20. Terra #3
“I had hoped you would want to. I know my food must be strange to you, but it can be very delicious.”
“A slice for the lady.”
The bat-faced vendor produced a long silver knife that looked more like a serrated sword. With a flourish of pure showmanship, he sliced off a piece and handed it to Terra with a bow.
“My finest fargas for you, my lady,” he said gallantly.
Terra tried not to giggle at his display.
“Well…thank you very much,” she said as she took the warm slice of bread. Then she took a bite and sighed in delight.
The crust was crisp, but the inside was incredibly soft, almost melting on her tongue, with a rich savory-sweet flavor that made her immediately want another piece.
It wasn’t bread exactly–it actually tasted better than bread.
All she needed now was some fresh butter and some strawberry jam and she would be content to abandon her diet forever.
“Oh, that’s dangerous,” she murmured, taking another bite and letting it melt on her tongue.
Taurex frowned.
“Dangerous? How could fargas bread be dangerous? It’s not spicy like the skarra pods.”
“No but if I lived here, I would eat this every day and gain twenty pounds,” Terra explained. “That’s why it’s dangerous–it tastes too good.”
His golden eyes swept over her curves.
“I see no problem with that.”
The way he said it made heat rise into Terra’s cheeks.
The furry vendor smiled knowingly.
“Your woman is already beautifully formed,” he remarked. “A true Elite. You are a fortunate male.”
Terra almost choked on her bread.
“Oh, I’m not—”
“I know,” Taurex said simply, before she could finish. “I have been blessed by the Goddess, indeed.”
Then he simply handed the bat vendor payment for several unopened fargas pods and placed them carefully into the living basket, which grew to accommodate them.
Terra’s heart did a strange little skip. Should she correct the vendor’s misunderstanding? But Taurex hadn’t. Instead, he had said he was fortunate to be with her.
Terra took another bite of bread and pretended not to notice as they nodded at the vendor and moved on.
The deeper they went into the Market, the more magical it became. There were stalls where enormous flowers dispensed drinks directly from their centers, each bloom producing a different flavor.
Taurex bought Terra a cup of pale pink nectar from a flower with blue petals, and she discovered that it tasted like strawberry lemonade with a faint hint of mint.
There were other stalls selling fruits that floated several inches above the counter and had to be caught with small nets before they could be eaten, mushrooms that changed color depending on what seasoning they were cooked with and tiny nut-like seeds that cracked themselves open when they heard someone whistle.
Terra wanted to taste everything and to her delight, Taurex indulged her shamelessly.
At one stall she tried a translucent purple fruit filled with sparkling juice that made her tongue tingle pleasantly for several minutes. At another, she sampled a green candy-like seed that tasted exactly like chocolate despite looking nothing like it.
“How does it taste like chocolate?” she demanded, sucking on the smooth, tasty seed.
Taurex shook his head.
“I do not know what chocolate tastes like.”
Terra stopped walking and looked at him in surprise.
“What? How can you not know what chocolate tastes like?”
He shrugged.
“I have never eaten it.”
“But…you live on Earth,” Terra pointed out.
“Yes.” He nodded.
“For three years.”
“Yes.” He nodded again.
“And you’ve never had chocolate? Not even once?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Terra put a hand on her hip.
“That is completely unacceptable.”
Taurex’s ears twitched.
“Why?”
“Because chocolate is one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments.”
He raised his eyebrows, the corners of his mouth twitching.
“Greater than spaceflight?”
“Absolutely,” Terra said.
He rumbled laughter.
“I’m impressed by your lack of hesitation. Chocolate must be really good.”
Terra smiled up at him, feeling ridiculously pleased with herself again.
“I’m bringing you chocolate on Monday,” she told him. “All kinds–white, milk, dark–the good stuff. We’re going to have a whole class about it. Then you’ll see.”
Taurex smiled.
“I look forward to this cultural education.”
Terra was too. She was already imagining putting pieces of chocolate into his mouth and watching as he ate them.
Careful, Terra, whispered a little voice in her head. Feeding your boss chocolates sounds an awful lot like flirting.
Well, so what if it was? Weren’t they flirting right now? And they were having a wonderful time. So why not?
You know why not–because it’s dangerous. Because you’re risking the best job and the best boss you’ve ever had. Because Taurex might not feel the same way about you as you’re starting to feel about him.
Terra pushed the thought away. She was having too much fun to let her worries bring her down. Right now she just wanted to enjoy her time with Taurex and explore the Monstrum Mother Ship and if that meant a little flirting was involved, well then, so be it.