Page 17 of Enticed by the Alien Chef (Gladiators of the Vagabond #8)

Rex

Kara could understand my sign language. I didn’t understand how that was possible, and it was both a joyous thing and something that made me worried.

I knew she’d looked up lessons on my datapad, which had pleased me a lot, but I knew she couldn’t possibly have learned everything that fast. She had somehow obtained perma-contacts, but how?

There was only one likely answer: Drova.

I needed to corner the Asrai and get the truth from him, but he was right; the bar was packed to the rafters.

If I wanted to keep this place running, I had work to do first. Lunch pies, sandwiches, soups — even with four hands, they were filled to overflowing with work.

It wasn’t until the rush died down, and Kara was bussing tables rather than serving them, that I could trap the sneaky Asrai in a corner by the bar for that much-needed talk.

His eyes went wide when I stalked toward him.

His scent turned an acrid sour from fear, but shutters dropped over his expression soon thereafter.

A cunning look appeared in his dark red eyes as he peered at me from his deep-set eye sockets inside his skull-like face.

“You’re going to have to ask your little woman,” he said, “unless you’re willing to pay for this information. Say, with your shares in my bar?”

My shoulders lowered abruptly, my glare growing so fierce that Drova wilted beneath the look.

He sagged against the polished wooden bar, his knees giving out, and I could see his heartbeat pounding wildly in the vein at his throat.

He held firm—I had to give him credit for that.

Drova knew I was no murderer, and I preferred to be law-abiding, especially inside the bar.

He also knew I’d set my sights on owning what was his—this place—and I wouldn’t easily give up that dream.

He thought Kara was my weak spot, and he would be right, but I would talk to my mate before I’d give up my shares.

With a slash of my hand through the air to show my distaste and a firm no, I turned on my heel.

I was just in time to see the doors to the kitchen shut behind Kara’s shapely rump, a guilty expression on her face as she ducked out of my sight.

My unease over the unknown debt or danger she might have put herself in faded.

A smirk curled my mouth as I considered what kind of fun it might be to convince her to talk.

Drova, the vile male, sensed the change in my mood even without the telltale color of my mood spots to guide him.

He cackled with laughter, drawing the attention of the remaining handful of patrons still finishing their lunch.

I left him to deal with the gawkers and stalked back into my domain.

Kara’s shoulders jerked back when she heard me approach, but she didn’t leave.

Her hands trembled as she stacked dishes into the cleanser with a clatter of noise.

Heat was already crawling up the side of her face and along her throat.

My cock surged in my pants at the sight, but I controlled myself with iron focus.

First, she was going to tell me how she got them, and then I’d make sure she wasn’t in any danger.

My mind supplied helpful images of how I could follow that up with a pleasurable lesson, one that would teach her, without a shred of doubt, that she should always come to me first. I was her protector—didn’t she know I’d take care of anything she needed?

I waited until she’d put the last cup down before I trapped her against the counter.

A part of me could marvel at how far we’d come since our first encounter.

Only a week ago, I never could have done this without freaking her out, but she trusted me now.

If only she’d trusted me with getting the perma-contacts; you couldn’t trust Drova.

My upper hands landed heavily on her small shoulders, while my lower hands grabbed the counter on either side of her hips.

She drew in a deep, shuddering breath and froze inside the circle of my arms. Then I pressed my lower body against her rear so she could feel my rampant cock, while curling my chest against her back so she knew I had her completely surrounded.

She was mine to do with as I wanted, and I was very tempted to pull down her pants and bend her over the counter so I could fuck her.

She wasn’t ready for that, but I didn’t think I could wait much longer.

Her scent was too rich, too heated for me to find the restraint I’d started out with.

“Tell me now, Kara. How did you get the contacts? What price did Drova demand of you?” I signed with one hand in front of her face.

With my tongue, I drew a line along the soft shell of her ear, and it caused a thousand tiny bumps to raise along her tender flesh.

I trailed my fingers along them, down into her shirt, and along the upper slope of her soft breast. “Tell me now, female,” I signed firmly.

I knew she could understand and that she was watching my fingers as they danced in the air in front of her. But she did not answer.

I used my teeth next, closing them around the juncture of her neck and shoulder with a gentle bite—a sting I eased with a lap of my tongue.

My hand slid lower into her shirt to cup her breast and thumb her pointed nipple.

She shuddered, a sexy moan slipping from her lips, and like that, it broke the dam.

She flooded the air with words. “I took care of it. Drova didn’t supply the contacts.

It was an Ovter. Laza. But I used Drova’s secret stash of drugs and knocked him out.

He’s gotta be so hungover, that he doesn’t remember what happened. .. And nothing happened.”

I froze, my mind flashing back to last night when I’d noticed one very inebriated Ovter stumble from the backroom and down Drova’s private stairs.

That had to be the male she was talking about.

Laza. I tasted his name on my tongue, and that action morphed into a silent growl I knew my mate could feel vibrate against her back.

She hunched her shoulders in response, and I squeezed her soft, warm breast.

“One drunk Ovter… That we can manage.” I did not want to encourage her to do more dangerous stunts, but the truth was, I was impressed.

She was no quiet little Batan, quivering in a corner, not anymore.

She had identified what she wanted, made a clever plan, and executed it perfectly.

Too bad that there were always repercussions; at some point, that Ovter was going to realize he didn’t get what he wanted.

I could easily picture that he had coveted my pretty female in ways reserved for nobody but me.

A snarl ripped through my damaged throat, forcing sound through that felt like I’d swallowed shards of glass.

Kara trembled, her scent hot in my nose.

The little female liked it when I got bossy with her; I was not going to forget that.

Squeezing her breast again, I dropped my head and lavished kisses on her neck.

My hands forgot all about signing words for her and simply took.

And I took because I knew she was willing to give me what I craved; I took because it was exactly what she wanted.

My hands dropped to her body, roaming, and then cupped her core through her pants — stroking, rubbing — until, with a tremulous moan, she came for me.

“Ah, Rex…” She’d thrown her hands up and curled her arms around my neck, fingers clutching my hair as she clung to me on trembling legs.

Satisfied with her pleasure, I turned her in my arms and pressed my eager cock against her belly.

“Tonight,” I signed. “Tonight, you are mine.” Her green eyes went huge in her face, but a smile slid across her flushed features. Then I gave her a frown, “But you never do that again. Promise. Next time you need something, you come to me. I would give you everything, Kara. Everything.”

My cock ached fiercely as I let her go, but it was worth it to watch the sexy curve of her ass as she walked away. “It’s a promise, Rex,” she said with a smile over her shoulder. “Both those things.”