Page 19 of Conquering the Alien Emperor

I was familiar with the way to his suite by now and the guards must have received their orders already, because they allowed me entrance without a word or asking me my business. I supposed Daryus didn’t see many human women, so telling the guards one would drop by would have probably been enough, and for some reason, I liked that thought.

The moment the large sliding doors opened I saw Daryus standing with his back to me, staring out the glass entrance across the room that led to the balcony. At the sound of the doors, he turned and I fell into the expected curtsy.

Three long steps brought him to stand right in front of me. With his hand out to help me up, he said, “You don’t need to do this when we’re alone.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know the first thing about proper etiquette in the presence of an emperor,” I explained. “Lady Natoi taught me a few things, but—”

He shook his head. “Nocc. I want you the way you are, without all the courtly frills.”

I swallowed and my face flushed. He wanted me? He could have said, I like you the way you are, but he didn’t. He said, I want you the way you are, making my heart flutter at the quiet distinction.

“I’m very glad you came,” he said hoarsely, keeping my hand in his.

“You did wait until the last minute to send your invitation,” I replied in the most scolding tone I dared in his presence.

He grinned. “You noticed, eh?”

I nodded, trying to look reprimanding. “Poor Sir Vodin, he must have already—”

“Tell me”—Daryus pulled me closer toward him by my hand—“are you truly disappointed to be here with me instead of him?”

He was so close that the scent of his aftershave—if Pandraxians used aftershave—hit my nose. It held a hint of pine, ocean, and musk, robbing me momentarily of the ability to speak, so I just shook my head and stared into his teal eyes that swirled most enticingly.

“Good,” he relinquished my hand, only to bring his up and cup my cheek. “I’m glad.”

His touch was gentle, his palm more calloused than I would have expected from the Pandraxian emperor, and a shiver moved through me at envisioning those hands on other parts of my body.

“You look lovely tonight,” he rasped, moving his eyes up and down my body.

“Your invitation came late enough to make it impossible for Lady Natoi to force me to wear anything else,” I admitted, finally finding my tongue again.

He grinned.

I cocked my head into his hand. “Did you wait so long sending for me because of that, or because you wanted to irritate Sir Vodin?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it irritating him,” Daryus objected, and I watched his facial expression harden. “It is more a reminder of whose claim is more powerful.”

My heart skipped a beat. Claim?

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. On the one hand, it was quite a flattering notion to be claimed by a man like Daryus, on the other hand, it implied so much more. Most of all, it took my preference out of the equation. But no, that wasn’t entirely true. He had asked me if I would have preferred to dine with Sir Vodin. What would he have done had I said yes?

“Let’s just say it served two purposes to wait just a bit longer.” His expression softened again, and in his eyes I discovered a surprising vulnerability when he admitted, “Honestly, I wasn’t certain whose invitation you would take.”

Under different circumstances, I would have called him a liar—he was the emperor. But staring into his eyes now, I realized that yes, part of him had been insecure about it. The realization sent a strange sensation through my heart.

“Are you hungry?” He changed the subject and removed his palm from my cheek, leaving me feeling strangely bereft.

“Yes,” I lied, because my stomach was actually knotted in all kinds of different emotions, most of which were born from nervousness around him and not only because he was the most powerful man in the universe.

I had done my fair share of dating, but many of the men I had seen had been appropriately arranged by my father. None of them had ever made me nervous or elicited any kind of emotions from me, other than boredom or resentment. Only a few of the ones I picked—let’s call them the bad boys—had sparked that fluttery sensation in the pits of my stomach. But nothing like the ones Daryus ignited.

Strangely though, I was neither insecure nor felt intimidated by him.

He led me to a richly decorated table, filled with dishes of the most delicate-looking food I had ever seen, including the extravagant places Lady Natoi had taken me to.

Bite-sized, differently shaped foods lay artfully arranged on golden platters with intricate carvings. Most of the platters resembled alien flowers, but some were carved into just as stunning, abstract patterns.

Daryus pulled a chair out for me and I made sure to lower myself in a ladylike fashion, instead of simply plopping down. He walked around the table to sit across from me, giving me a moment to appreciate the little bites of food that had been shaped into all kinds of forms—flowers, animals, simple squares, circles, and so on. They reminded me of lovingly cut-out sandwiches, but their layers looked definitely alien. Some resembled a jelly-like substance in all colors of the rainbow, others were made from something solidly black, without losing their appetizing appearance.

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