Page 36 of Guardian's Heart

"Who is going to bunk with him?"

"I am," a female answered, stepping shyly forward.

"Wave your hand." She followed my orders, and soon, we had everybody's quarters assigned. Four couples. That left one room. I threw a glance at Nova. It would either be her or Nock in there whenever he woke. This wasn't a hard decision, but I had never thought of my ship as too small. Now, I would have given anything to have just one more room.

The idea that Nock and Nova could bunk never even entered my mind.

I wasn't opposed to spending more time with Nova, not at all, but she was already so deeply ingrained under my skin that I could barely afford for her to dig her claws in even deeper.

"Is this mine then?" Nova asked, pointing at the last door.

"That's Nock's," I decided. "You'll have to bunk with me."

"What a shocker," she retorted, waving her hand in front of my door. With a sigh, I changed the settings to allow her access.

"Well, who would have thought." Nova entered my quarters, and I ground my teeth. In an exaggerated move, she bent over and picked up a pair of my pants. Holding it up daintily between her thumb and pointer finger. "I wouldn't have thought you for a slob."

I ripped it from her hand. "My apologies. Had I known that you would grace my quarters, I would have cleaned first."

Mockingly, she raised her eyebrows. "No cleaning drones?"

I ground my teeth, not about to tell her that I did have cleaning drones at one point, but they had irritated me enough to kick the one in my room against the wall, shattering it. From there, I programmed the others to stay out.

Muttering, I threw the pants down a slot in the wall designated for dirty laundry.

"You better hurry if you want to shower first," I grumbled. "Unless you'd rather find more faults in my accommodations. In that case, I'd be more than happy to shower first."

"Just point the way, silver hunk." She slapped her hand in front of her lips, giving away the fact that she hadn't wanted me to know the nickname she must have given me.

I grinned broadly. "Right there."

NOVA

The bathroom was everythingone would have imagined on a high-tech alien spaceship. From its gleaming white and chrome walls, floor, and ceiling to the obligatory shower, toilet, and sink. The bathroom bordered on sterile, but a couple of alien plants and a shelf filled with curious-looking shells, as well as bottles of what I supposed were shampoo, conditioner, shower lotion and so on.

"Now you just need to explain to me how this works." I turned to Zaarek with a wry smirk, sensing that he wasn't thrilled by the idea of me in here. Or his quarters.Tough titty said the kitty 'cause the milk is all gone, I recited Uncle Boone's favorite saying whenever he ate all the leftovers or drank the last of the juice, and yes, milk too.

With a grunt, he stepped to the cylindrical contraption in one corner; the space next to it was empty and looked about as long as the thing was tall. With a round window leading out into space—where I could still see the celestial port—it would have been a perfect spot for a bathtub.

"I supposed you would rather take a shower than a bath?" he inquired.

Besides the fact I didn't see a bathtub in this room, the thought of sitting in my own filth didn't hold any kind of allure for me. "A shower will suffice."

At his approach, a wall from the cylindrical object rolled around, opening in the unmistakable shape of a shower, big enough to be called luxurious.

"Hover your hand over here for warmer and here for colder water," he announced, indicating a purple and an icy blue spot in the otherwise pristine white shower. ".

"Just say, soap, shampoo, or whatever you need and hold your hand into this crevice." He pointed at a small ledge in the shower.

"Verbal commands, got it." I nodded.

He gave me a skeptical glance but made as if to step out.

"Hold on."

His expression ofnow whatmade me snicker. Had I not been so in need of a shower, I would have prolonged his torture, gleefully.

"Towels? Fresh clothes?"

---