“Sure. It’s written on the cube in Standard—the universal Kindred language,” he explained. “Show me again, and I’ll tell you what’s what.”
She held them out again, and he glanced at them briefly. “That one is Grieza worms—a delicacy from Twin Moons,” he said.
Nina shuddered. “Worms? No thanks.” She put the cube on the counter. “Next?”
“Pshaolin pie from my own home world of Tarsia.” He looked surprised. “I didn’t know they had any Touch Kindred food.”
“I guess whoever stocked the ship liked it,” Nina said. “What is it like? Is it a fruity kind of pie or does it have a creamy center?”
He frowned. “I don’t know if your definition of pie matches with mine. It’s a dish with many layers, both savory and sweet. It can be delicious if it’s done right.”
“That sounds good,” Nina said. “You want to call dibs on that cube?”
He frowned. “Dibs?”
“I mean, is that the one you want for dinner?” she clarified.
“Oh. Sure.” He nodded at the other cubes. “Which one do you want?”
Nina sighed. “I don’t know…anything but worms, I guess. I wish there was some Earth food here. Not that I don’t like to try new things but…” She almost said but I’m already homesick. However, she stopped herself just in time. She’d already shared enough personal details with Reddix. It was time to start keeping things to herself.
“Well, if there’s food from my home planet, there might be some from yours too,” Reddix said reasonably. “Give me some more meal ration cubes to read and let me know if anything sounds familiar.”
“Okay.” Nina gathered a handful of the cubes and sat on the floor across from him. She began showing him cubes, and Reddix named the foods contained and explained what each one was with remarkable patience. Still, Nina knew he was hungry, and she was getting really ravenous herself—it had been a long, crazy time since the chocolate milk shake she’d had for lunch. She was just about to give up and try one of the alien meals—as long as it didn’t contain worms—when Reddix looked at one of the cubes she was holding and said,
“Hamburger and French fries.”
“What?” Nina looked at the tiny cube. “Are you sure?”
He shrugged. “That’s what it says. Is that an Earth food?”
“Better than that—it’s junk food. Comfort food.” And I could use a little comfort right now. Nina jumped up excitedly and put the rest of the cubes back. “Okay, how do I cook them? Do we need to boil some water or what?”
Reddix shook his head. “Just put them in the rehydrator—that machine up there.” He nodded to the thing Nina had taken for a very large microwave. “Press the button, wait for the tone, and then take it out. Be careful though—it’s going to be hot.”
“Got it.” Nina frowned. “But…don’t I need a plate?”
“Everything you need is contained in the cube—even utensils.” He frowned. “Except something to drink. Why don’t you search for a bottle of something in the cabinets while you rehydrate the first one?”
Nina didn’t think she’d seen anything but the meal cubes, but she put the first cube—the Pshaolin pie—in the rehydrator and began looking again anyway. After a moment, she came up with some little green glass bottles that had been stacked behind the cubes.
“Well, I found…something.” Nina held them up doubtfully. They were tiny—not even as big as the bottles of liquor you got on an airplane. But Reddix nodded approvingly.
“Perfect. But one should be enough—you can put the rest back.”
“So this goes in the rehydrator too?” Nina asked looking at the little thumb-sized bottle in her hand. It looked like a bottle of champagne for a Barbie doll to celebrate with.
“Exactly. But wait until after the food is done—you don’t want the flavors to mix.”
“All right.” Just then the rehydrator dinged, and Nina opened the door to release a cloud of delicious steam.
“Mmm.” Reddix’s stomach rumbled again. “Smells just like the kind my mother makes.”
“Okay…” Nina said, unable to keep the uncertainty out of her voice. The little cube had somehow unfolded, and now it was a large portion of food sitting on what looked like a square white paper plate. There was a black thing like a spork sitting beside it, but it was the food itself that held her attention. Reddix had said it was a layered dish, and it certainly did have a lot of layers—fifteen or so from what she could see. It smelled spicy and exotic, but it looked like…
“It looks like blue lasagna,” she said as she pulled the plate out of the rehydrator. “With green and purple layers and red cheese.”
