Cursed: Brides of the Kindred 13 (20 page)

“You look lovely.” Nar’sa smiled at her. “A few more trips through the pool and your shell will achieve the desired transparency to show your inner being.”

“Really?” Charlie looked at the other woman in surprise. “You mean I would become…like you? You’re not…I mean, your people aren’t normally, uh, see-through?”

“Naturally not. We are born with shells as opaque as yours. But constant exposure to the cleansing plasma of the pool renders us as you see us now…and allows a complete and final joining with the one that we choose to love.”

“Um, how many trips through the cleansing pool would it take for my shell—uh, my skin—to become transparent?” Charlie asked apprehensively. As much fun as the cleansing pool had been, she
really
didn’t want to become a living X-ray.

“Only a few hundred or so.” Nar’sa smiled encouragingly. “It would probably take longer than the short stay you have planned here but I can see about increasing your cleansing times if you like at least minimal transparency.”

“No, no—that’s okay,” Charlie said quickly. “That’s sweet of you but I’d really rather concentrate on uh, on the therapy. Stavros and I have a lot to work through.”

“That you do. It is very wise of you to know this.” Nar’sa nodded at her. “Very well then, once a day to the pool will have to suffice. For now, let us get you dressed and prepare you for last meal.”

“Oh, is it supper time here?” Charlie’s stomach growled and she realized that the delicious strawberry cupcake she’d had back on the Mother Ship had been hours ago.

“It is indeed.” Nar’sa was already leading her down another long pink corridor as they left the shimmering cleansing pool behind. “You and your mate will be dining together in the main feeding room. That is usual for most meals.”

“Okay—that sounds good.” After the soothing trip through the cleansing pool, even the prospect of seeing Stavros again couldn’t upset her. After all, they were just partners. It wasn’t like there was anything between them. “Um, I am going to get some clothes though, right?” she asked. Just because her partner had seen her naked once didn’t mean she wanted to give a repeat performance.

“Naturally. I have your robe here.”

They had come out into another vast room, this one empty with rows of blank white rectangular pillars about six feet tall. Nar’sa walked to one of the columns and touched it lightly three times with her right hand. Then she motioned for Charlie to do the same.

A bit apprehensively, Charlie did so. To her surprise, the entire six foot tall rectangular pillar lit up from within and began glowing with a pale pink light.

“There, now this locker is keyed to your touch,” Nar’sa murmured. “It will provide you with fresh garments every day as well as any equipment you might need for your various classes. Not that much is needed in the First Circle.”

As she spoke, a small door slid open and Charlie looked inside to see a white robe with a broad blue sash hanging inside.

“There you are—your novice robes.” Nar’sa smiled at her proudly. She touched another locker and got a crimson robe exactly like the one she’d discarded before stepping into the plasma. She put it on as she spoke. “Be glad, my dear. These robes prove the cleansing pool has determined that you are fit and worthy to begin your instruction here.”

“Oh goody,” Charlie muttered. She wondered what would have happened if the pool
hadn’t
decided she was worthy. Would she have been sent away? Or forced to just go naked? It didn’t bear thinking about—she was
so glad
to get some clothes on again! Not that she had body issues or anything…well, okay, her hips and ass were way too big, that was a given. But even if she’d had a perfectly pert derrière, she didn’t like walking around with everything on display. It was going to feel good to cover up!

She took out the robe—which appeared to be just floating there in midair in the glowing pillar-locker—and put it on. It fit her more like a dress than a loose robe and it seemed to join together at the front with some kind of invisible magnetic closures. She was just about to put the sash around her waist when she realized something.

“Hey—this is see-through!”

It was true. Though the robe covered her in an apparently modest way from her chest all the way down to her feet, when she moved in certain ways, the soft white fabric, which felt like a cross between cotton and silk, had a disconcerting way of going partially transparent. That was, unless the light was hitting it just right—in which case it went
completely
transparent.

Charlie was aghast. Her breasts and the neatly trimmed thatch of curls between her thighs were extremely visible. Her nipples were poking against the thin material and playing peek-a-boo depending on how she moved and twisted or how the light hit her.

“I can’t wear this!” she protested, looking up at Nar’sa. “It’s…it’s indecent. Why can’t I have a red robe like yours?”

Nar’sa laughed gently as though this was the best joke she’d heard all day.

“Why, because you are not of the Third and Inner Circle yet. The Circle of Oneness.”

Charlie bit the inside of her cheek in aggravation. So here was yet
another
thing she and Stavros had screwed up by overplaying their parts as unhappy spouses. She supposed it was her fault—she had started it. The whole “don’t touch me, I hate you” routine had seemed right at the time. And to tell the truth, it had been kind of satisfying to give vent to some of the irritation she had been feeling for him.

Well, now she was paying for it—paying in a
big
way. Had she just been thinking how nice it would be to get covered up and not put everything on display?
Ha, Charlie—looks like the joke is on you! You’re going to be walking around in a see-through robe this whole mission. Hope slapping your partner was worth it!
whispered a snarky little voice in her head.

“You need not be ashamed or worried,” Nar’sa said, breaking her train of thought. “You will not be the only one wearing such a robe—they are assigned to all novices.”

“I’m not worried about all the other novices,” Charlie burst out. “I’m worried about—”

“About your mate?” Nar’sa said gently. “About Stavros? My dear, I do not think you have anything to worry about. I saw the way he looked at you when the two of your were unclothed, even briefly. Clearly he finds you most desirable.”

“Yeah, well…” Charlie could feel her cheeks getting hot and she looked away. “That’s…what I’m afraid of.”

