The Star King by Susan Grant

wouldn't hurt her—she gulped—unless, of course, he didn't care for those dictates any more than he had Lahdo's.
     
    She inched backward, but the computer consoles behind her allowed no retreat.
     
    "How did you find me?" he demanded under his breath.
     
    "I watched Commander Lahdo's address. I heard name of your ship, so I know where to look."
     
    "I see. Was that the technique you employed the first time?"
     
    "The first time?"
     
    "On Balkanor! Sharron's headquarters."
     
    "Bal-kan-or. Sorry. New at Basic. Please repeat."
     
    "Cease your games, woman! Why are you here? Is it because of my provocation of the Vash Nadah? Pointless it is, but satisfying as hell. Am I to retreat to the farthest reaches of the galaxy? Is that it? Is that what you want? So no one need be reminded of my existence?"
     
    Rom gripped the comm console behind him with unsteady hands. The old fury boiled inside him, and he heard it in his voice. Little wonder she looked as if she wanted to bolt from the ship—or knee him in the groin. In either case, his prospects of learning anything from her were disappearing faster than salt in a sieve. "Well? What have you to say?"
     
    She lifted her chin another defiant notch. "I have no idea what you talk about."
     
    Rom scrutinized her. He considered himself a good judge of character; usually he could tell if a trader was lying to him, or holding something back. That was one reason he'd done so well on so little all these years. But he sensed absolutely no guile on her part. Either she was a master of deception, or she was ignorant of her fateful role in his life. But with the launch sequence well under way, there wasn't time to ascertain which one it was.
     
    With an effort that cost him, he encased his turbulent response to her within an iron will. "So be it. We have many days of travel ahead—more than enough time to finish this conversation."
     
    "Sir," Zarra called out before she could reply. "We have received the launch clearance."
     
    "You may use my chair." Rom urged her across the bridge to his contoured command chair, from where he normally oversaw planetary departures. He drew two straps over her head and buckled them at her hips, then pulled two more belts from the sides of the chair and clicked the ends into the alloy receptacle between her knees.
     
    "I have dreamed of this all my life," she whispered.
     
    Startled by her candor, he met her gemlike gaze.
     
    She spoke haltingly, as if searching for each word. "For you it is routine. But for me it is wonderful." Her eyes shimmered.
     
    He clenched his jaw. He must not allow her suspiciously genuine emotion to touch him. He must not let his guard down. The last time he did, it had cost him everything. "When you see me get up that means it's safe to move around," he said briskly. She gripped the armrests and nodded. He strode to a seat close to Gann's and fastened his safety harnesses as the powerful plasma thrusters rumbled to life. But he could not pull his gaze from the expression of awe on her face, and tried to imagine what the launch must feel like to her. Wondrous, of course. One never forgot his first trip into space. He'd been little more than a toddler when he'd accompanied his parents on his first flight. It remained his earliest memory.
     
    The vibration increased as the Quillie lifted off. He watched the woman clutch the armrests, the invisible force of gravity pressing her into the seat as the ship accelerated. Then the nose rose to a steeper angle. Her bright, keenly intelligent eyes sought the forward view window. The turbulence increased. Outside, clouds slapped wet fingers across the glass in a futile attempt to keep the great craft atmosphere-bound. Then the ship tore free and there were only stars, bright pinpricks against the vast backdrop of deep space. The exact color of her hair .. .
     
    Rom swore under his breath.
     
    "I see the woman has already captured your thoughts," Gann said in Siennan. "I envy