"Shoot." I laughed. "Not literally, please. I mean, go ahead."

He looked puzzled again and spoke with only a trace of embarrassment.

"There's a term my fiance used that I didn't understand, and I couldn't find references to it anywhere. It's been bothering me. What is a horseback?"

It was my turn to be confused.

"A horseback? You mean, the back of a horse?"

"No, riding a horseback."

"That's not a thing." I shook my head and swallowed the last of my drink.

"It's not? She specifically said she enjoyed horseback riding."

"I see. There's a language problem." I finally understood what he meant. "She's referring to an animal from Earth. A horse is a mammal with four legs, and it's pretty fast. It's almost extinct now, but they used to be quite common. Some people might still ride them."

"I guess so. It seemed like a weird thing to want to do."

"You didn't finish your story. You were bored, and you didn't want anything to change," I prompted.

He was definitely irritated now and he wasn't trying to hide it any longer.

"The will says that I have to get married by the time I turn thirty or all the money goes to charity. I'm sure they said something about this at the reading of the will, but I didn't pay attention to it at the time. I assumed I'd be married by now."

"You decided to order up a bride to solve your problem? That's surprising. You don't seem like the type to do something like that."

"I don't?"

"You're good looking, and you're rich. If I had to guess, I would think you could easily find someone to sacrifice and a live a luxurious lifestyle in a big house where they didn't have to work."

"There were other factors to consider."

"What kind of other factors?"

He didn't elaborate. "I contacted TerraMates. They set everything up so Montana would come here to get married. Of course, she didn't come, and I was fortunate to marry you instead."

The words sent an electric feeling rushing through my body as he stared at me. I felt like I should say something.

"You're crazy. And I'm crazy too for marrying you."

"Maybe, but there were reasons behind my actions. Come to think of it, there were probably reasons behind your actions too. Who were those men at the spaceport?" he asked innocently.

I was shocked at his audacity, and I didn't have a ready response. "You aren't the only one with a perceptive eye," he said.

"Apparently not." I was impressed in spite of myself.

"What's your story? I'm going to think you're lying to me if you take much longer."

I hesitated, wondering how much I could safely tell him. I didn't know him at all, and I didn't feel comfortable sharing too much, but I couldn't stay in his big house for much longer. I had to find the artifact or all of my efforts would have been in vain. Morley's death would be a useless sacrifice.

I made a split-second decision to only tell my husband part of the truth. Just enough to get me out of here. I needed to get to the artifact before Abel did, but what if Ven went to the police and revealed everything in a misguided attempt to do the right thing? I had no confidence the authorities would be able to stop Abel. They had never been successful before. I was certain that if he beat me to the artifact, he wouldn't let me go on my merry way either, considering what I knew about his involvement.

Once the ladle was secure, I could tell Ven everything. Until then, I would have to keep my secrets to myself. It occurred to me that a man with a big bankroll could easily fund a trip to Heralla. I smiled to myself.

"They were pursuing me against my will."

"Why?"

I hesitated again. "I'd rather not say. I can tell you eventually but for now, it's best for me to keep some things private." He frowned, and I knew I had said the wrong thing. "I promise what I tell you will be the truth. I might not be able to say everything. That's going to have to do for now."

I thought I detected a grudging acceptance in his expression.

"I know this can't be easy for you," he said, staring down at his hands. "I expected to marry a stranger today, even if it wasn't you. You were thrown into this marriage. But I swore to protect you, and I can't do that if I don't know why you're scared of them."

He raised his big black eyes to meet mine. The purple diagonal stripe across his left eye made him look even more handsome than before. My heart beat faster, and I couldn't look away from his gaze. I knew I had to give him something.

I hesitated, then shrugged. I might as well say it all at once. "They want to kidnap me, and probably kill me."

CHAPTER FIVE.

VEN.

I lay in bed alone on my wedding night. In the distance, I could hear night birds calling, and they sounded lonely. I heard a creak from the room where Emmy was staying. She was probably rolling over in her sleep. I briefly wondered what she was wearing but stopped immediately. Thinking about Emmy in bed wasn't going to get me anywhere.

I flipped onto my stomach, pulling the covers with me and allowing my leg to stick out. I punched the pillow a few times and laid my head back down, trying to get comfortable.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

I had imagined Montana and I would hit it off right away. We would have an instant connection and chemistry because we matched perfectly. I thought we could get married and have a romantic dinner. Then I would take her to bed. She would wrap her long legs around my butt, and I would fuck her until we both came.

