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Mia bit her lip, hoping to hide a laugh. “Tell you what. I’ll give you her name if you let me check on her.”

He pushed off the door and scowled at it. “Check if you wish. Me? I would not venture within until her anger cooled.”

For a moment, Mia was concerned. What had the man done to rile up her friend? Had he hurt her or tried to force himself on her?

Then she remembered who they were discussing and had to bite back another grin. Of all the women who’d been captured, Leona could take care of herself, and had proven it to Lorik, if the bruise darkening his jawline was any indication. No, Leona was fine. Apparently, the same couldn’t be said of the warrior who’d tried to claim her.

Unable to resist, Mia asked, “What did you do to earn that bruise?”

“Nothing a warrior would not do upon meeting his mate,” he growled.

“Ah. Hmm. You tried to have sex with her?”

“She did not give me a chance to.” He narrowed his eyes at the door, his free hand curling into a fist. “Stubbornklika. Such a mating is to be treasured above all others. The pleasure of the mating bond makes it so. She would hear nothing of it.”

Mia held up a hand, then dropped it. Nope, she was not in any way ready to hear about mated sex. And she absolutely didnotwant to hear about one of her friends having mated sex. Not from the guy, anyway. That was strictly a girls-only kind of talk.

“Let me check on her.” Mia said. “On Leona.”

“Leona,” he repeated, almost reverently, then he dropped his hand and dipped his head to Mia. “May the Fates look kindly upon your union with Zoran.”

He pivoted on one booted heel and stalked away, his footsteps as quiet as Nyklan’s had been. What was it with these warriors? Did they take a special class in walking silently?

She shook her head and palmed the door open to a room laid out exactly as Zoran’s was. Leona was seated at the console, frowning down at a blank screen, her hair smoothed into a knot at the base of her skull. To Mia’s relief, the other woman looked unharmed. Unruffled, even. She’d exchanged her soiled business shirt and skirt for a long, apricot colored robe similar to the one Zoran had given Mia. Her spiky heels lay on the floor beneath the console, one turned over on its side.

Leona looked up when Mia entered, still frowning. “I can’t get it to turn on.”

“Oh! Let me try.” Mia walked over and placed her hand palm down. A mild shock pinched her skin, and she jerked her hand away with a yelp. “Must be print-locked. You’ll have to get Lorik to sign you in.”

“Lorik,” Leona said, rolling the name over her tongue as her eyes narrowed on the door. “You would not believe the nerve of that Neandertal.”

“I gather things didn’t go well,” Mia said dryly.

“He tried to have sex with me as soon as he dropped me on the bed!”

“Weren’t you the one encouraging me to take advantage of Zoran’s willingness?”

Leona waved a languid hand. “That’s different.”

Mia cocked her head. “How?”

“You’re you, and I’m me,” Leona said with a coy wink. “Don’t worry, Mia. I have things well in hand.”

Mia just bet she did.

They settled down for a good chat, gossiping about the women who’d been taken, worrying over Kira’s fate. Discussing the intriguing promise of new research awaiting them on Zephyria, and the research left behind when they’d been abducted.

“Years of work,” Mia groaned. “Down the drain now because of that barbarian.”

Leona squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry, hon. Peter’s a sensible assistant. He’ll continue the work on his own until we get back home.”

“Ifwe get back home.”

“Still convinced your warrior won’t let you go?”

Mia glanced at the door, her conversation with Lorik upmost in her mind. “I don’t think any of them will. Yours certainly didn’t sound like he had any intention of doing so.”

Instead of rattling Leona, the statement seemed to please her.