Page 2 of Treylon (Soldiers of the Ardannan #1)
Chapter Two
S he was passed out. Treylon shook his head and adjusted her slight weight in his arms and finished the walk to the bungalow which had been assigned to him and his match.
He’d requested to be given a dwelling removed from the central area for privacy’s sake and when he arrived at the designated place, he was pleased.
There were several small cottages in a loose curve following the line of the beach, surrounded by trees, with the jungle’s edge not far away.
Pressing his palm to the door portal, he gained entry and strode through the living room to the short hallway beyond.
All the accommodations included in the special Ardannan arrangement were two bedrooms, as his people had been adamant no one was to be forced into a one bed situation.
It was strictly up to each couple how much or how little intimacy they shared on this extended ‘date.’
He took his sleeping partner to the second bedroom and laid her on the bed. She didn’t stir. He removed her remaining shoe and found a light throw to place over her. “You’re going to have a hell of a headache in the morning, sweetheart,” he murmured. “I hope this place has headclear on hand.”
He took another look at Rosalie, dreaming peacefully.
She was quite pretty with masses of unruly curls and a trim figure.
Something caught his eye and he leaned closer to see a badly frayed patch on the hem of the sparkling cocktail dress, which had been neatly mended.
He went to the closet where the resort’s robos had hung all the guest’s clothes and sifted through the small collection of garments, eyeing them closely and finding more evidence of wear and tear.
The bathing suit was last and while he enjoyed picturing her in its flattering green and blue lines, it too had obviously seen better days.
Treylon moved to the large bathroom and found the headclear he was seeking in the cabinet. He arranged an inject, a glass and a carafe of water by Rosalie’s bedside and then left the room for good, turning out the light.
Going to his own room, he changed into comfortable sweatpants and a tee shirt before picking up his handheld and placing a call to Goff Delain, the man in charge of the entire resort planet and his contact for this whole Ardannan undertaking at dating humans.
“Good evening, your highness.” Delain seemed to always be available, urbane and smooth.
Treylon wondered if he was real or merely a high functioning AI.
He’d heard the Sectors had developed incredible AI technologies, particularly for running complex spaceships and facilities.
“How are things going so far with you and your people?”
“Overall good. I’m making notes on a few things. For one, your bartenders need to be more straightforward with the women about how powerful the damn drinks are, especially whatever the hell the pink-and-green concoction is.”
A small frown passed briefly over Delain’s face. “Noted.”
“I need you to do me a favor but I’ll pay for it,” Treylon said.
“I want three human women to receive a gift certificate tomorrow morning with their breakfast, good for a thousand credit shopping spree at the clothing boutiques in the village. No, considering your high prices, better make it a 2500 credit voucher.”
“May I ask who the women are?”
He supposed Delain wanted to remind him each Ardannan could only have one date.
As if he needed to bribe women to have an interest in him.
Treylon wasn’t vain, he knew he was considered quite a catch on his own planet and certainly would be here too if his status was known.
“Two can be randomly selected so I don’t care what method you use.
Call it an extra perk of being an attendee at this social event.
The third is to be my match, Rosalie Lenox.
” He wasn’t about to explain himself or his motives to Delain.
It didn’t fit his image to feel sorry for someone who obviously was in desperate straits financially and had come here with secondhand, rundown clothing.
He supposed he could be accused of not wanting to be seen with a woman in a frayed dress and shoes too big for her but that wasn’t his motivation.
Any woman on his arm was elevated in the public eye by his attention, whether she knew it or not.
He felt sorry for her and figured in the daylight the inadequacies of her wardrobe would be obvious to anyone who looked closely.
He didn’t want Rosalie to be embarrassed.
Besides, nothing was going to come of this week as far as a match was concerned so he could at least provide her with a fun shopping trip as a treat.
She could take her new wardrobe to Earth with her.
And why he cared, he couldn’t say. Up to this moment he hadn’t given the slightest thought to the expectations and hopes a human woman might bring to this arranged ‘date’ of theirs.
He’d developed a surprising amount of protectiveness toward Rosalie since they’d danced.
