Chapter Eight

Drin was amazed at how fast she got an upgraded com. One of the techs noticed that her audio receiver was also crappy. That exchange was slightly painful, but when they had a well-known singer and a judge standing over them, they did an efficient and polite job. When they were done, her audio sounded like someone was in her head, and the upgraded wrist unit let her look things up with ease. It was shiny and black, but there was a set of gold, silver, and dark silver frames that could be changed out as she needed or wanted.

The judge had whispered in her ear in the elevator. Vikor was drafting the restraining order for his parents and Shisha, which would be examined and authorized by a different judge. He was out of it. No conflict of interest. He whispered, “I like rules, too.”

She smiled and nodded. He had helped smooth things at the com replacement station. It took a police report or a court order to replace the outer unit that contained all of her information. The implant in her skin just powered it.

Ekron kept his arms looped around her while Techor signed the statement. They both held her hands while the tech was installed. If a citizen was lucky, they would only have one repaired or replaced in a lifetime. Drin’s was now good for the rest of her life.

Ekron chuckled. “And now, we see Techor to his workplace, and we go shopping.”

She contacted Shisha and was greeted with, “Drin, thank goodness. Vaken was worried. I was worried. Where are you?”

“Uh, I got arrested for breaking the restraining order. It’s all sorted out. I told you all this in a message.”

“I couldn’t make out half of what you were saying. Are you okay?”

“I am fine. Captain Varun knows about Vaken, though. A restraining order is being drafted to keep them from Vaken, and the captain has agreed to court-supervised visitation.”

“Seriously? We don’t have to hide from them anymore?”

“You’ve got it. I will let you know when the order is final, but it should be before the weekend.”

“Can you come over? We have to celebrate.”

She looked to the men on either side of her. “Um, I have a date. Or two. Or four. I have to go out tonight.”

“So, you are not suspended anymore?”

“Oh, I am still suspended, but you remember Vikor? He’s one of the guys I am with.”

The laughter on the other end of the call was punctuated by a, “Call me when you are free.”

Drin sighed. “I will call you.”

The call ended, and she looked at Ekron. “What are the odds of me being free?”

He grinned. “It will take a few weeks, but we will eventually feel good about having you away from us for a while. Maybe an hour at a time.”

She sighed. “What are we doing now?”

Techor smiled. “You are walking me to work. We are just a block away.”

She frowned as they eased her out of the shop. She resisted. “I didn’t pay.”

Techor smiled. “Ekron did.”

She looked at Ekron. “But you guys gave me funds for this.”

He smiled. “We gave you money for you. We need you to have a reliable com. That is a price worth paying. All the shopping today is on me as well. There is no sense you paying for garments that you didn’t pick out. And make no mistake, those bargain-basement suits you favour are history.”

He offered her his arm, and she curled her hand around his bicep.

Techor smiled. “Soon, I can have you on my arm. Very soon. As soon as that second order is in place.”

They walked Techor to the courthouse, and he nodded politely to her before straightening his jacket and heading back inside.

She watched as Techor disappeared.

Ekron turned her to face him. “You seem upset, Drin.”

“My perceptions are a little bit off right now. Part of me wants all of you guys where I can see you.” She sighed.

“What does the other part want?”

“To hide in a closet until you forget about me.”

He laughed and hugged her. “You are very cute.”

“Is it the pointy ears? It is the pointy ears, isn’t it?” she mumbled against his chest.

He chuckled. “You are not in love with me one little bit, are you?”

She looked up at him in surprise. “How could I be? I just met you.”

“Because dozens of women proclaim me to be their true love when they hear me sing, and you were right up close.”

“I think you are nice, sexy, charming, and a bunch of other things, but love comes over time. Any girl announcing love on first meeting is talking through her panties.”

He laughed softly. “I will take it.”

“Just like I know, none of you are in love with me. I am just a fun pet for now. Something to play with. Love might show up, but it would be ridiculous to think it was there now.”

He paused. “You might want to ask Vikor about that.”

“I still don’t know why he came to my rescue after I... uh... halted you. I don’t even know how he recognized me. He didn’t know when I was with BDC.”

“None of us would have guessed what was under the mask and the modest outfits that seemed to suit you when we requested them.”

She smiled. “I was very comfortable in those outfits. I liked them.”

“You will like what we go shopping for. I have some upcoming award shows, and I would like you with me at all of them.”

“Yeah, I remember that from negotiations. I don’t know how I am going to do in public.”

“Let’s try a few shops that sell that kind of thing today and get you some work clothing that suits you a little better.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

He sighed and rubbed the base of her spine.

Drin slid her hands up his chest. “Are we going?”

