“Oh, thank you,” Selena said. “That’s very considerate of you.”
“Consideration be damned,” he growled, frowning. “It’s just that you’re already too damn tempting without seeing you completely naked.”
“Excuse me?” Selena asked, frowning. “What do you mean by that?”
Valen sighed and ran a hand through his thick, black hair.
“I mean, I don’t need any more distractions—as soon as I see you to the Major Domo, I must get back to my own residence and study for my upcoming deposition. I don’t need the image of your lovely Elite curves clouding my mind when I’m trying to concentrate!”
And he closed his eyes firmly, as though he was determined not to look.
Selena wasn’t sure what to say to that, but time was ticking by and they were going to be to the palace before she knew it. Quickly, she pulled off her clothes—well, everything but her underwear—and struggled into the stiff, gold brocade gown.
“All right,” she said, rather breathlessly as she smoothed the stiff golden fabric down over her torso. “You can look now.”
Valen opened his piercing blue eyes and gave her a considering stare.
“Very nice,” he said, nodding. “Except for the fact that you’ll be immediately arrested before you can get anywhere near his Highness.”
“What? Why?” Selena looked down at herself and her heart sank as she saw the rows of shiny, ruby buttons which framed the “boob panel” as Kat had called it. “It’s because my, uh, breasts aren’t exposed, right?”
“Precisely.” Valen nodded.
“All right. Well, this comes off—I just have to unbutton it.”
Selena fumbled with the sparkling ruby buttons, but though they were functional, they were also extremely stiff and difficult to unfasten. Obviously, Kat hadn’t really designed the gown with the idea that the front panel would ever have to be removed, because the buttons were almost too large to get through the buttonholes.
“Here, let me,” Valen said. Brushing her hands aside, he began unfastening the buttons quickly and efficiently. In no time, the panel came away and Selena’s breasts were exposed once more, sticking out of the front of the dress like two large, ripe fruit.
Though she had walked down the spaceport concourse with her shirt open, she felt embarrassed all over again when his piercing blue eyes raked over her.
“Do…do I look all right? To meet the Major Domo and the Emperor?” she asked in a faltering voice.
“You look fucking luscious,” Valen growled and then looked away pointedly. “Too damn tempting for your own good.”
“Oh, uh, thank you.” Though once again he seemed to be admitting he was attracted to her, the fact didn’t seem to make him happy. In fact, it almost seemed to make him as irritated as he had been back on the shuttle. Selena wondered why.
But before she could find any answers, the car rolled through a set of tall, elaborate gates and into what looked like an old-fashioned city, built mostly of dark yellow bricks. There were shops and townhouses and a bumpy road that seemed to be made of paving stones which were also dark yellow. Masses of brightly colored flowers edged the walkways, all of them, trimmed and cultivated to perfection.
“Ah, the golden city,” Valen murmured, looking out the tinted window of the car. “They call it that because when the morning sun strikes it, the bricks seem to glitter,” he added, turning to Selena.
He was apparently changing the subject and she didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. Though it was disconcerting, it was also rather nice to be told how very “tempting” she was.
They came to a stop in front of an official looking building with seven colorful flags flying on tall flag posts in front of it. The guard got out and came around to open the door.
“The Major Domo’s office, Sir,” he said, speaking once more exclusively to Valen and ignoring Selena.
“Very good,” Valen said crisply. He tucked Selena’s luggage and violin case under one arm and got out, then turned back to offer her a hand.
Selena took it, watching as her small hand was swallowed in his much larger one, while he helped her out of the car. When the two of them were safely out, the guard nodded stiffly, shut the door, and drove off, leaving them standing on the bottom step of the official-looking building.
“Right.” Valen took a deep breath, like a man about to face an especially difficult challenge. “Let’s go,” he said to Selena. “And once we get before the Major Domo, let me do the talking.”
19
“…So you see, Major Domo, this female is a guest of not only the Kindred Ambassador, but the Emperor himself. She should be allowed the status that comes with her rank and be granted another Seal of Independence, since she was robbed of the one she had in the Grand Spaceport,” Valen finished.
He had argued as persuasively as he could, hoping to sway the stone-faced Major Domo, who sat behind his grand golden desk, frowning at them, his bald head gleaming in the light from the Glorthian crystal candelabra overhead. If he couldn’t make the man see reason, Valen wasn’t sure what was going to happen to the curvy little Elite. A Dependent Female with no one to depend on had no status at all on Ma’shorka Centra.