She nodded. “I made sure I found out, but when I searched for info on him, I came up blank. I’m guessing his name is fake. Someone called Braxton Riser.”
All brothers swore, and Eos winced. “Not good?”
Dathan shook his head. “It’s an alias that Vand Braxx uses.”
Her stomach dropped. “Oh. We really don’t want to run into him.”
“It’s more likely we’ll run into Darc,” Niklas said with a savage frown. “She does a lot of work for him.”
“Maybe they haven’t linked Beta7 to Star’s End?” Eos said.
Dathan shook his head. “Yeah, and I’m a Gaian harem dancer. Sure you don’t have any more surprises, Dr. Rai?”
“Not today.”
“Well, we’ll have to hope the drive on theInfinitasholds up.” He smiled. “Let’s go hunting.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Dathan moved through the market stalls on Souk without slowing down.
He dodged the crowds, his mind going over everything they needed for the expedition. He hitched the now heavy backpack up on his shoulder. One last stop and they’d be finished.
“This place is amazing.”
He glanced at Eos. She stared out across the jumble of stalls in the crowded central market. There were people from all over the galaxy—a melting pot of tall and short, white, brown and green, hominid and reptilian. The clothes ranged from sleek silver jumpsuits to flowing head-to-toe robes. The noise was a cacophony of languages and vendors touting their wares.
She drew in a deep breath. “The scents, the colors, the people. So much history from all over the galaxy packed into one place.”
Dathan tried to see it through her eyes. He’d spent so much time here he really didn’t see it much anymore. He made his purchases and left. He breathed deep and smelled the sizzling, spicy scent of chillia. The place was a dazzling mix of beautiful woman, smiling vendors, and snap-happy tourists.
But he saw the seediness round the edges. The Kief dealers hanging in the shadows. The pickpockets working their way through the crowd. The darkened alleys leading to stores that sold things the nice people out in the market would be horrified to know about. Maybe he’d been a part of that world for so long, he’d become jaded.
Or maybe he’d just been born rough. He glanced at Eos’ elegant hands with their beautiful markings, then his own rough, scarred ones.
Annoyed, he moved forward. “We aren’t here for a tour.”
Moments later, he realized Eos was no longer beside him. He turned and spotted her at a jewelry stall. She was turning something over in her hand and having an animated conversation with the stall owner.
God, she was glowing. Ever since they’d set foot on Souk, she’d come alive. Asking questions, looking at everything, absorbing it all. With her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed, she was captivating.
He wanted her. It was as simple and complicated as that. She was the opposite of everything he liked in a woman, but he wanted her. She was smart, probably too smart for him, but it attracted him. And she knew her purpose, what she wanted in life. That was a quality he both admired and envied.
God. Now was not the time. They were meeting Zayn and Nik back at theInfinitasin half an hour, once they’d all completed their shopping lists. He shouldn’t be focused on Eos Rai’s curvy body.
He walked up behind her. Heard her asking about the history of the man’s designs.
“We don’t have time for this,” Dathan said between clenched teeth.
“Dathan.” She looked back over her shoulder, a smile on her face. “Look at these, aren’t they gorgeous? The vendor’s from aplanet called Eiran. His family’s been working metal for seven generations.”
Dathan barely spared a glance for the hammered metal designed to circle a woman’s upper arm. “It’s called a torq.”
“The quality is exquisite.”
He leaned in close, crowding her. “It’s what the men of Eiran buy to put on their wives.”
Her hand bobbled and she almost dropped the torq.
