“When we’re damn well good and ready,” Piper snapped, apparently losing patience. She towed Kat into the pink and gold entrance which curved off to the right, putting them out of sight of the main room. “Lord, those two are overprotective! And you say you’re not even mated to them yet?”
“No and I’m not going to be either.” Kat looked around the large, parlor like room they found themselves in. “Hey, this is really nice.”
It looked like an old fashioned power room down to the deep, plush chairs and red velvet wallpaper. Though when she took a closer look she saw that the wallpaper was some kind of moss, not velvet, and the chairs had an almost organic look—as though they’d been grown instead of made. There were also hanging plants, dripping exotic looking pink and gold and pale green blossoms everywhere.
As if in contrast to the organic appearance of the room, the walls were filled with wide angle, full length 3-D viewers for checking your makeup and dress. Kat saw dozens of herself reflected in the viewers. The new deep green toga-dress Lock had picked out for her complimented her auburn hair, which she’d decided to wear down for once.
“It is nice, isn’t it?” Piper looked around, smiling fondly. “Of all the Kindred trade planets, Twin Moons is the closest you’re gonna get to Earth. The islands, anyway—all bets are off on their continent but nobody goes there, so who cares?”
“You’ve been to the other trade planets?” Kat asked, interested.
Piper nodded. “Oh sure, honey—not that they’re much fun. Rageron is just this horrible, humid blue jungle full of critters so scary they’d make a gator cry. And on Tranq Prime they all live in caves and eat bugs.” She shivered. “Can you imagine? Of course here on Twin Moons they have the Grieza worms, but I can handle those since they taste like chocolate.”
“Those are good.” Kat had eaten some at Liv’s wedding and really enjoyed them despite their unappetizing appearance. “I haven’t eaten much Twin Moons food yet,” she confessed. “And what I did eat…well, I really shouldn’t have eaten it. I just…” She trailed off, not sure how much she wanted to reveal.
But Piper’s curiosity was clearly piqued. “What, honey? You can’t just leave a girl hanging like that—what did you eat?”
“Bonding fruit,” Kat admitted in a low voice. “Almost a whole bowl full of it. That’s why my guys—uh, Deep and Lock—are being so overprotective. They say I’m giving off some kind of a, uh, scent, because of it.”
Piper’s vivid green eyes widened. “You ate a whole bowl in one sitting? Was it a big bowl? How many did you eat?”
“Five or six,” Kat said with a sigh. “I’d just woken up from a long, uh, illness, I guess you could call it, and I was famished. But so far I don’t feel any different.”
“Oh you will, honey. You will,” Piper assured her. “But if it’s the first time you’ve had bonding fruit, it will probably take a little time to kick in—that’s how it is with us Earth girls. But once it does—watch out! You’re gonna be hotter than a firecracker on the Fourth of July.”
“Seriously?” Kat frowned unhappily. “I was hoping that Deep and Lock were just exaggerating. Or maybe that it didn’t work on me.”
“Oh, it’ll work all right. But if you’re lucky it won’t start until after the party when you can be alone with your men.” Piper grinned at her and shook her head. “If you’re not bonded yet you sure as hell will be pretty soon.”
“What?” Kat began to feel panicky. “But I don’t want to be.”
“Is it the whole two poles in one hole thing, honey?” Piper clucked her tongue sympathetically. “Don’t let that worry you. Now I’m not gonna lie to you, it is kind of a tight fit. But once that bonding fruit gets working on you, you’ll be feeling no pain. It’s like a mixture of Spanish fly and valium—you’ll be hopped up and cooled out at the same time.”
“No, it’s not that. Or not just that,” Kat protested. “I don’t get along with them at all—one of them, anyway.”
“Now let me guess—that would be your dark twin. Am I right?” Piper raised an eyebrow at her and Kat nodded.
“Lock is really sweet. But Deep…we just can’t get along.” She looked down at her hands. “My parents divorced when I was twelve and my grandmother raised me but before then, they were constantly yelling and screaming at each other. I just…I don’t want to be stuck for life in a relationship like that and…” She looked up. “And I don’t even know why I’m telling you this when I just met you.”