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That was all he said. It was enough.
I narrowed my eyes at Marex. “And what do you desire of me then?”
CHAPTER17
WES
It was horrible and manipulative of me, whimpering about the cold when I was warmer than I’d been since waking up, but at the same time, I had the distinct feeling Jax knew exactly what I was doing. He seemed to have an instinctive feel for me and my emotions, and I really wished I had the same for him.
Still, that wasn’t what I could do. Jax was some kind of superpowered magic man—yes, fine, alien—and I was just useless human Wes. It wasn’t like a video game programmer was going to help a lot. I was particularly useless when I couldn’t even read the local language, and had not the first clue how their computers worked. I didn’t need to understand the hardware to work the software just like I didn’t need to know how to fix a car to be able to drive it, but there was always at least a little overlap. The best drivers did know how the car worked.
And in their societies, both of them, not only could I not drive, I barely recognized a car when it was sitting in front of me.
Anyway, Jax pulled me against him and gave Marex a scowl, but didn’t sneer or posture any further.
Marex held out his hands, palms up, and tried a softer version of the tight, toothy smile he’d been giving Jax. “I understand why you are hesitant. It has not been long since our people were at war.”
“Our people are at war now. You attacked the ship with the humans before it arrived on Thorzan. You could have killed them.”
Both Marex and I jerked back, my eyes rounding as I stared at him. “That was you?”
Crux had taken us all from Earth, eighteen people, and when we had gotten near the end of our journey, everything had gone quiet. Even the air was tense.
And then, we were attacked. Thrown around in our cell. Beau had hit his head.
If Jax, Kaelum, and their crew hadn’t saved us, we really could’ve died.
“It was them,” Jax agreed, the sincerity in his voice apparent, and the way he was giving Marex a narrow-eyed glare told me just how hard it was going to be, to avert a fight. Heck, if they had almost killed us before we even arrived on Thorzan, I figured maybe Marex owed me an explanation.
Marex sighed, but he met my eye and nodded. “We did attack the ship of Crux. And I am sorry if that caused any innocents injury. That was not our intention.”
“Well it did,” Jax spat back. “The one with the golden hair had a cracked skull. Humans are fragile.”
This time, Marex bowed his head, continuing to hold out his hands. “My sincerest apologies. I realize that is without worth, but nonetheless, if there is anything we can do to make reparations to the humans, we would do so. Perhaps we could begin by feeding you?”
Jax’s jaw tightened, and it didn’t take even a second to see why. Marex was offering me dinner, and not him. And Marex, from the short time I’d known him, was a clever guy, so he knew what he was doing. “So what you’re saying is you’ll help me for free, but Jax needs to pay you back.”
His lips pursed at my bluntness, and Jax’s arms tightened around me, as though Marex was trying to tug me away. Little did he know, I’d refuse the Zathki and freeze to death out here with him before I’d agree to leave him.
Why?
No idea.
Maybe it was the way he’d taken on a puny human who needed to do something instead of sitting around a palace waiting for salvation. Maybe it was the tender way he’d taken care of me after the crash. Maybe it was something about that magical ridged alien dick that I wanted to get a real look at, and not just feel against my back.
Whatever it was, Jax was mine, and I wasn’t leaving him.
Not ever, maybe.
An involuntary shiver raced through me at the very idea. I was not the sort of guy who got infatuated with strangers, but I supposed there was a first time for everything.
“We would ask something of your Thorzi friend,” Marex finally agreed. “But we are not barbarians. We will not hold his life hostage for it. We would not withhold food and warmth.”
“But the repairs you promised to do on the ship?” I asked, since that was the only other thing Jax and I really needed. What Jax would have said was the only thing we needed, since we were huddling for warmth, and had enough little white bars of squeaky tasteless “food” to last for months.
He gave a small nod, his eyes apologetic. “Yes. That is what we would like to trade for.”
“You cannot have Wesley,” Jax informed him, as though Marex had made a demand. And holy crap, seriously? Why would he assume...
