The Nobleman's Masterpiece ✔

11 THE FREAKS

A gentle knock sounded from the door this time. Joshua didn't wait for a response before he opened it and stepped inside. A long line of servants entered, shoving a caravan of food along with them.

"Lydia, sweetheart, you'll be so pleased—" Joshua began, but paused when he spied Midge and then his twin, Queen. "What in the Colony's going on here?" he was quick to add, "You have no right to be here, absolutely none. So if you've come to bring up charges...."

"He came to see me," Midge said, finally.

Joshua nearly shrieked. "I knew it. I knew it was you, Midge, and you were just having a romp. I knew it. Didn't I tell you it was Midge, Lydia? I said it, didn't I?"

Midge didn't respond, and Lydia couldn't find enough composure to focus on them. The next twenty minutes faded in a blur. The only thing coming into focus was Midge.

The E sat, still naked with the robe in his lap, while Lydia was 'dressed' in underwear that hid absolutely nothing. She could only stare at him.

Joshua put two diskettes down and sat back as servants shared the food for them. "We'll talk business after we've had something to nipple." He chuckled, and corrected himself, "I mean nibble. Won't we, my love?"

Lydia wasn't entirely sure Joshua was talking to her like that. She didn't care; she didn't dare look. She wasn't going to lose sight of this E. She refused to sit there without knowing which one was involved in the greatest humiliation she'd ever suffered.

Midge wouldn't return her gaze, while his brother, Queen, or whatever his name was, looked embarrassed for both of them.

"If it's all the same to you," Queen said, gesturing to the two diskettes. "Let's talk business now. My brother and I have several appointments to keep today."

Not once. Midge didn't return Lydia's gaze, not even when that asshole muttered a half-assed apology, saying, "I apologize for how things have gotten out of hand."

"Apologize?" Lydia said, finally. "Apologize? Is this something you two do? Toy with people because you two look the same?" She waited for an answer, and sat up when none came. "Huh? Tricking someone into taking pity on you and then not even looking them in the eye when you spew some weak-ass 'sorry'?" Nobody moved. Lydia kicked Midge's chair, nearly sending the man toppling over. "Huh? You don't even look me in the eye!"

"Lydia," Joshua warned. "Sweetie, you should calm down. Don't take it so seriously. It was all in fun. It just got out of hand. Come on, aren't you relieved that he was really okay. And woo-wee, the way you just charged that force-field...."

In the last twenty-four hours, Lydia hadn't eaten much, but every bit of sustenance she consumed threatened to come back up when she remembered how terrified she'd been. How utterly torn in two she'd been at the thought of the man's injury.

"What the fuck do I know?" Lydia asked, a shiver running through her. She replayed that stupid, stupid decision over and over again. "Was that for fun, too?"

Midge's blue eyes stayed fixed on the table. He didn't talk.

Everything about that fight had left Lydia reeling from the emotion. She thought of the fear, the guilt, and then the absolute and total relief when she'd entered that shower and seen the big giant in one piece. And that touch....

Fighting back a gag, Lydia gripped the table cloth, willing herself to breathe.

"Lydia, dear, are you all right?" Joshua asked.

The worst mistake Joshua ever made was to put his hand on Lydia's shoulder. A slap across the face, so forceful that Joshua cried out, gave him a hard lesson.