Kenzie (More Worlds Beyond Book 3) (9 page)

    
“Ah mom, I’m sorry.
 
You know how I am when I get scared,
I’m
irrational.
 
When
I ran from those yellow men, I ran through a door and hid.
 
I didn’t even think about where I was at, I
only worried about them being outside waiting on me.”

    
“You promise that nothing bad happened to
you?”
 
There was no way in hell she would
tell her mom of the incident with
Orian
.
 

    
“Yes mom, I promise I’m fine.
 
Vat and his men were
gentlemen
.
 
They offered me food and
didn’t
even know who I was, what I was, or where I came from.
 
It was funny being able to understand them
when they
didn’t
know I could.
 
They talked freely in front of me.”
 
She smiled then, truly smiled and I felt
better about lying to her.
 
They all ate
their food while talking about everything.
 
It made her think of Sunday dinners as the whole family was there.

    
Later that night she found herself in the
common room.
 
It looked like a living
room, only bigger.
 
Tolan was still
working, but a short time later Dar found her sitting there.
 
“Hi Kenzie, how are you?”
 
He took a seat across from her.

    
“I’m good Dar.
 
What have you been up to?”
 
He grinned as he pulled out a bag.

  
  
“I
got you something from the space station.”
 
He said with eagerness in his voice.
 
He opened the bag and pulled out a bottle that looked like Tequila.
 
Her eyes lit up.

    
“
Tila
!
 
You found some
Tila
?”
 
She asked as he retrieved two glasses.

    
“Yes I did.
 
When I heard you liked it, I picked some up
before we left.
 
We don’t have this very
often.”

    
“Thank you Dar.”
 
He sat the glass in front of her and then
poured his own.
 
“Now all we need is a
Margarita mix and some salt and a lime.”

    
“I’m sorry?
 
What is that?”
 
He asked as he sipped his drink.

    
“Just a drink back on
Earth.”
 
He looked confused.
 
“Never mind.
 
Tell me about your family and more about your
vacation house at the beach.”

    
“It’s just me and my mother.
 
She’s
a wonderful
female.
 
I like to visit her when I can
and even stay with her from time to time.”
 
He smiled just thinking about her.
 
“My father died a few planet cycles ago and I never had any brothers or
sisters.”

    
“I’m sorry to hear about your
father.”
 
She took a sip of her
Tila
.
 
“What about
your vacation house?”

    
“Not many people know about my house on
the beach.
 
I love it there.
 
Maybe one day I can show it to you.”

    
“I would like that Dar.
 
Can I ask you a question?”
 
They had both had half a glass of
Tila
and were starting to talk freely.

    
“What would you like to know?”
 
He took another drink then filled both their
glasses back up.

    
“I want to know about Tolan.
 
Does he have a girlfriend back home?”
 

    
“No, he doesn’t have a girlfriend.
 
Kenzie, I would be careful about getting
involved with him.
 
I don’t think he’s
ready to take an
Ardhangini.”

     
“It’s too late
Dar,
I think I already love him.”
 
He sighed.

    
After a few minutes passed the Dar finally
said, “Kenzie, I like you.
 
You’re
beautiful, smart and caring.
 
To be honest,
I’ve
never spent time talking with a female until I met Eliana.
 
I consider her and now you a friend.
 
If for any reason you need me for anything,
all you have to do is ask.”
 
She felt
like he was trying to tell her something, but with the
buzz
she had going, she didn’t know what.

    
“Thank you Dar, you’re a good
friend.”
 
They sat in silence for a few
minutes until she said, “I think I’m drunk.”
 
They both laughed.

    
“Good, now I can ask you some questions.”
 
He felt the buzz as well, but he felt this
would be the only time he could ask Kenzie questions and get brutally honest
answers.

    
“Go ahead, ask away.”
 
She waved her hands in the air.

    
“On Earth, Eliana said that one male and
one female shared sex together.”

    
“Yes.

    
“Do males every share a female, or a
female ever share a male?”
 
She blushed.

    
“Well, that’s a hard question to answer
Dar.”

    
“Give it a try for me.”
 
He really wanted to know the answer.
 
When he first met Eliana, he found out how
different she was.
 
She had even worked
to get them to watch their language.
 
Even though some words were in their excepted vocabulary, she still had
a way of slowly changing things.

    
“Well, most people on Earth only date one
male or female at a time.
 
There are
exceptions but they are in the minority.
 
We even have same sex couples, such as two males that are in an
exclusive relationship.”
 
She laughed at
Dar’s horrified expression.
 
I guess they
didn’t
have same sex marriages on Sukara, or maybe
they did and he just didn’t know about them.
 
