him...

Korkla brought himself out of the fantasy when warning heat trickled into his loins. He cleared his throat. “Of course a clan would want you. How could they not? You’re beautiful, talented, and strong. What a gift you are, Michaela.”

“But I’m not a real woman.”

She laid it out with blunt, almost angry force. Her shoulders slumped, as if she wished to hide their wider proportions. Those shoulders, along with her husky voice, were the only physical hints Korkla could see of Michaela’s masculine nature. They teased of the treasures he’d find later ... if his clan could convince Michaela that there was nothing wrong with her rarity.

The Dramok had to quell the instant reassurances that rose to his lips. Israla had cautioned him that Michaela could twist such support so as to re-affirm that she was less than human.

Govi took up the challenge, as they had agreed he would. “You say you feel female. We’ve been told by the doctor who saw you here that you have all the organs that make a female. You are even believed to be fertile. The presence of eggs has been confirmed.”

Korkla did not miss the bitterness in Michaela’s tone as she responded. “Along with sperm. And a dick. I’m repulsive.”

The Dramok saw Raxstad jerk. Momentary anger crossed the Nobek’s broad features before he recovered and snorted dismissively. “I have sperm and
two
dicks. Does that make me twice as repulsive?”

Michaela scowled. “For heaven’s sake, you’re a Kalquorian man. You’re supposed to have that stuff. I’m meant to be one or the other. Not something in between.”

Govi cupped her chin in his palm, forcing her to look at him. In a gentle but firm tone, he said, “You’re supposed to be what you are. Nothing else. Michaela, I like both men and women. My whole clan does. The three of us are intimate with each other.”

Korkla had to weigh in as well because Michaela’s self-loathing concerned him like nothing else he’d ever faced. “I’ve also had sexual relations with a couple of species that are intersex, as you call it. None of that bothers me. In fact, the idea of being with someone who is so much like my species and is both male and female is exciting.”

“You’ve just got more toys to play with, that’s all.” Raxstad grinned with mischief, and then leaned close to growl lecherously at Michaela. “I like toys, especially when they come attached to someone as pretty as you.”

Michaela stared at him, her lovely, lush mouth hanging wide open. She had a look on her face that said he titillated and scared her all at once.

Her expression made Korkla’s cocks fill with abrupt and insistent heat. He had the sudden vision of Michaela kneeling at his feet, looking up at him with that heady mix of anxiety and anticipation.

He caught a delicious scent as well; something sweetly salty, like the seashore after a summer storm. It came from the Earther in a sudden wave. Korkla couldn’t help but look at Michaela’s lap. The Dramok’s breath caught to see a slight bulge in her skirt at the apex of where her thighs met.

Male and female. Innocent and yet world-weary. This beauty was a treasure, and he’d been told his clan could keep her if they wished. Korkla did not yet know nearly enough about Michaela to make that momentous decision. Still, it took everything he had to not ask her to be their Matara in that instant.

If her head wasn’t so full of the garbage her government had fed her, he might have obeyed that impulse. After all, his clanships with Raxstad and Govi had both been arranged, set before he’d fallen in love with them. Korkla knew how to make a union work, and he had an instinctive need to help this poor damaged creature. With Govi to care for her hurts and Raxstad to protect her from outside dangers, he felt confident Michaela would benefit from his guidance and leadership. Certainly he couldn’t make things worse than what she’d already known.

First, he had to get her to trust him. He had to make her understand how desirable he found her.

Korkla leaned close so that he spoke intimately in Michaela’s ear. “You have no idea how very tantalizing you are, my rare and wonderful Earther. I do hope that once you get to know us, you’ll allow us to prove that to you.”

She swallowed. In an instant she looked every bit as young and vulnerable as she was. It made Korkla’s chest ache to see her that way. Michaela Blake had his head spinning as no one else ever had. One moment she was tough, the next tragic. Like a little lost girl, she needed strong men to shelter her.

Her voice hesitant, she asked Korkla, “You don’t see me as a freak?”

A low growl sounded from Raxstad. Ignoring him, Korkla said, “That’s a horrible word, Michaela, and one that does not reflect any part of you. Don’t say it again, please?”

Govi’s tone was firmer than usual. “You’re not a freak. You are unique. Astonishing.”

“You are Michaela,” Raxstad pronounced, as if that was the answer to all concerns. “There is no other like you.”

Michaela looked at each of them in turn, a smile finally pulling at her lips. “Damn. Did you guys all go to school to learn how to say the right things? You must have passed with flying colors.”

The tense moment passed, and the three men chuckled at her. Raxstad said, “If I had received such training, I wouldn’t have found half the trouble I have.”

Michaela grinned at him and turned to Korkla. She tossed her curls back over her shoulder and asked, “What do you all do on Kalquor? Israla said you are the aide to the Crown Prince?”

Korkla nodded. “One of them, Dramok Crown Prince Clajak. Don’t be too impressed. It’s a position that’s short on glory and long on stress.”

Her throaty chuckle delighted him. “So is he a good prince or a lazy, spoiled pain in the ass?”

The three men exchanged a look and burst into outright laughter. Korkla knew for himself he was not only tickled by the question about Prince Clajak himself, but by Michaela’s bluntness. She said exactly what she meant, and Korkla enjoyed that aspect of her personality.

Korkla leaned back and considered how to answer her question. “Ah, Clajak. He’s not easily summed up.”