Chapter 22
Chee
“Excuse me, Rinnicks,” Chee cut in, before that bitch could glare any harder at Trove. Like he had some sort of audacity for turning her down for sex. “But maybe we can get back to our negotiations now?”
Rinnicks did not look her way immediately.
She continued glaring at Trove. And it was not a normal kind of glare.
There was something extra dark and almost possessive about the look.
Chee had seen that look only in the uber wealthy when they were denied.
It was a look that said denial wasn’t a rejection, it was a challenge.
She intervened between them. She would not let anyone look at Trove like that. It was disgusting, in a gross and deeply disturbing kind of way. No one deserved to be looked at like that.
When Rinnicks finally focused on her, it was with a sneer, but not that same amount of insult. She hid it quickly, leaning back into her cushions. Forcing a smile that did not meet her eyes.
“You refuse my deal,” she chuckled. “You must not want that cup then.”
“Or you, that moon,” Chee countered, earning a glare of her own.
She wasn’t sure that she would call this a stalemate. Rinnicks, if she just cut off whatever greed she had that demanded she own an entire moon, could end this right here. Chee didn’t even know where the cup actually was; Rinnicks held all the power here.
But, of course, that wasn’t going to happen. She couldn’t simply stop yearning for more. If greed was so easily slaked or ignored, there would be far fewer problems in this cosmos.
However, she couldn’t just give in that easily either. If she backed down and accepted the moon alone after demanding more, it would be like she had lost. That couldn’t happen either. Chee could practically see those thoughts on her face.
“Fine,” Rinnicks purred. “Then, let me make you a different offer. There is an old and beautiful painting that I want. However, the male that owns it refuses to sell. I want that painting.”
“What are you willing to offer him for it?”
Rinnicks laughed. “Don’t mistake my intentions here, little one. I’m not sending you as my representative to negotiate. I’m telling you to steal that painting.”
Chee shook her head. “We don’t commit crimes, Rinnicks. They’re a delivery company; they’re not mercenaries.”
Though she couldn’t see them, she could practically feel the humor at that statement rolling off the males at her back. It just seemed hilarious considering everything.
“Please,” Rinnicks scoffed. “The male who has the painting stole it in the first place. His ownership is completely illegal. I was in the middle of buying that painting when he took it from the company delivering it. It was always meant to be mine. You’re just taking it back.”
Chee frowned, about to deny her again. It was still a crime. More than that, it was a risk. She wouldn’t ask Trove and the others to take on that kind of job.
But before she had a chance, Tanin said-
“Deal.”
She turned, looking at the captain, but he was focused on Rinnicks.
“Send us the details of your painting and we’ll get it for you,” he continued. “We’ll trade the cup for the painting and moon.”
“Deal,” Rinnicks agreed, waving them away. “Now, leave. I’m sick of looking at you.”
Chee actually believed that was true, not just her attempt at being insulting.
The five of them turned and left together.
And, just as before, they kept their peace until they had returned to the hotel room.
Unlike before, however, Garnet was in her and Tanin’s room when they arrived.
She was sleeping, curled up in the bed, pregnant belly supported by a pillow.
But when they came in, she immediately popped up with a snarl.
Chee, startled at the furious look on her face, fell back a step. But it was gone as quickly as it came. Once Garnet recognized them, she immediately calmed.
“You’re back,” she said, pushing herself up, running her hands through her hair. “How did it go? What did she say?”
“We’ve made a deal,” Tanin said, seemingly completely unsurprised by the fury with which his mate had initially woken.
“Oh, yay,” Garnet yawned. “She accepted the moon? What about Trove?”
“I told her no,” he said, looking at Chee when he did so.
And she found herself smiling back at him. A polite, restrained kind of smile, but at least she could look at him this time.
“We’re fetching a painting for her instead,” Tanin said.
“You really don’t have to do that,” Chee said, frowning. “It’s not part of your contract with Hyde. And I know you guys don’t like retrieving things.”
Tanin shook his head. “If we kept denying her, she’d eventually refuse the deal altogether. Her pride is greater than her greed. She wanted something to replace Trove. This way, we can just get it done. Besides, Hyde is paying a lot for our services. He might as well get what he’s paying for.”
Chee smiled. “Thank you, Tanin. Really.”
He shook his head. “Forget it. Once we get the details of what we’re getting and where we’re going, we’ll start planning what we’re doing. We’ll stay here for the rest of the day, then head back up to the ship tomorrow.”
“But if it’s dangerous…”
Trove chuckled, jostling her gently. “You worry too much. It will be fine.”
“But this guy had the painting stolen. He clearly doesn’t care about things like legalities.”
“And you think we do?”
Chee opened her mouth, but she had no rebuttal.
Because she knew that, no, they absolutely did not.
These guys followed the law because it was convenient for them at the time.
