Page 51 of Holiday with the Aliens

“Is everything settled with your people?” she asked, lips brushing against his neck as her head nestled there.

Tav shivered against her and there was a kind of power in knowing that she affected him like that. “As settled as it can be at the moment. The credits he took are frozen and station security is on the lookout, though it’s likely that Dansin is long gone.”

“I’m sorry. I hope security gives you more attention than they’ve given me.” She didn’t want to let go, but Molly knew they were standing in the middle of a crowded room and she didn’t want everyone staring at her. No, she realized she didn’t actually care aboutthat. She just didn’t want questions that would eatinto the time she could spent with Tav. “And you’re right, break time sounds good. I can steal a little while.” Given the mood she’d been in all morning, Molly would have been more hindrance than help if she tried to get her hands dirty, and she was sure spirits would be lifted if she got out of everyone’s way for an hour or two.

And any time spent with Tav was a gift, especially as it would all be a memory soon enough.

“We could pick up where we left off last night,” she offered, grinning wickedly as she remembered the mad dash through the station to her room.

Tav brushed his lips against hers quickly before grabbing her hand. “I had something else in mind.”

“A trip toyourquarters?” Because she wanted him behind closed doors and she wasn’t going to be picky about it. Hell, the closet they’d hidden in was just down the hall and she was happy to sneak into there for a few minutes.

He squeezed her hand. “When I have you in bed, I want the night to feast, not some hurried joining that will only make us ravenous for more.”

Her stomach growled and Molly realized it must have been after lunchtime. “Um…” something had just occurred to her and reminded her of some of the issues of bedding aliens. Not all of them had the same… etiquette as humans and that could lead to confusion. And pain. “When you say feast, you’re not being literal, right? That’s not a Detyen thing?”

Tav tipped his head back and laughed, the sound booming through the room and spreading joy to all who heard it. He kissed her again, as if he couldn’t help himself. “You are a joy, Molly mine. And I promise, all talk of feasting is purely metaphorical.”

Molly mine. She liked that. She’d never wanted anyone to claim her like that before, but here she was, and she couldn’timagine anything better than Tav wanting to keep her long after the winter party was over and neither of them had a reason to be on Honora Station any longer.

Chapter Six

Even though Molly had been on the station longer, Tav seemed to know it better, something that became obvious when he led her to a little restaurant that she hadn’t known existed. The food was good, he assured her, but even better was the fact that all of the tables came with privacy booths and looked out at the stars, giving them the illusion that they existed alone, as two people adrift in the galaxy. It might have been disorienting or disheartening if she’d eaten there by herself, but with Tav by her side, it gave her a sense of adventure and purpose, as if anything was possible if they were together.

“How did you know about this place? You’ve been here for two days!” After a month, Molly had her favorite places, but most of her time was spent between her room and party setup, and she didn’t stray from her schedule.

Tav held up an appetizer and offered it to her. Molly couldn’t identify it, but the menu they’d been served was safe for both humans and Detyens, so she wasn’t worried. A person had to learn to be adventurous if she wanted to live away from her own planet.

“It’s not my first time here,” he admitted. “It may not be the fanciest place, but Honora gets a ton of traffic and I’ve had to drop off plenty of passengers here. And this isn’t the first time my ship has been repaired in their mechanic bay.”

“So you’ve been traveling for a while?” She wanted to know everything, hear about every place he’d been and where he planned to go next. If Molly were honest, she wanted to climb aboard his ship and go with him. But they barely knew each other, and she needed to put out feelers for her next job, which could be a long ways away from wherever Tav planned to journey.

“Since I was a kid. I apprenticed as an engineer, but we quickly realized I make a much better pilot and navigator. I’ve had my own ship for about seven years now. Can’t say I’ve earned riches, but there’s more to life than that.” He popped an appetizer in his mouth and made a sinful sound as the flavor hit his tongue.

Molly’s brain scrambled as she imagined him making noises like that in another setting.No. That was for later. “Where do you come from?”

The pleasure drained from his face and he wiped his fingers on a napkin. “I was born on Jaaxis.”

But there was more to that story, she could hear it laced in every word. “And?”

“It’s not a tale for a romantic lunch,” he warned.

“You don’t have to tell me, but I’d like to hear.” She didn’t care if it ruined the romance. She just wanted to know all there was to know about Tav. And if this story explained some of the sadness she occasionally saw in his eyes, at least she might understand him a bit better.

“My people are from a planet called Detya. It was destroyed more than a hundred years ago. Very suddenly and completely. The only survivors were those lucky enough to make it to a shipin time, or those who were already off planet. We’re scattered across the galaxy now, with only vids and stories to remind us of our homes. Our numbers dwindle every generation, and I fear that soon there won’t be enough of us left. We—” he shook his head. “I told you, it isn’t a happy tale.”

“But it’s yours.” Molly’s heart hurt for him. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like if Earth wasn’t there, if she only knew about it from stories passed down from generation to generation. Some piece of the story was missing, though. Molly didn’t know what, but she could sense the hole in the middle of it all. “Why are you dwindling? Is…” She searched for the right question, the way to ask things so she didn’t hurt him anymore. “Do your new settlements not welcome you? Is there tension on Jaaxis?”

That startled a laugh out of him. “There’s always tension on Jaaxis, but it has nothing to do with us. The Detyen population there is only a few thousand, and we don’t cause trouble. Well, not anything significant. Drunkenness, brawling, all the things young idiots get into before an elder can grab them by the ear and talk sense into them.”

Molly grinned. “That seems to be universal.” Not that she’d ever gotten into a drunken brawl, but there had been some tipsy insults thrown back and forth back before she left the planet. “So what is it?” She wasn’t going to get distracted. Something told her that this was important, that she needed to know to truly understand him if they were going to have a future together.

Whenthathad become a possibility, Molly didn’t know, but she clung to the hope with both hands and readied herself for whatever Tav wanted to say.

Tav heaved a sigh and flattened his hands against the table, his golden skin in stark contrast to the white top. “It’s called the Denya price.”

He’d called her that word before. Molly straightened in her seat but kept silent, willing Tav to keep talking.

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