Perhaps it was a little childish, but I couldn't help my feelings. I was angry and upset that things had turned out differently. I tried to remind myself that it didn't matter who came out of the spaceship. I needed a wife. Now I had one. Emmy wasn't everything I had expected, but she was good enough.

My brain tried to give myself a message, but my heart didn't want to listen to it. The reality was that I wanted more from my wife. I hoped for someone who would have the slightest interest in me. Emmy was most concerned with keeping secrets. She claimed she had a good reason for not telling me things, but I didn't believe her.

After we had told our stories, she looked nervous about our first night together. I explained that one of the stipulations in the TerraMates contract was any sex had to be consensual. That bit of happy news brightened her immediately, which made me feel like an asshole. Had she been worried about fucking me? Would that have been such a terrible thing? Or did I look like a rapist?

She was insulting my manhood, but I couldn't say anything about it. My pride would have to hurt privately.

Suddenly I couldn't stop thinking about the things about her that irritated me. I remembered how she had noticed a gun in my pocket. If a human woman from Earth could see it, I realized anyone could, and I would need a smaller firearm.

I wondered why the men wanted to kill her. She seemed intelligent, but not dangerous. I had always felt intimidated by smart women. Emmy made me uncomfortable.

Why didn't she have any luggage, and why did she take Montana's ticket?

I wasn't going to get answers anytime soon, especially if we were in different rooms. Emmy said she couldn't tell me. I knew the reason why. She didn't trust me. She didn't know anything about me and knew nothing about my character. She had no reason to have faith in me.

Still, the sheer number of questions was annoying.

I wanted her to look up to me, rely on me, and trust me implicitly. I was sure that was what Montana would have done.

What I didn't want was a woman who looked at me like she was my equal. She was a human. I didn't want one who could stand on her own two feet and refused to trust me. Emmy seemed too capable of defending herself.

Wasn't a wife suppose to be dependent on her husband? And what kind of woman had a hobby that involved weapons?

I had never imagined a female like this could exist.

Emmy was only one room over. When I told her we didn't have to sleep together, she let out a sigh of relief, and I knew what that meant. I immediately led her to the guest bedroom adjacent to my room.

After we arrived at my house, I asked for her size. My housekeeper went out and purchased a closet full of clothes to fit her. She was amazed to find clean pajamas ready for her on the bed. It was perfect for her, but I felt incomplete when I bid her goodnight and went to bed alone.

What a terrible wedding night. I felt let down. I expected more from my marriage, arranged or not.

That was before Emmy came into the picture and messed everything up. I felt my heart hardening at the thought of my new wife.

We wouldn't have to spend too much time together. In the shower, I had decided it was time for me to start working again. If the marriage didn't work out, I would have to find something else to give my life meaning.

Work was the next best thing to a happy marriage. Emmy might be beautiful and intelligent, but she would never be a wife like Montana.

My dream of a happy marriage was over.

EMMY.

I wondered what Ven was doing over in his room by himself. I hoped he was sleeping and not imagining me naked. I shook my head and went back to assessing the climbing equipment I borrowed from the front closet.

Since I didn't have access to a shop, the climbing gear I gathered in a little detour after I went to the bathroom would have to do. Thank goodness I happened to have a large carabiner on me. It was big enough to reach around one of the poles of the canopy bed in my room. It attached tightly with a sharp click. I yanked the rope, and it seemed to hold, so I took the remaining line and dropped it out the window.

I was capable of using the front door like a normal person, but I had reservations about it. There was a sophisticated alarm system attached to the house. Although Ven had keyed my biometric signature into the security system, if I walked out the front door he would know too much information about me. He would be able to determine exactly when I left and maybe even the direction I headed.

My plan was to climb out the window instead. In the morning, when he found the rope, it would be obvious how I escaped. By then I would be on the next spaceship to Heralla and out of his hair.

He said he needed a wife. Now he had one. He could keep his fortune. The only thing I would take was some climbing equipment and 500,000 credits from our joint bank account.

