Chapter 2 #2
She’d hoped this wasn’t her would-have-been match.
He was altogether too potent, too masculine.
Too…everything. Once upon a time, she’d been chosen as his match.
She hadn’t batted an eye at the expectation of having loads of sex with him to produce more Virilian offspring and begin to rebuild their species.
But now, after all she’d been through, that felt like a lifetime ago.
“Thank you.” Was she supposed to curtsey or something? “This is amazing. Thank you for having me.”
He moved to her side. One of his arms curled around her back, but didn’t touch her. Still, she could feel the heat of his hand as it hovered near her skin. “It is my pleasure.” His voice was warm with a touch of gravel. “Was your journey pleasant?”
“It was quick,” she said with a little laugh. “Mr. Mann was an excellent escort.”
“I’m pleased to hear that.” He guided her toward a set of glass-encased elevators that lined one section of the wall. “After your previous experience, I sent the very best professional mediator to approach you, so you wouldn’t be frightened.”
She was still a little frightened. Kim had the strap of her bag in a death grip. “That was nice of you.”
“It was the least I could do.” He gestured toward a waiting elevator. It moved passengers up and down in thick tubes. She stepped in with him. It shot upward fast.
Too fast. “Oh!” She lost her balance and swayed.
Strong hands came around her. One wrapped around her forearm, but the other grasped her waist and gently steadied her. “I should have warned you.” His voice was a low rumble above her ear. “The lifts can be quick if you don’t expect it.”
Kim went perfectly still. She could feel her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. “I’m fine.” Was that her voice? Good grief, she sounded embarrassingly breathy. “Thanks.”
He did not drop his hands immediately. The one on her waist slid up the slightest bit to her ribs. She shivered and breathed in his strong, clean scent.
“Careful. It stops just as abruptly,” he said.
Well, that explained why he was still touching her. And the lift stopped as hard as he said it would, but she was prepared and had balanced herself. He dropped his hands—sadly—and they disembarked.
Kim stepped into a wide corridor. Warm cream-colored floors met deep-blue walls that curved to a vaulted ceiling.
The seams of doors were visible, but otherwise blended in.
Beside each door was a square black plate, which she assumed was a keypad of some sort.
“I had no idea spaceships could be so big inside. This feels like a regular building.”
He flashed a grin. “It is a building.”
“I know, but it…it’s like we could find the exit doors, go outside and be on a city street.”
“I would not advise going outside without proper gear.”
She let out a chuckle. He sounded so serious. Did he think she would actually do that? “I was complimenting your architecture.”
“I beg your pardon.” Klae shook his head as his lips curved.
He gestured to the device on his ear. “When my V-link translates to English, I get the literal translation, minus the nuances.” He appeared pleased with her reaction, though.
“But thank you. I am proud of this ship.” He spread his arms. “It’s a custom-engineered Nebula-3 Trade Cruiser, designed for high speeds and outfitted for serious battle.
” He looked around, as though seeing it for the first time.
“Since I live here, I made it look nice.”
If this was nice, she couldn’t imagine his idea of grand. Kim glanced up at him. “Do you see many battles?”
“No.” He waved a hand. “Few would dare attack or try to seize this ship, even with the valuable cargo we carry. And my crew is both loyal and skilled. I employ the best and pay them well.”
Kim felt a wave of admiration. He seemed just as proud of his people here as he did the ship.
“Ah.” He stopped before a set of double doors.
“Stand still a moment, please.” He eased her into a certain spot before the shiny black plate imbedded in the wall.
He placed his hand to it and spoke a few words that sounded like nonsense—probably a passcode.
He stepped back, and the plate turned red.
It emitted a beam that swept up and down, engulfing her in its light.
It happened fast. In seconds, the plate was black again. “What was that?” she asked, alarmed.
“The sensor measured your biological energy so it can recognize you. It’s the lock to your door. These will be your quarters during your stay. No one can enter but you.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “Not even you?”
His eyelids lowered, but his face revealed nothing. “Not unless you invite me in,” he replied in a low murmur.
Heat prickled over her skin. Awareness of him made her breath quicken. He stood so close to her, she could feel the heat of his body.
The doors slid open. She tore her attention from him to step inside. She let out an audible gasp as her jaw dropped. The space before her put any high-luxury human hotel to shame. A transparent domed ceiling arched down into a wall of windows that met the floor, giving a sparkling view of stars.
Dark, sumptuous couches and loungers sat in the center, directly below the dome to invite stargazing.
To one side sat a large, inviting bed in grays and blues.
A wall of closets curved around behind it.
An alcove, barely visible around a corner, showed a glimpse of an elegant eating area.
Another set of doors probably led to a bathroom—hopefully led to a bathroom.
The sound of trickling water drew her attention to one side of the room, to what appeared to be a garden.
No, she realized, as she wandered closer.
Beneath her feet, the floor changed from stone to a rich, dark soil.
It was a miniature forest in her quarters.
Trees, shrubs and flowers, the likes of which she’d never seen before, flourished like lush, living jewels.
She hesitated before venturing further. “Can I go in here?”
Klae nodded from the doorway. “Of course. It’s yours.” The way he said it held a note of finality that made her ears buzz. She wondered why he stood all the way over there, watching her with intense eyes.
“Is there a reason you aren’t coming in?”
“I will enter with your permission,” he said. “It was in the agreement you signed before coming here.”
“Oh. Well, you can come in,” she said awkwardly. “Please. It’s weird with you standing over there.”
