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AFTER ATLANTA ENTERED the security code on the console outside of their suite, the door opened and Una breezed through with her head held high and an extra bounce in her step. “I wonder how long he’ll wait to send the others home.”
Recognizing it as a rhetorical question, Atlanta didn’t respond. She went about securing the door behind them.
Atlanta wanted nothing more than to pass guard duty to Elkah, kick her shoes off and relax. She’d been forced to listen to Una’s non-stop chatter about how great her evening with the Kgosi had gone since leaving the dining room. That’s how Una had described the meet and greet dinner, as if they were the only two people in attendance.
Atlanta had to give it to her. Una had sat at that large dinner table and blocked out everyone else besides the Kgosi. If it were different circumstances maybe Atlanta could’ve found herself lost in the Kgosi’s presence too. She could’ve watched the way he moved and listened to the sound of his voice for hours, never getting tired of breathing the same air as him.
Upon seeing them enter, Elkah stood and abandoned her meal at the table to meet them in the main room.
“It went well?” Aiko rushed down the hallway from her room. Her eyes were downcast on the tablet in her arm. The fingers on her free hand were a blur of movement. “I’m sending your mother an update. Give me all the details and don’t leave anything out.”
The dreamy smile Una wore stretched further across her face as she tilted her head to the ceiling. With a squeal she turned in a circle, holding her arms out to the side. The bottom of her expensive gown billowed around her ankles and dainty feet. “He all but ignored the others and focused his attention on me.”
“Your mother will be happy to hear this news. She was under the impression you didn’t want this match.”
Una stopped spinning and shrugged. “I didn’t. At first. Who would? These people are ugly, primitive, poor, and not up to the standards that I’d hoped for in a match.”
“And what changed your mind?” Aiko asked.
Atlanta had wanted to know the answer as well.
Una’s eyes gleamed, twinkling with mischief. “I’m better than every one of his other invited guests. I thought mother wanted me to grovel at this Kgosi’s feet, begging him to pick me so she could get her hands on some of his brother’s inventions.” She shrugged. “As it turns out, he can’t do better than me. Mother will be happy once she knows I won’t have any trouble securing this match.”
Aiko cleared her throat. “I don’t think you should get ahead of yourself, Princess. He may need more than one evening to decide on a match. The Ngonyama mate for life. He’ll want to be sure of his decision. You’ll have to continue to make a good impression on him.”
Una waved her off. “I won’t return home without a bonding contract. It would be...” she squinted her eyes, as if searching for the right words. “Embarrassing to lose out to this lot. What would other people think of me if I couldn’t impress a Ngonyama into mating with me?” She humphed. “I would never live down the scandal.”
Aiko tilted her head to the side, then re-focused on her tablet, her fingers tapping the screen. “Your mother will be happy to hear that you’re taking this seriously now. You’ll want to continue doing whatever it was that got him focused on you in the first place.” Her hands stopped moving and she glanced at Una. “What exactly did you do?”
Una tried to hand her evening bag to Elkah. Elkah’s arms remained at her sides. When Una thrust her bag in Elkah’s direction again, Elkah turned to the side, breaking eye contact with Una. Una, not taking the hint, continued to thrust her bag in Elkah’s direction.
Atlanta wasn’t going to tell Una it was no use, that Elkah had already tuned her out and Una was now being shunned. Nothing would make Elkah acknowledge Una, unless Elkah wanted to.
While Elkah had never shunned Atlanta, she’d been shunned by plenty other Oncuns to know continuing to engage was no use. Not until Elkah processed the emotions within her. If Atlanta had to guess, Elkah was irritated.
And Elkah had warned Atlanta to keep her emotions in check when dealing with Una.
Ha!
Atlanta couldn’t suppress the laugh that erupted from her throat and covered it with a cough.
At Una and Elkah’s shocked glance in her direction, Atlanta coughed again and beat her chest with a closed fist. “Something’s in my throat.”
“Weird human,” Una said under her breath, then, giving up on having Elkah take her bag, Una tossed it onto the chair. “The Mihr,” she snapped her fingers, “What was her name again?”
“Isra,” Aiko offered.
“What a terrible name. Yes her. She thought to monopolize his time. ‘My government has been helping to look for placement.’”
“So, what did you do?” Aiko asked again. Her fingers still moved across her tablet, typing the conversation out. “We have to come up with a plan to keep this momentum going. You’ll meet his family at the next gathering.”
“I inserted myself in the conversation he was having with her about the Furls and Nik...poli...whatever treaty.”
Aiko’s fingers abruptly stopped, and she stared at Una in disbelief. “Pardon my confusion. Did you say that you joined in the conversation regarding the Phursonin and Gnekpal treaty?”
