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“You are too soft-hearted, my mate,” he said, lifting her fingers to his lips. “What of the long-term damage these slavers are doing?”
“Might I suggest we capture these trolls and turn them over to the matriarchs?” Sona said with a tip of her head.
Navi hooted. “Soft-hearted, my left butt cheek,” he said, giving the doctor an admiring look. “Your mate is even more viscous than you, Maher.”
“Why?” Lis asked, her brows drawn together in confusion.
“Because the troll matriarchs rule their clans with titanium fists,” Nox said, eyeing Sona. When she and Tan first mated, he’d thought the pairing of the hardened mercenary and gentle doctor an unbalanced match. Obviously, he was wrong. “For the most part, these gangs are juvenile males who run wild for a few years, causing problems and being general pains in the ass. Eventually, most return to their clans and settle down to become productive members of their society.”
“But something changed,” Tan said. He wrapped an arm around Sona and pulled her close, her chair scraping over the flooring. “Many of the small, disparate gangs have united, become more organized. Their troublemaking evolved into planned attacks with clear objectives.”
“To what end?” Lis asked, unconsciously shifting towards Nox as she watched the way Sona and Tan interacted with interest.
She may not have noticed that she was leaning in his direction, but he certainly did. He shifted in his seat, silently telling his nether bits to settle down.
“Of that, we’re not sure,” Tan said with a dissatisfied grunt. “What we do know is that they’ve leveled up, which is bad for everyone. Which is why I wanted to track them.”
Sona poked him in the side. “But?”
A muscled jumped in his jaw. “But your idea has merit.”
Lis huffed out a near-silent laugh as she watched Sona, an admiring glint in her eye.
Catching Nox’s attention, Navi tipped his head from Lis to Sona and mouthed, “Better watch out.”
But Nox wasn’t worried. He appreciated their teamwork and how they listened to one another. Under the table, he squeezed Lis’s hand.
She gave him a lopsided smile.
Unaware of the interest her semi-tender encouragement garnered, Sona poked her mate again. “Of course it does, foolish man. And it’ll give us a chance to test out that new formula Saadat developed with the Haruet. According to my sister, a dart loaded with the stuff should drop them where they stand.”
“Without killing them?” Lis asked.
Sona nodded. “Or so my sister says.”
“As long as they go down and stay down, we’re in,” Nox said.
“Fine,” Tan said, giving into the inevitable. “We will do as you say, Sona love.”
“I never had any doubt,” Sona said, settling deeper into Tan’s embrace, satisfied.
Tan kissed the top of her head. “Everyone, gear up. I’ll alert my team, and we’ll meet behind the clinic in five.”
Shifting in his chair, Nox lifted a finger. “Make that ten. I need to speak with Lis before we go.”
14
LIS
The room cleared, everyone scattering to do last-minute prep. Nox grabbed Lis’s wrist and hauled her into a room, shutting the door behind them.
A light flickered on overhead, revealing a tiny closet filled with paper products and unopened boxes, colorful alien writing on the sides. With the door closed, the space was almost too tight for both of them, leaving her squished up against him in order to fit. Perhaps, if he was smaller, his shoulders less broad, his muscular frame less muscly, they wouldn’t need to be so close. But she wasn’t complaining.
Her arms wrapped around his waist, she rested her cheek on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. She took a moment to breathe in his intoxicating scent. The outline of his stiff cock pressed against her hip. Heat pooled in her belly. He wrapped a hand around her nape, his strong fingers massaging the muscles.
Within his arms, she felt safe and, dare she say it, loved. She saw the way Sona and Tan interacted with one another, exchanging small touches of reassurance and looks that held entire conversations in a split second. Feriq told her they were newly mated, but they acted like they’d been together for ages, time filled with love and support, long enough to get to know one another on a soul-deep level. If that’s the way a mating bond worked, no wonder Nox was so keen.
If she accepted Nox and all he offered, could they build something like Sona and Tan? Granted, every relationship was its own beast, but the possibility of having even just a pinch of that synchronicity with another being was enough to encourage the bond’s golden ribbon to glow brighter.
