Virgin (9 page)

So far, everyone, with the possible exception of Waroun, had been very pleasant, but Ava had been sorry to see Dax leave her alone with the others. He was the closest thing to her own species, but it didn’t look like he’d be hanging around much, especially after what Waroun had said. She’d seen him blush at the frank discussion of his sexuality—or lack thereof. He’d probably be too embarrassed to look her in the eye again.

She wondered how true Waroun’s comments were. Ava couldn’t imagine a man of Dax’s age and physical attractiveness being as sexually naïve as Waroun suggested; somehow it didn’t fit with the bad-boy image he seemed to be cultivating—though looking tough might have been an advantage, considering some of the shadier worlds he seemed to frequent, and his brusque manner might have been adopted to keep the unscrupulous from taking advantage of him.

Like she undoubtedly was. Twenty-five credits was a joke for passage to Rutara on a ship like the
Valorcry.
Hell, most ship owners would charge you that much for a tour of their vessel. She really needed to talk to him about that.

Kots hovered in to refill her water glass—again with Aquerei water—before she even registered the fact that she was getting thirsty.

“Maybe you should give me plain water from now on,” she said to the droid. Aside from the fact that it didn’t have the same effect on her, it was certain to be less expensive. “And you can give me back my own clothes. These are very nice, but—”

Kots cut her off with a loud buzz.

“That means no,” Dax said as he entered the room. “You wanted to talk to me?”

Ava frowned. “Yes, I did, but how you could possibly know that is—”

“I got a message from Kots.”

“He sends you messages?”

Dax nodded. “Through the ship’s computer. Kots has a direct link.”

“Yes, but I didn’t tell him—or the computer—that I wanted to talk to you.”

“Kots knows a lot of things he shouldn’t know,” Dax said. “Like what you want for breakfast. He’s attuned to things the passengers want and does his best to provide them. Sometimes his methods are questionable, but usually quite interesting.”

“So I’ve noticed,” she said with a smile.

Dax didn’t smile back. “You can tell him what you want to eat, but the dress code isn’t negotiable. He considers this to be my uniform, or I’m sure he’d try to make me wear something else.” He fixed a sharp gaze on her that wasn’t the least bit shy and was quite intimidating, coming from someone of his stature. “Now, what was it you wanted?”

So much for being embarrassed. The breakfast table conversation might never have taken place—either that, or he was in no mood for personal questions and was making it clear by his tone.

“I, um, think maybe I’m not paying you enough,” Ava began. Braving his scowl, she added, “Passage on a ship like this should cost a whole lot more than I’ve got. I can’t help but think there’s a catch—”

“This is the third time you’ve asked me that.” His frown made his already slanted eyebrows appear almost vertical. “I’ve told you before there
is
no catch. I charge based on a passenger’s ability to pay. For you, twenty-five credits is the price.” His eyes narrowed. “I thought we were clear on that.”

This wasn’t going the way Ava expected. Wanting to pay him more shouldn’t make him angry, but she half expected him to start snarling at her. “I know, but that was before I’d seen the ship and knew about all of the… amenities. I feel like I’m taking advantage of you.”

“Well, you’re not,” he snapped. “Is there anything else?”

“N-no,” she replied. “Sorry I bothered you.”

“It’s not your fault. Kots should learn to mind his own business.” With that parting shot, he turned on his heel and left.

“Remind me not to ask
him
any more questions,” Ava said under her breath.

Unfortunately, Kots heard her and beeped once.

“Stay out of it, Kots. Just stay the hell out of it.”

The droid replied with a low mumble and floated out of the dining room. Ava headed off to the movie theater, having a sudden urge to watch a good murder mystery—preferably one in which the victim was a man.

***

So much for trying to entice her. Dax had been startled by the summons and then irritated that he’d been disturbed. On top of that, it turned out to be Ava who wanted to see him, and he’d been just as abrupt with her as he would have been with any woman. She hadn’t helped matters by questioning his integrity, either. Was there a catch, she’d asked. Of course there wasn’t a catch! He’d given her his price, and she’d agreed to it. Why did she have to keep harping on it? Suggesting that there might be more to the deal was insinuating that he would try to cheat her out of what little money she had—or take advantage of her position as the lone female aboard his ship.

Which he would not do.

She hadn’t aroused him at all this time, and he’d been looking squarely into her pretty aquamarine eyes. It was a fluke, he decided. No point in carrying it any further. His earlier intention to entice her was a mistake.

He’d acted the same way he always did with women—especially the pretty ones—adopting an abrupt, no-nonsense manner with them before they got the wrong idea. He’d been told many times that he was rude. He didn’t intend to be; it was just the best way to get them to leave him alone.

But, he reminded himself, he didn’t want this one to leave him alone.

Asking Jack for advice was out of the question. He’d never be able to tolerate the “I told you so” attitude she was bound to take with him. Well, maybe she wouldn’t, but he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. There was someone else he could ask, though. Threldigan. Yes, he would be perfect. He could talk a woman into giving him her firstborn male child and make her think it was her idea. Dax had never paid attention to the technique; he just knew that anytime the two men had been together, though a woman might notice Dax first, he was never the one she spent the night with.

That’s because you never ask them.

Dax had never asked a woman out for lunch, let alone anything more intimate. Zetithian men were purported to be the hottest lovers in existence, and ever since the refugee ship had landed on Terra Minor, the word had spread like wildfire:
These guys are so hot that some asshole blew up their planet just because his wife took one as a lover.
The fact that it was true hadn’t hurt the story any; Zetithian men
were
some of the best the galaxy had to offer—of the mammalian species, that is.

