Page 81 of Star Champion

“How the dome did you get here so fast?” she demanded. “It hasn’t been a week yet. You must have turned around and left as soon as you got to Eireya.”

“I did. I wasn’t there for a single night.”

“But, why? What about your family? When this scandal hits, you need to be there.”

“No,” he said. “I don’t. I belong here, with you. My uncle is well equipped to handle matters at home, and I’m able to do my part from here. Especially now that you’ve laid the groundwork by playing as a female.”

He kissed further questions from her lips before she could ask a single one.

“Come to the back,” she told him, breathless, when they drew apart. She looped her arms around his waist to keep him close.I can’t believe you’re here. This time it wasn’t for the bajha. This time it was for her.

Clinging to each other, they burst into Nico’s office.

“Sir Klark,” Nico called out, grinding out his vape, wiping his hands and dingy gloves on his pants legs before greeting Klark with a hearty man-hug.

“From now on, it’s just Klark.”

“Aye.” Nico beamed. “All right then.”

“Jemm is playing as a female,” Klark said. “There’s been no backlash?”

Nico laughed. “I’m making money hand over fist. I don’t have enough seats in the club to accommodate everyone who wants to come see Jemm play. I have a second club but I need more players. Female players welcome.”

Jemm nodded. “I’m planning to teach a bajha class, open to all. Then we’ll hold tryouts for the club team—also for anyone who wants to give it a try. Fellas, lasses, trill rat or compound cog. It doesn’t matter. Everyone’s welcome. Except, we won’t have room for everyone. It’s been too popular.”

“This is brilliant,” Klark said, his excitement surging through her. “Word will get out about what’s happening here. As Barésh goes, so goes the galaxy.”

“I kept waiting for the scandal to hit, and for you to be dragged through the mud. But it never did, and you never were.”

“Not yet,” he said in an ominous tone, and shared the details of his unlikely alliance with Uncle Yul, of Katjian’s discovery in the Treatise of Trade, and how he planned to use the information to bend the league to their will. Then she peppered him with questions about Skeet and Xirri, and the rest of the team, and asked if the rumors of a fan rebellion brewing were true. All this while Klark’s hand stroked up and down her back, a possessive and affectionate gesture that seemed like so much more because he could do it in public for the first time.

“Nico!” Someone from her brother’s staff came into the office and stopped to give Klark a long and awestruck look. “I gotta go,” Nico told them. “I’ll see ya after.”

As soon as he was gone, Klark drew her into his arms for another kiss, and then another, his hands all over her. They couldn’t get enough. If they were in private, their clothing would have long since hit the floor.

Then they clung to each other, neither willing to let the other go. He stroked her hair, holding her close. Her body molded to the hard planes of his. “I missed this, Jemm. I missed you. I used to think that needing others made me soft, and weak. But meeting you has made me strong.” His callused thumb brushed over her chin, and he tipped her head back to look into her eyes. “You can thank Uncle Yul for helping me get my priorities in order. Who knows what would have happened with us if I got sucked back into the mire of clan politics and let too much time pass. All I know is that losing you would be something I would regret the rest of my life.”

“You wouldn’t have lost me.”

“I didn’t want to take that chance.” He skimmed his fingertips over her temple, cheek, and jaw. “I want a life with no regrets. That’s why I came back, my sweet Baréshti lass, because you deserve a man who would cross the stars to be with you—and damn the consequences.”

She slung her arms over his shoulders. “You sound more and more like a Baréshti every day.”

Thump music swelled, filling the club with its addictive, pounding beat. “I’ve wanted to take you dancing for the longest time. We need to celebrate. Do ya like to dance?” She swayed her hips against his in time to the beat, and felt his instant reaction.

His gaze turned dark. “If it’s with you, the answer is always yes.”

She discarded her bajha gear and left it under lock and key. She had only a simple T-shirt and pants to wear, but with Klark she always felt attractive. He took to dancing the Baréshti way with very little instruction. He was the kind of person who instinctively knew how to move his body. And moved it very well. With his hands on her hips, on her bottom, and everywhere, they swayed and rocked, and she soon wished they were doing something a whole lot hotter and with a lot less clothing.

Later, lightheaded from ale, desire, and the thrill of their reunion, they walked out the front door of the club to head home to the old city. Arm in arm amongst people who didn’t care or give them a second glance, except if it was to compliment her bajha playing, was freedom of the best kind. She would never again take for granted the simple act of being able to stroll in public on the arm of her lover.

The street was more crowded than usual. It could be because of the proximity of the Earth-dwellers’ medical facility, or the success of Nico’s clubs. A glimpse of a red beard caught her attention. She blinked, and it was gone. Her heart lurched. Red Beard? Migel Arran’s gangster? Or only someone who resembled him? Nico claimed he and Arran had maintained their truce ever since Klark had reprimanded the club owner. A second look around reassured her that none of the people milling around looked familiar…or sinister.

“Sea Kestrel!” A female voice came from behind them. “Miss Aves!”

They turned around. A tall lass, a young teen, thin, with smudges on her arm, her clothing mismatched and badly mended, pushed her way past several large miners to stop in front of them. “Ever since I heard you’re really a lass, I knew I had to meet ya,” she said, breathless. “I’ve dreamed of playing bajha all my life, but I’m a lass, and I’m poor. But seeing your success made me believe I can, and one day be like you.”

“Aye, my sweet. You can be like me. Or, ya can be better than me. If ya work hard, there’s no limit to where you can go. Have ya ever played before?”

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