The Pearl (Galactic Jewels Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

for what she’d gotten wrong with a few modifications, the wide hands and stubby fingers piquing my curiosity. “The better to cup things with,” she said, leaning in to comment as she watched me catalogue her edits.
    “Yes.” I drew her against me, grateful not only for the gift, but for her creative genius. I wanted tonight to last forever. Leaning into her, I pressed my lips to her temple. “I can see that.”
    One turned and danced toward us, his hooded eyes dark with larger-than-normal pupils dilated to turn his eyes nearly black. “The better to see things with,” she whispered, winked, then twirled away to intercept a trio of dancers—two girls and a guy.
    The music shifted to a slow ballad and his body adapted instantly, drawing me to him and rotating us around the dance floor, our bodies melting together as we twirled. Songs turned into another without pause and he traded me from one set of hands to another. Her human sims were both male and female, all created to be dancers, all lovingly crafted to give me Fransín’s gift tonight. I pressed my chest against a woman’s while her fingers traversed the length of my legs, then up to lift my arms above my head. We were sexless and sensual—committing to nothing.
    And everything.

C HAPTER 6

    I WOKE AND untangled myself from the pile of bodies and entwined limbs where we’d collapsed on the dance floor after a full night of dancing, covered in sims of furs and silks. My dry mouth needed water and I entered the code to let me out of the room. As one final surprise, Fransín had keyed in the post-dance puppy pile, a heap of dancers exhausted and overflowing with love, all cuddling together past the break of dawn and into the new day that would see me to my final presentation. It had been the most perfect way to start what promised to be my favorite day of this Samarian moon.
    Work days had been a mix of research and presentations, hours ebbing and flowing as we traversed the universe, working twenty hours one day and two the next. Today, my schedule included getting ready, but otherwise we had the day to blow off. We could sleep in, M at the helm, speeding us toward the next space station.
    Most pre-date mornings were spent reviewing the packet before the presentation, brushing up on linguistics and political viewpoints I’d need to be aware of. Because the same-sex galaxies couldn’t be selected, they never offered one, alleviating the hours I’d devote to reviewing it. This was a new policy instituted by a Pearl in the last decade after one wasted three days on a mandatory review of a Bevi package during a female/female year. My date before the Spiznwix had been from the Bevi galaxy, the all-male mirror of the Samarians. Growing up, I’d spent plenty of time learning tantra and erogenous zones with Bevi’s, as their galaxy held the male courtesan houses.
    Mornings on the ship held an early hours softness I adored. Maybe it reminded me of Samarian mornings, maybe I was too excited for tonight and the overload of memories I’d revisit while we discussed favorite places and foods. I wandered to the shower room the long way, peeking into the bridge. “Hello.”
    “Greetings.” M looked up, his arms flowing over the controls. “Did you enjoy your surprise?”
    I walked over and watched the hypnotic swish and swirl of the timegate as we passed through on our way to the destination. No wonder he enjoyed this up here and I could almost see the appeal of endless hours staring into the swirling mass. “It was perfect. She did a fantastic job.”
    “As per her usual.” His body quieted and the glow dimmed like always when I was supposed to pay attention. “Hours of flight time ended up in that sim.”
    I’d have apologized if his tone had warranted it, but he and I had talked about her responsibilities before he’d taught her. Controller wasn’t her job, and I’d secretly thought he’d fibbed about how much it helped him when in truth he did it to