Except for Dax. Maybe if that reputation hadn’t preceded him, he might have taken a chance, but with every woman he met expecting fireworks, he didn’t bother to try.

When he’d been on the refugee ship with nothing but Zetithian women, he’d known they were difficult to entice and just figured he wasn’t any good at it. He’d picked up the scent of their desire once or twice when the other guys purred and knew his body could respond, but he was never the one they were interested in. Since he’d gotten his own ship and traveled the galaxy, he’d met loads of women who thought he was the sexiest thing alive, but he’d yet to meet any non-Zetithian women who did it for him. Except Ava.

With a heavy sigh, he sent out a hail to Threldigan. He just hoped it wouldn’t backfire on him.

***

Halfway through the movie she’d chosen, Ava was regretting her choice. The woman in the story was downright evil, and the man had been her unfortunate, if clueless, victim, which wasn’t the scenario she’d had in mind at all. She scanned the archives and wound up watching a slapstick comedy that at least made her laugh. What to do next was a dilemma of sorts, but the makeover thing was sounding better all the time. If she was drop-dead gorgeous, Dax might at least be civil with her.

It doesn’t matter whether he’s nice to me or not. I’m going back to Russ. Remember Russ? The man who said he’d love you forever?

But he’d never made her melt, and he’d never purred, either…

The chime sounded, calling the passengers to lunch. When Ava arrived at the dining hall, the others were already seated and Dax was waiting just outside the door.

His pathetic attempt to smile at her was more a baring of his fangs than a genuine grin, and he rattled off, “I’m sorry if I was rude earlier. It won’t happen again,” all in one breath.

Ava couldn’t help but laugh. “Feel better now?”

His openmouthed expression made her want to laugh even more, but this time she managed to suppress it.

“I—that was an apology.” He sounded every bit as bewildered as he looked. “It was supposed to make
you
feel better.”

“Is that what it was? I wasn’t quite sure…”

Frowning, he gestured for her to precede him into the dining room.

“So, did everyone have a pleasant morning?” Waroun asked as Ava took her seat. They were at a larger table this time, which gave Ava the opportunity to sit between either Dax and Waroun or Dax and Quinn. She chose the former. Better the enemy you know…

Teke and Diokut were chattering away about the fabulous gardens. “I could spend hours in there, just breathing in the scent of the flowers,” Diokut declared.

“I watched a movie,” Ava said, carefully avoiding looking at Dax.

“We had no idea this was going to be such a luxurious ship,” Teke said to Dax. “The price was so reasonable, we never expected…”

“There’s no catch,” Ava blurted out before Dax could respond. “Don’t bother asking…” Her voice trailed off as she stared down at her lap. She seemed to be doing a lot of that.

Teke ignored Ava’s remark. “As I understand it, this ship was given to you in a settlement?”

Dax nodded.

“What did you do before that?”

Dax shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Nothing? But how could that be?”

“He was on a refugee ship from the time he was two years old,” Waroun said. “Twenty-five years in space—give or take a few months—and never landed until a few years ago.”

“I see,” said Teke. “My, how…
confining
that sounds.”

“It was,” Dax said shortly, making it obvious that he’d rather not discuss his past.

“Like being in prison, I would think,” Diokut put in.

Teke nodded in agreement. “But surely you had duties while aboard it. You were educated, I presume?”

“I learned everything they taught me,” Dax replied. “Including how to fly the ship.”

“Ah, then that explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“How so young a man could have acquired such enormous wealth.”

Dax appeared relieved, as though he’d expected Teke to say something different. Ava wondered why.

Then it hit her. This guy had been stuck on a ship full of refugees for most of his life. He might have been capable of piloting a starship and was probably very well-educated, but having lived a sheltered and regimented existence, he was bound to be socially backward. That brusque attitude of his was a cover for something… insecurity, perhaps?

“Were any of your own family aboard?” Ava asked gently.

“No,” Dax replied. “I was the only one left.”

Kots floated in with a tray, from which he distributed the plates. The aroma of vegetable soup wafted through the air as he served it to the Kitnocks. Waroun was given a bowl of peaches. Ava had a submarine sandwich and a big kosher dill pickle, and Quinn had crackers again. Dax took one look at the dish Kots set in front of him and put it back on the tray.

“That’s not what I asked for,” he told Kots.

Obviously prepared for this event, Kots made no sound, merely replacing the dish with a bowl of stew along with a small loaf of freshly baked bread.

“That’s better,” Dax said.

As Kots filled Ava’s glass with root beer, curiosity got the better of her. “What was he trying to give you?”

“More Sholerian cream,” he replied. “I had that for breakfast.”

“Something you’re craving, perhaps?” Waroun said with a smirk.

“Can I try it?” Ava asked. “It looks like a dessert we had on Rutara—a Terran dish called ice cream.”

Dax opened his mouth as if to protest but snapped it shut as Kots set the bowl down next to Ava’s sandwich. Kots beeped twice and left the room in the droid equivalent of a huff.

Ava scooped up a spoonful of what may have looked like vanilla ice cream but tasted like nothing like it. It was mildly sweet, but warm, rather than cold, and as the cream slid across her tongue, it set off a flavor explosion for which she was totally unprepared. It even made her nipples tingle.

“Can you understand why Kots thinks he needs that?” Waroun said wickedly.

“Obviously he wants him to feel good,” Ava gasped. “I’ve never tasted anything like it!”

“It’s a rare and expensive delicacy,” Dax said shortly. “Not something I should be eating.”

“Why not?” Ava asked.

“I’m not one of the passengers.”