Vision of Seduction. Cassie Ryan
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respond, Katelyn reverted to her comfortable, sarcastic humor. “Not a bad offer if all the men look anything remotely like Grayson.”
Alyssa laughed again—a genuine sound of mirth this time—and her eyes danced with mischief. “Let’s just say you’ll be pleasantly surprised in that regard. Although I have a feeling Grayson won’t like your appreciation of any of the other men’s good looks, or even the women, for that matter.”
Katelyn bristled at any discussion of Grayson becoming possessive or proprietary over her. Katelyn had always prided herself on being independent and her own woman. If Grayson had a problem with that, they needed to resolve that misconception first thing.
Her brain suddenly caught up with her indignation, and she processed the last half of Alyssa’s sentence.
Katelyn’s cheeks burned, and a lead ball of mortification settled inside her stomach. Was Alyssa psychic? Had she picked up on Katelyn’s strong attraction to her?
A crease formed between Alyssa’s dark brows, and she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “Oh, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I guess I thought, because you are partly human, Tador wouldn’t affect you the same way it does the natives.” She reached out for the pitcher of tea and poured it into a tall glass. “I assume from your reaction that you’re experiencing strong sexual urges. Don’t be embarrassed—sexual energy here on Tador is just as important as food or water. It most likely means you need sexual sustenance to fully recover.”
Katelyn’s temples throbbed. Grayson had said as much in their dream vision, but he hadn’t mentioned that she would suddenly be attracted to women, too. “I’m not sure what’s happening to me. I’ve always had a healthy libido, but oh, my Goddess. Does the planet also make you attracted to people you weren’t attracted to before?”
Alyssa took a drink and set her glass on the table. “You can rest easy on that subject—you’re not crazy. Tador is a world of sexual energy, and there are very few things forbidden here. The planet will pull you strongly toward what you need to ensure you retain enough energy.” She brushed a braid over her shoulder. “When you see Grayson you should have him give you a tour so you can see for yourself.” The queen leaned back in her chair and studied Katelyn. “I like you already. If Grayson had to bring someone back through the between, I’m glad he found someone with a sense of humor.”
Confusion flitted through Katelyn’s brain. She set the pastry on the plate in front of her and wiped her fingers on a pillowy soft napkin. “Between?”
The queen nodded and then swallowed. “I’m sorry, let me back up. The between is a portal between our world and Earth. It’s a dark void, and I’ve never met anyone who likes using it, but it’s an easy way to travel, once you learn how to open the portal.”
“Is it hard to learn?” It would be a relief to know Katelyn didn’t have to rely on the Klatch to decide to let her leave.
“It took me a while. However, I think only Klatch or Cunts are able to open one.” Alyssa’s brow furrowed, and she seemed about to say something more when she stopped and shook her head. “Anyway, I haven’t had much of a chance to talk to Grayson yet this morning, and he’s been busy recovering from the injuries he received the other night. But he should be down in a few minutes.”
Katelyn’s palms grew clammy as unease trickled along her spine. “Other night? How long was I out?”
“Two days.” Alyssa bit her bottom lip, choosing her words. “Well, I assume you mean in Earth terms. When it’s night there, it’s day here. So, when Grayson brought you back through the between, it was two nights ago, Earth time, or two days ago, Tador time.”
Sick dread pooled inside Katelyn’s stomach. Rita had probably reported her missing by now. Crap! “I have to get back. Rita will be freaking out.”
Alyssa placed a hand over Katelyn’s. The queen’s hand was soft and warm, and Katelyn had a sudden urge to graze her thumb over the back of it the way Grayson had done to Katelyn’s after her vision at her store.
Unaware of Katelyn’s thoughts, or maybe in spite of them, Alyssa continued. “I figured you’d be worried about your store, so I had one of the guards write a note to your co-owner. They also cleaned up as best they could and brought your purse—it’s in the bottom drawer of the nightstand in the room where you woke. Rita will think you and Grayson have run off for a weeklong cruise.” Alyssa cocked her head to the side to study Katelyn’s reaction. “We’ve also left discreet guards in place around the neighborhood, and some inside the shop, to ensure the Cunts don’t harm Rita to try to get to you.”
Katelyn caught her breath. She’d been so busy coming to terms with her own situation, she hadn’t stopped to consider Rita might be in danger. Hell, she still wasn’t sure why she was in danger. “Thanks. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.” The comforting balm of relief slid through Katelyn, and she sighed. At least Rita wouldn’t worry about her.
She took a breath to ask Alyssa why either she or Rita were in danger, but then Alyssa squeezed Katelyn’s hand and let go to relax against her chair.
The breath backed up in Katelyn’s lungs, and she swallowed hard as another thick surge of arousal surged through her. Her labia throbbed, and her nipples were suddenly sensitive, her breasts heavy and aching.
A gentle breeze teased the queen’s hair, and the beads in her braids tinkled against each other like fairy song.
Katelyn dropped her hands into her lap to keep from reaching back out for Alyssa’s hand. Whether this planet affected her or not, she found it disconcerting to react to a woman almost as much as she’d reacted to Grayson.
“It amazes me that men don’t think of these things.” Alyssa continued, hopefully unaware of Katelyn’s discomfiting reaction. “But, then, they’re men. They think we’ll just blindly follow whatever they dictate without question.”
Katelyn nodded. A subject change would be good—anything to get away from this sudden sexual attraction to the queen. She cleared her throat, hoping her voice would work. “So, do you know what this is all about? Why those pale guys showed up at my store?”
Pain, followed quickly by anger, etched across Alyssa’s face, surprising Katelyn. “Yes, I know only too well who they are and what they want.” Alyssa dropped the remains of her pastry onto the plate in front of her.
“About twenty-four years ago, there was a civil war here on Tador. The Klatch all look pretty much like Grayson and myself—dark hair, lavender eyes, the men muscular, the women curvy. The other race we warred with are called the Cunts.”
Katelyn cringed at the term. “Yikes. What a horrible name for a race.”
Alyssa laughed. “You have no idea.” She topped off her glass of tea from the pitcher. “Most of the Cunts are products of a mating between two half-Klatch, half-human parents. Once the Klatch blood is diluted to that degree, their physical characteristics change, and their children are pale blond, with tight, athletic bodies and clear blue eyes. Over time, the Cunts decided they were superior to the Klatch and tried to overthrow the king and queen—my parents.”
Katelyn sipped at her own tea, still trying to breathe through the physical reactions surging through her. “You said ‘tried’—I assume the…the Cunts were unsuccessful?”
The queen nodded, but her lips thinned, and her eyes narrowed. “They may not have been entirely successful, but they did a lot of damage. When they lost, they fled to Earth to hide, but not before they kidnapped me and my nanny.”
Alyssa’s energy snapped and sizzled in the air around them and caused Katelyn to gasp. The queen was a powerful practitioner and wielded more energy than Katelyn had ever seen in one person. Because Alyssa concealed it so effortlessly, Katelyn assumed that, like most people, the energy bled through only when strong emotions threatened.
I wouldn’t want to be one of the Cunts if she gets ahold of them.
Alyssa