“It looks exactly like Pshaolin pie is supposed to look,” Reddix rumbled approvingly.
“Well, I’m glad you like it. It smells good,” Nina said. How it tasted would be a different matter, but Reddix seemed happy enough with it. She shrugged as she put the second cube in the rehydrator. In another minute or so, there was a ding, and she was rewarded with a juicy looking hamburger complete with ripe red tomato, crisp green lettuce and a slice of pickle. Beside the hamburger was a heaping serving of crispy brown fries sprinkled liberally with salt. There were no eating utensils—apparently whoever had packed the meal knew it was finger food—but there were several packets of mustard and ketchup on the side, much to Nina’s delight.
“Is it how you like it?” Reddix was looking at her quizzically again. “You’re smiling so…”
“Oh, yes.” Nina nodded. “I know it’s silly to get all excited about dinner, but I’m so hungry, and it’s been ages since I let myself have this kind of food. I always get Meehoo Jimmy her favorite burger, but I usually get a salad for myself.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Well, because. This stuff—” She gestured to the hamburger and fries. “—isn’t exactly health food. It’s really fattening, and it always goes straight to my hips and butt.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Nina was standing sideways to him, and to her discomfort, she saw that the big Kindred was eyeing her too large hips and ass with some interest.
“Um…” She turned self-consciously so that she was facing him instead. “It’s just that they’re big enough already.”
“They’re perfect,” he growled softly. “At least as far as I can see with that baggy clothing you have on.”
Nina could feel her face getting hot. “These are my scrubs. I always work in them.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Those sharp silver eyes were still roving restlessly up and down her body. Finally, they stopped on her face. “Now you’re blushing,” Reddix said. “Are you embarrassed?”
“Of course I am, with you looking at me like that! Can’t you tell?”
He shook his head. “I’ve…gotten out of the habit of reading people’s faces so I wasn’t sure.”
Nina frowned as she removed the hamburger and fries and put the tiny Barbie doll sized bottle into the rehydrator. “How do you get out of the habit of reading people’s faces? What do you do—go around with your hood up all the time not looking at anyone?”
“I do wear my hood all the time,” he admitted in a low voice. “But not because I want to keep from seeing anyone.”
“Why then?”
He looked away. “To keep them from looking at me. I think the drink is done.”
“Oh.” Nina sensed he didn’t want to say anymore, so she didn’t ask, though she had a thousand questions. He kept saying such strange things—that he wanted to be ugly or invisible. That he hated the way he looked. And now he admitted to hiding his face—that perfectly gorgeous face, although he could really use a shave and a haircut—from everyone all the time. Why? He didn’t seem crazy—well, no more than any other guy who kidnapped a girl and took her through a wormhole. So what was going on with him?
She sensed she was going to have to wait to find out—if she found out at all. Reddix clearly was irritated with himself for telling as much as he had. He had a closed lo
ok on his face, so she was silent as she pulled the bottle out of the rehydrator and eyed it in wonder.
“Wow…it really grew!” she exclaimed. The bottle was now bigger than a good sized wine bottle, though with a considerably wider mouth. It was plugged with some kind of black waxy substance. When Nina pulled it out, a light, fruity perfume filled the air, making her think of berries and melons and strangely enough, of cinnamon toast.
“Vanerian sweet juice,” Reddix said, sniffing the air. “A perfect complement to our meal.”
“I don’t see any cups,” Nina said, making a quick search of the cabinets once more. “I think we’ll have to drink out of the bottle. Hope you don’t mind sharing.”
“I don’t,” he said simply. “Although I think I’m going to have a little trouble eating like this.” He rattled the cuffs against the metal bar and raised an eyebrow at her.
“I’m not letting you go so don’t even think about it,” Nina said crisply. There was a padded bench-like seat and small table across from the kitchen area, but she ignored it. Instead, she put the plates and the large green bottle on the floor and sat down across from him. “I’ll feed you.”
