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“How long have you been up?”
His gruff voice from the bed startled her, and she almost choked on her drink. She coughed and gave him an apologetic grin. “I didn’t know you were awake.” She glanced at the crumbs scattering the floor. “Did I wake you with my crunching?”
He sat up fully and cocked his head to one side as Pog roused himself from the end of the bed and gave a small shake of his green fur. “No, but I could sense how much you enjoyed it.”
Her cheeks warmed as she plucked another roll from the basket. That’s right. He could feel what she did, and much stronger than she could sense him, although it wasn’t hard to pick up on early morning contentment or the faint buzz of his arousal.
She glanced down at her disheveled clothing and put a hand to her tousled hair. He couldn’t be turned on by her now, could he?
“You should not doubt your appeal,” he said with a grin. The covers had fallen to his waist, exposing his bare chest.
Tegan narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a smirk. “Right back at you.”
Pog jumped from the bed and scampered over to her, running in circles around her feet until she scooped him up. He purred as he sniffed the warm roll in her hand.
Tegan laughed and rolled her eyes. She tore off a small bite and fed it to him. “You’re a bit of a beggar, you know.”
“I didn’t have to beg last night,” Zaandr said, as he searched the floor for his leather pants and boots.
Tegan snorted out a laugh as she gave the Lycithian creature another morsel of bread. “I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to the glurk...I was talking to Pog.”
The Dothvek pulled on his pants, and Tegan averted her eyes as he tucked his significant package down one leg. Why did she suddenly feel shy? She hadn’t been even remotely shy the night before. Thoughts of her lusty behavior made her pulse flutter. Nope. That had not been an issue.
In the light of day, she was shocked by her own lack of inhibitions and how quickly she’d discarded her conviction that she would never lie with a man. Technically, Zaandr wasn’t a man, he was a Dothvek, so that part still held, but she hadn’t been able to hold the line when it came to her sex embargo.
Another furtive glance at the muscular alien reminded her why. Had she really stood a chance against someone so beautiful and someone whose honorable thoughts she could feel as if they were her own? Knowing that he would never contemplate doing any of the things she feared a man would do had shattered her resistance and made surrendering to him and to a night of pleasure possible.
Despite all she’d seen in her life and how many times she’d sworn she would never fall for a handsome face and sweet words, Tegan didn’t regret the night before. She didn’t regret finally allowing herself some measure of joy, some pleasure. She didn’t regret any of it, even though she had to admit that their situation wasn’t ideal.
Oddly, being in the dangerous alien city and hidden away in the brothel with Zaandr as they searched for his missing friend was the happiest she’d ever been. But a little voice in the back of her brain reminded her that happiness rarely lasted.
When he was dressed, she set Pog on one of the chairs, poured him a mug of the hot drink and held it out to him. “I’m not sure what it is, but it’s good.”
Zaandr took it and gave her a warm smile before sipping it. His eyes widened as he swallowed. “I didn’t expect sweet.”
“Do Dothveks not have sweet drinks in the mornings?”
He shook his head. “Sugar is rare on the sands.” He took another sip as he snagged a roll from the basket. “But I like this.” He took a bite of the bread, and closed his eyes for a beat. “I like this even more.”
For a moment, the three of them ate and drank in companionable silence. Tegan couldn’t help but smile. If you didn’t know that they were locked in the room and that it was inside a brothel, they would have appeared like a happy little family. The thought warmed her heart and made tiny alarm bells go off in the deep recesses of her mind.
“Tegan?” His voice was gentle, but his eyes were probing as he looked at her.
Before she could respond, the door clicked and swung open. Rose stepped inside, flanked by a pair of equally impressive females. She eyed them both, flickered an eyebrow, then braced her hands on her hips. “Ready to go save your friend?”
Chapter
Fifteen
“We’re ready.” Zaandr shoved the last bite of the warm bread into his mouth and washed it down with the rich, sweet drink. He was anxious to find Rixx, although he wished he could have asked Tegan about the fear he felt within her. Was she worried about their mission today, or had their night together triggered something?
For him, last night had been the best of his life, and he had no doubt that he’d found his life mate. But humans didn’t have the same tradition of mind mates or the fates of the goddesses bestowing on you one great love. Tegan had grown up with a different reality and no examples of happily mated couples.
When she’d fallen asleep in his arms, he’d had no doubt that she’d been happy. He could feel it enveloping him. But they were no longer in bed basking in the afterglow of their coupling, and reality was intruding and melting away their euphoric haze. Already, his mind was focusing on saving Rixx and keeping Tegan safe in the process.
“Like I told you last night, our operatives were searching for your friend.” Rose strode further into the room. “They confirmed that he’s being held by a band of Zevrian mercenaries.”
“Zevrians?” Tegan glanced at Zaandr, and a sick feeling churned in his gut.
