She realized she’d been quiet way too long, gazing up at him where he’d stopped barely an arm’s length from her.
Of course, his arms were long so he wasn’tthatclose. Why was her heart beating so hard? His antennae were vibrating, just a little, she wouldn’t have noticed if she wasn’t looking at him so closely—whyyy was she looking at him so closely?—and oh god, did that mean he couldhearher heart pounding?
She gulped, realizing thateven moretime had passed in her dithering silence.
“Would you like to have some with us?”
Oh no, what had just come out of her mouth? Worse than a first-date dinner or one-night-stand breakfast, so much worse than a single get-to-know-you drink; she’d just basically asked him to stay for lunch. Only husbands and daddies stayed for lunch!
Teq was just watching her, those antennae quivering. “Wouldn’t that be more trouble?”
Was he…teasing her? She took a slow breath. She was freaking out for no reason. The IDA had set them up but with very clear boundaries. People had stomped her boundaries for so long, she’d just forgotten she could have them.
“Ollie is going to be hungry as soon as I tell him to put down the datpad, so if you stay, you can hear about what happened this morning.” She tried for a smile. “Although you may be finagled into a video game or something.”
For a moment, she thought the big orc might make a run for the door. The way he shifted his weight would’ve made her laugh if she wasn’t so nervous herself.
“Adeline,” he said. “I should not have…spoken of the i’lva when I know I am not…not able to give you what you’ve come for.” When she didn’t reply right away, he added in a rougher tone, “I cannot kiss you again.”
How. Utterly. Embarrassing. She kept her smile in place, like her face had gone as stiff as orc scales. “It’s just lunch. We’ll use our mouths for…nibbling.” Oh great, now she was thinking about eating out, how that wide mouth would fit around her long-ignored lady parts, those tusks forcing her thighs wider… “And chatting,” she added hastily, her face absolutely burning. He must think she was losing it. She cleared her throat. “Maybe I just need some more time to come to grips”—long, strong fingers holding her aloft while they kissed—“with the realities of dating and”—don’t say mating again or you will probably jump him—“whatnot, so if you aren’t looking for more, maybe that’s a good place for me right now”—in your bed maybe?Oh shuuuut up, anxiety brain.
After a moment where she wished she might spontaneously combust and not in a sexy way, Teq took the food pack from her slack hand.
“You are wise to take your time to go slow and make good choices,” he said. “It is the same when working with space rock. Choose well, guard closely, and reap the treasure.” He waggled his antennae. “Let me make lunch. These food packs are edible and nutritious, but with some tricks they are also delicious.”
Which was how she found herself sitting, maybe for the first time, on the opposite side of her kitchen counter from where lunch was being made.
She glanced over her shoulder to check on Oliver. “So I assume Sil told you what happened this morning.” When Teq inclined his head in assent, she went on. “It was so strange. Both Ollie and Kinsley said they heard the same whispers.” She lowered her voice, not that she thought Ollie would be distracted from his game. “I thought it was just a nightmare from too many dewdrops and too much excitement.” She looked up at the alien male, wondering if he could understand. “I don’t care about treasure. All I want to do is what’s right for Ollie. And maybe I’m afraid…”
He waited for her to go on. When she didn’t, he put down the array of packages he’d been pulling from storage drawers to turn to her. He unfurled one long-fingered hand toward her, and after the briefest hesitation, she put her hand in his.
“Deep space mining can be hazardous and lonely,” he murmured in that low voice. “We thought that is all our life would be, but now Mag and Amma have brought you Earthers. And this is something new and different and, yes, maybe something to fear.”
She gazed at him. “You? Fear us? But you’re so”—she waved her free hand vaguely—“um, big and strong.”
He squeezed her fingers and released her, turning back to the food packs. “Most of the asteroids we mine are bigger and stronger yet,” he mused. “So is loneliness.”
He combined the packs together, laying the empty packaging in front of her to show her which was which. “Shall we eat?”
Chapter 7
Teq couldn’t believe what he was doing. Not the cooking; he’d always enjoyed experimenting with the food packs even when the nutrition content meant just tipping it into his mouth was good enough. But to offer life advice to an alien mail order bride? One he had no intention of pursuing, like a priceless asteroid that would spin off into the dark without him.
He placed food for all of them at the counter, slightly less for the hatchling, as Adeline oversaw Ollie’s ablutions. The hatchling explained that he hadn’t actually been playing video games, but rather looking up what kinds of beings laid eggs in space.
“But I can’t really find anything,” he said, disappointment in his voice. “Everything says it’s too cold and dark for babies. Mom, are you going to have a space baby?”
Adeline’s utensil clattered to the plate. “Space…babies?” Heat bloomed under her skin on the wavelength that called to some primitive part of Teq’s cave-dwelling ancestors. “Oh, owlet… Is that what’s giving you nightmares?”
“Geez, no,” Ollie said. “Babies aren’t scary. And if we gave them growth injections or something, I’d have someone to play ghost in the graveyard with.” He cocked his head. “Although if we made the baby too big, that would probably be scary.”
Adeline murmured something reassuring to her hatchling, but Teq’s mind—like a wayward asteroid—had wandered off at the thought of space babies. Why was that thought gutting him like a void-viper’s fangs? The hope of another generation of orcs was exactly why Mag and Amma contacted the IDA. His antennae quivered as if from the reverberation of hatchlings racing through the quiet halls.
“I will play ghost in the graveyard with you,” he said.
Ollie and Adeline both looked at him.
“Oh, you don’t—” she started.