She was so tiny and obviously painfully shy.
Even the feelgoods hadn’t alleviated her anxieties much.
After a brief discussion of a few other unrelated points, he ended the com.
Going to the kitchenette, he made himself a cup of Terran coffee, which his people found irresistible now they’d been introduced to it and were seriously studying the cultivation of the beans for themselves.
No reason for Old Earth to have a monopoly.
He checked on Rosalie again. She’d turned on her side and kicked off the covers, so he replaced the fringed throw and left her snoring slightly.
He always had a full queue of messages and business to take care of so he went to his room and dove into the issues at hand. Not the evening he’d planned for his first night on this date but maybe it was for the best. Less complicated than spending more time one on one with his assigned human.
Rosalie woke with a start, panicked. She was in a strange room, in her thrifted dress from last night, with a soft throw over her.
Sitting up, she tried to quell her pounding heart as she looked around the room and remembered she was at the IDA Resort Planet.
Heat bloomed in her cheeks as she contemplated how drunk she must have been last night to have passed out, while her date was carrying her, as she now recalled with embarrassment.
Her head was throbbing, which made it difficult to think but headclear and water waited on the nightstand.
Wasting no time she did the painless headclear inject.
“Feeling better?”
Treylon was leaning against her doorway, wearing nothing but gray sweatpants. She tried not to notice his chiseled abs and the delicious vee pointing the eye downward past the waistband of the pants. Oh no, she was not going to ogle his package.
“Yes, thank you.” She managed to claw words from her mind.
“Nothing happened, I assure you,” he said. “I took your remaining shoe off so you could be comfortable to sleep.”
“Did you leave me the headclear?” He was being surprisingly considerate and Rosalie regretted all her negative thoughts last night when she learned he hadn’t been searching for her in the crowded club.
“Figured you’d need it today. Listen I didn’t know what you’d like for breakfast so I ordered basically the entire menu. It’ll be here soon if you want to take a shower and change. Banging dress, by the way, good color for you.” He was gone from the doorway before she could respond.
Gathering up fresh underwear and the sundress she’d planned to wear on day two, Rosalie made her way to the decadent bathroom, which had a shower, an old fashioned tub and a top-of-the-line refresher.
Their bungalow had a hot tub outside the back door as well.
She longed for a bubble bath and there were spa-level bath bombs and other potions and lotions she wanted to sample but if breakfast was on its way, she’d better hurry.
When she finally ventured into the main area of the bungalow, with a combined sitting/dining room, Treylon was seated at the table with a large number of covered dishes in front of him. “The coffee is excellent here,” he said, sipping his own brew. “But they sent a selection of teas as well.”
Rosalie slid into her chair. “Coffee would be a treat.”
He poured her a cup and then began uncovering the dishes, revealing eggs, bacon, ham, pancakes and more breakfast staples, along with jams and jellies and syrups.
He gestured for her to serve herself first, which she did, feeling greedy but taking at least a taste of everything.
Treylon had no hesitation, loading his plate with generous portions and they’d barely made a dent in the offerings.
There were fruit and berries to the side.
“This week must be costing your people a fortune,” Rosalie said after she savored a few bites of bacon and pancakes.
Treylon shrugged, not much interested in what the Ardannan had laid out for the dating experience. “You got mail.”
She blinked hard. “You’re kidding? For me?
” He handed her an embossed envelope with the IDA corporate logo in gold leaf on the flap.
It did have her name on the back, in flowing script and when she opened the envelope there was a single sheet of paper inside.
“Congratulations, you’re a winner,” she read.
“Lords of Space, I won 2500 credits in a random drawing!” She’d never had so much wealth in her hardscrabble life.
Every credit she earned or got as tips went right out again for bills, rent, food and her music lessons.
Her excitement dimmed as she read further down the page.
“Oh, of course there’s fine print. I can only redeem the credits here on Resort Planet in the shops on the main street.
” Disappointed because she’d had a brief moment of excitement believing she might finally have a tiny nest egg, she laid the card aside.