Page 14 of Devin (Warriors of Etlon #5)

Devin

A fter Devin left Val in the med bay, he returned to the hammock he had set up for himself outside the force fence. There he found one of the toothy, tentacled ‘Kavendish’ monsters beneath it.

He pulled his dagger and killed it with a little too much enthusiasm.

They had found the last one quite tasty, but he didn’t kill this one for a meal.

This one he killed just to work off the energy that sizzled through his nerves, tingled through his tattoos and then went straight to his cock every time he got into proximity of his accident-prone Terran. She made him burn.

No. Not his. He had work to do. He had no time for a mate that had to be dragged to the med bay every day.

Devin hacked the creature into two pieces and dragged it back into the camp, leaving the tentacled mess outside Kave's quarters. He wasn't sure if he intended it as a peace offer or a declaration of war. Either way, Kave would probably react with delight.

Devin could not wrap his brain around his warlord.

He was a collection of contradictions that didn't match the profile of any of his previous commanders.

Some had been obsessed with control and making sure his warriors followed his words to the letter.

Others had given the team a clear set of goals to accomplish, and didn't care how, as long as the task got done.

But Kave just poked his nose in everything, without giving clear instructions.

He seemed more interested in the comfort of his mate and getting input from Jane than providing his own set of instructions.

As he recalled his previous conversation with Val, he realized that the Terran had been right about one thing.

It had been entirely too long since he had spoken with his mother.

He put in for a console call from the command center and sat in front of the vid screen.

His mother was a busy woman, but she was never too busy to speak with him.

The vid screen flashed and he saw her, dressed impeccably, the peach color of her dress complementing her yellow skin tone.

Her hair was dyed to match her outfit and was piled in a series of complicated loops atop her head.

The crystals she wore around her neck were the same color as her eyes.

If she'd been trying to dress as a fruit, she was well on her way to accomplishing her goal.

The moment she appeared, she squinted her green eyes at him. Then, she raised an eyebrow. She waited.

"Hello, mother." Devin said.

"And who have we been slaughtering today? That does not look like Suhlik blood."

Devin looked down at his chest. It was covered with the lifeblood of the Kave monster. He hadn't even noticed.

"Dinner. You look nice," he said.

"The Grand Admiral is having a party tonight and his wife is obsessed with crystals that match your eyes. Grenata went as far as buying those new color changing contacts and synced them with laser embedded crystals so she looks like a holiday light display. Simply ridiculous. Tacky."

"You are well," Devin noted.

"You are not," she surmised.

"I am quite well."

"You only call me when you have news. Good news, and you blurt it out. Like your current post. I was on the screen for all of five seconds before you blurted out that you were designing an entire planet."

"That is not what I said."

"Well, that's what I've been telling everyone around here.

My son, the Mahdfel warrior, has been promoted to building entire planetary colonies.

That's close enough to the truth, anyway.

If it were good news, you would have already told me.

So, what? Have you been fired? There's no shame in being fired.

I'll just tell everyone that they don't respect your artistic vision. "

"Mother, I have not been fired."

"You're pregnant."

"Mother, I think you have a better grasp of biology than that."

"No, I mean you secretly got a mate without telling me, and now she's pregnant, and you're afraid to tell me because you know how much I want a grand baby and yet my stubborn son has his mind set on some pie-in-the-sky idea that he shouldn't give me a grandson until I'm a hundred and two and can't parade him around town, like ALL of my friends.

All of them. They all have pictures of little warriors or grand babies.

And I have to reply with, ‘Oh, my son is building a city.’"

Devin's lower lip started bleeding from where his teeth punctured it. This was not how he pictured this conversation going.

"What?" his mother prompted.

"Nothing," he grunted.

"Nothing?" she asked.

"Mother, I hope you are well," Devin said, perfectly ready to disconnect.

"You haven't told me anything," she said.

"There is nothing to tell. Someone suggested that I call you, and I thought it would be a nice gesture."

"Who, someone?"

"A Terran," Devin said.

"A what?"

"A small puny race that lives on the edge of the galaxy. They're quite backward."

"And she told you to call your mother, and you followed her directions."

"It was a meaningless-"

"What's her name?"

He'd fallen right into that trap by not denying that it was a female that had suggested it.

"Her name is unimportant."

"Is she pregnant?"

"No, mother."

"Is she mated?"

"Mother."

"You are not telling me the truth."

"I have not lied to you."

"That's not the same thing as telling me the truth. Who is this woman that you're talking to? This not-pregnant, not-mated woman? Is she ugly? Is that what you are afraid of? I'll look up some pictures of Terrans and prepare myself."

"There is nothing to prepare yourself for. You are not going to meet her because I am not going to-"

"Oh, muffin. That's my ride. The Grand Admiral sent his personal transport for me. Wasn't that sweet? Got to go. Now, I'll do some research and see what Terran ladies like and give you some pointers. Bye!"

Without giving him a chance to respond, the vid screen blinked off.

He did not need pointers. He needed something to ward him against the images of her lips raised and waiting for him. To ward off this desire, this need to feel her fingers on his skin.