Chapter 18 - Dargo
My mate was still furious. I could feel her glare burning a hole in my hide from across the tent.
I took a drink of salvaged alcohol and nearly gagged.
The burn of the spirits was overshadowed by the foul mix of flavors.
When the others had stripped the downed cruiser for supplies, some irrum had poured all the alcohol he'd found into the same barrel.
The resulting combination tasted like fuel and rancid fruit. But from the look Taz was giving me, I'd need to numb the pain she was preparing to dish out. I smiled back at her, unwilling to let her see how nervous I was now that she'd reappeared.
In the hour she'd been gone, I'd already dealt with two challenges. The males were young and both too drunk to do much damage, but I knew they wouldn't be the last now that the camp had gotten a good look at my mate.
Taz was beautiful, especially with her dark eyes burning with repressed rage. If I survived her fury, any challenger that came my way would be nothing.
She started my way, clearing a path through the rowdy males without hesitation. I stood my ground, preparing to argue my case. I knew I was on shaky ground with our deal, but I couldn’t think of a tidy way to fix it. She came to stop inches away and looked up at me.
“You’re really going to hold me to this deal?” she demanded.
I resisted the urge to take a step away from her.
“I reunited you with your friend. I held up my end.” In the barest sense, but I didn’t have another way to convince her to stay and I needed this female in a way I couldn’t put into words. We were in the middle of a crowded tent, drunken brawling males all around us and all I could see was Taz.
Her fiery hair, the stubborn set of her jaw, the lovely curve of her shoulder and the lips I’d only recently tasted but already craved like a drug.
There would never be another female I wanted when I could have my little Firebrand.
If I had to cling to this deal, I would.
No matter how much of a fool it made me look.
She grabbed my cup and took a deep drink, grimacing as the taste hit her.
“I’m all yours, then. I hope you know what you’ve gotten into.”
I gaped at her, scrambling to process her unexpected agreement. She smirked and took another drink.
I grabbed her hips, pulling her closer until she was locked against me and knocked the cup aside.
The foul brew sloshed over my arm but I didn’t care as I leaned down and took her mouth.
The kiss was short, and her teeth grazed my lip like a threat but I didn’t expect anything less from this female.
Pulling back before she took my tongue off, I grinned down at her. My blood heated as I realized that I’d won a mate who’d fight me for the rest of our lives.
“Don’t look so thrilled,” she said, lips parting as I stroked my hands up her back. “I won’t make this easy for you.”
Ducking down, I let my lips graze her ear and pulled in her scent. My cock hardened between us, and I couldn’t help but grind against her subtly as my brain swirled with all the things I planned to do with her once we were alone.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, little Firebrand.”
Everything worth having was hard to win, there was no better example of that rule than my mate.