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“What about all the women?” Avel asked. “I bet you get more than your fair share wearing that uniform.”

Eric chuckled. “You’re not wrong there. Just the other night, I had three women come on to me. I took them all back to my room and fucked their brains out. None of them could stand at the end of it.”

“That’s impressive.” Avel raised his eyebrows at Iska, who was motionless in his seat, his fingers clenched around his glass.

“And the women in here?”

“Average,” Eric said. “Typical space station fodder. Nothing to tempt me for longer than a couple of hours. I expect they’d all be grateful to get on their knees and suck me off if I ask them to.”

Eric high-fived his buddy next to him.

“And what about Holly Lipinski?” Avel slung an arm around Eric’s shoulders and dug his fingers in. “What did you score her when you were together?”

“Ha! I thought you might be into her.” Eric smirked. “I saw you eyeballing me on the ship when we had a private moment. Holly’s great, but she’s old news.”

A muscle in Avel’s jaw twitched. “And her score?”

“If I had to score her, she’d get a four. She gets a bonus point for being so obliging if you get what I mean.”

Avel tilted his chin at Iska. He’d heard enough.

Iska’s fur bristled and claws extended from his fingers. “Everybody leave.” His gaze shot to Eric’s three friends.

Their eyes widened, and they jerked back in their seats.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Eric said. “Nobody’s leaving.”

Iska grabbed the closest guy by the throat and squeezed before tapping the second one on the chest with his claws. “We want a word with your friend. We don’t need any distractions, and I don’t want blood on my fur.”

The guy he was holding gasped before nodding. “I need to be somewhere else, anyway.”

Iska stood slowly, his movement silky smooth and promising trouble. His gaze landed on the other guys. “And the rest of you?”

“We’re going,” one of them said as he scrambled out the booth, his friends already hot tailing it out of the bar.

“Hey, wait up, guys.” Eric tried to get out of the booth, but Avel kept him trapped by his side, his arm muscles bunched around him. “You stay here.”

“What’s the matter with you? I’m not into dudes.” Eric struggled in Avel’s grip.

“And I’m not into assholes.”

Eric shoved against Avel. “I could have you arrested for this. I outrank you.”

“You don’t outrank me in anything. I’m not in the military.”

“I can still have you and your furry friend up on assault charges.”

“You won’t do that,” Iska purred softly as he took his seat. “We just want to chat. Avel’s not happy with the things you’ve been saying.”

Avel nodded. “Everything that comes out of your mouth sounds like horse shit.”

“I don’t know you,” Eric said, his eyes wide. “Stay out of my business.”

“I can’t do that. You see, I’m friends with Holly. I’ve seen the way you treat her. Although she hasn’t told me everything, I know how much you screwed her up when you were together.”

“What are you talking about? She loved it. Holly could have left, but she stayed, groveling and begging for us to be together. It was kind of pathetic. I stayed out of pity, mostly. But even that runs out in the end. Holly Lipinski is nothing special.”

Avel snarled in his face, and Eric flinched. “Holly’s incredible. She’s more woman than you could ever handle.”