Page 60 of Dancing for the Minotaur

That simple statement affected him more than Taurex expected. His heart swelled. Oh yes–he wanted this family for his own.

He inclined his head respectfully.

“Thank you.”

Cody waved.

“Bye, Bull-man!”

“His name is Taurex,” Terra corrected her son.

“Bye, Taurex!” Cody said.

“Goodbye, Cody,” he said.

Lisa waved both hands.

“Bye, Bull-man!”

Terra covered her face.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”

Taurex laughed as he opened the passenger door for her.

“I believe the title is growing on me.”

“It better not,” Terra muttered, though she was laughing too.

She climbed into the shuttle and Taurex closed the door behind her before walking around to the driver’s side. As he settled into his seat, he looked once more toward the little bungalow.

Lucy stood on the porch with one hand resting on Cody’s shoulder while Lisa waved enthusiastically beside them.

The image struck him with sudden familiarity–he had seen almost exactly the same thing in one of his dreams. A family standing together, waiting for Terra to return. Only in the dream, Taurex had been standing beside her.

He looked at the woman in the passenger seat. Terra was fastening the safety harness and studying the controls with open fascination, completely unaware of the thoughts moving through his mind.

Taurex started the shuttle.

Slowly, take things slowly, he told himself for perhaps the hundredth time.

But as the golden vehicle lifted silently from the cracked driveway and began moving toward the street, he found himself smiling.

Meeting Terra’s family hadn’t frightened him away. It had done precisely the opposite. It had made him want her—and the life that came with her—even more.

He just hoped he could convince her they belonged together when the time came but for now, he was determined to take things slowly and not frighten her off.

He had no idea how quickly things were about to change.

18

TERRA

The trip to the Monstrum Mother Ship was one of the most amazing and awe-inspiring things Terra had ever experienced. She watched with wonder as they flew past the moon and whizzed through the blackness of space. When the rounded red side of Mars loomed above them in the shuttle’s viewscreen, she felt like she was right in the middle of a science fiction movie.

Then she saw the vast golden gleam of the Monstrum Mother Ship orbiting the red planet and was even more amazed.

“That’s the size of a city!” she exclaimed. “A really big city.”