Chapter 8 #2
“Do you feel dizzy when you stop running?” he asks, and I instantly feel a little silly.
“Touché,” I mutter, and his grin grows.
My gaze goes to the other man, and this one seems familiar.
It’s the man with the deep magenta eyes I remember from my first evening.
His head is tilted to the side, and he’s studying me like a predator studies its prey.
I’m not sure if the shiver that runs through my body is from fear or those damn pregnancy fuck me vibes.
I hadn’t gotten a good look at him when he’d caught me that day, it was just his eyes, but I take a moment to study him.
He’s wearing a pair of athletic shorts and nothing else, and it gives me every opportunity to look my fill.
I hadn’t realized how damn tall he is, he’s got to be six-eight maybe, with broad shoulders and a muscular upper body.
I move my gaze downward, and I notice he’s got muscular everything—abs, thighs, calves, and I bet if he turned around, his ass would be tight enough to bounce a quarter off of.
This guy’s most definitely a warrior. Like many of our armed forces men back on Earth, he is ripped to say the least. Where Xavier is lean like a dancer, and both Caspian and Link have swimmers’ builds, this guy is beefy.
He looks like he could bench press me, and I’m so here for that, but on the other hand, he might just be about to make mincemeat out of me, and I may have peed my pants just a little.
What skin I can see is pale, and his lips are almost the same color as his eyes. His hair is pitch black and is close cropped. He studies me with the same intensity that I’m looking at him, but I’m not sure I’ve impressed him like he impressed me. He sneers slightly, and I see a flash of fang.
“Well, as fun as the tension in this room is, I need to jet. Time for me to get something to eat.” Blondie flashes some fang at me, and I can’t help but gasp and step back.
Inwardly, I groan. Fuck, way to go, Lila, insult the vampire.
“Unless you’d like to offer up a vein, beautiful?
” I think I take too long to think about it, because Blondie’s face goes from amused to something different, something almost primal, and he takes a step toward me.
“Hale!” William scolds, and the vampire shrugs.
“Don’t blame me, it’s not often we get newbies. It’s fun fucking with them, but I am sorry if I scared her.”
He and Saxon do a bro hug type of thing before he walks over to the door, which slides open, and then he disappears in a flash. My eyes are still trained in his direction, even though the door closed once he left the room.
“Saxon. Thank you so much for doing this for us. I appreciate you giving up your downtime for it. You remember Lila, our granddaughter?” William introduces us, and I turn my attention back to the serious man in front of us and hold out my hand.
“Nice to meet you. I really appreciate you catching me that first night. That would have really hurt if I’d hit the ground.”
“Yes, it would have.” His voice is quiet, but there’s a husky quality to it. Damn it, the man’s sexy enough as it is, he doesn’t need to sound sexy too. Why couldn’t he have sounded like Elmer Fudd or something?
That’s all he says, and he doesn’t take my hand, so I quickly drop it. Fuck! Did I just mess up? Is offering your hand insulting to a vampire? Why can’t Link download all this information into my brain? Hmm, I wonder if he can. I’ll have to ask him tonight.
William kept talking while my mind was wandering, but now he slaps Saxon on the shoulder and Saxon smiles at him before he waves goodbye to me.
William leaves me alone with the bloodsucking vampire, who doesn’t seem to be terribly impressed with me at all.
He is also now staring at me again with his intimidating gaze.
Shit! No wonder they are considered one of the fiercest warriors in the galaxy.
They only have to stare their enemies down and they’ll roll over and show them their bellies like little submissives. Or is that just me?
I try another smile. Hopefully it doesn’t look like I’m constipated.
“So, William said you were going to give me some self-defense lessons. I’ve done a few before, but it’s been a while since I worked out.
” About two weeks, but I’m not going to admit that.
I’m also not going to tell him I’m a black belt in a few disciplines, because I bet that means diddly squat to him.
Magenta made it seem like these guys were the elite of the elite, and if he has heightened speed, strength, and senses, my black belts aren’t going to be worth a damn.
“Well, I can try, but to be honest, if you have no powers and you’re as weak as a human, no amount of self-defense is going to stand up to most galaxy beings,” he states, still standing there as still as a statue, showing no emotion or anything.
No, Saxon, please don’t sugar coat it for me.
I barely manage to prevent myself from flipping him off, because holy crap, what a fucking grump he is. I cross my arms, feeling more than a little self-conscious and defensive.
Why is everyone making such a big deal about my lack of powers? And I can’t believe William even told this guy. How is something a secret if you share it with every goddamn person on the ship? God, I hope Xavier has some answers for me after he speaks to his parents.
“Yes, well, there’s not much I can really do about it now, is there?
Look, if you don’t want to, we can just give this a pass and I’ll tell the grandpas it went well.
” His eyes widen in surprise, but I have a bachelor’s degree in difficult men manipulation from working in a bar, so I’m confident I’ve got this.
“I mean, if you don’t have the skills to teach a beginner, that’s not your fault, is it?
They should have found someone more qualified. ”
His pale cheeks pinken, but I don’t think he’s embarrassed.
From the look on his face, I know my intended arrow hit its mark.
He starts to bluster, but I don’t give him a chance to finish because I haven’t quite gotten him to where I want him.
“Maybe I can carry a weapon for protection. Or maybe, if the grandpas are so concerned, they can hire me a bodyguard. Oh yes, I can just picture it in my mind. Some muscle-bound hunk who would have no problems putting their body between mine and any danger.” I look him up and down.
“Maybe even another Vilaxian.” I put my finger against my cheek and pretend to think.
“Hmm, I guess I would have to be willing to share my blood with them since they will be coming aboard without their clan.”
I guess that’s the last straw, because he explodes. “Of course I can teach you. I can turn even the most pathetic human into a warrior, but you need to be willing to work hard.”
Ouch!
I cross my arms. “Excuse me, but where did you get the idea that I wouldn’t work hard?
I’ve done nothing but bust my ass since I got to this ship.
” He raises one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at my rant, but apart from that, his face doesn’t move or show any expression.
“I bet it was the fucking dragon again. Well, let me tell you something.” I step forward until we are chest to chest, my finger poking at the rocks beneath his tank top.
“I may have made a bad decision by trusting that asshole, because it turns out he certainly wasn’t my friend, but I would have thought intelligent beings would know better than to listen to idle gossip and rumors. ”
Before I can take another breath and continue to berate the vampire, I’m on my back on the floor faster than I can even comprehend and he’s standing over me.
A wave of nausea rolls through me, and I clap a hand over my mouth.
His eyes widen in surprise, which is then followed by alarm, and within seconds, I’m kneeling in front of a toilet just in time to lose my earlier drink.
I expel the contents of my stomach, while Saxon helpfully holds my hair back, before groaning and sitting back against the nearby wall as the toilet automatically flushes.
“Point proven, but don’t ever do that to me again.”