Free Michaela by Tracy St. John

creature.”
    Post-climax, Michaela’s senses were slow to recover. She was vaguely aware of Raxstad taking her back to Israla’s mansion, the building a concoction of rounded shapes and soaring spires. Then they were inside and the heady perfume of the flowers disappeared. The steady throb of Michaela’s lower parts eased. Thoughts began to assemble themselves.
    She lay in muscled arms, as secure as a babe with its mother. Safer still, because there was a monstrous gorilla of a man attached to those arms. He was warm and solid and strong, and Michaela’s first instinct was to burrow deeper in his clutches, to rub her face against the granite wall of his chest. Raxstad’s gentle smile sat strangely on his brutish features, but it was a nice expression. She warmed to it.
    “Nobek. Protector,” she whispered to herself.
    As low as her voice was, Raxstad still heard her. “That’s right, little one. You have nothing to fear when you’re with me.”
    Yet worry and doubt re-surfaced all too soon as the group reached her quarters in the guest wing of Israla’s immense home. The glow of orgasm and the stuporous effects of the flowers in the garden outside wore off just as Raxstad settled her on the lounger in her room. She blinked up at the three men crowded around her.
    Govi asked, “Michaela, do you need something to drink?”
    “No. I – I’m–”
    Michaela had no idea what she was about to say, because the knowledge of what had happened in the garden hit her full force. She slapped her hands over her face, hiding from the clan.
    “Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. Shit!”
    Raxstad’s deep chuckle rumbled delightfully through her ears, but Michaela couldn’t bear to look at him. However Govi wouldn’t let her avoid them for long. He tugged at her wrists.
    “It’s all right, Michaela. Look at me so you can see it’s all right.”
    She mumbled against her palms, “You saw me. You saw everything.”
    Korkla said, “Yes, we did. We saw just how exquisite you are.”
    Michaela peeked at him between her fingers. “Who are you trying to kid? I know what I look like. I’m a freak.”
    Anger shadowed Korkla and Raxstad’s expressions. Govi’s mood turned sad.
    Korkla said, “I believe I have asked you not to use that word when referring to yourself. Now I will insist on it.”
    Govi added, “You are not a freak, Michaela, no matter what you’ve been taught to believe.”
    “You’re perfect. Too perfect to be limited to male or female. That’s why you’re both,” Raxstad insisted.
    His clanmates looked at him, their expressions surprised. A smile lit Korkla’s face.
    The Dramok told Michaela, “When someone as straightforward as Raxstad gets philosophical, you need to listen, my lovely Michaela.” He sighed. “I am so sorry we took you out there where you had no control. I apologize that things happened you were not ready for yet. Please forgive us.”
    Michaela lowered her hands, blinking at him in surprise. Korkla was apologizing for her going nymphomaniac on them?
    “It wasn’t your fault. Jeez, what a mess,” she said.
    She looked at them. They looked at her. Everyone was watchful and tense. No one seemed sure of what to say at that point.
    The pregnant silence weighed on her. Michaela asked, “So. Now what?”
    Raxstad’s tone was hopeful. “Lunch?”
    Everyone looked at him. The Nobek returned their startled stares. “What? I’m getting hungry.”
    Michaela’s tension eased. She fled into the humor of Raxstad’s answer, a smile spreading over her face. “I do appreciate a simple solution.”
    Govi and Korkla chuckled, relieving more of the strained tenor of the moment. Govi asked, “Shall I call the kitchen and find out what they have?”
    Korkla nodded, still snickering. “Please. And order the Nobek a double serving. If he’s thinking with his stomach at a time like this, then we should take it very seriously.”
    They laughed, but the sound was uncomfortable, telling Michaela