Kate sighed. After an entire lifetime of paying little attention to her clothes other than making sure they were clean, this wasn’t going to be easy.
“I really don’t know much about fashion,” she confessed.
“Don’t worry. I’m an expert.” E’lofi laughed as they started walking, the two bodyguards falling in behind them. “And the gown you wore last night was divine.”
“U’rsul sent it.”
“Really? She must like you.”
“I think it’s more likely she was afraid I would disgrace the House.”
“Perhaps. She does have exquisite taste.” E’lofi gave her an impish smile. “But so do I.”
The seamstress E’lofi took her to turned out to be very friendly. Faiofu didn’t even bat an eye at the fact that Kate was human.
“I’m quite used to offworlders,” she said airily. “Although it will be a pleasant change to dress one for our social events. Now I propose five or six tea gowns to begin with, an equal number of morning robes, and of course, the ball gowns. Nothing too elaborate, I think. It would be impossible to disguise your figure so we’ll accentuate it instead. Simple fabrics, perhaps, designed to follow your curves.”
“That seems like a lot of clothes,” Kate said, overwhelmed by the prospect.
E’lofi and Faiofu laughed.
“It’s only the beginning,” E’lofi assured her. “Assuming you intend to participate in the season?”
“I’m not really sure.” I hope not.
It turned out that the seamstress’s idea of simple fabrics was not the same as Kate’s. But despite her doubts, it was easy to get swept away in the excitement as the beautiful materials were draped over her body, then pinned and tucked to determine the most flattering lines. Overwhelmed by the sheer number and variety of options, she let E’lofi and Faiofu make most of the decisions. Nothing as vulgar as cost was ever mentioned, but she left suspecting they had spent quite a lot of A’tai’s money.
“Now that you’ve seen one of our most exclusive shops, you should experience the other side,” E’lofi said cheerfully. “Let’s go to the market.”
“Miss E’lofi,” Leatino said, a warning clear in his tone. “You know your father doesn’t like you to go there. He thinks it’s too dangerous.”
“Just a quick trip?” E’lofi gave the big male a pleading look. “I know you won’t let anything happen to us. Please?”
Somehow Kate wasn’t surprised when he sighed and agreed. As she had told Kate the night before, the girl was extremely good at getting what she wanted. But as Kate stared wide-eyed at the bustling market, she was glad Leatino had given in. The market reminded her of a cross between a middle eastern bazaar and a bar from a science fiction movie. It was the first place she had been where there were almost as many aliens as Mafanans.
The packed stalls were covered by brightly colored canopies and offered an astonishing variety of products for sale. Vendors yelled out their wares or bargained heatedly with their customers. E’lofi skipped along, choosing a tray of sweets here, a collection of glittering bracelets there, and a number of other small, colorful items. Her bodyguards stoically took charge of her purchases.
Kate trailed along behind her, content just to observe, until they passed a stall heaped with colorful scrolls. They reminded her of the scrolls so frequently piled on A’tai’s desk, and she stopped to look.
“Very ancient,” the vendor assured her, rushing to her side. He was a weathered Mafanan male. “And very rare.”
“I’m sure.” She suspected they were more likely mass produced in this world’s version of China, but they were beautifully done. A deep green scroll caught her eye, and she recognized the name Namoa in the intricate script.
As she debated purchasing it for A’tai, a small body barreled into her side and she looked down to see a young Mafanan boy. He gave her a wide grin as he apologized, then started to dart away.
A big hand clamped down on the boy’s shoulder instead.
“Return it immediately,” Leatino ordered.
“Return what?” she asked.
“He picked your pocket.”
Sure enough, her small collection of coins had disappeared.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the boy whined, just as E’lofi came rushing over.
“What happened?” she asked, her eyes sparkling.
Leatino turned to tell her, and the boy took advantage of his momentary distraction to wiggle out from under his grip. He turned to run—and collided with A’tai.
A’tai snatched him up and tossed him back to Leatino, his outraged glare never leaving her face. His whole body was flushed red with anger. Oops.
“Home. Now,” he ordered.
“See?” E’lofi whispered. “Intense.”
“Umm, yeah. Thank you for the shopping trip. I hope we can—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence before A’tai pulled her against his side and half-marched, half-carried her back towards the palace.
“Are your meetings finished?” she asked breathlessly.
“Yes.” His face could have been etched from granite.
“Do you have any more?” she tried again.
“Yes. But they will wait until I’ve dealt with you.”
That sounded disturbingly ominous, but her own temper was beginning to flare. “Why are you so angry?”
He came to a halt so quickly that she would have stumbled if he hadn’t held her upright. “Do you really want to do this now? Here?”
They had reached the forecourt of the palace and they were surrounded by interested faces.
“I guess not.”
“Good.”
He resumed the forced march, and she bit her lip and did her best to keep up. As soon as the door to their quarters closed behind them, he whirled around to face her.
