Mini Ohem tilted his head, his Izi flaring in his version of a smile, his four tentacles waving behind him, and all three of his tails curling around his legs.
“Patty, I’ve left you a gift with Anu. She will make sure it gets to your rooms at the palace. Wear this for Rema when he is at the end of his rope, as you humans say, and watch him break. I hope your mating night is as wild as you are. I love you. Jack and I will see you soon.”
The hologram of Ohem sucked back into the sphere right as my eyes started watering. I freaking loved the shit out of that alien. I sniffed, laughing a little as I tilted my head back to look up at Rema. “Ohem seems to think I can drive you to break all that hard won discipline.”
A very undignified snort left Rema. “We shall see about that.”
Who was he kidding? I had this male in the palm of my hand.
I was turning to give him The Smolder when a series of soft knocks sounded from the door.
Rema’s shoulders tensed, his head jerking up to glare at the offending noise. “I had hoped they’d wait until I got you settled. It would seem that courtesy is too much to ask for.”
Chapter 6
Patty
I trailed behind himas he stomped across the sitting room and jerked the door open, startling a pack of females badly enough that they took a unified step back.
“Yes?” he all but snarled at them, his bulk talking up all the space in the doorway. His wing had swooped out to curl around me to tuck me close to his side. I tried very, very hard not to purr and do a full body rub against the soft feathers. It would be a bad first impression. Or second impression, since two of his cousinsthat had been part of the group of his family that ‘greeted’ us were in this new flock.
The older looking female took a step forward with a flick of her wings, as if to shake off the shock. She had a sour face, all scrunched up in a hateful scowl. She’d probably be pretty if she wasn’t so bitchy. There was the tall elegance inherited from her mother, with the same willowy build, but where her mother had dark hair and wings, this female was all lightness. She had silvery white hair that nearly matched the shade of her wings, though her long flight feathers were stained a darker gray. Her skin tone was the same pearly paleness as the rest of Rema’s kind, but she appeared almost sickly, like she never saw the sun. Even her eyes were a pale blue, nearly corpse-like.
Someone should tell her that wearing white when she looked like the dearly departed wasn’t a good look.
The other cousin, what I was guessing might be her sister, was a carbon copy of their mother, all the way down to the bitch face. I wanted to punch her really, really bad. Was that acceptable on this planet? I’d made a sorta promise that I wouldn’t murder anyone, but I hadn’t said anything about knocking someone’s teeth out. I healed fast now too, so I wouldn’t have to worry about broken knuckles! Happiest of days.
I sucked in a breath quietly, trying to sift through the various emotions drifting to me from the group. Most were sour, or straight up bitter with hints of spicy heat as one or two of the females eyed Rema, but there was one that was all soothing vanilla. Someone was here with the purest of intentions. How cute.
“Lady Lyees? We were not expecting you. To what do we owe the honor?” Rema asked, a burst of surprise flitted through his emotions, tasting of lemongrass and then his voice teeter tottered over the edge of sharp politeness, at risk of plunging into blatant disrespect.
“I see you’ve brought my family with you.”
My eyes moved from threatening his cousins to the golden winged female dressed in a soft yellow wispy dress at the head of the flock. This one was pretty, and with a few silent smacks of my lips, I discovered the vanilla taste of emotion was coming from her with not a wisp of irritation at Rema for his shortness. She even had a sweet face to match her beauty, enhancing it.
She was also softer than the others in the group, without the hard angles and venom filled eyes. Light golden hair cut short framed her face and brought all the attention to her large multicolored eyes. From my place tucked into Rema’s side, I could see violet, teal, and maybe green. The colors swirled together in a way that made me want to lean in closer for a better look. Long gold eyelashes added to the welcoming effect, and when Lady Lyees turned her gaze to me I couldn’t help but return her warm smile. Wow, she was almost too sweet. Not even a hint of interest for Rema either. Damnit, I liked her on sight.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but Queen Immainthe sent me to help prepare the Lady Dells for our evening meal.”
Me, the former whore, a Lady. I bit my lip until I tasted blood to keep from laughing until I cried. I would be filing this away to tell Jack and the others. Thinking about Callie’s reaction to me being called a Lady had my eyes watering trying to keep the laughter trapped in my throat.
Rema’s body lost its tense stillness, relaxing against me and his voice warmed considerably when he spoke. “Ah, so the Queen chose you as her Guide. I am very pleased to hear this. Thank you, Lyees. If you could give me a small moment to explain to Patty before I release her into your care?"
Lady Lyees flared her golden wings slightly and gave a small tip of her head, all four of her hands clasped in front of her. “Of course. We will wait in the hall.”
Rema backed up a step, taking me with him, and closed the door. His wing let me go so I could face him.
“So what’s up?”
He frowned for a moment in confusion before his face cleared in understanding. “There needs to be more lessons on human language. Some of your translations have odd meanings to me.” He shook his head with a sigh and continued, “Within the eight days of the Courting there are various events that take place, and a Guide is needed to help the female with her dress and tasks. She, and a small group of attendants, will be there to help explain what is expected of you.”
Oh, so like a lady's maid type of thing. Cool, I got servants. I always knew I deserved to be waited on.
“Sweet. And where will you be during all this? And what exactly is going to happen over the next eight days?” I asked, stepping closer to him to make his blush rise to pinken his cheeks.
Rema cleared his throat, the pink stain spreading to his ears. “I will be in my own quarters getting myself dressed for this evening's meal. As for the rest of the ceremony, there are eight days of challenges or events, tomorrow will be the Founding. Which is usually a problem solving challenge for the couples to complete together. Then there is Challenge, a test of my ability to protect you, and then there is Heat.” His blush darkened to a deep red, steamrolling right past his usual dark pink and my interest peaked to new heights.
“After Heat, is Conviction, Quiet, Celebration, Presentation—” Oh wow, the red was now covering his whole face, spreading down his neck to disappear under his black tunic. Just what was the Presentation to elicit such a reaction. I could feel my smile turn predatory and had to work to keep from snickering at him. The poor dear was already struggling to get the words out. “— and lastly, is Consummation.”
