Page 6 of Tempting Her Grumpy Protector
“Why in the Seven Hells would you want to lose your curves? They’re fucking gorgeous. You’re an Elite—a female the Goddess has blessed with her own beautiful shape.”
Sunny had taken the compliment to heart and made a real effort to own and love her curves after that. It definitely gave her a boost of self-confidence to know that her Protector found her attractive just the way she was.
Still, she’d never dreamed that anything could be between them. Greer had told her early on that he had vowed never to take a wife—or a mate, as the Kindred said—so Sunny had put the thought of any kind of romantic attachment out of her head.
Now she wondered if she might have been too hasty…
Well, if she was going to find out Greer’s true feelings for her, now was the time she told herself. This was their last mission together and then she might never see him again. So if she wanted to stake a claim in the huge Kindred warrior, there was no time like the present.
The only problem was, she had no idea how to go about it.
3
SUNNY
“Ah, good evening, good evening! It is lovely to have you with us!” The Thropp’ian “Welcome Ambassador,” as their guide called himself, was tall and thin and humanoid, though there did seem to be something strange going on with his chest, Sunny thought.
She looked closer while the guide said something to Greer. Yes—the weird thing was that he appeared to have a third pectoral muscle right in the middle of his chest. It was easy to see, since he was stripped to the waist and only wearing a kind of grass skirt which left his skinny arms and narrow chest bare.
Of course, he also had a third eye on his forehead, so maybe that was just part of the Thropp’ian anatomy, Sunny speculated. The third eye was presently closed—maybe it was vestigial, like a human’s appendix.
“We’re so pleased to have a Kindred scientist here,” the guide went on, bowing obsequiously to Greer. “We hope to teach you and your Bound Mate much of our rich cultural heritage!”
“We’re very pleased to be here, too” Greer rumbled. “But I’m afraid you have it wrong—Dr. Craythorn here is the scientist.” He nodded at Sunny. “I’m only her Protector.”
“Oh? A female scientist?” The guide looked extremely surprised—so surprised, in fact, that the third eye on his forehead popped open and looked at Sunny up and down, as though she was some new interesting species of insect. (The iris of the third eye was bright green, she noted—unlike the other two eyes which were dark blue and matched the color of the guide’s skin.)
“Yes, indeed—I’m Dr. Craythorn,” she said briskly, stepping forward with a smile. “And I’m so excited that I get to witness your Binding Week ceremonies! Tell me, is it true that all of Thropp’ic Sigma waits all year for this one single solar week to get married—er, Bound together?”
“Yes, it is.” The guide puffed up his narrow chest proudly. “No legitimate Bindings can be made except during this one sacred week. And since a year on Thropp’ic Sigma lasts for seven hundred and fifty-seven solar days, you may imagine how excited many couples are to finally show their love for each other!”
Sunny smiled wider. She had always observed that if you could get the other person talking about themselves or their culture, you could usually get over any initial hurdles of prejudice or sexism or whatever was standing in the way and make a connection.
“You have some fascinating social dynamics on your beautiful planet,” she said sincerely. “I can’t wait to go among your people and study them.”
“And we can’t wait to have you, Dr. Craythorn,” the guide replied, smiling back. His third eye had closed again, which seemed like a sign that she had put him at ease—at least Sunny hoped so. “And we have extra excitement this year—our leader himself is going to take a mate for the first time and we’re all breathless to know which female he will choose to Bind to him.”
“How exciting!” Sunny exclaimed, really meaning it. She loved the idea of getting to observe this extra bit of pageantry.
“Yes, it is!” the guide agreed. “But before we go to the ceremonies, I must first take you to where you and your Bound Mate will be staying and show you the ceremonial outfits you must wear.”
“Oh, uh, certainly—lead the way,” Sunny said, nodding. She wasn’t going to correct his idea that she and Greer were a couple—the ceremonies of this entire week were all about couples and they might not be allowed to observe if they didn’t play along.
Greer didn’t try to correct the guide either. He simply grabbed their carry-all cubes—the compact Kindred luggage that could store almost anything—and they followed their guide into the warm, humid night.
Greer had landed the long-range shuttle at the edge of a jungle, where they had been instructed to put down, but there was a large village in the distance. Sunny could see lots of homes that looked like huts. They were outlined in the firelight of many torches that had been set all around the perimeter of the village.
The guide led them through the village gates and down several narrow, winding streets until they came to a nice little hut with bright white walls and a roof thatched with broad purple leaves.
“Come inside—everything is laid out for you, Dr. Craythorn,” he said courteously.
Sunny walked in easily but noticed that Greer had to duck his head. Clearly these buildings weren’t made for someone his size. Still once they got inside, the ceiling opened up so at least he didn’t have to hunch down as he had in several places they had visited.
Inside, the hut was very simple. There were woven rush mats on the floor instead of carpet and a single bed which was resting on a ridiculously high bed frame. In fact, it was so high that Sunny had to stand on her tiptoes to get a look at the smooth blue spread, which seemed to be made of large leaves sewn together.
“Wow—it’s beautiful,” she said, smiling at the guide. “But does the bed frame lower down at all? I’m afraid I won’t be able to get up there.”
“Oh, we have bed stairs, of course.” The guide frowned and looked around the room. “I can’t believe they didn’t provide you with a set! I’ll get you some, of course,” he told her.
