A small gasp escaped her lips as Pearl shot upright, her eyes dancing nervously from me to the harem girls. I opened my mouth to inquire, but Pearl gave a short, jerky shake of her head, dislodging strands of reddish-brown hair from the bun at the back of her neck.
“Ladies.” The timbre of her voice didn’t hint at worry. “Could you excuse us for a minute?”
Deema and Aqsa shared a look, their faces fading from worry to amusement in the time it took me to blink. The way they giggled as they left the kitchen made me think they expected Pearl and me to be all over each other the minute the door closed.
Not a bad idea. Yet the minute I glanced at Pearl, I knew kissing wasn’t on her mind.
“What is it?”
“You don’t smell it?” Her voice held a tinge of fear, and she rubbed the fingertips she’d used to touch the meat almost obsessively on her jacket.
I put my nose closer, once again taking in the metallic meat and blood scent, plus that odd grassy smell that seemed so out of place.
“There’s something....” I began, unsure how to identify the strange taint.
“It’s that plant,” Pearl blurted. “The one that smells like lemongrass that you said was poisonous.”
Now that I had an idea, I sniffed again, and the earthy, citrusy scent was much easier to discern. I nodded in agreement, and Pearl smiled triumphantly.
“One of my best assets as a chef is the ability to recognize a spice by scent.”
Gingerly, I pulled the gauze over the meat, then slipped an arm around Pearl’s waist, pulling her away from the table. “If we are right, do you know what it means?”
Pearl glanced at me, puzzled, and I watched as comprehension settled on her beautiful face.
“Holy shit!” She didn’t say another word. There was no need.
“We need to be sure.” My mind raced as I let out a heavy sigh, the weight of our situation bearing down on me. It wasn’t enough to simply be cautious. We needed to handle this with the utmost care to ensure that Baron Oappo never discovered our suspicions in case they turned out to be unfounded.
“How?” Pearl breathed. For a moment, everything went still, as though the very air was trying to come up with a scheme. The low, constant hum of the space station engines tickled my ears, bringing with it a sudden rush of inspiration.
“What?” Pearl asked. Could she feel the change in my heartbeat as easily as I could feel hers?
“Don’t touch it.” I pulled her against my chest, pressing my lips on the top of her hair for a moment before pulling away. “Don’t let anyone else in the kitchen. I will be back as soon as I can.”
“Where are you going?” Pearl took a step to follow me. I didn’t enjoy leaving her here, but we couldn’t take the chance—not if we were right in our suspicion.
“To find something that will tell us if your nose is right.”
Unable to help myself, I pulled her against me, pressing a kiss on the tip of her nose before dropping my lips to hers and kissing her soundly.
“Be careful,” Pearl told me, the faint, breathy sound of her voice making me want to abandon all duty and reason.
My eyes stayed fixed on hers as I slowly backed towards the doorway, studying every emotion that flickered across her beautiful face. I could see the apprehension in her eyes, but she tried to mask it with a dazzling smile. With one last longing look, I stepped into the hallway, my heartbeat giving a sudden uptick, echoing the worry in hers.
Chapter 15 – Pearl
Deema and Aqsa returned when Jutuk left. I sent them away, claiming to have a headache. The kitchen was closed until we got to the bottom ofmeat-gate.
I scrubbed my hands with hot water and soap, worried I’d picked up the essence of the poison grass from touching the meat. Finally, with my fingers scalded and pruned, I felt satisfied my touch was no longer poisonous. I cleaned up the kitchen and stored away the prepped food for cooking tomorrow. With that done, I settled at the vegetable prep station, dicing an alien potato, anything to take my mind off worrying about Jutuk.
There wasn’t much else to do.
I’d meticulously planned the menu, and thanks to Deema and Aqsa’s capable hands, we’d completed all the prep work. Jutuk had been a great help. His skills in the kitchen were outmatched only by his abilities in the bedroom. Every night, he took me back to my quarters—our quarters—and we would lose ourselves in each other. The physical release was a welcomed distraction from the stresses of planning what was tantamount to a royal dinner, not to mention our escape.
My mate.
I loved him.
