The Challenge (19 page)

Tessa made some changes then asked Dora to place the ritual bathtub before the glowing stones in the hearth. The hologram program even added the scent of cooking food.

“How about Rystani music?”

Dora’s first choice made Tessa clap her hands over her ears.

“Stop. How about something soothing?”

Dora’s second try was more to her liking. The mellow tone reminded her of a flute, the melody romantic. Tessa moved her attention to the huge bathtub next. Circular and wooden, it was only about a foot deep. She tested the water temperature and the rough washing cloths, examined the bucket for rinsing. She spied a rectangular pillow, soap, and drying towels that were hard and scratchy. Again she requested changes.

“You sure are fussy.”

“I gave my word, and I intend to keep it.”

“I suppose in your position I might do the same,” Dora sighed. “I wish I could find a soul mate and get married.”

“Soul mate?” Tessa grinned at Dora’s fantasy. “Let’s not get carried away here. I’m not sure I even like the man.”

But she also knew Kahn had good qualities. He cared about his people. When Kahn had told her about his first marriage she’d seen the pain in his eyes. That he had loved once meant he had the capacity for deep feelings. He might be stubborn, but he was clearly a man of honor.

He had the strength of a warrior and the ability to change his stubborn mind when she backed him into a corner and gave him a way to dodge. He might not like losing to a female, he might consider her skill unseemly, but he would keep his word. To ease him through the concessions he’d made and to help bridge their differences, she intended to rekindle the simmering sexual tension they’d previously shared.

Hands clasped behind her back, she paced, impatient for Kahn to arrive.

KAHN ENTERED the chamber and stopped short in pleased astonishment. Despite his determination to keep a stoic expression no matter what Tessa had done, he couldn’t stop his lower jaw from dropping. She was wearing a pretty white dress. That she’d already made more progress with her psi abilities thrilled him, but he’d figured that once she’d learned, she’d wear some kind of mannish costume, not an attractive dress that showed off her feminine curves. She’d also done something agreeable to her gorgeous black hair, placing it atop her head in a fancy knot. Locks fell softly around her face in a most becoming and almost dainty manner.

She held out both hands to him. “Welcome.”

The contrast between this charming lady and the warrior woman who had defeated him in hand-to-hand combat made him wary. “What kind of trick is this, woman?”

“Did you not think I would keep my word and honor your customs?”

“I hoped you would try.”

“I like to succeed.” Her eyes twinkled, and the bruising from her crash into the bulkhead was not as severe as he’d feared. She stepped aside with a swirl of fabric that drew attention to her long legs and gestured to the room with pride. “Did I get it right?”

The hearth burned brightly with glow stones, the layout so familiar, reminding him how much he missed his home. But she’d added a few touches of her own. A brightly colored blanket over the back of a chair. A painting of a woman and child next to the hearth. Soft music. Burning tapers, and the spicy-sweet scent of something he couldn’t identify that wafted from the kitchen area.

“You have done well.”

“I’m glad you think so.” She spoke easily as if she could slip into this new role without strain. Her obvious confidence in herself as she adapted to this new role surprised him and had him oddly on edge. “I’m going to disappoint you in one area.”

He supposed she would now plead with him to delay the wedding night. “Yes?”

“I used the kitchen materializers to cook the food. I don’t know how to prepare a meal from scratch.”

“I see.” He folded his arms over his chest and told himself to have patience. Every Rystani female child could cook, but she wasn’t Rystani, and she was clearly making an effort to please him.

“There’s more.”

Life with Tessa would never be dull. He raised an eyebrow and braced himself. He wondered if he was destined to spend the rest of his life waiting for her to say or do something unacceptable. And yet, he no longer objected to marrying her as much as he had earlier.

“I had no idea how to prepare a Rystani meal.” She spoke without a shred of shame at her lack of skills, and while he shouldn’t have been shocked by her attitude, he nevertheless was. “I didn’t even recognize the ingredients in the food preparation unit.”

Surely that enticing smell in the chamber couldn’t be the result of a meal preparation failure? But perhaps he should be happy she hadn’t started a cooking fire on the spaceship. “We have no meal?”

“We do.” She bit her lip, as if hesitant to say more. “But it’s Earth food. I’m sorry it’s not what you expected, but—”

“You will serve me now.” Best to get this over with before he dwelled on how Lael had fed him his favorite
octar
meat spiced with
Jarballa
. He had to make allowances for Tessa. She’d warned him she couldn’t cook, and she was obviously attempting to satisfy him. He sat at the table and waited for her to bring the meal, determined to eat, even if it was inedible.

Her face serene, Tessa removed a platter of green and orange sticks from the cold compartment. She carried the plate carefully to the table and set it down with a flourish.

