Chapter 5 #2
Don’t do it, Phoenix. You’re on a schedule. He huffed out a breath. “Go on, take a look. But a quick one.”
“Wonderful!” She hurried over to the nearest stall. Handwoven textiles. She laughed and smiled with the stall owner. They moved onto the next stall. This one selling tiny metal figurines.
It was typical tourist crap, but Eos looked at them the same way she’d looked at the torq earlier. He curled his fingers into his palm. A crazy, insane urge welled up.
“I just thought of one more thing I need. Wait here and don’t go too far. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”
She nodded enthusiastically, not even looking at him. Within minutes, he’d bought what he needed—something he was stupid to buy and would probably throw out—and was back.
She wasn’t where he’d left her.
He wandered the nearest corridors, moving past the stalls, then heard her laugh. Funny how he could pick it out in a crowd. He followed the sound and found her at a food stall laden with sweet rolls and cakes.
The old man at the stall had long white hair and incredible eyes that looked like cracked ice. Dathan knew only people from ice planets had eyes that had adapted to mimic the terrain of their worlds.
“This must be your man,” the stall owner said.
Eos glanced up and laughed again. “Oh no. This one is more trouble than I’m interested in.”
Dathan shifted. For some reason, her words felt like a quick punch to his chest. “We need to go.”
“You have to try this.” She held up a small circular treat. “It’s a…kanelbulle.” She looked at the stall owner and when he nodded, she smiled. “A traditional sweet roll from Lars’ homeworld of Perma.” She took a bite, her eyes rolling back. She moaned and licked her lips. “Divine.”
Dathan stared at her lips. And wanted.
“Here.” Eos tore off a bit of sweet treat and pressed it to his lips.
He took it and tasted the explosion of smoky spices and sweetness. Then he nipped her finger.
She froze. “Dathan—”
Fuck it. He gripped her wrist, spinning to give the stall owner his back. “Why deny something we both want? Something we both know will be good?”
“We have a mission.” She tugged her hand. “And we aren’t compatible—”
He leaned down and licked at the frothy white sugar on her fingers. He felt her tremble. “I think we’d be very compatible.” He pulled her closer, slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wanted but daring her not to.
But she didn’t. Her chest bumped into his, her full breasts an exquisite sensation.
When was the last time he’d wanted a woman this much? He pulled her in tight and kissed her.
The market sounds and smells disappeared. There was only the two of them and all Dathan saw was her.
Her hands slid up his arms. Her fingers slid under his sleeve and caressed his tattoo. He thrust his hands into her hair, anchoring her as he moved his lips over hers.
God, she tasted sweeter than the kanelbulle. Addictive. He felt like the ground was spinning. Her tongue met his, then she nipped at his bottom lip, making his gut tighten.
Then her hands fell away and she took a shaky step back.
He was shocked to find his own legs unsteady. He’d always prided himself on his good balance—especially when it came to women.
But Eos Rai had sent him flying off course.
She ran a hand through her hair. “This…it’s not a good idea. I don’t have room for someone like you.”
Someone like him. Right. He didn’t have her fancy education, her elegant manners. He was a space treasure hunter who lived for adventure. For a second, he wondered if this was what his father had felt when Dathan’s mother had finally left. Like he was slime on the bottom of her shoe.
“You’re right.” He managed a smile. “And I don’t have room for an uptight, rule-loving archeologist.”
She sucked in a breath.
“We have a fortune to find. Let’s leave it at that.” He strode into the crowd.
The item he’d bought at a stall before weighed heavily in his pocket. He was an idiot.
It was time to focus on Star’s End, not the woman he was taking there.
Eos hurried to catch up with Dathan. All she could see was his stiff back.
The shine of Souk’s atmosphere dimmed. She’d been enjoying the never-ending whirl of people, smells, and sights.
She could spend months here studying the different cultures and the wares of their planets.
She saw the threads of history that had come from Earth among the stalls and they tantalized her.
But Dathan’s kiss had knocked her off-kilter.
And then his dismissal had left her reeling.
Ahead, a voluptuous woman in a swirl of colored skirts grabbed Dathan’s arm. She tugged him toward her impressive cleavage. The beaten coins circling her bare waist tinkled.
He shot her a welcoming smile. “Now, what are you selling, darlin’?”
Eos stopped behind him and stiffened. He looked like he’d be happy to take the trollop back into her tent and…
“Your fortune. My name’s Relda.” She coiled around him. “Let me tell you your destiny.”
Dathan rolled his eyes. “You make your own destiny.”
The fortune teller shook her mane of dark hair. “Lady Destiny is always in charge.”
“If you wait for the bitch to come calling, she usually smacks you in the head with something you never expected.” He softened the words with another roguish smile. “What else have you got that I might be interested in?”
So this was the kind of woman he liked? Eos sniffed. After kissing her, he was now going to proposition this scam artist right in front of her. “I’m heading back to the ship. We’re meeting your brothers, remember?”
He shot her a slumberous look over the dark head of the fortune-teller. “I’ll be there.”
Eos strode past him. Bastard.
She wasn’t sure why she was so angry. She didn’t want him.
She was halfway down the busy lane when someone brushed up against her. She turned, just as a hand clamped over her mouth.
Kicking out, she tried to scream, but the sound was muffled. She was yanked into the shadows of a stall. No one around them seemed to notice.