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“None that I could see,” he said, frowning. “Why do you have another cup of that stuff?”
Mia shrugged defensively.
“I usually sip a glass of white wine in the bubble bath at home but there isn’t any wine here. The Crème has kind of a kick to it, though—I thought it would do.”
Sev shook his head.
“I don’t like you drinking that stuff when we don’t know what’s in it, Mia!”
“It’s just a vitamin drink,” she protested. “It’s no big deal.”
Sev felt another shiver of unease go through him—the same way it had when Brother Jonash had locked the door to the tunnel that led back to the Docking area behind them.
“Look, Ireallywish you wouldn’t drink it,” he told her.
Mia put a hand on her hip.
“Oh, so you’re already playing the part of my ‘husband’ and deciding what I can eat or drink?”
“No, it’s not that. I just have a bad fucking feeling about that stuff,” he growled.
“Look—smell it and taste it for yourself. It’s completely harmless.”
She handed him the small gold cup—which looked like a toy in his big hand—and Sev brought it to his nose. He smelled nothing but sweet blandness and when he took a sip, he tasted nothing at all.
“Well?” Mia still had her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised.
“Doesn’t smell or taste like anything.” Sev shrugged and unwillingly handed it back to her.
He wished they had some of the lab equipment from the Mother Ship so he could run a chemical analysis on the pale purple liquid. He didn’t like how Mia had put aside her better judgment so easily and now seemed almost addicted to the stuff.
Still, he was onlypretendingto be her husband and even if he was truly her Bonded Mate, he wouldn’t have tried to tell her what to do with her body. She was her own, independent person—it wasn’t his place to speak for her or make decisions for her either.
It would be different if we were on my home world,he thought unwillingly.If I was her Master instead of just her mate or her partner…
Sev pushed the thoughts and images that tried to rise from his past back down. He had seen how badly such a relationship could go wrong—it had driven him away from his home world and he had sworn off the natural urges from the Dae’mon side of himself because of it.
“Fine—drink it if you want to,” he said, shrugging. “It’s your body.”
Mia gave him an irritated look.
“Yes it is,” she said shortly and disappeared into the fresher, banging the door shut behind her.
Sev sighed and ran a hand over his horns. Damn it, they didn’t need to be fighting right now! If anything, they needed to get closer in order to get through this ordealtogether.
Well, he would explore the rest of the house more thoroughly and give Mia time to cool down, he decided. Maybe a bubble bath would make her feel calm and they could talk about the mission when she came out.
He just hoped that damn purple drink didn’t have any bad effects on her.
TEN
MIA
Mia sighed and sat the small golden shot glass on the edge of the sink. She shouldn’t have snapped at Sev like that, she admitted to herself. It was just that this damn place was giving her flashbacks to her sect and all the lectures she’d had to sit through about how a wife should obey her husband unquestioningly. Those memories always made her feel so stifled—sotrapped.Which made her feel like she had to lash out to keep from getting stuck like that again.
But it wasn’t Sev’s fault—he had no part of that past, he was just worried about her. She was his partner—that was his prerogative, Mia reminded herself.
I’ll apologize to him after I take a bath,she promised herself.And I won’t drink any more of the Nutrient Crème if it makes him so upset. In fact, I’ll pour it down the sink so I won’t be tempted. I’ll do it as soon as I get the bath running.
