“Wearing this could be considered part of my duty as a cultural attaché.” She tried saying it aloud. Practicing, as if she might need to defend her choice to her boss.
Her words faded because she was aghast at how revealing the Lurran clothing was. Yet her uncertainty about wearing the outfit warred with her intuition—it told her Mikolaus would approve, even if Ambassador Gray might not.
Dressed like this I look like an ancient warrior goddess.
The peach-colored tunic fit perfectly over her breasts and hips, smoothed down over her flat stomach, and descended to right above her knees. She turned around and stared at her rear reflection in the room’s mirror, using a smaller hand-held mirror.
“My back is completely exposed,” she muttered, not sure if she was complaining or admiring.
She set the mirror down and fidgeted with the purple leather girdle. It snugly cinched in her waist and fitted over her hips.
That’s a real knife, too. She sucked on her finger that still bled, having braved the pointed tip with foolish curiosity.
She evaluated the outfit again, for at least the fifth time since she’d put it on.
Soft leather knee-high boots showed off her muscular calves. The tunic hugged her breasts and thighs while dipping low enough to show the entirety of her back. A necklace of crystals wrapped in a gold wire hung around her neck, nestling between her breasts.
Better decide.
Mikolaus would arrive at any moment.
Do I wear this and risk Gray’s disapproval, or do I not wear it and risk Lurran disapproval?
She smoothed her hands down her body. Beneath the tunic, she wore the see-through under garments, which gave her a decidedly wicked mindset.
All her life she had only worn the regulation suit.
Not tonight, she mused, turning to examine her reflection from every angle. Her hair was in its usual braid, her cheeks flushed with excitement. She’d never looked so regal, so commanding.
At last, she smiled. Her reflection told her she was seductive, and that gave her power.
I think maybe I’m beginning to understand the importance of clothing on Lurra.
When a knock sounded on her door, she inhaled sharply. “Here we go,” she said to herself with a flick of an eyebrow. “Doing crazy off-planet things.”
With a hammering heart, she opened the door.
Mikolaus wore a deep purple tunic embellished with metal buttons and black trim at the cuffs and down the front. Snug black pants were tucked into black boots. One knife was sheathed on his belt.
When he first saw her, his eyes bugged briefly. Hannah had just enough time for one thought: Do I look a fool?
But then Mikolaus smiled in approval and offered her his arm. “As I thought. You are a goddess.”
Hannah put her arm through his. At the contact, a tingle raced down her spine, making the fine hairs on her arms stand up. Then, with a confidence borrowed from the approval in his eyes and words, she held her head high.
Ambassador Gray might not approve. But Mikolaus did. And suddenly, that mattered much more to her.
The gladiator led her down the ornate staircase and to the end of a long hallway where double doors opened into a large room filled with tables. People milled around the room, their clothes flashing with color.
“We will dine at the ambassador’s table,” Mikolaus said, gesturing toward the front of the room. “And I am honored to sit with the most beautiful woman in the room.”
His voice and tone were seductive, his eyes piercing and probing, and his presence so close to her a constant reminder of the heat flashing between them.
Everything on Lurra is primed for seduction.
She slanted a look at Mikolaus. His eyes were bright with enjoyment and the pulse at his neck throbbed with vitality.
Once in the dining room, Hannah wanted to see everything at once. She heard music and found the source—the musicians by the windows. Two men played large wooden instruments with strings, another blew on a tube with holes, and a fourth man sat at large desk-like instrument, also with strings. The lovely music was haunting, yet inspiring. She stood close to the quartet for several moments, simply listening.
“Come,” Mikolaus said, taking her hand and leading her away after a few moments.
Hannah kept close to Mikolaus. With her Lurran costume and this handsome gladiator at her side, she felt like she had stumbled into one of the old fairy tales.
A swirling riot of colorful fabrics seemed to dance around her in time to the music, adding to the sense of magic the evening was taking on. When Hannah laughed aloud and spun around to try to take in everything at once, Mikolaus laughed with her, flashing strong white teeth.
“You must be hungry,” he said. His smile grew, with mischief glinting in his eyes. “We have only the finest Lurran delicacies for you this evening.”
“I’m so excited,” Hannah said. “I don’t know if I can eat.”
Mikolaus drew her to a large table at the front of the room. Ambassadors Gray and Urkiza were already seated in the center of the table, with various Lurran nobles and E2 delegates. All the Earth delegates were dressed in Lurran-style clothing.
“Whew,” she said, sitting in the chair Mikolaus held for her.
He sat next to her. “And what gives you such relief?” His eyes were all over her, making Hannah feel more alive than ever before.
“Relief that I am not the only one dressed―”
“Like the goddess you truly are,” he said softly.
He gazed at her, eyebrows hiked, waiting for her to argue. When she didn’t, something akin to fire sparked in his eyes. His gaze on her face, the feel of strange clothes on her skin, the sensation of nudity in public, it all worked to transform her into a stranger, someone she didn’t know―but wanted to.
The music stopped and Ambassador Urkiza stood.
“With the arrival of this delegation from Earth-2,” she said, “we celebrate tonight the opening of new doors, bringing new values and new opportunities for both Lurra and Earth-2. After dinner there will be a demonstration of Lurra weapons by our renowned Master Gladiator, Mikolaus. Please, enjoy your meal.” With a gracious smile, she seated herself again.