“As soon as those tabloid drones get a picture of this.”

Her eyes went wide as he brought his mouth down on hers. Her hands were pinned between them as his kiss made her head spin. The kiss was deep, and she let her body appreciate the seductive slide of his tongue. He lifted his head and rubbed his nose against hers. “That ought to be a fun image for the public.”

She sighed. “It was going to happen sooner or later, I guess.”

He grinned. “Just waiting until Vikor and Klauz are seen with you. The buzz will get loud.”

She pressed her forehead to his chest. “I don’t know if I want that.”

He gently told her, “Tough. We lead public lives in our different ways. You will be seen with us, and they had better get used to it.”

She scratched his chest lightly. He shivered. He smiled. “You learn quickly, Drin.”

“It seemed the sort of thing you would like. Something tells me that most of your intimate friends wouldn’t dare leave a mark.” She went up on her toes and nuzzled his neck, leaving a hickey when she leaned back. “I don’t mind. Let your makeup artist deal with covering it.”

Delight lit his eyes. His hand came up to cover the mark. “You seriously did that in front of the courthouse?”

She shrugged. “You have me trapped, and I felt like it.”

He released her and offered her his arm. She wrapped her hand around his arm, and they walked off as if nothing had happened. The drones caught everything.

It was time to go shopping, and there were no drones indoors.

“I am not going to wear half of these, Ekron. You are wasting your money.” She walked out of the changing room wearing a red carpet gown slit to the left hip. It was lovely, but its only purpose was to draw the eye.

Ekron was sitting and sipping champagne. He lifted his com and snapped an image. “Interesting. Are we a little teapot?”

She snorted and put her hands at her sides.

“Better.” Another snap.

She folded her hands in front of her and peeped at him through her lashes, another snap.

She laughed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Enough. You have taken a ton of photos, whether we bought the dress or not.”

He smiled. “But you look so happy when you are playing dress-up.”

“Yeah, but some of those don’t count as dresses. One of them was constructed out of ribbons and wishful thinking.”

He sighed happily. “Yeah, I really liked that one.”

“I am not wearing that one. On that one, there is way too much of me out in the open.”

He waved his hand. “I have something in mind that could fix that.”

She turned and walked back to the change room. “It had better be a larger outfit that goes over it.”

He was laughing while she changed into the dress she had arrived in. She flicked her hair down her back and left the formal dress in the change room. She stalked over to him and thudded onto his lap. “Where next, boss?”

He grunted when she landed. “What is this obsession you have with crushing my nuts?”

She whispered in his ear, “I promise to kiss them better, eventually.”

He shuddered and looked at her in surprise. “You are quite the tease.”

She frowned. “Not usually. Something about you, though, makes me want to have some fun with you.” She carefully got up. “I can stop.”

He grabbed her wrist and tugged her back where she had been previously. “I like you having fun. Techor can probably feel it when you do.”

“Oh, dear. I just hope he isn’t smiling in court.”

“He didn’t have any cases this afternoon. He’s stuck doing paperwork, so he is probably grinning like a fool.”

She fidgeted, and he wrapped a hand around her hip. “What is making you twitch?”

“I should be at work.” She grumped. “I am never not at work on a weekday unless Vaken needs a pickup.”

The store staff were discretely out of view.

“I look forward to meeting your nephew.”

“Vikor has to properly meet him first. Vaken doesn’t know who he is yet; it is all up to Shisha. She seems okay with finally coming out of the shadows.”

She shrugged. “Once the restraining and visitation order is in place, I am pretty much out of it. I will visit as much as possible, but Shisha has always wanted to get in good with Vaka’s family, and I know they can’t stand me. Well, most of them can’t.”

“Just his mother. I met you before, you know.”

She froze. “What?”

“Vikor and I were college buddies, and he invited me home for the holidays. You, Vaka, and Shisha were your own group, laughing together and flickering between faces. The look on Vaka’s face was frustrated when he saw it, but Shisha relaxed him, and he smiled again. We have it on video.”

She looked up in shock. “What?”

“You know that drone Vaka made to follow him around as he trained?”

“The microbot?”

“Yeah.” He nuzzled her neck. “Well, he recorded you and him interacting... a lot. He was one frustrated agent.”

She blushed. “I tried to stay friends with him. It was difficult to the end.”

He sucked on her neck, and she panted softly. “Ekron! Stop it.”

He chuckled and nuzzled the spot he had just sucked on. “Your squeak is really cute. I wonder if you will make that noise when I work my way into your ass.”

“Really? You have to mention that here and now? Aren’t we supposed to be moving on to our next spending adventure?”

