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“Very well,” he sighed. “Let us make our way to the port quickly and get this over with. All I’m interested in is finding Jill as soon as possible.”
Snapping his wings, he leapt into the air, aligning himself in the direction of the port. The administration building would still be open. If they hurried, they would get all the answers they sought.
Chapter17
Jill served the drinks along the table at the back, barely holding back a sigh of irritation as a hand grabbed at her ass… again. No matter how she tried to evade the handsy one, it was nearly impossible while serving drinks to the men at either side of him. It seemed that even with men grossly outnumbered on Ganymede, the moon-planet encouraged the worst behavior in some of them once they were far from Earth. And of course, the rains just seemed to bring them out in droves once the weather cleared.
Diane gave her a sympathetic look as she trudged back to the service area to prepare the next order. “That group giving you trouble?” She tipped her head in the table’s direction.
“No worse than usual. There always seems to be one who is bored enough to test my patience,” Jill muttered as she grabbed clean glasses and set them on her tray.
“I don’t know why management doesn’t do anything about them. You would think we were wild west saloon girls with the way they act after the rain lets up. As if they were that hard up.” Diane shook her head in disgust.
Jill snickered in reply and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. “The poor execs stuck in the wild frontier of their lush loft apartments. They’d probably be less hard up and not have to suffer days of enforced abstinence if so many of the men who transfer here weren’t die-hard bachelors eager to sample as much local fruit as possible.”
Learning that bit of gossip had shocked her when she was a fresh arrival. She’d assumed that with so many women around that the few available men would have all been married until she mentioned it to the cook. He had given her an incredulous look before releasing a long, booming round of laughter. His explanation of how things worked on Ganymede had quickly disabused her of that notion. The fact of the matter was unless someone was already married, very few of the men who arrived to work in the city were in any hurry to settle down or commit to serious relationships.
Her friend chuckled as she worked on her own order. “Who are you kidding? Half of them probably have a girl or two lodged in staff quarters of their building on standby. Poor babies are probably releasing tension from having to confine themselves to one of their live ins for several days.” She shook her head in disgust. “I swear they don’t pay us enough for this crap.”
Jill made a sound of agreement in the back of her throat, her eyes drifting past the bar toward the door where there seemed to be some sort of kerfuffle going on. Whatever it was, was causing quite a stir as angry voices rose rapidly.
“I don’t care who they are, they don’t belong in here! I don’t pay dues to this club to provide me with simple pleasures just to have to deal with… with aliens!” a man shouted.
Craning her neck, she could see the source of those vehement words. The groper was standing there with his buddies gathered around him glowering at the manager. His face was now bright red, however, from the combination of booze and his inflamed temper.
“Of course, and I do understand, sir,” the manager attempted to soothe, and his gaze trailed toward the door.
Naturally, there was nothing there for Jill to see without any windows on the ground floor, but the mention of aliens had her pulse speeding. Was it the males from the tram? Was it her avrhast twins? Or was it someone else altogether? Not knowing sent a confusion of different emotions through her so that she abandoned her tray and moved out from behind the bar in hope of getting closer to determine what exactly was going on.
“Jill, don’t,” Diane hissed. “You’ll get brought in for retraining. We aren’t supposed to interfere when management is handling the situation.”
Her friend’s heart was in a good place with her warning, but Jill ignored her. There was that feeling again—almost bidding her to go to it, and it tugged at the fabric of her being. If there was even a chance, even the smallest one, that it was Agor and Brydis, then shehadto know. In any case, no one was even looking her way as she crept closer; they were too busy arguing about whatever alien was on the other side of the door.
The manager swiped a hand over his mouth nervously. “I understand, sir, and I assure you that we are doing everything in our power to handle the matter, but this,” he gestured to the gathered group of men, “is not the answer to the problem. They are not interested in the club, just one person in particular.”
It was as if fate interceded with those words because, at that moment, the manager’s eyes turned and slid over her in passing before snapping back to her with an expression of relief.
“Jill! Thank goodness!” He pushed through the group and ignored the angry huffing as he came directly toward her and gripped her shoulder in a light squeeze. “I was just going to come and find you. It seems that we have some… ah… visitors who requested to speak with you specifically.” His lips twisted. “Of course, you are not required to. Icancall the authorities, but I would rather avoid drawing that sort of unpleasant attention to the club if possible.”
Ah, of course. She almost made the mistake of being touched by his apparent concern. Clearly, what little he possessed was solely for the reputation of the club. On any other day, she would have taken offense at that and considered throwing the job along with the rag in her hand right in his face. Lucky for him, she was distracted by the way her heart fluttered with excitement as she followed the unmistakable draw to the door. She didn’t even notice that the manager trotted hurriedly by her side so that he could reach around her and open the door, as if worried that she would change her mind, and then ducking out of the way.
Jill wasn’t given even the briefest moment to consider the implications of that and what it could mean if there was someone truly dangerous and not the males she suspected behind the door. The door slid open with a burst of sunlight pouring in only partially blocked by the larger silver form of a very familiar male, his blue crest standing at attention as his head tipped and he peered down at her. Surprise was followed by relief as the emotions slipped across Agor’s face and Jill laughed with happiness despite the unexpected rush of tears to her eyes as Brydis also crowded forward. It hardly seemed believable. They were finally there!
Tossing the towel carelessly in the manager’s direction, Jill rushed forward and straight into the arms of the Geminidae. She didn’t even hesitate or weigh her options, which was very much unlike her. All she knew was that at that moment, she needed to respond to the pull demanding that she touch them and be enveloped by them. She was pretty sure they felt similarly because they didn’t even hesitate. Agor trilled enthusiastically as he yanked her off her feet and into his arms and hugged her close as Brydis echoed the sound of pleasure and pressed close, his arms curling around her as well. Jill was perfectly sandwiched between them, and she couldn’t even conceive of a better place to be. Leaning her cheek in Agor’s inhumanly warm chest, she inhaled him and smiled at the press of Brydis’s chest against her back. His nose brushed her jaw, and she sighed as the broad wings of both males folded around them, cutting off the sharp words shouted from within the club.
Those men didn’t matter. Though she had many,manyquestions, at that moment, only this mattered.
Chapter18
Agor thought he was dreaming at first at the sight of their talia standing gaping up at them, but that vision of loveliness quickly became reality when she rushed forward, and he felt the softness of her body colliding with his own. He responded instinctively, his arms wrapping around her and drawing her close against him, savoring the connection of the taliazon and all the good feelings it brought as their energies connected, joining them temporarily together.
He could even ignore the angry human with the loud, annoying voice who seemed to be particularly hostile toward Agor and Brydis’s presence there. Around him were several other humans who seemed to be arguing with him and among themselves like so many buzzing insects. The red-faced human seemed to be the main source of the disruption. As far as Agor was concerned, the male was insignificant.
He suspected little could interrupt his peace in that moment. He was only somewhat aware of Brydis stepping away to speak to the female who had slipped closer in the confusion. That had to be the female who they were to give the message to, judging by the intrigued look that came over her face as his twin spoke quietly at her side. Taking the opportunity to tighten his wings more firmly around Jill, he shifted further away from the entrance to the club. He did not like how closed in the place was. It seemed more of a cage than a place of business to his way of thinking, and that unsettled him to know that his talia had been there for a great many weeks while waiting for them. Now that he had her, he didn’t wish to provide any opportunity for her to be drawn back into it out of his sight.
With his movement, the human speaking in quiet, complacent tones to the angry one glanced their way, a look of surprise moving over his face.
“Jill, is everything okay?” he asked, his body subtly moving in front of the red-faced male looming behind him.
