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“Uh…” Liv didn’t actually want to admit she hadn’t done the deed with him yet. “He’s really focused on my pleasure,” she said carefully. “He seems to be a lot more interested in making me happy than, uh, getting happy himself if you know what I mean.”

  “I do—I know exactly what you mean. My guys are the same way,” Jillian said excitedly.

  “Still?” Liv raised an eyebrow at her. “I guess I just thought, I don’t know, that maybe the whole ‘put your woman’s pleasure first’ routine was only for the, uh, courting stage of the relationship.”

  “Oh no.” Jillian shook her head. “Believe me, the Kindred are devoted to their brides all their lives. Their whole culture reveres women—that’s why they worship a Goddess—the Mother of All Life. I don’t think you could find a single society in all of Earth that’s more into pleasing and protecting their females. It’s really amazing.”

  “I guess so,” Liv said slowly. “Baird is very protective.”

  “My guys too.” Jillian nodded. “And they want to spend hours and hours making me, well, you know…” She blushed and giggled. “But it’s not just that—afterwards we talk—for hours sometimes. That’s how I learned so much about their planet. They miss it, you know. The ship really isn’t home to any of them either but they came here to take part in the new trade and find brides. One of them, Thinks Hard, told me that even if he never saw his home world again he would consider it worth it because he and Sees Much had won me as their bride.” She put a hand to her chest. “Isn’t that romantic?”

  Liv had to admit it was. “Baird seems to feel like we had a connection a long time before we met,” she said cautiously.

  “Because of the dream-sharing, of course. I always say that’s better than a background check any day because let me tell you, dreams don’t lie. What you see is what you get.”

  Liv thought of the dark man she’d seen in her dreams. The way her heart had ached for him, the way she’d wanted to heal him. Then she thought of the gentle way Baird touched her and the despair on his face when he’d asked why she couldn’t admit her feelings for him. Suddenly she felt like crying.

  “Anyway, are you ready for dessert?” Jillian chirped, obviously unaware of her internal struggle.

  Liv glanced at her empty plate, trying to push down the tears that threatened. “I thought we already had it.”

  “Nope.” Jillian hopped up perkily. “Just wait right here.” A moment later she was back with a large clear bowl filled with greenish-blue globe-like fruits that were somewhere between a grape and a plum in size. “These are twin fruits—see?” She picked one up and Liv saw that it was stuck to another one. In fact, all the fruits were doubled and flecked with a light dew of condensation. They looked cold and juicy and absolutely delicious.

  “They look great,” she said, reaching for one of the conjoined fruits and taking a big bite. Her mouth was immediately filled with a sour, bitter taste like lemon juice and aspirin. “Ugh!” It was all Liv could to do not to spit out the bite.

  “Ooo—sorry!” Jillian said anxiously. “I should have warned you right away—you don’t eat the flesh of the twin fruit, you eat the pit.”

  “The pit?” Liv managed to say after choking down the tart, bitter bite. “Really?”

  “Like this.” Jillian picked up one of the fruits and peeled back the blue-green skin and juicy flesh expertly, exposing two rounded pits that looked a little like very large black pearls. She popped them both into her mouth and crunched contentedly before nodding at Liv. “Now you try.”

  Doubtfully, Liv picked up her fruit and peeled away the ripe flesh just as Jillian had done. She decided to start with one of the pits instead of eating both but once she popped the first into her mouth she changed her mind and ate the other as well. “Mmm…” she said, swallowing. “Has a texture like pecans—”

  “And a flavor like spiced peaches,” Jillian finished for her. “And once again, hardly any fat.”

  “It reminds me of my grandma’s peach apple crumble.” Liv helped herself to another double fruit. “Really good.”

  “I know.” Jillian sighed happily and reached into the bowl again. “Oh, look—a three part one!” she exclaimed, pulling out a fruit that had three globes joined together instead of two. “Oh, I have to save this one for my guys. It’s considered very good luck to find one—like finding a four leaf clover on Earth, you know?”

  “Why is that?” Liv asked, taking another fruit for herself. In their own way, the twin fruit were almost as addictive as the Grieza worms.

  “It means happiness between you and your spouses. Anything in threes is considered unusual and lucky in Twin Moons culture. That’s where the Take-me’s originally came from. They domesticated them because of their three eyes on each head, you know?”

  “Mmm.” Liv sighed and sat back some. “No more. I was already full and now I’m just making a pig of myself.”

  “I won’t tell if you won’t.” Jillian giggled again and then glanced at the chronometer she wore on her wrist. cocked her head to one side. “Hang on—I promised my mom I’d call her around this time. You don’t mind, do you?”

  “Uh, no—of course not.” Liv watched, mystified, as her hostess hopped up from the table and fetched a thin silver wire. Placing the wire around her forehead and pressing it against her temples, she closed her eyes and began to murmur in a low voice.

  “Mom? Everything okay down there?” What she heard seemed to reassure her because she smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I know Lucy’s wedding is in a few days and don’t worry—the guys and I will be there. The Council agreed that a mating ceremony was an important enough event to grant a special pass for. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Look, Mom, I kind of have company right now. Can I call you back in a few? Okay, yeah, I promise. Love you too. Bye.”

  Opening her eyes, Jillian slipped the thin sliver wire off her head and laid it carefully on the table. “That was my mom—she’s going nuts trying to plan my little sister’s wedding and she’s constantly wanting to talk about the details. Makes me so glad the Kindred don’t do big ceremonies—although they will if you want them too. They’re really good about being accommodating on a girl’s special day, you know?”

  Liv was less interested in what Jillian’s mother had had to say than she was in exactly how she’d said it. “What is that thing?” she asked, pointing to the circular silver filament. “I mean, how does it work? Are you the only one who can use it? Do only the Twin Kindred have them or what?”

  “What, a Think-me?” Jillian picked it up delicately between thumb and forefinger. “No, of course not. All Kindred households have one. It’s like their version of a cell phone.”

  Liv frowned. “But I thought there was no way to talk to anyone back on Earth. Baird told me the holo-link only worked on board ship.”

  “Oh, it does. That’s because it’s for formal communication, between people who don’t know each other very well. It’s considered very rude to bespeak someone you don’t already have a relationship with.”

  “But you just talked, uh, thought to your mom,” Liv objected. “Or, uh, bespoke her, I guess.”

  “Well, she’s my mom. I mean, of course I know her well enough to bespeak her.”

  “Yes, but I mean, she’s on Earth, right? So how can you contact her?”

  “Well, technically you’re not really supposed to.” Jillian looked a bit guilty. “But I was so sad about never getting to see her that my guys made an exception for me. Honestly, I got the impression that lots of the Kindred are doing that—letting their brides use the Think-me, I mean. It’s kind of an open secret, you know?”

  “Well, it was a closed secret to me.” Liv shook her head. “Baird never said a thing about it.”

  “He can’t during the claiming period. A bride isn’t allowed to have any contact with her family during the entire thirty days,” Jillian explained. “Of course if you have someone you really want to talk to…”

  “I do, I really do,” Liv said eagerly, thinking of S