Page 49 of Ren: Warlord Brides
He clenched the flashlight, ready to pummel whoever opened the pod.
Chapter 11
Ren
The door opened.
Ren lunged forward, barreling his shoulder into the midsection of the being unfortunate enough to stand in his way. They slammed into a wall. Excessive silver chains tinkled and chimed. The male had paint lining his eyes.
Ren pressed his forearm across the male’s throat. The male’s feet kicked as Ren held him above the floor.
He knew this male.
“You,” he growled, pressing harder.
“Me,” Dovak croaked. He waved a hand to his face, slowly darkening as Ren denied him enough oxygen.
Ren eased up, allowing the male to stand, but kept his forearm in place.
“Your injuries have healed.” Ren had left this male bleeding on the fighting pit’s sandy floor. No ordinary civilian should have recovered so quickly. The male lacked bruising. He also moved as if his ribs were free from fracture, and Ren definitely fractured more than one rib. “Explain,” he ordered.
“I thought you might enjoy being rescued. My mistake.”
“You are too impertinent for a male whose throat I could crush.” Ren applied pressure to prove his point.
Dovak clawed at Ren’s arm. “Sorry, sorry. Let me go.”
“You followed us from Sangrin Station,” Ren said, constructing a chain of events in his mind. Dovak picked up the emergency pod mere minutes after it deployed. Therefore, he had to be directly behind Ren’s ship. He could think of only one reason a male would pursue his ship. “You lost the game. You must quit this obsession you have with my mate.”
“I wasn’t—”
The pressure increased. Perhaps a blade would make the point better.
Dovak coughed, his face a deep plum.
Ren released the male. He crumpled to his knees and rubbed his throat.
“I’m not interested in your mate,” the male said, glaring up at Ren.
“What other reason could you have?”
“Mahdfel. Always so simplistic.” Dovak rose to his feet, leaning against the wall for support. “Many reasons, Ivon Ren. Do you want me to explain them, or are you going to suffocate me again?”
“It is tempting.” Ren’s tail swayed behind him, considering. “My curiosity is too great. I will refrain from strangling you if you explain your intentions satisfactorily.”
Dovak smoothed down the front of his robe and yanked off the ridiculous chains on his horns. “I’d offer you a drink, but you can go fornicate with yourself. I, however, require a drink. Someone mangled my throat.”
He marched down the corridor, as arrogant and irritating as ever, but he moved differently. It was not simply the lack of jewelry rattling or his robes sweeping along the floor. He was less prim and more informal as he led Ren deeper into the ship.
Intriguing, but Ren still felt the need to strangle the male.
“You warriors, always blundering in.” Dovak rummaged through a cabinet, pulling out two cups and a bottle of amber liquid.
“I do not blunder.”
“Oh, you most certainly did.” Dovak poured the amber liquid into a cup and lifted it in a mock salute.
Ren did not understand Sangrin’s obsession with contaminating water. The planet had so much potable, radiation-free water, but they fermented fruit and turned some of it into poison. It made no sense to him.
