Daughter of the Alien Warrior - Honey Phillips Page 0,20
mean she could trust him.
The ship burst out of the atmosphere into a dark sky. All she could see before her were stars, clear and bright and larger than she could have imagined. She automatically looked back over her shoulder but of course there was only the cabin behind them.
“Do you wish to see the planet?” Inzen asked that before she could agree, he had already turned the ship back around so that she could see the vast globe falling away behind them. Unlike Earth, the surface was etched in dark reds and browns, but it was an awe-inspiring sight.
“I never thought I would see anything like this,” she said softly.
He sighed, his gaze also focused on the planet. “Neither did I.”
“I don’t understand. Aren’t you a spaceship pilot?”
“I am now but I spent the majority of my life on my home planet. When the Red Death came, Ciresia became nothing more than a shell. I only left because there was nothing there for me anymore.”
“The Red Death?”
“Kwaret did not explain?”
“We didn’t exactly have a lot of time to talk.”
“The systems in this sector belong to an organization called the Confederated Planets. More than twenty years ago, a plague swept across our civilization. It spared no one, but the Cire were in some ways the most devastated. We thought all of our females were lost to us.”
“I’m so sorry. Did you lose someone you cared about?”
“My mate died in the first year. She had never been strong. But my daughter…” His hands clenched the controls, and she saw the skin of his knuckles turn almost white. “She stayed well for a long time, long enough that we thought perhaps she would survive. She did not.”
His tail fluttered towards her and she put her hand on it, stroking it soothingly. He hissed, looking over at her with startled eyes.
“I know the words don’t mean much, but I am truly sorry. It’s been hard enough knowing that my daughter is missing. I can’t imagine what it would be like to know that she was gone forever.”
His tail wrapped around her hand now, and she wondered which one of them was soothing the other. They sat in silence for a few minutes before he spun the ship back around and headed out into the darkness of space. Then she remembered his earlier words.
“Did you find a new mate?”
“What?!” He looked as startled as if she had thrown a bucket of water in his face. Maybe it was a taboo subject, but she really wanted to know.
“Back when we were shopping, you said you lived with a seamstress.”
“Ah, yes.” He sagged back down in his chair. “She is a young human female.”
Why did that surprise her? Even aliens liked trophy wives.
“And she is your new mate?” She suspected that her tone was not as neutral as she would have liked.
“No, not at all. She is like a daughter to me.” He hesitated, and his tail tightened around her hand. “I also have a much younger daughter.”
“I see.” He might not have mated again, but apparently, he hadn’t hesitated to spread his seed around. Stop that, she scolded herself. If his race was dying, it undoubtedly increased the importance of having children. He was an attractive, thoughtful male—he shouldn’t have to be alone. But she found she had no interest in pursuing the subject of his daughter’s mother or any of his other relationships. She changed the subject.
“How long will it take to get to Trevelor?”
“We will arrive on the morning of the fourth day.” He smiled at her a little tentatively, as if sensing her disapproval. “And this is the evening of the first day.”
“Wasn’t it afternoon when we left Driguera?”
“Yes, but I have found that it is an easier adjustment if I keep the ship on my local time. We could have dinner and perhaps an early night?”
Her eyes flicked around the small ship, looking for a bedroom, but all she could see was a seating area. Did it convert to a bed? A single bed? She had a heated vision of what an early night with him could entail before she pulled her thoughts together.
“I would like to do some sewing before I sleep, if that’s okay.” Not only did her clothes need repairing but she had always been a woman who took pride in her appearance. She carefully avoided thinking about why that mattered more to her now that she had met Inzen.
“Of course. Would you care to eat first?”
Her stomach