Page 15 of Trak
“What?” They did go out, but not far, and usually stayed within the confines of the Virilian sector.
“You seem a bit glum. I thought you’d like to see a bit more of the station.” His gaze swept over her with appreciation. “I’ve arranged for us to view one of the theater shows.”
“A theater show.” She peered up at him, wondering what in the world that was like on a place like this. “This isn’t some gladiatorial fight-to-the-death thing you lawless types do, is it?”
He raised an eyebrow and slid a hand around her waist. “Lawless? I’m insulted, madam.”
“I doubt that,” she murmured. “I don’t want to watch anything die. That’s all.”
“Neither do I. I’ve no taste for it. And I wouldn’t take you to see such a thing in any case. No place for a lady, if you ask me.”
She slanted him a skeptical look. “Do you actually know what a ‘lady’ is?”
“A female human of highborn status,” he replied. “Or a respectful form of address? Is that correct?”
Anna laughed and ran her fingers through his tousled hair. “It’s not wrong. There is nothing highborn about my status, though.”
“You are a lady here,” he said firmly. “I am a prince—at least, that’s the closest word in your language to describe my position—and you will be bearing my child. That more than qualifies you to be a lady.” He said it in a tone that indicated finality on the subject, and Anna was intrigued to catch a glimpse ofthisTrak, who was commanding, rather than the flirtatious paramour he presented to her.
She headed for her “closet,” which was what she was calling that room with all the stuff he’d sent her. “I’ll go get dressed.”
“Can I choose?”
“No,” she replied. “I would like to wear actualclothes.”
He sighed. “Pity.”
Twenty minutes later she had a hand locked around Trak’s arm as they walked through the corridors of the Bott-L2 space station. “What is this show about?” she asked.Again.
“You’ll just have to see,” he replied.Again. “I wouldn’t take you someplace boring.”
She glanced back behind them. If she somehow became separated from him, she would never find her way back to the Virilian sector. “We’re far from our rooms.”
“We could have taken a transport, but I thought you’d enjoy seeing what the rest of the station looks like.”
The stationwasa very interesting place. Anna peered down hallways that seemed to twist off endlessly. Hangars appeared out of nowhere, packed with every shape of ship imaginable, being repaired, boarded, or unloaded. The sheer diversity of alien populations who either passed through or lived here, boggled her mind. The life-forms were so varied, she couldn’t help but stare. Everything from the terrifyingly dangerous-looking to breathtakingly beautiful moved about, arguing, talking, hurrying, bustling with lives and errands and business to run.
Trak ignored it all, except for the occasional being that he knew. Most of the time, he acknowledged them with a nod of the head. A few got a wink or a smile. He couldn’t really talk to anyone because he still had his English chip stuck in the back of his head.
Most of the corridors were narrow passages that occasionally blew open into large spaces, filled with merchants hawking who knows what. Anna could identify absolutely nothing being offered by the alien merchants. Even if she could understand them, she’d have no idea what to do with the items in their stalls. A trio of musicians played strange, discordant music in a corner that no one seemed to mind. Other beings slunk along in the shadows. They stood in darkened spots, watching. Anna knew exactly what they were doing: looking for easy victims. She knew because she’d done that herself, once, when she’d been little more than a child and still under her father’s influence.
“How many of these people in the corners would slit our throats and rob us?”
“All of them,” Trak replied without pause and without a glance in their direction. “None of them will, though.”
Anna cast a furtive glance at a trio of characters leaning against a wall. Deep hoods covered their faces, but she could see them watching her and Trak as they passed. “You’re sure?”
“Trust me, love.”
“Fat chance,” Anna muttered, but it was with a smile.
He winked at her with a crooked grin. “Cheeky lass.” His tail slid over her bottom. “We’ll need to address that…later.”
Her face warmed at the thought of what they’d be doing after the theater. She’d never experienced anything other than pleasure at his hands, so his teasing threat did nothing but heat her blood.
Anna cast her gaze forward, raised her chin and kept moving in the gold dress that Trak had told her was “appropriate” for where they were going. It was a ridiculous getup, featuring slits up both sides and fabric that clung to her like a second skin. She’d refused the high-heeled sandals that went with it in favor of gold flats, in case she had to run at some point. For jewelry, she’d chosen simple ropes of gold chain looped around her neck and thick gold cuffs on her wrists. The sparkly stuff would only draw more attention, and she didn’t need that on her first trip venturing so far from Trak’s chambers.
She still wore the medallion on the necklace she’d been given by the Sage Ferias. She wasn’t sure why, but she never took it off. Something about it felt right, lying against herskin, or maybe it was like a reminder of the bargain she’d made that would be kept.
