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Raxnor went back to the serving window and returned with a new plate topped with small golden-brown disks.
“Oh. My. God.” I blurted. “Are those cookies?”
“Yep!” Hazel said. “Cara’s been teaching the cooks the recipe.”
“Dios mío, I missed sweets.” Spending a week in a jungle that smelled like churros while eating nothing but meat had been torture. I snatched one up and took a big bite. Nutty sugary goodness exploded across my tongue, and I moaned.
Raxnor leaned over, his hot breath teasing my ear as he growled, “I will feed them to you every day in bed, if only to hear you make that noise.”
I shivered at the promise in his voice, my whole body tingling. “You got a deal.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Raxnor
I escorted Zo-Fee back to her assigned room, even though a part of me hated her being anywhere but in my cabin.
When I made to leave, she caught my arm. “Will you stay?” Her words were tremulous, lacking her usual verve.
I tilted up her chin until she met my eyes. “Tell me what is wrong.”
Her mouth curled into a frown that looked very wrong on her typically smiling face. “I really, really don’t like the lizards. I’m sure there are nice ones. I just didn’t meet any.”
“And we will enter their domain once again tomorrow.” Frek, how could I not realize the effect this would have on her? “I swear to you, my soul’s breath, I will not let them touch a single hair on your head.”
Lila mrred, pressing against Zo-Fee’s leg.
My mate laughed. “I know you will, niña.”
“See,” I said. “You have two protectors. You’ll be fine.”
But as I held her while she fell asleep, worry nagged at me. We were going in as prepared as could be, but anything might happen tomorrow.
I wanted to be the kind of male she deserved, one who was open and honest with her.
Had I just lied to my sweet mate?
The team met at the Hyoo-mon table for breakfast the next morning, the one in front of Mol-Lee’s mural. It felt strange to realize I now belonged there with the other males who’d found their fated ones.
Or at least I would when my Zo-Fee accepted our mate bond.
Unlike the chatter of last night, quiet reigned, everyone tense.
I brought Zo-Fee breeseed porridge with brelav fruit mixed in, and she offered me a wavering smile of thanks before pecking at it.
Lila, on the other hand, ate with all her usual gusto.
As did I.
Instinct told me I would fight today to protect what was mine, and I wanted to be well fueled. I shoveled in three meat and vegetable rolls, one after the other, barely stopping to wash down each big bite with gulps of jormint tea.
When Zo-Fee finally dropped her spoon and shoved the porridge away, half eaten, I pressed her can of tea into her hand. “Drink. You want to hydrate now so you can urinate well right before you put on your spacesuit.”
“Oh, yeah,” Mol-Lee said. “There’s no peeing once you’re in one of those things.”
My mate nodded and drank, and a miniscule fraction of my tension eased.
I swallowed the last of my roll and pushed to my feet. “Let’s not draw this out.”
