Page 6 of Songbird (A Space Pearl’s Treat #1)

I’d visited Jala and Praxxan’s apartment a couple of times previously, each time finding myself in awe of its sleek, modernistic design.

A large window offered a breathtaking view of the dark expanse of space, making it feel like we were floating among the stars—which I guess we were technically.

The sleek lines and minimalist decor gave off a sense of sophistication, like something one would find in an architectural magazine.

It was a perfect blend of futuristic and stylish, and yet somehow homey.

A luxurious, long, white fur sofa stood in the center of the room.

In the corner, an otherworldly version of a piano caught the light with a multitude of twinkling keys.

Behind us, just outside the kitchen, stood a table adorned with the remnants of the delicious food Jala brought in. We never did make it to the restaurant.

Kayzon did not take Tarrick’s claiming me as his mate very well.

The beastly face twisted into a snarl, and he accused Tarrick of lying.

After that came the requisite growling and chest-thumping from all parties.

Thankfully, Praxxan arrived with a handful of guards before things escalated into an all-out brawl.

Priemba excitedly recounted our adventure to her father, painting her uncle's actions as nothing short of heroic, with which I wholeheartedly agreed. Then Praxxan split us up like misbehaving children sent into time out. The guards escorted Tarrick, Priemba, and I to the apartment while Kayzon and his cronies were carted off to Praxxan’s office for questioning.

I sat in the middle of the plush, fur-covered sofa, my stomach churning with nerves and the small amount of food I had managed to force down.

Tarrick and Priemba, seemingly unaffected by my malady, happily indulged in their lunch.

The savory aroma of grilled meats and spices wafted through the air, making my mouth water even as my stomach protested.

When her mother arrived, Priemba eagerly launched into the tale of our recent escapade.

But Jala’s expression remained stoic, unimpressed by the story.

With a stern look, she sent Priemba to her room to complete her homework despite the girl’s scowls and reluctance.

When Jala turned her angry golden gaze on Tarrick and me, I had an overwhelming desire to follow Priemba.

“Tell me it’s untrue. Tell me that Kayzon just misheard, and you did not claim Izzy as your true mate.” Jala’s displeasure with Tarrick was evident, and it rankled me a bit.

Granted, it shocked the hell out of me to hear those words come out of his mouth, though I didn’t mind the ruse. Tarrick made me feel protected, something I hadn’t felt in what seemed like an eternity. He made me feel safe.

“Oh, it’s true,” Tarrick quipped, leaning back against the cushions and crossing his hands behind his head.

We sat close, our bodies not quite touching but near enough for me to feel his warmth.

There was a subtle vibration emanating from his chest, like the purr of a contented cat.

The tip of his tail tapped out a tempo on the cushion next to him, but it had calmed since earlier—when the appendage seemed to have a mind of its own.

“I cannot believe you did that.” Jala eyed him incredulously. “Have you lost your mind?”

Tarrick seemed little affected by his sister-in-law’s ire. “I figured a lie was better than starting an all-out brawl... especially with the Kerzak.”

“A brawl would be easier to handle,” Jala huffed.

“Speak for yourself,” Praxxan told her as he came through the door and headed straight for the leftovers.

Jala took in his words with a faint growl.

“What’s the problem?” Tarrick sat up, resting his elbows on his knees and glaring at Jala.

Even seated, he was a good head taller than me.

“Alliance law states that a true mating claim supersedes any prior claim or agreement if the prior claim or agreement in action would keep the mated pair apart.”

So that’s why he claimed me as his mate. A brilliant move, although the small ball of disappointment knotting my stomach felt strange.

“I know the law is valid,” Tarrick continued. “One of Siemba’s operatives used it to free a Ntavian from slavery on the Akkarat moon. Besides, Kayzon’s slave claim won’t stand now that Alliance claims Earth as a protectorate.”

Jala huffed, waving Tarrick’s words away with a flick of her long fingers. “Kayzon isn’t claiming Izzy as his slave.” Her golden eyes centered on me and narrowed. “He’s claiming they have a binding employment agreement.”

“That’s bullshit!” The words burst from my lips before I could stop them. Although both Jala and Tarrick took my outburst with a hint of amusement. “Kayzon nearly killed me. I would never agree to anything with him.”

