Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
But no matter what Goodie Oo-lah said, she couldn’t picture Cade ever harming her. Even with his mind in its current animalistic state, he had already shown that his first instinct was still to protect her.
“I’ll be fine,” she said firmly, refuting the other woman’s warning.
“And you’re sure you don’t want a control collar? I’ll give you half off the price,” Goodie Oo-lah offered.
“That’s very kind of you but I’m not going to put a shock collar on my coworker,” Andi said firmly. “But I really do appreciate your help. Er…can I pay you for the Boom-boom juice?”
“Not at all. On the house.” Goodie Oo-lah waved her hand in a shooing gesture. “Come on now—I’ll point you the way to Goodie Tight-azz’s place. You’d better hurry if you want to get there before it gets too dark and she locks up for the night.”
“Oh—of course. Thank you.”
Andi accepted a large paper sack to put all of Cade’s clothing and boots into—Goodie Oo-lah refused to take payment for this either—and got directions to the house of Goodie Tight-azz. Then she nodded at Cane and said,
“All right, come on.”
It still seemed really strange for the big Hybrid to be completely naked, especially out in public. But he was still quite docile and seemed content to follow her down the sidewalk in the direction that Goodie Oo-lah had pointed.
Andi just hoped that the Zo’rathian woman would be willing to take them in. They needed a place to stay since the ship was dead. Even if it hadn’t been, she didn’t like the idea of trying to cross the Boom-boom field after dark to get back to it. The pack of wild men was doubtless still out there, looking for prey.
They really needed a place to stay until the next Moon shuttle came—she just hoped this was it.
16
ANDI
“Huh. And what does the likes of you want?”
Goodie Tight-azz was a middle aged woman with tightly curled dark pink hair and lime green skin. The sour expression on her face and the suspicious way she looked at Andi and Cade seemed like a bad beginning.
She was standing squarely in the doorway of a large single-story dwelling. It was round like all the others and the light glowing behind her looked warm and inviting—especially compared to the chilly gray twilight they had walked through to get here.
“Please forgive us for bothering you,” Andi said politely. “But I was given directions to your boarding house by Goodie Oo-lah at the Emporium. She said that you board people while they wait for the Moon shuttle?”
“Well…mayhap I do—if you meet with my requirements.” Goodie Tight-azz sniffed and looked Andi and Cade up and down. “You two aren’t from around here, I take it?”
“Our ship crash-landed,” Andi said. “Cade here was our pilot but now he’s turned into a, uh, Manimal.” It still seemed like such a strange word, but she guessed it fit. “Now I’m trying to get us up to the second moon so we can make a call to the Kindred Mother Ship and hopefully get home.”
“Never heard of no Kindred Mother Ship, but I’ll take you if you’re a proper good girl and you can pay,” Goodie Tight-azz said. “First off, I notice your Manimal hasn’t got no collar on. Is he trained to the breast?”
“Oh, uh, yes.” Andi nodded, though she still had no idea what that meant. “I, uh, use my Sweet Drops to keep him in line,” she added, remembering Goodie Oo-lah’s words.
Goodie Tight-azz frowned.
“A collar would be better, but the Sweet Drops are acceptable—barely,” she said. “Goodie Oo-lah might have told you I’m a New Order believer,” she added. “We ‘NOs,’ as we call ourselves, don’t hold with any kind of hanky panky between males and females, now that all the males is Manimals. It ain’t right breeding with them now, what with them being no better than beasts of the field. At least in their minds. They might look the same but they ain’t the same, if you see what I mean.”
“Oh, I don’t plan on doing anything like that with Cade,” Andi said quickly, nodding at the huge Hybrid who stood silently at her back. “He’s my Protector—my coworker,” she emphasized. “We don’t have that kind of relationship.”
“Well, that’s good then.” Goodie Tight-azz nodded approvingly. “All right, show me your underthings.”
“Excuse me, what?” Andi stared at her blankly, thinking she must have misunderstood.
“I said, show me that you have underthings on so I know you’re not going to let that big brute be sniffing under your skirt.” Goodie Tight-azz gestured to the skirt of Andi’s red wrap dress and made a gesture. “If you ain’t got on underthings, I’ll know you’re lying and you’ve been letting him lick your unmentionable places.”
“Oh, uh…” Once again Andi was glad she’d worn underwear, even if she had left off her bra. Feeling strange and ashamed and ridiculous all at once, she flipped up the hem of her dress, showing the lacy white underwear she was wearing.