“Those look like roots.”

“On Earth, these vegetables are called
crudités
and are always served at special functions.”

He tried hard to find something polite to say. The nourishment looked as if she hadn’t even bothered to cook. “It’s colorful.”

She dipped a green stick into a creamy brown spread and held it to his lips. Custom dictated that she feed him and vice versa. Cautiously, he sniffed a sweet and nutty aroma. “What is this called?”

“Celery and peanut butter.”

He licked the sauce from the green stick, his tongue glancing off her finger, too. The peanut butter stuck to his tongue but possessed a rich and creamy taste. Emboldened, he parted his lips and allowed her to feed him the green stick with the sauce. The stick crunched pleasantly, the juice a foil for the sticky peanut butter.

“It’s good.”

“You needn’t sound so surprised.” She grinned and dabbed the pad of her pinky on the corner of his lips where a drop of the peanut butter still clung. Seductive eyes locked with his as she brought her finger to her own full mouth and licked her finger with a dancing flick of pink tongue. Then, still holding his gaze, she closed her lips around her finger and slowly sucked off the last juices. Her audacious gesture disturbed him. When he raised an eyebrow, questioning her behavior, she blushed, dropped her gaze and actually seemed flustered.

Stars! One moment she looked as cute as an adolescent flirting for her first kiss and the next she teased him like an experienced woman.

Appearing to recover quickly from her error in etiquette, Tessa dipped the orange stick into the sauce. “Try a carrot.”

She fed him the treat which he found sweet but also caused him to crave more than a drink to quench his thirst. Mere hours ago he’d thought himself the unluckiest man on Rystan for having to marry an Earthling. At first he’d kept looking for a trick, but as she fed him her Earth food, he decided that she was making a genuine effort to follow his customs. And he had the strangest desire to kiss her

“Come. Sit on my lap,” he requested.

“First, let me serve the pizza.” She spun away from the table and returned with a flat pie that was white and red with bits of circular slices of meat embedded on top. She poured two golden and foamy drinks, one for each of them. “This is pizza and beer, my favorite gourmet meal.”

She pulled out a triangular slice from the rest and held up the corner for him to taste. The enticing scent of the
pizza
alone made his mouth salivate.

He bit into the pizza, and the warm cheese over crusty bread melted in his mouth. He didn’t have to lie about his praise. “Delicious.”

“Beer,” she handed him a glass, “is an acquired taste. But it’s my drink of choice with pizza.”

She held the beer to his mouth, and he found the flavor much like a fermented grain on Rystan. “This is alcoholic?”

“Is that a problem?”

“Not for me. Women on Rystan do not drink alcohol.”

“Oh.” Her eyes dropped but not before he saw first discouragement then anger, then unhappy acceptance. “Okay.”

Clearly she was disappointed that she couldn’t partake of her favorite drink, but she didn’t complain, either, surprising him once again. After the trouble she’d taken to please him with the meal, he didn’t want to deny her during their wedding feast.

“But we are not yet on Rystan,” he conceded, patting his thigh for her to sit on his lap, and held a glass to her lips.

“Thank you.” She drank deeply, as if she needed fortification, but she didn’t seem tipsy afterward, and he reminded himself that he could not keep giving in to her because she was an Earthling. She was living in his world and would have to be the one to adapt.

The wedding feast was much more pleasant than he’d imagined. As if by mutual unspoken agreement, they put aside their differences during the meal. He found that when she sat on his thigh, her side pressed to his chest, he actually enjoyed her touch. When she made the effort, she displayed impeccable manners, chewing with her mouth closed and always offering him the majority share of the choice portions.

However, when she tilted her head back onto his shoulder and boldly looked him in the eyes, he expected her to say something pleasant. Her normal tone was light, almost musical, but grew husky. “For the last hour, I’ve been looking forward to bathing you in the ritual tub.”

Once again she’d shocked him with her lack of modesty, and he frowned. “It is not seemly to talk of such things.”

“Why not?” Her eyes glinted with amusement, and her lips brazenly nipped his neck. “You will be my husband. Am I not allowed to express my desire for you?”

She should not be so forward. What the hell was she doing planting kisses on his neck? He gently removed her from his lap. “You twist my words, woman.”

She stared at him in complete confusion and kept her tone level, but he heard an honest ring to her words. “I haven’t the slightest idea why you are upset.”

Kahn reined in his temper. He had to make allowances for her ignorance of his ways. He had to summon patience and tact—not his strongest qualities. When he’d set out on this voyage he’d expected to mentor the Earthling. He’d expected adversity and obstacles, but never had he thought the journey would be this difficult.

He didn’t know what bothered him more—that she didn’t grasp the reason for his anger over her brazen conduct—or that he’d enjoyed her boldness.