Page 15 of The Interstellar Rake's Irresistible Kiss
“It’s not my secret to tell.” She didn’t notice any particular relaxation of the tension in his body—and she realized he was watching that she was watching his body a little too closely—but she suspected he wasn’t the sort to give his trust easily. “Does your brother know?”
“My brother?” Nor’s brow burrowed.
“Raz,” she prodded. “Does he know?”
Nor scowled. “He’sBlood Champion of Zalar, Avatar of Azjor, God of Oaths, not my brother.”
“Half-brother then,” she said impatiently.
“He’s not that either,” Nor said with a grunt. “Brotherhood is more than blood.”
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Maybe if you explained to him—”
“Explained to him? I try to not even talk to him.” Nor landed the hovercar with more of a thump than she would’ve expectedfrom a starship captain. His under-breath growl told her he assessed it the same way.
He swiveled in his seat to face her. “I’m asking you to not tell even the other Black Hole Brides,” he said stiffly. “Will you promise me?”
She tilted her head. It felt strange—a little intoxicating, a lot reckless—to have such power over a powerful man. “Stop calling us Black Hole Brides. We didn’t marry thedamn thing. And yes, I promise.”
He let out a short, sharp breath and sat back. “Thank you.”
That sounded even more grudging to her than his attempt at trust. “But I do think you should tell him.”
Nor drummed his fingers on the throttle, as if he wanted to shove it into gear again and take off. “Nothank you,” he grumbled. “He wouldn’t want anything to do with me, any more than his father did.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think you’re judging fairly.”
“He’s a nobleman. All they do is judge.”
“From what Rayna has said, Raz was sent away from here too. I suspect he had his own problems with the old duke.” She gazed at Nor steadily. “You might have more in common than just half your blood.”
“Get your blaster,” he said. “And don’t shoot at me again.”
She didn’t think he meant shootingwith the blaster this time.
Side by side, they walked from the landing pad to the estate. Being back under its protective energy dome let her relax a little. Although…when she’d been with Nor, some of that anxiety had been missing. She just hadn’t noticed because she’d been preoccupied with him.
They paused in the grand foyer, where large shrubbery pruned into strict geometric shapes framedthe doorway, and she wondered at her sudden reluctance to leave him. She had her blaster, fully charged in its case, and he’d admitted she was good enough to carry it; she didn’t need anything else from him.
She wondered whyhewas pausing. Was he still seething that she’d figured out his secret?
He checked something on the small dat-pad strapped to his forearm and at first she thought he wastalking to it when he cleared his throat and said, “If you get worried about Blackworm or…anything else, summon me.” He glanced up at her, his pale eyes barred by the shadows of his long lashes.
Summon him? What, like a pirate genie?
She shifted her weight from one slipper to the other. “Uh, how?”
“Your dat-pad. I’ll send a private link now.”
“I don’t have one.”
“A link address?”
“A dat-pad.Without a universal translator, they don’t work as well.”
He grumbled under his breath while he detached the device. “Get the translator. Unless you are going back to Earth.” He shot her another shadowed look.
She lifted her shoulders around her ears, half shrug, half hiding. “Lishelle and I are waiting to talk to Rayna when she gets back from the system tour with Raz.”
