| |
At her desk, Ivanda worked on the email she would send Dika. The cute Nipponese female and she had met under unusual circumstances. Her orders from the Life Foundation got delayed. She found a hotel room and was killing time in a local tavern when the owner offered her a job as a guard for a couple of days. One of his employees had a family emergency and needed to take time off.
Not averse to paying for the hotel room from wages, she accepted. As far from home as Stavanger sat, going back to the farm wasn’t feasible. Since graduation from the largest university on Nippon took place the following day, the tavern owner needed help for the expected crowd.
Most male graduates had a tradition of flying over to the Fjellskogland side of the planet and making a night of it in the local taverns. They called it a “crawl” as most of them couldn’t walk by the time the night was over.
There wouldn’t be any trouble with the locals. They all knew better than to be out drinking on grad night. A few forms in the bar took one look at the rowdy students and called it a night.
Dika came in alone and was drunk by the time she reached the place where Ivanda stood, trying to keep the peace. A pretty little thing, almost as tall as the males, she had a lovely face and lean figure. Things went sour when a group of males came in and one recognized her.
He and two of his friends went after Dika. From the epithets thrown around, Ivanda realized what had happened right away. Not into men, Dika had turned the male down and his ego took exception.
When the male pushed her against a table and tweaked a nipple, Ivanda started in that direction. The male found himself on the business end of Dika’s knee when she retaliated. The other two jumped in.
Ivanda tossed one hard against the bar and knocked him out. She caught the arm of the second one and hiked it up behind his back so high he screamed. From the corner of her eye, Ivanda watched as Dika flattened the other male, her tormenter, against the floor.
By that time, the other guard had run up. He pulled Dika off the troublemaker. Then he and Ivanda herded the male students out of the bar. When the other guard would have gone after Dika, Ivanda stopped him.
The young female sat on the floor, trying to use her shirt to stop a nosebleed.
Catching the owner’s gaze, Ivanda nodded at the female. “She didn’t start it.”
He looked around at the liquor spread over the floor. “She’s all yours; just get her out of here. We’re closed for the night. I’ve had enough.”
Ivanda took him at his word. She guided Dika back to her hotel room and helped her clean up. They got to fooling around and Dika spent the night. That was another thing Ivanda liked about female lovers—they usually didn’t turn over and go to sleep.
She and Dika cuddled and talked all night. Ivanda learned Dika had graduated with honors as a bio-engineer. Neither of them expected the one-nighter to go any further, but they did stay in touch.
With a grin, she drafted the email.
Hey there, supernova cutie. It’s your big, bad bodyguard here. I’m in need of something I think you can supply. Does Dika feel like making a few extra for the account?
Ivanda
Not expecting an immediate reply, she put the tablet away and got ready for bed. Curled up under the light sheet she favored, her pillow scrunched up under her neck, Ivanda went over the day.
If they had to work together, she would need to ease up on Nic. So far, she didn’t sense any of the Fjellskoglander male arrogance she expected from him. He had the physical characteristics, being big and broad. Still, he’d kept his distance after the first meeting. It seemed he could take a hint.
Where on the continent did his family have their holding? She hadn’t encountered that name before. Although, it could be of rather recent origin. He could have taken it to honor a recently deceased male, as she had taken her family name to honor her grandmother and mother.
If he toned down the arrogance and paid attention to her opinions, they might work together without too much trouble. She hoped so. A covert operation always proved difficult, and working with someone you couldn’t count on made it a given that something would go wrong. His orders might be to find the information. Hers were to keep Ruket Remse safe. That superseded anything else in her view.
But enough about that. With any luck, they might have some free time on Haakonlan. If Dika wasn’t in a relationship, getting reacquainted might be possible. Had the female acquired a long-term partner, that wouldn’t happen.
Ivanda smiled. Maybe it was time for a crawl of her own around the taverns surrounding the port at Stavanger. She’d been good for a long time. Getting a little drunk and causing a bit of mayhem sounded like fun. It all depended on how much time on planet they would have, and that depended on Dika or whoever they found to supply the nanophage.
The stuff always brought premium prices. What she needed to keep Ruket incognito would be more than most medical procedures required. The Foundation would cover the costs. She’d already checked. Her budget to guard the male came as close to unlimited as it got.
Ivanda drifted off to sleep only to wake from a dream that had her panting and her fingers between her legs. She and Dika had Nic tied down. She teased the big male, riding him as Dika worked her nipples and clit.
She fumbled in the drawer for her sex aid. There would be no more sleep until she took care of her arousal. None.
