Page 5 of Tempting Her Grumpy Protector (Kindred Tales Spicy Shorts #7)

SUNNY

“Ah, good evening, good evening! It is lovely to have you with us!” The Thropp’ian “ Welcome Ambassador ,” as their guide called himself, was tall and thin and humanoid, though there did seem to be something strange going on with his chest, Sunny thought.

She looked closer while the guide said something to Greer .

Yes —the weird thing was that he appeared to have a third pectoral muscle right in the middle of his chest. It was easy to see, since he was stripped to the waist and only wearing a kind of grass skirt which left his skinny arms and narrow chest bare.

Of course, he also had a third eye on his forehead, so maybe that was just part of the Thropp’ian anatomy, Sunny speculated. The third eye was presently closed—maybe it was vestigial, like a human’s appendix.

“We’re so pleased to have a Kindred scientist here,” the guide went on, bowing obsequiously to Greer . “ We hope to teach you and your Bound Mate much of our rich cultural heritage!”

“We’re very pleased to be here, too” Greer rumbled. “ But I’m afraid you have it wrong— Dr . Craythorn here is the scientist.” He nodded at Sunny . “ I’m only her Protector .”

“Oh? A female scientist?” The guide looked extremely surprised—so surprised, in fact, that the third eye on his forehead popped open and looked at Sunny up and down, as though she was some new interesting species of insect.

( The iris of the third eye was bright green, she noted—unlike the other two eyes which were dark blue and matched the color of the guide’s skin.)

“Yes, indeed— I’m Dr . Craythorn ,” she said briskly, stepping forward with a smile. “ And I’m so excited that I get to witness your Binding Week ceremonies! Tell me, is it true that all of Thropp’ic Sigma waits all year for this one single solar week to get married—er, Bound together?”

“Yes, it is.” The guide puffed up his narrow chest proudly.

“ No legitimate Bindings can be made except during this one sacred week. And since a year on Thropp’ic Sigma lasts for seven hundred and fifty-seven solar days, you may imagine how excited many couples are to finally show their love for each other! ”

Sunny smiled wider. She had always observed that if you could get the other person talking about themselves or their culture, you could usually get over any initial hurdles of prejudice or sexism or whatever was standing in the way and make a connection.

“You have some fascinating social dynamics on your beautiful planet,” she said sincerely. “ I can’t wait to go among your people and study them.”

“And we can’t wait to have you, Dr . Craythorn ,” the guide replied, smiling back.

His third eye had closed again, which seemed like a sign that she had put him at ease—at least Sunny hoped so.

“ And we have extra excitement this year—our leader himself is going to take a mate for the first time and we’re all breathless to know which female he will choose to Bind to him. ”

“How exciting!” Sunny exclaimed, really meaning it. She loved the idea of getting to observe this extra bit of pageantry.

“Yes, it is!” the guide agreed. “ But before we go to the ceremonies, I must first take you to where you and your Bound Mate will be staying and show you the ceremonial outfits you must wear.”

“Oh, uh, certainly—lead the way,” Sunny said, nodding. She wasn’t going to correct his idea that she and Greer were a couple—the ceremonies of this entire week were all about couples and they might not be allowed to observe if they didn’t play along.

Greer didn’t try to correct the guide either. He simply grabbed their carry-all cubes—the compact Kindred luggage that could store almost anything—and they followed their guide into the warm, humid night.

Greer had landed the long-range shuttle at the edge of a jungle, where they had been instructed to put down, but there was a large village in the distance.

Sunny could see lots of homes that looked like huts.

They were outlined in the firelight of many torches that had been set all around the perimeter of the village.

The guide led them through the village gates and down several narrow, winding streets until they came to a nice little hut with bright white walls and a roof thatched with broad purple leaves.

“Come inside—everything is laid out for you, Dr . Craythorn ,” he said courteously.

Sunny walked in easily but noticed that Greer had to duck his head. Clearly these buildings weren’t made for someone his size. Still once they got inside, the ceiling opened up so at least he didn’t have to hunch down as he had in several places they had visited.

Inside, the hut was very simple. There were woven rush mats on the floor instead of carpet and a single bed which was resting on a ridiculously high bed frame.