Una didn’t seem to notice the way Aiko asked the question. She dropped dramatically into the chair and her purse bounced off and rolled to fall to the floor. “Maybe joined is not the right word. I dominated the conversation. It was as though we were alone in the room.”
Aiko pressed her lips together. Atlanta imagined the assistant had to gather her thoughts before replying.
“Um...” Aiko snapped her mouth shut again. Then took her time to take the chair opposite Una’s.
Una, unaware of the change in Aiko’s demeanor, lay back, eyes closed, face to the ceiling, and hummed happily to herself.
Aiko mouthed to Atlanta, “Was it as bad as I think it was?”
Atlanta mouthed back, “Worse.”
When Aiko finally spoke, it was slow and measured. “We discussed this before arriving, Princess. You were to stay away from humanitarian and political topics. Those aren’t your strong suits. Speak about traveling and your connections. That’s what Kgosi Melisizwe wants to hear. He’s looking for someone he can align his kingdom with. Someone who can bring him strong allies.”
“I’ll let him know everything I can do for this little kingdom tomorrow.”
“He’s well aware of your connections. Use your time with him to get to know him better,” Aiko said.
Una picked at the fabric of the chair, using only two fingers as if she wouldn’t dare put her entire hand on it. “When I become Queen,” Una said, seemingly unaware of Aiko’s comment. “I’m making some big changes around here, starting with the décor. That attendant said these were the best rooms available. These people obviously don’t know about entertaining guests. I haven’t seen much of the palace yet, but if the rest of it looks like this suite and the dining room, then I’ll have much to do. This palace is a step-down from how I’m accustomed to living. These people only recently crawled out of the jungle and into proper homes.”
“Let’s re-focus, Princess. Shall we?”
Una stopped picking at the chair long enough to raise her chin. “I’m up for the challenge though. You may tell mother to begin preparations for a bonding contract.”
Aiko sighed, collected herself, then gave Una a smile that seemed more on the pitying side than anything else. She pushed a button on the tablet, and it folded down to a file. She stored it in one of the slots in her comlink.
Una glanced at Aiko and frowned. “Why didn’t you send my message to my mother?”
Aiko stood. That pitying smile was still on her face. “I don’t want to send anything prematurely. I’ve given her an update and I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear that you’ve caught his eyes. She very much wants this bonding for you.”
Una rolled her eyes. “Stop it already, Aiko. We both know that I wasn’t the Kgosi’s original choice. He wanted my oldest sister. He got me only because mother wanted a better match for Latrici. At this point, she’s only using me as a pawn to gain access to this kingdom’s advancements, which she’s been raving about.”
“She cares deeply for you. She believes you will grow into the role of queen.”
“If that were true, she would’ve sought a more appropriate match for me. He has rows and rows of nipples and two cocks!” Una shuddered. “At least she could’ve found someone who aligned better with my anatomy. I wonder if we can by-pass sex?”
“He’ll want heirs. And since his species is monogamous, I fear that he will expect sex, Princess.”
“My mother can have everything outlined in the bonding contract. Maybe sex once or twice a year and artificial insemination.” Una leaned back and relaxed. “It could be worse, I guess. I could’ve ended up on a...” She glanced at Atlanta. “What is Earth again? A Class 20-ii planet?”
“Correct,” Atlanta responded.
“Primitive,” Una snorted. “One day they’ll blow themselves up! You should feel lucky that you don’t have to live on that rock.”
Atlanta didn’t respond. She didn’t care what class planet Earth was. The class ranking didn’t stop her from longing for a place she had never stepped foot on.
“Oh, well. Make yourself useful and retrieve my bag from the floor.”
Atlanta was one breath away from stuffing Una’s bag down her throat. Why was she still enduring Una’s presence when she was off duty? She was done. At least for the night.
Atlanta turned to Elkah, “I’ll send you a full report of the evening.”
As per protocol. Atlanta would always officially be on duty, but the transfer meant she could take her break.
“Transfer of duty accepted,” Elkah responded.
Atlanta turned on her heels and made her way down the hall to her bedroom.
“Human!” Una called. “I gave you an order!”
“Ask Elkah. I’m officially off duty,” Atlanta yelled, not bothering to turn around.
“Ask me to do this,” Elkah’s voice was normally deep and monotone, but Atlanta could hear excitement in it. Well, excitement for an Oncun. She really wanted Una to ask her and if Atlanta didn’t want to get as far away from Una as possible, she would’ve hung around just to see what would happen next.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER AND WITH a full stomach, Atlanta found herself naked and relaxing in a circular bath that could fit twenty people, easily. She didn’t worry about a male walking in and seeing her naked state. Individuals who identified as males had their own chamber.
