“Oh?” Kane asked. “Where are you going then?”
“To find her,” JB said.
“Uh huh,” Kane said as he helped him walk.
JB’s legs were wobbly and unsteady, but he tried his best to put one foot in front of the other.
“I need to go the other way,” JB mumbled. His lips felt too big for his face.
“No, your room is this way.”
JB shook his head. Oh hell, why did I do that? The hallway tilted and rotated. JB stopped and closed his eyes. “Argh,” he groaned.
“You are so fucked-up,” Kane laughed.
“If the room would stop spinning I could get to her.”
“Oh no. You have to forget about it, whoever she is. Taio isn’t going to let you keep fucking the females and live to tell the tale.”
He needed to make Kane understand. “But…but…” There were so many reasons why he had to get to Saia. Why he had to hold her again.
“Nope. Keep your dick in your pants. At least until you’re off Sonis.”
It wasn’t fair. He wanted her.
JB swung out, barely missing a gold-and-blue vase that sat on a pedestal against the wall and spinning himself around. Kane turned him in the right direction. “This way, lover boy.”
The hallway tilted again. “I think I’m going to be sick.” His stomach churned and his mouth watered.
“That might actually be a good idea. Let’s get you to the bathroom so you can get rid of that shit in your stomach.”
He let Kane pull him to his room and to the bathroom, where the contents of his stomach erupted into the toilet.
* * * * *
“Saia.”
The sound of someone calling her name pulled Saia from her dream. Opening her eyes, she scanned the empty room.
“Saia, are you up?”
She squinted through the darkness. The suns were still down. The night was quiet and still.
Who’s in my room? “Who’s there?” she called out.
“Saia. Saia! Wake up.”
JB? Is he here?
“Saia,” he called again.
Communication link.
She followed the noise to her com-link sitting on the small table by her bed. She held down the button so JB could hear her when she spoke. “Hello?”
She heard him let out a long sigh. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Are you up?”
“I am now.”
“Oh, sorry. You were probably asleep. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Nice going, JB.”
She lay back and cradled the com-link in her hand. “No harm done. Why aren’t you asleep?”
“I tried, but I can’t.”
“Why not? If you’re having trouble sleeping you should try shikor. It has calming properties in it.”
“It’s not that. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I don’t want to take anything that would make me stop thinking about you—ever.” His voice slurred with his words.
He was drunk, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t control the grin that stretched across her face. Or the way her heart fluttered at the very thought of him thinking about her. “You were thinking of me?”
“I was. I mean, I am. Were you thinking of me?”
“Really? I thought you would have been thinking about the females who were hanging on you at dinner.”
She remembered seeing the two humans fawning all over him. To his credit, she did see him trying to push them away. But as determined as they were, they didn’t seem to want to budge. She tried not to pay attention but couldn’t pull her eyes away.
“Those weren’t…I mean…I used to hang out with them, but that was before I met you.”
“And then what?”
“And then I haven’t been able to think about anyone else since.”
“I admit that I was thinking of you before I fell asleep.” She chewed on her bottom lip. Why had she confessed that?
“You were?” His voice was filled with hope and joy.
That’s why. “Yes.” She pulled a pillow over her face to muffle the happy yell that erupted from her.
“Meet me in the common room.”
She pulled the pillow away. “No! I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“My brother might find out.”
“Oh yeah, right. Let me come to your room then.”
“Absolutely not. That would be even worse.”
“I’ll be like a stealth ninja. No one would even know that I’m there.”
“I don’t know what a ninja is, but I highly doubt that even that would elude the detection of Ship.”
“I forgot about him. How about the royal gardens? Meet me there.”
“He can go outside as well, although he really doesn’t like to.”
JB hiccupped. “But I want—I have to see you.”
“Well…he doesn’t go outdoors unless he has a reason. I’m sure he has better things to do than follow me around. If he does show up, you’d be able to see him.”
Although Ship’s species was thought to be invisible to the naked eye, it was discovered when Eva came to Sonis that humans could see him. He appeared as a purple haze to Eva. At first she’d thought there was something wrong with her eyesight. It had taken a while for her to realize it was Ship she was looking at and not some anomaly.
“Why do you want to meet with me so badly?”
“I just want to talk with you.”
“We are talking.”
“Okay, I admit. I want to feel you again.”
“JB!” Heat crept across her cheeks as she said his name.
“No, not that way. Your skin felt so soft, so perfect. I want to see if it was real or if I dreamt it.”
Saia sighed. “I can’t meet you anywhere this late. It’s not proper.”
“I understand. I’m drunk and I’m being too forward.”
She put a hand over her eyes. “But I can meet with you tomorrow after I visit Jess and Rasha’s new dwelling.” Oh Ancients.
“Yes!” She heard his yell peal through the link.
She grabbed and held the pillow tight to her chest. “Bye, JB. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, beautiful Saia.”
* * * * *
“Jess, you’ve done a really good job here.”
Eva stood in the middle of what she explained was a “living room” with her hands on her hips, surveying her surroundings.
