Queen of Their Colony (Kindred Tales)

“Better not,” Kat said. “The idea of this dress is to show off your assets—not to hide them. Remember I told you that on Yonnie Six, it’s a symbol of your power to showcase your body.”

“Besides, you won’t be wearing it for long,” Iyanna said comfortingly. “You’re going straight to Yonnie Six with your guys, getting the Heart-finder, and then heading right back here to the Monstrum Mother Ship—right?”

“I guess so. But they’re not my guys,” Terra pointed out.

“Do you at least find them attractive?” Kat asked, raising her eyebrows. “I know even when I was determined not to get with my hubbies, Deep and Lock, I couldn’t help thinking they were hot.”

“Well, of course they’re attractive,” Terra said, frowning. “I mean, they’re tall and muscular and Tem seems really sweet and Rive is really smart…”

“What about V’rone?” Iyanna asked.

“He’s…I don’t know.” Terra frowned. “He’s kind of a jerk. He just seems like one of those hyper-masculine guys you meet at the gym that are always lifting some ridiculous amount and won’t let anyone forget how strong they are.” She shrugged. “I guess he just rubs me the wrong way.”

“He is the Brawn or protector of their little group,” Iyanna pointed out. “You might not like him now, but I bet if somebody jumped you, you’d be glad to have him on your side.”

“My Dark Twin hubby, Deep, always rubbed me the wrong way, too,” Kat put in. “The best advice I can give you is to stand up to him—he’ll respect you for it.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m planning to be with them the rest of my life,” Terra pointed out. “It doesn’t really matter if we all get along or not—after we finish this mission and they escort me to my ex’s wedding, we’ll never see each other again.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right,” Iyanna said mildly. But she and Kat exchanged a look that seemed to say differently.

“I mean it, you guys!” Terra put a hand on her hip and then pulled it away quickly, not wanting to crush the delicate flowers. “Um, how long before this dress starts to wilt, anyway?” she asked Iyanna.

“Oh, these flowers are all air plants, meaning they get all the moisture and nutrients they need from the air around them. So it should stay fresh indefinitely, as long as you’re not too hard on it,” Iyanna told her.

“Oh good—I didn’t want to be wilting in the middle of my meeting with, uh, Mistress Bodikin. Such a weird name!” Terra remarked.

Kat laughed.

“Yeah, all those Yonnie Six Mistresses have funny names for some reason. Okay, here are the shoes.” She passed Iyanna a pair of kitten heels with black fabric at the tops. After a few passes of Iyanna’s hand over them, flowers that matched the gown sprouted and she gave them to Terra, who put them on. They fit perfectly.

“Well, I guess I’m ready to go,” she said, looking down at herself doubtfully.

“I guess you are. Good luck, doll.” Kat grinned at her.

“Thank you for your help. And for the bonding fruit juice—though I’m sure I won’t be using it.” Terra smiled back.

“Come on.” Iyanna hooked her arm through Terra’s. “I’ll take you back to the docking bay where your guys—I mean, the guys—are waiting.”

Feeling surreal, Terra nodded.

It seemed like she was going on an adventure with the three hot Monstrum warriors whether she wanted to or not.

ELEVEN

“This isn’t what I had in mind when I agreed to let Rive go after her,” V’rone growled as he checked the long-range shuttle’s controls and got ready for take off. “He was supposed to talk her around to being our Queen—not take her on a mission to some Goddess-forsaken planet where we all have to pretend to be slaves!”

As he spoke, he adjusted the fake, black leather pain collar around his neck. It was too tight, damn it! As were the black leather trousers that went with it. The boots were his own—he was fine with those. But he wasn’t fine with anything else about this mission!

“Settle down, V’rone,” Tem said mildly. “Rive did his best. And actually, this isn’t a bad outcome. We get to spend time with our Lady and we get an opportunity to prove to her that we will serve her faithfully and well.”

“I did the best I could.” Rive was looking over the star charts as he spoke. “Taking her to Yonnie Six with us was the only way to get more time with Terra.”

“But what good is it getting the fucking Heart-finder when we’ve already found our Heart—our Queen?” V’rone growled. “I don’t know about you two, but I don’t want any other female other than little Terra!”

“We don’t either, V’rone,” Tem said quietly. “But this is the only way to spend some time with her and try to convince her of that. Besides, the Heart-finder would be a good thing to have. We can pass it down when we have sons of our own.”