Page 29 of The Arabis Triad

Evelyn waved him off. “Coltan. It’s okay. You don’t need to.”

He was silently pleased to hear his name on her lips, but now was not the time to listen to her objections. “I told you,needandwantare two different things. Our mate needs to learn how precious she is to us. She is having a hard time believing her own worth. I suggest we take her out to the nearby lake, where we will spend time and get to know each other.”

“She doesn’t believe, does she?” Paxt weighed a serious expression on Evelyn. “Then that is remiss of us. We will do what we need to do, mate. Have no fear. The lake has been secured. After you eat, we will go there and—actually, what does one do on thisdate?”

Evelyn shrugged. “You eat. You talk. Other things.”

Her face did that curious thing where it changed color. There was something else she wasn’t telling them. Interesting.

Paxt pursed his lips as he regarded her. “Then we will prepare. Ashir, pack food, please. Coltan, arrange the supplies we will need. I will find something for your feet. Would that be acceptable, mate?”

She looked between all of them. “Uh… sure? That sounds great.”

There was apprehension in her voice, but she would soon learn she had nothing to be uneasy about. Soon she would never doubt them again.

Ashir and Coltan bustled about while Paxt had the pleasure of holding Evelyn on his lap and watching her eat.

Her rounded bottom against his firm thighs was sweet torture. He adjusted himself so that she wouldn’t feel his rigid cock. Although he would like nothing more than to sink himself into her heat, they were meant to be putting her at ease, not making her feel like a sex toy, and Ashir and Coltan had been with her already. His time would come, but only when she was fully relaxed and at ease.

This was all new for her and she needed time to adjust. Coltan’s idea about a date was a good thing. Although they knew each other on a soul level, it would be good for her human mind to get to know them. He could think of nothing better to do with his time.

They had secured the immediate area with detectors and traps. Nothing bigger than the size of the smallest insect would get through. The scaled ones had given no indication that they were moving from the area of their crash, so were contained. Paxt had sent out drones to detect any traps the scaled ones might have set themselves, but had yet to receive any data from which to formulate a plan of attack. It was just a waiting game at the moment.

“Do you like this food?” Paxt asked.

Evelyn nodded and a sheath of silky hair fell over her shoulder. “Sure. Everyone likes fast food. It’s what I usually ate. Not a lot of time to prepare meals for myself, you know?”

He frowned. “You had no time to prepare meals? What of the people who cared for you?”

All females in their Homeland were cared for as a family unit.

She choked, her face going that shade of red again. “Can’t say Mum did much for me past the age of eight.”

“But… you were a child. It is a parental duty, as is the duty of her trio of brothers to care for the females in their family,” he said.

She shrugged a slim shoulder and took another bite of the soft, tan-colored piece of food she seemed to like. “I managed.”

He hated to think of her as a child, having to look after herself, “I can’t imagine a Homeplanet like yours, who would make children fend for themselves. It is abhorrent.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea. It wasn’t like that for everyone. For the most part, parents look after their children. My mother, well, she just had problems, you know?”

He regarded her, but she kept on eating as though nothing was wrong—as though it was normal for her. “And what of your mother now?”

“We’re not exactly close. She moved interstate to live with her new boyfriend. Or maybe it was the guy before that. Don’t know. Good luck to her.” She turned to face him, a determined glint in her eye, “Don’t judge her. She did the best she could. Single mum and all that. It’s a hard life for a woman. Turned me into the woman I am today, so in a way she did me a favor.”

She’d put up a hard wall. He could understand that. It was to protect herself. If she had a parent who had loved her in the way she deserved, she wouldn’t feel the need to protect herself emotionally. No wonder it was her first instinct to push them away and not accept their bond. She had been deeply scarred and would need nurturing and gentleness to see that she didn’t need to protect her heart. Not ever with them. It was another reason to go slow and show her that she could rely on them.

“And what of your father?” he asked.

She made a derogative sound. “The sperm donor, you mean? Don’t know. Never met him.”

He was about to question her further, when Coltan came back into the room. He held a pair of combat boots. “These are the smallest I could find. The slippers Celethe packed are only acceptable for walking around the hallways in the palace and not for bush-land.”

Paxt was about to object when Evelyn gasped and reached for them. “I love them! They’re perfect. Thank you, Coltan!”

To his utter surprise, she smiled. Her lush behind wiggled against him as she bent to put them on her feet. He stifled a groan and forced his mind to mundane things, like border patrol, to command his baser instincts, wondering how the hell he was going to control his urges when she did things like that to him.

She’d found a way into his heart, although, to a large extent, it was the bond, but it was alsoher. The way she spoke, the expression on her face, her strength faced with these extreme circumstances. Her smile over a simple pair of boots. He was glad he’d have the rest of his life to enjoy her, learn about her.

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