Page 54 of Star Prince

The years spent submerged inVashculture had urged him to trust his senses, and those senses told him to take the assistance she offered. He trusted her. “Okay,” he said, unable to shake the feeling that in joining forces with Tee, he had just spun his destiny into a sharp left turn.

Her face glowed. Smiling, he brushed his open hand over her hair, savoring the silkiness of the shorn ends against his palm. “Ah, pixie,” he said. “You wear your heart on your sleeve.”

She laced her fingers with his and brought his knuckles to her cheek. “What does that mean?”

“It’s what we say on Earth when someone’s feelings are easy to read. Yours are to me…even when you think you’re hiding them.” He paused. “You still have secrets, though. Big ones. In time I’ll know what they are.”

He hadn’t meant to sound threatening, but her mouth tightened in alarm. She dipped her head, obviously trying to hide her eyes now that he had told her how easily he could read her.

He tucked his thumb under her chin and tilted her face up to his. “As soon as you’re ready to tell me,” he reassured her, his voice soft.

She gave him the barest of nods. “Know this, Ian. When I was with you this morning”—her cheeks colored— “in the meadow, I still thought of you as Ian Stone.”

“A simple black-market trader,” he said, moving closer.

“To me, that’s who you’ll always be.”

“Ah, Pixie…”

Their breath mingled, and his thumb stroked her lower lip. Then he dipped his head and kissed her.

After a brief hesitation, she slipped her arms around his waist. He remembered her eager determination in the meadow, but this was different. She kissed him with a soft, almost loving tenderness he found moved him even more. He smoothed his palms over her hips and sweet backside, pressing her closer. Sighing, she melted against him, her fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck, sending shivers down his spine.

It’s only kissing.

No. It’s more than that. You’d be crazy to deny it.

A sound from inside the ship reminded him where he was and what he was doing. Breaking off their kiss he hugged Tee to his chest, afraid to let her see his face before he got himself under control. She had claimed she preferred uncomplicated liaisons.Right.There was nothing uncomplicated about this woman.

“Get a little sleep,” he whispered into her ear. “I want you at least semi-conscious when you play the part of Randall while I practice what I’m going to tell him.”

She hunched her shoulders, reacting to his warm breath on her skin with a shudder. Sliding her hands from around his waist, she stepped out of his arms, her expression impish. “I will…because of all we have ahead tomorrow.” She backed away, but before she disappeared into the ship, she glanced over her shoulder. “There will come a night, though, Captain, when I won’t be so easily dismissed.”

The look she gave him promised things he wasn’t supposed to be thinking about. It was deep into the night before he finally pushed them from his mind.

“Gann!I’ve got your quarry in my crosshairs!”

Lara breezed into theQuillie’scockpit, bending to give the kettacat a cautious pat on the head before she stopped in front of Gann.

He put aside the tablet he had been using toreview data they had collected so far on the Dars’ runaway daughter. “I take it you had a fruitful afternoon in Padma City?”

Her eyes lit up with triumph. “Aye. I found her.”

“Here? On Padma?”The mission is complete; Lara Ros will be out of your hair and your life will go back to the way it was before.Odd, but the realization didn’t quite bring the cheer he had expected.

The tracker shrugged off her jacket and tossed it over the back of her pilot’s chair. “No, she ain’t here. She’s on Grüma.”

“Grüma’s known for its trade in illegal goods, is it not?”

“The black market, aye. Hmmm.” She smiled. “I wonder what our spoiled heiress is selling. On the other hand, perhaps someone is sellingher.”

Gann’s gut clenched at the thought. The princess was an innocent in so many ways. What if the darker elements in the frontier got to her before he could bring her to safety?

Lara rolled her eyes. “I’m joking,” she said.

He sat back in his chair, surprise jarring him. Although the thought of the princess in illicit flesh trade was horrible, even a jest in poor taste was a breakthrough for Lara Ros. He said, “Oh. This is a memorable day, then—in more ways than one.”

Incredibly, she gifted him with her first genuine smile. He hadn’t made any headway in coaxing a kiss out of her, but then his quest had been subtle. Toosubtle, he thought with an inner grin. Now that he had gotten the first good smile out of her, perhaps it was time to make his intentions clear. A night of pleasure was definitely what they both needed. Had he ever gone so long without one?

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