Page 59 of Ren: Warlord Brides
Emry pulled herself away and adjusted the blanket wrapped around her waist. Right. Pants would help.
“Thank you. This means a lot,” she said.
“It is as inconsequential as a grain of sand.”
“And you won’t get into trouble for abandoning your mission?”
“There are ten other Council members to scrutinize, and the warlord understands it will take time.” Ren turned his attention back to the screen.
“So what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“It most certainly would. However, pursuing sentient being traffickers is an ongoing problem. It would be unacceptable to not ignore this lead. There are many, and they move together as a swarm. When you tighten the net,” he said, holding up a hand and slowly making a fist. “They scatter. They have eluded me so far, but they will make a mistake. And then I bring down justice on their heads.”
Damn if he didn’t look hot promising vengeance. Emry wasn’t exactly comfortable with what they said about her, but she wasn’t going to question it. Her hot alien husband was full of righteous fury.
“The first message was sent from Earth.” He named a city she recognized.
“That’s a major spaceport, but it’s nowhere near where we lived.”
“And the second transmitted from Trexor.” He frowned.
“Is that bad?”
“It is interesting,” he said, explaining nothing.
All right, then.
“In two days, we will meet with the rest of the team. Zalis is more skilled at analysis. I will let him untangle this problem. We will decide how to proceed.”
“The rest of the team?”
“Yes. Havik, Zalis, Lorran—though he is foreverbusy—and Thalia. She is also Terran.”
“Why aren’t they here?”
“Ah.” He set down the tablet. “Normally, they would be. Havik is a skilled pilot. I can set the autopilot and little more. Zalis is skilled at accessing restricted computer systems. Lorran is very good at wheedling information out of reluctant sources. However, they are all obviously Mahdfel. The missions with Pashaal required a lighter touch.”
Emry snorted. A lighter touch is not what happened.
Her stomach rumbled.
“Well, shit. That’s embarrassing.” She covered her abdomen as if that could silence her stomach. “Hungry? It’s been a weird, long day, and I need to eat.”
“You should not neglect your nutritional needs, even when you are commandeering ships like a badass,” he said.
The widest grin broke across her face and she pumped a fist in the air. “Yes! I knew it! Come on, cherry pie. Let’s see if we can make those instant noodles palatable.”
Ren
Later, as he slurped down noodles and the aromatic broth, his mate watched him with an amused expression. Perhaps he consumed the noodles with more enthusiasm than he anticipated. Despite observing Emry prepare the meal, he did not understand why her noodles tasted so much better than the ones he made.
“If I had known I could seduce you with food, this would have gone a lot smoother,” she said with a smirk. It was difficult to tell, as the scar pulled at the corner of her lips, but her voice conveyed amusement.
“This meets my nutritional needs,” he said.
“Uh-huh, and you’re hunched over the bowl because it meets your nutritional needs.”
Ren placed a protective arm around the bowl and pulled it closer, eliciting more laughter. He liked this, her easy laughter. So much better than her angry words, tears, threats, and desperate bargains.
