Page 89 of Dancing for the Minotaur

“You have a toilet paper flower!” she exclaimed, between giggles.

Taurex looked puzzled by her amusement.

“Well…yes. Personal hygiene is important.”

Terra pointed at the TP plant.

“That might be the single greatest thing I’ve seen all day.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“Greater than the living puzzle you purchased for Cody?”

“You purchased it. And possibly.” Terra nodded.

He shook his head.

“You humans have unusual priorities.”

“That’s because you’ve never been stuck in a bathroom with an empty roll,” Terra pointed out.

Taurex clearly had no idea what she was talking about, so he just shook his head.

Terra was still smiling when he led her farther down the hall.

“My sleeping chamber is here,” he rumbled, and a doorway opened at his touch.

Terra stepped inside and immediately understood why he had called it a sleeping chamber instead of a bedroom.

The room was enormous. The ceiling arched high overhead beneath a canopy of glowing vines, and one entire wall was formed by a curved window overlooking the forest beyond. The bed occupied the center of the room and was so large Terra could have invited her entire family to sleep in it with room left over.

Like the couch, it was completely alive. The base consisted of thick interwoven branches, and the mattress was formed from layers of deep green vegetation covered by what looked like enormous velvety leaves.

“That bed is bigger than my entire bedroom at home,” Terra remarked.

Taurex nodded.

“I require considerable space.”

“You certainly do.”

Her eyes swept over his huge body before she could stop them, and she couldn’t help picturing the two of them in that enormous bed—possibly with her on top and riding him cowgirl style.

Just as she was getting hot and bothered, Taurex’s golden gaze met hers and Terra looked quickly away from the bed.

“I mean because you’re tall,” she said lamely. “You wouldn’t want a bed where your feet hung off the end.”

“I certainly wouldn’t want that.”

There was amusement in his deep voice, but Terra ignored it in favor of exploring the room.

There were no photographs or decorative objects in the room, but unlike his sterile Earth penthouse, this space somehow felt personal. There were several large plants growing near the window, a broad living chair beside the bed and shelves formed from the wall itself holding books, strange crystalline objects, and several carved figures.

“This feels more like you than your apartment in Tampa,” she remarked. “I mean, it’s more lived in.”

Taurex looked around.

“I suppose so, since this is my true home. The Earth domicile is convenient for business but I never intended it to be permanent.”