Dante came with a shudder that made his whole body turn to a giant, boneless noodle. A giant, boneless, overcooked, mushy noodle. A very happy one.
Regi collapsed next to him, breathing so hard that his nostrils flared, and Dante was panting. For a time, they lay and looked up at the sky through the patchwork of leaves dancing over their heads. Regi still had his hand down Dante’s pants, and Dante rested his head on Regi’s shoulder and soaked up the closeness. It had been so long since touch had been comforting. True, he’d had lovers and their lust-stained caress, but this was different. Dante had never felt like this.
Dante frowned. “Is your skin vibrating?”
“That is the communicator. That pattern suggests that a temple exalted is calling.”
Dante propped himself up on an elbow. “Shouldn’t you answer?”
“No. We are in the middle of a culturally significant picnic as we attempt to determine the levels of our compatibility, and given how much I hope for us to develop a relationship, I do not want to cut our time short.”
“What if it’s something about Ter?”
Regi tightened his hold. “Then they will wait until we have shared food. I understand the sharing of food is a vital part of the picnic.”
Dante frowned, but hopefully Regi’s mother would hold the fort because he did like the idea that Regi would put their relationship first.
“You’re sure?”
Regi captured his hand and brought it up to kiss the palm. “The pattern is not one that communicates urgency. And you are more important than any non-urgent business the temple could hope to produce. Now, what food shall we start with? Is there a ritual or sequence required for the presentation of the food? I want to honor this ritual.”
“Eating together is enough,” Dante assured him. He was caught between wanting to enjoy their time together and wanting to rush through so they could get back to the temple. He worried about Ter. However, the temple never moved without at least a dozen debates, and it was nice under the trees in the company of someone who wanted him.
Ter could wait.
For a little while, at least.
Chapter Sixteen
Regi was trailing his fingers over the soft, smooth skin of Dante's arm with its scattering of almost invisible hairs when his communicator began to buzz again. The fast tempo vibrated louder and louder until he pulled it out of his pocket.
“Problem?” Dante asked.
Regi sat up. “Speak,” he said without taking time to locate an earpiece. Hopefully whatever emergency demanded his immediate attention was not a sensitive matter.
“How quickly can you get back here?” Vk asked, breathless with alarm. Even Peaches seemed to pick up on the anxious tone, and she toddled toward Dante. He scooped her up without taking his eyes off Regi.
“Vk?” Fear ran up Regi's spine. Vk didn't panic. There were two absolutes he had learned after years of working with her. First, she had the absolute worst weapons scores an individual could have on the accuracy range without being decertified from security work and second, she never panicked. Ever. And how had she accessed Kowri communication? “What's happened? How are you on a Kowri channel?”
“Gimi patched my signal to you. We received a communication from the temple relating to Ter being denied certain rights due to his new legal status.”
“What specifically was said?” Regi asked. He could almost feel his goddess’s cold touch down his spine.
“I do not have direct knowledge of what the temple told Ter, but from what junior engineers have reported, it appears that Ter insisted that he is going to visit the temple and explain the exact breadth and depth of their ignorance,” Vk said.
“What?” Regi could not imagine a more horrific scenario. “Do not let him leave that ship.”
“I have informed him he is not allowed, as has the captain, but he is the one responsible for securing the locks. I do not trust that the exit will remain secure for long.”
“He's at the exit?” Regi demanded. A hatch lock would not prove much of a barrier. Setting aside all propriety around the use of public spaces, Regi abandoned the picnic platform and began to run toward the spaceport. Behind him, Dante issued one startled bark, a wordless exclamation that might have some cultural significance to huumans but that the translator failed to interpret.
When Regi leapt over the sagging limb of a tired old tree missing most of its leaves, Dante was only a half stride behind him. For a species with such medical fragility, he was a robust individual.
“Do not allow him to leave the ship,” Regi ordered Vk.
“I am hoping to keep him here as long as possible, but short of having a security detail tackle him or fire non-lethal projectiles at him, I do not know how to accomplish that goal.”
“Slow him as long as possible. I'm returning with all possible speed.”