“Anyway, I dated several men, or males…whatever, and none of them could
be faithful.
 
The last
guy
I dated cheated on me and I dumped his ass.
 
He kept trying to get me back, but once I saw him fucking someone else,
I let him go.
 
I
didn’t
care that I thought I loved him because he obviously didn’t love me.
  
I’m
a good person
Dar.
 
I’m faithful and caring and dammit
I deserve someone who can be faithful to me.”
 
She took another sip of
Tila
as Dar replayed
her words in his head.

    
“Everyone deserves to be happy.”
 
Tolan would be in a world of shit when they
reached Sukara.
 
He hoped he figured out
his feelings before that happened.
 
They
were not that far from home now.

 
   
“Yes
they do Dar.
 
I hope that you find
someone one day that will make you happy.”
 
He just took another drink.
 
How
could he tell her that he loved having sex with all the different females?
 
Sex was a healthy part of the Sukaraian
culture and he
wouldn’t
give that up right now
either.
 
“Dar, I think I am now very
drunk.”
 
She giggled.
 
“Can you help me to my room?”
 
Dar smiled.
 
He felt drunk as well.
 
Tila
was a bit stronger than their usual Barla.

    
Dar stood and held out his hand for
Kenzie.
 
She looked up at him, then
placed her hand in his and giggled.
 
He
laughed with her as they stumbled down the corridor until they reached her
room.
 
As they went inside, she fell on
the bed.
 
Dar fell down beside her.
 
“Give me a little time and I will try to make
it to my room.”
 
He laughed.
 
“This is why we don’t normally have
Tila
.”
 
Instead of
making it back to his room, they both fell asleep.

    
Early the next morning, Tolan monitored
his station in the control room.
 
He
turned to Pakhi, who had just relieved Cedrick.
 
“It is not like Dar to be late.”
 
He said with concern.
 
“I will
give him a little more time and then go check on him.”

    
“That’s a good idea.”
 
Pakhi hesitated, “Tolan, do you think Kenzie
will live on
Santar
or Sukara?”
 

    
Tolan thought for a moment, and then said,
“I think she will accompany us to Sukara.
 
I’m not sure if she will live there or just visit for a while.”
 
Pakhi just nodded.
 

    
After a little more time had passed, Tolan
decided to go look for Dar.
 
He had never
known his friend to be late for anything, so he
couldn’t
even imagine what was wrong.
 
He knocked
on his door and waited, then knocked one more time.
 
When he still
didn’t
get a response, he walked away puzzled and concerned.

    
He went to check on Kenzie, and when he
didn’t
get a response from her either he really became
concerned.
 
Deciding to override the door
codes, he stepped inside and found them in bed together.
 
“What the hell is going on
here!
”
 
He said in a loud booming voice.

    
Dar opened his eyes first and took in an
enraged Tolan.
 
He hopped up and then
peered down at Kenzie.
 
He had spent the
entire night in her bed.
 
That had never
happened to him before.
 
He had sex and
then left, or told them to leave.
 
Not
only had he never slept all night with a female, he had never slept with one he
didn’t
have sex with.
 
He now saw Kenzie with different eyes.

    
Kenzie stirred when she heard Tolan
yell.
 
She glared up at him, “Can you
please keep it down,
some
of us have a headache!”
 
She closed her eyes again.

    
“A headache?
 
Really?
 
It seems like every time I’m not around I
find you in bed with someone else.”

    
She knew he was mad, but what the
hell!
 
They were asleep and fully
clothe.
 
Anyone with half a brain could
see that nothing happened.
 
“Tolan, we
are fully clothe.
 
We drank too much last
night and Dar must have passed out on my bed.”

    
Tolan could see she spoke the truth, but
he still felt upset.
 
“Are you sure you
didn’t fuck him Kenzie?”
 
He said in an
irate tone.

    
“No Tolan, I’m not sure.
 
I usually fuck people and forget it
happened.”
 
She said sarcastically.
 
“Now, get out!”
 
She closed her eyes hoping that if she could
sleep more her headache would go away.

    
Tolan left only to find Dar waiting in the
corridor.
 
He fell in step beside him as
they headed to the Galley.
 
Neither one
said a word until they sat down with their food.
 
“She’s telling you the truth Tolan.
 
We were in the common room sharing
Tila
and talking.
 
We
both had too much to drink, and although we were both stumbling, I helped her
to her room.
 
I must have passed out on
her bed.”

    
Tolan knew Dar spoke the truth.
 
Hell, he knew Kenzie had told him the
truth.
 
He
didn’t
understand his reaction to seeing them together.
 
It made him feel uneasy and he
didn’t
like it.
 
“I
know Dar.
 
I don’t understand why I acted
that way.”