Page 51 of Corvak's Challenge

The cat man smiles, even as he stretches out his wounded leg with careful precision. "Aidy? Is that her name? I see why you were so eager to get back here."

Corvak growls, and I can practically see him bristle. "Do not?—"

The cat man waves a hand at us, dismissing Corvak's fury. "Don't worry. I'm not interested." He grimaces, leaning forward and rubbing his calf muscles. "I'm Valmir, not that you asked, and I'm far too tired to get into a pissing contest with a male that hasn't had the stones to mark his door."

"Mark his door…?" Corvak bites out the words, baffled. He glances back at me and then at the stranger. "What are you going on about? What is it you think you know?"

"Guess that's not an instinct thing, then? Huh." He shrugs. "Like I said, not interested in your female. I'm…already taken. Sort of. And I'm keffing tired. And I hurt. You don't have any herbs do you? Something for pain?"

"I could knock you out," Corvak growls. "Tempted to do it regardless. Just keep running that mouth of yours."

The cat man—Valmir—grins, showing sharp feline teeth. He leans back again, eyes closing, and slumps against the cave wall. "Of course. Just pretend I'm not here."

Corvak looks like he's going to bust a blood vessel. He cups my elbow and steers me into our bedroom. His eyes are glowing slits, but I don't have to see his face to know he's pissed. I can feel it in the air. Even the soft vibration in his chest sounds a little pissy. "This was a mistake," he tells me in a low voice. "I don't like him here. I don't like that he knows where we are."

"It's going to be okay," I reassure him. "I'm not getting bad vibes from him. And we don't have to like him. We just need to get information from him."

"He was too smiley when he talked to you," Corvak growls. "I don't like that. I don't like how he looked at you."

"How exactly did he look at me?" I've been eyeballed by creeps in the past and you learn to pick up on that sort of thing, and Valmir was sarcastic and rude, but he wasn't giving me predator vibes.

"Like…like…I just didn'tlikeit." He heaves a gusty breath. "I don't like that he's near you. It makes me nervous because you're less protected now. I am failing you."

Is this all because he's never been around another guy since we got together? Is he jealous? "I'm not interested in him."

"Iknow. I just…" He sighs. "Part of me wants to fling him off the nearest cliff. He is sosmiley."

I bite back a laugh. Maybe this is the first time he's ever been jealous. We've never talked about it too much, but Corvak mentioned that he's never been in another competition before, and that women like me are the bait or the prize. He's probably been around very few women, if any. All these feelings must be new to him. "It's going to be all right, love. I promise. We'll just use him for his information about the others. And it's not as if he can escape, right? So we don't have to worry about him running off with intel about where we are. We'd catch him before he got anywhere."

"I guess." Now he sounds sulky and it's rather adorable. I jump when rough finger-pads touch my cheek in the darkness. "That's the first time you've called me that."

"What?"

"Love." He strokes my face. "You are not miserable here with me, then? Even though things are bad?"

"Are you kidding? If we take the snow-people out of the equation, we're doing better than we ever have. We've got clothes and a swanky cave. We've got hot water and our defensible stronghold. True, we've got a lot of annoying people underfoot, but let's focus on one problem at a time." I take his hand in mine and kiss his palm. "And I do love you. You take care of me and you make me happy. I'd be lost without you."

"I feel the same." He curls his hand around mine, then presses both of them against his chest. Even through the thick layers of clothing, I can feel the vibration of his chest, his heart parasite humming along. "No, I feel more than that. The words are the same, but they don't feel like enough to convey how I feel."

"I understand. We can just show each other." I squeeze his hand. "But maybe not with our guest around."

He chuckles, the sound reluctant. "Perhaps not."

"What the fuck is he anyhow? He looks like a cat."

"He is a race called praxiian. I have some of their genes."

"You don't look anything like him."

"Good," he growls. "I don't want you to find him handsome."

"I absolutely do not. I have a thing for tall, dark, and domineering." And I tap his chest with our joined hands. "Please don't worry about that, all right?"

"I know. I'm being foolish. I know I am the moment the words leave my mouth, and yet I cannot seem to help myself." Corvak sounds annoyed with himself. "He's in my territory, inmy home, eyeing my female. I will tolerate it, but I don't have to like it."

Tolerate it, huh? I roll my eyes in the dark. Another comment for the book of grudges, but now isn't the time.

My stomach growls, and Corvak goes still. "You're hungry?"

---