In fact, it was so high that Sunny had to stand on her tiptoes to get a look at the smooth blue spread, which seemed to be made of large leaves sewn together.

“Wow—it’s beautiful,” she said, smiling at the guide. “ But does the bed frame lower down at all? I’m afraid I won’t be able to get up there.”

“Oh, we have bed stairs, of course.” The guide frowned and looked around the room. “ I can’t believe they didn’t provide you with a set! I’ll get you some, of course,” he told her.

“Why does the sleeping platform have to be so high?” Greer asked, frowning.

“To avoid the skuttlers , of course.” The guide spoke as though they ought to know what he was talking about.

“Uh… skuttlers ?” Sunny asked uncertainly.

“They are a kind of large insect with a flat body and a shiny black shell,” the guide explained.

“Wait— how large?” Sunny put a hand to her throat.

She was optimistic and positive about anything and everything…

but bugs and spiders. And the thing their guide was describing sounded a lot like a large cockroach—which was one of the bugs Sunny hated the most!

They were the only thing worse were spiders, in her opinion.

“Oh, about this big.” The guide held his hands about a foot apart.

“ Unfortunately , they are able to flatten themselves and get into any house or structure, no matter how tightly it is built. So we make certain they can’t actually reach us.

They’re only active at night, once the lights are extinguished,” he added helpfully.

“But then… I mean, can they crawl up walls? Or …or on the ceiling?” Sunny asked, feeling sick.

The guide shook his head.

“Oh no—they’re too heavy for that. They mostly just scuttle along the floor—which is how they got their name, I suppose.” He laughed, as though the idea of giant bugs scuttling across the floor all night long was funny .

“But…how do you avoid them?” Sunny asked. “ I really don’t like bugs,” she added with a shiver.

The guide nodded at the glowing metal and glass lantern which was hanging from a hook in the center of the ceiling. It emitted a soft golden light that bathed the sleeping area in a circle of warmth.

“My advice to you is to be certain you’re safe in bed before you blow out the flame,” he told Sunny . “ Once it’s out, you’ll need to light it again if you want to get out of bed. Either that or wait until the morning light sends the skuttlers back to the jungle where they live during the daytime.”

Sunny tried not to imagine the neat floor of the guest hut crawling with enormous foot-long roaches, but the scene insisted on popping into her head anyway.

“Are…are there a lot of them?” she asked, her voice quivering.

“Not usually. They come in and look around for anything to eat. As long as you don’t bring food into your dwelling, they will most likely leave again,” the guide said comfortingly.

“But if you can’t eat in your dwelling, then where do you eat?” Greer asked, frowning.

“In the Communal Village hut—where our Binding Celebration is being held right now,” the guide told her. “ You must get ready to go if you don’t wish to miss it.”

“Oh, of course.” Sunny took a deep breath and tried to look on the bright side of things.

At least Greer was going to be with her to protect her.

In fact, it might get quite interesting, sharing a single bed.

In the past he had slept on the floor if they were only offered a single “sleeping platform” as the Kindred called it.

But he couldn’t do that if the floor was going to be crawling with skuttlers .

And hopefully if any of them got too close he could squash them with his giant black boots.

Greer seemed to be thinking along the same lines because he frowned down at the guide and asked,

“Are these insects—these ‘skuttlers” holy or sacred to your people in any way?”

“Goodness, no!” The guide made a face. “ They’re pests! If there was any way to keep them out, we certainly would. But they’re attracted to the scent of our homes and always looking for food.” He sighed and shrugged his narrow shoulders. “ What can you do?”

Nothing, apparently, Sunny thought dryly. Well , they would make the best of the situation and just stay in the bed when the lights were out. The only problem she could see was that if she and Greer were sharing a bed, she wasn’t going to have any privacy to take care of her personal needs.

Sunny had a very high sex drive—abnormally high if her ex, Bernard was to be believed.

She had brought her favorite vibrator with her, as she always did, but usually she and Greer had two separate rooms so she could use it freely on herself once they had turned in for the night.

How was she going to manage that if they were sharing a bed?

Maybe I can go in the bathroom, Sunny thought to herself. But of course, she would have to be sure the doors and walls were thick enough to muffle the buzzing sound of her “rotating rabbit.” She would just die of mortification if her Protector happened to hear her getting off!