“That about sums it up.” She brightens. “But hey, you’ll be great; he has feelings for you. You can do this. Get in there and get Bash!” She widens her eyes. “We’re all pulling for you, because we’re hoping to God that sex on the regular will make him nicer.”
CHAPTER 29
ISLA
I get to the quarry the next morning feeling some hope. I hit the coffee station, where Jonohkada has been roped into playing barista because it turns out he’s got serious skills with making heavenly drinks. He’s not wearing his work apron yet so when coffee splatters him, one of the women suggests that he should take off his shirt.
Jonoh’s wings flush daffodil yellow.
Gracie, of course, launches into protective mode. She threatens everybody to basically stop objectifying Jonoh unless one of us personally wants him, and she adds a stream of colorful but incomprehensible British insults, including calling us a bunch of minger slags and thumb-stuffing twats.
But Dohrein’s got his thoughtful face on, and I’d swear, I’d swear he turns the quickest glance on me before he cocks his head, his wing talons slowly clapping together above his shoulders like villain hands, and then he tells Jonoh, “Remove your shirt.”
Jonohkada looks shocked.
Gracie tosses her mate a confused—and pretty disgruntled—look. She’s been working hard to guard Jonoh’s chastity from women who would otherwise only want him for an FWB situation. As far as Gracie is concerned, you touch Jonoh, you buy Jonoh. So far, despite how amazing Jonoh is, nobody’s put a ring on it.
I’d love to say the women here are crazy for not grabbing him up, but I don’t have room to judge. As much as I like Jonohkada and want him to be happy, I don’t want him for myself. Life would be so much easier if I did. He’s such a nice guy. Instead, I’m hung up on an alien Ebenezer Scrooge who needs relationship rehabbing—and he’s mine, mine, mine.
Dohrein stares down Jonohkada until poor Jonoh lets himself be bullied and strips off his shirt.
The women scream catcalls. Whistles ring out—making all the Rakhii in the area flatten their ears. I don’t scan the area to see where Bash is at, and surely he’s here by now. I stare straight at Jonoh’s (admittedly really nicely defined) pectorals and wait my turn for coffee until I make it to the front of the line, where I’m now level with Jonoh’s bare-skinned abdomen, and I give his midsection my java order.
Before he can turn to make it, Dohrein’s wing swoops around and whips Jonoh in the back—which flattens Jonoh half against the counter—
And half against me.
“What the hell, Rein?” Gracie explodes.
“It’s okay everybody; no coffee was harmed in this collision,” I call out. The skin of my cheek is sticking to Jonoh’s chest. My gawd this hob is hot—both figuratively and quite literally. I’m getting a contact high from being pressed to the little upside-down triangle depression that sits between Jonoh’s sculpted pectorals.
“I am so sorry,” Jonohkada tells me as he peels his torso away from my face where we’ve collided. His hands are wrapped around my short arm and upper arm and he shoves against Dohrein’s wing—which Dohrein drops and retracts easily, folding it back up behind him. Jonoh leans down to stare into my eyes. “Are you hurt?”
I open my mouth to say that I’m fine, but a murderous snarl rings out.
That’s when I’m ripped right out of Jonohkada’s hands.
CHAPTER 30
ISLA
...By Bash. He plasters himself to my back and surrounds me as he leans into Jonoh’s face and bares his big teeth.
Jonohkada looks unimpressed. To no one, he says, “I see what you did there.”
Dohrein grunts, “It was necessary.” I can’t tell if he’s answering Jonoh or talking to Gracie.
Gracie growls, “I cannot believe you risked Jonoh’s life!”
I’m looking at the underside of Bash’s chiseled jaw, enjoying the sight of his heavy-muscled scaly throat, and in general his alien hotness as he stays pressed to my back. “I’m really glad to see you,” I admit. I poke him in the arm.
Bash snaps his crunchers closed with a dangerous noise that’s not unlike the sound of heavy-duty 1960’s Fiskars slicing their blades together.
Before he can be distracted, I take him by his wrist, my hand only wrapping around half of this smallest part of his arm, and tug on him, hoping he’ll follow me away from the queue of innocents, including poor Jonoh. (And Dohrein, who is so not innocent.)
He does.
My heart leaps for joy. I break eye