Page 30 of The Intergalactic Duke's Inconvenient Engagement
Chapter 8
Rayna stood at the suite viewport, watching the central planet of the Azthronos system expand to fill the screen, her heart thumping with some strange dread.
“It feels like we’re crashing in slow motion,” Trixie said beside her.
On her other side, Lishelle grunted an assent. “I think I saw this movie and it doesn’t end well for the mouthy girl with natural hair.”
Despite theirgloom, neither Trixie nor Lishelle had elected to join Carmen and Anne in stasis to await the Earth envoy. Trixie had initially said she wanted to “be put to sleep” but then panicked when she saw the stasis chambers which did look uncomfortably like their old glass coffins.
Lishelle had just turned and walked out.
So the three of them enjoyed the not inconsiderable pleasures of theGrandiloquence’s suites while they journeyed to Azthronos.
And Rayna tried not to think about how she could’ve been enjoying theveryconsiderable pleasures of Azthronos’s duke.
But after she’d told him she wasn’t ready to sleep with him yet—she’d saidyet!—she hadn’t seen him again.
She couldn’t believe he’d abandoned her so utterly. She’d saidyet! Had he missed that part? She could’ve explained it tohim, even though he’d said he hadn’t wanted explanations, but not if he wouldn’t even show up. So much for brave blood champions and avatars of oath gods.
Trixie and Lishelle hadn’t said what they were going to do about going back to Earth, but they’d limited their exposure to too many clearly alien memories that would have to be wiped. Meanwhile Rayna had spent the quiet journey to Azthronosreading about the sentient, spacefaring beings of the universe.
Fascinating. Thrilling. So much to discover. An entire universe, literally.
But she found herself summoning up data most often on Azthronos itself, the solar system and its duchy, its web of interconnection with the Thorkonos Galaxy and the other duchies, the ruling family and the people they ruled. She even found one clip of ayoung Aelazar Amrazal Thorkonos walking away from the duke and duchess to board a ship for his schooling years. The tone of the report had been both fond and proud—an indulgent populace wishing its future ruler well.
And young Raz was every bit as adorable as she’d imagined in his formal ceremonial uniform with his little chin high.
But the way he glanced back as the ship’s hatch closed hadnearly broken her heart.
She wanted to hug that boy. She’d had enough practice lying about how everything would be okay—certainly she could’ve convinced one little forlorn alien duke.
But apparently the full-size man version (er,veryfull-size) wasn’t interested in anything that wasn’t sex.
Well, screw him. Or not screw him, as the case might be.
And still she continued to read, wondering.
With so much to learn, she’d only made it to his great-grandfather, who’d also been an Avatar of Azjor and a very handsome male, when the captain sent a message to the suites announcing their imminent arrival on Azthronos.
The captain had only appeared on their small view screen, but his charmingly roguish smile brightened the space. “I should warn you. We’ll be running a bit of a gauntlet atthe port. Extra security at the Azthronos estate will keep your exposure to a minimum, but there is universal interest in the fate of the Black Hole Brides—Octiron Corp, the most infamous entertainment company in the universe, even wants to throw a party for you, a galactic gathering, a black hole bash, if you will—so keep your heads down.”
“Black Holes Brides?” Rayna grimaced. “I’m not sureI like that.”
“IknowI don’t,” Lishelle snapped.
Trixie sighed. “I think it’s kind of romantic.”
Captain Nor swept his gaze over the three of them, and his smile widened. “I don’t know how he’ll choose.”
“Choose what?” Lishelle asked suspiciously.
Rayna stiffened. “Who’s choosing?”
Trixie ended the comm.
They both jerked around to stare at her, and she shrugged. “He’s the kind of guy whowants you to ask questions,” she said. “And you shouldn’t indulge him.” She wandered back to the kitchen. “Anyway, we’re not supposed to talk to aliens.”
Rayna wondered if Raz had decided the same thing.