"Lovely," I say in a flat voice. Skin color bullshit, even in space. And poor, poor Helen. "So Helen is someone's pleasure doll."
"Unfortunately, yes." He doesn't look pleased at the thought, which makes me feel a little better. He leans in close to me. "This universe is not kind to humans, I'm afraid. Or qura'aki. But don't worry. You have me."
"That somehow doesn't make me feel much better."
"It will. Give me time to win your trust." He shoots me another cheerful smile and then gestures at another door. "Here. I bet we can find a uniform of some kind for you to wear. I just need to do some digging." Adiron tugs me in after him, and when I see the messy clothes on the floor, I think for a moment that this entire ship is full of slobs.
Then I realize we're back in his room. I cross my arms again, my brows going up. "I'm not wearing your dirty clothes."
"I know. But there's not exactly a clothing boutique around here. You'll have to wear our castoffs until we get better for you." He pulls open his closet again and considers.
"I have clothes back on the Star," I offer, my voice sweet. If I can get us back to my ship, that's half the battle. I just need the upper hand in some way.
Adiron glances over at me, a smirk on his face. "Nice try, but no."
I breathe out a long sigh. "So you're no better than anyone else we've run into. You're just using us."
He actually looks wounded at my accusation. "Not at all. You're safe with us. My sister, Zoey—she's human, too. We saved her from a slave ship when she was little more than a tiny runt." He has the softest smile on his face, and it's clear that he adores his sister. "She's on another ship with her mate right now, but if she were here she'd smack me as hard as she could and tell me to take care of you guys." He pulls out a jumper that looks suspiciously like his. "Here. Try this one on."
I take it from him, cautious. "You have a human sister?"
"Yeah. She's pretty much an irritating little shit. She's also the greatest." His look gets a tiny bit wistful. "I miss her now that she's off and mated, but she's happy so I guess I can't be selfish."
I wonder if this is true. "So…we're like sisters to you? Us humans?"
Adiron leans against the wall, giving me a heavy-lidded look. "Oh, make no mistake, Jade. I'm sure your friends are nice and all, but as for you? I am not interested in you in a brotherly way. At all." His smile is slow and confident. "But I'm pretty sure you guessed that already."
21
ADIRON
Jade is quiet as I dig through my clothes, looking for a uniform of some kind small enough for her. I don't have one of course, so at this point I'm just going to settle for one that's clean. The clones are far more human-sized and I'm sure Dopekh or one of the others would loan me something, but…the thought of Jade wearing another male's clothing eats at my gut. I want her to wear mine.
Kef me, I'm already getting wildly possessive and I've only known the female a few hours. I can't imagine how bad I'll have it in a week from now. Even when I was infatuated with Shaalyn, I was never this bad.
I find my favorite work uniform, a single-piece jumper that has seen me through a lot. I smell it to make sure that it's clean even though it's hanging up, and then I hold it out to her. "You can wear this."
She crosses her arms under her magnificent chest, and it takes everything I have not to drop my gaze. "If I do, will you take me to my friends?"
"Of course."
Jade gives me a look as if she doesn't quite believe me and then heads into the bathroom to change. I hear a bit of rustling and then the sound of a panel being plucked out of its place. I grin to myself. No doubt she's raiding my toiletries, looking for something she can use as a weapon. All she's going to find is some personal deodorizer and plas-film that came with the room, since this isn't our ship but Straik's. My old lavatory had a compartment with blasters and knives, because you never know when you'll need a weapon, but I don't have that here. I lean close to the door and offer, "If you're looking for something to use as a weapon, you're better off looking under my mattress. There's nothing in there."
She comes out a moment later, glaring at me. The jumpsuit is bunched up at her ankles and her hands are buried in material, the crotch of the outfit somewhere around her knees. Instead of it being sexy, she looks…ridiculous. I snicker.