“Now you’re talking!” Jillian beamed at her. “Great, I am just dying for some female companionship. I mean, my guys are wonderful but when I start talking shoes their eyes just kind of glaze over, you know?”
Privately Liv thought she probably wouldn’t be much better in that area since she didn’t have much of a shoe fetish herself. But maybe I can find out some other things from Jillian. She’s been here longer than me. That thought more than anything else completely made up her mind. “All right,” she said, smiling at Jillian’s disembodied head. “How do I get to your place in time for lunch?”
Chapter Eighteen
The Take-me was surprisingly fast. Despite its wrong-way bending knees, the six shaggy legs could really move, making it a bit of a challenge to hold on to. Liv had ridden a horse before but sitting on the sloping back of the Take-me was different in the extreme. It had a natural dip in its long torso that seemed to conform to her body and make a kind of saddle, so she didn’t really worry about falling off, but its swaying gait still took some getting used to. She did wonder how Baird could ride it though. He was so much bigger than her that his feet would drag the ground—why keep what amounted to a compact car when you were built for an SUV?
But her questions were soon driven out of her head when the Take-me finished navigating the twisting metal corridors and they reached the center of the ship.
“A sun—they actually have a sun up there.” Liv squinted in amazement at the round bright green ball casting emerald light over the large garden-like area that seemed to stretch for miles in every direction. There were eateries serving all kinds of food and hundreds of tiny, quaint looking shops edging the perimeter of the park-like center of the ship. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the huge Kindred warriors walking by and the green sunlight, it might have seemed like any tourist town she’d ever been to. As it was, Liv felt like Dorothy finally reaching the Emerald City. “Amazing,” she breathed as the Take-me trundled along the clearly marked pathway right through the middle of the center vegetation.
There were people in the park-like area too, hiking, picnicking on the green and purple grass, and generally enjoying themselves. It was mostly couples, Liv saw, although there were some families there as well. The children were all little boys—the Kindred gene that caused ninety-five percent of their offspring to be male was a dominant one that almost always bred true. Watching them play, Liv couldn’t help wondering what her son would look like, if she and Baird had one. Would he have his father’s golden eyes and dark hair? Would he be as big as the Kindred males from the other genetic trades or have more Earth-normal proportions? She’d always wanted a little boy, whenever she did get around to having kids and Baird would be a strong and patient father…
Stop it, Liv, she scolded herself. You’re supposed to be trying to get away from the guy, not planning to have his babies! Yet she couldn’t help sighing when she saw one of the Beast Kindred males who looked a little like Baird handling a tiny infant. He had the baby over one powerful shoulder and was patting and rubbing its back gently, obviously trying to coax out a burp. Beside him his bride, a lovely Asian girl with almond shaped eyes, was smiling maternally.
The girl was extremely petite, probably not even five feet tall, while her husband was almost Baird’s size. After Liv peeled her gaze away from their baby she couldn’t help eyeing them uncertainly. How had such a tiny woman accommodated a man as large as her Kindred husband? He was a Beast Kindred so he must have the same equipment Baird did. Maybe it wasn’t as big? Of course, Baird had said his body could make chemicals that would help a female adjust and open for him. For his mating fist…
Just thinking about Baird’s unique anatomy made her blush and look away from the happy family scene but not before she saw the Kindred father noticing her. He had a frown on his face and he was sniffing the air, as though he smelled something in the air. Liv wasn’t sure what to think of that but by then she was already past them and into a different part of what she was beginning to think of as the Kindred version of Central Park.
The temple of the Mother of Life was, as promised, beautiful, although like no other place of worship Liv had ever seen. The trees with their many different shades of green and purple leaves were gorgeous and she wished she could get down and wander among them for awhile. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to stop the Take-me and she didn’t want to try getting off while it was ambling along at its deceptively fast rate so she remained seated on her swaying mount. I wonder if I can get Baird to take me here when he gets back? she thought wistfully as the lovely temple faded into the distance. Wish we could get out and do more instead of staying cooped up in the suite. Just because we’re fighting shouldn’t mean we have to stay in all the time.