“You’re tonight’s entertainment?” Hannah asked. She eyed the first course being served, a cold soup.
“A simple demonstration,” Mikolaus answered. “Since you say there are no edged weapons on E2, it should be enlightening.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Hannah glanced at his muscular arms. Oh, yes. I’m sure it will.
Grinning, she tasted the soup. It was delicious, creamy and light with a hint of something almost floral, and oddly seductive—the more she tasted it, the more she wanted.
Seduction. The one word I would use to describe Lurra.
“Tell me about Lurra,” she said aloud. “In particular, the three men to one woman marriage arrangement. I’m intrigued by the pyramid structure.”
“The pyramid, as you call it, evolved from necessity,” Mikolaus said. “The Great Plague left us with three men to every woman. An arrangement like the ancient one-to-one model would have resulted in the loss of a great portion of Lurra’s total available DNA.”
Hannah remembered the mosaic in the reception room, death and war portrayed with such shocking detail. The events had become a racial memory, never to be forgotten.
She sat back as a quiet servitor dressed in a simple white tunic whisked away the soup bowl.
“What marriage arrangement do you have on E2?” Mikolaus asked.
“Marriages are one to one. Gender isn’t prescribed, only the number of spouses.”
Mikolaus pulled back, doubt wrinkling his brow. “One woman and one man together forever?”
“Forever?” Again, Hannah moved so the servitor could do his job, this time placing a salad in front of her. She smelled a tart dressing over dark greens with slices of something purple. “No, forever isn’t an option many take on E2. Most marriages last a few years and then partners move on.” She glanced at Mikolaus. The corners of his dark eyes crinkled.
“What?” Hannah asked. “How long do Lurran marriages last?”
He turned in his chair to face her. “Hannah, quad marriages are the social structure that saved Lurra’s population. We would certainly have died off―”
“So, the quad marriage is about the math?”
“No,” he answered, his voice quiet but vehement. “The quad did more than preserve DNA. It preserved society after Lurra was decimated. We lost not only most of our women, but also our civilization in the great wars that followed.”
Mikolaus took her hand. Hannah’s heartbeat tripped and stuttered before accelerating. The skin-to-skin contact placed all her neurons on alert. She clenched her teeth, fighting not to shiver.
For the first time ever, Hannah wished she had a better vocabulary for what she was feeling. On E2, sex was so … clinical. She knew all the signs of sexual arousal, the chemical and physiological processes. She’d always enjoyed sexual encounters well enough. But she’d never responded to someone the way she responded to Mikolaus. Even the sound of his voice as he described the horrors of his world during and after the plague sent heat shooting through her.
“When the women died,” he said softly, “there was war, brutal, all male, destructive, decimating war.” He turned her hand over to stroke the back. “Once the bloodlust consumed us―the men―we would have slaughtered everything in sight. It was only the women who stopped us, stopped the slaughter and saved us, saved Lurra.”
He looked down and spoke as though she were one of those women of the past. “You offered us the gift of procreation. You offered all deserving men the chance to procreate and make Lurran DNA strong enough to survive forever. You created the triad and the quad so that all Lurrans might survive.”
“So the women created the structure.” She tilted her head and watched his response carefully. “But how do men keep from being jealous of each other?”
“In the beginning, a man who disrupted the triad or the quad was ejected. Those men were left to roam the Outlands. Some of them tried to join another quad in the case of an unexpected death, but they were rarely accepted. To be ejected is to lose your place in the genetic line. No man wants that.”
Their servitor removed the salad plates and placed new utensils on the table. When the servitor left, Mikolaus finished. “With such a sentence, disruptive behavior eventually disappeared. While Lurrans are ferocious fighters against our enemies, we bond for life within the triad and the quad. Forever.”
Hannah did not miss the emphasis. To mate with not one, but three men, did seem genetically sensible to her E2-trained mind. And even if the idea of staying with them for life was odd, the presence of three men made it seem less likely that the woman, at least, would grow bored.
I wonder what Mikolaus’ triad-mates are like?
A delectable odor wafted through the room, making Hannah’s mouth water. As the meat dish was served, she was astonished at the conspicuous consumption of the State dinner. On E2, food came in packets consumed on the run, unless you could afford to eat in one of the pricey eating establishments. Only the elites ate fresh food. She tasted the meat and vegetables, both covered in some kind of gravy, and closed her eyes, savoring the flavors and textures in her mouth.
Oh my―again, seduction.
Aware she’d drifted into a kind of gastronomic trance, she glanced at Mikolaus, only to find him smiling. “What?” she asked. “Am I amusing you again?”
“You seem to enjoy Lurran life.” He edged close so that his breath fanned her neck. “I believe there’s much here you could enjoy.”
She blinked, a heated flush spreading up her chest and across her cheeks.
He sat back, a satisfied look on his face. “I’m afraid I must leave you now to prepare for the demonstration.”
His eyes lingered on the crystal hanging between Hannah’s breasts. His attention stirred the heat at her core. Tendrils of desire flowed through her body, bringing gooseflesh to her arms. She rubbed them to keep from doing something inappropriate—like taking his face in her hands and kissing him.
“Ambassador Urkiza will escort you to the arena.” Mikolaus seemed unaware of her reaction to him as he rose and strode from the room, leaving Hannah a little breathless and a little sad—until he reached the exit. When he glanced back over his shoulder and saw her watching him, he tossed a wicked smile her direction.
She couldn’t help but smile in return.