“A strong, capable male rescued me too,” she says with a smile, and her hazel eyes flash with mischief at where Rovos is listening quietly. “Now, let’s try this again. What’s your name, dear?”
“Anna,” I tell her then take a deep breath. “Anna Johnson, from Earth.”
“I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Anna Johnson from Earth.” Deja grins at me before looking back at Rovos. “And what about you, Vesen?”
When I look up, Rovos is staring at me in that intense way of his, the look that makes my heart pound and my knees go a little weak.
“This is Rovos,” I say when he remains silent.
“I’m pleased to meet you both,” Deja says with a nod to each of us. “Now, Anna, what is your story?”
My fingers twist in my lap as I consider what I should tell her. When I look up at Rovos, he isn’t forthcoming and just continues to watch me.
“Um. It’s pretty similar to your story,” I say. “I used to consider my planet technologically advanced. I mean, we have rockets that take us into space. A space station, where astronauts live and work. We’ve sent people to the surface of our moon and even a couple satellites out of our solar system. But there is no life besides ours on any of the nearby planets.
“I was walking home when the Xar’ads abducted me. They didn’t know I was a human either. At least, not at first.” My hands twist in my lap. What if they’ve already told others about Earth?
Once I get going, my story flows out of me, and it’s oddly therapeutic, being able to tell someone who understands what I’ve been through. So I tell her everything. Well, almost everything. I keep the sexy parts between Rovos and me to myself.
I tell her about being rescued by Rovos and his crew. Killing those green aliens and escaping from Volethos. When I tell her about how Volethos was going to sell me to a Madame, I don’t miss the way Deja stiffens, and I could kick myself for bringing up an obviously painful memory.
Pushing on, I tell her how we narrowly escaped the station and lost the comm antenna. “Which brings us here,” I say, spreading my hands out before me when I finish.
“You haven’t been able to contact your crew since leaving the station?” Deja asks Rovos. When he shakes his head, she shouts, “Ravi!”
The boy appears in the entry as if he were just waiting to be summoned.
“Ravi is one of my grandsons,” she explains to us. To Ravi she says, “Take Rovos so he can use the comm to contact his crew.”
Ravi turns to go, but Rovos doesn’t move. “Will you be all right?” he asks, keeping his eyes on me.
“I’ll be fine.” I appreciate his concern, but what does he think could possibly happen in the time it will take him to comm theShade?
He watches me for a moment longer and then nods before turning to follow the boy.
“He cares deeply for you,” Deja says as soon as we’re alone.
“Yeah, that’s what he tells me.” I sigh. “He’s sure got a funny way of showing it though.”
“How so?” she asks. “His eyes have not left you since you’ve arrived.”
“Well,” I shrug,” for one, he brought mehere.”
“You did not want to come?”
“It’s not that.” How do I explain the way I feel to this stranger when I can’t even talk to Rovos about it? “He’s never asked me what I want. Instead, he’s completely wrapped up in his own… misguided chivalry.”
Deja is smirking when I look over at her.
“Do you think I’m wrong?” I ask.
“Oh, I couldn’t say,” she answers, “but all the males I know seem to be well versed in… what did you call it?Misguided chivalry?”
She’s chuckling to herself when the loud rumbling of a low-flying jet engine flies overhead. Deja and I look up and then exchange startled looks. When nothing else happens, she shrugs, and I fall back into the couch cushion.
“What should I do? How can I make him understand I want to stay with him? That I don’t want him to leave me here.”
“Have you told him this?” Someone runs past the alcove, and Deja’s eyes follow them before coming back to me. Her lips quirk up into a half smile. “Plainly. Using small words?”
