She hoped this stern expression vanished in the bedroom because that would never do.A definite mood-killer.“I’ll sort out something to eat.”
She fled to the tiny galley without a backward peek, her heart pounding with aboom-boom-boom,loud enough to alert a feline there was something amiss.How would she ever get him to kiss her when he kept his distance?What would Olivia do?For almost another portion of a cycle, she dithered and considered the matter while she made sandwiches, taking her time to regain equilibrium.
Set the mood.
Flirtation.
Finally, after even more soul-searching, she plonked the sandwiches on a small float table and set it to deliver to the cockpit.Once it floated off, she picked up two tubes of a fruit drink—a type of citrus-flavored fruit, purple in color and one she’d never tried until landing on Viros.
“Here you go.”She plonked into her seat in the cockpit.“I hope the sandwich is okay for you.”She batted her eyelashes in her first attempt at flirtation.
“It’s fine.”He glanced at her and tilted his head to the side.
It was working.She added a smile and continued a slow and sexy blink.
His brows rose.“What is wrong with your eyes?”
A puff of breath escaped her and she cursed under her breath.Stupid man.“I’m flirting with you.”
“Why?”
This time the swear words slipped free.“Fuck a duck.”
“What?”
Honestly.Did she need to hit the man over the skull to make him understand?She opened her mouth and let her tongue slide out to moisten her lips.Not a calculated move, but holy heck, she’d attracted his attention.To test her conclusion, she repeated the action and his gaze followed the slow glide of her tongue like a pet on a leash.
She still needed to get him talking—a topic to help him relax and pass the flight.“How does it feel to shift to feline?”
He stared a fraction harder, his brow knitted together like an Earth dishrag.“What?”
“I’ve never shifted, and I want to know what to expect, should a miracle occur.”
“You want to shift?”
“Of course I do.Why wouldn’t I?Jannike and Camryn can shift.I bear the feline mark on my cheek, yet I’ve never shifted.Describe it to me.Please.When did you start shifting?Was it scary?”Oops, prattle alert.
“Prince Jarlath and I shifted at thirteen rotations.”His gaze softened, the green of his eyes lightening as his mind drifted into memories, the dish rag effect fading to smooth, tanned skin.His lips—so sensual they tempted her to touch—curved into the beginnings of a smile.“If you ask him, he’ll tell you he shifted first.That’s not true.”He flashed her a genuine grin, and her breath stalled, her tube of fruit juice halting halfway to her mouth.
The spurt of humor made all the difference.It took his face from plain to arresting.Never handsome.No, her Ellard escaped handsome, but oh, he exhibited heart.
“So tell me the truth.”Gweneth set her tube down and leaned closer, mesmerized by his expression.
“I shifted a min earlier than Jarlath.We’d made a deal a couple of rotations earlier to attempt a shift together the sec we felt our felines stir.”
“Did you do that?”
“We did.Jarlath told me his skin itched, and he felt as if his chest might burst.”Ellard chuckled.“I couldn’t feel a thing, but I told Jarlath otherwise.”
“You lied?”
“My pride was on the line.”
She smiled, easily imagining the two young felines indulging in a case of one-upmanship.“What happened next?”
“We decided not to tell my father.He was in charge of training us.Lynx and Shiloh too.”
“You all grew up together?”She couldn’t help the note of wistfulness bleeding into her voice.She had grown up alone with Amme, her nanny, as a companion.Her father allowed none of the other children on the planet of Ornum to play with the governor’s daughter, and then, once she’d matured and the feline tattoo formed on her cheek, her father permitted no one to see her face either.She’d embarrassed him, and he couldn’t bear to look at her.He’d ordered her to wear a full mask whenever she left the governor’s mansion.He’d lost her respect at that stage, but stupidly, she still yearned for acceptance, a show of love.