The room was round, just as the tub. Along the walls were benches. The benches were made of a hard material, yet comfortable and warm to the touch. It was the same material the floor was made of. Once she stripped and hung her clothes on the hooks embedded at various points around the room, she was grateful to have something warm under her feet.
There’d been three other people in the tub when she’d entered. They were all Ngonyama and none of them had seemed surprised an off-worlder was partaking in the bath. They’d said their initial hellos then kept to themselves. After the last person left, Atlanta dipped lower into the tub and let out a satisfied sigh.
On Luur, water was hard to come by, as were many other luxuries. Most people wouldn’t waste precious life-giving and life-saving water for bathing. Sonic showers cleaned better than water, were faster and didn’t squander the precious resource. But if the Kgosi had water to spare, then who was she not to accept his hospitality?
Ipakethe was mostly dry and, from what she’d read, this corner of the planet rarely saw rainfall. She would’ve thought the Kgosi would save the water for other endeavors or lucrative business ventures.
Atlanta skimmed her hand over the surface of the water, catching the steam that rose from it. Maybe he was a generous ruler? Or foolish? A chamber such as this should be guarded and only accessible to the most valued staff or elite guests. As a personal guard she shouldn’t have been let close enough to peek inside the room, let alone soak her tired muscles in it.
A jet turned on, hitting the base of her spine. She closed her eyes on a moan.
The jet didn’t run constantly, only about every two minutes or so. They weren’t in place to ease her aching muscles, but by God they did the trick.
There were multiple jets. The bubbles rising to the surface were evidence of their presence.
When she’d asked one of the Ngonyamas about the jets, she was told they helped to keep the water clean by pushing treated water into the tub and forcing old water down the drains at the bottom.
“Lanta,” Elkah’s voice came from her comlink.
Atlanta pressed the communication icon. “Here. Do you need me to return?” She would really hate to drag herself from soaking in luxury, but she would.
“No. I wanted to let you know that you can take your time. Aiko gave Una a sleeping tonic so she would be well rested for tomorrow.”
“Thank you for letting me know. I would hate to leave this water so soon. This feels amazing.” She drawled out the last word. “I wonder if Kgosi Melisizwe is actually nice to his subjects or if he’s just an idiot who doesn’t understand the value of water.”
“Luckily that’s not for us to figure out. Assessing his mental state is not in our job description.”
They’d done their research on Ipakethe and the Ngonyama species. The Ngonyamas were technologically advanced but their planet was ranked low on the class system. Their class ranking indicated there was civil unrest or the possibility of unrest. The planet didn’t have formidable allies, didn’t export many good or services off-world, and wasn’t a tourist destination.
To put it into perspective, both Ipakethe and Luur were Class 8-ii planets. Luur hadn’t received that ranking because of civil unrest, as there was hardly any in-fighting between the leaders. They were ranked low because the Oncuns liked to keep to themselves, even to the point of shutting down their borders to tourists. The Oncun were introverts who didn’t like the company of outsiders and often times didn’t want to even mingle with their own species. They embraced their class 8-ii ranking. From what she’d read, the Ngonyamas preferred the presence of others. They thrived on communal living.
Atlanta took a quick look around. The bath chamber was an obvious testament to that.
“I’ll see you upon your return,” Elkah said.
Atlanta disconnected the call and, after a thought, tapped her comlink again, this time pulling up the security profile of the bu Kumkani Kingdom. She selected the folder on Kgosi Melisizwe. There were photos of him, all professionally taken. Some were of him in his throne room and what she assumed were other rooms in the palace.
In one, he sat on the edge of a white couch. He was at an angle and had one ankle draped over his knee. He wore a red outfit, similar to the tunic he’d worn earlier for dinner. He wasn’t smiling, but his face spoke volumes. “I’m a ruler and dangerous. Don’t mess with me.”
She’d spent what seemed like a lifetime studying body language and emotions, specifically hers. It was important to keep herself in check. Being able to do so made her life on Luur tolerable.
Atlanta swiped through the rest of the pictures. Some were taken with his brothers; the resemblance was undeniable. She paused on one where he was seated in a gold, high-backed chair and his younger brothers and their mates were positioned on opposite sides of him.
What caught her eyes, as it had the first time she’d seen this particular picture, was the human standing next to his brother Themba. When she’d first come across it, she hadn’t expected to see a human. She’d done more research and found that Themba had met his lifemate, Payton, off-world, and they’d recently returned from their vacation.
