Page 24 of Taken to Lemora
“GORMAN!” He roars over his shoulder. “Can you get Essmira one of those Asgid stitching gadgets?”
My face burns. I reach out and place my hand on his arm. “You don’t have to ask him to do that for me.”
He stares down at the contact of my skin on his and I wonder if he can feel it.The tingling…There’s a tingling in my skin that’s entirely alien to me.
Maybe it’s because his skin is so rough and I’ve just caught the vivid hallucination of all that rough skin pressing down on me. Maybe it’s because that tingling has reached my lower belly. Maybe it’s because of his kindness. Maybe it’s just the cool, damp Lemoran breeze.
And maybe it’s because the idea of having a male looking to please me is new and exciting, but whatever it is, I feel zapped by it and I wonder if he’s stunned equally.
“I…” His throat works and his right hand floats halfway to his horns before jerking to a stop and folding back against his chest.
His left arm — the one I’m touching — doesn’t move at all. It’s eerily still. And then, dazedly, he whispers, “You can have anything you want. Anything that’s mine to give.”
“Do you need it now, Essmira, or shall I have it delivered to Merquin?”
“Oh. I don’t want to bother one of your couriers,” I say, quickly turning to face Gorman, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. His eyes are bright and curious and I feel my face heat even more when he not-so-surreptitiously glances between Raingar and I and my hand and his arm. “I can carry it.”
“We have shipments to deliver to Merquin’s keep, anyway, and the wand takes up a negligible amount of space on the pad pad carts. It would be no trouble at all.”
“Oh. Well, in that case, that would be overly kind of you. Thank you.”
“Not a problem.” He offers me a smile and a little bow, but doesn’t move away immediately. Instead, he makes a little note in his book and then shuts it with a loud snap. “What will you be making first, Essmira?”
“Some pants for Raingar,” I reply and Gorman belts out a laugh. He laughs so hard that tears come to his onyx eyes. He wipes them away with the sleeve of his robe — an extremely fine creation, but not wholly suited to his species’ frame, I think, dreaming up possibilities for Hypha creations while simultaneously trying to cage my own responding snort-laugh.
“Is it something I said?” I ask Raingar with a smile. I bite my bottom lip.
“Don’t answer that,” Raingar barks to Gorman, who promptly ignores him and says, “Apparently, his visit to Quadrant One turned him into quite the connoisseur of style.” Gorman laughs at his own joke before shaking his head. “I don’t think I’ve had so much fun in my life…”
“Pagh!” Raingar grabs my arm a little roughly and wheels me outside into the fresh, misty air. “Buggar off, you bastard!” He shouts over his shoulder.
Gorman answers by saying, “It’s been a pleasure, Essmira.”
“The pleasure’s all mine!” I wave awkwardly over my shoulder and let Raingar steer us out of the busy courtyard, out of the forward gates, and onto a crowded street. Most beings here are riding pad pads, but Raingar insists on walking.
“Um…where are we going?” I say when we’ve been standing in the center of the crowded path in and out of his keep for some time — long enough for a half dozen creatures to attempt to speak to him and, surprisingly, me.
“Uhmmmmmmmm.” He stammers wildly, hands reaching for his horns absently. I’m more convinced now than ever that they’re hurting him, and I fight the urge to ask him if I can help him in some way. I know that Lemoran horns are sensitive, but I worry that if I offer, he’ll view me exclusively as a pleasurer.Wait. Aren’t I?Given my confusing and often conflicting treatment so far, I’m no longer sure.
“Is there somewhere I might source some fabric for your pants? I was thinking I might tailor your existing trousers, but I can also make you a new pair, too.”
“You mean…the market?” I don’t know why he’s looking at me as if I’ve just asked him for one of his vital organs, but I nod.
“Yeffa. The market. Is there one in your territory?”
“Is there…is there! Is there one inmyterritory? Pagh!” He throws both hands in the air and stomps further down the path, seemingly without caring whether or not I follow.
I bite back a smile as I jog to catch up and, even though the air is wet with drizzle and sunlight, I snort and don’t bother putting up my hood.
The walk to the market is winding and long. I’m realizing quickly that Lemora is a very spread out planet, yet…you’re never alone. There are beings, the occasional outpost, pub, restaurant, dwelling or storefront, all along the winding paths and at every single location, every being within or simply on the path waves at Raingar as we pass. They don’t even seem to mind that he only ever offers them grunts, at best and, at worst, curses in return.
The pad pads some beings ride are magnificent beasts. Huge and shaggy, they have long, tan and white fur that tracks dirt and dust. They have four legs and a split tail with three furry ends that they occasionally use to swat at, catch and devour large insects that buzz past them, or simply swat at each other or their riders. They’re always making wild sounds that I like to think is laughter. They seem so happy. It’s infectious.
Their mouths are wide on the front of their gigantic heads, smiles stretching all the way back to their tiny, horned ears. Their teeth are blocky and oddly charming. Their dark noses are soft and fuzzy to the touch and their eyes are small and dark. They are, in a word, the opposite of Lemoran — soft everywhere the average Lemoran is not.
But happy.
Everything here is. Andmaybeeven the grumpy Lemoran beside me who I can see staring at me out of the corner of my eye when he thinks I cannot.