Jala’s piercing golden gaze locked onto me for a long moment, her eyes searching and calculating.

With a sharp gesture, she grabbed a datapad from the nearby table and began tapping away.

After a few tense seconds, she turned the screen towards me, revealing a document written in an alien language that I couldn’t decipher.

It spanned three pages, each filled with intricate symbols and characters.

But at the bottom of the last page, I recognized something familiar—a fingerprint, bold and stark against the white background, as if made with blood instead of ink.

Tarrick leaned close to read the document, his shoulder brushing mine. I tried to ignore the warmth traveling over my skin at the touch. Nothing to get carried away about—it had just been a long, eventful day.

“What does it say?” I whispered.

“It’s a standard employment agreement,” Tarrick said, although his dark eyes narrowed the more he read. “You agree to work for him as a singer in exchange for room, board, and one hundred credits a year.”

“Doesn’t seem like much of a deal,” I muttered. The last concert I gave, or would have if the aliens hadn’t abduced me, paid six million.

“Is that a fingerprint?” Tarrick asked when he reached the end of the document.

“Kayzon is claiming it’s Izzy’s fingerprint... in blood.” She flipped the datapad closed and tossed it onto the table. “I’ve already checked it against the Bardaga’s medical records. It’s valid.”

“No!” Heat and clamminess rushed over me in equal measure.

“I didn’t agree to that.” My mind reeled, trying to recall any instance where I might have been complicit.

There wasn’t one, which left only one explanation to my mind.

“Kayzon kept me drugged when I wasn’t singing.

He could have gotten my fingerprint anytime, and I would never have known. ”

So, that was his plan. To claim I’d entered into a working relationship with him of my own accord—like a record company from hell. Suddenly, despite Tarrick’s nearness, I felt chilled to the bone.

“I believe Izzy,” Tarrick slid closer, and I felt the brush of his hand on my lower back. It felt strangely calming, especially given the situation. “You didn’t see how terrified she was of Kayzon. No way would she agree to work for him.”

“Is Kayzon still here? On the space station?” Was there any way he could make me leave with him—a question I felt too terrified to ask aloud.

“Yes,” Praxxan said in an apologetic tone, coming to stand by his wife with a plate of food in his hand. “But he will be under detention until this matter is settled.”

Tarrick’s hand slid up and down my spine. It felt nice, if not quite as comforting as before. “Don’t worry, Izzy. I won’t let him get near you.”

“We may not have a choice,” Jala groaned, flopping into a nearby chair. Praxxan followed, perching on the arm of his wife’s seat.

“The hell we don’t,” Tarrick growled, his body tensing while his tail whipped angrily.

Exhaustion and worry dripped from Jala’s deep sigh. “Kayzon has asked for an Alliance conciliator to settle the matter. He will be here in eight days.”

“What’s a conciliator?” I didn’t recognize the word, but I didn’t know if it was because of translation or because most of my vocabulary came from song lyrics.

Jala steepled her fingers under her chin. Even at this moment, when my own safety took precedence, I found myself struck by her beauty. Tall, svelte with piercing golden eyes and dark hair that she wore in a platted array atop her head.

“The conciliator is a member of the Alliance judiciary staff,” she explained. “He’ll examine the basis of Kayzon’s claim, plus whether the mating between you and Tarrick is true.” Her gaze shifted to Tarrick and narrowed. “Which it isn’t.”

“And if the conciliator isn’t convinced Tarrick and I are mates?” The question sent a chill down my spine, but I had to know.

“Then he’ll likely declare Kayzon’s agreement valid, and you will have to leave with him to honor the commitment.” Her expression softened with regret.

“No.” The idea was unthinkable. I started trembling, itching to run like when I was a little girl, and my mother wanted me to perform some awful song for some awful people. Only this time, there was no reaching the sanctuary of my grandfather’s house, nowhere at all to run.

Tarrick’s strong, comforting arm slid around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side.

He felt warm and strong, and in that moment, the fear that strangled me began to seep away.

I felt his heartbeat reverberate through his chest, steady and reassuring.

Tarrick would keep me safe. Despite having just met him, I somehow trusted that.

