be with her.
“I would strike a bargain with you.”
She kept walking, not even deigning to reply.
In the silence, he knew she couldn’t miss hearing his next claim. “I know where there is a human settlement.”
It caught her attention, and she whirled. “Where?”
“I will tell you where but only if you give me a chance to prove we are mates.”
“You want sexual favors in exchange for a coordinate?” Her nose wrinkled. “No thanks.”
“No coitus required. What I want from you are eight days spent in my company.”
“Doing what?”
“Getting to know each other.”
“Don’t you mean convincing me I should ride the lizard and promise to be your wifey poo?”
His lips quirked. “I have no idea what you just said; however, I am going to assume it was rude and counter with, what are you afraid of?”
“I fear nothing, especially not you. But I want to know what happens at the end of those eight days. What if I still hate you?”
“If you still want to leave, then I will give you the coordinates to the human settlement.”
“You’d let me leave?” The query emerged dubious.
“I won’t force you.” He trusted in fate even if Karma could be obtuse about it.
“How do I know you’re not shitting me about knowing where a colony is?”
He surmised what she meant. “I have no reason to lie when I can prove my claim. I began searching for more of your kind the moment we parted.” He held out his palm, and a light shone from it, coalescing into a hologram. The colors went from fuzzy to crisp.
It caught her attention, and she stared at the video footage of a town.
Her lips parted. “It looks so much like Earth, except the coloring is wrong. Orange instead of green grass. And those look like rocks but made of some kind of smoky glass.” She appeared fascinated as she studied the mishmash of materials and styles of the buildings, but her true interest sharpened when she noticed the inhabitants.
“Are those humans?” She reached out to touch, only to disperse the image.
“Yes, and by all indications, they are from your planet Earth. Most are second and third generation with little recollection of your world other than stories passed down by the first wave of settlers.”
“Tell me where it is.”
“Eight days,” he repeated.
The glare in her gaze would have incinerated him if she were from the Draegz world. “You won’t get me to love you in eight days.”
“Maybe not, but I predict we will be intimate.”
Her laughter proved bright and shining. “I am not going to screw you.”
This time he understood her slang. “You will. And enjoy it.”
Her good humor faded. “Rape me and die.”
“I won’t force you to do anything. I will wait for you to seduce me.”
Her expression clearly expressed her belief that she’d never be the one to initiate. He understood that feeling. Given her intense repulsion of him, he’d be stubborn if pressed to seduce, too.
There was fate and then his situation. Perhaps she was right and they would be in that small percentage that failed. Somehow, he doubted that Karma would allow that to happen.
“Well, look at that, the planet isn’t a lifeless waste of time after all.” Ishtara’s voice sounded entirely too bright.
Immediately suspicious, Clarabelle glanced at her friend. “You knew he’d be here.”
“Suspected, yes. Our notes on this galaxy did mention a race of beings with bronze-colored skin, Serpion origin in nature.”
“It is said the serpent God and our goddess Karma lay together and birthed a race that combined their best traits,” he declared, reciting one of the many theories of their evolution.
“I should have known you were a snake the first time I met you.” Belle scowled.
Did she not know how attractive she was despite it? It surprised him to find her paleness not as shocking as before. To him at least. When he presented her to his tribe, though, there would be much complaint. Marriage outside their species didn’t happen often. It wasn’t banned as such, more just they tended to be a solitary race. They had no interest in the affairs of others.
“Do we have a bargain?” he asked.
“A deal to do what?” Ishtara quickly asked.
“He knows where I can find a human settlement, but he won’t give me the coordinates until I spend eight days with him.”
Ishtara nodded. “Eight days should be enough time for him to plant a warrior babe in your belly.”
He had to bite his inner cheek lest he laugh at Clarabelle’s expression.
“We are not screwing!”
“I should hope