Choosing Theo: The Clecanian Series Book 1 by Victoria Aveline (i can read with my eyes shut txt) 📕

“So,” he began when they were both seated in the sunken living room. “I thought it would be a good time for you to meet Cebo.”

“What’s a Cebo?” Jade said nervously.

“Cebo is my…our pet.” His eyes twinkled, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Something was wrong.

“Okay,” she said slowly.

“It’s customary for the female of the house to bond with the pet. You should make sure to keep him with you for at least twenty-four hours.”

“What kind of animal is he?” she asked apprehensively. He was relishing this exchange, which made Jade assume that “Cebo” was some kind of disgusting, giant, two-headed possum.

“Maybe it’s best if you just meet him.” Before Jade could protest, he’d started walking toward the door.

***

I can’t wait to see her face. Theo snickered inwardly.

Taking a last look at the distressed expression she wore, he opened the door. Cebo shot past him, detecting a new person in the room.

Theo watched Jade with barely contained excitement.

“A dog!” she exclaimed, and her face broke into a wide grin.

As Cebo charged for her at a pace that would make any female cry out, Jade fell to her knees arms wide.

Theo stood with his mouth agape. Cebo was licking her face! Drooling everywhere! Any other woman would be appalled. They would’ve demanded the animal be removed from the house.

Jade, however, was now on the floor with Cebo. She hugged him around the neck and when he rolled over, she rubbed his belly, all the while smiling and speaking to him in a loving voice. “What a handsome boy you are! Good dog.” Jade sat up and glanced at him, perplexed. “How do you have a dog? There are dogs on this planet?”

“This animal isn’t native to this planet. I bought him from an exotic breeder.” The one animal that had stood out to Theo on that trader’s ship resembled an Earth animal! What were the odds?

“Well, he looks mostly like a dog,” she said, tilting her head to study Cebo. “I’ve never seen any dog with a tongue like this. His eyes are a little funny too. He’s also much bigger than normal dogs are, but he’s close enough.”

“So, you like him?” Theo croaked.

“Oh, I love dogs,” she said, never taking her eyes from Cebo. “When I was growing up, we always had at least one dog in the house. I was planning on going to the pound to rescue one in a few weeks actually.”

“Rescue?” She likes animals and she protects them from harm too?

Her smile faded. “Yeah. On Earth there are so many dogs without homes. People don’t want them roaming free on the street, so they catch them and put them in pounds. If nobody adopts them after a certain amount of time, many places will put them down.”

“Put them down? Down where?”

She placed a hand by the side of her mouth and whispered as if she didn’t want Cebo to hear. “Kill them.”

“That’s barbaric,” Theo hissed.

“I agree, but sadly, many of the things that happen on my planet are pretty barbaric.”

Theo gave his head a little shake, trying to get back on topic. “You don’t mind keeping him with you? All the time?”

“Now that I know he’s here, I don’t want him going anywhere. Can he sleep in my room?” she pleaded.

Theo released a defeated breath. “I suppose.”

She stood and ran towards the stairs. “Let’s go see my room, Cebo!”

Cebo chased after her happily.

When she was out of sight, Theo dropped onto the couch. He was disconcerted. Introducing her to Cebo was supposed to infuriate her. Annoy her at least. It was supposed to be the first step toward making her time here intolerable.

She liked him. No, she loved him. Theo scratched his head.

He needed to do more research on Earth. Thinking back, he did buy Cebo from a vendor who claimed he sold “exotic” animals. If Cebo was similar to…what did she call them? Dogs? It stood to reason that Cebo could be part dog. If the vendor were selling things collected from Class 4 planets, it was unlikely he’d make that information known. It was highly illegal.

Tomorrow he’d request more information about Earth from some of his work contacts. Once he knew more, he’d adjust his plan accordingly. Until then, he’d continue to try and shake her resolve. Seeing her in the bathing room had given him another idea.

Before he put that plan into motion, he first needed to address another, more pressing, issue. He couldn’t let her walk around the house wearing only his shirt. Staying focused was crucial right now. Seeing teases of her cleavage whenever she bent over made him want to rip the shirt off her body.

She needed clothing.

Chapter 20

“I believe your dad thought I wouldn’t like you.” Cebo laid on the bed next to Jade. While she pet his head, she talked to him softly. “Who wouldn’t like you, though? Huh?” Cebo’s tail hit the bed with a thwap, thwap, thwap.

“I still can’t believe you’re here,” she muttered, shaking her head in astonishment.

Already feeling an unnaturally strong attachment that she reserved for dogs rather than people, Jade wondered if there’d be any way to continue to visit Cebo after her marriage was over.

Theo entered the room without warning. He was carrying a smooth black cube in one hand and a thin, black, rectangular object in the other.

“Do you knock?” Jade said, pulling her shirt down over her thighs.

Eyeing her movements, he said, “Not in my house.”

“Our house, darling,” Jade said in a sickly sweet tone.

A frown was his only response. He set the cube down in the middle of the room then moved to Jade.

Feeling it was best not to be lying on a bed while he was in her room, she stood.

“You need clothes,” he said simply.

No shit, Sherlock. Annoyed, Jade cocked her hip and gestured to the small cube. “Have you stuffed them in that box?”

He shoved a thin rectangle into her hands. “You can pick out whatever you want with this.” He slid