Page 45 of Star Champion

Skeet placed his hand over his heart and pretended to be disappointed. But his smile faltered a bit too much. He had feelings for the young princess, the poor man. His hopes of romance with a princess were not nearly as hopeless as Jemm’s fantasies of slaking her lust with theVash, but close. “You’re the new chosen one, I guess,” he told her.

“I hope not,” Jemm blurted out.

“Ah, so you have a sweetheart, then.”

“No!” This was getting more painful by the minute. “I mean, I don’t have time for that.”

“You’re too shy,” Xirri decided. “We need to fix that. Women love a man with confidence.” He lowered his chin as he scrutinized her. “Haven’t you ever…?” His eyebrows waggled.

“Ever what?”

“Whoa. He really is an innocent,” Skeet broke in. “Xirri’s asking if you’ve ever been with a girl.”

Instinctively, Kes looked to Prince Klark for help, but his expression was inscrutable. “You shouldn’t feel compelled to do anything.” He spun a warning glare at the pros. “And you shouldn’t pressure your young teammate into doing anything he’s not ready for. He’s got a lifetime ahead of him for all of that.”

“One taste of a woman, and you’ll kick yourself for having waited,” Xirri said with a wink.

“I ain’t inexperienced,” Jemm shot back. “But for now, bajha comes first.”

“Good answer.” TheVashpushed off the seat. “Now enough lying around. Yonson and Raff, your ship will be entering orbit soon.”

“Back to the goodwill tour for us,” Skeet told her. He grabbed her shoulder and squeezed. “We’ll see you soon. I look forward to working with you once we all return to the training center on Chéyasenn.”

Xirri pounded her on the back. “Chéyasenn City is small, but large enough for our purposes.” He winked. “We’ll work on your confidence with the ladies. Don’t you worry.”

She ignored the teasing to tell Yonson, “I want to thank ya for everything you’ve done, and for showing Prince Klark that vid. If not for that, I’d still be playing in back-alley fight clubs.”

Skeet shook his head. “Someone would have discovered you. I’m just glad we got to you first.”

“As am I,” Prince Klark said.

The pros said their goodbyes to their team owner, and then they were gone.

“Now you’re stuck with me, Kes. You’ll find I’m even more of a training taskmaster than Skeet. The season is fast approaching and there is much work to do. Let’s go.” TheVashprince slipped his see-in-the-dark glasses over his eyes, grabbed a sens-sword, and strode toward the ring with his usual killer stride. She gathered her gear and followed. It was time for another session of playing track-the-delicious-Vashin the dark, but this time they were alone.

CHAPTER14

“Don’t think so hard,”he warned. “I can feel you.”

A tingling across her back alerted her to his presence. Gripping her sens-sword, she swung it around. “Good!” he said. “That’s it,” he praised when she predicted his next move, too.

He was never really gone for her in the darkness. Like the warmth of a slow fire, the sense of him lingered away from the source.

“Back to Skeet and Xirri—you stood up well to their teasing, Kes. They’ll respect you for it, but they won’t back off. You’re wise to focus on bajha over love interests. It will be taking up most of your time, after all. Moreover, you’re playing catch-up when it comes to league rules.”

“What about you? Do ya have love interests? Or, are ya married?”

He made a scoffing sound. “Neither.”

“Why not?” She ducked when she predicted the arc of his sens-sword. “Don’t ya ever long for female companionship?” Why was she pushing this topic? Curiosity killed the ketta-cat.

“If I desire the pleasure of a woman’s body, I can have it any time day or night. For anything more than that…finding a wife, for instance,Vash Nadahmarriages have but one purpose—to strengthen alliances between the clans. Love has nothing to do with it, unless you get lucky, as my brother did, but that is rare. My choices are limited to prospects my family would round up for me. Or, I suppose, marriage candidates I might meet while socializing at court functions—which I quite frankly despise doing. It leaves little opportunity to match with a suitable woman.”

Suitable. The polar opposite of her. A girl from the slums who liked the stink and grit and solitude of driving tugs across the badlands. Who, in a heartbeat, would choose the taste of ale over the fine liqueurs she had sampled on this ship. And whose bad grammar and propensity to swearing would likely make any royal faint on the spot. “I wouldn’t be wanting to pair up under those circumstances, either. Especially if love had nothing to do with it.”

“Actually, I see my confirmed bachelorhood as a public service, a kindness to the royal females of the galaxy. I can be rather intense and serious. I crave solitude. I’ve also heard it said that I’m a snob.”

“You didn’t mention protective. I see the way ya look after your pros.” And after her. “That’s a fine quality in a mate. Even the most capable lasses like to know a man will look out for them. That’s what I hear, anyway,” she added quickly.

---