“You need not fear to give yourself to him,” Nar’sa said. “Not right away, of course. But when you’re ready. First you must learn each other’s bodies.”

“Uh, right.” Charlie cleared her throat. “Well, anyway, how does this sash fit? I don’t suppose I can wrap it here, can I?” She tried to wrap the broad, royal blue sash around her breasts but Nar’sa shook her head. Taking the sash from her, she wrapped it around Charlie’s waist and tied it on the side which had the effect of pulling the clinging white fabric of the robe even closer to her body.

“There,” she said, standing back. “You look lovely.”

“Thanks,” Charlie looked down at herself glumly. If anyone had told her she would have to go around in a see-through robe in front of God and everybody—
and don’t forget Stavros—
whispered the snarky little voice, she might not have been so quick to volunteer for this mission. Then again, who else could have gone in her place?

I’m doing this to save my planet,
she reminded herself grimly.
Eyes on the prize, Charlie. You can do this—you
have
to do this.

“Well,” she said out loud. “I guess we should go to dinner now, right?”

“In a moment. It appears that the locker holds something else for you—perhaps something to be used in your first class.”

Charlie looked into the glowing locker again, which had been empty a moment ago, and was surprised to see something she recognized. It was a hairbrush. A big, old fashioned one with medium-stiff bristles and a heavy wooden handle.

“What’s that for?” she asked apprehensively. It reminded her of the one her mom had used on her as a little girl. The trouble was, Mama had been just as apt to use the heavy thing for dishing out a whuppen as for brushing hair.

Nar’sa shook her head. “I do not know—clearly the cleansing pool thought you needed it. It’s purpose will doubtless be revealed in time.”

“Are we supposed to do some kind of weird BDSM thing where Stavros spanks me or something?” Charlie asked, frowning. “Because I’ll tell you right now, I’m not up for that. It might get some girls off but it doesn’t do a damn thing for me.”

“Spanking?” Nar’sa frowned. “Oh, I see what you mean. No—I thought you understood, there is not striking of your partner here. It is not permitted. Corporeal punishment is only used as a last resort in extreme cases of
severe
discipline. And then, only one of the Joined may conduct the punishment.”

“Oh…okay.” Charlie nodded. She picked the hairbrush out of the locker and stared at it diffidently. “What do I do with it?”

“Put it in your pocket for now. You will probably use it after last meal.”

“But I don’t have any…” Her voice trailed off because in the side of the white robe a slit had appeared where there had been none before.

Charlie slipped the bulky hairbrush into it, expecting to be irritated by its weight against her leg. Instead, it seemed almost to melt into the robe, leaving not even a bulge.

“Hey! Where’d it go?” she exclaimed, patting the side of her robe where now even the slit had disappeared.

“Do not worry—it will be available to you again when you need it,” Nar’sa promised. “Now come—we must go.”

Chapter Fifteen

Stavros stood when Charlotte entered the communal dining area…and then wished he had not. The sight of her in the thin, nearly transparent white robe made his cock start to rise under his own thin garment. His was not a robe, however, but more of a long white cloth which wrapped around his waist and fell to his bare ankles. It had a split in the middle to around knee level so walking in it was not difficult but he still felt somewhat awkward wearing the alien clothing with no underbriefs beneath it.

He felt even more awkward about the fact that his chest and arms were bare which showed the curving black lines of his Curse. It seemed to stand out against his skin, shouting to any who cared to look that he was on of the wretched few—a Sin Eater. On his home planet of Tranq Prime, he had kept the markings hidden as much as possible since they were considered ugly and bad luck. Indeed, just the sight of them was enough to make many of his kinsmen shun him completely so it was difficult for him to let them show so openly.

It occurred to Stav that he could let his hair out of the club he wore at the back of his neck and cover some of his mark. But the curving black lines covered his entire back and the sides of his arms. Though his hair was long, it wasn’t quite long enough to hide that much area. Reluctantly, he had resigned himself to letting it show. At least Charlotte hadn’t flinched from it when he showed her his back in the Mother Ship, he reflected. She had even touched the mark—something no female of Tranq Prime would have ever done.

Just the memory of her cool fingertips trailing over his back and the warm taste of her mouth when he had healed her tongue was enough to make his fangs throb and his cock even harder.

Get control of yourself!
Stav lectured himself.
Here she comes—don’t be a fool! Act naturally.

Right, act naturally. As though he couldn’t see her luscious, curvy body right through the thin robe she wore. But he must pretend not to notice—as much as he could, anyway.

“Huh—you look like King Tut,” Charlotte remarked as she came over to the recessed table where Ta’no had instructed him to wait along with several other couples who were talking quietly together. She looked nervous but she was clearly trying to be offhand about the way both of them were dressed. “All you need is a headdress and a big gold yoke around your shoulders.”

“Who is ‘King Tut?’” he asked, trying not to stare at her breasts. Gods, they were so full and ripe and her hips were emphasized by the blue sash bound tightly around her waist. Stavros had on a sash as well but he thought it looked much better on Charlotte.

“Never mind.” She waved a hand, which caused her breasts to jiggle enticingly. “It’s not important.”

“All right. You look lovely,” he said, looking fixedly at her face and nothing else.

She looked around. “You don’t have to say that. I don’t see Nar’sa or Tonto either.”

“
Ta’no,”
Stav corrected her. “And he has gone to get our last meal for us. Though I believe in the future we are to serve ourselves.” He caught her eyes with his. “And I did not say it to impress our councilors—I meant it.” He let his eyes sweep over her once, allowing himself to take in the fullness of her curves and the beauty of her form. “You are…breathtaking. A
falinda.
”