Page 21 of Touch the Stars
“Shit.”She squeezed again.
The buzz faded, and the glow disappeared.Huh.That worked.Cool.She tipped her head to one side to listen.No alarms seemed to be going off—not nearby, at least.So maybe the near-discharge of the blanker hadn’t been detected, even by the ship’s AI.
She breathed out a sigh, letting her tension escape.Now, she was officially armed and potentially dangerous, even if the latter was only in her own mind.She allowed a smile to reach her lips.Now all she needed was a plan.
A few hours and a short, refreshing nap later, she left her room in search of Baatar.The corridor outside her room was filled with tantalizing spicy scents.She swallowed the saliva pooling on her tongue.For Baatar’s cooking, she’d be down with delaying her plan long enough to eat.Which was a dick move on her part, but a girl couldn’t save herself and her sister on an empty stomach.
She set off down the sterile white corridor in the direction of the galley’s open archway.Baatar was busy at the stove, shaking pink flakes from a jar into a bubbling pot.
There was so much to appreciate about the man…in the physical sense, at least.His economy of motion, the bare satin-brown skin on arms marked by a variety of old scars.The almost peaceful smile of satisfaction as he focused on preparing their meal.God damn, there was nothing in the world—or the universe—as sexy as a man cooking.She let her gaze wander down to his long, muscular legs.His pants looked like brushed suede…had felt like it too—
“I be nearly coming to wake you, Empress.”The English words, spoken in his deep voice, rolled over her like a warm summer breeze.
She jerked her gaze up to meet his.“You can speakEnglish?”
He grinned.“Little much.”
“You mean, not much?”What a lucky son of bitch to have eyes the color of cobalt.
“Is correct way to say, that?”
She gave him a nod.
“Then not much English speak me.”
Should she laugh or hug him?Or ignore it altogether because he was obviously trying to get her to like him.And if she liked him, she might not be able to do what she had to do.
“Hungry be you?”
“Very.”She slid into the same chair she’d used during their last meal.
His smile hadn’t dimmed a fraction of a watt, which was a good sign.As long as he believed she was starting to accept her situation, he’d be more likely to let his guard down.That’s when she would strike.
Besides, only an idiot would knock out the cook before the meal was ready.
“This ishalunog, a meat dish from Undet.”He was back to speaking his native language through the translator, but that was okay.“It is a…robust dish.”
He placed a bowl of sauce-covered meat in front of her.Then sat across from her, his brows raised and concern flickering in his eyes.
“Like spicy hot?”
“Somewhat, yes.”
Guess he’d never heard of jalapeños.Hot was fine, unless it was ghost pepper hot.She pushed her lips into a pucker as that particular teenage memory bounced up from the depths where she’d buried it.How not to impress a cute dude.
She shoved the memory back down.“I’ll be fine.”
“Then let us eat.”He handed her a shadak/shagat set.
Ten minutes later, she wiped her eyes for the hundredth time.“Hot damn, that cleans out the sinuses.”
Not in the ghost pepper way, either.
Baatar frowned, and the two vertical lines of concern between his eyebrows deepened.
“That’s a good thing, Bataar.I swear.”
His expression relaxed into a pleased smile.“Then you are not suffering?”
