The raven-haired beauty turned her face up to him, standing patiently as he cleaned the blood away and then applied the ointment. “Thank you,” she said when he’d finished. “And thank you both for saving my life. I’m Sanri, by the way.” She held out her hand to Nojan and he took it, shaking it.
“I’m Nojan, and this is my companion, Mayra. What were you doing on an interstellar police cruiser? And what happened to the officers?”
Sanri’s green eyes widened. “They’d picked me up on the Rings. I was hitchhiking.”
Mayra didn’t consider hitchhiking to be an arrestable offense, but then again, she’d only seen a small corner of the galaxy. But Nojan’s tone seemed to echo her doubt. “Hitchhiking? I know that’s against the local statutes, but it’s rarely enforced.”
Sanri shrugged. “I was headed in their direction, and their HQ would get me closer to my destination, so I sort of egged them on until they detained me.” Her smile was innocent, even playful. It made Mayra sick to her stomach.
“And what happened to make the ship malfunction?” Nojan’s expression was neutral, but Mayra wondered if he was affected by the female. Sanri was shorter than Mayra and finer boned, with sharp cheekbones and a waist so slender she thought the woman might disappear when she turned sideways. Not to mention pert breasts and a small behind. Her figure made Mayra self-conscious about her own height and curves. What if Nojan preferred a more delicate woman?
“That, I couldn’t tell you.” Sanri sauntered toward the galley. “You got anything to eat around here? I’m starving. Near-death experiences always make me hungry.”
Nojan’s brows lowered but he followed behind their new guest, digging out a leftover portion of their dinner. She took the dish with an angelic smile and carried it to the table where she sat and dug in. “This is delicious,” she said with a moan. “Much better than the chow I would have gotten in the pokey.”
Chow? Pokey?What a strange dialect this woman spoke. And her clothing was odd as well. Mayra had never seen shorts that short. They cupped Sanri’s cheeks like a pair of hands. And the V in her shirt was so deep, it ended just above her navel. Meters of tan skin were exposed, skin that seemed to glow with good health. Mayra’s own pale skin showed how little time she spent outdoors.
Compared to her, I might as well be a fat ugly worm raised under a rock.Her eyes flashed to Nojan, but she could pick up nothing from his face. What did he think of their unexpected passenger? Was he delighted to have a new and clearly superior female on his vessel?
“You don’t know what happened to cause the malfunction, a malfunction strong enough to blow up the ship. There must have been some kind of warning.”
Sanri sighed and put down her fork. “I suppose. There was some kind of alarm. I heard one of the cops say that there was a problem with the fuel system. He said he thought the punk at the last fueling station might have put something in the tank to fuck with them. The other one suggested trying to purge the tank and then call for a tow, but when they hit the button, something went wrong. The console in front erupted into a fireball, hitting them both. I dropped to the floor and crawled to the back of the ship where there was an emergency console. I started radioing for help, and you came along just in the nick of time.”
Nojan pulled out a chair at the table across from the woman and sat down. “You’re Territhian, right?”
Sanri looked at him and winked. “Baby, I’m a lot of things.”
That got a reaction. Nojan laughed, shaking his head. “Where you headed?”
Sanri stared at him. “Wherever you’re going, big boy.”
At that moment, Mayra experienced an unfamiliar sensation. Her chest tightened, making it hard to breathe. At the same time, an anger boiled up, turning her stomach and making her hands itch to slap the grin off the dark-haired woman’s face.What is this emotion?
She wanted to scratch out the bitch’s eyes for even looking in Nojan’s direction.Could it be? Was this jealousy?
You’re being ridiculous, her inner voice chided her.Remember, we weren’t going to let our heart get involved.
Mayra wished she could agree with the inner voice, but the evidence of her jealousy was in her shaking hands. She balled them into tight fists and moved closer to the table.
“We can drop you at Killian. It’s not far, and you should be able to find a transport to wherever you’re going.”
“Ew, the bug planet? No thanks.” Sanri shook her head, then batted her big green eyes at the Vartik. “Where are you guys headed? Can I tag along?”
Mayra had overcome a lot in the moments leading up to this one. She knew now that there was a reserve of strength inside her, and she was going to work harder to express it. “Afraid not,” she said, her voice cracking a bit, causing her to clear her throat. “But we’re happy to drop you off, as Nojan suggested.”
Sanri’s eyes narrowed as they met Mayra’s. The woman arched a brow, then turned her attention back to the Vartik, her face breaking into a beatific grin. “Nojan, huh? That’s a nice name.”
She’s ignoring me. That bitch!Mayra crossed her arms, then moved over to a seat near the console to pout. She’d been talked down to her entire life. As a slave, it was always expected. But she wasn’t a slave anymore. She was the goddamn Great Oracle of Territh, and people would damn well respect her.
Or what?her inner voice asked.
You’re really becoming a pain in the ass, Mayra told the voice.Or I’ll slap that fucking doe-eyed look off her smug face.
Nojan stood. “Well, I suppose I should plot a course. If anyone comes looking for that cruiser, we don’t want them to find the infamous hitchhiker in the vicinity.”
He headed to the console, giving Mayra an unfathomable look. Sitting, he started punching in coordinates. “If you’re not partial to Killian, I can drop you at the Chandler Spaceport. Plenty of ships coming and going there.”
Mayra eyed the woman, waiting for her to reply. She didn’t, just continued to devour what was on her plate. Nojan typed in the coordinates and engaged them, and Mayra watched the viewscreen as the stars became blurs around them.
