"I don't know...a few hundred by now...we have so little exposure to individual topsiders overall. It's only been in the last hundred years we've allowed our young to attend schools there. About a thousand of us have had the opportunity to see your world, explore and become a part of it in any way. At any one time, we have at least five hundred people watching to make sure you, or someone like you, doesn't get hurt."

"Thank you for protecting us. I'm not sure if I should be angry or not. What other things were there?"

She stood and reached her hand toward me. "Let's discuss this over dinner."

I stood and the privacy screen went down. I was surprised just how populated the road to Quanta was at that moment. "Okay, how far is it to your home?"

"It's your home now, too, if you want it."

I tucked her hand in my arm and began walking toward the city. "I think I forgot to mention just how comfortable this dress really was."

"You say the nicest things," she drawled in a definite Bostonian accent.

Laughing, we continued the light conversation until we stopped before a lovely two-story dwelling. It reminded me a lot of an adobe home in the southwest. I had been there once and was in awe of the pueblos of New Mexico. But this one appeared to be a single-family dwelling instead of the multi-family adobe I had seen. "This is beautiful." I exclaimed.

"Its yard isn't as big as I wanted, but we have to have children before we can get a bigger home or yard."

I smiled. Kids. I had never thought about kids and realized, if I stayed here, it was to be expected. "That kind of makes sense. I'm sure it will take me a while before I learn all the rules."

"There's a few of those." She chuckled. "I'm sure they have dinner ready for us and it's something special."

"Oh, boy." Looking at her, I burst out laughing and it wasn't long before she joined me. Opening the door, we walked into an incredibly romantic scene as candles sent soft glow throughout the whole room. The table was set for four, and I had to admire the furniture. The clean lines made my place look shabby in comparison. "This is nice." I walked around the room admiring bits and pieces here and there.

"Thanks. I can't take credit for everything though."

Turning, I smiled. "Still, everything complements each other nicely. And whatever they're cooking, it smells wonderful. I didn't realize just how hungry I was."

As if on cue, Jonas and another man I could only a.s.sume was Bruin walked through the door. Maleka was absolutely right about these two being two different ends of the spectrum. Bruin stood about a head taller than Jonas and his hair hung to his shoulders in dark waves. The only light thing, besides his skin, I could see on this man was his eyes. They were a startling light blue, almost white in color, and I watched them glance over me. He was a bear of a man and I could only liken him to pictures I had seen of ancient Vikings.

Suddenly, with both men in the room, I wanted to drool. This was every woman's dream-to be mated to these two fine specimen of maledom. I swallowed hard. I was so out of my realm here, but I could feel the s.e.xual pull from the testosterone floating in this room. It made my p.u.s.s.y drip with antic.i.p.ation. I promised myself I wouldn't do anything without Maleka's approval. This was no different. "Maleka," I edged back toward her.

"They are quite magnificent, aren't they?" she whispered in my ear.

I turned to face her and took her hands. "Look I don't want this if you aren't happy with it."

She looked from me to them and back. "I think I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" I tried to keep my voice down while doing my best not to l.u.s.t after the men, the hold on my emotions held tight.

She squeezed my hands and nodded. "Let's eat and see what happens."

Sighing, I followed her lead and moved to a seat at the table. I could smell the clean masculine scent of Bruin as he held out my chair for me. Smiling up at him, I murmured a quick, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

His deep voice rumbled down my spine causing the wetness to pool in my crotch. The surprise on my face had to be evident to Jonas who held out the chair for Maleka to sit directly across from me.

"It's okay, Lindsay. We're all very aware of each other s.e.xually. It's part of what makes our bond very special."

I nodded. "You'll have to tell me about this bond. Surely it goes beyond the s.e.x." I needed it to go well beyond just the s.e.x. I knew I needed something which would last a lifetime or two.

Maleka reached across the table and took my hand. "Of course it does. s.e.x is only part of the connection. I do believe it was one of the reasons Jonas wanted to bring you here."

"Indeed it was. I tried to resist you as long as I could. But once you started your pursuit of me, I was lost."

I could feel the heat in my cheeks.

"There is no need to be embarra.s.sed." Bruin stated.

