attractive force on her. Damn, what a man he was! Tall, strong, sensationally handsome, with a relaxed ease to his movements that betrayed both self-control and agility. What would it be like to make love to him? To an alien? The idea sent unmistakable tingles down below. There certainly was a pretty decent sized bulge in his pants... And no claws that she could see.
She shook her head to clear it of ridiculous thoughts. Time for a reality check. He would be like many other men brainwashed by the media, thinking that curvy women were somehow beneath them. It would take an pretty manly male to be able to handle her fluffiness, she knew; a real man, sure of himself, attracted to the female and never making apologies for what he liked.
Of course, Ar'Ric was the manliest man she'd seen. He might be interested, and his size and muscles made her feel small. Dammit, was she falling for this guy now? Well, why the fuck not? He was probably the best man she'd ever met. Why not fall for him? Why wouldn't an alien be just as much of a man as any Earth male she'd ever met?
She sighed. No, enough with the useless dreaming. She was on the way to an alien planet, and she was probably the first Earthling to see it. That could be her way out of Meller's grip. If she were able to make some contacts with the aliens, get to know their society and what they needed and wanted, it would give her a head start on every other Earthling when it came to this alien civilization. She would become a celebrity on Earth, no doubt about it, as the first person to ever go to the alien planet. Atrexu or something?
She'd write a book, make a documentary, set up some sort of trading company, go on talk shows and make enough money not to have to work for mean bosses and clueless superiors.
Of course she had never written a book or done any trading or any of those things. But it was kind of a plan, anyway. She had gambled everything on making a career on Tellus Station. It hadn't seemed like a gamble at the time, just a smart career move that was sure to work, but now that dream was crushed. So maybe a gamble that seemed like a crazy roll of the dice would work out? And if she lost... Well, things really couldn't get much worse. She had no life on Earth. Maybe this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance she should grab with both hands? And it was in space. Just the way she liked it.
She got to her feet and went back to the cockpit.
21
“T hat's our planet.” Ar'Ric pointed. “The capital of the Atrexu empire.” The planet looked a lot like Earth, Emily thought, except the oceans seemed to be more green than blue.
“What will happen when we get there?”
Ar'Ric and Ev'Ax exchanged glances, and Emily got the impression that they hadn't thought that far ahead.
“We will go to my residence and make further plans. You are somewhat... uh... different than most Atrexu women. We can't let you go out in public without some sort of disguise.”
The spaceship had covered the distance from Earth to Atrexu in only a few hours, and Emily had spent most of the time talking to Ar'Ric and Ev'Ax about both Earth and their world. They'd given her food, too, but they didn't have anything that resembled coffee.
They were still under the impression that she was a fierce warrior, and that was okay for now. And was there really any reason to tell them the truth? She doubted that toilet cleaners, no matter how good at their craft, were held in any higher esteem on the alien world than on Earth.
22
T he ship landed on the night side of the planet. It briefly hovered over the landing pad, then Ber'Ain set it down with a mild shudder. The engine sound gradually weakened and everyone loosened their safety harnesses and stood up.
The prince was caught up in thinking and planning his future moves with Emily, excited and delighted that he might soon have a wife that was exactly to his preferences. He didn't realize what was happening until it was too late.
Ber'Ain moved fast