Tor wiped at his eyes with the cool, damp cloth again. "It burns like the fire moon! My throat and nose are on fire too. What did Vox do this time to upset her?"
"He said she smelled," Lodar responded with a grin. "She did not appreciate his observation."
Both men watched as Vox followed Riley around trying to get her to sit down and listen to him. It was almost comical the way he pleaded with her to just hear him out. Lodar chuckled when she swatted at their friend and leader. He had never seen anything like it before. The human female was totally oblivious to the fact she was running circles around one of the most dangerous men in the known star systems. There wasn't a female alive that he knew of who wouldn't envy her position.
"Do you think he'll be able to catch her when this is all over?" Lodar asked curiously.
"More power to him if he does," Tor said hoarsely before taking another long swig of water. "She is almost as dangerous as the Curizan and Valdier were during the wars. More so if you take into account she has no idea half the time of what she is doing."
"Do you think all females of her species are like this?" Lodar asked, admiring the way her tight pants stretched over her ass as she bent down to pack something in her strange pink case.
Tor's eyes followed Lodar's over the curve of Riley's rounded ass. He felt his cat purr. Maybe he wasn't as immune as he'd first thought. His red eyes moved to Vox who had frozen in place as he followed her, his eyes glued to the same place as the other males in the room. When Riley straightened, she reached up and tucked her mass of curly hair back up into the bright pink scrunchie. The movement pulled the thin top she was wearing up, revealing the pale skin of her slightly rounded stomach and pulling the top tight across her ample breasts.
Riley froze as she was putting her hair back up into its messy ponytail when the whole room erupted into echoes of low rumbling purrs. She turned startled baby blue eyes on the three huge cat-shifting males who had their eyes glued to her. Three pairs of eyes-one a golden brown, one a very reddened greenish color, and the other a dark, tawny color-all stared at her breasts as they thrust upward while she wound the scrunchie around the mass of curls she was holding.
She rolled her eyes. "You have got to be kidding me!" she muttered. "I swear to God all guys who aren't gay have a one-track mind!"
She quickly finished putting her hair up, trying not to turn as pink as the scrunchie as she watched their eyes follow her breasts as they bounced up and down. She didn't care how much support the manufacture promised; when you were as big as she was there was still going to be some bounce. She lowered her eyes, refusing to give into the desire to cross her arms protectively in front of her. The only thing that did was push up the watermelons she carried around. Instead, she clapped her hands loudly.
"Hello?" she snapped, shooting an evil eye at Lodar and Tor. "It's rude to stare!"
Lodar cleared his throat as Vox turned to glare at his two friends. "Yes, well … I … We … They are beautiful," he finally choked out with a sheepish grin. "And very difficult to miss."
"I wonder if they contain milk?" Tor asked, unaware he asked the question out loud. "I would love to drink from them if they did," he sighed.
Riley's mouth dropped open as what Tor said sank in. "Oh. My. God. You did not just say that," she sputtered before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. "Do they … Oh my god, that is priceless." She continued to giggle, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes with the end of her shirt, totally unaware the movement pulled the cloth up, exposing her creamy flesh again.
Vox's loud roar ricocheted throughout the small room as he tackled Tor. The force of his shoulder hitting his chief engineer's chest knocked both of them backward through the air several feet before they hit the hard floor and slid almost to the far wall. Vox's sharp teeth gripped Tor's throat in a stranglehold while his claws dug into Tor's shoulders, pinning him to the floor.
"Bad kitty!" Riley shrieked out from behind him. "Let him go! You are a very, very bad kitty. You let go of him, or I'll neuter your ass. Vox, release him this instant. If you don't, I swear I'll go to the guards and tell them I need to borrow their stun gun thingy. I mean it. I'm out the door in three, two, one … "
Vox released Tor with a jerk and swung around to face Riley so fast she stumbled backward. Her heel caught on the uneven flooring, and she lost her balance, falling to the floor heavily with a sharp cry. She rolled over into a ball as excruciating pain exploded through her wrist as she tried to break her fall. She landed on it hard. Riley bit her lip as she pulled her left arm up against her, cradling it to her chest as she sobbed in pain.
