Page 35 of Taming the Alien Outlaw
I comm down to the kitchen and order food for Mak. It’s an indulgence I never would have expected to enjoy, but having our own personal chef available at all times of the day to cook whatever we want is something I’m happy to get used to.
The data pad I’d been reading a book on still lies where I left it before heading to Quinn’s mating ceremony. Once again, Mak makes herself comfortable on the sofa and I take my normal spot. When I read the same paragraph three times, I set the thing aside. My concentration is off and I’d rather not have to re-read the whole thing. My comm buzzes and a message comes across that the meal I ordered is ready.
Glad for the distraction, I glance at Mak who barely opens one eye.
“Stay. I’ll be right back.”
She closes it again and I hurry to the kitchen to pick up my order. The phinnek doesn’t move when I return.
“Lazy wolf.”
She snort breathes but that’s her only reaction.
“I guess you’re not hungry, then.”
Finally, I have Mak’s attention. Food is a great motivator. She jumps down and comes into the kitchen where I stand with the tray. I put the entire platter on the ground and let her feast.
My stomach rumbles. I guess I’m hungrier than I thought, which isn’t surprising since the last meal I ate was last night and it’s nearly lunch time.
On cue, there’s a knock on the door. I open it to Quinn on the other side.
“How’d you sleep?” She strolls past me without a care.
“Better than I expected.”
“Good.” She pivots. “I was really worried.”
My heart nearly breaks at the crack in her voice. “Everything’s okay.I’mokay.”
“When Lorik stumbled into the banquet room battered and bruised saying you’d been taken, all I could think about was that I couldn’t lose you, too.”
“Oh, babe, you’re not going to lose me.” I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. My anger at Janik returns for causing Quinn this much worry and pain. We both shed a few tears. Mak has no idea what to make of us, because she head butts me in the side and whines.
“Ah, you poor thing. Is our crying upsetting you?”
Quinn wipes her eyes with a little laugh. “Only you would baby talk to a massive animal that looks like she’d rip our heads off in a single bite.”
I scratch Mak’s ear. “This sweet phinnek baby wouldn’t hurt us, would you? No, you wouldn’t.”
“Janik’s sweet phinnek baby.” She emphasizes the Bohnari’s name.
“She’d argue he belongs to her more than she does him.”
Quinn cocks her head. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Would you make the same argument?” If she’d asked it any other way but softly—gently—and with great care I might have been able to laugh her off. But because Quinn knows me so well, she did it in a way I couldn’t refuse.
I sag against the counter and she comes over to stand next to me with her head on my shoulder.
“All I’ve ever wanted was for a man to take one look at me and fall in love. For him to gaze into my eyes and for me to know—without any second-guessing—he’s head over heels. That he’ll never stop loving me, because I’m his entire world.” I laugh with a hint of self-deprecation. “Deep down I knew it was nothing more than a fairytale, because that’s not how real life works.”
“Is that how Janik looks at you?” Quinn asks.
“And not just because I’m a female to fuck and sate his mating fever either.” It wasn’t the fact that I had been able to center him when the fever hit. Or how my touch had soothed him during the worst of it. “He looks at me like I’m his salvation. Like he’s a dying male and I’m his only sustenance.”
Quinn lifts her head and waits until I meet her gaze. “He looks at you like Horek looks at me.”