The moment it was no longer convenient, they would adjust accordingly and feel absolutely no guilt or shame about the things they had to do.
She kind of admired it.
In a weird, sideways, distant kind of way.
Since it was decided that they’d be leaving tomorrow, Garnet insisted that they all go out one more time. There was a weekly, public beach party that night. It promised good food, good music, lots of dancing, and a great time. She wanted to go.
And Chee admitted, it did sound like fun.
Tanin took the twins aside to give them some orders just for their ears. And while he did that, Trove took Chee back to her room.
When the door opened, however, she didn’t immediately go inside. She hesitated at the threshold before turning.
Trove was, of course, standing there. Calm smile on his face. Like he was just content to be there and he needed nothing else. He never pushed for more from her. And she was, again, struggling to remember why being with him was a bad idea.
“A beach party sounds fun,” she said by way of an opener. It wasn’t her smoothest line, and she almost winced at how wooden it sounded.
But Trove just nodded once. “It does. I think it will be a good way to say goodbye to Heava Yu. At least, for now. I’m sure we can come back sometime. Maybe we’ll actually take a proper vacation. We’ve never done that before.”
“No?”
“No,” he shook his head. “Usually, we just enjoy whatever amenities happen to exist in whatever place we end up. We didn’t really have the luxury of taking dedicated time off before.
But we have a fully functioning ship and a fully charged suite of subspace crystals.
There’s really not much holding us back anymore.
Chee smiled softly. “Yeah. Right. That’s true. So, maybe we’ll, er… Or you and the crew will…” Her voice trailed off as she lost her words.
It felt wrong to say ‘we’ when she was still so completely and fully an outsider. She wasn’t one of them, and she didn’t feel like one either. To assume herself among their number wasn’t right. But it didn’t feel right to separate herself either.
After all, she and Trove were still…
Trove reached out. Slowly. Cautiously. Giving her plenty of time to pull away or stop him if she wished.
And she debated it. Considered it. Went back and forth on whether or not she wanted him to touch her at all. Made a decision, changed her mind, then changed it back again. A dozen times over in the few seconds it took for him to raise his hand.
In the end, she didn’t move. She wasn’t sure if that was a choice she made, or the result of her just not making the choice.
But then his fingers were warm on her cheeks. A soft stroke turned into him cupping her face in the palm of his hand. She leaned into it. Not much. A gentle pressure. A cautious test of her own. But she liked it.
“We can come back,” he said. “If you want.”
Because it was her decision. He was letting her choose what happened between them. He was letting her be the one to set boundaries.
And she knew this wasn’t going to work but…
“Will you dance with me at the beach party?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t ask if she was sure. He just agreed. And the two statements hung in the air between them.
Trove let his hand linger on her cheek for a long moment before sliding it down. He didn’t touch her body. But she imagined he did. If he stroked her neck, down her chest, her belly, her waist, her hips…
He had to be good at sex.
That was a stupid thought. But if he was the stuff of legends that literal sex professionals gossiped about beyond their place of work, he had to be good. He had to know how to use those hands, his tongue, his dick…
Chee bit her lip. Hesitating.
“Trove?”
“Hm?”
“Are we… What are we?”
He hesitated this time.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
“Do you want a mate?”
“No.”
He didn’t hesitate to answer. But the look on his face wasn’t one of rejection. It was confusion. And she realized again that, like his opinion on sex, she had to think about this differently. Or, at least, she had to come at this differently.
“Do you want me?” She tried this time, her voice softer.
He took his time answering. Staring at the ground between her for a moment before lifting his eyes to look at her. And again, the expression on his face was strange. Like there was something broken in him that was grinding together, bringing the whole system to a stop.
“I don’t know,” he finally said.
And that hurt too. But it was an answer she didn’t think he meant to be hurtful. It was more like he was genuinely confused.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he continued quickly, struggling. “I don’t want to send you away. I don’t not want to be with you. I definitely want you to be happy. I feel like your happiness would be better served away from me. But I still want to be around you. It’s… complicated.”
“You’re scared of intimacy,” she summarized.
He winced. “I… I don’t know.”
She knew though. And if she set her hurt feelings aside, she could see that he genuinely did not understand his own feelings. There was something broken in him, and she had to know what it was. She had to know what made him tick.
Smiling, she reached out for him this time. She stroked his cheek just as he had hers. But he leaned more securely into her touch, covering her hand with his. Keeping it there. But the look on his face was one of pain. Like it hurt him.
He didn’t know. She didn’t think he knew how to figure it out.
So, she would.
“Let’s go dancing tonight,” she said. “And get this painting so we can get this cup. And we’ll figure out the rest on the way.”
He nodded. And even looked a little relieved.
And it was a rough start, but she felt like maybe, finally, they were starting.