"That's your mother's point of view, right? That this chick is some fortune-hunting hound?" Ruth sounds suspicious. "Maybe he just loves her and wants to protect her? Maybe there's no swindling at all?"
"Maybe." It's not something I've ever considered. Lord va'Rin always seemed clever enough, but humans can be manipulative, as I well know. "It doesn't matter. She's his wife, and since she married him, he's been giving away parcels of land to human refugees to ensure them a place to live without fear. It's not the most exciting planet, but Risda III has nice enough weather. Agricultural planet, I believe. I've never been."
She runs the blade over the back of my head, then moves higher, her hand pushing on one of my horns. "Kinda hard to do this with all the gear in the way." She nudges my horns again, then uses her hand to turn my head slightly. "So what do we do if he doesn't want to see you? Given your lovely mother and all."
"I'm not entirely sure." It's not something that occurred to me as I raced over here. I thought that because we were family, naturally I'd show up on Risda III and we'd hash things out. He'd offer to take the humans off my hands, no questions asked, no need for anyone to get involved, no need for the sa'Rin name to be tarnished. I didn't think about what it would mean if he just never agreed to see me.
Wouldn't that just be the ultimate irony? That I keffed over the va Sithai brothers just to shoot across the galaxy and get keffed over by my uncle. I stew on this as Ruth's hands move over my hair. She turns me in the chair, then leans forward to work on the front of my hair with the knife. Her brows are drawn together in a look of intense concentration, and it occurs to me that she's giving this her very best attempt. She's trying to do right by me.
A warm feeling suffuses my body and I smile.
"What?" she asks, defensive.
"Nothing."
"Then quit moving," she instructs me, but her mouth quirks in a slight smile, too. Her gaze goes back to my hair and horns, and she gets back to work. I watch her as she does, and when she leans forward, her breasts practically push into my face.
Suddenly I'm not thinking about my hair at all.
29
RUTH
Using boobs is always such a great seduction technique. Tits in a man's face gets his attention every time. I'm very aware when Straik stiffens in his seat and goes still, and I know it's because he's staring at exactly what I want him to stare at.
Great. I've got him…now what do I do with him? I didn't think this far ahead. My initial plan was to go back to the Star, but considering we're so close to Risda III and his uncle sounds like someone we should meet, going back to the Star right now seems like a bad idea. I really don't have to seduce Straik. I can let him keep on thinking me and Dopekh are a thing.
But…damn if I'm not having fun with this whole seduction thing. I lean forward a bit more, and my tits are practically at his mouth. I pretend to concentrate on his hair, but I'm far more focused on whether or not he's going to grab me. Is he going to take what I'm shoving in his face…and what do I do then?
Do I want to carry this thing through? Just drop into his lap and make out with him? Have sex with him? Or do I back down?
The comm chirps, and I jerk away. I set the knife down on the table and pace away, rattled. I've really got to think this shit through. If I get him dancing to my tune, I have to follow through. I have to truly seduce him. It isn't enough to act flirty. Am I cold-blooded enough to go through with a full-on seduction?
It's one thing to pretend to seduce Dopekh. It's another to actually seduce a man that's interested in me.
Straik clears his throat, and I wonder if he's as distracted as I am. "What is it?"
"Your uncle will not respond to our comm requests," comes the reply. "We're waiting for acknowledgment to land but I think they're under orders to ignore us. We can't get any kind of response."
I glance over at Straik. He looks better without his hair hanging every which way, but there's definitely still a pouty-rich-boy vibe to him. Can't say I blame his uncle for wanting to avoid the disaster-prone side of the family.
Straik rubs his jaw, and there's a few stray hairs clinging to his skin. It's from his hair cut, and it makes me itch to go over there and brush them off. Seductive Ruth with the Boobs of Doom would absolutely do that, but Practical Ruth is screaming that's a bad idea.