As we get off the final elevator, I’m greeted with a big window, giving a view of the universe and the ships coming in to dock. Before I can move forward to look at it, Mathiras loops an arm around my neck and leans in, his face pressing against my hood. “This particular cantina is dangerous. Stay really close to me at all times, understand?”
“My hands will be all over you,” I assure him.
He squeezes my shoulders and then leads me down a hall that’s a little dirtier than the last ones we’ve seen. Funny, because I didn’t think the station was particularly clean down below, but now that we’re several floors up, it’s really evident. There are scuffs and scratches all over the metal floor, and bits of trash litter the edges. There are people here, too, but it’s not like below. There’re only a few people scattered across the big hall here. These people look unpleasant, and they all watch us as we head toward a blinking sign across the way.
A female bird thing in very little clothing waits by the entrance. She smiles at us and shakes her four breasts in our direction. “Welcome! House rules are no blasters, and please don’t touch the serving girls. Today’s special is Knokkti Brew, two carafes for the price of one!”
No blasters? I reach for mine under my cloak so I can hand it over, but Mathiras squeezes my arm and I can’t lift it. “We’re meeting someone.”
“Of course you are, my lord. Everyone is,” the bird female sing-songs. “Please seat yourself and a server will be with you shortly.” She turns and presents her backside, giving a tuft of feathers above her buttocks a little wiggle. “I’m allowing spankings on the house today!”
Mathiras clears his throat. “No thank you.” He squeezes my shoulder again and all but shoves me inside the cantina. It’s dark in here, and a lot cooler than it was in the hall. There’s a weird drumbeat in the back, and the only lights in the place seem to be sconces on the walls that swirl and glitter, and the servers—all female—who have twinkling necklaces and belts that show off that they’re not wearing anything else. Mathiras steers me through a few unused tables and then gestures at a table in the back that’s against the wall. “You doing okay, Helen?”
“I’m a little sad,” I admit. “I didn’t get a chance to spank her.”
CHAPTER 30
MATHIRAS
Why did I think this was a good idea? I’m as rock-headed as Adiron on a bad day. Helen stares at the naked servers, at the glistening, oiled up bodies, the long limbs and bare legs and asses. Yeah, this was a bad call for me. I should have taken her to a real dinner below, in a fancy cantina and not this sludge pit. It’s just that shopping with her got away from me, and she loved seeing everything, and before I knew it, it was time to meet my contact.
“We’ll have to reschedule our date,” I tell her with a grimace as she watches the wagging ass of a szzt female who saunters past.
That makes Helen turn to me. “This isn’t our date?”
“Kef, no.”
She beams at me, the expression hideous in her disguise. “Then we get to have fun like this again?”
I reach over and take her gloved hand in mine. I wish I could actually touch her skin, but right now it’s more important to be safe. “We can do this as often as you want once things are safe.” Helen squeezes my fingers, and I manage a half-smile. “So you’re having fun, huh?”
“There’s so much to see and do,” she gushes, scooting closer to me in the booth. The table is a circle, with the seating curving around it, and I don’t mind that she slides up to my side. I let go of her hand and loop an arm around her shoulders instead. “I thought I’d be scared but it’s honestly just exciting.”
“I’m glad you’re not scared,” I tell her softly. “You’re very brave. I know this is all new for you and you’re handling it so well.”
To my surprise, her eyes get wet. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
It is? Then clearly I need to be kinder to her, because that makes me feel guilty. “What about when I told you yesterday that I thought you were magnificent and I’m obsessed with you?”
Helen shakes her head. “That’s different. Of course I’m pretty. I was bred to be pretty. But you telling me that I’m brave isn’t something I was created to be. It’s something I am—me, Helen—and it makes me happy to hear that.”
Ah. I get it. Me telling her that I find her beautiful would be like someone else telling me they find me blue, or tall. Of course I am. It’s what’s inside that makes Helen unique, and I file that away for the future. She deserves compliments. She deserves to know how amazing she is. “Well, right now I’m amazed at your cleverness. You’ve been a real help today, because I didn’t have to worry about your safety.”