Jess and Rasha had built a dwelling on undeveloped land near the Singha Ocean. Jess said this was going to be a place where she and Rasha could go to be alone and “take a break” from everything. That was another human term Saia found confusing.
“It is very nice,” Saia added.
She understood why Eva and Jess were so excited. Even though Jess’ new house was smaller and considerably cramped in comparison to the palace, it was hers alone. The very thing Saia wished for herself. Kiehle had a dwelling such as this one. His was located on a small and desolate planet, Saurene. He had promised to take her there one day.
Now she didn’t think she would ever see it.
Saia didn’t want to remove herself from civilization as Kiehle had, but a dwelling like this would be perfect. Growing up in a palace her entire life, without privacy, had made her long to get away.
As she crossed the floor, the soles of her feet welcomed the plush the carpet. When they had entered, Jess made them all remove their shoes, including the two guards who stood by the front door. Carpeted floors were not ideal for palaces as they would be very hard to keep clean. The amount of staff needed to keep the floors cleaned alone would be exorbitant.
She stopped at the window and wrinkled her nose when her hand met a slab of glass. She tapped the surface lightly. “What is this?”
“Humans are used to glass in our windows. We like to keep out predators and other things.” Eva shuddered. “I would hate for one of those flying creatures to find its way through Jess’ window.”
“I don’t have any probl
em with them, I bet they’d taste just like chicken,” Jess quipped.
“What are you referring to?” Saia asked.
Eva turned up her lip. “The hybonius. I hate those ugly things,” she said.
A hybonius was a winged creature with a face that resembled a human’s more than bird’s, including lips instead of a beak. Short, stocky legs supported a plump body and green feathers that were billowy and fluffy.
“They aren’t ugly. They’re really friendly. On Drazlan they are kept as pets. A few were brought to Sonis and escaped. I’m sure if you can catch one you’ll be able to make a pet of it.”
“Who in their right mind would want to look at one of those things on purpose?” Eva asked in disgust.
“When I build my dwelling I’ll have numerous windows.” She turned around to Jess. “They’ll be free of barriers to allow the air and breeze to pass through.”
Eva and Jess exchanged glances.
Saia lowered her eyes and turned away. “If I were to build my own dwelling.”
Eva came up behind her. “Maybe your new mate will build you a home. Who knows? Does he even live in a palace? He might have a place like this of his own.”
Saia brightened a little. “I never thought about that. I just assumed he lived in a palace as well. Do you think he might build me a dwelling if he doesn’t have one already?”
“Hon, you are so special. You have the brightest smile I’ve ever seen. One look at you and he’ll get you whatever you want.”
Saia frowned. “What I really want is to travel the galaxy.”
Eva averted her eyes.
“I know you think I’m naïve. My new mate won’t buy me a dwelling because he’ll be too busy fighting wars. He won’t let me leave the planet and go exploring because I’m a commodity. As long as he has me, he has access to the Drazlan royal guards.”
Eva gathered Saia in her arms. “Taio will make sure Ranuit Pi does right by you. When Taio gets through with him, he’ll be the perfect mate.”
“You don’t think I’m naïve for wanting a love match?”
Eva pulled back. “What? Hell no. Taio and I have a love match and so do Jess and Rasha.”
“My parents don’t have a love match. I want…wanted something better than their relationship.” Saia waved the thought away. “It’s foolish.”
“Most human marriages are based on love matches. Though there were some cultures on Earth with arranged marriages.”
“What about your culture?”
“Love match was the norm.”
“Saia, we don’t see anything wrong with wanting to be happy or finding love,” Jess said.
“I’ve always dreamt of falling in love and my mate and I traveling distant galaxies. Jess, you were a space pirate. It sounds so very exciting. Why would you give up a life where you can travel to settle down on one planet?”
Jess snorted. “We robbed unsuspecting vessels for their cargo. We even kidnapped and ransomed people in exchange for goods—anything we could use to sell or trade was free game.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t as glamorous as you’re making it sound. We spent a lot of time running from the Galactic Council and anyone else we stole from. A lot of people wanted to kill us. We were eight lives into our ninth one.”
Saia looked at her, confused.
“We were living very dangerously.”
Saia remembered hearing about Kane and Sa’Mya’s story. Though Taio was in love with Eva, he had been contracted to Princess Sa’Mya, now Queen Sa’Mya of Laconia. Luckily for Taio, Sa’Mya had agreed to break the contract. After leaving Sonis, she was captured by space pirates—namely Kane, Jess and the rest of their crew. Kane and Sa’Mya had fallen in love while he was holding her for ransom onboard The Vengeance. When Sa’Mya tried to contact Taio, she inadvertently gave their position away to her uncle, who found them and had Kane and his crew thrown in the dungeon. He’d planned to kill them before Taio and Eva showed up.
When Eva told her the story, Saia had been on the edge of her seat, enthralled with every word.
Saia shrugged. “Aside from the kidnapping and stealing, pirating sounds so adventurous. You probably met so many wonderful species and saw new and wonderful worlds!”
“If you take out all the parts about us running for our lives, I guess it wasn’t that bad.” Jess chuckled. “Some of the original crew is still intact. Ryan is the captain of The Vengeance II now. Eli and Kyle are still a part of his crew, and I suspect after leaving here, JB will join them again.”
