Bryce laughs, then slaps a hand over her mouth to hide her grin. “Sorry. This is very entertaining. Then what happened?”
“Then they told me to clean the fish because that’s women’s work, yelled at me and called me useless because I didn’t know how to do it, and muttered something about how if they didn’t need to be dragons, they wouldn’t bother with me. Belfox disappeared for more than an hour. Oh, and the absolute cherry on top of this shit-sundae of a first date? After all that, they tried to kiss me.”
“Ouch.”
I strip off my top, shuddering with the memory of Herrix’s lips on my skin. Bryce inhales sharply. “What happened to your arm?” she demands.
I look down. Herrix’s grip has left bruises. “Oh, just Herrix grabbing me and telling me that because he is Highborn, and so is Belfox, I should be thrilled that they’re interested in me. Don’t worry about it. It looks worse than it is.”
“If you say so.” Her brow wrinkles. “Olivia, you will tell us if something’s wrong, right? You don’t have to go out with them if you don’t want to.”
Actually, I do. I have no choice other than to alternate dates between the two pairs of Draekons, at least until we figure out how to survive on this crazy planet on our own.
I change into a different top and remove my hair from the ponytail I pulled it into before my date. “What did you do today?” I ask Bryce. “Were you cooped up here again?”
She shakes her head. “No, I was at the building site.” Seeing my puzzled look, she elaborates. “You headed to the southern lake today, didn’t you? You wouldn’t have seen it. The guys are building a large treehouse.”
“Huh?”
She nods enthusiastically. “Yeah, almost everyone was there today. Well, except Dariux, who set out to look for the other women. It’s going to be large enough to hold almost thirty people, I think. They’re nestling it between four trees.”
Hang on. “They’re doing it together?” I ask skeptically. “Liorax told me that the Draekons don’t cooperate with each other.”
“Well, not everyone was super gung-ho about it,” she confirms. “Felicity’s guys grumbled quite a bit, and the two guys that brought us breakfast didn’t seem too happy to be there either.”
“Bolox and Narix?”
“I think so.” She wrinkles her nose. “I’m having a hard time keeping track of all their names.”
“I call them Balls and Nuts,” I tell her with a grin. “And Belfox and Herrix are the Fox and the Hare.”
She laughs out loud. “That’s a handy tip,” she agrees. “What do you call Liorax? The lion? And Zunix?”
“I haven’t had any trouble remembering their names.” I shrug uncomfortably. “Maybe it’s because they were the first Draekons we met.”
Her lips curl into a sly smile. “Or maybe because you like them,” she says in a sing-song tone.
Maybe. But it doesn’t change anything. Herrix might be a creep, but Zunix and Liorax have no problem manipulating me either. “What’s the large treehouse for?” I ask, changing the topic.
“It’s great.” Her eyes light up. “There’s going to be bedrooms for all of us, and a large dining room where the entire camp can eat together, if they’d like.”
Where’s this newfound desire to spend time together coming from? “I didn’t think they like each other very much.”
“I don’t think they do either,” Bryce agrees. “It’s because of us. There’s only five of us, and I think they want us to feel welcome here. It was Liorax’s idea.” She gives me a sidelong look. “He’s a really good guy, Olivia.”
Bryce would think so. After all, he’s been nothing other than charming to her. It’s only me he doesn’t like.
“I’m going to go look at it.”
“It’s only another hour until dusk,” she cautions. “Be careful of the creepy crabs.”
I walk to the building site, which is not too far from Zunix’s house. To my consternation, the last two men I want to run into are there. Liorax and Zunix are hammering a piece of wood to the floor, but both men stop what they’re doing when they see me and climb to the ground. “Did he leave marks?” Zunix demands, staring at my long-sleeved shirt. “Is that why your arms are covered?”
“You were following me?” I lift my chin in the air, ready to have it out with them. “Why? Wanted to make sure you’d win your stupid little contest?”