He shrugged and joined her by the trees. “We install plants wherever we can. It’s excellent for the air quality and an excellent source of fresh food.” He nodded toward the forest. “Almost everything that’s grown on this ship produces edible fruit.”
“Wow.” That was ingenious. He didn’t mention the mental benefits of such lush spaces, but they were apparent. Something blue and luminous gleamed through the trees. She craned her neck to get a better view. “What is in there?”
“Why don’t you go find out?”
Kim stepped into the mini forest and past the trees.
What lay there made her gasp in delight.
It was a pool, but it was nothing like a swimming pool on Earth.
This one was fed from a waterfall that began high on the chamber’s wall, flowed down to a stream that meandered through the mini forest, and ended in the pool that looked so naturally formed, it could have been carved by eons of moving water.
Glowing blue stones lined the sides and bottom.
She could smell the warm, sweet moisture that wafted up in ribbons of steam. Kim spun back to Klae. “I’m really staying here?”
His brow furrowed. “Do you not like it?”
“Like it?” She spread her arms. “It’s a fantasy. It doesn’t even look real. I never could have imagined that places like this even existed.”
The furrow deepened. “I can find you alternate rooms if—”
“No,” she cut in, seeing he misunderstood.
“I love it. It’s the opposite of what I expected when I threw some clothes in my suitcase and got on that car that turned into an alien shuttle.
I’m…” She dug her fingers through her hair and turned around, checking to see if it was all still real. “Overwhelmed. In a good way.”
He bowed his head. “It pleases me to hear it.” Klae’s deep voice made her want to purr like a cat.
God, did he have to sound as good as he looked?
“I didn’t know if you brought clothes with you, so there are some garments here that were made for you.
” He shrugged. “Wear whatever you like, of course.”
“How did you know my size?”
“The match program provided them when we were originally paired.” He shifted slightly on his feet. “I had a complete wardrobe made for you back when I first thought you would join me here.”
She bit her bottom lip at the surprise stab of emotion. He’d kept the clothes he’d had made for her. They’d been on this ship all this time, waiting for her. “I was told you refused my replacement.”
“There was no replacing the female that High Sage Ferias chose for me.”
“But you could make a baby with anyone,” she whispered. “It didn’t have to be me.” A part of her secretly enjoyed knowing that he didn’t move straight into the arms of another.
His gaze moved over her like a caress. “Yes, it did.”
Kim didn’t know what to say to that. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry that the match didn’t work. You didn’t deserve to be cheated out of your child.”
He shook his head. “I am the one who failed you. I should have sent more than a courier to escort you. If I could go back and do it again, I would send a full battleship to collect you.”
The self-recrimination in his voice surprised her. “You couldn’t have known that a random business rival would get the idea to punish you by abducting me.”
“It is my duty to prepare for every possibility.”
Kim stepped close to him. Her instinct was to reach out and touch him, comfort him, but she balled a fist at her side and looked up at his pained expression.
“No one could have known, so let it go, okay? I’m alive.
I’m here and there’s no point in looking back.
Regrets have done no one any good. Believe me, I heard a lot of them from my family in the years and months before they passed away. ”
“You lost many loved ones?”
Kim shrugged, not wanting to bog down this meeting with the sad details of her life.
The truth was, she’d heard little else but regrets and grievances from the three relatives she’d nursed through their last years.
Her mother, especially, had spent her decline detailing everything her terminal cancer had cost her and bickering with Kim, her sole caretaker.
One thing Kim had learned was how important it was not to pass up opportunities.
They rarely came around again. It was a big reason why she was here, with Klae, after all.
It was also a reason she’d signed up with the Virilian Match Program in the first place.
Time wasn’t guaranteed. You had to make your own adventures.
He surprised her by placing a large hand to her cheek—exactly as she’d wanted to do to him earlier. “Wise female,” he murmured. “And generous in her forgiveness.”
Kim rolled her eyes, despite the spray of tingles that emanated from the touch of that wide hand. “There’s nothing to forgive, Mr. Rillim.”
He let his hand fall away with a wince. “Please, don’t call me Mr. Rillim. I prefer Klae.”
“Did I offend you?”
“You could never offend me,” he said roughly. “I simply do not want formalities between us…Kimberly.” His eyes darkened and his nostrils flared.
They froze in an electric moment, locked by a spark of attraction, by something as ancient as it was new. Even with her limited experience in the romance department, she could feel the currents running between them, as charged and dangerous as live wires.
Two weeks, she reminded herself. It was not very much time, but who knew? Maybe it was enough for a brief, but scorching, romance. Maybe she’d just go with it and…see what happened? A thrill of excitement made her lick her upper lip, and his gaze snapped to her mouth.
“Thank you, Klae.” She liked the way his name sounded on her tongue. She wondered what else of his she would like on her tongue. “I don’t want to be formal, either. Please call me Kim.”
Klae took a deliberate step backwards. He swallowed and clasped his hands behind his back, as though forcing himself to lock them there. “Kim,” he said. “Will you dine with me tonight?”
“Yes.” The response came easily and without a second thought, along with a rush of excitement.
A pleased smile curved his sexy mouth. “I will let you settle in and come back to you in three of your Earth hours.” He turned away, then stopped.
“If you need me for any reason, simply touch that screen beside your door and ask for me. I will be instantly alerted. Anything you want, don’t hesitate to request it. ”
“I will,” she said, pushing back her heavy fall of dark blond hair.
His gaze dropped, and he left her. Alone, she felt tiny in this spacious chamber filled with such amazing things. It’s mine for two entire weeks, she thought. And just maybe, the gorgeous male who came with it.