Page 139 of Dancing for the Minotaur

Orlov followed his gaze, and his smile returned.

“Ah.” He nodded knowingly. “The brats.”

Taurex’s eyes snapped back to him.

“Do not call them that.”

“Why not? They’re not yours.” Orlov laughed again. “You don’t even claim the woman, but you’re willing to come charging in here over her kids?”

“She may never choose to be my mate,” Taurex said quietly. “She may never speak to me again. It changes nothing.”

Orlov frowned in apparent confusion.

“So you came to get them knowing she doesn’t want you? I don’t get it.”

Taurex stepped closer and glared down at him.

“I will protect Terra and her family with my life because I love her. My love does not depend upon what she gives me in return.”

The human male stared at him as though Taurex had begun speaking an incomprehensible language. Then he scoffed.

“That’s pathetic.”

“No,” Taurex said. “What is pathetic is believing that desire gives you ownership of another living being.”

Orlov’s expression hardened.

“You think you’re better than me? Charging in here like a white knight?”

“I think almost any male is better than you,” Taurex said.

The insult finally cracked Orlov’s composure.

“Fuck you, Bull. She’s not yours and she never will be!”

His hand moved suddenly toward the side of his desk but not quickly enough.

Taurex raised the blaster, causing him to freeze in place.

“Do not.”

Orlov stopped. His pale eyes flicked toward the place he stored his weapon and his fingers twitched.

Taurex could hear the increase in his heartbeat and knew the human male was gearing himself up to do something. It was time to end this before things got messy.

“You kidnapped two younglings to force their mother to submit to you,” he said to Orlov. “You frightened them. Bound their hands. Used them as bait because you knew Terra would walk willingly into danger if it meant protecting them.”

Orlov’s mouth twisted angrily.

“It would’ve worked.”

“Yes,” Taurex said. “It probably would have.”

A flicker of satisfaction crossed the human’s face.

“That’s because she knows she belongs to me.”

Taurex’s nostrils flared.