Page 75 of Matthew

As he spoke, the image of a man screaming as his genitals were sliced into erupted in Gabriel’s head. He shut down the memory as quickly as it came, a skill honed from years of devoted practice.

“They’ll never know you’re there,” Mit-noc wheedled, his slitted nostrils opening and closing faster than before. He waved node-covered hands. “Your presence and activities will be kept under the highest discretion—”

“Hold on.” Gabriel had peeked into the shop again. His heart slammed into overdrive at the sight of three huge men talking to Iliana.

His first impression had been they were steroid-fed human ground soldiers, rarely seen on the Adraf’s Zryktysk Station. But the trio was bigger than most men he’d seen, and the black uniforms weren’t Earth issue.

Kalquorians?

Without another word to Mit-noc, Gabriel plowed into the store, his head lowered like a charging bull, fists clenched. At five-feet-nine, with half the carved musculature of those accosting his sister, he was no match for Earth’s least-favorite aliens, should they prove hostile. No matter. They’d touch her over his dead body.

Three pairs of blue-purple eyes slid his direction as he neared. Cat-slitted eyes, set in dark brown faces framed with long hair as black as his. He glanced at Iliana as she looked at him.

She blinked. One, slow, deliberate blink. Their signal that she wasn’t in trouble. At least, not yet.

Gabriel assumed a slightly less confrontational posture and took his place at Iliana’s side. Her stance, with her arms crossed at her waist, was relaxed. Okay, good. No sign of danger.

Trained in taekwondo, Iliana was more capable of handing a guy his ass than Gabriel. Nevertheless, he glowered at the Kalquorians, playing his role of the man who wouldn’t hesitate to guard his sister’s honor. Other men always saw him as the bigger threat.

Well, I did beat the shit out of that stalker on Mercy Colony. I do okay when a baseball bat is handy.

Unfortunately, he’d left his bat in the storeroom. He’d have to run for it if the situation went south.

“Ah. You’re already spoken for, Matara?”

Gabriel started at the friendly, accented voice more than the fact the brute in the blue-trimmed uniform spoke English. His gentle demeanor was as surprising.

Not really a brute. Big and muscled…and quite striking. Bearded, chiseled-jaw handsome, despite the slightly crooked nose that hinted at a past break.

“This is my brother, Captain Baknu.” Iliana turned to Gabriel. “These fellows are inviting me to Kalquor. To live in luxury and freedom, as Earth won’t allow.”

She was apparently quoting their sales pitch. Her smirk told Gabriel what she thought of the proposition.

It was the latest bid for her affections in a long line of such. Overt or subtle, they all added up to the same thing—her execution for breaking Earth’s strict morality laws. With a side of torture.

Reminding himself of that helped Gabriel ignore the Kalquorian’s engaging smile. “Did you tell them what they can do with their offer?”

“I was getting to that.”

Since the captain’s good looks were a tad too distracting, Gabriel looked at the bigger man on the alien’s left. Prophets, he was gorgeous too. Unrepentantly masculine, his red-trimmed sleeveless uniform gave Gabriel an unhampered view of carved biceps the size of tree trunks. What the formfitting outfit covered left little to the imagination. Heat filled Gabriel, and he dragged his gaze to the man’s face.

No winning smile there, but he was riveting all the same. Bearded like his companion, but otherwise dissimilar to Baknu—broader features, a sense of wildness that was more aura than facial structure. Every bit as handsome as the captain. As Gabriel met his gaze, his pulse pounding in his ears, the other man’s attention focused on him with laser-beam intensity.

The alien looked Gabriel over, taking in the expensive shoes, well-cut trousers, and silk blue shirt that matched his eyes. The stare swept up until it greeted Gabriel’s again.

A grin appeared, dazzling against the black facial hair. A knowing leer, as if he’d discovered Gabriel’s best-guarded secret.

The alien winked at him. His lips moved, forming silent words.Pretty boy.

Gabriel felt as if he’d been punched in the gut, without the pain. He couldn’t breathe. He went strangely warm, his body almost light enough to leave the ground. He tried to speak, but his lips had numbed. He had no idea what he’d have said anyhow.

The Kalquorian’s grin stretched larger. He nodded, as if to answer a question Gabriel hadn’t asked.

All the while, Baknu and Iliana had been talking, a distant hum of meaningless syllables. Gabriel forced himself to break from the other man’s stare, to attend to the potential threat the aliens posed to his sister.

“I had no idea you had family, Matara.” Baknu’s gaze assessing Gabriel was as intense as his companion’s had been, though gentler. “I take it the ties are strong?”

“Very strong. Where I go, he goes. Same the other way around.” Iliana nudged Gabriel.

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