Page 27 of Bound to the Tiger Scout
Iwas on an alien planet! We’d taken a shuttle down the roof of a building in a business district, and I still couldn’t hardly believe I was standing on a whole other world. Me! A nobody from nowhere and here I was on Nor. With my alien mate no less! I clung to Ghosha’s hand and stared at everyone and everything.
Right off the bat, what struck me first was the architecture. The abundance of Norlons was at the top, too, but I’d gotten sort of used to that on the ships. The buildings, though… Hardly any were more than five stories, they were so natural they looked like they’d stood up out of the ground, and they were covered in flowering vines. Most of them had forests growing on the roofs! It all looked like they were one with nature on a level crunchy humans only dreamed of being.
And woowee! The air was so crisp and clean I might’ve been breathing too much and getting myself high or something. Me and the humans who’d accepted Ghosha’s employment offers were all kinda giggly as we gawked from the rooftop of his brothel down at the city below. Okay, maybe it was what we were doing more than the unpolluted air that had us all acting giddy. This was so epic!
“Hello, everyone,” a voice called out. “Welcome to Rijal’s.”
I looked over to find a white and gray Khess dressed in a flowing robe with intricate embroidery of leaves and birds on a deep red background. They smiled at us all and gave a nod to Ghosha.
“I’m Madame Veska Lotair Cora. I run this brothel and will begin your orientation here today.”
All the new sex workers crowded closer to Madame Cora, but I stayed back with Ghosha. She took them through a door and down into the building.
“What’s their orientation like?” I whispered to him as we followed.
“Oh, she’ll take them on a tour and explain the rules again. They’ll see their rooms, meet who they’ll be sharing with, and visit the working spaces.”
He said more, but I was distracted by the amazing number of plants that seemed to be growing right out of the walls. Green leaves of all sizes and purple flowers dripped down like chandeliers—and some of the branches literally did have lights hooked on them. The walls had textured wallpaper with nature scenes, the floors were carpeted, and everything was in shades of green and purple. I felt like I was in a fairyland!
“This place isamazing.” I twisted this way and that to take it all in. This was just a hallway that— “Oh my lord above!” I gushed when we turned out to be on a balcony overlooking three floors down to an incredible lobby that continued the theme.
Ghosha nuzzled my cheek and said, “I’m so pleased you like this place.”
“Like it? I love it!” I gripped the front of his tunic. “Tell me your house is like this.”
He chuckled and took my hands so he could kiss my knuckles. “The architecture is similar, of course, but I have a greater variety of colors throughout the rooms.”
Why was it all turning me on? “Do you pump something into the air to make people horny?” I tried to discreetly adjust myself. “Because I could jump you right here.”
Ghosha laughed even as he shook his head. “That’s all you, my little mate.”
Maybe it was. The new experiences, sights, and a whole incredible future was opening up in front of me in ways that were real instead of just speculation. We weren’t talking about it all—we were living it. And now I couldn’t decide if I wanted to fuck or cry.
“Aw, Squire,” Ghosha said as he passed his thumb under my eye.
“Sorry.” I sniffed and wiped at my face, embarrassment heating my cheeks.
He tucked me in close, molding me along his strong body. “No apologies needed. I’m sure this is quite overwhelming. We had wanted to get lunch first, so would you like to sit in the restaurant downstairs, or have something delivered to a private room?”
I had to think about that. Ghosha waited patiently, just stroking my hair as I stared without seeing over the railing of the balcony in front of us. I loved that about him. He didn’t push his own agenda or force me to hurry up. So I imagined myself in a restaurant, trying to order things—because I bet it would be all Norlon foods here, unlike on the ship where they’d made an effort to include human stuff—and surrounded by other diners or maybe by clients. It could be kinda stressful, he’d have to help me a lot, and I didn’t want to look like a dolt in front of people he might want to impress.
“A private room,” I said, looking up at him. “There’s so much I still need to learn.”
Ghosha cupped my cheek and gave me a kiss. “Everyone will understand if you make a mistake. If nothing else, we canimagine what it must be like to immerse yourself in an entirely new world.”
Shittin’ fuck, that gave me heart palpitations. I was doing that, wasn’t I? Immersing myself in a whole new world. I’d been caught up in the wow of it all, but the sweet Jesus was catching up fast.
Ghosha must’ve seen the wave crashing over me because he took my hand and led me along the balcony to the other side of the building. A door popped open when he pressed his hand to a panel beside it, and he whisked me inside.
Any comfort I might’ve found in the room vanished when I saw a pure white Yook sitting in a chair. He wore a gauzy length of purple cloth draped over one lean shoulder and wrapped around his waist. The sheer fabric let me see that his big pink dick was just starting to peek out from the white fur at his groin. His ears snapped up and his brown eyes went wide a moment before he flattened those ears and narrowed his eyes. A snarl curled his lip as he said, “You’ve chosen one of the brand new humans over?—”
“This ismy mate, Contar,” Ghosha said firmly.
I looked between the two of them as they stared at each other. Well. It really shouldn’t surprise me that Ghosha was a client in his own brothel. Shouldn’t surprise me that a regular partner might anticipate his needs after so long away from the place and hang out in his room. But it did piss me off.
“Contar,” I said with a smile, “it’s so nice to meet you. And bless your heart for being here waiting for my Ghosha like this. So thoughtful.”
Contar’s gaze flicked up and down like he was assessing me, which was the wrong move. He’d learn, though.
