"What did you do?" I knew Mal would never truly harm a female, especially not one under his care. But the scenes that had played out at Club Trinity came to my mind. He had pushed her then. Perhaps this time he had pushed her too far.
"Nothing. She’s fine."
"Then why is she crying?" I moved closer and leaned in to get a better look. I was correct, a small trail of dried salt was on her cheek. Her eyes were pink.
"She’sright here. Andshe’snot going to be discussed in the third person.” She held up her hand but her tone softened. "Thank you, Geros. I’m okay.”
I looked from her to Mal and gave up hope that I was going to get a better explanation.
The comm in our quarters chimed.
“Yes?” Kayson answered.
One of the three king’s voices came through the comm. I never could tell them apart. “We have a lead on the traitor. We're moving out in two hours. Be ready.”
The comm went dead and Smith wiggled in Mal’s arms. Reluctantly, he set her down.
“That’s good news, right? No more death threats. We take out the leadership and their organization crumbles. Peace on Viken at last?”
“Indeed.” I did not want the mission to be over. I needed more time—weneeded more time to woo her. Convince her to be ours, to stay.
“Okay. I guess I better get ready, too. We get the bad guys and then I guess I'll be going home." Her voice cracked on the word home, but she shook her head as if she were disagreeing with herself.
I would never understand females.
"Very well."
I watched her disappear inside her bedroom. Heard the fall of water once the shower was turned on. I listened for the sound of her voice. She'd recently begun to sing a song to herself as she bathed. Listening was one of my guilty pleasures. But no sounds came through the door.
With a sigh I glanced over my shoulder to where Kayson sat on our sofa. "What are we going to do?" We were literally out of time.
"I don’t know."
"Mal?”
His face was blank, as if his mind was very far away. “It’s her choice. It has to be her choice.”
Fuck. He was right. But if he had ruined our chance to have a family with Smith, I was going to strangle him with my bare hands.
Kayson shrugged and left to get our gear. Mal disappeared inside the other bedroom and started a second shower. Which left me standing alone in our living room.
Mal could be hard male to deal with, but he was our friend. Our brother in arms. He’d saved our lives too many times to count during the Hive war, just as we’d saved his.
But, if he didn’t want Smith, I would find another male from Sector Two to take his place. Which meant he’d better pull his head out of his ass and realize how perfect Smith was in our lives. Fucking perfect. I didn't need an Interstellar Bride sent to me by some AI machine. Odds were, even if one of us did end up with a matched mate, two to one she would be matched to either Mal or Kayson, rather than me. How would that be any different than loving--and claiming--Smith?
I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the way she’d invited me to take her, fill her sweet ass. The way she bucked and demanded more, allowed me to claim her when she knew others watched. She’d given me a gift no female ever had. I’d been hers from that moment on.
Fuck. That was a lie. I’d wanted her from the moment I first saw her on the transport pad. Her dark hair. The curve of her hip. The fact that she was so outspoken, smart and courageous only added to my desire to claim her. She would be a wonderful mother. Would raise strong, happy children. I’d wanted a family since I was a boy but never found the right female. Now I had, and she was about to slip through my fingers.
My mate. Our mate. She was ours. Kayson was of similar mind. If Mal didn't come around, too fucking bad. I wasn't giving up this chance at happiness, at a future, because he was a stubborn fool.
When Kayson returned Mal was out of the shower and we all geared up together, as we had hundreds of times before. Smith’s shower was still running, which meant we had a small window of time to talk without her hearing every word.
“What happened between you two today?” I asked.
Mal shrugged. “We had a disagreement. We argued, and then we settled it.”
“What kind of disagreement?” Kayson was the one to push this time.
