StarSet (The Warrior Prince's Claim - BBW Science Fiction Romance) Read Free Page B

eyes stepped in front of her, blocking her path into the dim room. She cocked her head at Shala with a question in her measuring gaze.
    “Oh, I... seem to have taken a wrong turn. Pardon me. Ishma.”
    Offering a smile of consolation, Shala turned to her left.
    “The door's back that way. The way you came in.”
    “Ah. Right.”
    Humiliation heating her cheeks, Shala turned again immediately, bumping her head into the very broad chest of another Teleran with a start. Lifting her eyes with mortified curiosity, she stifled a gasp. Oh, shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. She would definitely be hearing about this in the morning.
    Fuck.
    “We meet again.”
Voice thrumming through her, Prince Tarik eyed her with a curious, almost fascinated glint in his eye, not making to move an inch. Shala breathed in his woody, ocean scent in waves, willing her legs to step around him but finding them entirely uncooperative.
    Stars, he was impressive. More than she might have otherwise imagined. Tucking her head, she made herself look away.
    “My sincerest pardon-”
    “Have you been drinking?”
    The prince grinned, amused.
    “I-”
    Recognition dawning on him, he nodded to himself.
    “You certainly have. Well good for you, Officer Kane. Glad to see some personality in the ship's staff.”
    Shala blustered, finding her usually witty comebacks missing from the storehouse in her head. Maybe she shouldn't have had that last drink, after all.
    “I'm terribly sorry. I'll... just be going now.”
    “So soon?”
    The prince cricked a brow.
    “Tarik.”
    “It's fine, Jana. This one's investigating the attack on the lower decks. A hero of sorts. We owe her some hospitality.”
    Shala stole a glance from the side of her eye, and found the pink-haired woman folding her arms over her chest, obviously displeased with the prince's decision but decidedly averse to challenging him openly about it.

 
    “I really should be going,” Shala stuttered out, her chest heaving for breath in front of the Teleran giant. She was usually more on her level when she encountered the Telerans. This was just... too humiliating for words.
    Even worse, she didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay and flirt with the prince. Which was insane because he was beyond off-limits. Diplomatic relations with the Telerans were shaky at best. If she did anything to disrupt them, anything that broke the already firmly set rules, she could be discharged from the ship.
    And that would not bode well for her career.
    Sober up, Shala. Time. To. Go.
    She heard the female Teleran sniff behind her and held back against the irritation it sparked. The women could be a touch nastier than the men, especially with those of the warrior class, as this one so obviously was.
    “At least allow me to escort you back to your room. These are dangerous times, and you do not have your head.”
He reached out and touched her cheek with a playful, not completely untoward affection, and a jag of electricity shot through Shala. It was bad enough she hadn't been touched by a man in... forever. She didn't need the added distraction of perfect chemistry with a friggin' Teleran prince.
    Get it together, Chica.
    “Sure, if you insist.”
    It wasn't a bad idea actually.
    “I'll come, as well,” the female Teleran he'd called 'Jana' volunteered.
    “No worries. It's your born day. Have another drink with Ral. I'll be back.”
    Hearing the female's sharp intake of breath, Shala took her cue and stepped around the prince, her skin prickling with heat when he drew close and took her arm, helping her to the door. Was she really that drunk?
    The door slid shut behind them with a woosh, and Shala stole a glance at the prince before shyly looking away.
    “Don't be ashamed,” he offered gently.
    “Shouldn't I be?”
    “No.”
    Grimacing, Shala glanced the corridor uneasily.
    “I'm an officer. One without clearance on this level. If the Captain-”
    “Never mind, Captain Von. No one on my detail will breathe a word of