A Stellar Affair by Laurel Richards Read Free Book Online Page A

citizens. His mind was always sharper when he was rested, and he hoped the open windows and sunshine would have a calming effect on her. Wanting to keep things friendly and nonthreatening, he went to the kitchen to fix some iced tea. He was still stirring in the sugar crystals when Falk knocked on his door and brought the woman inside.
    The moment Jack spotted her, he caught his breath. Her eyes were an unusual shade of blue with whispers of green, and she had dark blonde hair with a hint of a wave. She seemed slightly exotic somehow, although the effect was subtle. The instant attraction he felt, on the other hand, was anything but mild. She was beautiful.
    She was also scared. He could feel it coming off her in waves, and he could see it in her pretty eyes. There was confusion there as well. When he touched her thoughts, he gathered she had expected some kind of evil precept torture chamber. His cozy house with its hardwood floors and open windows surprised her.
    “I’ll be waiting out front when you’re done,” Falk told him.
    The guard released the metal bonds on her wrists and let go of her arm.
    “Thanks.” Jack never took his attention off the woman. He held out his hand. “How are you? My name is Jackson Deimos, but you can call me Jack.”
    Ardra stared at his open palm. This was a precept? The guy looked like an ordinary man, not a monster or mutant. In fact, he was handsome and friendly looking. He couldn’t have been older than his early thirties. His hair was a fine light brown, and he had striking hazel eyes, which were now fixed on her. Under different circumstances, she might have attributed her fluttering pulse to something other than nerves. When she shook his hand, his fingers felt warm and soft and made her shiver.
    “Rosemary Warner.” She offered the false name again.
    After they had been captured, she and the other passengers had been questioned and pressured into giving information. Tarrin had recited his name, rank, and serial number, but she wasn’t a soldier. Figuring the less the Roimirans and their precept knew, the better, she had done some fast thinking and blurted out the only other name she could think of—that of her brief traveling companion back on the space station. Now that she was here, she was very glad she had done so.
    Jack studied her for a moment before he motioned toward one of the tall, round chairs at the island counter. “Please sit down.”
    She settled into the seat and looked around. Behind her, there was a couch, a cocktail table and some overstuffed chairs in the living room, and a covered patio opened off the back of the house. She could see a bit of yard and wild fields rolling away toward a small forest. The kitchen was open, and she had the impression that a bedroom sprouted off somewhere down the hallway to her left.
    “I’m making some iced tea,” Jack said. “Would you like some?”
    He turned his back on her to get something out of the cabinet and then returned with two glasses. Although she hadn’t answered, he tilted the pitcher and set a full drink in front of her. So far, she had refused everything her captors had tried to offer her, so she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since the previous morning. She was thirsty, but she stared suspiciously at the glass. Wasn’t there some rule about not accepting the first thing the enemy offered you? She didn’t know, but she decided to play it safe.
    “I hope you like tea,” he said. “Some people think it’s too mundane now that they’ve invented all those new fusion concoctions, but I like to keep things simple. How about you?”
    “Sure.” She played along, though she wondered what kind of interrogation this was.
    Jack sat across from her. “The temperature seemed right for it. If it needs more sugar, let me know, although I tend to make it sweet.”
    He was acting sweetly too. Was that the plan? Was he going to be nice to her until she let down her guard, or was he some kind of strange