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Kat wasn’t sure about that, but at least the little creature wasn’t moving around any more. It seemed to have found a comfortable position and was staying still. Instead of the feeling of having a hairy bug in her ear, Kat felt more like someone had plugged it with a piece of cotton. “It makes it kind of hard to hear on one side,” she said uncertainly.

  “No it doesn’t,” Piper said confidently. “You think so because of the way it feels but actually the convo-pillar conveys sound as naturally as your own eardrum does.”

  “You’re right.” Kat nodded. “My ear feels like it’s plugged up, but actually I can still hear just as well on that side.”

  “Of course you can.” Piper hooked her arm through Kat’s. “Come on—let’s go try it out.”

  Kat frowned, suddenly worried. “Uh, I’m not sure how Deep and Lock are going to feel about this.”

  “Please, honey.” Piper made a shooing gesture. “What they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em. Here—we’ll go out the back way.” She tugged Kat toward the opposite end of the large room where there was a small door.

  “We’re just going to leave without telling them?” Even though she’d been longing to go off on her own, Kat was still reluctant.

  “Of course. Aren’t we bad?” Piper giggled and tugged at her arm. “Come on, it’ll be an adventure. And don’t worry—we’ll get back to your boys before you know it.”

  “Well…okay.” Though she still had some doubts, Kat allowed herself to be led out the much smaller, back exit from the ladies room.

  She just hoped the convo-pillar worked. If she had to wear a live insect in her ear, it had damn well better be worth it.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Are these the only thing you guys eat or are they just prison food?” Lauren lifted one of the cardboard pop tarts questioningly after the tall man with the red-on-black eyes slid it across to her. “I mean, not that I’m not grateful,” she went on hurriedly. “Because I am. I was just wondering.”

  He had been heading for the door to the cell they were keeping her in, but he turned back with obvious reluctance. “Nutra-wafers are specially formulated to provide all the protein, vitamins, and nutrition a warrior needs in a single work cycle. They should keep you in good health until the AllFather is ready for you.”

  Lauren cringed at the mention of his father but she was determined not to let fear shut her down. Her jailor was the only person she ever saw—her only hope of escape. She had to form a connection with him.

  “I was just wondering if you guys had any kind of junk food,” she said, trying to smile. “You know, Cheetos, Doritos, cupcakes?”

  He frowned. “What are those? What is ‘junk food?’”

  Lauren sat forward and wrapped his cloak more securely around herself. “It’s food you eat just for fun. It’s usually not good for you but it tastes really good.”

  He shook his head. “We have nothing like that. What would be the point?”

  “Pleasure is the point,” Lauren said, looking up at him. “For instance, I own a cupcake bakery called The Sweet Spot back on Earth. Nobody who comes in my shop actually needs one of my delicious cupcakes but they buy them for pleasure.”

  “I still don’t understand. Why should one take pleasure in eating?” He was still just standing there, staring down at her. Lauren wished he would sit down. If she could just get him to stay with her a little while she might have a chance of connecting with him.

  “You wouldn’t ask that if you could taste one of my deep, dark chocolate devil’s food cupcakes,” she said enticingly. “The cake itself is dense and moist and it just fits in the palm of your hand. Well…” She looked at his large, rough looking hands. “You could probably hold two or three. But anyway, when they first come out of the oven they’re hot and sweet and sticky—they practically melt in your mouth.”

  “That sounds…strange.”

  “Not strange—delicious. Stay and talk to me a little while. I’ll tell you all about it.”

  He frowned. “Why should I stay? I have duties to attend to.”

  “Because I’m lonely.” She didn’t have to lie about that—it was the absolute truth. “Please…just talk to me for a minute,” she whispered, almost pleading.

  “I shouldn’t.” But he settled himself slowly in the opposite corner of her cell and made a motion with his hand. “Go on—tell me more.”

  “I frost them twice,” Lauren said, her heart thumping. “With homemade butter cream frosting. First, when they’re hot out of the oven, I put on a thin layer that just melts right down into the cake. After they cool, I frost them again. I pipe out a thick, creamy dollop right on top and then cover them with chocolate sprinkles that crunch when you take a bite.” She closed her eyes, remembering the deep, chocolate flavor wistfully. “They’re so good people come from all over to get one.”

  “All the flavors and textures you describe…I’ve never had anything like that.” He shook his head. “We have no such ‘pleasures’ aboard the Fathership.”

  “You don’t know what you’re missing,” Lauren sighed. “And that isn’t even my best seller. I make a raspberry filled vanilla bean cupcake with cream cheese frosting that’s out of this world.” Remembering her surroundings, she gave a sad little laugh. “Well, out my world, anyway.”

  “You’re very passionate about your work. These things you make—the cakecups—”

  “Cupcakes,” Lauren corrected gently, studying him from under lowered lashes as she talked.

  Despite his frightening eyes and strange, gray skin, he had strong, noble features that looked like they had been carved out of granite. His profile looked almost Native American and she had an idea that the coal black hair he kept in a club at the back of his neck might be soft and thick if he ever let it free.

  “Cup…cakes,” he repeated slowly. “You enjoy making them for others to consume?”

  “Yes, I enjoy it very much. I love baking—creating things that give other people pleasure.” She smiled at him. “I wish I could bake one for you.”

  “Me?” He looked startled. “Why would you wish such a thing?”

  “To see you eat it. To watch your face when you first bite into it—I love to watch people the first time they taste one of my cupcakes.”

  “You do?” He sounded perplexed.

  Lauren nodded. “Yes—it’s always the same. The smell gets them first—warm and fragrant and then they have to take a bite. Even the ones who swear they’re on a diet—they just can’t resist.”

  He leaned forward a little. “Yes? And then?”

  “And then the flavor hits them. It rolls over their tongue, sweet and perfect as the cupcake just melts in their mouth. Their teeth sink through that moist, delicious texture and crunch on the sprinkles. Then their eyes roll up in their head and most of the time they moan.”

  “They moan?” He frowned, his red eyes narrowing. “I thought you said it was a pleasurable experience.”

  “It is. They moan because it tastes so good—feels so good in their mouth. Haven’t you ever had anything that made you feel so good you just had to let it out?” Lauren asked.

  He shook his head. “No, never.”

  She sighed. “Then I really wish I could give you one of my cupcakes. If we were on Earth, in my shop right now I would hand you one and say, ‘Here you go, Mr…” She paused and tilted her head to one side. “I just realized I don’t know your name.”

  He frowned. “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. I am called Xairn.”

  “Is that your last name or your first?”

  “I have only one name.”

  “All right. Zzzairnnn.” She rolled the name on her tongue and looked up at him. “And I’m Lauren—but you probably already know that.”

  “Your name is known to me,” he acknowledged gruffly. “Not that it makes any difference.”

  Lauren refused to be sidetracked. “Xairn, I wish I could bake you a special cupcake to thank you for what you’ve done.”

  “What have