Page 13 of Klora (Mates of the Mylos #6)

CHAPTER 13

KLORA

One bed! Definitely not my idea of what was proper. I’d not shared a bed with another since the time I was stationed on Igoria III and the power unit for our two warrior guard post went out. Since it was in the middle of a brutal winter, Horath, the warrior I was on duty rotation with, and I had found ourselves needing to huddle together under blankets in order not to freeze. Thankfully, that had only lasted three days and four nights. On the fourth day, someone at headquarters realized we hadn’t checked in for three days and they couldn’t get a response. Nothing but our life sign signatures, so a team was sent out to retrieve us.

At least this wasn’t that bad. Warmth tempered by gentle breezes, good food, and both a pool and a beach were to be had. I was definitely not going to let my having to babysit this Humans First secret collaborator keep me from enjoying them. I munched on what I realized was now my third taco from this particular bag and grinned to myself. Things were going to get rather aromatic later and McDuffie was going to have to put up with it.

I snickered then turned my attention towards mulling over just how I was going to use all the fun things I wanted to do to build up his trust so he’d find himself confiding in me. First, I’d suggest we stop at the hotel shop and buy him a change of clothes. Then while he took a shower to “wash away the day’s stress”, I’d have room service prepare him a meal that screamed “Aloha!” and made him feel as if I’d truly been thinking of making the best of him having to come along with us. I tapped on my kunnarskyn, using it to navigate the human internet to find the room service menu for our hotel. Ah, yes. It was going to be nearly four in the afternoon local time when we landed. That would be the dinner menu, so…yes, this would be perfect. I’d order enough that I could finish stuffing myself silly as well. Steamed edamame, kahlua pork nachos, and since he looked like a salad kind of guy to me, Thai salad, followed by huli huli chicken and kalbi, kahuku shrimp scampi, steamed rice, and the pineapple upside down cake times two. And since we were becoming ‘friends’, I’d go down to the bar and bring us back two mai tais.

Yep, I nodded to myself in satisfaction, that should do it. Then we can eat on the balcony and enjoy the view while sipping our drinks. Conversation, we needed innocuous “get to know you” things to talk about! Hmmm. Yes! I’d tell him the story of how Chris came to be matched to Oshar and Korah. Then I’d mention that we were all going out for a group breakfast the next morning and suggest he try the loco moco. Once a month Kimo’s wife would make this and spam musubi for our hula class to share and it was quite delicious. I myself looked forward to seeing if she was right, and it actually tasted “mo bettah” in Hawai’i.

Then, as alcohol and dwindling adrenalin took its toll, I’d let him go to bed first while I “checked in” via kunnarskyn, keeping an eye on him from the balcony. Once he was asleep, I’d get in myself. See? Nothing intimate or genuinely friendly at all. Just two males, making the best of a situation.

“Coming in for a landing,” our pilot called out.

“Already?” McDuffie said, looking surprised. “It didn’t feel like a whole hour and a half.”

The pilot chuckled. “It was actually an hour and ten minutes thanks to a cleared take off and landing zone for us.”

“Oh.”

I stuffed the empty taco wrappers into the bag holding the water bottles. I’d throw the wrappers away after and hold onto the bottles in case we decided to go on a hike or something. If not, I’d donate them to the local food pantry. Now there was an excellent idea of something to do with him, to convince him I was a real caring sort of guy he could trust with anything! I’d take him shopping for groceries, enough to feed a dozen families for a week, and donate it all to a food bank. I’d planned on donating something anyway, not just the water, as I was a firm believer in choosing to help local communities as much as possible. At the same time, we’d buy things for the local animal shelter. Oh! Oh! And I could find out if the shelter had a “take a buddy” kind of program like I’d heard some in the islands did. I was certain two pups would love a day out at a dog friendly beach and maybe even go on the hike I’d thought about a moment ago.

“You look like you’re scheming,” McDuffie said with a chuckle.

“I was thinking it would be nice to visit an animal shelter and take a couple dogs out for a day,” I told him honestly.

His eyes lit up. “That sounds like fun! Can we take them to the beach? Or were you thinking of something else?”

“Beach and maybe a hike on another day.”

A soft thump let us know we’d landed and the engines cut off.

“Welcome to Hawaii, everyone,” the pilot said.

“Yes, let’s do that if there’s time and you think we’ll be safe,” McDuffie said.

Hmm. Maybe he wasn’t completely bad, simply misguided. A person who cared about animals couldn’t be evil, right? Perhaps he’d turned on his co-conspirators once he discovered he’d been truly mistaken in his beliefs and had been trying to make things right. I could work with that, as long as he gave us enough to catch and put away the rest of the New York part of the gang. And after he served his sentence in our brig, perhaps we could even become friends, if he kept on the right path.

McDuffie began to fumble with his straps. I hurriedly undid mine so I could assist him.

Kneeling in front of him, I couldn’t help but notice how pretty his eyes were. They were a sort of brown, with gold flecks here and there, framed by dark lashes. The brown was not quite as dark as his hair.

“Um, Klora?” he asked me, his eyes looking at me in confusion.

I shook myself out of it. What was I even doing? It had definitely been too long of a day if I was going to sit and stare into someone’s eyes like that. The itch at the back of my neck became insistent and I rolled my neck as if to dislodge it like a physical thing.

“Sorry,” I replied. “I’m getting pretty tired.”

“Me too,” he confessed as I began deftly unbuckling the harness that kept him strapped to his seat. “I’m looking forward to something that’s not spicy.” I looked down at his lap where the half unwrapped, partially eaten taco was. I picked it up, my hand accidentally grazing his crotch. He gasped and I stood up.

“Apologies,” I barked out as I stuffed the taco and its wrapper in with the rest of the trash.

“Let’s go,” Sachuu said, sounding amused as he walked out the now open hatchway.

“Aloha!” said a male in a suit, wearing a name tag to show he was a member of the hotel staff. “Your AI has already checked you in and I’ve got your room keys for you. Any luggage?”

“Just what we have in our hands,” Sachuu informed him. “My mate and his sibling already checked in with our cats.”

“Ah, yes. You must be the Lieutenant Commander. Here’s your key.” The male handed a key fob to Sachuu.

“And here’s yours, sir,” he said, handing me one. Giving McDuffie a quick glance, he said, “I was told to only provide you with a key for the shared room.”

“That’s right,” I reassured him. “It’s a sort of protective custody sort of deal. He was one of the New York kidnapping victims.”

The male’s eyes grew wide and he stared at McDuffie in astonishment.

“Not that we expect any trouble here in Hawaii,” Sachuu told him. “And we appreciate your discretion in not saying or confirming who he is and why he’s with us.”

The male’s expression smoothed. “But of course! Here at the Hilton, we value our guests’ privacy. And even if it wasn’tYes! Y against our policy, that would violate the spirit of aloha if I allowed anyone to be disturbed.”

He gestured across the lot towards the front doors to the hotel. “This way please. I’m sure you wish to refresh yourselves after your hard work and trip here.”