Delivered by the Defender (Kindred Tales)

The flecks crunched between your teeth and fizzed sour-sweet on your tongue when you bit into them, he explained. He let Selena try some and she gave him some of hers as well. They strolled along the beach with his muscular arm draped over her shoulder, eating their cream-cones and enjoying the sunshine and the salty sea breeze that blew over the clear, aquamarine ocean.

There were other couples on the beach—most of them were Ma’shorkan but quite a few were Kindred warriors with their brides from Earth. Most of the Ma’shorkan women were dressed like she was in a “beach harness” but only a few of the Earth girls were.

Whenever she saw another woman from Earth who was wearing the same kind of revealing outfit she was, Selena couldn’t help but wonder if she and her Kindred mate were “playing” together the way she and Valen were. Were they also into Domination and submission, or were they just closet exhibitionists, who were brave enough to come out and show themselves here on an alien world where nobody knew them?

One thing she liked about Valen was that he didn’t stare at the other half-naked women on the beach. He only had eyes for her, as they continued to walk and talk and he was always touching her possessively, keeping her close to his side.

Selena adored having her “Master’s” undivided attention. She loved the fact that he thought she was beautiful and wanted her to show off her full curves. Her ex, Gary, had never looked at her with the intensity and attention Valen showed her. Also, he had hinted strongly once or twice that she ought to go on a diet, probably because he was so skinny and scrawny himself, they looked pretty mismatched together.

She didn’t feel “mismatched” with Valen though—she felt almost petite next to his muscular, seven-foot frame. And for the first time in her adult life, she felt secure enough in her skin to walk around in next to nothing—which wasn’t something she’d ever thought would be possible.

When they had both finished their cream-cones, Selena looked around for a trash can. She hadn’t forgotten Valen’s warning about what a dire offense littering was on Ma’shorka Centra.

“I think I’d better throw this away,” she said to him, motioning with the thin green napkin which had been wrapped around the crunchy bottom of her cone. “Is that a trash can, over there?” She pointed to a round, covered can which a large Ma’shorkan man was currently putting something into.

“Yes, that’s a waste receptacle,” Valen said. “But I should probably go with you.”

“Don’t be silly—it’s just over there.” And she plucked his own crumpled napkin out of his hand and ran over to deposit them both in the covered can.

But there was something weird going on with the can’s lid. It was firmly closed and she didn’t see a way to open it. Then she noticed a series of buttons on it—maybe they locked it to keep any trash from escaping and blowing around the beach?

“Do you know the code?” a voice said in her ear.

“Huh?” Selena looked up to see the big Ma’shorkan man who had been putting something into the trash can earlier.

“The code,” he repeated patiently. “Do you know the code to open the waste receptacle?”

“There’s a code?” Selena frowned. “And they just expect everyone to know it?”

“It’s always the same. Look—blue, blue, red, green.”

As he spoke, he tapped the buttons, causing the rounded top of the trashcan to slide open so that Selena could drop her crumpled napkins inside.

“Oh—thank you. I’ll remember that. Well, have a nice day!” She smiled politely and then turned to go.

“Wait a minute, little bimbap.” The Ma’shorkan’s man snaked out and he grabbed her by the wrist. His eyes, formerly friendly, were suddenly dark and lustful as they roved over Selena’s mostly bare body.

“Hey, let me go!” she exclaimed. She could hardly believe he was doing this—they were in broad daylight, with lots of other people around! How did he dare to grab her in public?

“I don’t think so—I don’t see a Seal of Independence on you anywhere,” the man gave her an ugly sneer. “Which means you’re mine now, little bimbap!”

“I am not—let me go!” Selena gasped, tugging against his hand. “What is wrong with you? We’re in public here! You can’t just grab any woman you want!”

“I can if she’s not spoken for and doesn’t have a Seal of Independence,” the Ma’shorkan man said confidently. “Come on, little bimbap, all I want is a tumble in the sand and then I’ll let you go. Maybe.” He leered at her, making Selena feel sick. How had she gotten into so much trouble just throwing away some trash?

“Get your hands off my female.” The low, familiar growl behind her made Selena feel instantly better.