two chairs. Instead of the holographic projector showing shipping lanes and various planets spinning in place with their atmospheric pressure and other routine data scrolling alongside each one, there is a blanket of twinkling stars against a black backdrop.
I force my feet to keep walking, only to find that he’s set up a nice relaxing dinner for us. Instead of romantic candles, there are the clear crystals they shake with a liquid inside that creates a soft light. He’s scattered enough of them around the table to create real ambience. He’s even dressed in his formal uniform instead of the armor plated one he normally wears.
When he holds a chair out for me, like ancient Earth movie vids, I can’t help but to be impressed. “Wow, you’ve really researched Earth customs. Everything looks so romantic.” The fact that someone has gone to this much trouble to court me is nothing short of a miracle. I guess that I always thought it was only young, beautiful women who got such lavish treatment.
“I searched diligently through the database for anything related to courting, flirting and dating.” He pours us a drink. “I learned many interesting things.”
Pulling out a napkin, I place it over my lap. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“It pleases me to hear you say such, for tonight I wish to discuss human mating rituals.”
His bold statement takes me by surprise. I grab for my drink only to discover it’s a smooth berry wine. It’s so refreshing that I take several drinks before sitting my glass down again. I watch him quickly tip more of the clear blue colored beverage into my glass.
“You wouldn’t be trying to make me intoxicated, would you?”
“The database reveals intoxication lowers human inhibition. You are more likely to speak freely about matters of intimacy if you enjoy my intoxicating beverage first.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You are the only man I know who would be more interested in getting information than sex from an intoxicated woman.”
His eyes jump to mine. “Such is not permitted among my kind. Were I to do such a thing, the scourging I received last time would pale in comparison to the one I would receive for taking advantage of a queen in such a way.”
“Well, I’ll make it easy for you. Even if I get a little tipsy, I still want some cuddling and kissing.” Taking another sip of wine, I murmur, “Maybe a little more than a cuddle and a kiss.”
He smothers back a smile. “Your boldness is one of the qualities that first drew me to you. I find that I like it more as time passes.” Taking a deep breath, he uncovers a large tray of food. Draconian couples usually share a platter of food. We’ve been doing that every single meal since we got together. At first I thought it was a little off-putting, but now I don’t mind in the least. It seems intimate and nice.
I pull some tasty bits to my side of the platter. Borak lifts a piece of meat and places it on my side as well. “Try this, my queen. It is one of my favorite meats from the beasts we hunt on our home world.”
Since I’m assuming this will become a staple of my diet since his clan likes it so much, I bring it to my mouth and bite off a small piece. It doesn’t taste gamey and literally melts in my mouth. I poke the rest of it in my mouth and chew before talking. “It tastes amazing. What is it?”
“We hunt several different types of animals. This one is a herd beast that grazes all over our lands. Since the meat is plentiful and easy to acquire, we made it a point of discovering many ways to prepare it. This was soaked in ale and seasoned with spices from some faraway world I can’t recall.”
I grin at his description. “If you can’t remember where it came from, how will you ever get more?”
“We call it the red spice with many worms.”
I almost drop my eating utensil at the thought of eating worm spice. When I glance at Borak, he’s actually leaning over the table with an expectant expression on his face. “You’re joking, right?”
He nods, chuckling to himself. “Indeed I am. This is actually the insect spice.”
Since he’s looking down, I can’t tell if he’s still joking. Knowing him the way I do, I’m going guess he’s still messing around. “The only bug here is