“Where in the Sisters were you?”
“You know where I was—you just found me there.”
“After searching for you for over an hour. Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?”
“You weren’t here! You said you were going to be in meetings all day.”
“That doesn’t mean I didn’t want to know where you were. I expected to find you where I left you!”
“I’m not some kind of toy you can put on a shelf until you’re ready to play with me. First it was the lab, and now this.”
“I built you a lab!”
“So you wouldn’t have to let me out of your sight!”
They glared at each other, both of them panting. A door opened somewhere close by, letting in the sound of conversation, and he grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom. His grip was gentle, despite his anger, but inescapable.
“Don’t you know what could have happened to you?” he demanded, once they were in the bedroom. “The market is exactly the type of place where someone might try and abduct you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Was that true? Or was he just being the same overly possessive male who had flipped out because she danced with another male? The colorful, bustling market had seemed safe enough.
“We had two bodyguards with us,” she pointed out.
He snorted. “Some bodyguards. They let that boy rob you. Would they even have noticed if someone tried to steal you away from me?”
The fact that he might have a point only made her angrier. E’lofi’s bodyguards had been much more focused on the girl than on her. She forced herself to take a deep breath.
“I promise you that I was perfectly safe. I know I should have left you a message, and next time—”
“There will not be a next time.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are not going anywhere without me again.”
“You’re insane!”
“Then you are responsible for my insanity. I will keep you safe if I have to keep you locked in this room for the next ten years.”
He turned and strode towards the door.
“A’tai,
wait. Listen to me!”
“No,” he said and left, slamming the door behind him with an ominous click.
When she tried to open the door, she discovered that it was locked. Her eyes narrowed as her anger escalated. He thought he could confine her to their bedroom? They’d just have to see about that.
A’tai was still pacing angrily when his mother appeared at the entrance to his study. Despite his rage, he had been wrestling with the urge to return and apologize to Kate—even though she was clearly in the wrong—and the last thing he needed was to listen to more of his mother’s complaints. His first impulse was to demand that she leave, but since she so rarely made the effort to visit his quarters, it must be important.
“Do you need something, Mother?”
Instead of responding, she drifted into the room. She scanned the red still flickering on his skin, then moved away to casually examine the contents of his shelves. He prayed for patience.
“Where is your… mate?” she asked finally, fingering a colorful geode.
He started to tell her it was none of her business, then sighed. He suspected she already knew. “Confined to my quarters. She took a foolish risk, and I will not permit her to repeat that.”
“Yes, I heard.” U’rsul arranged herself gracefully in the chair by the window and studied his face. “You are so much like your father.”
“Is that what you came to tell me?”
She ignored him, studying her manicured hands. “You know, I really did love your father very much. I suspect you don’t believe me, but it’s quite true.”
He shrugged uncomfortably. “I believe you enjoyed having him care for you.”
“You really don’t understand.” She gazed out the window. “I was thrilled when he chose me as his mate. He was so big and handsome and ambitious. I dreamed of us working together to strengthen the House.”
He believed her. While he didn’t remember her participating in House affairs while his father was alive, she had been invaluable since then.
“You were very helpful after he died,” he admitted.
“And yet you never wondered why I knew so much?” Her gaze was unnervingly penetrating. “I was always interested, but I discovered early in our union that was not what he wanted from me. He wanted a helpless female that he could care for and protect.”
“I don’t believe you.” Or did he? He suddenly remembered a time when he was very young. His mother had taken him sailing, and they had been gone for most of the day. Despite a series of mishaps, they’d had a delightful day, but they had returned to find his father enraged. As enraged as he had been this morning.
“You don’t have to believe me.” His mother rose and adjusted her gown. “But consider this. What do you truly want? An intelligent female who will share your life? Or a possession that you can wrap in silk and only bring out to play with?”
Without giving him a chance to respond, she slipped out of the room.
“I’m not like that,” he protested to the empty room. But there was an uncomfortable ring of truth to her words. With her quick intelligence and her surprising perspective on things, Kate was more than capable of being a true partner to him.
And yet since they had arrived in Kapenta, all he’d been able to think about was how many ways she could be hurt. Or taken from him.
By the Sisters, his mother was right. He needed to find his mate and apologize. But when he opened the locked door, their chamber was empty. Kate had vanished.
Chapter Twenty-One
The lock gave a quiet click, and Kate smiled with satisfaction as the door swung open. Just as she had suspected back on the Ithyian ship, a piece of foil interrupted the electronic signal and released the lock. A small dish of sweets from her uneaten breakfast had provided the foil and it had taken only a few moments to open the lock. She knew that A’tai was driven by concern, but she’d be damned if she was going to let anybody lock her in a room.
She stepped out into the hallway, then hesitated. Now that she was free, what was she going to do? If her lab had been ready, she would have gone and done some work, but the equipment had not yet arrived. As she considered the possibilities, she remembered the scroll she had been examining before A’tai arrived on the scene and stormed off with her. Perfect.
