Free Heroic Abduction by Eve Langlais Page B

surprise, but he didn’t let that stop him from enjoying it. The fact Betty had initiated the embrace made it especially titillating. Her lips tasted fruity, and Dyre took a moment to suck the sugary sweetness from them before reluctantly pulling away. Of all the places she could have chosen to show her appreciation, she had to choose the most dangerous.
    “Mmm,” she murmured, the husky sound the most arousing thing he’d ever heard. She popped out her tongue and licked her luscious lips. Lust rode him hard, and he almost forgot their location. It took actual physical effort to stop himself from yanking her onto his lap and continuing the embrace. A public tavern, where he’d intentionally made a spectacle of them, wasn’t the place to lose control. Especially since everyone present now suspected, despite her head covering, that Betty was a human. A highly valuable human.
    My human.
    A very drunk human who pouted delightfully when he shook his head at her crooked finger begging him to come closer. If we were anywhere else, I’d ravish her, code or not.
    “Come, my drunken Earthling, we should vacate these premises.”
    “But things were just getting fun.”
    “And are about to get dangerous.” Or so his senses warned. He didn’t need the prickle of foreboding to know they needed to depart. Danger stalked them.
    But wasn’t this what he wanted? To place her in harm’s way so he could save her?
    Save her yes, see her come to actual harm, no. This wasn’t an environment he could control, nor did it present odds he liked. If he was about to battle for her virtue, then he preferred a more open space and less of a crowd ready to stab him in the back.
    Standing, he tossed a jewel on the table as payment for their drinks. Probably not the most subtle act given the patrons who watched with avarice-filled eyes, but the most acceptable form of payment galaxy wide.
    Betty weaved when she stood, the alcohol having hit her hard, a predictable result given she’d imbibed her drink as well as his. When she staggered on the way to the door, he thought it prudent to sweep her into his arms, well aware of the hushed whispers going on around him. If he were the wagering type—another vice he had to give up when he left behind the mercenary ways—then he’d assume they planned an ambush.
    Excellent. Or not. If attacked, in her inebriated state, would Betty recognize he saved her from miscreants? Or giggle? It was what she did when he exited the bar, and he immediately had to head-butt the fool who thought to block their way. The singled-eyed, gray Uniclopson went down hard. As attacks went, it didn’t rate high. I’ll need to do more than that to impress her. But at least she noticed.
    “I see someone has a head full of rocks,” she chortled. “At least it’s good for something other than looking pretty.”
    He ignored her strange compliment as he took long strides back in the direction of his ship.
    “Do you make it a habit to carry women around?” she asked.
    “Only the drunken ones.”
    “I’m not drunk. Just slightly tipsy,” she hiccupped. “So where next, my big purple knight? We going to the … what was the name of that galaxy again?”
    “Gleshian Galaxy.”
    “Yeah, that sounds about right. We going there to look for my old bud, C.B.?”
    Honorable, or not, Dyre decided to take advantage of her loose tongue to get some answers. “I thought we were going to the Obsidian Galaxy for goods to bring back to the Zonian world.”
    “Couldn’t we make a teeny tiny detour and look for my f-f-f-riend?” she managed to sputter.
    “It’s in the opposite direction.” As was his foot, which shot sideways and knocked the knife out of the hand of the thug waiting between two narrow buildings.
    “Is that a no?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I bet I could change your mind.” She tilted her head and nibbled at the edge of his jaw, a delicious distraction, one he would have loved to enjoy if a pair of