I turned to face him. "I'm not really embarra.s.sed...I'm more...oh, I don't know. I guess that maybe I am embarra.s.sed. You have to realize, in my society, s.e.xuality is something that is discovered in private. Some people never ever discover what it is they want and need, especially not s.e.xually."

Bruin picked up what looked like a salad and pa.s.sed it my way. "That doesn't seem much like a way to live. It sounds more like a prison."

Jonas nodded his agreement. "I would have to agree. Of all the things the above world has, they aren't really an open or loving people."

"I did notice when I was at Harvard people were always cautious, always leery of just what someone wanted, whether they actually wanted something or not. Relationships were hard."

I placed more food on my plate as the dishes continued around the table, until we all had some of each. "That is very true. Everyone is so compet.i.tive. Surely you have some of that here?"

Maleka looked surprised, placing her hand on her chest. "I hope not. Everyone here has a place and a job, and every job can have more than one person working on it. We try to work together here, not against each other."

I brought another bite of the greens to my mouth. "This is really good. I really like the nutty taste to the dressing. Don't you have some who are supervisors or bosses?"

"Thank you," Jonas said. "It's a little something I whipped up using things from both our worlds. And yes, there are supervisors here, but how we choose those people is different than in your world."

"How so?" I continued to eat, finding each dish tastier than the next.

"Well...," Maleka began between bites. "Not only do you have to have the education, but you must have the experience before you ever get into a position of power. Most young ones don't have the wisdom to lead people. That is something only learned over time."

"What age are we talking about here?"

"We live a very long time."

Bruin's voice again wrapped around me making me feel warm and fuzzy. I glanced at him first, then the others, one at a time. "Define long."

"Lindsay, I'm not sure you're ready to learn the complete truth."

I sat down my fork. "Look, if you really want me to a.s.similate to your lifestyle, to really decide if I want to stay with you three, we need to get something straight up front." Jonas pushed his chair back and stared at me.

Maleka reached over and stroked his arm. "It's okay, Jonas, we agreed on our walk here we would have no secrets."

With that, Bruin nodded. "All right. We can live to be up to two hundred and fifty of your Earth years."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I can understand that...I mean medicine here must be eons above our own." I stopped and looked at each of them carefully. All looked to be my age, early thirties, but with what they had just said I knew looks could be deceiving. "So how old are each of you?" When they started to protest, I held up my hand. "I don't need your protests, I need the truth." Bruin reached over and gently took my hand, dwarfing mine.

"I am ninety-five years old."

I tried to keep all emotion from my face. "And you?" I turned to Jonas.

"I'm a youngster compared to Bruin. I'm only sixty-five."

"Maleka?"

She waved me off. "I'm in between them."

"Well?" I prompted.

She tossed down her napkin and pouted. "I'm seventy-four."

I sighed deeply trying to take this all in. "I guess I really am the baby here."

"Well, since you brought it up, just how old are you?"

I glared at Jonas. "I'm thirty-two." They all stared at me as if I had three heads. "I'm sorry I'm so young. That's not something I really have control over."

"No...I mean...you act so mature for one so young."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Maleka started to chuckle. "Don't be so p.r.i.c.kly."

I pushed my chair back from the table and took some deep breaths. "I know. I've got to work on it. It probably has something to do with that youth and wisdom thing you were talking about."

"Probably." Jonas crossed his arms in front of him.

"You know, I wouldn't have seduced an old man if I knew just how old you really were."

Deep laughter rang out and I turned to see Bruin laughing. "And what are you laughing at?"

"They've always been compet.i.tive where women were concerned. It's always amazed me they were the first pair of this mating unit."

I eyed them both. I know what Maleka had said about them, but I hadn't noticed it before. Now that I was cued in, I watched them for a moment, noting the covert looks they gave each other. Suddenly, I began to understand more about this family unit. "I can see where that would be necessary."

"Yes, we all have to love each other. We love bringing each other pleasure. It doesn't matter here if we are male or female. What matters is we love and care for each other and want only the best for the other person. We have no divorce and must choose our mates very carefully as we will be together forever."