During one of her breaks, Atlanta planned to seek Payton out. She’d never met another human besides her mother. Despite trying, she couldn’t find a lot of information about Payton. It was as if she hadn’t existed until a few months ago when she’d appeared in an article. It had been written by a welcoming committee for a small planet, Cleaprea. Payton had settled there and, as the only human, it made the gossip columns.
Where had Payton come from?
Had she ever been to Earth?
Was there a human settlement outside of the Okuthyu protective areas?
She had so many questions, but she would also be satisfied with just saying hello.
Atlanta’s curiosity about the Kgosi made her swipe past the family photo and continue to the others pictures on file. The look on the Kgosi’s face was the same in all his pictures. The only true emotion was boredom. He was Kgosi, he probably took so many pictures that he’d grown tired of smiling at the camera. No, not smiling. Atlanta couldn’t find one picture of him smiling.
Atlanta closed the file, then brought up a search window and typed Melisizwe bu Kumkani. She scrolled past the first pictures that popped up. She’d seen those already. Atlanta swiped her hand through the air, advancing the pages.
Seen it. Swipe. Seen it. Swipe. Seen it. Swipe.
She caught her breath at the picture that appeared next.
Melisizwe sat cross-legged on the ground with a child perched on one knee. There was a genuine smile on his face and laughter in his eyes. He was leaning back, arms propping him up from behind. Her eyes homed in on his shirtless chest, where black hairs spread liberally across his muscles and framed his suckable nipples. Lines of sweat dripped down to his stomach.
She licked her lips. Wow.
She didn’t know what was going on in the picture but, from the scene of equally sweaty, shirtless children surrounding him, Atlanta guessed they’d been playing some type of game.
This candid shot wasn’t in her file. Elkah wouldn’t think it was needed. Not for their purposes anyway. This photo didn’t contain any vital information regarding his family or provide any security concerns.
Elkah wouldn’t want this picture, but Atlanta did. She saved it for future reference.
Atlanta counted the sweat trails that led to pool in the crease of his stomach. She wanted to run her tongue down each line. Her stomach flipped at the thought of her mouth touching his body.
Fully clothed the Kgosi was an attractive male. But half-naked? He was all-encompassing.
She quickly forgot about the children and zeroed her focus on his mouth and the lines of his jaw and chin. Her hands itched to play through the hairs on his chest and touch all six of his nipples.
More of them to suck and lick.
A familiar tingle spread across her stomach and to the cleft between her legs. A low moan escaped her lips. What would she do with free rein of his body?
A lot.
That tingle progressed into more. Something she couldn’t ignore any longer. She diverted her eyes from the holo-pic and glanced around the room again. Still empty.
Could she?
She re-focused on the Kgosi, with all his rippling muscles covered in wet, gleaming sweat. She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth.
Oh, she could.
Atlanta slipped her hand underneath the water, across her stomach and between her legs. She groaned at the light touch that grazed her engorged clit. Even if she hadn’t found the file on human anatomy, explaining her sex organs, she would’ve known instinctively what to do with the sensitive bud. Rubbing and stroking her clit brought pleasure she hadn’t experienced before.
She kept up the rhythm, slow and circular. The water was warm, but didn’t cause the sweat now forming on her brow.
She closed her eyes and an image of the Kgosi popped into her mind. His voice...oh, that deep voice that felt so good on her ears. She could hear him now, joking and laughing as he had with the guests.
Her stroking intensified. The slickness from her own wetness mixed with the heated water. Her stomach tightened with her impending release. She rubbed faster, imagining the Kgosi’s fingers on her, whispering in her ear, telling her what he planned to do with his penises.
Oh, God.
Pleasure bolted through her. Her mouth stretched open on a silent scream. Her eyes rolled up.
“Oh! I remember that day. The Kgosi had gone to one of the local schools to talk about commerce and ended up staying for an impromptu game of chase.”
Atlanta scrambled from the bench at the voice behind her. As she quickly shut down the hologram, she slipped and fell on her butt. Water covered her head and she flailed her arms. She sputtered when her nose breached the surface.
A Ngonyama female stood, wide eyed, with a bundle of clothes in her hand. “Did I startle you?”
“No. No. Yes.” Atlanta wiped her face so she could see, then took to the stairs, climbing from the tub. “I was stretching and didn’t hear you come in.”
The female relaxed and turned to place her bundle of clothes on the bench and began to undress. “You don’t have to leave on my account.”
Atlanta was already forcing her legs into her pants, not bothering to dry them first.
“It’s fine, really. I have to get going. Enjoy your evening.”
With her clothes clinging to her uncomfortably, and body still dripping, she left the bathing chamber three shades darker than when she’d originally entered.