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Ulrek
Ulrek let Gavin and Tuhror do the coilbeast’s share of the talking at dinner, mostly because it was hard following the conversation with Delaney’s leg brushing up against his every so often. She’d avoided sitting next to him but had ended up across from him instead.
She picked up her amberberry wine and held the glass to her mouth, only to realize it was empty. They both reached for the carafe, and their hands touched. She snatched hers away like she’d been burned, so Ulrek picked it up and poured her some more.
“Thank you,” she said, steadfastly refusing to meet his gaze.
He noticed she’d been avoiding his eyes since that moment at the baths when he’d helped her out of the water. She must have felt it too, that electricity that sparked between them. He sure hadn’t missed the brief but intense tell-tale scent of arousal that had spiked from her. It had made him want to take her back to his ship and give them both what they wanted.
Just a few short years ago, that was exactly what he would have done. Old Ulrek would’ve whisked her away and had his way with her on his ship until he was bored of her. And if he never bored of her, then he’d have the rest of their lives to get her to forgive him for stealing her away. Maybe they’d even form a mate bond.
Ulrek took a gulp of his Rhean spirit, but the intriguing thought did not disappear. Tuhror elbowed him hard, and he realized he’d completely missed a question from Ryek.
Angie and Delaney excused themselves and headed over to use the facilities. Earth females were known to visit such facilities in groups of two or more. Which was strange to Ulrek; bodily functions were not a group activity, surely.
“Did your ship detect any other spacecraft in the vicinity when you were coming in?” Ryek repeated.
Ulrek frowned. “Nothing to give off an alert.”
Unauthorized crafts had been spotted over the wilderness surrounding the colony; according to the people his crew had talked to at the docks, the sightings started the day after arriving at Reka 5. They’d made sure they weren’t being followed when they left New Rhea, but just to be safe, he’d get Gavin to change the identifying signature of the ship the next time they were hidden in an asteroid belt. He appreciated the subtle warning.
When the females returned, Angie came straight to the table, but Delaney stopped to talk to a raven-haired human female named Natalia who’d taken their orders earlier. She was the owner’s mate and had expressed shock at seeing Delaney.
Ulrek didn’t miss the sudden change in both females’ demeanor when a group of human males entered the pub, sitting down in a large booth. Natalia didn’t go to serve them but instead made eye contact with another server, who looked just as unhappy at the group’s arrival as she made her way over to their booth.
Meanwhile, Delaney looked ready to bolt. She hid behind the nearest column, her eyes darting between the newcomers and her seat as if wondering if she’d be seen if she made a run for it. Her eyes met Ulrek’s, and it was clear to him what was going on. She was scared. That group of males frightened her.
A few of the males were big for humans, and the group had swaggered in like they owned the place. Ulrek was sure he could take them on if any of them bothered Delaney, but he was supposed to keep a low profile while he was disguised as Captain Uzzar. He made eye contact with Delaney again.
The rest of their table had noticed the group of newcomers, and buoyed by the knowledge that her friends were there, Delaney started to pick her way back to the table.
“Yo, Craig! Isn’t that your wife?” The male’s voice was loud and grating, and the entire table of humans turned as one to look at Delaney.
“Lana?”
Delaney stiffened and whipped around to face the male. Angie twisted in her seat to glare at him.
“Where the fuck have you been?” The male stood, his chair toppling as he shoved it aside, and stomped toward Delaney.
For a moment, Delaney cowered, shrinking into herself. Then she glanced over at her table of friends briefly, squared her shoulders, and glowered at the male with even more hate than she’d sent Ulrek when she first met him on his ship. “We are done. I thought the note I left was pretty clear.”
“Done?” The male laughed. “You don’t get to just take off. You’re my wife. You leave when I say you leave.”
Wife? According to his translator, which had the three most common human languages programmed in, that was the English word for a female mate. The declaration had Ulrek clenching his hands into fists. It also had him confused. If Delaney had a mate, why had she applied for a job on his ship? In Tallean culture, it was the male’s job to provide for his female, though some females insisted on working for fun and to have their own source of income.
He’d scented a human male on Delaney earlier, but it was faint, like they shared the same building, not the same bed. He’d assumed it was because she lived in a dormitory setting.
Ulrek made eye contact with Angie, who was watching the altercation with her lips pressed in a firm line. “Married is the same as mated, no?”
She shook her head. “Not quite. Humans don’t develop a bond the same way Talleans do. If anything, it’s closer to what I think you would call a ‘partnership of convenience’. Some marriages are filled with love, like a mate bond, but others are not. Delaney applied to have her marriage to Craig annulled. He’s a jerk.”
“You can go fuck yourself,” Delaney said, the words loud enough for the entire pub to look their way. She most definitely had all the males at the human table glaring at her. “Just like you’re fucking Vicky. Why don’t you marry her instead? I don’t stay with cheaters.”
“There’s no divorce here. You know that.” The male looked smug.
Delaney laughed, the sound almost a cackle. “What are you going to do? Rip up all the clothes I left behind? Break all my shit, like you did before? Threaten to cut all my hair off? I’m done being scared of you, Craig. Leave me the fuck alone.”
“You bitch,” the male hissed. He grabbed Delaney roughly by the arm, making her yelp.
