Page 23 of Bartender Mate

“We don’t live in a remote village, Rad.” His lips pressed to my cheeks and brow as he spoke, showing my dragon the care we needed. “Nothing will go wrong with the equipment we have to prevent it.”

“In this heap of bolts?” I asked, already letting the stress that was holding me hostage go, and melting into my mate. “Spectrum nearly fell to his doom when one of the plates gave way up there. As it is, we lost a good plasma cutter in the process.”

“This isn’t the only ship we have, but even if it was, the medical facilities are state of the art. They weren’t made to be used for something else. Just made to be disassembled and transferred to their new home.”

I nodded, laying my head on his chest. “She doesn’t want us.”

“Oh, my beautiful mate, I think you have been shielding yourself too much.” Asteroid pulled away to look me in the eyes. “Tess wants us just fine. Her scent screamed as much even from across a crowded room.” I scowled remembering the siren call of that same scent. It had been nearly impossible to resist. “However, I bet she’s fucking terrified by howmuchshe wants it. Humans aren’t taught about fated mates from birth as Drakons are. I’m sure our very existence came as a shock. Then imagine some mysterious force demanding your immediate and searing proximity with a trio of complete strangers.” My mate chuckled at the thought, the sound deep and rich. “That woman is fierce, though. She won’t back down from a fight. Not even if it’s with her own damned self. She’ll come round.” He gave me a confident smirk. “Who wouldn’t want to be ours? I mean, we wore you down with enough prodding.”

“Sure.” I nodded, not really feeling it. My mind flashed back to the way she curled her lip up at the blood on Asteroid’s hands after he divested that Hunter of his offending appendage. “Let’s get loading.”

My mate stepped away and joined Quasar who had started depositing the deck plates into an empty truck. Spectrum stood close by, cataloging each piece of his precious ship as it was placed into vehicles.

* * *

Tess looked even lesshappy to see us, if that were even possible, when we arrived back with our truck loads of equipment. She stood on the porch outside her bar, the closed sign glowing over her shoulder as she glowered at us.

Each small hut went together with a couple dozen deck plates, bolted together and covered with a sheathing that would keep the weather out, and also insulate its inhabitants from the elements. The accommodation was rudimentary, at best, but it held all the necessities we would need on this temporary assignment. There was a pull down bed which took up most of the living space which folded neatly away when not in use to give us room to move around. The enclosed lavatory wasn’t luxurious, by any means, but each unit also had running water in a standing vestibule, providing hot and cold water options for cleaning, as well as a toilet which was self-composting. In the food preparation section, there was just enough room for two Drakon males to stand abreast, one in front of the cooking segment and the other at the sink.

Quasar spent his time unloading more than actually building. His eyes rarely left the scowling face of our intended mate, making moon eyes at her. Eventually, this undivided attention had prompted Tess to retrieve her archaic firearm, and stand watch with it pointed right at us. At some point, Samantha had dragged a chair out of the bar. Now the scribe was sitting on it propped up on its back legs, a smile on her face like she was watching the best docu-drama on the wire.

“She’s softening, Rad,” sighed Quasar, those heart eyes completely blinding him to the way our mate tensed each time he inched closer. “Can’t you see that flush on her skin? Almost a mating glow. She’s so close to the edge I can taste it.”

“Keep dreaming,” I growled. The tender moment I’d shared with Asteroid back at headquarters had already been buried in the rush of fresh panic which had lodged itself in my chest, spurred on by the hostile human. The aggressive fizz and pop of her essence made it hard to swallow. And, the fact that our newest mate felt the need to arm herself against us, made my guts twist into a knot so tight that I wanted to do nothing but run for the hills and rig up a makeshift transport right off this cursed planet. “She hates us.”

“Not true,” sang out our sunny mate, waggling his eyebrows at our scowling intended. “She’s scared of how turned on she is, maybe. Confused and pissed about what it all means, probably. Samantha said she’d fill her in on all things Drakon, but it’s gonna take time to come to terms with the fact that there is life on other planets. Especially when your own has taught you that you are alone in the universe.”

