discuss
besides fairy tales.”
“Perhaps.” Danika
pressed her lips together, determined to keep her own council if he was going
to be so dismissive anyway. She did make one parting comment before she moved
ahead of him out of the suite. “But it is not the lust I speak of.” She
refused to elaborate further.
CHAPTER TEN
As soon as she awoke
the next morning, dry and hollowed out from another long night without sleep,
Kira came and escorted her to a washroom not under construction. They argued
until a sarong was produced. Danika didn’t want to draw extra attention to
herself by wearing the ship suit so ill-suited for the heat of PortSea. She
also left most of the delicate weavings behind after her bath, and only wore a
single strand around her right wrist. She kept that only because she could not
bear to lose all the warmth and comfort it offered her, especially not after
yet another night where she had to force herself to lay down and get what small
increments of sleep she could. She had insisted on the cool sarong dress of the
island women, despite the apparent loss of supposed rank and was happy for it
when she had a day of two suns ahead of her.
Kira had found her the
most costly fabric she owned, which was a soft slick red that moved with each
breath she took. It was worn simply, a long piece of fabric that reached her
knees and wrapped around and tied behind her neck. Everything proper was
covered but she still felt somewhat exposed with her bare back, arms, and
legs. She refused to change, though; compared to the ship suit Sera had given
her, it was like a cloud. Truly, it made her want to dance she felt so light
on her feet. She decided then and there that she was done with anything that
did not make her feel that way.
“You do not look like a
servant,” Kira said, taking in the long garnet hair that fell freely to her
hips, and the way the shimmer of the red made her skin look like heavy cream.
Out of the ship suit, it was even more apparent that she glowed from the inside
out, even with a hard night behind her eyes.
Fatigue was what Lucan
noted as soon as he saw her waiting for him at the breakfast table. Though
admittedly it took him a moment to notice anything but the way she moved in the
slithering sarong.
“I do not know whether
to praise your beauty or berate you for ignoring my orders. I find myself torn
between wanting you to change so I do not have to fight every man who sees you
today, or leave you as you are so that I might enjoy the view.”
Danika sat down at the
table and calmly regarded him. “I do not dictate your words or actions; I
would request you grant me the same courtesy. As I am wearing the same simple
dress as most of the women I saw at market the last time we ventured through, I
doubt anyone will notice me.”
“Right.” Lucan’s mouth
twisted up in a doubtful smirk. He looked her over, his eyes lingering on her
hair and eyes, then trailing down to caress everything else he could see above
the table top. “Because every man has seen fantasy come to life before.” At
his words, Danika froze, her eyes jumping to the heat smoldering in his. He
chuckled, and as usual it was not a happy laugh. “I will probably have to kill
someone today.” He stepped closer until he was towering over her, one hand on
the back of her chair the other on the table in front of her. Danika held her
breath, dreading and yearning for a return of his addictive touch. He leaned
down and pressed his face into her hair while she shuddered in a gasp. However,
he merely breathed her in and then stepped back, his hand gliding down the soft
length of garnet before he turned to his breakfast. “So be it. I could use
the outlet.”
When he did nothing
more than sit down at the table across from her, Danika picked up her fork with
shaky hands. It was not an easy meal with his eyes rarely straying far from
her, so it was with no small
besides fairy tales.”
“Perhaps.” Danika
pressed her lips together, determined to keep her own council if he was going
to be so dismissive anyway. She did make one parting comment before she moved
ahead of him out of the suite. “But it is not the lust I speak of.” She
refused to elaborate further.
CHAPTER TEN
As soon as she awoke
the next morning, dry and hollowed out from another long night without sleep,
Kira came and escorted her to a washroom not under construction. They argued
until a sarong was produced. Danika didn’t want to draw extra attention to
herself by wearing the ship suit so ill-suited for the heat of PortSea. She
also left most of the delicate weavings behind after her bath, and only wore a
single strand around her right wrist. She kept that only because she could not
bear to lose all the warmth and comfort it offered her, especially not after
yet another night where she had to force herself to lay down and get what small
increments of sleep she could. She had insisted on the cool sarong dress of the
island women, despite the apparent loss of supposed rank and was happy for it
when she had a day of two suns ahead of her.
Kira had found her the
most costly fabric she owned, which was a soft slick red that moved with each
breath she took. It was worn simply, a long piece of fabric that reached her
knees and wrapped around and tied behind her neck. Everything proper was
covered but she still felt somewhat exposed with her bare back, arms, and
legs. She refused to change, though; compared to the ship suit Sera had given
her, it was like a cloud. Truly, it made her want to dance she felt so light
on her feet. She decided then and there that she was done with anything that
did not make her feel that way.
“You do not look like a
servant,” Kira said, taking in the long garnet hair that fell freely to her
hips, and the way the shimmer of the red made her skin look like heavy cream.
Out of the ship suit, it was even more apparent that she glowed from the inside
out, even with a hard night behind her eyes.
Fatigue was what Lucan
noted as soon as he saw her waiting for him at the breakfast table. Though
admittedly it took him a moment to notice anything but the way she moved in the
slithering sarong.
“I do not know whether
to praise your beauty or berate you for ignoring my orders. I find myself torn
between wanting you to change so I do not have to fight every man who sees you
today, or leave you as you are so that I might enjoy the view.”
Danika sat down at the
table and calmly regarded him. “I do not dictate your words or actions; I
would request you grant me the same courtesy. As I am wearing the same simple
dress as most of the women I saw at market the last time we ventured through, I
doubt anyone will notice me.”
“Right.” Lucan’s mouth
twisted up in a doubtful smirk. He looked her over, his eyes lingering on her
hair and eyes, then trailing down to caress everything else he could see above
the table top. “Because every man has seen fantasy come to life before.” At
his words, Danika froze, her eyes jumping to the heat smoldering in his. He
chuckled, and as usual it was not a happy laugh. “I will probably have to kill
someone today.” He stepped closer until he was towering over her, one hand on
the back of her chair the other on the table in front of her. Danika held her
breath, dreading and yearning for a return of his addictive touch. He leaned
down and pressed his face into her hair while she shuddered in a gasp. However,
he merely breathed her in and then stepped back, his hand gliding down the soft
length of garnet before he turned to his breakfast. “So be it. I could use
the outlet.”
When he did nothing
more than sit down at the table across from her, Danika picked up her fork with
shaky hands. It was not an easy meal with his eyes rarely straying far from
her, so it was with no small
Similar Books