I watched Jonas as he broke into a broad smile and remembered our last time together. I knew exactly what attracted me to him. And looking at the other two, I knew I held an attraction for them also. Each of them were beautiful in their own way, Maleka with her long red-blonde hair and great body, Bruin with his handsome dark looks and the body of a G.o.d, each of them bringing their own special magic to the unit.

I thought about what I had and didn't have in my own home. I would never have these people I knew. I would have been lucky to have found just one person I could love and yet, here I had three who were ready to welcome me into their family without reservation. They had already put their lives on the line for me by going to the council and rescuing me when they were still trying to obtain permission for my entrance. I owed them a lot. I licked my lips. "So, what's next?"

"Let's get an after dinner drink and go to the lounge." Maleka pushed her chair away from the table. "Our liquor is very similar to yours. Just tell us what you liked on Earth and we'll give you the approximate equivalent."

I shook my head. "Oh, okay." I pushed away from the table and thought a moment. "I always liked the flavor of amaretto."

Bruin was already standing next to what I could only a.s.sume was the bar.

"I think I can do that."

"The lounge is this way."

I followed Maleka toward what I a.s.sumed was the back of the house. Once I was there, I stood in awe of what I saw. It seemed as if the whole universe was before me. The sky was filled with many more stars, planets and moons than what I could see on Earth. And if my eyes didn't deceive me, a few of the lights I saw appeared to be man-made.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Maleka came and put her arm around my waist.

I nodded in agreement. "I know you told me about the moons. I saw both when we were walking this afternoon. At least, I a.s.sumed it was afternoon."

"That was a pretty good a.s.sumption. Our days are actually very similar. They are about twenty-eight hours of your Earth day. That makes our years, slightly longer. Our sun is very similar to yours as it's a cla.s.s G2 while ours is a cla.s.s G4. We're one and a half times the distance from our sun as the Earth is from yours. We have twelve moons and seventeen planets in this system. Only five are habitable."

"Wow." That was all I could say. I sat down heavily and didn't protest when my drink was shoved in my hand. Without thinking, I downed it in one gulp and handed it back. I looked up again, allowing the alcohol to warm me. Jonas sat next to me and handed me another drink.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but I felt you would be able to handle it."

This time I slowly sipped the sweet almond liqueur, leaning back into the soft cushions of the couch. "Why me?"

"Maybe a better question would be, why not you?"

Maleka sat on the other side of me. "Well, I guess what I need to understand is how I was chosen to come here. Obviously you had been watching me or something."

"We didn't mean to single you out."

I frowned at Jonas.

"That didn't come out right." He ran his hand through his hair.

I knew it to be a nervous gesture.

Bruin sat on a stool and pulled it up close, our knees touching. "What he meant to say is we watch those who make Atlantis a field of study. We must watch them because we don't want anyone stumbling upon us. It would have dire consequences on both worlds."

"Maleka mentioned that before. I guess I don't understand why."

"Think about it, Lindsay."

I took another sip of my drink. "All right. I would have to agree there would be some problems. I mean, you have advancements in technology we don't have. People on my world have the tendency to use technology for warfare."

"Yes, and along with technology comes an even greater responsibility."

Bruin ran his hands up my legs. I could feel their warmth through the thin material. I nodded. I could understand responsibility. "I can understand that. I mean, you wouldn't want to trigger something on either world you can't stop or handle."

"And considering what your world would do to an alien, you can see our reluctance to let anyone know we have a conduit to your world."

"Okay, I understand, but why do you watch people with an interest in Atlantis?"

"Everyone we have ever allowed into our world has either been someone who has a great need to find Atlantis or a great need to travel s.p.a.ce. Those people, yourself included, can see beyond your world. You can see the bigger picture. It's not all about a certain country, or a certain people, or even a certain planet. It is much bigger than even us."

I leaned my head back into the cushions watching the night sky. Never once had I ever been accused of seeing the bigger picture. More often than not, I was accused of being selfish and narrow minded. "That's a new one for me." I chuckled softly, bringing the drink to my lips, allowing the rich flavor to glide down my throat. "More often than not I had been accused of being selfish and never seeing outside of the box."

"Let's forget about boxes and the differences in our world."

Bruin leaned in and brushed my lips with his.