“That isn’t the look of a female who is uncertain, Quasar,” I told him, folding my arms over my chest and glaring right back at her. “It’s the look of someone who would rather eat dirt than let a male knot and bond her. You need to better manage your expectations.”

“And you need to loosen up,” my mate hissed at me. The hurt on his face was so sudden and all encompassing that it made me take a step back. “Asteroid and I didn’t give up on you when you were too scared to let us in. We didn’t just throw our hands up and call you unreachable, when clearly you needed us as much as we needed you. Don’t you dare do that to Tess. She doesn’t deserve your ire just because she didn’t spread her legs the second a few hot aliens walked into her bar.” Quasar grabbed a converter from the front cab of the truck and stomped away. “Don’t shut us out either, Radon,” he called back over his shoulder. Frustration was riding his voice, now, making it thick and harsh with raw emotion. “I know this is hard on you. It’s hard on all of us. But for fuck’s sake,trybefore you declare our bond a lost fucking cause.”

I watched, dumbfounded, as Quasar disappeared into our designated hut. The door slammed behind him and the whine of the converter drifted through the air, muffled by the layers of metal and insulation.

My shoulders slumped, thoroughly chastised.

It was rare for anything to get that far under Quasar’s skin. When we were first doing the mating dance, I thought it was naivete that made him always think the best of others. It took me a very long time to realize that it was simply the way my mate consciously chose to navigate the world. Through sheer force of will, Quasar was determined to see only the best in even the darkest of people and places. Circumstances where I could only see pain and loss.

To have made my generous mate so angry at me, hurt that much more.

My feet were moving before I could stop them. Each inevitable step pulled me closer to where our newest mate was standing, guarding herself and her home with a gun. I didn’t stop until I stood on the ground before her. Three measly steps up to the deck were all that separated us. I fisted my hands by my side and looked her straight in the eyes, challenging her to look away.

“I assume Samantha has explained,” I asked, worrying at my thumb inside my fist, picking at the skin around my claw. “That weapon won’t scare us off.”

“Tell your boy-toy to stop making kissy faces at me,” Tess growled. There was no bite to it, though. She sounded like a cornered animal, shifting on her feet. The contradiction made me curious, despite best laid plans to remain aloof. So I did what Asteroid suggested, I put my fear behind me, and took in her body language. The shifting, clench of her thighs. The way she pulled her lip between her teeth to worry at that soft cushion of skin. The slight dilating of her pupils in response to my proximity. “It’s fucking pissing me off.”

“Is it?” I asked, my hands falling loose at my sides as I tilted my head and stepped back. “Are you angry, or aroused, Tess? Because from my standpoint, you don’t look like you even know.”

“Fuck off, Radon.” Her gun swooped down off her shoulder, smacking into her palm. Her feet uncrossed as she took a menacing step towards me, the scent of musk rolling over me. It was a heady thing to take in, igniting the fire in my chest, and pulling my dragon up to the surface. “I said get off my porch.”

“I’m not on the porch, darling,” I purred. The lick of arousal pulled my jeans tight, but I couldn't have cared less. “But we” –I gestured to myself, Asteroid and the hut that currently contained our third– “aren’t going anywhere.”

“Stay away from me,” Tess hissed, taking a step back, but the tremor in her voice begged me to edge closer. “I don’t need anyone to save me.”

“We aren’t here to save you, princess,” I sneered, putting my foot on the first step. Her scent was like a drug, latching onto my soul good and tight. “But we are here to devour you.”

The look on her face certainly wasn’t fear when she gasped, eyes zinging to mine. Needy and wanton, they beckoned me closer still. I took another, purposeful step, powerless to do anything but obey. Tess stood, gloriously frozen in the full weight of my hungry stare, before she whipped around and disappeared through the broken door.

“Good going, dickhead.” Samantha tipped her chair back onto all four legs with a thump. “Now I have to go rescue her from herself all over again.”

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