Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Celia choked on a laugh that was more than half sob.
“Dios, that sounds so bizarre!”
“Not any more bizarre than getting eaten by a tree if we don’t succeed,” Fierce muttered.
“For now what we need to do is get back down to the dormitory without anyone suspecting where we’ve been and what we’ve seen,” Hold pointed out. “We can worry about turning Celia’s nipples blue later.”
The two of them helped her to her feet and though she was a bit wobbly, she found that she could walk.
“Come on,” she said. “I just want to get out of this horrible, creepy room!”
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Fierce agreed.
“But quietly,” Hold added. “Nobody can know what we’ve seen or they’ll feed us to the Mother Tree immediately.”
Just the thought of that made Celia break out into a cold sweat. More than anything she wanted to get out of here—away from the bizarre sex/death cult and back to where she belonged.
The Mother Ship, she thought with longing. I wish I was back there with Kat, helping to decorate and planning the big Christmas party!
It didn’t occur to her until later that she hadn’t even thought of Peter or his family once when she was longing for home and the feeling of love and belonging…
36
CELIA
“Where have the three of you been? Everyone else has already had their nightly shower and are already in bed pleasuring each other!” Ger’tha demanded, glaring at them as they finally walked in the door of the dormitory.
“We’re very sorry—we stayed behind to wash everyone’s dishes,” Hold said smoothly, taking the lead. He was certainly the best of them at sweet-talking people so Celia and Fierce hung back and let him. Celia was also careful to keep her injured hand behind her back—she didn’t want to have to explain her wounded palm.
“You did, eh?” The unicorn woman seemed skeptical of their explanation.
“You can ask Priestess La’ver’na if you want to verify it with her,” Hold suggested. “It was on her orders that we stayed.”
“Well…” Ger’tha stamped one hoof indecisively. “All right,” she said at last. “But hurry and take your showers—lights out is very soon.”
“Yes, of course we will.” Hold nodded. “Er, if you could point us in the direction of the shower room?”
“In there.” The Guardian of Recruits pointed to a small door at the far end of the large dormitory. “Hurry yourselves up,” she added. “And be certain to stimulate your goddess’s breasts when you wash her. I see that her nipples still have not turned blue.” And she gave Celia’s breasts a disapproving look.
“We will,” Hold promised and then the three of them quickly retreated to the shower room.
Past the small doorway was a long, communal shower which felt more like a sauna to Celia—mainly because it was all carved out of the living wood and it had a warm, polished glow. Even the shower nozzles were wooden instead of metal. The glowing moss on the ceiling cast a golden luminescence over everything, giving it an almost cozy look.
But no matter how cozy it looked, Celia was not charmed. Now she knew how the Mother Tree worked and what it fed on, she felt less like she was in a charming log cabin in the woods and more like she had rented an Airbnb in the bowels of a monster—a monster that would be more than happy to eat and digest her if it got the chance.
Still, they were stuck here for now, she reminded herself. At least as long as she was with Hold and Fierce she felt mostly safe. She knew the two big warriors would kill or die to protect her and that thought comforted her greatly.
There were rows of wooden pegs on the far wall where Celia could hang her red silk gown and the guys could hang their ridiculously small red silk loincloths.
“Fucking sick of wearing that thing,” Fierce remarked as he hung his on a wooden peg. “There’s no fucking use in wearing it—it doesn’t cover a damn thing!”
“It’s better than being naked like the goat men,” Celia pointed out, trying not to look at his enormous shaft.
“Is that what you call them?” Hold asked.
Celia shrugged.
“I mean, sure—they look like goat men—or satyrs, I guess. What else would you call them?”
“Well, I’ve heard some of them calling themselves JoCostians,” Hold said. “Though they call their females ‘JoCostillians,” he added.
“So they’re the natives of JoCosta Prime and then they came over here to form a colony on JoCosta Twelve?” Celia asked. “I wonder if their women look like goats too?” she murmured.
“Oh no—their females are the ones you see here. La’ver’na and the Mistress of Silk and all the rest of the one-horned ones.”
“What, you mean the unicorn women?” Celia exclaimed. “They’re the female of the goat man species?”
“Unicorn women?” Fierce frowned. “What the fuck is a unicorn?”