Page 57 of Sol Survivor

He jerked to a halt, his mouth widening into a bright grin.“Vic?”Striding toward her, his gaze scanned the room and settled on Ulvus.“What the foq happened here?”Instead of waiting for an answer, he arched a brow at Vic.“What did you do?”

She rested a hand on her hip, thrusting it out for good measure.“Nothing.Defended myself.Survived.The usual.”

“Ulvus, Juunn, Igar, we will discuss this later.”

A familiar orange alien hovered in the doorway.“Bring her, Drafe Arrak, when you are ready.”

She frowned.Huh?

Drafe closed the distance between them, pausing when he was an inch from touching her.“It is good to see you, Vic.”

“This is the human female with whom you have sullied our tribe’s reputation?”Ulvus rasped, massaging his neck.

“Sullied?”She peeked around Drafe’s wide shoulders.“Do you want to die?Is he always such an asshole?”

Drafe laughed.“Yes.”He laced his fingers through hers and tugged, leading her down a narrow passage.“How did you come to be on my ship?”

“My tether snapped, launching me off the hauler.Not sure yet if it was an accident.”She grimaced, having been minutes from death.That hadn’t been a pleasant experience, and if she found who’d flung her out to die, she’d kill them without hesitation.

He paused mid-stride and faced her, gripping her upper arms.“Who would want to do you harm?”

She forced herself to unfurl her fists.“My question exactly.”

His eyes paled to sunshine yellow.“Why is your mouth red?”

She wiped her split lip, smearing blood across her hand.“Blood.”

His fingers tightened when he tugged her closer to him.“Did Ulvus—?”

“The asshole thought I carried a deadly disease.”

He jerked back, dropped his hands and spun, as if to face Ulvus.“Kreta curse him.”

Vic caught Drafe’s wrist.“He also thought I would explode.Does that happen often?”

Drafe frowned, narrowing his eyes into a brooding stare that sparked heat in her core.Her breath caught, and butterflies skittered from her ears to her lower spine.Oh, wow.

“Come, let me attend to your injury.”He sliced glances at her while they marched along passages before pausing in front of a seamless door.It opened at his touch.“Your blood is a magnificent red.So unusual.”

She smothered a giggle at the odd compliment.“Um, thanks, I think.Wait.What color is your blood?”

“Clear,” he said, as if her question was silly.

Pure plasma?Did that even make sense?She studied her blood-stained, armor-shimmered fingers.Only when the door sealed behind her did she realize where he’d taken her.

His quarters had the look of carved rock.His bed was a shelf with furs draped across it.The lighting shifted and filtered as if sunshine leaked through.

She tilted her face to bask in its pseudo-warmth.“Your quarters are amazing, Drafe.”

“Ivoyans learned centuries ago that a little bit of their homeworld calmed the minds of the warriors.”He tapped the surface of a table.

She climbed onto it, shuffling on her ass until the underside of her knees pressed against the edge.The texture beneath her fingers was smooth metal, so the rock was an illusion.“This is what your home looks like?”

He nodded as he gathered items from a hidden cupboard.

“It’s amazing, Drafe.”

“Recede your armor,” he said.

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