He lifted his head and raised his tone. “Ladies, she will take the last gown in the midnight blue with the crystal trim.”

Drin frowned. “But the dress is magenta with gold trim.”

Ekron grinned. “You need to learn how this works. While you were trying it on, I got to see sample fabrics and trims. None of the dresses you tried on will be delivered in the same colour and trim you tried on. Each of the guys has given me notes. Well, the backless black cocktail dress is coming with us because Klauz is expecting us for dinner.”

The shop assistant paused. “Oh, are you talking about the Klauz? I have always wanted to go to his restaurant. I hope you have a lovely time.”

Drin smiled, remembering the ruthless enthusiasm that Klauz engaged in.

“I hear that the chef is really good at figuring out what you need.”

Ekron laughed. She elbowed him. He laughed harder. The shop assistant looked confused. Drin had no idea how to answer the comment.

Ekron spoke to the woman. “Klauz is one of Drin’s partners. She can speak to his sense of taste.”

Drin was outraged. She swatted at him, elbowed him in the belly, and tried to get off his lap. “You jerk.”

Ekron held her easily. “I am not allowed to let you out on your own. Vikor’s orders.”

She frowned. “I don’t recall him saying that.”

“Call him and find out.”

She shrugged and called Vikor. She smiled when his face appeared. “Hi, Vikor. Did you say that I can’t be alone?”

He grinned. “I did indeed. You were busy with Klauz.”

Ekron activated the speaker.

She blushed. He looked at her. “Did Ekron give you a hickey?”

Ekron spoke. “It was retaliation. She gave me one at the courthouse.”

Vikor laughed. “Okay. That’s fair then. I am just about done for the day, but then I have to head to Hell. Can you guys grab me from there?”

Ekron said, “Sure. I will see if the judge has the evening off.”

“Thanks, Ekron. Having fun shopping with her?”

“It’s hilarious. I took a ton of images.”

“I look forward to seeing them. Are you done?”

“Two more shops. Both for lingerie. We already have shoes and a few accessories. I got her some exercise gear just to see her in spandex. The shoes I picked are cute. Sparkly blue.”

Drin muttered, “In case you didn’t know, Ekron likes blue.”

Vikor nodded. “I am aware. He also likes sparkles.”

“So I have learned.”

Vikor smiled. “I like black.”

“That is the colour of my gown tonight. Too bad I can’t come and get you out of Hell, but the time in line would make my dinner cold, and I can’t have that.”

Vikor smiled. “You can just skip the line now. If Ekron can send me one of the images, I can make sure the bouncers and staff are aware.”

She blushed. “Right.”

Ekron smiled. “I would like to see what would happen if they tried to stop you from going in.”

Drin looked at him. “Knock it off, you shit disturber.”

Ekron paused and roared with laughter.

Vikor looked at her with a happy expression on his demonic face. “And this is why I love you, Drin.”

She smiled weakly, shock ripping through her. “Um, okay. See you this evening. Bye.”

She disconnected the call and sat there shaking. The throwaway phrase had struck her to her core.

Ekron caught the change in mood, and he held her tight. “What is it?”

“I... It caught me by surprise.”

“What?”

She squirmed to get loose.

His breath was hot in her ear. “You aren’t getting loose until you tell me.”

“He just said that me making you laugh was what he loved about me. I didn’t think hearing those words so casually would feel like that.”

Ekron kissed her temple. “He means it. He has thought about you every day for the last ten years. That pheromone cloud? That’s for you. It is there to pull you in. He is confident his body will stop calling for you when you two are finally together, and yours will stabilize. He thinks you are truly a perfect match. As a man who has seen a poster of you on his walls at college.”

She lifted her head. “What?”

“It started after your eighteenth birthday, and I have never seen a man so relieved to have a woman he likes getting older. He printed posters, tried to sketch you, and mooned over you throughout law school. He was devastated when Vaka died, and you left his family’s life. He lost his brother, and he lost his love. Then, a year ago, when the BDC opened in Aksalla, I saw him laughing again. He smiled. His sketches got better if repetitive. He came back to life because you were in it.”

She stared at him and felt a solid tear roll down her cheek. He kissed it away and murmured, “I play the fool because my antics make him smile. You can lighten his heart just by walking into the room. If love has a definition, Vikor is expressing it in everything he does around you. He picked me for your impish side, Klauz for your appetites, and Techor for your balance.”

She wiped her face. “What does he get?”

“He gets your body, your soul, and your future.” He smiled.

“What do I get?”

“You get to be whole.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “I can hardly wait to see you whole.”

She sniffled. “I confess to being rather curious myself.”