the apron he was wearing—the strings of which were tied in a big, loopy bow at the small of his back. This domestic look was completely incongruous to the cold-blooded killer she’d been picturing all day. Could it be she had misjudged V’rex yet again?
She honestly didn’t know.
Fifty-Seven
V could feel her confusion and worry and yes—Goddess damn it—her fear of him the minute she walked in the door.
I went too far at her work today. Shouldn’t have chopped off that fucker’s finger, he thought ruefully. I went overboard and now Skrug isn’t the only one who’s terrified of me—Penelope is too.
He hadn’t meant to scare her like that—he’d only wanted to make it crystal clear to Skrug that he’d better keep his hands off. But the Rage had gotten the better of him. In fact, for a moment he’d had a hard time not cutting the other male’s head off—let alone his finger.
And now Penelope is frightened of me all over again. I’ve lost all the trust I earned in the past two days, he thought in frustration.
As he stirred the pot of bland, minced-up vegetables he was calling “stew,” V considered what to do—how to mend the situation. He supposed he could come right out and tell her that he wouldn’t hurt her and he didn’t mean her any harm… But he sensed words weren’t going to be enough to assuage her new fear of him. What was it that Tarn, the captain of the first ship he’d served on used to say?
Speak with your actions, not your mouth. The tongue can lie but the hands tell the truth.
Something like that, anyway. V’rex sighed as he looked into the contents of the steaming pot. The best thing he could do was show Penelope she didn’t have to be frightened of him. That meant lots of patience and persistence, speaking softly and treating her gently.
Which honestly, wasn’t hard for him. His Kindred side was definitely dominant to his Kru’ell One half, which meant he was naturally respectful of women.
He just had to get Penelope to see that because he was going to have to gain her trust all over again.
Fifty-Eight
“Sorry it’s so fucking bland,” V’rex muttered, stirring his own bowl of vegetable stew morosely. “I used as much sodium as I could without overdoing it, but it didn’t help much.”
“It’s fine,” Penny smiled at him woodenly and ate another bite of her own stew. “And please don’t blame yourself—it seems like everything here is bland. I remember at the Breeding and Conception Center, I used flavor sticks on everything they brought us. We were only supposed to use them in the Mother’s Milk but I…Oh!”
She stood up from the small table suddenly.
“Something wrong, sweetheart?” V’rex looked up, frowning.
“I almost forgot!” Penny exclaimed. “The last time I saw my friend, Claudette, she gave me a bunch of flavor sticks because she knew I liked them so much. Hang on.”
She ran to the bedroom and got two of the small wooden sticks from the stash Claudette had given her and came back into the dining area brandishing them triumphantly.
“Here,” she said, handing one of them to V’rex, who looked at it uncertainly.
“Uh, what is this?” he looked at the small, tongue-depressor-type stick and frowned.
“A flavor stick! Didn’t they give them to you when they were holding you in the male dorms?” Penny asked. When he shook his head she said, “Okay, well here’s how they work. You press the stick to your tongue and think about a flavor you really like. Then stick it into the food you want to taste like that and stir it around. The food will pick up the flavor you wanted. Like this—see?”
She pressed the end of her stick to her tongue and thought hard about a recipe her mom used to make when she was a kid. Then she stirred the bowl of vegetable stew thoroughly with the flavor stick before taking a big bite.
“Mmmm,” Penny moaned as the salty, cheesy, crunchy, meaty flavors rolled over her tongue. “So good.”
“Can I try it?” V’rex asked, holding up the spork-looking thing which was the closest thing to a spoon that they had in the Compound.
“Oh sure—help yourself.” Penny pushed her bowl towards him and he took a sporkful of her stew. He put it in his mouth and his eyebrows shot up as he chewed and swallowed.
“That tastes completely different! And completely fucking delicious,” he exclaimed. “What is it, anyway? What did you turn it into?”
“This crazy