Page 67 of The Pleasure Contract

“Yes, I am, he-”

“I don’t give a flying drak shit what Glex’s firstborn experiment did. He wasn’t in the game. That game should have been your only concern while we’re playing it. And now it’s been shut down early because you couldn’t stay focussed.”

I throw Puff and Lady’s reins into a random locker here in the away team’s changing room. “It was a training game!” I argue. “Meanwhile, that male was up there getting far too close to my-”

My words falter.

“My…”

“Your what?” Varrex demands, standing there with his arms folded. The rest of the team are here, too – all staring at me.

I threw the game. Play had to stop so that the window pane on the Lords’ Gallery could be assessed for safety reasons.

Not my proudest moment.

But what the fuck was I supposed to do?

They looked close enough to kiss.

The thought makes me want to rip my own horns off.

I look Varrex in the eye and jab his chest with a finger. “She’s mine,” I tell him. “That’s all anybody needs to know. Anyway, he was in there, smoking moonweed. I don’t want her getting mixed up in all of that,” I say, turning my back and picking the reins up again, untangling them just for my hands to have something to do.

I can practically hear the collective scoff and imagine a full set of raised brows all aimed at me.

“Uh, I seem to recall a certain princely someone being high off his horns when we stole the Northern Principality welcome sign during off-season,” Ral says, unhelpfully.

“Yeah,” Zevan chimes in. “And wasn’t it you who painted Vex’s drak’s claws neon pink after smoking that strong batch of-”

“Okay, okay,” I swing around to face them, dumping the reins again.

Varrex huffs and points his finger. “I fucking knew that was you,” he mutters, completely unamused. “It took weeks to get that paint off. Weeks. And you really should give that welcome sign back.”

“But Lois is different. She’s beautiful, and soft, and delicate, and-”

“I’m fucking furious, is what I am!”

It was the unmistakable sound of my female as she storms her way into the players’ locker room, leaving her staff member, Zek, standing outside looking worried. Maybe he’s worried for her. Maybe he’s worried for me. Either way, she is fucking glorious as she marches in, rage bubbling over in her little human body.

A small, accusatory human finger jabs into my chest. “Did you actually think that little display was a good idea, or has someone hit you on the horns with an idiot stick today?”

Someone – I suspect Zevan – lets out a snort of laughter before choking it back.

I stare down at her, tensing my jaw. Fuck – how did this little human package get even more attractive to me?

“Zyre was on the verge of explaining something to me,” she snaps, fire burning in her eyes.

“Yeah?” I drawl, stepping forward into her space, crowding her until she takes a step back, and then another, backing her up against a closed locker. “Well, maybe I need to explain something to Zyre. Something very important to his life expectancy.”

“Az,” she says, gazing up at me as I lean my forearms over her head, caging her in with my frame. Her pupils are blown wide, and that little pink tongue comes out to wet her lips. “I needed to talk to him.” Her tone is less angry now. And I’m not sure if she realizes, but her soft hand has hooked into the waistband of my pants at my hip as if she wants to pull me closer.

Fuck, she can pull me as close as she likes; it’ll never be enough.

“Get out,” I command, and it takes two seconds of no one moving for me to tear my eyes away from my Lois to issue glares to my teammates.

There’s movement. Rykor and Zevan leave. Varrex follows begrudgingly, leaving me with a disapproving stare. Jorren, Ral, and Thax linger, their eyes bouncing between my female and me. “You okay, little human?” Ral asks, jerking his chin, the other two flanking him with their arms folded.

Lois looks up at me and bites her lip before giving my teammates a small nod of her head. They leave, seemingly satisfied that she’s happy to be alone with me – a concern that maybe a different male would find offense with, but I know the hearts of my teammates, and the respect they show my Lois is exactly what I would expect of them.