Liorax cuts in. “I don’t care about the contest,” he growls. “I don’t like Belfox, but he will respect your boundaries. Herrix, on the other hand, grew up in Pleno, and he has a reputation. I asked Zunix to make sure you were unharmed.”
“I would have done it anyway.” Zunix’s lips thin. “No offense, Liorax, but your kinsman is scum.” He looks at me seriously. “I saw that Belfox left you alone with Herrix,” he says. “I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Warmth fills my chest at their protectiveness. I’m not going to lie; Herrix creeped me out. I’m pretty sure I can take him, but I’d rather not put it to the test. “Thank you,” I mutter. “And thank you for this.” I gesture to the structure in front of us. “It’s very kind of you. I thought you guys never did anything without expectation of a reward.”
Zunix looks up. “Is that what you think?” His hazel eyes are troubled as he stares at me.
I try to remember that I’m angry with them. Furious that they didn’t tell me about the synthesizer and Dariux’s skimmer. I try to recapture the rage I felt last night when the other women made me feel like a fool.
But I can’t do it. Because the truth is, Liorax and Zunix have shown me nothing but kindness in the last two days. They rescued us from the spaceship. They bartered with Dariux so that my broken leg could be healed. They gave me choices for breakfast, taking the time to find out what I liked. They got me clothes. They’re building us a house.
Yes, they don’t trust me, but in the clear, cool light of day, I find that I can’t hold it against them. It isn’t as if I’ve trusted them either.
“No,” I whisper, taking a half-step toward them. “I don’t think that.” I’m really close to Zunix, so close that if I tilt my head up, my lips would be an inch from his. Desire curls in my belly. His body is sculpted perfection, and my fingers itch to brush across the barbells that pierce his nipples, to trace the tattoos that cover his chest and arms. This is insane, I think wildly. You don’t even like Zunix.
Yet I take another step forward. I can see the green-gold flecks in his eyes, the same color as his scales when he became a dragon. Strangely, even the thought that he can turn into a fearsome beast doesn’t terrify me. “Thank you for my clothes.”
“Do you like them?” He brushes a strand of my hair aside, and though my boobs are practically pushed into his chest, he doesn’t look at them. His eyes never leave mine.
I’m very aware of Liorax standing next to us. Yesterday, when he’d wrapped the strap around my wrist so my skin wouldn’t get chafed by the bow, he’d lingered just a little too long, and when he pulled away, a flash of disappointment had run through me. After Herrix’s explanation today, I understand why he avoids me.
Last night, the other women had spent a long time speculating, with many giggles, about what it would be like to be with two Draekons at once. What if they’re too large and they don’t fit? What if they turn into dragons while you’re doing it? The questions had started out serious, but the conversation had quickly turned silly. Paige had seen her Draekons’ cocks while the three of them were swimming naked in the lake. “Huge,” she’d said frankly.
I guess I should also be worried about those things, and they’re there, in the background of my mind, but my thoughts are drowned out by the beating of my heart in my chest.
I wish, more than anything in the world, that we’d met under different circumstances. That the two of them were just normal guys, and we’d met in a bar back on Earth. No mission from the CIA. No missing women. No Draekon mating bond.
Just the attraction that flares like an out-of-control flame between us.
“Olivia.” There’s a growl in Zunix’s voice. “Your body is sending me a message, sweet one.”
Is that a warning for me to back away? “What is it saying?” I ask Zunix. I stand on tiptoe and brush my lips against his. “Is it saying I want to do this?” I whisper.
“Yes.” He sounds strained as he holds himself still.
I don’t know what comes over me. “Well, maybe I do.” I wrap my arm around his neck and tug him closer. “Or are you too afraid of Dariux’s rules?”
His eyes flare with irritation, followed almost immediately by amusement. “More games, Olivia?” He traces my lower lip with his thumb, and a shiver runs through my body at his touch. He’s onto me. I tried to push him to kiss me, so I don’t have to make the choice on my own, and he’s read me perfectly, and he’s making it clear he’s not going to play.