Daughter of the Alien Warrior - Honey Phillips Page 0,40
us.”
It was too late. Cassie scowled at her and then turned to Inzen. “We’ve all missed you. Why don’t you and Lily come to dinner tonight?”
“If my mate wishes,” Inzen said firmly. “Would that please you, Jade?”
She would rather be nibbled to death by ducks, but she forced a pleasant smile. If they were sharing the house, they would need to get along.
“Sounds delightful.” The words came out more sardonically than she intended, and Cassie arched a skeptical brow at her before turning back to Inzen.
“Why don’t I keep Lily while you show your… mate your house?”
A spiteful part of her rejoiced when Lily immediately threw herself back towards Inzen.
“Dada!”
Cassie laughed and smiled triumphantly at Jade. “She’s such a daddy’s girl.”
“This way,” Inzen said, his tail curling around her waist and steering her to a small gate to one side of the shop that she hadn’t noticed before.
“See you in an hour!” Cassie called after them, and Jade looked back to find the girl frowning after them.
“That did not go as well as I had hoped,” Inzen admitted as he opened the gate and led her along a gravel path.
“You think? Are you sure she isn’t in love with you?”
“I am quite sure. But she was treated poorly on that Earth of yours and she finds it difficult to trust people.”
She felt a pang of unwilling sympathy as she thought about her own trust issues.
“I’m sure she’ll come around,” she said, mentally crossing her fingers, then pushed the thought aside as Inzen opened a second gate to reveal a beautifully landscaped garden. “Oh, this is gorgeous.”
A fountain sparkled in the center of the garden, surrounded by a smooth oval of low-cut blue grass. Planting beds filled with flowers and more grasses curved sinuously against the outer walls. The main building formed one end of the garden while a small yellow cottage occupied the other end. Behind a shaded pergola, doors that reminded her of shoji screens lined the front of the cottage.
“Down, Dada,” Lily demanded and Inzen obeyed, setting her carefully on the grass. She toddled off to the fountain, trailing Bobo behind her.
“You need not worry,” Inzen said reassuringly. “There is mesh over the water so she cannot fall in.”
“Of course there is.” He was so protective—perhaps a little too protective—but she couldn’t fault his determination to keep her daughter safe.
“Would you like to see our home?”
When she nodded, his tail tightened around her waist, then he led her to the cottage, throwing open the screens to reveal a large, comfortable room with a seating area at one end and a kitchen area at the other. Behind the main room, a short hallway led to a big bathroom and two bedrooms. One bedroom was obviously Lily’s, decorated in pink and white and overflowing with toys. In addition to a beautifully crafted crib, a canopy bed looked fit for a princess. The other bedroom was larger, with a massive bed and more screens, these opening out to a little pocket garden in soothing tones of gold and green.
She eyed the bed thoughtfully, then realized that Inzen’s tail had slipped down from her waist to stroke lightly across her bottom. Did he assume that now that they were officially mated she would be sharing his bed? Her nipples tightened as she remembered their time together on the ship. She couldn’t say she was entirely opposed to the idea—but she also wasn’t sure if she was ready to fully embrace him as her husband.
“My letari.” Inzen’s voice deepened and she looked up to find him watching her, black eyes hungry with desire. Logic disappeared and an answering flare of need had her starting to sway towards him when Lily wailed from the garden.
“Dada! Bobo wet.”
He hesitated, clearly torn, and she gave him a gentle push. “Go on. Go rescue Bobo.”
Why the hell did I agree to this? Later that night, Jade scowled up at the canopy of Lily’s princess bed and wondered if she made the wrong decision. Dinner had been an unmitigated disaster. Inzen had failed to mention that the top floor of the main house was occupied by TeShawna, another human woman, her Cire mate Mekoi, and their daughter Vanessa. Jade found the fact that TeShawna had taken on the challenge of studying to become a medic on an alien planet with alien patients very impressive and would have loved to talk to her about it. Unfortunately, the other woman had clearly picked up on Cassie’s hostility and wanted nothing