“Yours? But—”
“Don’t worry, laiya. You have your own bedroom.”
Laiya. The way the word slid off his tongue like silk sent goose bumps tingling across her skin. Clearly, it was an endearment of some kind.
“I don’t want to stay here. I want you to send me and my friends home.”
“I can’t do that, but we don’t have to stay here right now. I’d like to take you somewhere we can have a drink and get to know each other.”
They have bars on starships?
He took her hand and led her to the door. As they walked along the familiar cor
ridor, she tugged her hand free, so he lightly grasped her elbow.
“It’s near shift change. The perfect time,” he said.
He drew her into an elevator of sorts, but its movement seemed horizontal rather than vertical. After a five minute ride, they exited, turned a few corners, then entered a large room with round tables and chairs, like some kind of restaurant or club. The light was softer than the office-level lighting of the corridors. A handful of people sat at different tables, most staring at what looked like small, portable DVD players. From the quick glance she got as Larson led her to a table, some had text and some video.
This must be some kind of lounge where the crew came to relax. Commander Raa-ling had mentioned something about a shift change.
“This is the red room,” he explained as they sat. “Would you like a drink?”
“Wine.” She needed something stronger than water.
He smiled and stood.
“Aren’t you afraid I’m going to run away?” she couldn’t help asking.
He shrugged. “Where would you go?”
She sighed. She’d been wondering the same thing.
He returned in a moment with a slender, purple bottle and two tall, slim glasses. He poured clear liquid into the glasses and handed one to her. She sipped it. At first, it seemed totally tasteless; then her taste buds blossomed with a delicate, dry, fruity flavor that delighted her senses.
A few moments later, a woman entered the room, followed by a man, both in uniform. Instead of sitting at one of the tables, they moved to a large alcove recessed in the wall near Eva and Larson. They nodded to Larson and smiled at Eva.
The horizontal surface started about two and a half feet above the floor and extended about seven feet wide and several feet into the wall, with a plush surface and filled with cozy-looking cushions. The two newcomers sat, and Eva realized the floor of the alcove was padded. Was this a place for crew members to take a nap between shifts or while on a break?
“Do you want to wait for Kairo?” the man asked his companion.
“I only have twenty minutes. We’ll have to start without him.”
Commander Raa-ling leaned toward her. “The woman is Adeira, and her partner is Jano.”
Adeira stripped off her uniform jacket, then, to Eva’s complete horror, began to unfasten her shirt buttons.
Four people. One rope. Desire plunged into dangerous obsession.
Dark Empress
© 2011 Anitra Lynn McLeod
Onic Empire, Book 5
Errion Ald’Areed senses that his business partner’s passion for designing pleasure upgrades for service robots has cooled, but nothing he’s tried—men, women, exotic adventures—has lifted Lorren D’Buren’s ennui. Until he sees the look in Lorren’s eyes when the intergalactic ambassador from Diola crosses their path at a charity ball.
Under the watchful eye of Gabriyel, her faithful bodyguard, Farjika is determined to live down her empress mother’s scandalous reputation for taking multiple lovers. Her instant attraction to Lorren, though, tempts her to cross her self-imposed bounds of propriety. And Gabriyel is shocked that his level-headed mistress has fallen so easily into a torrid affair.