Page 22 of All for the Beast

They were moving along to the history section, where many of the customs would be described. V sat close to her in the pod, which hovered silently over the bright metallic floors.

“Well, let me explain myself,” V said, leaning in close. “Your Earth time is actually a lot faster. How many days do you think you’ve been here?”

Katy tapped the pen against her notebook and scrunched her nose. It was true that time had been getting away from her since arriving on the planet, but she supposed it was a kind of intergalactic jet lag.

“A few days?” she said, cringing. “Maybe four?”

“I think you’re right,” V responded, grinning at her. “But on Earth, our four days is about a week.”

Katy blinked heavily, the information making her feel a little faint.

“Whoa,” she said.

Her head tilted slightly to the side as they arrived in the history gallery, and V caught it before it could crash against his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he said frantically.

Katy sat up, feeling silly and woozy. She realized that the sense of time had made her feel distant, far away from everything she knew and the life she had carved out for herself.

It was a bit isolating.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “That made me feel a little surreal.”

V kept her head in his hand, then spoke into a speaker inside the pod. He asked for water for them both as well as some chocolate.

“It’s perfect for these situations,” he said seriously. “Nova Aurora chocolate is utterly healing.”

Katy let his hand linger on her face as he stroked it with his thumb, only half facing her as they waited for their food and drink. She breathed deeply, feeling calm and safe.

“V,” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

He finally turned to look at her. His eyes were that shade of seawater Katy often caught herself gazing at in the middle of the day when she managed the liner. It was hypnotizing and blissful.

“Most of your customs honor family, don’t they?”

V nodded, the stoic look remaining on his face.

“Family is very important to the shifters on this planet. In a way that not every human can understand. We were born and raised to honor who are of our blood and the blood that will come after us.”

Katy wasn’t sure if it was the faint feeling taking her over, but something about his smooth voice and tales of family made her feel strangely placid. She blinked slowly, once again feeling the urge to ask him to kiss her.

“And what of love?” she nearly purred.

Something flashed in V’s eyes, and it was then that he finally smiled at her.

“What of it?” he murmured back.

“You must place it in high esteem too. Like you said to me about the whole mate thing … I suppose that is an awful lot like true love?”

V looked away, the smile on his face fading like ice melting off a roof. He let his hand drop away from her as a server showed up with their water and snacks. He touched her chin and presented the glass to her mouth.

“Here, have a drink.”

Katy did as he asked and decided to leave the topic alone for the rest of the day. She realized that what she was asking him could have been misconstrued as flirting. Hell, she didn't even know if it was or wasn’t flirting.

They spent the rest of the day without incident, and Katy felt like she had enough information to start making a plan of action. But it wasn’t the stunning pieces of art that remained stained in her mind once he escorted her to the inn.

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