She rushed to his side, jacket now in hand, and wiped his face with it. He rolled his jaw and found it had shifted back to normal. He glanced down at himself to see the rest had shifted back as well.
Hector snickered somewhere far off.‘You’re welcome.’
“You call bleeding all over your ship packing?” Janet asked, concern in her eyes. “Are you okay?”
Zeph smiled weakly, letting the last remnants of the memory to die, and cherishing the sudden emotion from her. “I’m fine, now.” The cloth moved over his skin in comforting strokes, and within seconds, the pain receptors in his body calibrated back to normal. He sat up and took the jacket from her hands and used it to cover his erect cock. “You’re getting my blood all over you.”
“Me? Who cares about me! Look at you! How sick are you?”
He dropped back against the wall with a sigh. “You weren’t supposed to see this.”
“Really? What do you think would happen if you had me around all the time distracting you? I would’ve found out eventually.”
Zeph wiped his hands and brushed aside the golden locks that had fallen over her face. It felt like silk over his fingers. The song in his chest strengthened.
“You’re supposed to make me better,” he said.
“I think I’m making you worse.”
“Let’s just call this the tempest before the rainbow? I feel great right now.”
Janet sat back on her heels, and he let her move away. He didn’t want to bury himself inside her amongst all his personal gore—not to mention they needed to move.
She canted her head. “You’re making that noise again.”
Zeph rose to his feet and accepted her help when she took his arm. “I can’t help it. I want to mate with you. Badly. I guess the Croc sings when that happens. When you’re near.”
“I never heard it back on Kepler.” Janet ducked under his shoulder, and he pretended to lean on her. “Not even that night…”
He brushed his nose over the top of her head and refilled his nostrils with her scent.So much better than blood.Although he was now hungry for so much more.
“Are you doubting how much I wanted you then?” he teased as they walked to the nearest lavatory.
“What? No! Maybe,” she said quickly. “Every man I’m not related to wants me. It’s what makes me really good at discovering their secrets.”
His eyes flashed with anger as the lavatory door closed behind them. He rounded on her. “How many?”
Janet stilled. “What?”
Zeph forced her back and caged her against the wall. “How many men?”
She notched her chin up defiantly. “That’s none of your business.”
He hit the wall above her head and bared his teeth. “How many?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Don’t make me ask again,” he warned. His eyes flickered, and the newly healed tears on his back began to reopen as his spines broke through his skin.
Janet glowered and straightened, pushing at his chest. “So many. So many men I’ve lost count. Business associates who tried to cheat us, powerful political officials who were being paid off to screw us over, even Charlene’s son. I got him drunk and gave him a handjob and he told me all their secrets hoping to have with me—”
“What the fuck!” he yelled. “Did you fuck Steven too?”
It was decided. He was going to commit male genocide on Kepler.
“Steven? Never.”
Zeph slammed his fist against the wall again and wished for the fucking sickness to return, but the wounds on his back had returned to normal and the skin on his arms was still very much pale. Janet washis. His prize. His trophy.
