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All too soon, her pragmatic nature took over She was trapped on this ship with hiet away she would need to establish soreed to have sex with him Hell, it wasn’t as if he didn’t attract her, at least on a physical level Slowly, she stood and turned on the light There was a small mirror on the back of the door; it reflected a face red and puffy with tears She scowled at her reflection, disgusted with her coloring Why did she always have to look blotchy when she cried? It wasn’t fair

Of course, better blotchy than dead, she reminded herself It wasfor them, and more than she would have had if she hadn’t escaped Transit Three No ht be, she didn’t doubt for one uards would have beento the fresher to wash her face He was there, sitting on the floor in the corridor looking up at her His face was cool and hard, no trace of eht, but he stood quickly and reached for her She shot him a look of pure ice, and he pulled his hands back, and tucking theht?” he asked stiffly “I regret the harive you a nice dinner, to try andup badtired “You didn’t know Can you please answer one question for h? Were you on Hector Prime? Were you one of the to do with it, although that hardly makes a difference at this point They’re still dead”

“A lot of people are dead,” she replied, sighing heavily “I guess we need to blame the Emperor and the Saurellian Council for that You aren’t on the Council, are you?” she asked suspiciously

“No, I have nothing to do with them,” he replied, startled That emotionless ht He used that co to hide hi… And effective She never would have guessed there was ahis concern He cared that he had hurt her

“Would you like to finish dinner?” she asked softly “If the Saurellians and the Ie to hold a truce, shouldn’t we be able to?”

“Yes, I think so,” he said “May I escort you to the galley?”

He held out one arallantly, as if they were in a vid about the Imperial Court She reached out and took it When he seated her this tione The as still there, however, and withincovered in a thin, speckled glaze

“What is it?” she asked

“It’s kvana , in a Beloni pepper glaze,” he said slowly “It’s kind of et the kvana ”

She shook her head, wondering how he’d gotten kvanaThen she took a bite The —perfectly balanced by the sweet glaze After a an to burn, and she took a sip of the wine to cool it off The strange shiver of sensation it caused wasn’t unexpected this tiht down between her legs She looked at hi to him

He really was quite an attractive ht When they were done with the kvana, he brought her a small cup of flavored ice, to “cleanse her palate” She was on her third glass of wine by that ti more than a little silly when he followed the ices with a platter of greens, cheeses and fruits, many of which she had never seen before