BloodandPassion Read Free Page B

three
Celestials.”
    The bird gave a two-note, high-low chirp of confirmation and
flew out of their cloud to place their order. Xyla sat back and took another
deep breath of oxygen-rich air. “You didn’t have to do that, you know. I would
have been just as happy with the house brand.”
    “You say that only because you’ve never tasted Celestial,
have you?” Rish asked.
    “May I ask you something personal?” Xyla looked from one to
the other. Ivecs usually didn’t do personal.
    Mikal’s jaw worked, a muscle twitching just below his ear,
but he said nothing. Rish left Mikal’s gaze for Xyla’s and gave a short nod.
“I’ll answer if I can,” he said.
    “With the credit you two obviously have, why go to
peacemaker school? Why work as peacemakers?”
    Beneath his golden eyebrows, Rish winced, his deep-blue eyes
narrowing. He sighed before saying, “Our government asked for volunteers, as
Ivecs needed to be intimately involved in the peacemaker system, specifically
in lawmaking and peace patrols. For appearances, yes, but for the sake of
equality too.”
    “So you became a lawmaker?”
    “Yes,” Rish said.
    “And you, a peace patroller?”
    “The jobs appealed to us,” Mikal said.
    The fact that they were peacemakers hardly made them her
equals but Xyla just shrugged. Ivecs did not discuss politics outside their
race. She was surprised Rish had said as much as he did. Besides, she didn’t
want to ruin her night out with them just because she was intimidated by their
credit.
    Wondering how much they were willing to share with her, she
asked something she’d been wondering since she’d met them. “It’s more than your
education and jobs that brought you together, isn’t it? I mean, you’ve always
had this…bond.” She blushed. “When I first met you, I thought you had a
romantic relationship. But you’re not…” she floundered.
    Rish cleared his throat. “Humans typically create family
units with one or two adults and whatever children they produce or procure.”
    “You mean adopt,” Xyla said. “Humans produce or adopt
children, not procure.”
    Rish smiled.
    Mikal said, “Ivecs generally create family units starting
with two or more adults of the same gender and one of the opposite gender. The
most common unit among our race is two males and one female.” He paused, looked
at Rish. “We decided as childhood friends that we wanted to create a family
unit with ourselves and a female. We knew that we belonged together as a
family.”
    She stared at him. That has to be the most I’ve ever
heard Mikal say in one sitting. Ever.
    Rish made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
She faced him to find a wide smile lighting his face.
    “What’s so funny?” She frowned.
    He cleared his throat. “You don’t find the flexibility with
which we create our family units…odd?”
    She shrugged. “It’s different. I’ll give you that. But I
think it’s kind of nice.” It’d be even nicer if I was the girl you were
looking to start a family with, she thought.
    For the next couple of hours, she pretended she belonged at
the table with Rish and Mikal, drinking her iced bottle of Celestial, breathing
oxygen-rich air and reminiscing about their days at peacemaker school. The more
time she spent in the clouded booth with them, the less she thought about their
difference in race and class and the more she seemed to belong between their
hard bodies.
    She hoped what she’d heard about Celestial causing memory
lapses was unfounded because she wanted to remember tonight—especially when
Rish closed the small distance between them and kissed her neck. It felt
natural for her to lower her eyelids and lean back into him, shivering at the
sensation of his warm mouth pressed against her sensitive skin. Mikal’s hands
on her waist made her tense and blush, but she didn’t deny him, couldn’t when
she wanted them both so desperately and had for so long.
    This feels so right ,she thought.