At the mention of JB’s name, she perked up. “Did JB like traveling to different worlds?” she tried to ask coyly. Every time she’d mentioned him before, Eva, Jess or Lo’Ren had shut her down immediately.
“He enjoyed living on the vessel. I think he liked the idea of meeting the different females.”
Different females? “He had a lot of them?”
“Um…” Jess’ gaze shifted to Eva. “No, not really, he just liked to meet different species.”
“Maybe he was hoping to meet the right female,” she said. “And if he met that female, he wouldn’t need to seek out anyone else.”
“Whoa, wait. Get him out of your head,” Jess said.
Saia didn’t think that she could.
So far, she’d found out that he liked to travel and didn’t have plans of settling down on one specific planet. She had also learned that Earth males respected their females and treated them significantly different than Drazlan males did.
No, if she had her wish, JB would be her perfect mate.
“What if I don’t want to stop thinking about him? What if he and I become friends? There’s no harm in that, is there?”
Jess sighed. “Saia, you don’t want to go down that road with him—friend or anything else.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because it won’t end well for you—or for him,” Eva answered.
Chapter Nine
Saia hadn’t had the chance to return to her apartment after her trip to Jess’ dwelling. On the way back, her mother called and requested that she join her in the females’ common room. Some of the guests for her engagement party had started to arrive and her mother wanted Saia to be cordial and mingle.
She was more than at ease talking with royals and dignitaries from other planets. She had been trained on how to conduct herself since she was born. She smiled and laughed when appropriate and did her very best not to grill every person about their world, culture and travels. Her mother said there wasn’t anything really wrong with her questions; the problem was the manner in which Saia posed them. Fainia complained that Saia was too forward and pressed too hard for answers. She had even described her as overly aggressive once. Her mother simply didn’t understand that if Saia couldn’t visit different worlds, at least she could live vicariously through those who did.
When she became too aggressive in her questioning, her mother would smile and gracefully change the subject. That was Saia’s cue to back off.
Taraj Hazouto, a dignitary from Holis, began to explain how twins in her species shared thoughts and feelings. Saia wanted to ask if the feelings extended to sexual relations as well, but one scolding look from her mother, who seemed to know what she was thinking, and Saia held her tongue.
Her mother asked Taraj if she planned to petition to join the ranks of the Galactic Council or remain a Holis dignitary, and as she explained why she loved being a dignitary and had no desire to leave her position, Saia’s com-link beeped.
Saia looked down at her console. It was JB’s signature. “If you will excuse me,” she said.
Fainia waved at her. “Yes, please. Tend to your call.”
Taraj dipped her head. “It was nice speaking with you, Princess Saia.”
Saia stood. “Your species interests me so. I hope my many questions haven’t offended you?”
“Of course not,” Taraj said, smiling. “You may ask anything you wish.”
“Thank you,” Saia said.
She found
a quiet, secluded area and held the com-link up to her mouth. “This is Princess Saia Xochis.”
“You promised to meet me.”
Her heart skipped a beat. His voice was deep and husky with a promise of everything her mother had ever warned her against. She flicked her eyes in Fainia’s direction, who seemed enthralled with whatever Taraj was saying.
“Are you still there?”
“I am.”
“Well? Did you change your mind?”
Saia glanced around the room and bit her lower lip. “I don’t know.”
“Meet me in the royal gardens. Alone. Go to your room and leave out the back balcony.”
She looked toward her guard. “But my guard won’t know I’m leaving if I go out the back.”
He chuckled. “I know.”
Could she do it? If Olo found out it would mean another beating for sure.
“I won’t keep you long. You’ll be back in your room before anyone misses you.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll meet you.” I can’t believe I’m going to do this.
“I’ll be waiting.”
She turned off her com-link and looked around the room. No one was paying attention to her. It was the perfect time to sneak—
“Princess, where are you going?”
Saia jumped. She turned to Milin. She hadn’t seen her waiting behind her.
She placed a hand on the side of her head. “I have a headache. I’m going to lie down for a while.” When Milin started toward her, Saia stopped her. “No need. I’ll call you if I need assistance.”
Milin dipped her head. “Yes, Princess.”
As Saia left the room, she expected the guard Taio had appointed to her to follow, and he did. They didn’t talk as she made her way back to the royal apartment.
Taio had explained many cycles ago, when she was younger, that her guards were there to protect her, not befriend her. She found that she still liked Taio’s guards better than the ones Olo assigned to her. The Drazlan royal guards were not particularly loyal to her, only to the crown. Regardless, Olo rotated personal guards every three lunar cycles so she wouldn’t get attached to any, and they wouldn’t get attached to her.
The guard entered her apartment behind her and posted by the door while she took the winding staircase up to her private room. Once inside, she engaged the lock on her door and changed clothes. She put on another dress that would blend more easily with those worn by every other female on Sonis. If she stepped out in her woven, jewel-encrusted gown, she would be recognized from any distance.
Dangerously His: 4 (Loving Dangerously) Page 8