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Under two fire-red bushy eyebrows, a pair of inhumanly large and round eyes the color of ocher stared back at her. His face structure was more or less the same as it had been when he had entered the pub, but Emilia surely would have noticed the elongated lower canines sticking over his upper reddish lip, had he had those before. Or the pale orange hue of his skin tone. Or the lion-like tail with a red tuft at the end that swished behind him the moment he got up.
It was when he opened his tusked mouth and took a step forward that Emilia finally got over her shock.
She screamed and bolted, turning around to run for the door as fast as her legs could take her.
Only, the door was no longer open, so where her legs took her was into the wall.
Her whole body collided with the metal and bounced back, sending her backwards onto the unforgiving floor. Between her forehead taking a hit from the wall and the back of her head bouncing off the metal ground, Emilia went out like a candle.
CHAPTER 4
SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE FACE MODIFIER ON
Fruck.
Dargus ran to where the Terran now lay still and knelt beside her. What should he do?
According to what he had read about her alien species, their skulls were not as thick as a Luvian’s, so she might have sustained damage to her only brain. However, she might be perfectly fine and him taking her back to the med bay might result in her waking up while he was carrying her and… Her seeing his true face had already done enough damage, and that had been from afar.
Cubbie rolled until his soft body bumped into Dargus’ knees then uncurled and gave the female’s hand a lick. When no reaction followed, he looked up at Dargus.
“Don’t chastise me, furball! I was just about to take her to the med bay.”
He picked the feather-light Terran in his arms. He used his tail to open the door and slid the tuft between his bicep and her head to provide additional cushioning for that poor head of hers.
How had this happened, anyway? She was supposed to be sleeping the pulser’s effect off for another iona or two, giving him enough time to talk with his brother. As well as to come up with the best way to ease her into the situation. Leaving the med bay’s ceiling transparent for an impressive view at the stars upon her awakening should have been only the start.
Instead, she had heard who knew how much from his conversation with Bargus – who he’d have to apologize to for the call’s abrupt end – and had run face-first into a closed door. Upon seeing Dargus in all his alien – from her point of view – glory.
He sighed as he stepped into the med bay for a repeat of what he had done half an iona ago. He had only himself to blame. He should have kept the face modifier on until after the Terran had been briefed. And he shouldn’t have left Cubbie asleep in the med bay when he knew the rabbisaurus could open biolocked doors.
Then again, the face modifier tended to make Dargus itchy all over when used for too long. And Cubbie was so cute when deeply asleep, with his floppy ears covering his eyes and his whiskers twitching.
“Stay down, furball.” It was obvious the rabbisaurus would jump onto the foot of the examination bed the moment Dargus carefully laid the female on it. “I know you mean well, but she’ll probably see your feet-comforting as an attempt to eat her toes or something.”
That was what he himself had thought upon waking up after that explosion five yearionas ago and finding a baby rabbisaurus licking his toes.
“Medic, run a full scan.”
Dargus stepped away from the bed to let the in-built scanner do its job. He picked Cubbie up before the well-meaning pet could hop on the bed despite his instructions.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” He prayed to the Three that she would be; he’d never forgive himself if the Terran got hurt under his watch.
His eyes ran over her as slowly as the scanner did, taking in every detail of the female he had abducted. The info he had read on Terrans before arriving on their backwater planet said they were sturdier than they appeared. But looking at this Emilia, as the name tag on her peculiar clothing read, made him doubt his sources of information. After all, it was those exact sources that had misled him about the best things to say to a female on Terra to get her to leave with you.
Her skin was so pale she wouldn’t last a single day under Luvia’s three suns, and just as impractically soft. The many orangey dots that her face was sprinkled with served no defensive purpose whatsoever. Her slightly parted pink lips revealed no fangs or tusks. Her slender fingers were by one more than his but lacked retractable claws. How could her species have survived so long without any means to protect their fragile bodies?
Maybe for Terran females the secret lay in their enticing form. Emilia’s skin had felt warm, pliant, and inviting to the touch both times he had carried her. The dots adorning her nose and cheeks gave her a unique look that had imprinted on his mind like a star map from the moment he had laid eyes on her. Her flat teeth promised safe love bites and kisses. The fact that she had only two teats instead of the usual four or six meant that–
Stop it, Dargus! That is not the way to think about the person you are going to work with on your latest case.
Sure, there was no denying he had felt this super strong pull towards Emilia as soon as he had entered her workplace, her scent overpowering all others. But that didn’t mean she belonged in his nest.
Though, there was no denying her shoulder-length ginger hair made her a good addition to his ship’s orange-dominant crew.
Cubbie wiggled in Dargus’ hold when the green light of the scanner reached the Terran’s long, shapely legs, left mostly bare by her blue dress.
“Patience, furball, the scan is almost complete.”
