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    The Curiosity Shoppe
    The Curiosity Shoppe
    The Curiosity Shoppe
    Ebook45 pages39 minutes

    The Curiosity Shoppe

    By Rayne Forrest

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Cajun Zebadiah LaCroy is a long way from home. Infected with a bad case of wanderlust, Zeb's been working on an intergalactic merchant ship. He's seen all manner of strange worlds and stranger beings. When his ship docks at Station Janus, Zeb searches for a gift for his sister back home and finds more than he bargained for. Come and see, a female voice calls telepathically to him. Never one to be able to deny his innate curiosity, Zeb can't resist. He's caught in her spell.

    When he finally sees her, hears her say his name, Zeb knows Semele is telling him the truth. They are bonding exclusively to each other. For the bonding to be complete, they must mate. The only thing is, she's not quite human.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWhite Deer Enterprises/White Deer Books
    Release dateJan 9, 2016
    ISBN9781524250867
    The Curiosity Shoppe

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      Book preview

      The Curiosity Shoppe - Rayne Forrest

      Station Janus, 2317 AD

      Zebadiah LaCroy leaned over the clear polymer railing that ringed the level B6 concourse. From here he could see all the way down to the bottom of the central atrium of Station Janus. From his vantage point, a quarter of a mile above, the shoppers appeared to scurry dizzily about like busy ants.

      Looking up he could see the faint blinking lights of a Bascevii freighter hovering near the open view port at the top of the atrium, almost a half-mile above his head. The central core of the massive Station Janus was simplistically beautiful in its graceful circular design, he’d give the architects that much.

      But for him, the bottom line for him was nothing manmade could really compare to the Bayou, and he was going home to its still and silent splendor. He’d come to the conclusion that he was one Cajun that did not belong in space regardless of the pay. He wondered, when he was home and alone in the misty depths of the Bayou at dawn if he even belonged in the twenty-third century.

      Are you lost?

      Zeb turned to face the owner of that crystalline clear voice. It was a young girl, human in appearance, although he knew she was not. Her sparkling golden eyes gave her away as being from somewhere in the Delta Eridani solar system. He smiled down at her.

      I’m not lost, no. He wasn’t, not in the sense she meant. She was a pretty little thing, maybe ten or eleven years old. I’m seeing what there is to see.

      That will not take you long. You can see the world, and more, from here.

      He thought that an astute observation from one so young.

      Ah, well then I’m disappointed. I thought the world to be bigger.

      The little flirt tilted her head and batted her golden eyelashes at him. You have seen many worlds? Are you a merchant?

      I work on a merchant vessel. Or rather, I have. My tour is almost up. I’m going home to Earth soon and then I suspect I’ll stay there. A wave of homesickness for the life of wanderlust he was giving up caught him off guard.

      You will miss space, she said with a voice sage beyond her years.

      I suspect that you are correct, to some small degree. He could confess that to her. He'd never see her again. She put one hand on her hip and looked him up and down.

      You suspect much. What do you know for a certainty?

      Maybe he needed to re-evaluate her age.

      I know you are quite smart, and very pretty. I bet you live here and I bet you can tell me where to go to purchase a special gift for my sister.

      Her eyes darkened. She frowned, her displeasure obvious. Sister?

      A female sibling born at a later time. One younger than me. Birth order was of great importance to some races. He'd learned to state he was eldest and avoid confusion.

      Ah. She smiled brightly again, moving a half step closer. She tilted her head, glancing up at him from under dark, fringed bangs.

      You should be careful. People who suspect much, only know one thing as certainty, and then gamble, often run afoul of good fortune.

      Wasn’t

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