Page 34 of A Delicate Conquest

“Hi,” Bea replied.

“Bea, meet Kalan and Jia.” Mavrel gave the big Kordolian a curt nod before turning to the human. “This is Bea, my guest.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, Bea,” Jia said brightly. “What do you think of the Fleet Station? Impressive, isn’t it?”

“Very. And a little confronting for a mere human like me, to be honest. I wouldn’t even have been able to conceptualize it if I hadn’t seen it up close.

“It’s actually bigger than it looks, but don’t let its size intimidate you. These guys have put a lot of effort into creating human-friendly spaces onboard. It’s awesome, actually.”

“I can see that.”

“You’re pretty brave, coming up here for the first time. I wouldn’t have done it. Kalan’s just lucky we had extenuating circumstances to force us together.”

“Thanks, but I’m not that brave. I’d already met Mavrel on Earth. He’s the reason I decided to come. If I hadn’t, I doubt I’d be here either. Seems there are quite a few who are braver than me.” Bea looked around, taking in all the different humans who’d come from different parts of Earth.

“Hm.” Mavrel made a sound—so low she barely heard it.

She glanced up.

He gave her a smoldering look, along with a hint of a smile.

She nearly melted there and then.

Bea forced herself to act normally. “Please don’t take this the wrong way—I mean it as a compliment—but you both seem so reassuringlynormal.”

Arin and Jia both laughed while their mates frowned.

“We absolutely are,” Arin said. “Just run-of-the-mill humans. Nothing special. Andnotcrazy, mind you.”

“Warts and all,” Jia added, grinning.

“You donothave warts,” Kalan growled.

“Figure of speech,” Jia and Bea said at the same time.

The big warrior glowered. “Infernal word games.”

Rykal laughed again, louder this time. “It’s their most potent weapon. We have plasma guns and Callidum blades. They have words.”

Jia shrugged, her eyes wide and innocent. “What else are we supposed to do? We’d never win against you in a swordfightora gunfight. At least let us have our puns and metaphors.”

“We allow you everything, and you already know it,” Kalan rumbled, his expression changing from thunderous to mildly cloudy.

“That’s only because you want to keep us happy for your own selfish reasons.” Jia’s nose wrinkled mischievously.

“Hm.” Kalan didn’t deny it. He leaned in and affectionately kissed the top of her head.

Bea was shook—in a good way.

How could they be so chill? Neither of these women appeared to be afraid or oppressed in any way.

And while they’d been chatting, Bea had found herself becoming more and more relaxed, to the point where she was deeply enjoying the feeling of having Mavrel by her side.

Right now, his expression didn’t give away much, but his fingers, resting on her waist, were slowly dancing back and forth, caressing her through the silk of her dress.

She idly wondered whereelsethose fingers could go.

Stars,this was a little harder than what she’d anticipated.

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