loudly, “And we’re starving, so we are going to get food before you work EJ to death. We’ll eat in our dining room.”
Nokx glanced at her, irritated at the thought of sharing even a moment of his time with EJ around anyone else, and caught his female’s face in his hand. “We had other plans.”
And by ‘other plans,’ he meant fucking. A lot.
EJ giggled nervously, holding on to his wrists, and the soft caress of her skin made his spikes rattle. “I am hungry.”
Nokx didn’t want her to be hungry. He could bring food to his quarters once they were done. Not that he could imagine ever being done with her.
“Good,” Violet said. She stomped her foot to get Wyzak’s attention. “Gemma. Gemma. Lunch. Let’s go.”
The bounty hunter, breathless and dangling from Wyzak’s grip, peered around him. “Right. Yes. Lunch. We should... eat.”
Whatever it was the second-in-command muttered, Gemma turned bright red and giggled and looked at him with wide eyes.
Nokx scowled. He wanted that interaction with EJ. Why couldn’t she stay on the Sraibur? Why was Faros so set against it? Gemma had actually attacked Wyzak and attempted to turn them all in to the Slasu for a reward. EJ’s only crime was sneaking onboard to avoid an unknown fate.
He set his jaw and hauled EJ against his side. “We’ll be fine.”
The captain’s mate looked at him with an all-too-familiar exasperation. “If Faros sees her as a real person, he won’t be as quick to drop her off somewhere else. As long as you hide her away, she’s just a problem he has to solve. At lunch and dinner, she’s someone to converse with or argue with or agree with. Not that I suspect they will have many things in common.”
She had a point, although Nokx didn’t want to agree with her. Or expose EJ to Faros directly. He finally relented, though, when he heard the curious growling coming from EJ’s midsection. “Very well.”
“Good.” The lawyer stepped forward and caught EJ’s arm, drawing it through hers, and set off for the captain’s mess.
Wyzak muttered, “We’ll be along directly,” as he hoisted Gemma and her legs went around his waist and he pressed her against the wall.
Nokx shook his head. “Clean up your mess. I’m not going to do it for you and I have to work here.”
The other Xaravian growled in warning as his female started making soft, needy sounds, and Nokx got out of there as fast as possible. He could imagine the kind of fury that would be unleashed if anyone interrupted him with EJ’s body pressed against his, and he didn’t want to see the second-in-command enraged. He needed them both on his side.
He stalked after the two females ahead of him and started planning how to woo her. He didn’t have much time.
Chapter 21
EJ
EJ didn’t think she wanted anything to do with the odious captain, but Violet was right: the longer Faros ignored her as a person who feared her fate, the easier it would be for him to just turn her over to the Hollbrd. It helped to have Nokx close by and more on her side than the last time she’d confronted the captain.
Violet led the way into a smallish dining room with a round table and six chairs, planting EJ in one and pointing Nokx at another. “Here we go. You two behave yourselves.”
She gave EJ a sideways look that EJ couldn’t quite interpret, then Violet disappeared into another room. EJ felt a little shy as she looked at Nokx, trying to decipher his expression. “Big news on the bridge?”
He grumbled, his scales flashing with hints of red. “Nothing of much importance. What did you talk about with the females?”
“How annoying you Xaravians can be,” EJ said with a smile. She liked the little wrinkle between his eyes when he was trying to decide if she was serious or not. She felt just a little shy, a little uncertain, after realizing how much she wanted to stay with him. “And why they put up with you.”
“We have some good qualities,” he said. His deep voice made her shiver in anticipation, especially when it lowered like he shared secrets. His large hand rested on her thigh, a heavy weight that reminded her of everything they’d shared the night before. Nokx’s eyes flashed like mercury. “Loyalty. Fierceness. Strength. Focus. Determination.”
“Sounds overwhelming,” she murmured.
He grumbled and caught her arm, pulling her toward his lap. “It can be. In the best way.”