He frowned. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Of course, I do. How else are you going to eat?”
Reddix shook his head. “I still don’t understand why you’re being so kind to me after what I did.”
“I probably shouldn’t be,” Nina said, scooping up a bite of the weird blue lasagna with the spork and shoveling it into his mouth. “I should probably starve you into submission or at least make you wait to eat until you tell me the location of the emergency beacon you were talking about earlier.”
He chewed and swallowed. “Mmm. It’s in the front of the ship on the pilot’s side near the steering yoke.”
Nina looked at him, surprised. “You’re telling me—just like that?”
He grinned humorlessly. “Sure. It won’t do you any good, though—it needs a Kindred handprint to activate it. And in case you didn’t notice, my hands are sort of tied up right now.” He rattled the cuffs again.
“Right.” Nina felt immediately deflated. With a sigh, she took a bite of her hamburger. She knew it shouldn’t, but the salty, meaty flavor, the juicy tomato and crisp buttered bun made her feel immediately better.
Marooned on an alien planet light years from home with no idea how I’m going to get back to Earth, and a hamburger makes me feel better. Wow, how shallow am I?
But despite her inner conflict, she couldn’t help closing her eyes and giving a little moan of pure happiness. It was the best burger she’d ever had—even better than the Kobe beef burger she’d had that one time she and her coworkers from Massage Envy had decided to treat themselves to Square 1, the gourmet burger place in South Tampa.
“It must be really good.”
Reddix’s deep voice cut into her happy little memory, and her eyes flew open. To her discomfort, she saw he was looking at her in that way again. The way that made her feel hot and cold and naked all at once. She nearly choked but finally managed to swallow her bite.
“Yeah, it’s…really delicious,” she said, holding the burger out reflexively. “Want to try a bite?”
Reddix looked thoughtful. “Don’t mind if I do. But only if you try a bite of mine.”
“Well…” Nina eyed his plateful of blue lasagna doubtfully.
“Come on,” he urged. “You need to try new things.”
“Like I’m not already trying new things,” Nina scoffed. “Here I am on an alien planet, having dinner with my kidnapper…”
“I’m sorry about that,” he said, his voice growing suddenly harsh. “I wouldn’t have taken you if I didn’t need you—need what you have—so badly.”
Nina forgot about the food. “And what is it that I have that you need?” she asked, looking at him intently. “You can at least tell me that.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t. Not now.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask when? as well as a whole host of other questions, but Nina sensed he would just shut down if she did that. And it seemed to her that her best chance of survival was to keep him engaged…keep him talking. Besides, though she didn’t want to admit it, she was really beginning to enjoy their casual banter.
The conversation wasn’t anything like what she would have expected to have with a man who had kidnapped her and taken her hostage, but it was different…nice, as crazy as that sounded. And a lot more interesting than the conversations she used to have with her last serious boyfriend, Mitch, whose idea of witty repartee was to grunt, “That was good, babe. How ‘bout gettin’ me a beer?” right after sex.
“Here, try a bite,” she said, getting back to the subject of food. “And yes, I’ll try a bite of yours too, but you first.”
Reddix took a bite of the hamburger and closed his eyes as he chewed. Finally, he swallowed and looked at her.
“Good. Really good. Meaty, salty, juicy…I can see why you like it so much.” He nodded down at the Pshaolin pie. “Now you try mine.”
“All right…” Trying to be brave, Nina scooped up a reasonable bite and, not letting herself think about it, popped it into her mouth. Immediately flavors exploded across her tongue. It was, as Reddix had said, both sweet and savory with a lighter-than-air texture, and to her surprise, it was absolutely delicious. “Mmm,” she hummed contentedly. It reminded her of the first time she’d ever tried curry—it was a completely alien taste but also wonderful.
“So you like it?” Reddix rumbled, and she thought she saw a little smile playing around the corners of his sensuous mouth.
Nina swallowed. “I do—maybe even more than the burger. What’s in it?”
