“Even for Earthers,” Natla added before Mandy could argue, “a year is too long. Look, if you’re not ready for sex, at least try for some male companionship. You can’t get much safer than barbarians. They’re famous for being super respectful of women, and especially careful of women they want to bed.”
Mandy started feeling overly warm again. “Geez, Natla. Can we talk about something else?”
Natla shrugged. “Sure. Why not? How about we talk about Lisa? What do you think she’s up to? I hear she mated Maht and is having his baby.”
“Already? She’s only been gone two months.”
“They work fast.” Natla nodded. “Sometimes the females mate with one male, sometimes they mate with two. Depends on what clan they’re with.”
“What clan are Zehn and Lore from?” As if Mandy didn’t already know, but she wanted to see what Natla had to say.
“Funny you should ask. They’re from the Vyctore Clan. From what I gather, they’re the toughest clan in the Cloud Tribe.”
Mandy knew a little about the barbarians. There were three tribes of them covering the planet. Closest to the resort were the Cloud Tribe, some fifty thousand strong. The Cloud Tribe had a bunch of clans. Apparently, Lore and Zehn came from the same clan as Kahl and Maht. She didn’t know much more about the Vyctore other than that their men had mated one of the humans working in Welcome and another who’d been about to start her job there.
A fact that didn’t sit well with the resort’s investors.
Management had been paying strict attention to their security forces. But no one could blame the barbarians for doing anything improper. Lisa and Skye had left and mated of their own volition.
But not Mandy. She had a life to enjoy, a past to ignore, and a future to plan. Away from here. Enough time had passed that she’d probably be safe to leave Ussed. That’s if she could manage a way off this planet without losing her new identity—or her control. She glanced at the waste basket and forced herself to concentrate on maintaining her inner shields.
More time passed, the routine familiar. She continued to hear talk about the barbarian skirmish with the Earthers. Zehn and Lore had become warrior favorites with her fellow employees, mostly because they hadn’t yet bedded anyone, and everyone was dying to know what they wanted in a bed partner. For all that the barbarians didn’t mingle much with the offworlders, a few of them had indulged in some heady nights in the past. Like Kahl. Natla, you sly dog.
But not Mandy.
Deep down, she lamented her growing loneliness, even while knowing she’d done the right thing. No barbarian, alien, or Earther would tempt her into makingthatcolossal mistake again. Sex, while pleasurable, could be dangerous for a woman like her. In more ways than one.
The day progressed, and through an open window, Mandy saw the suns begin to set. She and Natla finished working some logistical concerns for new employees, meal shortages for the night shift, and payments due to certain staff members not on the regular rotation.
Once the office emptied, she and Natla closed up. “Do you ever wonder what the barbarians think of us?” Mandy speculated.
“I know what they think ofyou.” Natla winked. “But I’m sure they find the rest of us primitive. Our reliance on technology isn’t something they’re fond of. I’ve been at the resort going on three years. I’ve met my share of them, and most have been polite and pleasant, but nothing you’d call friendly outside of a sexual liaison here or there. They tolerate us because of the treaty, but until lately, they’ve never looked at us as equals, like someone to take to mate.” A noted reference to Lisa and Skye.
Yet one more reason to stay away from the sexy giants. Mandy had grown up being considered nothing but property. No way she’d do that again.
Annoyed at the thought, Mandy growled, “Funny, because they’re the ones who seem primitive to me.” They wore loincloths, for goodness sake.
Natla shook her head. “It’s all about perspective, I guess. Now let’s get out of here and talk more tomorrow. Husbands 2 and 4 are off tonight. I’ve got plans.” Natla wiggled her eyebrows.
Mandy laughed and walked Natla to her cabana, then continued on her path toward her own. She’d accepted the unit farthest from the resort for privacy reasons. Though near enough to her neighboring Welcome attendants, her unit was located around a bend, giving her a small semblance of privacy, as well as access to a hidden lagoon she often lounged in when off work.
So far from the center of the resort, and situated behind a rock wall accessed only by a small opening she had to crawl through to access, Mandy spent her evenings under the moonlight, surrounded by nothing but warm water, sweet flowers, and lush greenery.
The three moons overhead promised a bright night, and after taking a short meal in the form of a nutrition bar, she grabbed a synth towel and walked toward her grotto. Peace and quiet, finally.
She shifted around the bush shielding the entrance, then crawled through the stone opening. A few feet inside, just as she started to get to rise, she heard rustling in front of her. She froze. The murmur of low voices came to her. What sounded like… Zehn and Lore?
Though they’d left her small gifts before, they’d never intruded at night, and certainly never near her grotto. She crawled the short distance to the shrubs surrounding her tiny lagoon and peered over them, astounded to see the giant warriors in her special spot. How had they fit through the entrance? Had they been spying on her to find her hidden paradise?
“I do not need this. I can wait,” she heard Lore say. The quieter of the two, he seemed more intense than his partner.
Both males dwarfed her. Their breadth of shoulder, sheer mass, and muscular frames intimidated the heck out of her. It didn’t help that both men were drool-worthy. The flesh-colored tribal tattoo on Lore’s chest darkened, then faded as suddenly.
Zehn’s coloring echoed Lore’s, pulsing with a hint of red before fading.
She couldn’t stop herself from crawling closer, then froze when she cracked a stick underfoot.
The barbarians didn’t seem to notice, intent on each other.
