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“Really, I can’t—” he began.
“Sure, you can. I know a pretty little thing like you can help me out.” Shanna slipped him something Andi couldn’t quite see—maybe a gold coin? Anyway, the bribe seemed to have the desired effect because the uptight scowl on the servant’s face smoothed out into a smile.
“Right this way,” he said, nodding at Shanna and Andi and led them into the dining room.
9
ANDI
The minute she saw the dining room, Andi understood why Shanna had offered the bribe—it was huge, with a table that looked like it could seat a hundred people at least. If Shanna hadn’t asked to be seated by the head of the Ruling Collective, they surely would have been lost in the crowd.
The servant in the frilly apron and short-shorts led them to one end of the vast table and nodded courteously at Shanna.
“Your seat, my Queen. Would you like some help to strap your male-wife in?”
“Yes, of course—I can’t strap him in myself!” Shanna said, looking annoyed. “Rux, sit!” she added, pointing to the chair the servant had offered her.
Rux sat at once and Andi saw that the dining chairs around the table were all extra large and extra deep. They also all had leather straps on the arms and legs. As soon as Rux sat, the servant went to work strapping his wrists to the chair’s arms and his ankles to its legs. When he was finished, he offered the chair to Shanna yet again.
“Your throne, my Queen. Would it please you to sit?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you.” Shanna seated herself on her male-wife’s lap and got comfortable. “This is lovely—now help my friend,” she told him, nodding at Andi.
“Of course, my Queen.” The servant turned to Andi and Thrax, who was standing right behind her. “If you would be so good as to have your male-wife sit in your seat?” he asked, indicating the chair right beside Shanna’s.
“Oh, of course. Thrax?” Andi looked up at her partner, only to see that Thrax was having a very strange reaction.
His golden eyes had gone wide and he was staring at the straps on the dining chair with something like horror. It was as though the servant had offered him a seat filled with deadly snakes.
“Thrax?” Andi went to him and put a hand on his bare chest, trying to find out what was going on. Her palm landed on the left side and she was suddenly aware that she could feel his heart—it was drumming at an incredibly fast rate.
She frowned. Something about this situation was freaking out her normally unflappable partner. Andi had never seen him look like this—there was a haunted, hunted look in his golden eyes that twisted her heart for some reason. What was going on?
“Thrax?” she asked for the third time. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He shook his head, his eyes never leaving the chair.
“Straps,” he managed to get out at last. “Don’t like to be restrained.”
“Really?” This was something Andi hadn’t known about the big Hybrid. But then she remembered his strange question during their briefing with Commander Sylvan when he’d demanded to know if he had to wear a pain collar or be tied up in any way. It must be some kind of phobia he’d never disclosed to her.
“My Queen, will you be much longer? I have other guests which I must assist.” The servant sounded impatient.
“You go ahead,” Andi told him, still looking at her partner. “I can manage on my own, thanks.”
“Fine.” The servant flounced off, his frilly apron shaking but Andi barely noticed. She was still focused on Thrax.
The big Hybrid still looked close to panic and she wanted to reassure him—though he certainly had never needed reassurance before. She’d seen him face down a three-headed Trollox without an ounce of fear but he was still staring at the straps on their dining chair like someone had shown him the gateway to Hell. And under her hand, his heart was still galloping in his chest.
“Hey, Thrax, look at me,” she murmured. “Look down here—come on, big guy.”
Her soft tone seemed to get through to him somehow and he dragged his eyes away from the chair and finally met her gaze.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Andi told him. “If you don’t want to be strapped down, I won’t let them strap you down. We can just pretend, okay?”
“Well…” He cleared his throat and suddenly the look of fear on his face was replaced by a look of shame, quickly followed by his usual scowl. “Right. Fine,” he growled. “Sorry, I just…don’t fucking like restraints.”
“I got that.” Andi nodded. “And it’s not a problem, believe me.” She took her hand off his chest and entwined her fingers with his instead. Tugging gently, she nodded at the table. “Come on, let’s sit down before someone grabs our seat.”
