Page 11 of Trak
She looked around. “You were staying in a brothel?Really, Trak.” She hated how she sounded, like a jealous lover trying too hard to be nonchalant. There was a touch of that, if she was honest with herself. The guy wasn’t remotely hers, but good grief—he was stayinghere?
“It’s not a brothel. Sinno was my mistress, if you must know, but she’s off-station, probably with her new partner.”
“New partner?” Anna shook her head. “And you’re okay with that?”
“Of course,” he replied, looking perplexed. “We were never bonded mates. She’s moved on and so have I.”
“Aren’t you worried that…she’ll find out that you’re here?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I thought she’d mind.” He sauntered closer, looking rumpled and mellow. Far too mellow. “You look suspicious. I can have my physician attest to the fact that I haven’t been with anyone since well before you arrived. I can also show you my most recent body and fluid scan if that would ease your mind.”
“Okay. Maybe. I get it.” Anna took another look around the room, then backed toward the door. Sinno’s painting’s gaze followed her. “Can we go? Or are you planning to stay here?” Maybe he liked the decor in this room better.
“I’d love to return to my chambers with you.” He cocked his tawny head. “But that depends on you.”
“What are you saying?”
Those muscular, scarred arms crossed over a tattooed chest. “Are you staying and fulfilling your contract with me or am I sending you back to Earth?”
Anna took a deep breath, aware of Trak’s intense gaze on her. He’d given her almost a full Earth week—if she was calculating that even vaguely right—to decide. She closed her eyes to block out Trak’s scrutiny, Sinno’s sultry and creepily unblinking stare, and the garish sexual push of the room. Stay. Or go.
“You may keep the gifts, if you leave,” he commented. “They were not conditional.”
Anna’s eyes flew open. “But the jewelry’s worth would total as much as what I would be paid if I fulfilled my contract.”
“Really?” He shrugged. “Good for you, then.” He stepped toward her and placed his hands lightly on her shoulders. “Anna, I would like to do this with you. I would like you to have my offspring. Ferias chose you for a reason, but youcango back. No hard feelings, love. No regrets.”
Anna looked up into his handsome face with its faint smile, and she wondered if that really was all there was to it.Do, or don’t, no worries, love. Was there something more behind those dark-lined eyes? And what would an affair with him be like? He was sexy as hell and their kiss had held the promise of pleasure. Kissing him hadn’t been taxing. Her body had responded immediately and with passion. Going to bed with him wouldn’t be a hardship.
For the first time, she wondered what having a child with him would be like. According to the information packet, Virilian gestations were far shorter than human ones, and newborns were tiny—two pounds when carried to term. All human women were promiseda quick and easy birthing process. Then, they could stay to help rear the baby, or return home. Either way, the child would be raised as a treasured addition to this struggling species.
It had sounded so straightforward on paper. It had sounded like an easy solution to her brother’s medical bill problem. Now that she was here, face to face with the complex, fascinating, and gorgeous male she’d been matched with, nothing about it felt straightforward or easy.
Itdidfeel exciting. Anna was struck with the sudden knowledge that if she stayed with Trak, she would not return to Earth the same person she was when she left.Thatwas the source of her fears.
“I’ll stay.” The words whispered through her lips with a flutter of nerves.
“Are you sure?” he asked, just as quietly.
“I made a promise,” she replied, releasing a long breath. “I have no good reason to break it, aside from being unsure what to expect, and that’s never been a good enough reason for me to do ornotdo something.” She looked down with a flutter of nerves. “And I am…attracted to you. A little. More than a little.” Anna peeked up at him, relieved to see his expression open and bemused, and not at all smug. “I want more than a kiss. I want all of it. All of you.”
Okay, that had been a bit rambling and alothonest, but if he could follow those sentences, he’d have heard what pretty much summed up her entire life. Uncertainty was a staple in the life of a daughter of a thief and con man. Thing was, this deal with Trak was no con. It was real, and the truth was, she wanted him more than she wanted to return to Earth.
“Are you certain?” he asked after a pause.
Arousal unfurled low in her belly, sending tingles under her skin. “Yes.”
He stepped close to her. “Anna, you will enjoy every second of this. That ismypromise.” His voice was a sexy rasp, heavy against her hair. Fingertips slid up her spine, sending shivers of anticipation. “Come. Let’s return to our room.”
Eight
“I don’t know how you could stand the smell in there.” Anna sent him a dark look. “That room was more potent than a funeral parlor.”
Even with the language chip, the comment confused him. He knew the definition of a funeral parlor, but not what one smelled like. It was a place where the dead were prepared for disposal. Did that mean Sinno’s room held the odor of dead humans? He would be steering clear of that topic. “I was fortunate that she didn’t change the door key code,” he said, opening the door to his own room. “I had not planned on staying there as long as I did.” He sent her a chagrined look. “It took you long enough to want to see me.”
“So, it’s my fault you chose to camp out in your mistress’s sex parlor?”
“Ex-mistress,” he corrected, and he meant it. “And no. All the chambers in our sector are occupied and Sinno’s empty quarters were the closest ones to you I had access to.” Sinno understood how important it was for Trak to have offspring. Since their relationship had ended on good terms, she would undoubtedly find this situation extremely amusing if he she learned about it.Whenshe learned about it. Sinno’s portrait had the capability of recording everything that occurred in her room.
