Chapter Eight
…And putting a crown on her head and draping a cape over her shoulders. They quickly tied the cape around her neck and showered her with flower petals. Some of them blew smoke into the air in fantastic, twisting configurations.
Kodran fought his way next to her. His hair was rumpled and he was out of breath. He threw his brawny arm around her shoulders, and the crowd shouted even louder.
“Kodran?” she said, smiling through clenched teeth.
He gave her an apologetic smile. “I tried to warn you. I tried to help you escape before it was too late.”
“What is happening here?”
“This is the mating celebration. It’s traditional. Apparently, after you proposed to me on Agora, word spread very quickly.”
Again with the proposing! Rosamund took a deep, angry breath. “For the love of God, I did not—” she yelled.
She realized that everyone had gone silent and was staring at her. Kodran’s parents, along with a tall young woman who looked a lot like Kodran, had pushed their way to the front of the crowd, and they were watching her intently.
She couldn’t humiliate him in front of everyone like this.
“—expect this kind of welcome!” she finished.
The crowd burst into huge cheers.
She gave Kodran a dirty look. “I will get you for this later, I swear,” she muttered.
“Is that Earth code for ‘I will make love to you all night long’?’ ” Kodran asked hopefully.
“Nope.”
“I was afraid not.” He gestured off to their left. The crowd was carrying over an elaborately carved carriage without wheels – like a Victorian sedan chair, except decorated with dragon carvings. Rosamund and Kodran climbed in, and they were carried through the crowd.
“What happens next?”
“We circle the building three times, and then there is the traditional banquet.”
“How are you going to explain it to everyone when I go back to Agora?” she asked, looking exasperated.
Then she saw the look of deep hurt on his face; it stabbed into her heart. He didn’t want to hear her talk about leaving. He was still so sure, deep inside, that she’d marry him and live here with him in his fairytale castle, teaching their children and grandchildren how to go splat. She could see the heartache in the depths of his hypnotically green eyes.
“I know that you’re lying to me,” she said with exasperation. “How can we even talk about building a future together when you’re hiding things from me?”
She couldn’t tell him about the Draell woman and child she’d seen hiding on the ship, because she’d promised not to, and she didn’t know if it would put them in danger. However, that wasn’t all he was hiding.
“You and your crew are being very secretive about something. There was something you didn’t want me to see when you made the first landing on your planet. There was some reason you wanted me to stay in my room, and I think it was because you didn’t want me to see what – or who – you were unloading.”
He avoided her gaze, looking out the window of their chariot. There was a sea of happy, cheering faces out there.
“You didn’t really buy medical equipment on Agora, did you?” Rosamund prodded him.
“We did buy medical equipment.” He faced her again. “Put your hand on my heart.”
She put her hand on the left side of his broad, strong chest, and felt an instant rush of arousal. He closed his hand over hers and moved it to the right side. Oops. Alien biology.
“Tell me what you feel?” he asked.
She didn’t dare tell him what she felt. There was a dampness between her legs, and her nipples had swelled into hard, aching buds of desire. “I don’t know,” she lied, blushing.
“Close your eyes,” Kodran intoned, his voice deep and rich. “Open your mind.”