Page 73 of Dancing for the Minotaur

“I’m impressed by your lack of hesitation. Chocolate must be really good.”

Terra smiled up at him, feeling ridiculously pleased with herself again.

“I’m bringing you chocolate on Monday,” she told him. “All kinds–white, milk, dark–the good stuff. We’re going to have a whole class about it. Then you’ll see.”

Taurex smiled.

“I look forward to this cultural education.”

Terra was too. She was already imagining putting pieces of chocolate into his mouth and watching as he ate them.

Careful, Terra, whispered a little voice in her head. Feeding your boss chocolates sounds an awful lot like flirting.

Well, so what if it was? Weren’t they flirting right now? And they were having a wonderful time. So why not?

You know why not–because it’s dangerous. Because you’re risking the best job and the best boss you’ve ever had. Because Taurex might not feel the same way about you as you’re starting to feel about him.

Terra pushed the thought away. She was having too much fun to let her worries bring her down. Right now she just wanted to enjoy her time with Taurex and explore the Monstrum Mother Ship and if that meant a little flirting was involved, well then, so be it.

21

TERRA

They passed out of the food section after Taurex had acquired everything he needed for his stew, and Terra began keeping an eye out for things she could take home. She had already told Lisa and Cody she would bring them “something from space,” and if she came back empty-handed her kids would probably never forgive her.

“What kind of things do children like from here?” she asked. “I mean what would you buy a kid from this market?”

Taurex raised his eyebrows.

“Monstrum younglings?”

She shook her head.

“No–human ones. I need to bring Cody and Lisa some souvenirs.”

“I do not know.” Taurex looked thoughtful. “But perhaps we can find something suitable.”

He led her toward another cluster of stalls beneath a tree with a deep blue trunk and leaves the color of copper. These vendors sold smaller living objects—jewelry, toys and decorative plants—and Terra immediately saw about a hundred things she wanted.

One stall was covered in delicate vine bracelets, each one alive and growing. Tiny blossoms opened and closed along the green stems in shades of pink, blue, violet and yellow.

Terra clasped her hands to her heart.

“Oh, Lisa would love those.”

The vendor, an older human woman standing beside a Monstrum male with the facial features of a large black panther, smiled.

“And how old is Lisa?”

“Seven,” Terra told her.

“Then she’ll definitely love one. These are mood blooms, and they grow right here in the Mother Ship.”

Terra was immediately intrigued.

“Mood blooms?”

The woman picked up one of the bracelets.