"Riley?" Vox said hesitantly as he moved to kneel next to her curled-up figure. "Riley, I would never hurt you," he said gently as he tried to get her to look at him.
Another soft, pain-filled sob escaped Riley. "My wrist," she whispered. "It hurts so bad."
Vox turned his head, looking over his shoulder. "Lodar," he demanded hoarsely as worry engulfed him.
Lodar nodded as he stood up from where he was checking the puncture wounds on Tor's neck and shoulders. They would heal. They'd gotten worse when they were training or just wrestling with each other. If Vox had been serious about killing Tor, he would have ripped his throat out. The marks were just a warning to Tor to be careful expressing his thoughts out loud. It was obvious from the smell of Riley's fear when she saw what had happened that she didn't realize that. Now, the smell of her pain was overwhelming to the three warriors. It was a dark, musky scent that brought out a protectiveness and need to care in all of them.
"Riley, let me look at your wrist," Lodar said gently as he knelt down next to her.
Riley bit her lip and shook her head even as she looked at him with her big blue eyes swimming in tears of pain. "I don't want you to touch it. You might make it hurt worse," she whispered as her bottom lip trembled and a lone tear course down her pale cheek breaking his heart.
"Guall's balls, Lodar, help her," Vox demanded fiercely, unable to handle the thought of his beautiful, stubborn mate being in pain.
Lodar's lips tightened as he heard the desperate growl in his leader's voice. "Riley, I need to see how bad it is," Lodar insisted as he reached down and gently rolled her over onto her back.
Fred hurried over with the pillow from the bed and carefully lifted Riley's head so he could slide it under her. The little two-headed Tiliqua sat down next to her on the floor and tenderly brushed her hair back from her forehead, ignoring Vox's low growl of warning. His right head turned and he glared defiantly at Vox.
"You hurt our mate," Fred growled back. "You scared her!"
Vox flushed a dark red but he lowered his eyes to Riley's pale, tear-stained face. "I didn't mean to frighten you, Riley," Vox murmured softly as he reached out one of his big fingers to tenderly wipe the tears that ran down from the corner of her eye.
Riley's lips trembled as Lodar carefully lifted her arm. "You were hurting Tor," she whispered as fresh tears filled her eyes as she stared up at him.
"He wasn't really hurting me," Tor said, leaning over Vox's shoulder, oblivious to the blood covering his neck and shoulders. "We do this all the time, Riley. He didn't mean anything by it. The Sarafin often use their claws and teeth. If he was really going to hurt me, he would have ripped out my throat."
Riley's hiccuping wail filled the small room at Tor's words. "You are not making her feel better," Bob said, pulling Tor away as he moved closer to Riley. "Go clean the blood off you."
"I think it is broken," Lodar said in concern as he carefully examined the discoloration and growing swelling. "She needs immediate medical attention I cannot give her here. We will need to summon a guard."
"I will go with her," Fred said as he carefully brushed her hair to the side.
"No," Vox snapped out, glaring at the small Tiliqua. "I will go with her."
"You … You can't," Riley hiccuped. "They will see that your collar isn't working. That goes for all of you," she whispered. "I'll have to go alone."
"No," each of the five men said stubbornly.
"I will go," Bob said softly. "They do not look under my skin to see if I have my collar on. I am also the least likely to be considered a threat next to Fred."
Vox's mouth straightened into a tight line of frustration. Riley was right. They would need to reactivate his collar, and that was still no guarantee they would let him go with her. He had noticed the extra security surrounding them. Bob was the least threatening next to Fred. He stood up, growling out in frustration and anger. Closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath, he turned to see Riley struggling to sit up.