Caught Between Two Blue Aliens - Celia Kyle Page 0,20

she relied upon. Her boss wasn’t exactly known for his tact and decorum. Or his fair treatment of female staff. These two Drokten had already been the reason she’d lost one job. She couldn’t lose this one too.

She stepped out of Hiren’s embrace and lifted her chin. “Seriously, let him go. Let me go.”

“He touched you against your will,” Sevith snarled.

She sighed. This alien commander was trying to help her, which was lovely. Normally, no one ever stepped in and defended her like this. Ever. But he also didn’t know the fucked-up way things worked around here. “He’s a customer,” she was forced to declare. “I-I can’t get in trouble for this. Please, I need this job to pay my bills, all right? Just let him go.”

“Listen to the girl! She knows how all this works,” Roy grunted, as he tried to point at her.

“Do not point at her,” Sevith hissed. “Do not touch her. Do not look at her.”

“Call off your goons, Jenna!” Roy shouted.

Like she had control in this situation? The fuck was he smoking? “They’re not my—my anything. I don’t know what’s going on either,” she tried explaining.

“If we can disengage from this situation, we will explain to you what is going on,” Hiren offered in a smooth voice, a sense of peace accompanying his words and soothing the harshest edge of her anxiety.

“Sevith,” she hissed, “let my customer go before my manager comes out and sees this.”

Roy was an asshole—no way around that truth. He had little or no respect for women, and none of his lackeys ever saw fit to intervene when he got out of hand. She tolerated him because that was her job and she was in no position to turn down a paycheck—not with rent, groceries, and Noah’s lung treatments to cover. So, if she had to deal with a mouthy, overly touchy regular like Roy in order to get paid… that was that.

Not once, ever, had her boss told Roy to stop his rude behavior. She basically had to put up with it or quit. So, she was stuck having to take the misogyny and objectification with a smile and grace, as women had for millennia.

But now, Roy was at the mercy of the Drokten commander, which could spell very, very bad news if he didn’t do as he was told.

She glanced at the two tall blue warriors. Why had these two gone so far out of their way to track her and then defend her, threatening one of her regulars with violence?

What had she done to incur this treatment?

“Let me go, you assholes,” Roy rasped.

Sevith growled, pulled back a fist, and punched Roy in the face.

Jenna put a hand over her mouth, trying to cover her smile. Because, darn it, that was pretty awesome.

The manager of the diner—who doubled as the main cook—stormed out of the back with a scowl of anger and shock on his face. He propped his hands on his hips, full rage brewing in his dark gaze as he surveyed the scene unfolding like a soap opera in the microcosm of his little diner.

“What the hell is going on out here? Put him down!” The manager shouted at Sevith, face red with fury. “That’s a paying customer, you big, blue brute!”

Hiren visibly winced and squinted his eyes at the manager, almost looking sorry for Jenna’s boss, and a second later she discovered why.

Still gripping Roy by the collar, Sevith marched aggressively up to the manager and glared down at the male, baring his fangs like a wild animal. The manager recoiled, looking much smaller by comparison to the over six-foot-tall, muscular alien male.

“This male was harassing Jenna Perry,” Sevith snarled. “He deserves to be punished for touching her. She does not belong to him. She belongs to me and my Bahn.”

“Just a point—I don’t belong to anybody!” Jenna interjected bitterly. Which reminded her of exactly why she’d run away from these two last night. They’d wanted to take her to their ship. Is that why they were here, again?

The manager barely glanced at Jenna before turning to Roy, who was still being held immobile in Sevith’s mighty grip. “What happened, Roy?” he asked.

“I was mindin’ my own business, playing around with Jenna as usual, when these damn aliens showed up outta nowhere causing trouble. I guess she has them on retainer now or something. Let me tell you right now. This is not the level of customer service I’ve come to expect from this establishment and