Stix awoke to the smell of eggs cooking. His stomach growled, and he looked at the clock. It was nine thirty. Five hours sleep. He groaned and rolled over. Just knowing that Satia was in the room next door made his bear pace all night long to be let out. He remembered the touch of her soft fingers as they'd touched his. The smell of her skin. The beautiful roundness of her plush lips.

Stix threw the covers off and hopped to his feet. Nope. He was not doing this. He dropped to the floor and threw himself into a round of pushups. Then he held himself in plank for two minutes and rolled over and did two hundred crunches. By the time he finished his blood pumped and his muscles ached, but his bear had yet to calm down.

A soft knock on his bedroom door pulled his attention.

He got to his feet and walked to the door, opening it. Satia stood in a pink satin bathrobe her ripe nipples announcing themselves from underneath the thin fabric.

She stared at him, her eyes traveling up and down his exposed torso. The scent of desire wafted from her and she turned away. He fought the urge to cover himself and instead assumed the same position she had, looking away from the beautiful dip of her bathrobe down between her perfectly round breasts.

"I... I made some breakfast and thought you might want some. There wasn't much in there but you had some eggs and bread."

"Thank you. I'm going to shower first."

She nodded and ducked away.

Stix banged his head on his door. He needed a cold shower, and quick. His phone buzzed, and he walked to it. Again the same unknown caller flashed on the screen. He picked it up and hit the on button.

"Take me off your call list," he said. Then he pushed the off button before receiving a response. He hated sales calls.

Twenty minutes later Stix jogged down the stairs clean and clear headed. For at least the time being his ursa had given up his pacing and was discontentedly laying down grumbling in the corner.

Satia was finishing putting the dishes in the dishwasher when he entered the kitchen.

"You didn't need to do that," he said."

"I'm sure I didn't."

He wasn't sure how to respond as embarrassment at the state of the house punched him in the gut so hard he wanted to duck his head and hide from her. So he sat at the table and scanned the food. Four eggs and two pieces of toast. He was going to need to do some shopping.

He picked up his fork and scooped the eggs onto the toast. "After I eat I'm going to head to the store. You can come with me if you'd like."

Satia glanced over her shoulder at him. "I'd like to take a shower and then maybe see what I can do about helping you organize that room over there."

He swallowed down his food and took a sip of juice.

"I'll get around to it."

She stopped wiping the counter and turned to him. "How long ago did your parents move out?"

"Uh... about two years ago."

"And how long has that pile in there been growing?"

He chuckled. "About two years."

"Then why not at least let me go through it and get rid of the junk. Surely you don't need the market ads from two years ago."

"Probably not."

"Besides. I need to earn my rent somehow."

Stix stared at her for a moment. "Were you a slave your entire life?"

"I wasn't a slave I was a servant."

"Was there a difference?"

Her eyebrows drew together. "To a degree. I was not paid, but I was never mistreated. I was never whipped. I ate with the family. I slept with the family. I had my own room."

"And that only ended very recently didn't it?"

She nodded. "We left the castle and went on the run over two years ago. But I was still considered a servant until six months ago when we came here."

"Well, I'm sure then that you aren't used to people giving you things without expecting something in return, but it's not like that with me. You don't have to cook and clean for me so I'll give you a place to sleep. I'm not expecting anything from you in return."

She studied him for a moment. "From what I've seen of men here on Earth, they always expect something."

"And you think I'm one of those men?"

"If I had, I'd never have come to your home with you, but that doesn't change how I was raised. I don't expect to receive something for nothing. I work and earn my way."

He could see that he wouldn't break her resolve no matter what he said. She was brave despite the fear and sadness in her eyes. His heart went out to her wondering what she'd been through. He couldn't imagine Affina being terrible to Satia, even if Satia was an indentured servant. But the sadness in Satia's eyes was unmistakable. Something had happened to her.

"I should dress."

Stix nodded and she left without another word. Stix turned to his eggs and scarfed them down. He had to find out what had happened to Satia. Problem was, he wasn't sure his heart could take finding out what that was exactly.

* * *

Satia heard the front door close right before she turned on the shower. She blew out a deep breath and stepped under the warm water.

Though she appreciated Stix's hospitality and he'd been nothing but kind to her, she was mentally and physically exhausted from being near him. Sometime during the night she went from thinking about him to worrying that he might try to break into her room, to full-blown panic that he'd come in and attack her. She'd spent half of the night curled in a ball at the bottom of the closet holding onto a baseball bat she'd found in there. The panic attack had come on so suddenly that she'd not even had time to prepare herself. Wave upon wave of images and thoughts had overtaken her, and she'd been unable to keep them at bay.

She'd awoken in the closet, her hips aching from the hard floor and her body cold in her thin pajamas and blanket. It hadn't been until that moment when she'd stepped into the shower that she'd begun to warm.

She washed her hair and her body and then sat down in the claw tub and let the water rain over her. She hadn't had a panic attack like that in almost a month. Even the nightmares had begun to diminish in her time of solitude at the lodge. But somehow being back in the city had triggered the emotions buried deep inside. She laid her cheek on her knees and stared at the water swirling around the drain. Maybe it would help if she went to see a professional. Affina had suggested it several times, but Satia had determined she could handle the problems herself. And she had for the most part. She'd listened to hypnotic therapy on her phone. She'd spent hours meditating in the woods. She'd done everything to help the situation. But now, being back... Maybe she needed something more.

