“It is indeed!” The two-nosed man’s pale yellow eyes sparkled. “And we are always looking for new candidates to add to our little ‘library’ you know.” He cocked his head at Luci. “Might you be interested in trying it yourself?”
Luci was most definitely interested—as long as it was as easy as he claimed. Maybe she wouldn’t have to find Raze and beg him to lend her some money after all. She had hated the idea of doing that in the first place and if she could earn some in another way, she would certainly take it.
“So all I have to do is wear that little cloth? Where do I wear it? In my, uh, armpit or what?” Which was the smelliest part of the body Luci could think of. Though why anyone would want to smell someone else’s armpits in a book was more than she could understand.
But the two-nosed man was frowning and shaking his head.
“I’m afraid that’s not the kind of scent we’re looking for—charming as your armpits might be, my dear,” he said.
“I never claimed they were charming—Dios.” Luci gave a little laugh. “But if you don’t want me wearing the cloth in my armpit, then where do you want me to wear it?”
“Think, my dear. I don’t like to be indelicate, but what part of the female anatomy do you think lonely Kindred males most like to smell?” The man raised his eyebrows. “Hmmm?”
“Oh…oh!” Luci exclaimed, finally understanding. “You mean you want me to wear the little cloth right next to my…my…” She gestured at her crotch, her cheeks getting hot.
“Indeed, yes.” He nodded firmly. “And of course, nobody has to know you’re wearing it. I can supply you with several scent receptors—that’s what we call our ‘little patches’ as you so charmingly put it—and you can wear them throughout the day and then seal them up and return them to me when you’re done.”
“That sounds really easy.” Luci frowned. “What’s the catch, though? There has to be more to it than just wearing a little cloth next to my hoo-hah and then turning it in to you.”
“Well…” The man cleared his throat. “You do have to be, er, aroused when you’re wearing it. The more aroused the better, actually. And if you might happen to pleasure yourself at the time you are wearing the scent receptor, well…” He cleared his throat again. “Let’s just say that some scents pay better than others.”
Luci felt her cheeks getting hot. This man was saying she ought to play with herself while she wore the little white patch he called a “scent receptor” and then give it to him to sell to some horny Kindred who wanted to smell a horny lady!
Having been raised a strict Catholic, the idea made Lucy blush. At any other time, she would have slapped his face and left for suggesting such a thing. But now she really needed money.
“How much?” she asked unwillingly. “I mean, how much will you pay me to wear your little patches?”
The man named a price that made her jaw drop.
“Dios—that much?” she exclaimed. “Really, just for that?”
“Indeed.” He nodded, his four nostrils quivering. “Would you care to do it?”
Luci didn’t even have to think about it. She wasn’t sure the money he was offering would pay all her impending legal fees, but it was definitely a good start. It would at least get her foot in the door at a good law firm, anyway.
“Yes.” She nodded. “Yes, absolutely—I’ll do it.”
“Excellent!” He smiled broadly. “Then let me get you set up with a beginner’s collection kit. I’ll be back in just a moment.”
He nodded genially and then excused himself and went through another small door on the far wall, presumably to a storage area of the store.
Just as the door clicked shut behind him, Luci heard a familiar voice say,
“Lucia? What in the Seven Hells are you doing here?”
Whirling around, she saw Raze standing there with a horrified look on his face.
Sixteen
“Raze?” Luci eyed the big Kindred warily. “Why are you here?”
“That’s what I’m asking you!” he exclaimed. “Why would you even come in a place like this?”
Luci bristled.
“I came in because two Kindred guys were talking to me and wouldn’t leave me alone!” she said stiffly. “I felt nervous and I wanted to get away so I ducked in here.”
“Oh.” Relief filled his mismatched eyes. “So you just came in by accident then?”
“Yes, I did. But then I found out there’s a really good, uh, business opportunity here.” Luci lifted her chin.
“What?” Raze exploded. “What are you talking about? You’re not thinking of making a scent book, are you?”
“Of course I am,” Luci snapped. “What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that I don’t want the scent of the woman I love being passed around to every lonely, bored, horny male on board the Mother Ship!” he roared.
Luci flinched back at his tone, but lifted her chin higher.
“Oh, so now you love me? So maybe you want to be with me after all?”
A look so wretched it almost made her feel sorry for him crossed the big Kindred’s face.
“Lucia,” he said hoarsely. “Nothing’s changed. I love you with all my heart but I still can’t bond you to me.”
“Fine. Then I guess I have my answer,” Luci snapped.
Just then the small door opened and the two-nosed man came out. He was carrying a small package wrapped in opaque black material. He started to hand it to Luci but then he saw Raze standing there with her.
“Oh, hello.” He nodded genially at the big Kindred. “Are you here to choose a scent book?”
“No, he’s with me,” Luci said quickly. She might be mad at Raze, but she still didn’t like the idea of him sniffing some other girl’s panties—or what amounted to her panties, anyway.
“I see.” The two-nosed man looked at her appraisingly. “Well, then if you’d like—”
“Excuse me,” Raze muttered. Turning, he shouldered his way through the first door, going back to the front of the shop.
“Oh dear! Is he all right?” The salesman gave Luci a worried look.
“He’s fine.” She made a shooing gesture. “That’s just his way, that’s all.”
“Oh, well…” He looked relieved. “I had no idea you had a mate, my dear.”
“Raze isn’t—” Luci started to say, but the two-nosed man kept talking.
“If I had known that, I would have offered you the advanced inner scent collector to go with the scent receptor patches,” he went on. “Which, of course, pays much more.”
“It does?” Luci’s ears perked up. “How much more?”
The man named a price and she felt her eyes grow wide.
“That’s probably enough to win my court case and send Tony to jail for not paying child support!” she exclaimed.
“Excuse me?” he looked confused.
“Never mind,” Luci said. “I’ll take it. I mean I’ll do it.”