AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His fury was red hot, and Bernadette met it with ice-cold ire. “I want to find out if he’s all right. If he’s in one piece. Safe. In short, I’m doing what you, as his Nobek clanmate, promised and failed to do.”
Rage turned him into the demon he’d only vaguely resembled. Halmiko abruptly loomed over her, threat etched on every inch of him. His growl filled her ears, erasing the racket of the marketplace.
He froze, a terrible gargoyle hanging over her. His gaze slid from her face to the blaster she’d shoved into his rock-hard abdomen.
“You can back up now, Hal,” she purred.
A new emotion was added to his anger. His pupils dilated. He licked his lips as he retreated a step. “Quick draw, Matara. Impressive.”
“Thank you.” She pretended she didn’t notice the telltale spicy scent that came from him. Anger and arousal were a dangerous mix when it came to Nobeks. Even if she’d considered for a single moment taking him up on his offer of sex, she wouldn’t do so in his current mood. “I’ll leave you to your shopping, big guy.”
She left him there, holstering her weapon as she walked off withpurposeful strides, but not too fast. Running from a Nobek was more dangerous than fucking him when he was angry.
Chapter Three
Halmiko glared in the direction Bernadette had gone, though she was already lost from sight in the hectic surroundings of the concourse. She was lucky he’d let her go. Damned lucky.
The spark of excitement that had shot through his loins when she’d surprised him with her blaster ebbed. She was a hell of a woman to get the drop on him, and sexy as fuck. He couldn’t remember when he’d desired someone so much.
But that dig she’d made about him failing Doljen…the erection that had begun faded in the wake of humiliated resentment. On the heels of that galloped in less welcome emotions.
He glanced at the Beonods. They were no longer the eager, simpering brother and sister who’d seen him as a sure sale. They’d retreated to the rear of their kiosk, watching him with big black eyes.
He drew a breath. “Sorry. Maybe some other time. After a few drinks.”
He set off in search of a bar. Fortunately, on Nove, he didn’t have to look hard or go far. He could have gone in any direction and walked into one accidentally. They were that numerous.
Minutes later, he was nursing his second glass of bohut. He was due on the carrier he served on first thing in the morning. As much as he was tempted to get roaring drunk, he needed his job as transport security. Thank the ancestors for that. He’d gone the route of the nonstop bender a few years ago, and he had sworn he wouldn’t travel that road again.
That left him stuck with his thoughts. Thoughts that bounced far too enthusiastically from Bernadette to Doljen.
What had happened between the feisty captain and his missing clanmate? Whatever they’d shared, it had been significant. Why else would the Earther to be searching so hard for his estranged Imdiko? He’d intimated they might have had sex, and perhaps they had. If that were the case, it had been more than mere lust for Bernadette. It must have been for her to keep digging at him.
She was enthralling. Even with those luscious curls bound up, making her pointed features more severe, she was a captivating woman. If some great emotion had sprung up between her and Doljen, how could he have left her behind?
“He’s had plenty of practice where that’s concerned,” Halmiko muttered to himself. When the Dantovonian bartender gawked at him, the Nobek glared until he turned away.
Who abandoned who?
Doljen’s voice in his head brought an upswelling of grief. It had been the only sentence to pass his lips the last time Halmiko had seen him. Bernadette had accused him of the same crime.
“I tried to take it back,” he whispered to the dregs of his drink. “I tried to make it right.”
Did you? Or did you run? Doljen went to prison, but who was guilty of the real crime?
Halmiko gulped his bohut and slammed his glass on the bar. The Dantovonian jumped and stared at him.
“Another.”
“Get me the same while you’re at it.” The owner of the growly voice sat on the stool next to Halmiko. A scarred Nobek gazed at him, his demeanor judging in the manner their shared breed greeted each other when strangers. Camaraderie or challenge?
“You serve with Matara Bernadette,” Halmiko said, recognizing him.
“I serve withCaptain Miller.” The man’s eyes narrowed, insisting on respect for his employer. Drifting toward challenge.
“Yes. My mistake. I haven’t quite wrapped my head around an Earther female commanding a ship.” Especially a woman who’d gotten the drop on him.
Damn, she was spectacular when she wasn’t pissing him off.
