Page 60 of Heir of Draga

Roxy narrowed her eyes at the courtesan. The female constantly exuded this insane sexual heat, especially around Adelina so it was difficult to tell if Nadyah was making a pass at her or not. “What would you like to do?”

Whatever was on Command Roxy could almost guarantee she wouldn’t be interested in. But she wanted Nadyah. This fleeting thing between them would help them both; she could feel it – taut and straining.

Before the wedding she could have sworn Nadyah had been staring at her, appraising her. At first she thought it was because she was in a dress – Roxy never wore dresses. But as the night went on she’d seen the flirtations go deeper. It was impressive really how much courtesans picked up on. Nadyah never once tried to touch her without Roxy first initiating the contact.

Her question surprised Nadyah. The courtesan appraised her for a moment. “Would ‘you’ be an appropriate answer?”

Roxy choked, coughing as she tried to process such a forward question. Had she missed out on clues Nadyah had given her? She really didn’t think she was that dense.

“Excuse me?”

Nadyah smiled and brushed by her. It was such a slight touch, nearly a phantom on Roxy’s skin and she shivered in response. Goddess, she’d forgotten what it was like with a courtesan. Everything was intensified, heightened, and a thousand times better than anything Roxy could do herself.

“I’d like to check and see what’s happening on Command, but if you like I can think of a few enjoyable ways to sweat.”

Roxy turned and stared after Nadyah. “And your princess?”

“Oh, she thinks we’ve already slept together. Adelina approves.” Nadyah gave her a wink and then disappeared down the corridor.

It took Roxy a moment to understand exactly what the courtesan was saying. Then she lurched into motion, walking as quickly as she could without running. “Why does she think we’ve already slept together?” Roxy demanded as she caught up with the courtesan. She made sure her voice hid how curious she was. The bored, slightly annoyed tone she kept up for appearance’s sake.

“Oh, you know she worries about me.” Nadyah’s smile faltered as she thought about Adelina. “Knowing she’s not my mate isn’t the difficult part. It’s knowing who is.” Then the courtesan tapped the control pad and stepped into the lift.

Roxy kept her mouth shut and stepped in after her. If the courtesan wanted to tell her who it was she would. “Does Lina know?”

“No.”

Nadyah didn’t have to ask. Roxy nodded. She wouldn’t say anything. It wasn’t her place.

The lift opened onto Command and all the worried faces instantly put Roxy on alert. She tensed, hand on the hilt of her knife – not that it would do her any good on a ship in the middle of space. “What’s wrong Varan?”

“Pirates.”

“Pirates or privateers?” Nadyah asked, going to Adelina’s side.

The princess studied a holo, chewing on one of her nails as she waited for it to come into range. “We’ve sent out a hail, and now we wait. The captain threw up the colors, declaring who’s onboard. It was a risk, but if it’s a privateer I didn’t want to risk my own ships getting destroyed while they do exactly what I asked of them.”

Roxy nodded and watched the entire crew wait in tense silence.

As the large ship approached it still didn’t respond to the hail. But it wasn’t on the offensive. The crew reported no shield up and weapons were inactive, but it was armed with a few cannons. Roxy had no idea what to do. She took a step closer to Nadyah. Their ship was faster and had decent weaponry, but this standoff could put them at a disadvantage.

As long as the crew knew what they were doing, they should be all right. She’d built the damn thing to be the fastest ship in the galaxy after all. Not even the Corinthians and their precious tech could beat her improvement of their design.

“There is a request coming in,” someone announced.

“I’ll take it,” Adelina said, pulling up the cast on her personal console.

“Princess Adelina?” The voice was female, yet deeper than one would expect. Then the vid came through. A female wearing so much gold it was nearly obscene came into view. “I’m Delphine. The captain of the Ravager. We’ve received your message and fly your flag.”

Roxy let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and took a step away from Nadyah. She hadn’t noticed how close she stood to the courtesan until the danger had passed, though it wasn’t as if Nadyah even needed her protection.

“Thank you for your service,” Adelina said, instantly the royal once more. Roxy hated the tone the royals used when doing official business.

“Do you have need of us, Princess? Is there anything we could do to assist?”

Adelina glanced at the captain and then Varan, but they both looked to her. Roxy could tell the youngest princess wasn’t used to so much power, but she wore it well. Roxy watched her square her shoulders and stand as though she wore a crown atop her head.

“If you have the opportunity to escort us to the border and then report back what you see to Prince Asher I would greatly appreciate it.”

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