Page 65 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
The table appeared to grow larger before me as if I was shrinking under the weight of Raz’s words. It was as if I’d consumed a drink-me potion and spiraled down a rabbit hole. Sweat dampened my shirt, and Raz’s voice pounded like nails piercing my skull.
Shame overwhelmed me. I’d botched foreign customs. I didn’t know shit all about Makir’s family and I’d behaved like a wild animal unable to control my lust.
Makir’s whimper forced me to unclench my jaw and take a deep breath. I willed the table to return to its normal size. Everyone stared, lips pursed.
Raz placed his taloned hand on Makir’s shoulder. “Nothing to say, Archbuilder? You’re unworthy of a Lornian omega.”
Makir nearly jumped into my lap to get away from Raz. Anger pumped through my blood and rushed through my veins. To hell with the shame rolling through me. I may have been ignorant, but I wasn’t a dick. I dug deeper into the simmering rage, honing it to a sharp point and directing it at Raz.
When Makir’s focus remained on his feet and his tail stayed wrapped around him in distress, it stoked the fire in my blood higher. Fuck, I hated when he reacted that way to anything, but it was ten times worse coming from this useless Lizzard. Makir was the spark of life meant to bring joy to a room, and here he was, diminished in his own home by this crocodile-lipped dick.
Well, fuck that.
Bonic’s jaw tightened, and Jast forced a smile onto her face as she passed the food around the table.
Raz’s voice rattled higher and higher as his indignation built like a politician controlling a room. “Plus, are you willing to disregard the fact that he appears to have no idea that he has initiated a formal mating bond with one of the heirs to the High Hold of Lorne?”
Makir whined, and he sank deeper into his chair.
Enough is enough.
My chair skidded over the floor and fell with an abrupt thud when I stood. I loomed over Raz, who still sat at the table with his long jaw tipped up and his arrogant eyes flashing. My fists clenched and unclenched, adrenaline pumping through me until the anger could no longer be contained.
“Raz!” My deep voice boomed, filling all the space in the room. “I have no idea how you weaseled your way into Makir’s home, but I’ve told you on two other occasions not to eventhinkabout sharing Makir’s space. Under any circumstances.” On fire and fueled by rage, my cheeks heated and my biceps bulged. “Do you need a reminder?” I grabbed his collar and lifted.
Raz’s feet shuffled underneath him as he tried to gain traction. “There would be consequences-s-s… Y-you said there would be consequences.”
“Fucking right, I did.”
I dragged a squealing and kicking Raz by the shirt collar and smashed him against the wall. My thick forearm pressed against his neck, and the heel of my boot mashed his tail into the concrete. The tip lashed like a limp noodle under my boot’s weight.
“Elite Protector Tuniga,” Raz coughed, “I beg you—” His plea went unanswered.
“Now, I don’t want to offend my guests…” I may have been in Makir’s home, but something deep inside had me treating Bonic and Jast as if they weremyguests. When I turned my head to look over my shoulder, Jast and Makir were leaning into each other, tails linked, and Bonic sat at the table with his chin cradled in one hand, lips curled in a lazy smile.
My attention snapped back to Raz as his tail wriggled loose and snapped me in the hip.
“I demand to be treated with respect,” the Lizzard wailed.
“Like the respect you’ve shown me?” With a quick shift backward for momentum, I launched my knee straight into his gut and flattened his tail oncemore under my boot. “As you’ve been ever so polite in pointing out the Tunigas’ impressive lineage to ignorant little me, I’m willing to take this matter outside to settle. Is that respectful enough for you?”
Raz shook his head back and forth, his eyes watering. Held up by his throat and unable to speak, I took that as a no.
I turned my head for a moment, chasing Makir’s whimper. Makir and Jast were huddled under his brother’s arm, eyes pinned on me.
“Geo’s got it, Makir, don’t worry,” Bonic said.
I winked at Makir before returning my attention to a begging Raz.
“I knew we could see eye to eye.” I patted his green cheek, maintaining the chokehold I had him in, although my knuckles itched for more.
Bonic snickered in the background.
Ready to be rid of Makir’s nosy neighbor, I hauled him, sputtering, to the door. With my elbow firmly locked on his windpipe, I opened the door and threw him into the cold night. His scaled tail knocked him in the face, and he landed on his ass in a puff of pink dirt.
“Now, lose this address. And by the way, you now hold the illustrious position of being the last name on my list for dwelling upgrades,” I spat out after him.
I stood there a second longer, impervious to the icy cold that misted around me as my lungs heaved from the residual anger.