Satia stepped out of the shower, wrung out her hair and wrapped herself in a towel. The room was steamy, so Satia opened the bathroom window and looked out at the backyard. Like all the others on either side, it was a long thin yard separated by a wooden fence. Where other yards were manicured and full of flowers or kids' toys, Stix's lawn was a neglected greenish-brown color, and the plants surrounding the wall were withered and clinging to life. It surprised her that Stix did so very little to keep up his property. She didn't assume that running several restaurants was easy, but surely it left him with at least a little time to clean up his things.

She turned from the window and shook her head. It wasn't her place to judge. The best she could do was to help him in any way she was able, as he was helping her.

Satia dressed and walked downstairs to the rooms on the left side of the house. Armed with a box of trash bags and a small old radio for company she began sifting through the piles of mail, magazines, receipts, trash, and even clothing. She separated everything into piles. Things he needed to look at. Things he should have looked at a long time ago. Things to decide if he was keeping. And junk. The junk went straight into the trash bags.

One hour turned into two, and soon she heard a knock on the door. She stared that direction for a moment.

Satia got to her feet and turned down the radio. She walked through the other two rooms toward the front door. As she reached it the bell rang. She peeked through the hole in the door to find Stix laden with bags.

She opened the door. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't sure if you wanted me to open the door."

"No problem." He pushed past her to the kitchen and set all the bags on the table and smiled. "Man. I don't remember the last time I bought this much food, but I wasn't sure what you'd like so I got everything. When I got to Earth I wanted to try every food on the shelves."

"It was strange the first time I went to a grocery store. Boxes and boxes of brightly colored foods I'd never heard of. Like Chef Boyardee and mac and cheese. Not to mention the cereal aisle. Bright leprechauns and crazy rabbits."

"Did you try them?"

She shook her head. "I prefer my food in colors that look like they came from nature. And I also prefer to be able to pronounce what is in my food as well."

Stix chuckled. "Well, then I might need to make another trip to the store. Unfortunately, I am so busy I usually grab something to go from the restaurant."

Satia searched through the bags and pulled items out, setting them on the table. There was very little in the bags that she found even remotely appealing. Everything was either boxed, canned or bagged.

"I can go to the store later if you tell me where it is." Silence fell between them as she removed all the items from the bags. "So, when did you come to Earth?"

Stix helped put the groceries away as she handed items to him.

"When I was nine my last grandparent died and my parents wanted a fresh start, so they decided to come to Earth and give it a try."

"A fresh start? Did something happen?"

"Not really. They weren't very high in the pecking order of our clan, and they wanted to go somewhere that I might have a better chance in life. A place where I would be able to have my choice of mate and job and schooling."

"So they came here for you. Is that why you still live in their house and work at their restaurant? Do you think you owe it to them?"

Stix stopped for a moment. "I never thought of it before, but I guess in a way that's true."

"Is it what you want to do?"

He shrugged and put a jug of milk in the refrigerator. "I've not given it a ton of thought."

"I only ask because if it isn't, doesn't that negate the reason your parents came here? If they came so you could be free to choose your path, and then you don't..." She stopped and shook her head. "I'm sorry. It's not my place."

He turned. "No, you're right. You're right." The wheels turned in his mind as they put the rest of the groceries away.

"I finished what I was able to in the other room if you'd like to go through the stuff I can make some food."

"You aren't my servant, Satia. You don't have to make me food."

She shrugged. "I'm going to make something for myself, it's not hard to make enough for two."

Stix folded his arms over his chest. "Okay. How about we set up a few rules."

Her heartbeat quickened. "Why? Did I do something wrong?"

He held up his hand to stop her. "No. I want to be clear."

Satia swallowed hard and folded her arms around herself. "Okay."

"So, I pay you to help me. Barry opens the restaurant at eleven for the lunch crowd. We close down around two and prepare for the dinner crowd. I go to work about six. We close down at one during the week and two on the weekends. I will pay you for eight hours of work a day. If you want those hours to be here helping me at the house, great. If you want them to be at the bar, I need help there too. But I don't want you working twelve or fourteen hours a day. I don't want you feeling like you need to wait on me hand and foot. I don't want you feeling you owe me for room and board. So you decide how you want to break up your time, but I don't expect you to work around the clock and I don't expect you to cook for me or do my laundry or anything like that. You're my assistant, not my unpaid servant."

Satia thought about his words for a moment. "But what if I don't mind doing those things for you? What if I want to work more? I mean if I don't work what am I supposed to do?"

"Anything you want. You can explore the city. Go to museums. Go shopping. Binge watch television. Read books. If you want to start classes at the community college, you can do that too. You wanted to move here to start a life, and I want you to do that. Like you told me I need to do."

Go to college? She'd never even considered the possibility. She'd been given a decent education alongside Affina, but she'd never thought of doing more than that.

"Maybe we can do it together."

He smiled. "Maybe we can."

His smile made her smile. It was comfortable with Stix. He was easy. For the immensity of his size he was neither overbearing nor did he have his cousin's bravado. He was kind and gentle and had a relaxed air about him that made her feel... safe. Satia chastised herself for ever having bad thoughts about him and fears that he might take advantage of her. Anyone who met Stix could tell he was not that kind of man.

"Okay," she finally said. "So why don't you go through your piles in the other room and I will choose to make food for myself, and maybe you if I decide I want to."

He nodded. "Sounds like a plan. After I clean the stuff up I'm going to head to the gym."

"What's a gym?"

"It's where I go to workout. I do boxing training for fun."

"Boxing?"

"It's where you're in a ring and hit someone else, and they hit you."

"For fun?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much."

Boxing sounded like an interesting prospect. "Would you mind if I came along?"

He shrugged. "Sure, if that's what you want."

She nodded. "It is."

"Okay then, it's a date."

Satia smiled. A date. She'd never been on a date before.