“Yes, it would have.” His voice is quiet, but there’s a husky quality to it. Damn it, the man’s sexy enough as it is, he doesn’t need to sound sexy too. Why couldn’t he have sounded like Elmer Fudd or something?
That’s all he says, and he doesn’t take my hand, so I quickly drop it. Fuck! Did I just mess up? Is offering your hand insulting to a vampire? Why can’t Link download all this information into my brain? Hmm, I wonder if he can. I’ll have to ask him tonight.
William kept talking while my mind was wandering, but now he slaps Saxon on the shoulder and Saxon smiles at him before he waves goodbye to me. William leaves me alone with the bloodsucking vampire, who doesn’t seem to be terribly impressed with me at all. He is also now staring at me again with his intimidating gaze. Shit! No wonder they are considered one of the fiercest warriors in the galaxy. They only have to stare their enemies down and they’ll roll over and show them their bellies like little submissives. Or is that just me?
I try another smile. Hopefully it doesn’t look like I’m constipated. “So, William said you were going to give me some self-defense lessons. I’ve done a few before, but it’s been a while since I worked out.” About two weeks, but I’m not going to admit that. I’m also not going to tell him I’m a black belt in a few disciplines, because I bet that means diddly squat to him. Magenta made it seem like these guys were the elite of the elite, and if he has heightened speed, strength, and senses, my black belts aren’t going to be worth a damn.
“Well, I can try, but to be honest, if you have no powers and you’re as weak as a human, no amount of self-defense is going to stand up to most galaxy beings,” he states, still standing there as still as a statue, showing no emotion or anything.
No, Saxon, please don’t sugar coat it for me.
I barely manage to prevent myself from flipping him off, because holy crap, what a fucking grump he is. I cross my arms, feeling more than a little self-conscious and defensive.
Why is everyone making such a big deal about my lack of powers? And I can’t believe William even told this guy. How is something a secret if you share it with every goddamn person on the ship? God, I hope Xavier has some answers for me after he speaks to his parents.
“Yes, well, there’s not much I can really do about it now, is there? Look, if you don’t want to, we can just give this a pass and I’ll tell the grandpas it went well.” His eyes widen in surprise, but I have a bachelor’s degree in difficult men manipulation from working in a bar, so I’m confident I’ve got this. “I mean, if you don’t have the skills to teach a beginner, that’s not your fault, is it? They should have found someone more qualified.”
His pale cheeks pinken, but I don’t think he’s embarrassed. From the look on his face, I know my intended arrow hit its mark. He starts to bluster, but I don’t give him a chance to finish because I haven’t quite gotten him to where I want him. “Maybe I can carry a weapon for protection. Or maybe, if the grandpas are so concerned, they can hire me a bodyguard. Oh yes, I can just picture it in my mind. Some muscle-bound hunk who would have no problems putting their body between mine and any danger.” I look him up and down. “Maybe even another Vilaxian.” I put my finger against my cheek and pretend to think. “Hmm, I guess I would have to be willing to share my blood with them since they will be coming aboard without their clan.”
I guess that’s the last straw, because he explodes. “Of course I can teach you. I can turn even the most pathetic human into a warrior, but you need to be willing to work hard.”
Ouch!
I cross my arms. “Excuse me, but where did you get the idea that I wouldn’t work hard? I’ve done nothing but bust my ass since I got to this ship.” He raises one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at my rant, but apart from that, his face doesn’t move or show any expression. “I bet it was the fucking dragon again. Well, let me tell you something.” I step forward until we are chest to chest, my finger poking at the rocks beneath his tank top. “I may have made a bad decision by trusting that asshole, because it turns out he certainly wasn’t my friend, but I would have thought intelligent beings would know better than to listen to idle gossip and rumors.”
Before I can take another breath and continue to berate the vampire, I’m on my back on the floor faster than I can even comprehend and he’s standing over me. A wave of nausea rolls through me, and I clap a hand over my mouth. His eyes widen in surprise, which is then followed by alarm, and within seconds, I’m kneeling in front of a toilet just in time to lose my earlier drink.
I expel the contents of my stomach, while Saxon helpfully holds my hair back, before groaning and sitting back against the nearby wall as the toilet automatically flushes.
“Point proven, but don’t ever do that to me again.”
Saxon
The little human girl groans as she slides down the nearby wall and puts her hands on her head. “Point proven, but don’t ever do that to me again.”
The offensive smell of everything she expelled from her tiny body is strong in my nostrils—mostly menthol and a tart tinge, but also something like stomach acid—but it’s not as bad as a disemboweled karta monster, so I just ignore it.
Feeling a small prick of guilt for pushing her body too far, I use my speed to get her a bottle of water from the fridge in the training room before returning to hand it to her.
“Here.” I hold it out and she looks up, her eyes almost rolling out of her sockets with the movement of her head, but she reaches a shaky hand out for it. “I am sorry. I forgot that your human body has not adjusted to being in space, let alone traveling at such speeds.”
“My human body as opposed to my not human body? What else does he think?” I hear the little girl mutter sarcastically, and I’m surprised to find myself smothering a grin.
“Skarrians often have speed and heightened senses too. I forgot the entire reason you are here is because your body does not seem to be developing any Skarrian characteristics,” I explain as she takes small sips of water. Her color is starting to return, and I can hear her heart rate begin to slow.
“Yeah, that’s right, assclown, rub it in. Everyone loves to hear about how useless they are,” she mutters under her breath again, but this time I don’t have to worry about smiling.
“You’re not useless. We just have to figure out a way to deal with your limitations.” Lila’s head shoots up, and her eyes widen like she was just caught doing something she shouldn’t have been.
“Fuck, enhanced senses?” she asks, and I nod, fascinated with this little girl as she grumbles a little more about nosy fucking men who don’t know how to pretend they can’t hear shit. I can now somewhat see what Xavier was talking about when he told me about her. We don’t tend to talk while having sex, because it’s purely a physical exchange, but he was extra chatty after we finished last time, and I can’t say the subject hadn’t interested me after catching her the first night. Xavier’s blood tends to leave me feeling a little blood drunk because of its potency, and having him lie next to me while I recovered wasn’t as much of a hardship as I thought it would be. Unlike the members of my clan, he didn’t want to talk about feelings or commitment, he was happy imparting all the real gossip as opposed to the trash Dylan had been spreading. Who knew the socially distant warlock was up on the latest drama?
Then I remember something he said. “Aren’t you mated to the kraken shifter?”
She looks up at me and blinks like a cute little cirillion fluff ball. “The kraken shifter has a name, but yeah, I am.”
“And hebredyou?”
Bingo.
