Free The Pearl (Galactic Jewels Book 1) by Jen Greyson

they’d been unable to figure out a way to change everything without the galaxy knowing why.
    He returned before I remembered to answer what he’d asked, set another glass beside his, filled them, and pushed one across the table. “After you drink this.”
    It was my turn to strangle the gasp before it left my mouth. I was forbidden from drinking during presentations—a holdover from an unfortunate incident some years back when the Pearl and his candidate got into a heated debate over Canan wines and proceeded to spend the evening getting blitheringly drunk and making mad, passionate love during the broadcast for all the universe to see. In the courtesan house, we’d critiqued the performances as a live training tool, but the Ambassador had not been pleased. Neither had the Canan Winery Association. Nor the representative’s home galaxy. It had been an unfortunate and embarrassing event for everyone involved.
    I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd hoped to recreate that spectacle, what with his reputation. His offer for a shot of the four-thousand pectaga bottle of booze sparked delight because I loved Zyldish whisky. One reason I'd hesitated about the Hemperklu as my first choice was their allergy to grain alcohol, a poison that rendered them paralyzed for days. They tended to stay away from it and I wouldn’t find any within their galaxy. My fingers reached for the drink and I let them, lifting it and indulging a foolish girlish fairytale I’d been unable to shake, a silly wish for late-night discussions over a bottle of Zyldish Whisky. 
    The cold glass felt good against my lower lip and I inhaled the tang and spice of the whisky’s bouquet. His offer prickled that fantasy and left me troublingly off-balance since we were doing exactly what I’d always dreamed.
    My eyes flew open and I set the glass down, jerked upright, and pushed against the chair, its heavy weight trapping me until I wrestled free. “You have to go.” I gripped the lip of the chair and shoved, scooting it backward in a halting, bumping progression. I was a flustered mess and had to calm down before the Samarian arrived. I needed alone time, not his continued riling of my human emotions. Fanciful dreams had no place in my future.
    I was the Pearl.

C HAPTER 10

    S HE WASN ’ T SUPPOSED to be pretty, or fiery, or a drinker who knew the difference between space water and expensive whisky. I’d agreed to this farce to get out of the LinnOw deal. The Samarians’ business offer had come at the perfect time, buying off the LinnOw in return for my representation as a newly appointed citizen of Samaria. An evening with the Pearl had seemed a small price to pay.
    I’d been painfully wrong.
    She looked away and tugged the hem of her sleeve, uncomfortable at being here. Well, that made two of us. I should have done my homework. My knowledge of the Pearl and how this worked had come from underground bars and mechanic bays. Those guys talked about jewels like they weren’t any different than the Tyrills. This girl didn’t belong in the same universe as a a Tyrillian. She might be similarly trained in the art of sex, but the difference ended there. Lility had mastered a sensuality and seductiveness that far exceeded anything a Tyrillian could have pull off.
    And she intrigued me.
    A lot.
    I couldn’t afford to be intrigued. “You want me to go?” I laughed loud and harshly. If only it were that easy. “Good one.” I said, angry that I’d not only allowed myself to be put in this situation, but that she didn’t want me here.
    I slammed another shot of a whisky that was meant to be sipped, which pissed me off more. Nothing about tonight was going as I’d intended. This had been a horrible idea, but it wasn’t like I’d had other options. I needed to do— had to do—the damn presentation and hope that pacified her enough for this ridiculous event and its requirements. If Lility chose a Samarian because of my presentation, then I’d deal