Bonus Scene #3
“Ah, well, yes, okay. I didn’t need to know that.” John scrambles to his feet, not waiting for me to check him over. Eric joins us, another glass of water in his hand. “Thank you, Link, for coming so quickly.”
“No problem, boss. I was already having dinner.” I stand up and hold out my hand to Lila.
She takes it, and I almost shiver at how her hand feels in mine, all soft and small and warm.
I help her to her feet, and she smiles at me.
I feel another rush of attraction as goose bumps erupt across my skin.
It takes all I have not to shudder at the sensation.
She’s looking at me with wonder, and I want to puff my chest out and preen, but I just barely hold my shit together.
“It was nice to meet you, Lila. I hope to see you around. Maybe next time it won’t be as a patient,” I say smoothly as she continues to stare at me with wide, green eyes full of wonder.
“Actually, she needs to have the galactic translator implanted. Can we get you to do that for her tomorrow?” William asks.
Lila frowns and shakes her head as if she’s trying to gather herself before lifting a questioning eyebrow at William. I guess this is the first time she’s hearing about the implant.
“Lila, not everyone in the circus speaks English. Yes, it’s the Skarrian language so most of our performers somewhat speak it, but there are many languages spoken throughout the galaxy, and you need to know them.
It’s only a little chip that gets placed behind your ear.
Everyone has them, and all it does is translate, no other surprises, I promise. ”
“Okay, fine,” she grumbles, and I can tell she’s starting to fade. I can’t feel emotions like Xavier, but anyone could see she’s exhausted.
“Of course, come and see me whenever,” I agree, definitely wanting to see more of the pretty Earth girl in any capacity that I can.
I drop her hand and make my way back to our table, unable to smother the smug smirk on my lips.
Xavier and Saxon have their heads together as they talk quietly, but Magenta laughs as I approach.
“You look pretty damn happy with yourself. So what’s she like?” she asks enthusiastically.
“Pretty fucking perfect,” I reply dreamily, and she giggles.
“Someone has a crush. I don’t blame you, she’s hot. I wonder if she bats for both teams,” she says thoughtfully, and I chuckle. We both look over. She’s watching us, so I give her a quick wink, and she fans herself before leaning in to talk to John.
“Oh yeah, she’s totally into you.” Magenta nudges me. “Get it, boy.”
I hear Dylan scoff and stand up. “Please. Once she gets a look at me, she isn’t going to want to see anyone else.” He spreads his wings out wide before bringing them closer to his body. “Come on, Cas, let’s go introduce ourselves. The brothers promised we would be first.”
Caspian grumbles and gets to his feet reluctantly before following Dylan, who stalks up to the head table with Lila firmly in his sights.
Magenta groans. “Well, shit, hopefully she’s smart enough not to fall for any of his tricks.”
“You think?” I ask hopefully, and she groans.
“Probably not. He’s gotten it down to an art form, but if not, I’ll set her on the right track, because let’s face it, there are much better options than that whore of a dragon if she wants to walk on the wild side.”
Some of my excitement fades. If she really does want to walk on the wild side like Magenta says, then I’m likely out of luck.
I’m actually surprised about how disappointed I feel.
I thought we had an instant connection, and it was nice to be looked at like that without anyone knowing about my family and what I can do for them.
She gazed at me with interest without knowing anything about me, and that’s kind of sexy.
Well, maybe I can still be her friend. She’s going to need help navigating all this, and maybe I can be the person she turns to.
My heart drops even further as Caspian returns to the table, muttering about cock teasing humans, but Dylan remains behind to sit with Lila.
Magenta and I exchange a loaded glance. That is not good.
Dylan is going to worm his way into the inner circle, somewhere he’s been trying to get a foot hold in for ages now, but the brothers don’t trust easily, and Fiona and Phillip are too speciest to even look at him twice.
If Dylan get his claws in, then who knows how everything is going to work out, but between the two of us, we can try to lessen his influence, because Dylan is only ever out for himself, and Lila does not need to start this journey on the wrong foot.
If the Adams brothers truly want her to take over the circus, any wrong step influenced by Dylan could have long-standing repercussions.
Yes, we need to keep a close eye on that developing relationship and do whatever we can to ensure Lila doesn’t make a galactic wide mistake by trusting the wrong person.
If I get to spend a little bit more time with her in the process, then that’s a win in my book.