Page 8 of Krin

“Is that not what you wanted?”

I just shrugged. “Yeah. That’s not the problem.”

Why did I have to speak without thinking? Asking for a job was premature. I completely blew it.

My heart sank straight into my stomach.

How could I ask to stay aboard the ship now?There was no way I could admit I wanted to stay to be near Krin. Not to him, and not when he couldn’t see me as an equal.

I moved my head from side to side, telling myself it would be better if I stayed clear of Krin altogether.

My track record with relationships was pretty terrible if I was being honest with myself.

I don’t know why I bothered getting my hopes up. I was deluded for thinking I could have what Grace had with Trex. Why would Krin ever be interested in me?

I told myself I’d be just fine. I’d managed for a long time on my own well enough.

In fact, things were going well until I was abducted by ugly pig-faced aliens and taken to a slave planet. Stuck in a dirty room with barely any food until this ship full of hot warriors came to my rescue.

My heart squeezed tight.

There was one special warrior who had my mind going wild every single day since I met him. I’d like to say my stupid obsession with the turquoise hunk crept up on me, but in truth I wanted Krin from the moment I saw him.

Okay, it’s possible he hadn’t sensed the same connection I did. But that didn’t change how I felt about him. No matter what I tried to tell myself.

There was no way I could ever admit my feelings for Krin. At least not without ending up being hurt in the process.

As I played with my hair, I decided to hold on to a glimmer of hope that something might still happen between me and the sexy new Captain of the starship Chetok.

The fact he’d asked me to go with him was promising. Wasn’t it?

He may not want me to work on the spaceship, but that wasn’t going to stop me from showing up tomorrow to board a shuttle to the space dock.

Who knows, he might eventually let me join the crew.

Jutting out my chin, I knew what I had to do.

There was no way I was letting the Chetok or Krin go without me.

3

Riley

I STEPPED OUT OF THEvikoand slung my bag over my shoulder. The expansive space port lay before me, covering a vast swath of land. It was already bustling with activity, and I nervously chewed my lip.

This is way bigger than I remember.

Thrusting my shoulders back to project an air of confidence, I smoothed my hands down my sides.

Alara’s morning sky was filled with hues of pink and orange. The air was energizing as I breathed in the delightful combination of crates of fresh fruit, and an assortment of other aromas.

Filled with a rush of excitement, I hurried past the sounds of people coordinating the transfer of crates and cargo into the waiting spaceships.

In addition to the merchant trading vessels and freighters, shuttles buzzed around, flying goods and people to the larger ships waiting at the space dock above the planet.

True to my nature, I had spent a great deal of time learning about life on Alara, and had gone to great lengths to gather information about traveling within Alaran space.

Which included questioning multiple warrior guards stationed around the palace. Many had chuckled with amusement at my constant barrage of questions, but they always took the time to answer them.

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