He waited outside the alley of her family's restaurant. He hated to do this again, and he tried the gentlemanly approach. He pulled out every stop. Even if he could have gotten a dowry amount, he could have worked on it. Nothing, there was nothing. His next step would not be looked upon nicely. Until he could take that step, he still needed to see her.
As she came out to dump the trash he called to her. "Ky."
She looked back and saw him. "Zeph." She put down the trashcan. "You aren't allowed to be here."
"Tell them you're going somewhere. Shopping for something the restaurant is out of maybe?" he suggested. "Please?"
Kyra nodded, heading back in. When she came back out, she had her coat on. "Okay. I am going to have to go to the store now."
"I'll take you." Zeph gestured toward his car. "Come on." They both headed for the car quickly, trying to make a getaway before anyone saw them with each other.
Zeph wanted to drive them to the middle of nowhere, but it was too far. "I want to talk to you. I can't take you to the castle without some tattling, so I'm going to take you to my family home."
"The family home?" Kyra asked. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."
"I would never do anything you're uncomfortable with. Just trust me. If you hate what I setted up, just run out screaming predator." Zeph winked at her. "I bet you won't hate it though."
Walking into the family home, Zeph had been met with a surprise. Kyra watched as he had a hissy fit about someone in the house.
"I'm not doing anything wrong, I swear," the stranger said as Zeph grabbed him by the collar.
"Zeph, knock it off." His sister looked over at Kyra. "You sure do pick'em." She paid attention to Zeph again. "Zaria is not doing anything wrong."
"You haven't had permission to see him again." Zeph let go of his collar and pointed toward the door. "Certainly not privately. Out."
"You are such a jerk." Zeph's sister bopped him on the head. "You can't say that Zaria is fine and that I can date him, and then turn around and say I can't. That trick was so mean."
"I don't remember giving you permission to be so loose." Zeph scoffed and looked toward Zaria. "Beat it."
"Oh yeah?" His sister grabbed Kyra. "I'm Muin, nice to meet you. Kyra, right? The one my brother doesn't have permission to see either?" She looked back toward Zeph cunningly.
"Don't even." Zeph gestured toward Kyra. "We are old enough, you aren't."
"Doesn't matter. At least I'm not sneaking around behind Zaria's parents," Muin said in a sing-song manner. "Ha!" She pointed at Zeph in a winning fashion. "Now I've got you and Xiam. You both have to agree that dating Zaria is fine."
"Xiam, how do you have Xiam?" Zeph asked.
"He's in the living room. Why don't you see?" Muin winked at Kyra. "My family keeps all kinds of secrets, huh?"
Oh, about the same as her family.
"I don't have time for this." Zeph looked in the refrigerator and brought out some condiments. "I'll have to pay them back, but this will save the trip to the grocery store." He gestured to his room. "Past the living room over here is my bedroom."
As Zeph and Kyra went into the living room, they were met with another surprise.
"Oh, Zeph! Oh." Xiam quickly stood up and wiped at his mouth. "What are you doing here?"
"You're kissing." Zeph shook his head. "You just became a ceremony conductor assistant, Xiam, and you're kissing your study partner?"
"Sorry. Um, it just happened, but we've got it under control."
"We really do," the woman said as she shook Zeph's hand. "Our jobs could be affected so, just, don't say anything?" She shook Kyra's hand as well. "Sorry, I was asking about ceremony stuff . . .and . . ." Iridescent rubbed her head. "Things happened again."
"I answered her?" Xiam's voice was high, but he switched his attention toward Kyra. "Are you the one my brother's been hooked on? What are you doing here?"
"Okay, fine." Zeph called for Zaria and Muin to come into the room as well. "All of us have things going on none of us agree with. Let's just keep this between us, and things will work themselves. Agree?"
"Agreed, as long as I can date Zaria." Muin winked at Zeph.
Zeph grumbled, as did Xiam. "Nothing more than dating." Zeph grabbed Kyra's hand softly and led her to his room. "I'm sorry about that, I know we don't have much time to waste. What do you think? This is my old room. Well, guest room now."
Kyra chuckled, her mouth tugging upward. Yep, she didn't hate it. The room had a makeshift table with candles and an already made dinner covered to keep the heat inside of it. He was using the bed and a chair in the hotel room for seating. He made it as comfortable as possible. She placed her hands in his as sat her down on the chair. He went to sit on the bed and lit the candles.
"If I can't get your dad to budge, then I've got to take some initiative." He opened up a drink and poured some in a glass. "Non-alcoholic. Can't blame the booze for what we're doing."
She knew what he meant. She took the glass and took a small drink. "I've never gone against him before. He said I was supposed to find just the right pair of genes before I could marry someone."
Zeph stuck out his legs. "I have got a great pair of jeans, fit nice. I've got more in the closet. Think he'd buy that?"
"Doubt it," Kyra chuckled as he held out her glass for more. He poured a small amount in there. "They want someone they can study, just the right person. It's ridiculous."
"Yeah. I'm not going to fit into that respectable scale." Zeph poured his own drink. "I don't even make half the money my father makes." He reached over to show his humble offerings.
"Tell me about him?"
Zeph talked about his father, his mother, his sister, and his brother. "So, what about you?" Zeph asked as he took a piece of tuna and bread. "What's so hot about your family?"
"I don't know." Kyra grabbed a napkin to clean her face. "They don't tell me much of anything. Just bits and pieces. I'm some special thing to some great secret." She wanted to have seconds, to have an excuse to stay longer. She still needed to get back to the restaurant. "I need to get going, or I won't."
"I'd prefer the second," Zeph answered truthfully. "I want more time with you."
"Time," she repeated the phrase softly. "Time is something we just can't stop, is it?"
"I know you're running out of time, but can you have seconds? Or something, I don't care. I just want you to stay with me." He tightened his grip. "I feel like I'm drowning when I'm not near you."
Zeph felt a sensation on his tail. A furry sensation. He jolted slightly, not ready for it. He certainly got his answer on that.
She was touching tails with him. It was timid only a small touch. A tease. His tail wrapped as close to her base as he could. They both wrapped their tails slowly around each other, tighter and deeper.
Zeph stood up, moved over to her chair and kissed her. One date, one unofficial date, but he didn't care. He didn't care about being in his family home, or her father. He picked her up in his arms and laid her down on the guest bed.