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he promised.

      She smiled. “Will we be able to do things together, when we get to Memcache?” she asked worriedly. “I mean, will your family mind?”

      “My Clan won’t mind,” he replied. “My parents are long dead. I have many cousins, but no close family anymore.”

      “Sort of like me,” she said. “All I have left is Daddy.”

      “I like your father,” he told her. “He is unique.”

      She smiled. “Yes. I love him very much.”

      He brushed her hair away from her face. “I want children,” he said huskily.

      She felt a wave of hunger so sweeping that it almost staggered her. “I want them, too,” she whispered.

      They stared at each other hungrily until a passing couple noticed them and called a greeting.

      They shook themselves mentally, moved apart and called back the greeting as they proceeded toward the cabin Jasmine shared with her parent.

      “I have never enjoyed anything as much as this evening,” Mekashe told her softly. “It has been one of the happiest days of my life.”

      “Of mine, as well,” she replied, searching his eyes. “I’ll look forward to tomorrow afternoon.”

      “As will I.” He smiled tenderly. “I will carry this memory of the way you look until I die...” He hesitated. “Is it permissible, for me to capture you like this?”

      “Of course,” she said at once.

      He produced a small photographic device the size of a thumb from his jacket and captured a photograph of her.

      The door opened just after he shot it.

      “Daddy, would you capture us together? Is it all right?” she asked Mekashe.

      “Certainly!” he said, handing the device to her father. “If you wouldn’t mind?”

      He chuckled. “Not at all.” He triggered the device, three times. “I made multiples, in case the first didn’t take.” He handed it to Mekashe. “Might better check and make sure.”

      He did. He looked at the portrait of the two of them and sighed inwardly. They looked perfect together. Her fairness, and his black hair and light gold skin, seemed to complement each other.

      “May I see?” she asked, and leaned on Mekashe’s arm to look over it. He was far too tall for her to look over his shoulder. “It’s perfect! Can you share it with me, on the Nexus?” she asked.

      He wouldn’t dare. No holos of him or any member of the Imperial Guard or the Holconcom were permitted.

      “I can do much better. I’ll bring you one of these with the capture in it tomorrow. Will that suffice?” he teased.

      “That would be wonderful!” She looked up at him delightedly. “And you’ll teach me to use it, yes?”

      He nodded. “Yes, I will.”

      “We’re going to have a picnic in the forest in a holoroom,” she told her father. “So I’m afraid you’ll have luncheon alone,” she teased.

      Mekashe frowned. “A picnic involves food?”

      She looked at him. “Well, usually.” She flushed. “Sorry, I forgot. I’ll have lunch with Daddy, and we’ll have a foodless picnic,” she added with a grin.

      He chuckled. “Very well. I’ll see you for chess in the morning, then, Ambassador,” he told her father.

      “I’ll look forward to it. Good evening.”

      “Good night,” Jasmine added.

      He gave her a lingering smile. “Sleep well.”

      He walked away. Jasmine stared after him for a minute before she went inside with her father and closed the door.

      Ambassador Dupont looked at her worriedly. “You know,” he began, “their culture isn’t the same as ours. It’s very different, from what I’ve heard.”

      She smiled. “Then I’ll learn as I go along. He’s...incredible. Tender and funny and smart. Smarter than me.”

      “Smarter than me, too, I’m afraid.” He hesitated. He’d just had a virtual briefing with the head of the diplomatic department on Terravega. It included top secret information about the true form of the Cehn-Tahr and cultural differences that were unknown to most humans. Jasmine had never seen a true alien. The Altairian she’d discovered on the ship was quite human looking, except for his blue skin. The Vegans, though more alien, were mostly humanoid. But the Cehn-Tahr were very different. Not only that, they were far stronger than humans.

      Jasmine was hungry for Mekashe and the reverse seemed equally true. It was more dangerous than she realized, but he’d never seen her so animated, so very happy. Was it fair to destroy her illusions? After all, it might be just an infatuation, the lure of the unfamiliar. If that were true, it would seep out on its own accord and he wouldn’t have to hurt her by imparting unpalatable facts. Like the fact that Cehn-Tahr ate their food whole and raw. He understood now why Mekashe wouldn’t dine with them.

      Their cultures were radically different. He knew that two members of the Royal Clan had human consorts, but there were deep secrets about the bondings. He didn’t know what Mekashe’s Clan affiliation was. There were rumors from HQ that some clans had accepted genetic enhancements that made them extremely dangerous to humans.

      Well, he could certainly discount that after tonight, he told himself, amused. His daughter looked slightly disheveled, but there was no bruising and certainly no broken bones. So perhaps Mekashe’s Clan didn’t have those enhancements. Perhaps the cultural differences wouldn’t matter.

      Still, he worried. Jasmine was so unsophisticated, and so very young. He watched her go back to her room, her mind far away on the handsome stranger from Memcache. And he hoped against hope that he wouldn’t regret his silence.

       CHAPTER FOUR

      THE NEXT MORNING, Jasmine was almost floating on a cloud, anticipating the afternoon with Mekashe. She went through her closet, looking for something pretty enough to wear for him that was also casual.

      She could have gone to the boutique for another outfit, but she hesitated to run her parent into more debt, especially in the early days of his new, lucrative profession. So she settled for a pair of long pants, jeans they were called, in some knotty fabric that was wispy and cool, and a button-up blouse with short sleeves. The jeans were blue, a dark color, and the blouse was white with a blue pattern. The well-fitting garments gave her an even more youthful look, especially with her hair down, but age had never been a problem with Mekashe. She supposed it didn’t matter to him, any more than his, whatever it might be, mattered to her. At that, he looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. Older than her, but not by that much. Feelings, she decided, were far more important than minor details.

      She relived those kisses all night long and barely slept. She loved the warm, hard touch of his mouth, the hunger and passion she sensed in him. She wondered what would come next in their relationship. Whatever it was, she knew that it was leading to something permanent. He’d mentioned children, not something a man with a casual passion in mind would care about. She thought of children with black hair and eyes that changed color to mirror moods, and she was fascinated. Her children would be unique.

      She knew that Dr. Madeline Ruszel had bonded with a Cehn-Tahr and had two children. She wished she could access more information about the woman on the Nexus, but it was impossible. Apparently the Cehn-Tahr were secretive about any part of their culture. Mekashe had told her as much.

      She laid out her outfit and wished she had an excuse to crash the chess match, to see Mekashe again. But it would look contrived. No, best to

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