Page 18 of Tail, Dark and Handsome: Celestial Mates
Taller than her, he had a lean runner’s build, slim but strong. The dark amber striation stood out against his pale amber complexion. Dark hair had outgrown a haircut ages ago and looked permanently tousled. Those eyes gave her pause; dark and flat, they were nearly human, but the pupil was a touch more oval than round.
So what if he was attractive? She wasn’t in the market, and he had no social skills.
She held his gaze. His ears pressed forward, and it struck her as remarkably arrogant. Even the way his tail lashed behind him seemed arrogant. He got her blood up and made her want to fight in a way that rude and screaming clients never did.
Or Tomas, for that matter.
Her eyes flicked down the open collar of his shirt and the striation that seemed to trace the column of his throat. She wondered how far down that stripe went, if it would map a journey all the way down his chest and abdomen.
He cleared his throat. Heat rose in her cheeks, and she tore her gaze back to his eyes. Cold eyes. Frozen. Devoid of all except for contempt.
Thankfully, whatever fleeting attraction she felt vanished.
“Was it waterproof?” she asked, breaking the tension.
He looked down at the bot as if considering that for the first time. “Water-resistant. The field tech would know.” He ran a hand through his hair, somehow making it more appealing rather than a wet, sopping mess. “This will set my research back. I don’t have time to wait for another tech.”
“Maybe it needs to be cleaned and dried out.”
His ears pulled back, and the glare he sent her way was cold enough to freeze the blood in her veins. His gaze swept over her, and Mari became acutely aware of her bedraggled appearance in a wet summer dress that clung to all her round parts, the strappy sandals that were the worst thing to wear in a downpour, and the sad, droopy hat. She had to be a sorry sight because the tension left his shoulders, and she imagined that his gaze lingered a touch longer than polite.
“You are a tourist,” he said.
“One who can’t read the weather forecast.” She gave a self-deprecating grin. “Take a walk, I thought. Try to relax, I thought.” She waved a dismissive hand.
“You’ll never get down the stairs in this weather.”
“I’ll wait.”
“If you had bothered to check the weather, you’d know this storm will last all day.” His brusque tone pricked at her pride. She was on vacation. She wasn’t expected to check the weather.
“I’ll call the resort. They’ll send a flyer,” she said, confident that she was not the only shortsighted person ever to be stuck up the mountain in a storm.
“In this wind?”
“It’s just a storm.”
“Not just a storm. This is a major tropical storm.”
“Oh.” She really should have paid attention to the weather announcement that morning. Had her mother tried to warn her when she saidenjoy the sun while you can? That was vague enough to be Valerian’s idea of helpful.
He huffed, and Mari somehow knew that it wasn’t an amused huff but a long-suffering, put-upon huff. The huff of a man whose conscience made him do something he did not want to do. Super flattering. Nothing like a total stranger treating you like a burden.
“No, you had better come with me,” he said. He reached into a pocket and withdrew a coin-sized orb.
“It’s not that windy.” She’d flown and landed in worse conditions.
And because the universe was determined to spite her, a strong gust roared through and knocked down thatch from the roof.
The sky flickered with lightning. The man flinched. Thunder clapped, this time reverberating right through her body. She may have jumped.
And screamed.
A little.
Mari clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. She knew of lightning and thunder. Obviously. She’d been places with atmospheres and weather systems, but that had always been when she was working. Piloting through a thunderstorm was a heck of a lot different standing in a stone hut with a leaky roof and a floor determined to turn into a mud pit. In a ship, she had control and insulation to ground any lightning strikes. Here, she was exposed and wet, with mud squelching between her toes.
“Make your decision quickly or you’ll be here all day,” he said.
