Page 53 of Into The Rift

“Right away, sir.”

Since she didn’t move and just stood there waiting, I restrained myself from strangling her with some difficulty and wrapped Jago in a large bath sheet so he could leave without her ogling him. I escorted him to the bedroom, so she could get to work in the bathing room—it also gave me a chance to calm down.

Making sure the door was closed behind Jago, I left him and went into my dressing room to inspect the clothing the servants had brought me and approve their choices. By that time, Marichal had my bath drawn, and I went to get in the huge bathing tub and try to relax before the dinner. It was almost certainly going to be challenging.

Chapter Seventeen

Jago

I stood in front of the mirror in the bedroom to see how I looked from every angle. This was a beautiful, ornate old mirror that had once belonged to Lady Itaka, and it showed my body in three separate panels and from three different angles.

I wasn’t completely sure about the clothes Marichal had found. The “trousers” were more like leggings, and obscenely tight and revealing. The stretchy material clung lovingly to my body. She had given me some tall boots, which helped a little, along with a soft, white shirt. But the jacket, made of rich, brocaded fabric, was entirely too short, leaving my ass fully exposed. I discarded it and found a short robe in my closet instead. It was made of lovely material too, in a bright, sapphire blue color and went down to a few inches above my knees. It was way more modest.

I had brushed my hair until it shined and hung down my back all the way to my waist. I was trying to decide if I should tie it back, when Niko walked in.

He stopped and stared at me for a long time, until I turned around to go to him.

“No,” he said. “Stay over there. You look far too delicious, and I’m trying to convince myself not to take you right out of those clothes.”

“But I just got dressed.”

“I know. That’s why I’m restraining myself.”

“You look very handsome too.”

He was wearing all black clothing, from his black trousers to a long, black jacket that fit him perfectly. He wore no shirt underneath the jacket though and his glorious muscles were on full display.

“Do all the men…will they all be so…bare?”

“The younger ones will, yes. It’s fashionable. Some of the older males will wear shirts in a see-through fabric inside their jackets. Some of the younger males may wear only an open robe. The women too, or they may be bare-chested as well.”

My eyes widened a bit. Despite having been in many different cultures, I hadn’t seen that much nudity really. I began to wonder if those had been the affairs my parents hadn’t allowed me to attend.

Niko smiled. “Don’t worry. You look wonderful, and visitors rarely dress in the same fashion as the Pton people.”

“Does that include hostages?”

“Definitely. Do you have your translator device?”

“Yes. You know, I never asked you how you came to speak Tygerian.”

“I visited Loros in your galaxy many times and stayed there a while. I made it a point to learn Tygerian and Lorian.”

“What do you mean? How did you stay on Loros?”

“Nerol, the brother of the old king, was a traitor to your world. He was offered wealth to let us establish a base in your world and he took it happily.”

“He’s dead now, you know. We think it was Rakkur who killed him, though there were a lot of shots fired at him.”

“The young prince I met on the ship? He seems too decorative to be lethal.”

I laughed. “He is decorative, I guess. But he was trained as a soldier.”

“His husband is very possessive.”

“Yes, he is.”

“I can understand that,” he said, finally beginning to move slowly toward me. “I’m feeling pretty possessive over you.”

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