Still smiling at her, the woman led Kat to a small, sunny alcove in the corner of the kitchen where large, flat pillows were arranged on the floor. She seated Kat on a blue and purple one and then made motions at the bowl of fruit. “Noosh. Noosh.”
That must mean ‘eat.’ Kat nodded politely. “Yes, noosh. Don’t worry, I will absolutely noosh. Thank you.” She picked up another triangular fruit and took a bite. “Mmm, good!”
This seemed to satisfy the woman. She smiled at Kat, said a few other things in the Twin Moons language, and went back to washing fruit at the sink.
Left alone with the bowl of succulent fruit, Kat got busy. She told herself sternly she ought to take it easy—after all, who knew what effects the alien fruit might have on her system? But it had been days since she’d done more than pick at her food and she was ravenous. Before she knew it, she was down to the last two fruit in the bowl and wishing she’d gone slower. She was about to take a bite of the next-to-last-fruit when Deep and Lock came through the door.
Immediately Kat was flooded with emotions that weren’t hers, and none of them were good.
“What in the seven hells were you doing this morning?” Deep demanded, striding over to her.
Kat was immediately on the defensive. “I don’t know what you’re upset about but you can just back off. You two went out and left me here in a strange house, in a strange town, on a strange planet where I don’t even know the language. I had to muddle through on my own.”
“We’re very sorry, my lady.” Lock, who had been speaking rapidly in Twin Moons dialect with the tall woman, came over to where Kat was still sitting with the mostly empty bowl. “We had to run some errands and we didn’t think you’d be up before we got back.”
“Oh, she was up, all right. Up and giving the vendors at the market a show,” Deep snarled.
“What are you talking about?” Tired of craning her neck to look up at him, Kat stood and put a hand on her hip. Of course she still had to look up, just not quite as far.
“I’m talking about the way you were showing yourself out the window this morning—the entire township is talking about it.” Deep glared at her.
Kat frowned. “I couldn’t find any clothes when I first got up but I wrapped a sheet around myself. I looked out the window and some people waved at me so I waved back. What’s the big deal?”
“The ‘big deal’ is that you shouldn’t be showing your body to strangers.” Deep eyed her possessively, making her feel suddenly naked.
“I wasn’t,” Kat protested, wishing the weird, feathered shirt she’d put on was longer. “I was very careful to keep the sheet wrapped around me the entire time, I swear.”
Lock cleared his throat. “Apparently, the light shining in the window rendered your sheet, ah, transparent.”
“What?” Kat felt a heated blush sweep over her. “Are you serious? So all those guys who were waving and smiling at me weren’t just being friendly?”
“They’d like to be a whole lot more than friendly,” Deep growled. “Do you know how often the average male here on Twin Moons gets to see an elite? Almost never. And to see an elite without her clothing, her lush curves revealed, her—” He stopped abruptly and frowned at the triangle fruit Kat was still clutching in one hand. “What are you eating?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “She gave it to me.” She pointed at the tall woman who had been standing at the sink and watching their conversation with a worried look on her face.
Lock turned to her. “Mumzell? Chara vena Kat Kala ala noosh?”
She nodded her head rapidly. “Ja, ja! Shiba ava Kala ala noosh.” Then she hugged Lock and stood on tiptoes to kiss his forehead.
“What? What is she saying?” Kat demanded.
Deep frowned. “She’s saying you asked for it. She thinks you wanted it because…” He broke off, shaking his head.
“Because what? What does it do?” Kat asked, worried. Had she poisoned herself with the strange fruit? Or had she somehow eaten something she wasn’t supposed to eat for religious reasons? Damn it, she didn’t know anything about this stupid planet. She had to get herself some translation bacteria!
Lock finally finished speaking to the older woman. He turned back to Kat and spoke in a low voice. “What you ate are Kala fruit—what we call bonding fruit. They have uh…a special significance to our people.”
Deep snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
“Deep, please.” Lock gave him a warning look. “Will you just let me explain?”