“Trelk blossoms, kildar meat, yarop sauce…” He shook his head. “The rest varies but those are the main ingredients that you have to have to make really good Pshaolin pie.”
“Well, it’s delicious. But now I’m thirsty.” Nina raised the heavy glass wine bottle, using two hands. She was about to take a sip of the fruity smelling liquid when she stopped. “Uh, is this stuff alcoholic?”
“Only mildly,” Reddix assured her. “It never affects me at all—you should be fine.”
“Yeah, but you’re built like a tank,” Nina objected.
He shrugged, his cuffs rattling. “I can’t help it. We Kindred are built on a larger scale than you tiny little humans. Try the drink—I think you’ll like it.”
“I’ll only have a little,” Nina said, more to herself than him. Though she loved fruity drinks, she was a real lightweight when it came to drinking, and she didn’t need to get blackout drunk right now. She took a delicate, ladylike sip.
“Hmm, that’s nice.” She took another, longer sip. “Really nice.” She took a third drink—the melon and berries taste was still there, but the hint of cinnamon toast seemed to be getting stronger and more delicious with every swallow.
“What happened to ‘just a little’?” Reddix looked amused.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sure you want some too.” Carefully she wiped the bottle with the fabric of her scrub top and held it up to him.
“You didn’t have to do that.” Reddix frowned. “I told you, I’m not afraid of your germs.”
“Oh, well…I mean, with your phobia about touching—”
“It’s not a phobia. It’s a fact of life—at least for me.” His silver eyes flashed. “Do you think I like not being able to touch anyone? Do you think I enjoy never being touched? Seeing a beautiful female in front of me and knowing I can never lay a hand on her, much less do anything else?”
“I…don’t know,” Nina said. “I just met you. Well…except for the dreams.”
“Yes. The dreams.” He laughed harshly. “The nightmares, I believe you called them.”
“Well, what else could I call them?” Nina demanded, getting upset. “All I could see was this big, scary man without a face. And I could feel pain…so much pain and need and suffering. But I could never tell wha
t was hurting you.”
“Yeah, well…” He looked away.
She put down the bottle and placed her hand tentatively on his knee. “What’s hurting you, Reddix? What is it that you need from me?”
“I can’t tell you that.” He moved his leg away from her hand even though his black flight trousers kept her from touching his skin.
“Can’t or won’t?” Nina asked softly.
“Pick one.” His voice was a deep, menacing growl.
“Why won’t you just tell me?” Nina stared at him in frustration. She knew she hadn’t known him long—hell, she didn’t really know him now. Except…she felt like she did. Because of the dreams. It was as though they were continuing a conversation that had started weeks ago—months ago. She felt she had a right to know what she was asking, a right to have some answers.
But Reddix clearly wasn’t willing to give her anything.
“Forget it.” He jerked his chin at the bottle. “Just give me a drink. Please.”
“Sure.” She tilted the bottle for him, and he took several long swallows.
“Thank you,” he said shortly when he was finished.
“You’re welcome.” Nina felt miserable—more upset with herself than she was with Reddix. He’s your kidnapper, damn it! You shouldn’t give a rat’s ass what he thinks. You shouldn’t care if he’s angry. But the healer in her couldn’t help sensing the pain under his anger. And despite herself, she wanted to help him…wanted to heal him.
If only he would let her.
They finished the rest of the meal in silence, both eating just their own food, and Nina was careful not to drink too much more of the alcoholic fruit juice. Still, she felt mildly buzzed as they finished the bottle, though Reddix drank more than her and didn’t seem to show any effects of the alcohol at all.
Or not the effects she would have been expecting, anyway. Shortly after they finished and she was cleaning up—a very easy matter of putting all the paper dishes and utensils into the recycling chute—she noticed him starting to squirm.
First, he crossed his legs one way, then another. Then he shifted and rattled his cuffs and made an uncomfortable sound in the back of his throat. Nina had promised herself she would leave him alone and not let herself be affected by him anymore, but still, she couldn’t help noticing. Finally, the third or fourth time he shifted positions, she knelt in front of him.
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