Page 38 of The Hunter

His eyes rounded as he looked at his stick, the end of which was completely within the fire. He yanked it out. “Fuck!”

Frantically, he blew out the flames on the charred meat.

Telok chittered. The sound was low and rumbling, coming from deep in his chest.

Lacey stared at him in surprise. She’d so rarely heard him laugh or seen him so at ease, and the few times she had, it was while he was with Ketahn, Urkot, and Rekosh. Most of the time, he was stern, serious, and alert, always watching, always ready, always protective. And of course, when he was around her, he was usually also annoyed.

But seeing him like this, joking with Cole, his green eyes narrowed in amusement, made her heart patter.

Lacey slouched forward and tilted her head as she regarded Telok. What would his eyes look like if he were able to truly let his guard down, to set aside his worries? If he were able to shed the burden he seemed to carry in his hearts?

Cole cleared his throat. “Uh, Lacey?”

She blinked and gave herself a mental shake, cheeks heating as she realized she’d been staring at Telok. How long had she been doing so? She shifted her attention to Cole. “Sorry, what?”

He pointed at her cooking food.

Brow furrowing, she looked down. Her grip had grown so relaxed that her skewer now rested in the fire, which was creeping up the wood itself.

Her eyes widened. “Oh shit!”

Jerking the stick up, she quicky blew out the flames, revealing the blackened waste that remained. She tapped on one of the pieces at the end; it was hard as charcoal.

Lacey pouted.

Cole whistled. “Daaaamn. That sucks.”

Telok turned his stick to cook a different side of the meat. “Kir’ur gansha humans’ur ithaa ongahl dera ithin.”

I thought humans were skilled at this.

Lacey tossed the stick into the fire. “I let myself get distracted.”

“Same,” Cole said with a sigh. “But at least mine’s salvageable.”

“Ven’dak ithaa elthan, Lacey,” Telok rumbled. Do not have trouble—basically the vrix version of don’t worry. He gently gestured toward her with his stick. “I will give.”

Lacey glanced at his skewer, with its perfectly roasted meat, then up to him. “You’re…sharing with me?”

Withdrawing the stick from over the fire, he adjusted his grip on it to offer her the cool end.

Lacey hesitantly accepted it, uncertain of what to make of this. “Thank you.”

She looked down at the skewer and tested the temperature of the meat with her fingers. When it wasn’t blistering to the touch, she slipped the large chunk off the end and held the stick back out to Telok.

He displayed his palm and shook his head. “Keep it.”

“Huh? What about you?”

“Not hungry.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “How can you not be hungry? You’re seven feet tall and all muscle and spider butt.”

“Not spider butt, vrix butt.” He closed one of his big hands around hers, guiding the stick back toward her. “Eat.”

His touch and the way his large hand completely engulfed hers sent a thrill up her arm. She couldn’t help her awareness of the roughness of his hide and the immense strength in his fingers, and how that was all contrasted by the gentleness he used with her.

“You sneaky bastard,” Cole said around a mouthful of food. “You already ate, didn’t you? You just got this so she could have extra.”