Page 45 of Master
The twitchiness in my gut only increased when I thought of Clara, alone and vulnerable. Honestly, just her being out of my sight was nearly unbearable.
Yes, she was my charge. I rescued her, and it was my duty to keep her safe until the Bardaga arrived.
This wasn't just my duty. This was …more.
The kind of rabid protectiveness only known to follow a true mating.
I touched the spot on my chest, now hollow and aching from her absence. If our hearts beat in tandem, I would have noticed.
Our mating was just a pretense, nothing more. What I felt meant nothing. I needed to accept that.
Didn’t I?
Chapter 11
Clara
I looked good.
The dress fit me like a glove, showing off the curves of my breasts and hips without flaunting. Made in an alien fabric akin to silk in a deep crimson red that brought out the golden sparks in my hair and skin tone.
The wonderful contraption to thank for the frock was something Mei called a fabric replicator. All one needed was to imput a few measurements, an image, punch a few buttons, and presto! Mei stood beside me admiring the little black dress she wore, fashioned from a holo image of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I wasn't privy to the image Mei uploaded for my dress. The body-hugging silhouette, sweetheart neckline, and cap sleeves made me recall Sophia Loren's fashions from the sixties.
My makeover didn’t stop with the dress. Mei insisted on doing my hair and makeup. The navy eyeliner she used turned my eyes into a deep amethyst, and she'd corralled my waves into a messy topknot—a style I didn't normally wear.
I felt sexy and beautiful.
Satisfied with her handiwork, Mei ushered me from the cottage toward the village square where the potluck dinner took place. The idea of Tarook seeing me like this caused a quiver of excitement low in my belly.
Where the hell did that come from?
I know where.
I liked him.
Dammit!
He made me laugh, the deep, soulful kind of laughter I‘d thought gone forever.
I would love Curtis until the day I died, but the last years of his life were... difficult. He was so sick, and anytime we found something to laugh about, it always held an undercurrent of sadness and the fear this laugh might be his last.
It wasn't just Tarook's humor and easygoing charm that got to me. He made me feel safe. The only man other than my husband to earn that distinction. Not just physical safety—although it's pretty hard not to feel safe with a nearly seven-foot warrior at one's side. The security I felt in Tarook's presence was deeper. The safety one feels knowing that everything they are and everything they will ever be is accepted and protected by another.
Of course, I hadn't come clean to Tarook about my past as a stripper. It was easier to let that part of my life stay in the past. Part of me didn't think he'd mind... while another part felt terrified he would.
Mei and I turned the corner, bringing us out onto the main thoroughfare, and the sight before me pushed my musings to the background. The dozens of awnings and boothswere gone, and strands of twinkling white lights created an illuminated pathway leading toward the village square. A white gazebo sat under a towering tree I would have mistaken for oak, save the purple leaves. The edge of the village square boasted flowering shrubs in a myriad of colors against which sat table after table, laden with every casserole known to man and alien, as well as salads, desserts, veggies, cheese, meats, etc.
Damn, I wish this dress wasn't so form-fitting.
I felt attention turn as Mei and I approached on the cobblestone path. Several people greeted us, some whose names I remembered... some I didn't. I raised my hand in a wave, regardless. So far, I liked everything I'd seen about Tau Ceti.
Except him.
I'd caught his attention earlier when I’d worked at the farm booth with Lula, but ignored his obvious attempts at making a connection. He was short and portly, with thinning brown hair, brown eyes, and lips curled in a resting sneer. Mei told me he was the mayor, which was shocking in and of itself. My notice of him now came only because he'd nearly knocked someone down to change the trajectory of his stroll to pass us. He caught my gaze, pursing his lips and giving a flourished nod.
Seriously, did he really believe he was charming? I inclined my chin in a curt, unemotional acknowledgement. The last thing I wanted to do was give this guy any ideas. I'd have to put up with this joker after Tarook left.
A creep of discomfort travelled along my nerve endings that had nothing to do at all with the mayor and everything to do with the idea of Tarook leaving.
