Page 40 of Tempting Her Grumpy Protector
It was just another mission. She was another female to protect, he told himself.
That was all Sunny was—all she could ever be to him.
28
SUNNY
Later that evening, Sunny sat cross-legged on the woven mat, trying not to laugh as Larral—the friendliest of the Thropp’ian women—gossiped in a rapid, musical tone she was only half-following. She was gathering the last of her data—they were leaving tonight to go back to the Mother Ship.
Larral had been talking about the way she selected her mate and generally filling in the cracks in Sunny’s knowledge but now she was telling a personal story about a time when a foon’jun—which sounded like a kind of purple rat—had nipped her toes while she was bathing in the sacred fountain.
“And then I ran screaming—‘owoo—owoo! The foon’jun—he has defiled my toes!’ For of course, such creatures do not belong in the sacred fountain!” she finished, laughing.
It was a tale of embarrassment and amusement and when she looked at Sunny, it was clear she expected something in return.
Well, that was easy—Sunny had plenty of stories to tell. She tried to think of a good one.
“Oh, I know—you’ll appreciate this. This morning before dawn, I stepped right on one of those giant skuttlers you have here.” She held her hands about a foot apart. “That thing was huge. I screamed my head off!”
Larral’s eyes widened, then she burst into laughter.
“But why did you step on the floor when it was still dark?” she asked. “That was most foolish, my friend!”
Sunny nodded self-deprecatingly.
“I know but I forgot all about them! I heard a rustling sound, but it just didn’t register with me. I screamed so loud I woke up Greer and when he came to rescue me, I practically climbed him like a tree!” She shook her head. “I’m always getting into trouble. Poor Greer. He constantly has to get me out of sticky situations.”
She looked around for the big Warrior, but didn’t see him anywhere.
“Ah, but I don’t believe he minds,” Larral said, all three of her eyes twinkling. “I saw the way he tasted you so eagerly in the Chair of Female Pleasure!” She sighed. “I only wish my own mate would taste me that way!”
Sunny felt her cheeks getting hot when she remembered how uninhibited she had been while Greer tasted her. Time to change the subject!
“Well, the skuttlers are awful, but at least they don’t bite. I mean, on my last mission, a bat flew up my skirt and bit me on the thigh.”
“Truly?” Larral’s eyes went wide.
“Yes, and I hate being bitten. Absolutely hate it. Scared me half to death!” Sunny gave an involuntary shiver. “Those teeth—ugh. I still get goosebumps just thinking about it.”
Larral made a sympathetic noise, patting Sunny’s arm.
Sunny chuckled, brushing the memory away.
“Anyway, compared to that, skuttlers are nothing. They’re just gross—I can deal with that. Well, mostly.”
She glanced up—and froze.
Greer had just rounded the corner of the Communal Hut. His pale eyes locked with hers for the briefest moment, unreadable, then he looked away and kept walking without a word.
Sunny frowned. That was weird. But he was probably just off to talk to some of the Thropp’ian men. Though he didn’t like Chief Lowhung, he seemed to be getting along quite well with a few of the others. Some of them had even offered to help him pack the shuttle.
She didn’t think anything else of the small interaction…and had no idea what was going on in her big Protector’s head.
29
GREER
Her words hit him like a punch to the gut.
