expected when the doors slid open and in strolled two enormous Askole warriors. To my alarm, they walked over and sat down on either side of me.
“You must be Jia,” the one on my right said, exposing his fangs in a rather terrifying smile.
“I am.” Using my napkin, I tried to clean up the spilled blood worms.
“I did not know humans ate blood worms,” the warrior on my left commented.
“We don’t.” I drained my glass of Merlot. “Cason, my son eats them.”
Both warriors sniffed me, and their tentacles danced over my hair.
The warrior on my right said, “You have not given birth to any children.”
“Or had sex with Trayon,” the other warrior exclaimed in disbelief.
Zzzzzt! An energy ball formed above my hand. “That’s rude, none of your business and who are you?”
The warrior on the left grinned. “I am Juri.” He pointed to his friend. “He is Dway. We are Trayon’s kindred.”
Dway gazed at the energy ball in delight. “Are there more soft skins like you?”
“Ask Zarek.”
“We must travel to Earth and claim one.” Juri tried to stick a talon in the energy ball.
I smacked his hand. “Don’t touch it!”
He looked at me in surprise. “Something so small cannot harm us.”
“Yes, it can.”
“Silly female.” Dway prodded the ball. Zap! He flew backwards and crashed into the wall. His tentacles stood on end.
“What part of don’t touch didn’t you understand?” I yelled at him.
Dway groaned.
Juri broke into hooting crackle. “Trayon chose well.”
Idiots. I linked with Trayon. Do you know some Askole warriors by the name of Juri and Dway?”
“They are family. What humans would consider cousins. They are harmless.”
Uh huh. Harmless wasn’t a description I would use. “Okay, they dropped by to say hello and Dway kinda got zapped.”
“Zapped? Does he need a medic?”
I eyed the wisps of smoke rising from his tentacles. “That’s probably a good idea.”
Whoosh! Trayon zoomed in with Cason cradled against his chest. A few seconds later, a pygmy Askole entered the mess hall carrying a med kit. He hurried over to Dway.
“I told him not to touch my energy ball.”
Juri nodded. “She did.”
“What did you do to provoke Jia?”
“Nothing,” Juri said innocently.
I gave him the stink eye. “I didn’t know who they were, and they sniffed me. After Toothless and his buddies, I wasn’t taking any chances.”
“I see.” Trayon’s lips twitched.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“Not at all. My clan is very curious about you.”
“I see. I’m like a freakshow, huh?” Call me cranky, but I was at my breaking point.
Trayon hugged me. “Not at all.”
“Momma.” Cason held his arm out.
I took him from Trayon. I had to keep it together for the kids and Adam. “Have you been a good baby?”
“He bit Soval,” Trayon said almost proudly.
“Who’s Soval?”
Trayon pointed to the pygmy Askole. “Soval is our medic.”
I winced at the rather large bandage on his arm. “How many times did Cason bite him?”
“Three times.”
“Soval must have done something to scare him.”
“He ran a scanner over Cason.”
“Oh.” I tapped Cason’s nose and pointed to Soval. “No bite.”
Cason gurgled at me.
I made a frowny face. “Biting makes Momma sad.”
“Sad?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Very sad.”
Cason kissed my chin. “Ax.”
“Is that Rodan for sorry?” I asked Trayon.
“The word sorry is not in the Rodan vocabulary.”
“Huh? I didn’t know that.”
Soval walked over to us and bowed slightly. “Commander. My lady. Dway’s injuries are not serious. He will be fit for duty tomorrow.”
“I will adjust the roster,” Trayon said.
“I want to apologize for Cason biting you.”
Soval smiled. “No apology is necessary. Our children tend to bite at that age. I will have his DNA results in an hour. You need to provide him with an Izix bone to sharpen his teeth on.”
Cason’s teeth were already razor sharp. “Okay. Thank you.”
Soval bowed again and left.
Juri sauntered up to us. “I want to formally request permission to travel to Earth so I may hunt a soft skin.”
Hunt? I literally saw red. Zzzzzt! An energy ball formed above my right hand. “We are not prey to be hunted or sold like animals.”
“To claim a human female as a mate Juri, you must first win her heart.” Trayon’s mouth fastened on mine in a soul-singing lip lock. His forked tongue slipped between my lips, stroking me until pleasure lit up my nerves like lightning. My ability to think vanished and so did my power ball. All I wanted was him.
“Owh! Owh!” Cason patted my cheek.
I broke the kiss and looked around. Juri, Dway and Soval were gone. “Sneaky move.”
“Askole warriors are hunters who will stalk their prey