Domestic Duet: Domestic Alliance & Asset by Cora Blu Read Free Book Online Page A

in anything taller than a Ferris wheel. Will it make me sick…nauseated? Do I need a particular air suit or helmet in the event something happens?” Anxious, her tone came out wobbly, barely recognizable. Surveying the crowd’s attire, she noticed no one wore jeans other than her. Pants with multiple pockets down the legs were common among the karuntee.
    The captain’s look hung between amused and annoyed. Heat poured off his body in waves with him inches from her side, bumping her with every step.
    “Sit over here along the wall. Take hold of that strap hanging from the shoulder rest and bring it across your body. There’s one for your lap. For your safety, remain fastened securely in your seat until we’re clear of the launch bay doors.” Their bodies barely cleared the other when she eased around him to her seat.
    The chair had a high back and a thick cushioned seat as she got Norese then herself settled, securing their individual straps. The captain flipped a few switches on the ceiling. A clanking mechanism churned, closing the doors. The lights inside dimmed. “We’ll be there in under an hour.”
    “An hour,” she retorted, her voice higher than normal. How slow did this ship travel for it to take an hour? “Are you good at driving these shuttles?” she asked hesitantly. “How safe are they? Does anyone ever crash?”
    His eyes pierced her with a cold stare. “There’s a blanket in the drawer beneath your feet,” he said, ignoring her comment to speak with his daughter. “Norese, are you cold?”
    “No.” Inching her way onto Sadie’s lap, Norese gave her father’s hand a little push to clear her path.
    Sadie reclined, giving her space to cuddle her body to her chest where she withdrew a toy from the cushion of the seat. She clutched the stuffed animal in the shape of an iguana—orbital black eyes on either side of its head—to her chest. Norese’s warm breath penetrated Sadie’s T-shirt when she settled into her chest.
    “I’ll take a blanket,” Sadie told him, needing to be comforted herself. Up here on the space shuttle for the first time, she should be looking for a bottle of liquid courage to accompany the blanket, but Norese’s little body would do.
    She drew back when he knelt, fishing a blanket out from the drawer under her seat. His dark eyes trailed her open legs up to her face. The overhead lights, although dim, illuminated the curve of his bald head, and she bit back the urge to touch his face. His body came over hers. He draped the dark velvety cloth over the both of them, careful of where he touched.
    “Thank you, Captain; I can handle it from here.”
    Abruptly he returned to the controls. For the first time Sadie noticed Montage to his right flipping switches and pressing buttons. Broad shouldered as the captain, Montage held a classic handsome quality to his features set off by a hint of cruelty in his eyes. The long burgundy ponytail at the back of his otherwise bald head gave him a Japanese flair. They all had black with burgundy eyes she had to fight not to drown in.
    “Ms. Alexander, there’s something you need to know about a karuntee.” He shifted, angling his broad shoulders enough for their eyes to meet, addressing her politely yet stiff as a board left out in the snow. “Seldom do we have humans on the station or in our daily lives. It’s wise to remain with the captain while on the beach.”
    She stroked a hand through Norese’s curls, as if it medicated her jumpy nerves. “Thank you, Commander,” she said when the interior faded to a soft glow around the base. “I’ll remember that and hope everyone else remembers I was brought here by force.”
    The captain’s shoulders tensed. “I’m done hearing your complaints, Ms. Ochi.” His voice came out a harsh force of nature, consuming her calm by the intense tone.
    “Ms. Alexander,” she corrected him, not wanting him to know the level of control he held over her with the sound of his voice. “Ochi