Page 48
Chapter 10
“Urgh! What’s that? Leave me alone.” Wren’s eyes flicked open. Dinky was perched on her chest, his small gray tongue licking her hand.
He chirped and lifted his head.
“Sorry, I must have dozed off.” She eased herself up and held Dinky against her chest.
She checked the time and frowned. So much for getting all her work done. After Cleo and Daisy left, she’d taken the norkie back to her pen, come back to check on Dinky, then pretty much passed out.
Wren’s head throbbed along with the bite on her arm. She rolled back her sleeve and pulled open the healing plaster.
Dinky sniffed the bite and recoiled.
Wren frowned at the bright pink bite mark. “Great. That looks infected. So much for the norkie having a clean bill of health.” She set Dinky on the couch, cleaned the wound, and put another healing plaster over the top.
She rolled her shoulders and groaned. Everything ached. Even her bones were tired.
“We need a vacation, Dinky. Somewhere warm. Someplace where we won’t get bitten. And somewhere everyone behaves themselves. Surely, that’s not too much to ask.”
He chirped and followed her as she stood and headed to the bathroom.
“If I can’t have a vacation, then I need a bath. What do you say? Bubbles, candles, and something delicious to eat.”
He chirped again and flicked his tail.
“ELVIS, is there enough hot water for a bath?”
“Always. Would you like me to run it for you?”
“You’re an angel. Yes, please.”
She shrugged off her jumpsuit and underwear before slipping on a robe and tying her hair on top of her head. She selected lavender bath oil and headed into the small bathroom. It was compact, but there was just enough room to squeeze a bath in one corner. Wren loved a long hot soak after a day in the lab.
“Would you like some music?” ELVIS said. “I have a selection of tunes from Earth newly added to my catalog. Would drum and bass be suitable?”
She grimaced. “That sounds awful. Let’s go for something calming.”
“A baroque symphony from the early seventeenth century?”
“That sounds dull. Something slow but not too downbeat. I don’t want anyone singing about broken hearts or loneliness.” She’d had enough of that in real life.
“Let me see what I’ve got.” A few seconds later, a cheerful pop tune by an inoffensive female singer began.
Wren checked the water temperature. It was perfect. She shrugged off her robe and slid into the bath while it was still filling before pouring in bath oil and swirling it with her hand.
Dinky hopped on the edge of the bath and dabbed the water with his foot.
“Careful. I don’t want you falling in on top of me.”
He chirruped then bounced off the edge of the bath and headed out the door. He didn’t seem to understand Wren’s love of wallowing in hot water.
She sank beneath the water. This was what she needed. Time to get her head straight. Time to stop worrying about what Striker was doing. He’d made the decision to move on, so that was it for their partnership. There’d be no more wisecracks, teasing, or reckless flirting.
She should be glad. Her heart shouldn’t be aching. This was what she wanted, too.
She stroked her fingers across her damp thigh, and her insides fluttered. If only her thoughts weren’t muddled after those intoxicating kisses. If only Striker wasn’t so reckless.
“If only he wasn’t so hot,” she muttered. Why couldn’t he have hoofs, a snout, and weigh in at five hundred pounds of pure flab? But he was a gorgeous Apexian. There was no getting away from it. There was chemistry between them. You’d have to be dead not to find him sexy.