I wondered if he would notice the missing money. The number of credits was nothing to someone with his wealth. It was the same amount I gave to his fiancee. I would be getting back the money that was supposed to fund the rest of the expedition to get the ladle. I needed the money for space travel. I didn't think Ven would begrudge me a few credits as long as I helped him keep the rest of them.

But I still didn't ask him about it.

I felt mildly guilty about leaving in the middle of the night without saying goodbye. Ven seemed like a good man, but I had an agenda. Getting married and playing house wasn't a part of it.

I lowered myself out the window and climbed down the rope. I didn't bother with a harness because I was only descending three floors. If I couldn't go down three floors without falling, I deserved to die. There were a few dangerous-looking rocks at the bottom, but everything was rocky on this planet.

I had faith in my arms. I possessed plenty of upper body strength, and I had always been good at rope climbing. In school, I would quickly go all the way up to the ceiling of the gym on the climbing ropes and hang at the top for a while before coming back down.

My life was spent taking risks, not like Ven. I imagined him sleeping contentedly in his bed, not wanting anything in his dull luxurious life to ever change. Part of me pitied him. He was attached to material possessions and his lifestyle. I could see that a spark had left him a long time ago.

I imagined he might have been more fun earlier in his life, before he became a stick-in-the-mud. For a moment, I wondered what would happen if I stayed around long enough to help him remember who he could be. But I shut down the thought as soon as it made an appearance in my mind. I didn't have time for a man in my life, in any way, shape, or form. Right now, my work was my life. It was up to me to continue Morley's legacy now. I didn't need any additional complications.

Getting married wasn't the best decision for me. It had been a favor for a stranger, nothing serious.

Now it was over. It was time for me to leave and find Zelia's ladle.

My feet hit the ground, and I drew in a deep breath of warm night air. It tasted like freedom. I wasn't a prisoner in the house, but I didn't think he needed to be involved in my life. I wished I could stash the rope somewhere and hide my tracks, but in any event, it wouldn't take Ven long to figure out what happened. If he didn't know when I left or where I was going, he couldn't answer anyone's questions about my whereabouts.

Abel's men wouldn't hesitate to hurt Ven if they thought they could get to me through him. I wanted him completely out of the picture for his protection.

When I reached the edge of the property, I turned and shook my head at the big, empty house on the rock. It seemed lonely. Even though the exterior was beautiful, I could sense desolation beneath the surface.

Too bad things turned out this way.

There was a flight off the planet to Heralla tomorrow morning, and the next one wasn't until three days later. I had some things to do to get ready.

I didn't want to miss the spaceship. I didn't have any time to waste. I began slowly jogging toward the nearest major street.

Stars and possibility filled the night sky. I glanced up at them, smiling and feeling excited once I had left the dejected house that was not a home. I was moving toward the future and the accomplishment of a lifetime goal. I was finally getting somewhere and felt a sense of satisfaction for the first time since I had been forced to leave Heralla the first time.

I didn't look back.

CHAPTER SIX.

VEN.

I tossed and turned, thinking about my life and wondering if I had ruined things by using TerraMates. Maybe I could have convinced one of my female friends to marry me and help me out. Surely it would have been easier than living with a stranger for the next year.

Something didn't sound right. I froze, holding perfectly still. There was noise coming from Emmy's room. I listened patiently for a moment, then got up and put my ear to her wall.

I wondered if she was ill, but the noise didn't sound biological. She was quiet. If I had been asleep, I wouldn't have heard a thing.

Click.

I frowned, wondering what could have made a sound like that in her room. It felt familiar, like something I had heard a hundred times before. Was it the closet door? Her suitcase, maybe? Something she brought with her?

My room was eerily quiet all of a sudden. If Emmy was awake, she must have gone back to sleep because I couldn't hear any more sounds coming from her room. I went back to my bed, full of curiosity about what she had been doing.

When I thought about it, I realized I knew nothing about my new wife. Perhaps she had other peculiar hobbies. I didn't know much about Earth women, but it seemed strange that she was interested in weapons. Despite our differences, apparently it was one thing we had in common. I had used guns frequently in the military, but I was familiar with physical weapons such as swords, daggers, and the bow and arrow.

Since I became independently wealthy, I had spent some time acquiring and learning how to use old Stalwartian weapons. I had even started fencing lessons. I had the time and the money, so I thought I should put it to good use. I set up a training dojo for practicing martial arts and working with a fencing instructor. A target for archery practice was located outside the dojo.