Chapter 33

Lorelai

I was wearier than I would have thought by the time we made it to our new rooms. Ellax's rooms. My rooms. It appeared to be a suite. The bedroom was in the center. To my left, on the opposite side, I could see what appeared to a sitting room or study. Or a combination of both. I caught glimpses of a desk with a chair behind it. A low couch, arm chairs, and bookshelves filled with books and scrolls. Windows allowed in early evening light, offering the room an almost romantic glow. I took my gaze from that, shifting it to the third room of the trio, which had to be the bathroom. Again, from where I stood, I caught glimpses of marble countertops and gleaming floors bespeaking an extreme level of wealth and luxury.

The bedroom itself was huge. I was tempted to turn circles and stare at it. The bed boasted a gleaming dark wood frame, plenty of pillows, and a heavy quilt of shiny fabric that I'd never seen back home. There was a deep closet built into the far wall, and tall windows set on either side of two glass doors leading to a porch which would be a very nice place to sip coffee and watch the sunrise. Or sip wine and watch the sunset.

Wow. This one set of rooms is as big as the entire house Charlie and I shared.

Not quite, but nearly.

Even the Overlord quarters at the Castle, which I'd been privileged to visit more than once because of my husband's job, weren't anywhere near as nice as this. What little I'd seen of Asterion showed me a planet where a beautiful alien species liked beautiful things. I felt out of place and alone. Shabby and dull by comparison.

Except Ellax, shockingly, wasn't studying me as if I were shabby or dull. If anything, now that we were alone inside his bedroom, he seemed to have picked up a renewed interest in me.

"Well," he asked, reaching up to slide the bronze circlet off his head. "Will this suit?"

He walked over to a decorative table and laid it down next to several other jewelry items—items that were likely worth a fortune where I came from, but were lying out unguarded here.

"It's very nice," I admitted half-grudgingly, hating to give him any sort of upper hand.

"We can have furniture brought in for you. Whatever you need. There is plenty of space," he offered.

I glanced about the room again, pretending to be seeking a place for my furniture. Although there was a sofa in the bedroom itself, end tables, a dressing table, decorative tables, and lovely, plush rugs, the room was so big it still retained an empty quality. Maybe because it was, to him, simply a place to get dressed and sleep. It didn't have any of the curios, mementos, family photos, or even artwork to spell out his tastes, his interests, or what he really loved.

I nodded. "Yes. There's certainly plenty of that."

A chime at the door forestalled further communication. I glanced at Ellax and he nodded permission.

"Food," he said.

"Oh." Since I was closer, I hurried to the door, opening it to a mecha with female clothing and a feminine appearance.

"Welcome home, Lord Ellax," she said. "Welcome to our home, Lady Lorelai."

"Oh. Thank you." I'd never interacted with mechas before. It felt awkward speaking to them as if they were sentient, but I reminded myself that being polite even to a non-living entity cost me nothing, did it?

She wheeled herself into the room, pushing a rolling cart brimming with covered dishes.

"May this be to your satisfaction," she said, stopping the cart in front of a small table between two chairs. "Shall I lay out the meal?"

"No, Hielis, that will be all," Ellax replied.

As the mecha wheeled herself out, closing the door behind her, he walked past me, unbuttoning his cuffs and pushing his sleeves up to his elbows. The simple action caught my eye, making me swallow hard.

"I'll return in a moment," he said, and made his way to the washroom.

In order to distract myself from thoughts of my husband, I decided to lay out the meal Hielis had brought. The food, in and of itself, wasn't anything unfamiliar, consisting of bread, meat, and vegetables. However, there were three vegetables on the plate, none of which I recognized. Whatever was in the pitcher to drink had a strong fruity scent that I sniffed appreciatively. Fresh fruits and vegetables were an absolute luxury on my part of Earth. I could imagine, glancing out the window at the lush, green mountains, that I would be lucky enough to have all I wanted here on Asterion.

Talk about changes.

Once Ellax emerged from the washroom, I took my turn, grateful for my first chance to clean up after exiting the ship, using transports, and even visiting the Council's seat of power. Glancing in the mirror over the sink, I briefly studied my reflection, tucked a few stray hairs back into place, gave a little sigh over the faint lines at the corner of my eyes, reminded myself that I wasn't twenty-two anymore and it was okay, then walked back out into the suite I'd be sharing with my new husband.

"Ready to eat?" he asked.

My mouth was suddenly watering alright, but it wasn't for the damned food. I was staring at Ellax's forearms and hands, the dark silver skin starkly contrasted by the white of his shirtsleeves, which he'd rolled up earlier before washing. All of a sudden, my mind leapt to very naughty images of those hands and the things they could probably do…

To the bed dominating the bedroom, and to the fact that we were married and alone.

"Lorelai?"

The sound of my name snapped me out of the spell.

What was wrong with me? I hadn't felt a surge of unbearable attraction like this in well…ever. Even when Charlie and I were horny young teens, first going out, our relationship was really more like we'd been thrown together enough that we eventually had sex, not because I couldn't keep my mind and hands off him. Then I'd gotten pregnant, and getting married had seemed the smartest thing to do, so that's what we'd done. I'd never felt an attraction to Charlie like I felt to this alien, and what did that say about me? I barely knew him! I wasn't sure if I knew enough about Ellax to like or dislike him.

"Y-yes," I stammered, hurrying over to take my seat. He gave me a sideways look that seemed to be calculating my odd reaction. Mortified, I hoped he'd never realize I'd been turned on by the sight of him rolling up his damned shirtsleeves and of his sexy forearms.

To make sure it didn't happen again, while he served me, I did my best to bounce my gaze off the bed, the wall, the rugs, the study, the view outside…anything to avoid glimpsing his hands and arms. Once we both had a plate, he seated himself in the opposite chair and we ate with little communication between us. Until Ellax remarked,

"I will have a witnessing mecha fetched as soon as possible."

My mind leapt to catch up with his. When it did, I sort of dropped my fork with a clunk to the side of the fancy, heavy plate. Ellax noticed and frowned.

"Are you well?"

"Of—of course," I replied, trying to summon a smile.

Was I? Once the pact was witnessed, there was no other delaying tactics to keep me from going to bed with him. Judging by my reaction a moment ago to simply seeing him roll up his sleeves, and gauging by the way my toes curled inside my shoes, that could be either a very good or a very bad thing.

You're in danger of losing it, Lorelai, if you're not careful.

Losing myself to an alien male I barely knew, but who held the power of life and death over my species. Despite an insane physical attraction to him, I could not afford to forget that fact.