Odalisque

Kai nodded. “Yep.”

“I mean, I always imagined doing that kind of shit to women, but I never thought about how exciting their reactions would be. The reactions were better than the--”

“Actions? Yeah. That’s why you do it. The thrill of watching your partner fall apart from the pain while simultaneously trying to hump your leg. It’s great if you’re with someone who’s really into it.” Too late, he remembered that Mason’s partner wasn’t. “Anyway, I’m glad you had a good time.”

“You know, she wasn’t like the sheik’s odalisque at all.”

“No?”

“Constance was a lot more...slutty. No, I don’t know if that’s the right word. The sheik’s girl was all about seeing to everyone else’s needs. Constance seemed to be enjoying everything a lot herself.”

“Yeah, well. I think that makes her better.”

“Me too. I mean, Constance seemed a lot more into it. It was really exciting.”

Mason sounded a few shades shy of worshipful. Kai fixed him with a look. “You’re not falling for my odalisque, are you? I still think you should get your own.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Mason drained the last of his drink. “Hey, can I crash on your couch?”

“I wouldn’t think of waking my driver at this hour,” Kai said. “I’ll even give you a room and a bed of your own. As soon as you put some damn pants on. At least a pair of boxer shorts.”

“Can I borrow some boxer sh--”

“Yes.”

“Jesus, Kai,” Mason murmured. “You’re a hell of a friend.”

*** *** ***

All three of them slept late the next day, which was probably why Kai didn’t hear the doorbell, or notice a key turn in the lock. He opened his eyes to find Satya in his face, frowning ferociously.

“You haven’t called me in forever, Kaivalyan. I hate when you ignore me.”

He shot up out of bed. This was the reason he couldn’t sleep naked. His sister had no sense of boundaries.

“Jesus, ever hear of knocking?”

Her eyes went wide and indignant. “I knocked and rang the bell. And then I let myself in. I just came to get something I left here last year before I went on that trip to Nepal. I won’t keep you, since you seem hung over or high or something.”

“I’m not high,” Kai muttered, pulling some sweatpants over his boxers as Satya trotted out of his room. His sister was sort of like a volcano and sort of like an earthquake. And sort of like a hurricane mixed with a cyclone, all rolled into one.

“What do you need, Sats?” he asked, stumbling after her.

“I think I left it in the guest suite upstairs. That leather bag with all the pamphlets about the child brides. You remember? The pamphlets are kind of outdated now, but they were well designed. They’ll work in a pinch.”

“Let me look for it.” He was practically chasing her now. Satya was so fast. She was petite and perky and way too fast for ten in the morning. She was already halfway up the stairs. “Satya! Stop! Let me get it.”

“I’ll get it.” She waved a hand over her shoulder. “I know exactly where I left it.”

Me too, thought Kai. Because I moved it when I was fixing up that room for my odalisque.

The door was standing wide open, as it always was. Shit. Shit. Shit. Satya barreled in, her usual frenetic self. Please let Constance be in the bathroom. Please let her be under the covers. Damn, she never slept under the covers. And she never wore clothes.

Please, God, don’t let her back be to the door when my sister sees her. If Satya saw the evidence of their play last night, she’d go ballistic.

“Satya, stop!” he yelled one last time, pointlessly, since she was already backing out of the room. Satya turned to him with narrowed eyes.

Kai lifted his chin and met her gaze. “Your bag’s not in there. I did some redecorating. I’ll show you where I put it, and then you can run along on your way.”

Yeah. Did he really believe it would be that easy? Satya came down the stairs and dogged his heels all the way to the office where he’d stowed her bag and the other various things she left at his place whenever she blew through. He located it and handed it to her.

“I don’t suppose you’ll mind your own business and leave now.”

His sister crossed her arms in front of her. “I don’t suppose I will. Why is there a naked woman lounging on the bed in your guest room? And why did you decide to decorate it like a bordello on crack?”

“A bordello on crack? I think it looks great, and I decorated it that way because she likes it that way. And she’s naked because she’s...she’s a nudist.”

“Don’t lie to your sister. Does she live here? Is she your girlfriend?”

It spoke a lot to the closeness of their relationship that they could talk about nudism and bordellos. Kai still sensed disaster. He grabbed his head and groaned. “Just leave it. Can’t you just leave it? For once?”

“No, I can’t. Is she really your girlfriend? Because it seems kind of skanky, her hanging around naked in your guest room which now looks an awful lot like a whorehouse on acid.”

“Whorehouses can’t be on acid! What is it with you talking about buildings being on drugs?”

“Hey, Satya,” came a cheerful voice from the room across the hall. Kai turned and did a facepalm. Mason was in nothing but tight-fitting boxers, lazily scratching his chest. “What were you saying about acid?”

Satya looked from Mason to Kai and back again, silently arching her brows.

“Okay,” said Kai. “She’s not exactly my girlfriend.”

“Then what exactly is she? A prostitute? Did you and your degenerate friend spend last night with a prostitute?”

“Degenerate?” Mason protested, but Satya was barreling on, in full scold mode. She poked a finger into Kai’s chest.

“You know, Mother would be spinning in her grave if she knew how you lived. You rich men and your vices--”

Kai held up a hand. “Excuse me. My vices are none of your business. And these rich men”--he indicated himself and Mason, who was now yawning and scratching his balls--“these ‘rich men’ finance your numerous pet humanitarian projects. So I would pipe down with the accusations and judgments if I were you.”

“Judgments? No judgments, just facts. Prostitution is not only a crime in this state, it also exploits women. And I know--” Satya stopped to take a breath, her bronze skin flushing dark. “I know my big brother would not involve himself in the exploitation of women.” She threw Mason a dirty look, as if she might believe it of him.

Kai grasped for calm as Mason shrugged and loped off toward the kitchen. Satya looked so much like his mother sometimes, and yet she was nothing like their mother, that silent, submissive woman. Satya was just getting started with him.

“Listen, Sats,” he said as they walked back to the living room. “I’m not exploiting her. That’s all I’m going to tell you. The rest is none of your business.”

“Just answer this question. Does she live here?”

Kai gritted his teeth. “Yes. So if you don’t mind, please don’t come barging in here anymore without a phone call first.”

Kai looked up then to see Constance standing at the top of the stairs. She was wrapped in a thick terry robe that just skimmed her knees. Thank God he’d bought it for her, to use poolside in the spring and summer. Please don’t let my sister see the marks on you.

At his expression, Satya turned too. Kai watched his sister--women’s rights crusader--and his contractually purchased odalisque size one another up.

“I’m sorry I walked in on you while you were undressed,” Sats said to Constance, her back poker-straight and nearly as stiff as her voice.

Constance looked back at him. He almost broke down laughing at her exasperated expression. She signed, “Tell her it’s okay. That I’m always undressed.”

Kai shook his head and signed back. “No, I’m not telling her that.”

Satya spun to face him. “What did she

say? Can’t she hear me?”

“No. She’s deaf. She said it’s okay, about you walking in on her.”

Constance started signing again, almost too fast for him to catch all the words. “Tell her I’m not exploited. That I chose this.”

Kai paused a moment, then shook his head. “She won’t understand. I won’t tell her that. No.” He turned to Satya, who looked about ready to murder him.