his attention immediately on Gemma with an intensity that EJ felt all the way to her bones—and he wasn’t even looking at her. He didn’t notice EJ or anyone else, just went straight to Gemma with a growl and indigo flashes in his scales.
She had just a second to envy Gemma before she disappeared in the big dude’s arms and Violet muttered with amused disparagement, then EJ looked at the hall once more and her heart nearly stopped. Nokx appeared, eyes narrowed and hard, and he scanned the loading bay quickly until he saw her.
His expression cleared. He saw her and the intensity shifted into the same kind of look Gemma had received. EJ blinked and braced for bad news, but instead of talking about whatever drew him to the bridge, Nokx strode toward her with relief. He made a rough noise and touched her arm, looking her over as if he’d expected her to have been beaten in his absence. “Are you well?”
EJ frowned and leaned to look around him at Violet, who just shook her head in exasperation and waved before heading into the hall, then turned her attention back to Nokx. “Yeah. It’s not like we held an underground fight club or something. Violet is a lawyer but she’s not mean about it.”
His head tilted as he studied her, and his palm chafed slowly from her shoulder to her elbow and back again. EJ held her breath as she realized two things in quick succession.
First, he looked at her much like the other male gazed at Gemma before hoisting her up to kiss her and stagger out of the bay without parting.
And second... that look in his eyes made her realize she didn’t want to go on another ship, even one with Bula and her crew. She wanted to stay with him, right there on the Sraibur, no matter what else happened.
Her heart sank and she held on to the front of his robes. What the hell was she going to do?
Chapter 20
Nokx
Nokx didn’t like the idea of the Earthers congregating together, not when they were rather devious creatures to begin with, but he preferred Violet to any of the males on the ship. He just needed to deal with Faros and finish the work in the loading bay—so he could get his female back to his quarters and out of her clothes. Immediately.
He found Wyzak and Faros both on the bridge, and from their stormy scales, he’d missed quite an argument. Nokx raised his eyebrows. “Problem?”
The captain kept his attention on the viewing screens and the vastness of space drifting past as the Sraibur cruised along. “Apparently your female is making allies for herself. I thought you were keeping her under control in your quarters.”
Nokx fought the urge to sigh with relief. “She was.”
“Then how is my second-in-command advocating for her to stay on this ship?”
Wyzak scowled as his scales flared with red and orange, so Nokx searched for a neutral way to describe the recent conversations about EJ. “I got breakfast and we spoke. The female has worked hard and wishes to stay on the ship. She brings some skills with her and would be an easy addition.”
“And she warms your bed well,” Faros added, eyes narrowed as he swiveled his chair around to confront him. “Clearly. Otherwise you would not be nearly so interested in keeping her on the ship.”
Nokx couldn’t swallow the warning growl that rose in his chest or the flares of red in his scales. He didn’t know how else to warn the captain without getting insubordinate and causing a fight.
Wyzak kept his arms folded across his chest. “And better if she does. What difference does it make if he takes a mate? There are already two of them on the ship.”
“A mate?” Faros asked, so incredulous he forgot to be irritated. “You fucking haugmawt, do you really think that troublesome stowaway is your mate?”
“Why shouldn’t she be?” Nokx managed to say without snarling.
“She’s not,” Faros said. He scowled more. “Three females is too many. And she’s a criminal.”
“We’re all criminals,” Nokx said. “We’re pirates. All we do is break the law. She’d fit in better than Violet.”
It was the wrong thing to say. Faros leapt to his feet and slammed a fist into Nokx’s chest, his scales turned deep crimson. “Don’t talk about my mate.”
“Don’t talk about mine,” Nokx fired back through clenched teeth.
“Everyone take a breath,” Wyzak said, though he didn’t get any closer.