Unfortunately, they were also the two, out of all those men, for whom Olivia, for whatever reason, had an almost visceral and impulsive desire.
Yes, she realized their pheromones were almost certainly in play, no matter how unusual it was supposed to be. But she was a human woman, and perhaps she was more susceptible than their own kind, though she hadn’t noticed any alluring scents emanating from any other men in the city.
Regardless, all of that had to be put on the back burner for now. Her guilt at leaving Harper for several days was replaced with a feeling of cheer and elation. Though it hadn’t gone exactly as she’d hoped, shehadsucceeded in finding help out there. People who could heal her friend and protect them both from the Raxxian threat. And now she was coming to get her.
A great many other males were in attendance at the landing area, waiting with an excited buzz in the air as the two men and their human companion strode to their ship.
“Is it true?” one called out. “Is there really another female out there?”
“Looks that way,” Arkness replied casually, glancing down at the woman walking between himself and his rival with a possessively braggadocios grin.
He had decided she would be his, and given their interactions—and clear attraction the other day—he was confident he would seal the deal upon their return. So confident was he that he failed to notice the little something extra in the looks Rykker focused on the woman they were sworn to protect.
“And she is an unbonded one?” another younger male asked.
“So far as we know, yes,” Arkness replied.
“You are all getting ahead of yourselves,” Rykker interjected. “First, we must succeed in our task, bringing this poor woman out of the wild and away from danger. Until that happens, there is no sense in conjecture.”
“But—” the man began.
Olivia felt her face redden with annoyance. “Hey! That’s my friend out there, not some piece of meat! I thought you were all trained to be respectful. To be attentive. Tonotbe creepy assholes.”
The man’s eyes went wide, quickly scanning the onlooking faces of his friends in shock. “I–I did not mean to?—”
“Well, youdid,” she shot back, the force of her angry gaze making him actually stumble back a step.
He bowed his head. “Apologies. It will not happen again.”
“You’re damn right.”
She spun on her heel and shifted her attention to Rykker and Arkness, the two men now standing beside the open hatch leading into a really,reallysmall ship. Both had amused,admiring expressions on their faces. She had just become even more alluring, it seemed. Feisty had its benefits.
“This is us?” she asked, running her hand along the craft’s hull, quite unimpressed. “A little small, isn’t it?”
“Intentionally selected,” Arkness replied. “Given what you said about the Raxxians, as well as reconnaissance imagery of the region, it is the best option. Small, fast, hard to detect. There are other craft operating in the area, and we would be well served to avoid them if at all possible.”
“On this we are in agreement,” Rykker agreed. “In and out without a fuss. It’s the best way.”
“The only way,” Arkness noted. “We are a rescue mission, not a combat one.”
It made sense, but Olivia knew they had larger, more powerful ships, not to mention plenty of manpower—quite literally—to go around. “Why not just overwhelm them with force? You’ve got the men for it.”
The two men shook their heads, in agreement on at least this one thing.
“We are still dealing with the Dohrag problem in the area,” Arkness explained.
“Dohrag? What’s a Dohrag?”
“A hostile people who make a habit of abducting those they can,” Rykker noted.
“Shit, like the Raxxians?”
“Oh, no. The Dohrags do not eat their captives. Instead, they condemn them to a life of servitude.”
“Slavery?”
Rykker nodded. “Essentially, yes.”
