“Oh my!” Jillian’s eyes widened. “Is it supposed to do that? Change color, I mean?”
Kalis nodded in satisfaction.
“That’s exactly how it’s supposed to look. Even a bit more thaelite and the broth would have turned bright green and gone chunky. This is just right.”
“Well…good.” Jillian nodded. “Since I’ve never made this before, I suppose I’ll have to trust you.”
Kalis looked into her eyes, holding her gaze with his.
“You can trust me, Jillian,” he said softly. “I won’t let you down or ever do anything to hurt you—I swear it by the Goddess herself.”
The color rose in her cheeks and Kalis could hear her heart rate increasing and smell the sweet feminine fragrance of her desire. And yet, under that delicious scent, there was still the sour tang of fear.
“I guess that remains to be seen,” she said at last. “Come on—let’s get on with the rest of this menu.”
“Yes, Chef,” Kalis murmured. He swore to himself he would impress her and keep the possessive part of himself in check. He would give her time to get to know him before he made any more moves towards Claiming her.
He had no idea how soon he would have to break his promise.
30
“Well, that was a delightful meal. I never knew Nebrian cuisine was so varied and delicious,” Commander Sylvan remarked, smiling across the table.
“Hmmm, yezzz, it wazz delisciouzz.” The Nebrian ambassador, Ha’choo Bless’u, nodded her head, her large, compound eyes reflecting the dining room with its white linen tablecloths and avant-garde centerpieces. Her long, curling proboscis was currently unfurled, the better to sip the last bits of the jumja soup from the tall, thin vase-like vessel it had been served in.
“I’m so glad we were able to reach an amiable decision about the trading rights between our peoples,” Commander Sylvan said. He raised his glass, full of pale blue Woo, a strong liquor from his home planet of Tranq Prime. “To the friendship between the Kindred and the Nebrians. Long may our two peoples continue to grow and adapt together.”
“Indeed, yezzz,” the Nebrian ambassador agreed. She lifted her own glass—a vessel rather like a champagne flute, but four times longer and with a much shorter stem—and thrust her long proboscis with its large, fleshy purple lips at the end, down into the Woo. She sucked greedily at the liquor, her compound eyes gleaming with pleasure.
“Well, the ambassador seems to be enjoying her meal,” Kalis murmured.
“Thanks to you.” Jillian looked up at the big Kindred. They were standing at the kitchen door together, peering through the crack into the dining room, which was empty except for the table where Commander Sylvan and the alien ambassador were sitting.
The dining room had been cleared for a reason. Apparently, the Nebrian ambassador was “cycling” as her people called it—changing from female to male as part of her annual sexual cycle.
The Nebrians preferred not to send ambassadors during the male part of their cycle, due to their aggression and hyper-sexual drives, but Ha’choo Bless’u was their best negotiator. And since she still had a few days before she cycled completely to the male end of her species’ sexual spectrum, she was considered safe.
Still, Commander Sylvan had asked that the dining room be cleared for the delicate negotiation and Jillian noticed that he was here on his own, though he usually brought his lovely wife, Sophia, with him to state dinners. The servers had also been given the night off, and Kalis had been acting as a waiter, as well as a cook.
The big Kindred didn’t seem to mind doing double duty and he was excellent at serving—which made sense, given his background. But it was still his skill in the kitchen that most impressed Jillian.
“You did a great job on that jumja soup,” she murmured to him. “You’ve got a really well-developed palate.”
Kalis grinned down at her.
“Gotta say, little Mistress, it isn’t my palate most women are interested in.”
“Kalis…” Jillian said warningly, but she could feel her cheeks heating and her mouth curving into a reluctant smile. About halfway though cooking the VIP dinner there had been a problem with Suzanne’s babies. She and Hard had been forced to go home and help Kind, her Light Twin husband—who was a good father, but really overwhelmed having to handle all three triplets by himself.
Suzanne hadn’t been able to come back but she had called on a Think-me to talk to Jillian, worried about leaving her alone with just Kalis for help. However, by that time, the big Kindred had already been proving his worth.
He was worth any two line cooks she’d ever worked with, Jillian soon found out. He seemed to memorize the placement of everything as soon as she showed him and he really knew his way around a kitchen. He was quick, efficient, and he didn’t seem to mind taking orders from a woman. Which made sense, Jillian thought, considering his past. But it had often been a problem down on Earth where lots of guys couldn’t stand the thought of having a female boss, especially if she had to reprimand them.