She would make a quick trip to the market and purchase the scroll for him. It would show him that she could take care of herself, but hopefully the gift would also show him that she loved him in spite of his ridiculous overprotectiveness.
After a moment’s thought, she returned to the room long enough to retrieve a knife from the breakfast table. While she still thought he had been overreacting, it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared. The knife was small but quite sharp, and it made her feel better to have it in her pocket.
Just as she reached the entrance foyer, Uauna appeared. The two of them stared at each other.
“May I assist you, Lady Kate?”
“I’m just going out for a little while,” she said as casually as possible.
“Shall I call for an escort?”
For a moment, she was tempted to agree, but the purpose of this trip was to show A’tai she was capable of looking after herself. She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
She suspected that Uauna wanted to object, but all he did was suggest tentatively, “Perhaps a cloak?”
Now that she would accept. There had been a wide variety of species at the market, but there was no reason to call attention to her appearance.
“Yes, please.”
Uauna nodded and opened a hidden panel in the wall to reveal a selection of garments. He handed her a long green cloak. It covered her body, but it was made from a lightweight material that would not be oppressive in the heat of the day.
“Thank you, Uauna,” she said sincerely.
“If you will permit me, Lady Kate, will you be gone long?”
“No. I’m just going to make a quick trip to the market.”
He clearly wanted to object, but instead he reluctantly nodded.
“Yes, my lady.” He hesitated. “You will be careful?”
“Of course.”
As casually as she could, she walked past him and out the door. Would he immediately turn around and send A’tai after her? Determined to get a head start, she hurried through the palace and out into the streets. The guards stationed in the forecourt of the palace, were only interested in who was entering, not who was leaving, and paid little attention to her.
The market was easy enough to find, but even though it was still a fascinating spectacle of sights and smells and sounds, it felt a lot more ominous than it had before. People jostled against her, and she saw several males eyeing her appreciatively. She hadn’t realized how much difference it had made to have the two large bodyguards behind her.
As quickly as possible, she made her way back to the bookseller’s stall. The purchase didn’t take long, and she suspected she had significantly overpaid, but she wasn’t inclined to haggle. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned to head back to the palace and ran into a thick, hairy body.
A familiar unpleasant smell hit her just as a hand clamped down on her arm.
“Gotcha.”
Eshak had found her.
“Don’t even think of making a sound,” he snarled. “You’re an escaped slave, and there are severe penalties for escaping your rightful owner.”
She frantically tried to remember what A’tai had told her about the Imperial laws governing slavery. She had meant to look them up, but once he had told her that she was free, it had seemed less important than solving the riddle of the algae damage.
“You abandoned me here,” she hissed, but she didn’t quite dare to raise her voice. “A negligent slave owner isn’t entitled to keep his slaves.”
He laughed. “I don’t intend to keep you. I’m going to sell you. But first, you’re going to pay me back for all the trouble you’ve caused me.”
To hell with that. She opened her mouth to sc
ream, and his hand tightened with bone crushing force.
“If you ever want to know what happened to the other females, you will keep your mouth shut.”
That threat stunned her into silence. She had to find out what he knew about Mary and Lily. Reaching into her pocket, she felt the reassuring handle of the knife. She wished it was bigger, but hopefully it would give her time to get away. The scroll was in the same pocket, and she suddenly had an idea. She had absolutely no doubt that A’tai would come looking for her, but she didn’t know how long it would take him to find her.
Was the scroll distinctive enough that he would recognize the pieces? It was a long shot at best, but she started tearing off small sections and letting them flutter to the ground behind her as Eshak dragged her along.
One or two people frowned at the two of them, but no one made any attempt to stop him. He headed for the edge of the market, and her heart pounded even harder as he pulled her into a narrow alley. The sounds of the market immediately began to fade away behind them as she dropped the last few pieces of the scroll.
As soon as they were in the shadows of the alley, he shoved her up against the wall. He released her arm, only to seize her shoulder and start forcing her to the ground.
“On your knees, bitch.”
His fingers dug painfully into her muscles, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of crying out as she obeyed. Her hand tightened on the knife as he unfastened his pants to reveal a short, hairy cock. He smelled even worse here, and her stomach threatened to rebel. As he grabbed her hair and started to drag her towards him, she whipped out the knife and pressed the tip into the base of his cock.
He froze.
“Let go of my hair,” she ordered, and he snarled, but obeyed.
“Now tell me where my friends are.”
“No. I don’t think you have the guts to cut me,” he taunted her, even though he didn’t attempt to move.
Was he right? She could see a drop of purplish blood oozing from around the point of the knife, and her stomach rolled again.
“You’re going to pay for this, human,” he warned. “I was only going to play with you a little, but you just made things a whole lot worse.”
Kate and the Kraken: A SciFi Alien Romance (Alien Abduction Book 11) Page 14