Page 8 of The Interdimensional Lord's Earthly Delight
Well, she knew a little. As soon as she got her universaltranslator, one of the first things she’d done was start working her way through the educational materials provided to young aliens across the galaxies, introducing them to their sentient, spacefaring futures. She learned all about transgalactic governance, interplanetary law and trade, and the scientific basics such as faster than light travel and even black holes. There’d even been an embarrassingbut she admitted intriguing primer on “your changing body”, that covered the essential intraspecies safe sex rules. The idea that an ancient race had seeded the universe with biologically compatible genetics was…embarrassing and intriguing both.
And now, seeing this alien, she believed it for the first time.
A weird, little noise came from her. She’d meant to clear her throat, but instead itsounded like a breathy gasp.
She tried again, and the alien tilted his head down to meet her gaze.
Oh. He wasfine, with the strong lines to his features and big body that she’d come to associate with Thorkon males, although the simple white tunic he was wearing was awfully plain for the elegant species. His dark hair was just long enough to run her fingers through and tousled, as if someonehad already done exactly that. When he looked at her, his dark eyes were half-closed and dreamy. Oh no, no no, not the poet type. Anything but that. She was such a sucker for a sweet talker with zero bankroll…
“Well, hullo,” she said. She meant it to come out as a purr, but it actually sounded more like she’d tripped over a clue in a bad British mystery show.
He smiled at her, a flash of joyso wide and bright it was like a pulse of light from some collapsing star. “You see me.”
She blinked, dazzled. “Uh, yes. Were you…hiding?”
“I was lost.” He plucked the flower he’d been holding.
She wanted to scold him. The flowers were for everyone to enjoy. But the way he held the flower up to his chin, as if it was the most precious thing ever, stifled her reprimand. One flower couldn’t hurt.
She found herself leaning forward, as if he’d taken her in hand too. “It’s easy to get lost on the station. All the hallways look alike.” They were hoping to do more refurbishing to made each deck more unique, but wedding prep had to come first. “Where are you trying to get to?”
He glanced around, twirling the flower between his fingertips. “Here.”
Darting a quick glance around—had she misseda reason to pause in the nexus?—she pursed her lips. “What’s here?”
“This splendor.” He gestured with the flower. “You.”
Was he saying the flowers were splendorous? Or she was? A flush of heat—part pleasantly flustered, part angry at the pleasant fluster—warmed her cheeks, and she was glad for the abundance of melanin that disguised her uncertainty. She didn’t mind being wooed, but she wouldn’tbe fooled. “You must be here for the wedding.” She’d heard some guests would be arriving early, but she hadn’t realized the influx had started.
“Souls joining,” he murmured. “Quantum entanglement to outlast the stars.”
She eyed him. Poet, or physicist? She’d slept with both in school. Poets tended to excel at oral. The science boys knew the power of momentum, leverage, and friction. “Are youfriend or family of the groom?” Since she knew he wasn’t sitting on the bride’s side.
“I’m here to bless their fusion.”
Bless their…fusion? Was he physicist or pastor? She’d never slept with a pastor.
Good heavens, why was she thinking about sleeping with anybody? She’d blame thebadheavens—that creepy black hole eye staring down at her, reminding her how close she’d come (and still was) tothe end of everything she knew.
She gave herself a dismissive shake. “I haven’t had a chance to look over the ceremony specifics. But I imagine with as many gods as Thorkons have, you do a lot of blessing.”
“Only for one. The God of Beloveds.”
A little shiver went down her spine.
The God of Beloveds… That was the god Blackworm had invoked when he was going to send Trixie into the black holeto petition for his dead girlfriend’s return. He’d claimed the black hole was a passageway to the realm of the gods.
Inadvertently, she glanced up over her shoulder at the particulate streams that flowed toward the invisible singularity. They couldn’t really see the hole itself, just the light and matter falling inevitably, permanently inward.
Inevitable and permanent, except Blackworm hadbelieved his beloved could escape…
She refused to get the shivers from a dead delusional psychopath.
When she glanced at the alien beside her, he was staring up too, but at her movement, he redirected his gaze to her. There was enough artificial illumination in the nexus—coming from the various hallways and the grow lights on the plantings—that the glow of starlight and the partial view ofthe black hole’s radiance shouldn’t have been obvious. And yet his dark eyes reflected the eerie luminosity. If anything, the isolated sparkle of stars seemed larger in his black irises…
He reached out as if he were going to caress her cheek…and stuck the flower behind her ear.
She blinked. When had he gotten so close to her? She settled back on the heels of her slippers abruptly—when hadsheleaned so close to him?—and the yellow blossom bobbed in her peripheral vision, like a sunrise.