Page 37 of Bound to the Alien King
This Killian and his enduring selflessness.Why was he like this?
Pete beamed at Nera and me.“Someonewasparticipating!Youwin a fancy dinner date.Andyouwin a fancy dinner date.”He pointed at both of us in turn with the most enthusiastic index finger I’d ever seen.“AndIwin a date with the entire audience.Nope, that’s not true, but damn, I wish it were because look at yourselves, you sexy things you.”
Nera and I shared a look.The both of us, together.Alone.Was she okay with this?
Roiling emotions stormed across her face, and then she turned away.
“So off with you both.Chop, chop.”Pete clapped his hands and shooed us off the stage.
“What, right now?”Nera asked.
“Yes, right now.You’ll be served on the third floor in the holographic simulator room.Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, you crazy kids.”He wiggled his eyebrows at the nearest camera.“Which isn’t much because I will do, and have done,anything.”
The two of us rose, me much faster compared to Nera’s hesitancy.Of course I wanted to be alone with her so we could talk all of this out, so I could help her understand, if that’s what she wanted.What I didn’t want was for her to feel forced into something she wasn’t ready for.
As was my norm now, I retrieved very hungry caterpillar number one before I left.No one seemed to think twice about why I carried around a jar of leaves and a furry red thing with me everywhere I went.
The drone cameras followed us off the stage and out of the filming room, but at a respectable distance.Nera stayed quiet, and for the first time since I’d met her, the silence between us grew awkward and tense.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Nera,” I told her as we stepped out of the elevator and onto the third floor.
“I’m starving, so yes, I do,” she said simply, smiling a fraction at my jar of caterpillar.
She knew as well as I did that food wasn’t in short supply anywhere on this ship.She could’ve gone into a random room to find a whole feast, so the fact that she was coming with me anyway meant a lot.
Or she was “participating fully and with the utmost enthusiasm” by playing the part of a lovestruck contestant for the cameras.
The cameras I immediately shut the door on so they couldn’t join us in the holographic simulation room.
Inside, it looked like the perfect dinner setting in a cottage that emanated warmth, elegance, and comfort.Next to a roaring fire that sounded and felt real, sat a long, rustic wooden table adorned with a white tablecloth.Flickering candles, colorful flower arrangements, and twinkling fairy lights decorated the table.Soft background music filled the air, something with a flute.
The food made my stomach growl loudly, and Nera gasped at the sight of it.There was bruschetta drizzled with a balsamic reduction, stuffed frushrooms, a dalamelon-feta salad, herb-roasted chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and vibrant, roasted vegetables.On a side table sat a trio of desserts—chocolate mousse, lemon tartlets, and a crème brûlée.
Nera moaned as she sat at the table, the sound flooding my head and my groin with the reminders of all the times I’d heard it before.
Grinding my teeth together, I sat across from her and immediately covered my lap with my napkin.“The last time I went on a dinner date for this show, Emjay tried to kill me.”
“The last timeIwent on a date for this show, I was nearly poisoned with baryer fish.”Nera licked her lips as she scooped large spoonfuls of mashed potatoes onto her plate.“Those were simpler times, weren’t they?”
I chuckled, watching the way her lips glistened in the candlelight while I poured water into her wineglass.“In a way, I suppose.”
“It’s weird though.I’m actually kind of relieved to be going back to Klio-3.I could count on the madness there, and I pretty much expected something to pop out around every corner.”A contemplative frown marred her forehead.“It was…oddly comforting.”
I nodded, a hint that she should continue, as long as she was finally talking to me.“I understand.”
“You do?Because I sure don’t.”She huffed out a frustrated chuckle while she heaped frushrooms onto her plate.
“I think part of it is Klio-3’s beauty.It’s hard to be afraid if everywhere you look stuns the breath out of you.”I smiled, watching her intently while I poured myself some water.
Her mouth twitched as she looked away to smooth her napkin on her lap.“Your planet’s no dump either, but you’re right.Plus, there are answers on Klio-3.We’ll need a plan that will ensure we get them.Allof them.”
“We’ll get them.”I squeezed my wineglass’s stem so tightly that it cracked, so I set it down before it shattered everywhere.“I will make them pay for what they nearly did to Roxxanne.”
Nera nodded as she carefully cut her large frushrooms into bite-sized pieces.
I ducked down to look her in the eye.“That’s not the Faid in me talking like it’s been hacked and wants violence.I swear it.That’s all me.It’s all of my natural instincts as a Xenoxx father, the exact same as they were before I died, to right now and beyond.”
Finally, she met my gaze.“I know, Maxx,” she said softly.
