Page 44 of Caldar
“Yeah, same.”
CHAPTER14
CALDAR
He only hada few moments to enjoy his mate’s embrace before they were interrupted.
A male cleared his throat.
“What,” Caldar snarled.
Lorran had the good sense to hold up a hand in submission. “The warlord is waiting.”
“It’s fine,” Sonia said, pulling away. “We can’t stay in the brig forever.”
“You are correct. I have been confined in worse conditions, but I do not want you to linger in such a place.”
She smiled, her delight blinding. “Oh, I like it when you say that. Say it again.”
“I do not want you to linger here?” He was confused.
Lorran laughed. “No. She wants you to say that she is correct.”
“Exactly,” Sonia agreed.
He rubbed his hands up her arms before settling on her shoulders. He dipped his head to look her in the eyes. “You are correct, and I suspect you will be correct many times in the future.”
Her laughter was the sweetest sound in the galaxy.
A warrior escorted Sonia to their newly assigned rooms while Lorran took him to the warlord’s ready room.
The door had barely closed when Lorran grabbed Caldar. It was a testament to the male’s skill and perhaps Caldar’s exhaustion that the younger male twisted his arms and forced him face-down onto the long meeting table.
Ah. Of course.
“You are still upset,” Caldar said, his face pressed against the wood surface. He had expected this reaction when the male first entered the brig, escorting Sonia. Caldar had deceived several people over the course of his duplicitous career. He could hardly be expected to remember every person he wronged, but Lorran had been a recent betrayal. That particular wrong was exactly the reason he took to protecting Sonia because he owed a debt for harming Lorran’s mate.
Clearly, Lorran recognized Caldar. “You are a viper. Worse than a viper. I do not know how you tricked the warlord into believing you are tamed, but you have not tricked me.”
Lorran tightened his hold, adding pressure until Caldar’s shoulders screamed in agony.
“You are still upset.” It took all his skill to sound carefree while in pain.
“I. Am. Not. Upset.” Lorran grabbed a fistful of Caldar’s hair and pulled. Each word was punctuated with a slam of his face onto the table.
His nose bled profusely. Caldar twisted his head so the next blow would be to the side of his face, not his potentially broken nose. He tasted blood. “My apologies for threatening your mate. I meant no harm.”
“You pointed a gun at her. You meant for her to be frightened.”
“I have many regrets. I treated your mate poorly, which shames me because I like her,” Caldar said, despite the blood collecting in his mouth. He had enjoyed his conversations with the Terran artist. He had not wanted to force her to unlock the security panel on a ship, but he needed to flee the station as quickly as possible. “In the end, it was simpler to have your mate unlock the ship rather than hack into an entirely different vessel. It was a matter of efficiency.”
This explanation did not appease Lorran, but his grip did loosen. Caldar took the opportunity to sweep his leg and unbalance the male. They jostled for position. At one point, Caldar had Lorran pinned to the table, but he lacked the strength to keep the younger male in place. Caldar was weak from exhaustion and the damage done to his body.
Lorran pressed a blade to his throat. Caldar ceased struggling. “I do not know how you deceived Sonia into caring for you.”
“No deception.” Caldar remained stunned at her declaration of love, to be honest. Such a female deserved a male so much better than him. He would spend the rest of his days striving to be worthy of her regard.
“She is my mate’s friend, but she is also my friend. Do not harm her. If you harm her, deceive her, or make her unhappy in any way, it will be my pleasure to scatter pieces of your worthless carcass across the galaxy. Understood?”
