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“Well, whatdoesit mean, then?” she asked, trying not to stare atHold…or notice the way his eyes kept darting over to catch discreet glances at her body in the form-fitting warm suit.Fierce, on the other hand, was still just staring at her blatantly and not even trying to hide the fact that he liked the way she looked.Hisdark eyes were lazy with lust as he perused her body at his leisure.
Strangely,Celiafound that shelikedtheir eyes on her.Ifit had been any other man—well, other thanPeter, of course—ogling her so openly, she would have been offended and felt violated.Butthe wayFierceandHoldwere looking at her body made her feel beautiful and desired in a way she never had before.Theywere staring at her like she was some kind of goddess—a being almost too beautiful to behold and impossible not to lust after.
Shehad to admit that she never got this feeling from her fiancé.Evenwhen she dressed up nicely forPeterto go to a fancy restaurant or a party with his important, rich friends, he always seemed to find fault with her somehow.
“Isthatwhat you’re wearing?” he would ask, wrinkling his nose at whatever outfit she’d put on.Or, “Doyoureallythink those earrings go with that dress?Whydon’t you run upstairs and change, darling.Maybeput your hair up too—it looks so much moreelegantthat way.”
Inevitably,Celiawound up trying on three to five different ensembles and changing her hair a dozen times before her fiancé finally approved of how she looked.Itwas hard on her self-esteem—being an interior decorator and designer, she’d always trusted her own innate fashion sense.Untilshe started datingPeter, that was.Nowshe wasn’t surewhatlooked good on her anymore.
Butstanding there with both of the huge, muscular warriors looking at her with half-lidded eyes, she definitely knew she looked good in the sleek, black warm suit and it boosted her confidence immeasurably.Shedidn’t even mind whenHoldshook his head and said,
“I’lltell you whatlelkameans later—I’mnot in the mood to break up another fight between you two.”Henodded meaningfully atFierceas he said it. “Rightnow we need to get going before we lose the daylight.”
“Agreed.”Fiercerose and put on a long fur coat of his own—his was a rusty red.Thecolor suited him and made his dark, bearded face look cruel and handsome at the same time,Celiathought.
“Isthat real fur?” she asked, nodding at their coats, asHolddonned a backpack filled with supplies for their overnight stay.
“Yes, it fucking is,”Fiercegrowled, as though daring her to start a fight about it. “Butit’s not made of a bunch of pelts of cute little animals like the fur coats onyourplanet.”
“Whatisit made of, then?”Celiademanded.Sheloved all kinds of animals and didn’t believe in skinning any of them for their fur, cute or not.
“Bothour coats are made of the hide of atrenka-veerm,”Holdanswered for his brother. “It’sa large, carnivorous predator that lives on our home world—TwinMoons.Itlooks a lot like your great white shark, but it’s a land animal and it has two sides.”
“Twosides?Whatdo you mean?”Celiaasked.
“Twofaces—two heads and two bodies—joined at the hip,”Fiercesaid.Ashe spoke, he was strapping a lethal-looking blaster to his own hip.
“Manycreatures onTwinMoonsare two-sided or two-faced,”Holdsaid, strapping a blaster on as well. “Justas it takes us two males to mate one female—doubles and twins are a feature of our planet.”
“Isee…”Celianodded. “Sothis, uh shark thing—this…”
“Trenka-veerm,”Holdsupplied helpfully.
“Yeah—thistrenka-veermmust be pretty big, huh?Imean, if there was enough fur to make two coats out of it?”
“Aroundten feet tall on its hind legs,”Fiercesaid casually. “Itwas threatening a remote village where we were staying—eating their heard ofTake-mes—that’s a kind of animal that looks a little like anEarthhorse but with two front ends put together in the middle,” he added for clarification.
“I’veheard someEarthfemales say thatTake-mes look like a ‘push-me pull-you,’ from an oldEarthmovie,”Holdsaid helpfully.
“Ohright—DoctorDolittle!Iremember seeing that whenIwas a kid.”Celianodded.Oneof the foster families she’d stayed with had an ancientVCRand a collection of really old children’s movies andDoctorDolittlehad been one of her favorites.
“Right.Anyway, half their herd was gone and they didn’t have any warriors in the village—so they askedHoldand me to hunt the fucking thing down,”Fiercesaid.
“Anddid you?”Celiatried to imagine the two of them hunting down a ten-foot-tall double sided, furry land-shark and shivered.
“Yousee our coats, right?”Fierceheld out his arms, displaying the long, shaggy coat of rusty-red fur.
“Weonly wear the furs of an animal we’ve killed ourselves onTwinMoons,”Holdexplained. “Oncewe killed thetrenka-veerm,the villagers thanked us by skinning it and making us coats from the hide.”Heshifted his shoulders. “Idon’t think we’ve been anyplace cold enough to wear them until now, though.”
“Yeah, it’s plenty fucking cold out there,”Fiercegrowled. “We’regoing to need to get into the grotto as soon as possible.”
“Well, no time like the present.”Holdhitched up the backpack he wore and looked atCelia. “Ready, my lady?”
“Iam.”Celiaadjusted the red scarf so that it covered her head and ears and mouth and nose, leaving only her eyes peeking out. “Let’sgo.”
“Allright—I’llopen the door and we’ll run to the grotto entrance,”Fiercesaid.Hepressed the door mechanism, causing the hatch to open. “Go!”
Theywent.
