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Then Lana began clapping loudly and exclaimed,
“Congratulations! You two are perfect together!”
Molly was endlessly grateful to her friend—Lana was so good at breaking the ice. Suddenly, all her coworkers were looking at her with new eyes. They all came up to congratulate her and Torus. Molly smiled and thanked them, still feeling completely unreal. When Lana came up to hug her, she whispered in Molly’s ear,
“You’re going to have to tell me everything later! Because, girl—this is crazy, you know?”
“I know,” Molly whispered back. “But everybody has to believe it—okay?”
“Got it.” Lana nodded and later Molly heard her whispering to some of the other women in the department that Molly and Torus had “been in love for months, but they didn’t want to tell anyone.” She was glad Lana was spreading the rumor to help their ruse—even though her friend didn’t know the details.
Lana would definitely be one of the few people who knew the truth about her wedding to their boss, she decided. She knew she could trust her friend to keep their secret.
The only coworker who didn’t come up to congratulate her and Torus was Karen Geners. She just stared wide-eyed in shock when Torus made the announcement. And then, instead of coming up to say anything, she stayed in her cubicle with her face turned away.
Molly didn’t think much of it—she would be just as happy if her snooty coworker didn’t come to the wedding. Lana was the only one she really wanted to attend—everyone else could come if they wanted or just stay home.
After the announcement and congratulations, Torus appointed Lana as the temporary head of the department while they were gone on their honeymoon, which had made Molly’s best friend even more excited. Not just being the temporary boss—she was happy about that, of course—but it was the honeymoon she wanted to know all about.
Molly had to promise to tell her the details later because she didn’t know any of them herself. All she actually knew was that she and Torus would be going to Earth where the Press could see them and document their “love.”
Following the excitement at their work, Molly had thought she would probably just go home. But Torus had insisted on taking her out to a romantic restaurant that served Twin Moons cuisine. However, when the waiter asked if “the little lady would like to try some of our famous Bonding Fruit mousse for dessert,” Torus had cut him off with a sharp, “No!”
“Sorry,” he apologized to Molly, after the waiter left in a huff. “But I don’t want you to feel obligated in any way to do anything you’re not comfortable doing. And if you take Bonding Fruit in any form you’ll need…relief, to put it delicately.”
Molly knew exactly what kind of “relief” she would need if she ate Bonding Fruit. Being married to Twin Kindred husbands, Lana had told her all about it—in great detail. She was grateful to Torus for not automatically assuming that just because they were getting married, they would also be having sex. After the things Zach had done to her, she was still kind of shaky in that department.
In fact, she hadn’t had sex in five years since her divorce. She didn’t even masturbate because she felt too guilty doing it. It seemed like giving herself pleasure was what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. If she would have just taken a bath and not played with her “toys,” when she was alone in the bathroom, the videos Zach recorded wouldn’t have been nearly so salacious…or so damning.
So she tried really hard just to keep sex out of her head and concentrate on anything else. Yes, it was cutting off a part of herself she used to enjoy—a part she’d tried to keep free, even after Zach started caging her in and making her do…things she didn’t want to do. But that was over now, she told herself. She wasn’t going to let herself go there again and she was relieved that Torus didn’t expect her to do anything sexual.
But the minute she had that thought, a new image popped up in her mind—the memory of the big Kindred holding her close as she “over-hugged” him the night before. She couldn’t help thinking of how gentle he’d been…or how good he smelled…
Stop it, Molly! she lectured herself sternly. This marriage is just for show—I’m sure he doesn’t even think of you that way!
The dinner was delicious and afterwards they walked in the rolling parklands in the center of the ship. They held hands quite naturally, Molly thought—it just seemed right to entwine her fingers with Commander Torus’s as they walked together.
Then the big Kindred had surprised her by stopping and getting down on one knee. At first, Molly had thought he was just getting down to her level so they could talk more easily. But then he pulled out the box with the Andalusian diamond ring.
“Molly Byrne,” he had rumbled, looking into her eyes. “Will you Join with me?”
Even though Molly knew the whole marriage was just subterfuge, she couldn’t help the way her heart skipped a beat and her cheeks got hot with a flush.
“Oh, Commander Torus—” she began.
“No, little bird,” he interrupted her gently. “You must stop calling me by my title. Just ‘Torus’ will do. Or you can pick a pet name for me, if you wish. I understand that humans use them quite frequently for the ones they care for.”
“Like you calling me ‘little bird’?” Molly had asked. He’d called her that several times, though this was the first time she’d had the nerve to ask about it.
“Exactly.” He nodded, a rare smile tugging the corner of his mouth.
“Why…why did you choose that name for me?” Molly asked him.
His face got a guarded look and he paused for a long moment before he answered her.
“Maybe…because of your hair,” he said at last, reaching out to stroke the long, wavy strands which framed her face. “The color reminds me of the feathers of an Earth bird I saw when I was studying your home world.”
“Oh…okay.” Molly had nodded. “So…what do you want me to call you?”
