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D’Rasma’s mouth opened in a pointy-toothed grin. “You bet the goddess Sola I am.”
“Awesome. Let’s get started.” I pulled out my measuring tape. “I’m just going to take some measurements. Stand, please.”
I climbed onto the bench, stretched the tape from shoulder to shoulder and tapped the number into my wristport notes. Then, I determined the circumference of his waist and the length from his hip to his knee and entered those numbers.
“You can put your hands all over me anytime, little human.” His white teeth flashed, but D’Rasma’s open smile robbed the razor-sharp edges of menace.
A weight lifted from my shoulders as I laughed at his antics. I needed this distraction. He wasn’t hard to look at, and his flirting boosted my damaged ego.
“Tell me about Boola?”
“Well, Boola are skilled hunters, and the greatest hunt for a Boola is to capture the heart of a true mate.” His sharp grin flashed once again.
A sucker for flattery, I couldn’t help but smile at his direct approach.
“One more measurement, then I’ll have what I need for a helmet of sorts.” I stepped on the bench again and placed one hand on his solid shoulder for balance. Then I wrapped the tape around his ears, mindful of his bandage, pulling tight to compensate for the thick swaths of dark hair. By accident, I sealed his mouth shut.
“It’s like that, is it, little human?” he mumbled beneath the tape. “You like your males bound and gagged? Well, I can…”
“You can what?” JayJay’s deep voice invaded the space, sending a guilty shiver down my spine.
With a snap of my wrist, I unraveled the tape from D’Rasma’s head and jotted down the measurement. The injured enforcers around us leaned in, their game forgotten.
“Who doesn’t like a little fun with rope?” D’Rasma replied, his eyes playful. Was he provoking JayJay on purpose? Or oblivious to the truck he might find himself under if he didn’t shut up? He’d told me he hunted, but his lack of self-preservation suggested otherwise.
With his control back in check, JayJay’s eyes fixed on me. “Is D’Rasma bothering you?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
If he’d been a Drack, smoke would’ve furled from his nose. King Kong’s thick fingers clenched the side of his frayed pants. He spun in an about-face. Before he marched back to wherever he came from, he snarled, “Remember, you need a Rock Dweller.”
Seriously? What an asshole.
A collective sigh erased the tension in the communal space, but I still appreciated D’Rasma lifting me off the bench. My legs had turned to Jell-O. JayJay’s testosterone was a powerful substance.
“He’ll figure it out, little human, don’t worry.” D’Rasma patted my shoulder. “Let me know when my clothes are ready.” He tipped his head to me the way Boola greeted each other and said goodbye.
What had D’Rasma meant by that?
Later that evening, Makir and Geo met me in the cavern for dinner. Somebody with too much time on their hands—my guess, the young Dracks—had arranged the vines overhead into a semicircle of swings. We ate our tinga salad and mantu gyros while Geo’s dogs attempted to capture our feet as we swayed back and forth over their heads.
“At this point, I might as well patch the hoverbikes together with tack tape and toothstring.” Makir sighed.
“We’ve talked about this, Makir.” Geo brushed his thumb over Makir’s heart. “It’s too dangerous to do a retrieval mission to the wastelands. The hellsna are showing up anywhere and everywhere now.”
Makir’s long blue tail whipped back and forth. “The past couple of days, they’ve only come out at night. Plus, JayJay has said on more than one occasion that they’re nocturnal. I’ll be safe.”
“Maybe JayJay could spare part of his team to act as scouts,” I suggested, not wanting Geo to worry. Back on Earth, that was all he’d done. His asshole ex and his business partner had turnedhim into a shell of what he was now. I didn’t want the old Geo popping up ever again.
Makir caught Geo with his hope-filled gaze.
“Fine,” Geo grunted.
“Great, I’ll talk to him about it tonight.” Who would show up when the door rolled open, the predator or the protector? Maybe that would break the ice. His earlier words kept drawing my attention.
“I’ll be back at moonrise if you still want me.”
When Geo’s and Makir’s heads turned, aiming curiosity-filled gazes my way, I hugged my arms to my chest.
