Page 9 of Devin (Warriors of Etlon #5)

Devin

T he transport shuttle was back early. There was no way that it had already completed the scans that Devin needed.

Did these Mahdfel not understand a schedule?

The hatch ramp came down and Devin was there to meet it, ready to give Zenik a thorough dress-down.

Instead of Zenik, it was Jane that met him.

The idiot warrior had taken his mate on the survey mission.

No wonder. She'd probably wanted something back at home and seen no problem in altering their schedule to fit her demands.

He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Jane.

That's when he caught the first whiff inside the shuttle.

Whatever the hell it was, it made his tattoos burn.

His skin crawled with a delicious scent of want and need.

Whatever she had in there, he wanted- no, needed.

He walked up the ramp, trying to mask his eagerness.

It was a Terran female. Half her face was a purple and red mass of bruises. He was going to find and kill whatever had done that. Devin had no connection to this female, but he instantly knew he would crush whatever had harmed her.

"We need to get her to the med bay," Jane said. "Zenik, if you wouldn't mind..." Devin didn't wait for Zenik. The very thought of Zenik touching her was incomprehensible. He scooped up the Terran into his arms and strode off down the ramp to the med bay unit.

"Did he just growl at me?" Devin heard Jane ask from behind.

"Don't get in between a Mahdfel and his mate," Zenik replied.

Devin ignored them and continued to the white cubicle med bay that Kave had insisted upon.

With all the pregnant mates, it wasn't feasible for their one doctor to travel back and forth between the main camp and temporary settlement by the city site every time there was a medical problem.

The doctor, Scrubs, did come and visit the camp once a week, full of stories about the accomplishments of both his little warrior and Athen's, born on the same day.

Devin put the female on the med bay table and activated the machine.

He stepped back, and for the first moment, his instincts were tamped down by his reasoning.

This Terran was nothing to him. Whatever thing touched her was no concern of his.

He had not requested a mate, and he would not do so until the city was completed.

He did not have the time or inclination to put up with the care and obvious attention a mate required.

That she smelled so good that his cock twitched uncontrollably in his shorts had nothing to do with the situation. She was meant for someone else. She was not his, he told himself.

The med bay quickly repaired the damage to her face, and she relaxed, sleeping peacefully no longer cringing from the pain. She was beautiful. Perfect.

That was her scent talking to his baser parts. In fact, he couldn't see much of her frame. She'd chosen to hide it under a formless gray garment that didn't do justice to what was hinted at underneath. He imagined lushly curved breasts and hips that could ride him with ease.

Damn. He had to get out of there. Her scent was making him claustrophobic as it engulfed him from every angle. Devin took a step back. But then, her eyelids fluttered open.

The female looked at him, and she blinked hard a few times.

He said nothing, couldn't say anything, as she touched her face with delicate fingers.

Then those fingers reached out to touch him.

He wanted to taste those fingers. He wanted them to wrap around his cock.

When they traced a tattoo on his chest, his moan came out, guttural, a growl. She pulled her fingers back, startled.

"Are you my new..." she began.

"No!" he interrupted.

"Oh. Sorry, I-, I thought-" she stammered.

Devin shook his head. Not his mate, not his mate.

"So. Where's my new husband?" she asked.

"No!" The thought of another Mahdfel touching her made him bark out his answer. That too startled her. Devin was going to bite his tongue in two, trying to get the thought out of his head of another warrior touching her, mounting her, entering her. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself from tearing that warrior apart.

"There are no unmated warriors here," he spat out.

"Where is here?"

"Etlon 2."

"Oh." That clearly told her nothing.

"Noven 90?"

"Where's that?"

"It’s another name for this planet. We've renamed it recently. I thought you might have heard of it."

"Nope. I'm Val."

"You look Terran."

"Terran? You mean from Earth? I'm from Earth. My name is Val."

"I am of Etlon. You have healed. I will see you returned as soon as possible.”

Devin turned on his heel and exited the med bay. He needed his brain cells to fire on all cylinders again and for that, he needed fresh air and time away from the Terran.

"Well, nice to meet you, Of Etlon," Val called out as he left.

Once outside, Devin saw Zenik lounging against the transport craft, obviously not in any hurry to finish his duties. That was perfect. He would do it for him. That would give him plenty of time, away from Val, to get his head screwed back on straight.

Zenik did not let his surprise show on his skin when Devin strolled up the hatch ramp and into the transport, shutting it behind him. A moment later, Devin was a mile high, trying to ignore her scent that still lingered in the air.