Page 22 of Devin
"Such...? Such what…?"
He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. It was a handsome chest, and the tattoos still made Val want to tracethem, but even if his body language might differ from humans, it was clear that touching would not be acceptable right now.
"My mother always told me negative thoughts should remain thoughts," he chastened himself.
"We've got an expression like that on Earth. ‘If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.’"
He nodded.
"Do you get to see your mother a lot?" Val asked.
"Not as often as she'd like."
"I hear all mothers are like that."
"Is yours?"
"She's been dead for a long time. I've been on my own for as long as I can remember. You should call your mother." Val didn't mean to let sadness leak into her voice, but she took a deep breath and smiled. At least he wasn't fleeing from the very sight of her.
"She has important business to conduct," Devin explained.
"I didn't mean to stick my nose in. Really. None of this was my idea. I mean, you don't have to marry me if you don't want to. I just think we should make the best of a bad situation. You don't have to run away every time we cross paths. If you want, I’ll keep away from you."
"Mahdfel do not run away."
Great, now she'd insulted his manhood. She hopped down off of the medical table. "I didn't mean it like that."
He was much taller than her and she could feel the heat radiating off of him as she grew closer. His skin was fascinating. And smooth as a baby's butt. Not a hair to be seen. At first, she thought it was just a fashion statement that all the men shaved their heads, but no, they simply lacked any hair follicles at all. And he smelled good. Like a nature walk, but not in that funky mushroomy way.
Val tilted her head up. He was staring at her. It wasn't anger, but something akin to a man who couldn't make up his mind and was pissed off about it.
"Really?" she asked. She'd forgotten what she had said before, but now, she just wanted him to lower his head a few more inches and explore her mouth with his.
"No. I have work to do."
He turned and walked away, slow enough to prove he wasn't running.
Val accepted that as progress.
Chapter 12
Devin
After Devin left Val in the med bay, he returned to the hammock he had set up for himself outside the force fence. There he found one of the toothy, tentacled ‘Kavendish’ monsters beneath it.
He pulled his dagger and killed it with a little too much enthusiasm. They had found the last one quite tasty, but he didn’t kill this one for a meal. This one he killed just to work off the energy that sizzled through his nerves, tingled through his tattoos and then went straight to his cock every time he got into proximity of his accident-prone Terran. She made him burn.
No. Not his. He had work to do. He had no time for a mate that had to be dragged to the med bay every day.
Devin hacked the creature into two pieces and dragged it back into the camp, leaving the tentacled mess outside Kave's quarters. He wasn't sure if he intended it as a peace offer or a declaration of war. Either way, Kave would probably react with delight.
Devin could not wrap his brain around his warlord. He was a collection of contradictions that didn't match the profile of any of his previous commanders. Some had been obsessed with control and making sure his warriors followed his wordsto the letter. Others had given the team a clear set of goals to accomplish, and didn't care how, as long as the task got done. But Kave just poked his nose in everything, without giving clear instructions. He seemed more interested in the comfort of his mate and getting input from Jane than providing his own set of instructions.
As he recalled his previous conversation with Val, he realized that the Terran had been right about one thing. It had been entirely too long since he had spoken with his mother. He put in for a console call from the command center and sat in front of the vid screen. His mother was a busy woman, but she was never too busy to speak with him.
The vid screen flashed and he saw her, dressed impeccably, the peach color of her dress complementing her yellow skin tone. Her hair was dyed to match her outfit and was piled in a series of complicated loops atop her head. The crystals she wore around her neck were the same color as her eyes. If she'd been trying to dress as a fruit, she was well on her way to accomplishing her goal.
The moment she appeared, she squinted her green eyes at him. Then, she raised an eyebrow. She waited.