“Don’t worry.” His lips were close to my ear, stirring the hair at my temple. “That will not happen.” His gaze settled on Jala. “So, we have to convince some Alliance flunky that we’ve mated. I’ve convinced much scarier people of much scarier things. This will be easy.”

“Easy?” Jala rolled her golden eyes. “The conciliator is trained to ferret out truths and settle disputes. You won’t convince him by plying your roguish charm over a hand of cards and a bottle of Verdesian ale.”

“You think I’m charming?” Tarrick teased, drawing a smile from both Jala and me.

“Let’s face it, Tarrick. Your reputation precedes you,” she scoffed.

“Reputation?” Unintentionally, the word escaped my lips, my mind replaying the description that Lucy and Aqsa gave me of Tarrick.

“I am known to be a bit of a playboy,” Tarrick admitted with a shrug, the color of his cheeks deepening as if the admission shamed him deeply.

He certainly was handsome enough to be a playboy.

While his leather jacket covered any hint of his musculature, it couldn’t detract from the broadness of his shoulders or his tall stature.

His eyes reminded me of melted chocolate, deep and alluring, framed by high cheekbones, a wide, flat nose, and a defined jawline.

His thick mane of wavy hair shone like bronze with subtle veins of gold, perfectly complementing his lightly tanned pelt.

It was as if someone had transformed Mufasa from “The Lion King” into human form. .. well, almost human.

Despite what Lucy and Aqsa said about him, Tarrick didn’t come across as a playboy to me.

He treated me with such a sense of sweetness and genuine care.

He seemed completely besotted with Priemba, and despite the current underlying tension in the room, there was an undeniable depth of affection between Tarrick, Praxxan and Jala.

Most playboys I’d come in contact with tended to be self-centered and unfeeling.

And that didn’t seem like Tarrick, not at all.

“A bit of a playboy?” Jala snorted in amusement. “Tarrick of House Asad, the male never known to bed the same female twice, is now going to try and convince the universe that he’s found a mate. A human one at that.”

“Stranger things have happened.” Praxxan playfully nudged his wife’s shoulder with his elbow. “Look at your brother.”

From my time aboard the Bardaga , I knew that Jala’s brother Jutuk had mated with Pearl, the chef and founder of Space Pearl’s .

Jala huffed at her husband but couldn’t stop the smile that curved her lips—or dim the worry in her golden eyes.

“We could send Izzy back to the Bardaga ,” Praxxan suggested another option. “Or maybe we could just hide her somewhere until Kayzon loses interest.”

Jala groaned on the heels of an aggravated huff.

“You know the issues the Alliance is having with the Kerzak, especially those that disagree with newly crowned prince Alokar and regent Vienda’s peaceful policies.

If the station is accused of subverting Kayzon’s legal claim to protect a human, it could damage us in more ways than one. ”

Praxxan took in his wife’s words with a solemn nod. “Then my brother and Izzy must find a way to convince the conciliator they are truly mated,” he said and rose, returning to the buffet.

Jala studied both Tarrick and me in turn before settling her golden gaze on her brother-in-law. “Did you consider what this little performance will do to your cover as an operative? We’ll need to let Siemba know what’s going on.”

Cover? Operative? There was apparently much more to Tarrick than I realized.

“Already called him,” Praxxan announced as he piled his plate with meat.

“Even playboys fall in love sometimes,” Tarrick said with a playful grin.

Jala threw up her hands, sighing exasperatedly. Such a human gesture that it made me smile.

“Are you sure you want to go this route?” Her golden eyes settled on me, thick brows raised. “To convince the conciliator that Tarrick has truly claimed you as mate… you will have to wear his scent. Do you know what that means?”

I didn’t, not until right that second. But the knowing look in Jala’s eyes and the way Tarrick stiffened beside me said it better than any words.

Sex.

I would need to have sex with Tarrick.

Was there even a choice to make?

If they forced me to return to Kayzon, it would be a death sentence—a long, slow, torturous death. A fate I’d fuck half the males on this space station to keep from suffering. Fucking Tarrick… I let my gaze drift over his handsome face. It wouldn’t exactly be a hardship. It might even be….

No. I couldn’t let myself go there. Tarrick was trying to protect me, nothing more. And for me, that made the choice even clearer.

“I’ll do anything to stay away from Kayzon.” I met Tarrick’s chocolate gaze with my own. “Anything.”