Page 22 of Stealing the Star Stone
Eli eyed him.“For me to accept the invitation, you’d have to get me out of here.”
“True,” he chuckled.“As a show of good faith.”He turned to a mountain.“Make it happen.”
Eli’s thoughts darted around his brain like cats escaping a bag.What was Orien up to?A chat with Nova was what Eli needed.She had to be awake by now and losing her mind.
He studied her hand, admiring the daintiness of her fingernails and the scar where a wedding ring used to be.Without anyone noticing, he pinched his arm hard.Fire exploded outward and dulled to a heated throb.No, he wasn’t dreaming.
This shit’s real.
Somehow, he’d swapped bodies with Nova.
And Lord Xeno-Archeologist had no clue what the stone could do.
Eli grinned.“Sure, I could eat.”
Staying near Orien was a good start.All there was to know about the Lerathi and their rainbow rocks was in his possession, whether in his mad brain or on some database somewhere.
And Eli had every intention of getting that info.At all costs.
Chapter Seven
Tarnis’ Messis Station
Never go to sleep angry.
Day One.
Thecaressofahand across Nova’s ass snapped her eyes open.What the fuck?She blinked, staring at the lush carpet.The scent of fresh linen dominated her senses when mint was what she last remembered.Furriness covered her tongue, and a headache pinged behind her right eye.She’d almost swear she was hungover.Which was bullshit when she’d been in a cell—
The hand traveled up her back.She flipped over and gaped at the naked blonde in her bed.
“Who are you?”she asked, then gawked at the room.Hotel came to mind.“Where am I?”When the woman reached out to Nova’s chest, she scrambled away.
And hit the floor hard.
She splayed her fingers on the bed to rise but stared at a hand not her own.Long fingers, a wide palm, into a masculine forearm?She screamed, lunged backward, and sprawled onto her back.No!No, no no no no, thiscannotbe happening.Maybe there were drugs in the minty sanitizer?
Her ears finally came to the party, replaying what she’d said in a deep baritone she knew all too well.“Speak.Now,” she croaked, confirming her worst fears.
Crawling across the floor and onto her feet, she bolted for the full-length gilded mirror mounted on a wall.Standing tall was Eli Thorne, all his muscled handsomeness, those deep green eyes.Hell, even his gaping shirt snagged her attention, right down to his bare toes.
“Thorne?”she whispered.His lips formed his name.She flicked his hair off his temple, straightened his wrinkled clothes, and scrubbed a hand over his face.All copied by the reflection.
“Lord Orien said you’d be interested in a little…fun.”The blonde woman stepped naked off the bed.
Why would Orien provide Thorne with entertainment?And judging by his fully dressed body, he hadn’t done anything with her.Nova didn’t swing that way, not anymore, but this beauty would have tempted a monk.She was stunning, perfect, and everything Nova expected Thorne to fuck.Facing the mirror, she arched a brow at the man in the mirror then snorted.
“This is fucking insane,” she said, snatching up his boots.
She’d head to station security and bail herself out with Thorne’s credits.Then with her body ‘in hand,’ she’d figure out how to fix this.And there had to be a way.Spending a lifetime like this was out of the question.
When the blonde ran her fingers over his shoulders, Nova shrugged her off and flashed her a glare.“Not interested.See yourself out.”
Without a backward glance at the beauty, Nova marched out of the room, hesitated, then headed to the pod.Thorne’s long legs covered the distance smoothly, and damn if she didn’t wiggle his ass in his signature swagger.Here she’d thought it was part of his act.Seems like he was physically stuck doing that.
Waiting for the pod gave her a few quiet moments to process her new reality.First, she pinched her hairy forearm.A yelp escaped.She’d done it too hard, not used to this much strength.Okay, so not dreaming.She rubbed the offended spot, her thoughts whizzing.When she’d touched the rock, that spark must have been the catalyst.And because Thorne had been on the other side… She stared at his blue-stained fingers and palm.Would this have happened if he’d been someone else?
She groaned, stamped her foot, then glared at the ceiling.Why him?Argh.
