“Too busy to help?” Was that half smile a good sign?
“Something like that.”
The replicator dinged behind her, and she jumped.
“Oh! I’ve made—programmed—dinner for you. I hope you’re hungry.” She wiped her hands on her rear before she turned and reached for the large, transparent door.
Their steaming dinner sat on a large tray inside the device. Opening the door, she reached in and pulled it out.
“I hope you like hot roast beef sandwiches. Xeno seemed to like them on our trip to Magic. I hoped you might like them as well.”
Steam rose up and tickled her nose. It smelled delicious and looked good enough to eat.
“I love hot roast beef. It’s one of my favorites.” He smiled, hurried to the replicator and grasped the other side of the tray. “Let me take this. It looks heavy.”
“It is heavy.” Her cheeks burned at his intense stare. “I hadn’t expected it to weigh quite so much.” It wasn’t too heavy for her to carry, but it had weighed more than she’d expected, so she let him take it. He needed to convince himself that he was capable of taking care of her.
She got it now. It wasn’t just the words he’d said that bothered him. It was the fact that he needed to care for her, to show her he would make a good mate. Maybe it had been something her sister or one of the other women said that made her realize how important this was to him.
“Thank you.” Turning, she grabbed the pitcher of flavored water she’d replicated moments before he’d returned and followed him to the table.
“You’re welcome.” Deno held her chair while she sat before lightly resting his hands on her shoulders. “Give me a minute, please. I’d like to go wash up.”
“Sure.”
Less than five minutes later, he returned, having obviously taken a quick sonic shower and donned clean clothes.
The jeans he wore hugged his narrow hips, and his snug t-shirt showed every rippling muscle on his torso to perfection.
Tabby couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t taken the time to put on socks or shoes, and she admired his narrow feet and long, perfect toes. He’d apparently dropped the glamor, and instead of tanned, human-looking skin, his feet, arms, and face were covered in a light blue sheen with darker blue stripes.
“I like your natural look. It suits you.”
“Thank you.” He smiled at her, his white teeth contrasting with his blue skin. “I’d hoped you wouldn’t mind. I don’t mind wearing the glamor, but sometimes, I feel more comfortable like this.”
“I’d imagine you would.”
“Don’t get me wrong, the glamor doesn’t feel funny or cover up my skin in a way to make it uncomfortable. I just feel more relaxed when I know I don’t have to constantly concentrate on keeping the spell in place.”
“I get it. I kind of feel the same way while I’m in human form. I’ve spent more of my life as a cat, than I have as a human. Being human can be a bit unnerving. That might be why I say or do things that might make someone think I mean something else.”
“You’re talking about this morning.” Deno shook out his napkin and placed it on his lap. “That wasn’t you. That was all me. I can’t seem to stop kicking myself for the way I treated you that first day. I just need to come to terms with the fact that it happened, and I have to get by it.”
“Well, you weren’t alone. You might have said some bad things, but I provoked some of it, and I should take some of the responsibility for it.”
“You mean that, don’t you?” He looked up, his gaze searching hers before he shook his head. “It’s kind of you to say, but I need to come to terms with the fact that I have sullied my family name, and I intend to correct that, starting now.”
He set a steaming plate in front of her before serving himself. Grasping the pitcher, he filled their glasses with a smile.
“As much as I’d like to take everything back, we can’t. What I can do is do my best to make this one of the best meals and be the best companion you’ve ever had.”
Deno spent the rest of the evening telling her stories of his travels, describing his homeworld, which sounded like a docudrama of a post-apocalyptic Earth, and doing his best to make her laugh.
Tabby was glad she’d decided to follow her instincts and make him dinner. Food might not always be the way to a man’s heart, but it sure smoothed the road.
After dinner, they picked another of Clyde’s movies and sat together, watching it and talking.
“Do you think Clyde will ever decide he looks too young to continue acting like an eighty-five year-old?”
“I hope so.” Deno chuckled. “Otherwise, he’s going to have some trouble with interacting with people. Especially people outside of Magic.” He cleared his throat. “The people of Magic are quite used to the strange goings on around town. The rest of the world...” He shook his head. “Not so much.”
“So it’s stay in Magic, or...”
“Go with my dad on some weird, old-man swashbuckling space adventure.”
“I like the sound of that.” Tabby laughed. “It sounds like a B movie I’d love to watch.”
“Speaking of movies.” Deno waved toward the screen. “He might test us on these. We should pay attention.” Leaning down, he pressed his warm lips against the center of her forehead and then turned his attention back to the screen.
Several hours passed as they sat on the loveseat in Deno’s cabin, doing nothing more than enjoying each other’s company. They laughed together, Deno dried her tears when the movies made her cry, and they held each other, just as they would have if they had been on a date.
Could she consider this a date? Was the night before their first, or was it just hopeful thinking on her part?
“Hey,” Deno said, his hand gently turning her to face him. “Are you okay?”
She hadn’t realized that the movie had ended. Even the credits had stopped rolling, and she hadn’t noticed the room had gone silent.”
“I’m fine.” She smiled up at him. “I had a great time.”
“Me, too.” Pulling her close, he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. “I haven’t had such a good night for a long time.”
Warmth stole through her as his arms encircled her waist and drew her tight against his body. Large hands splayed over her back. Stong fingers massaged her neck and shoulders as his mouth covered hers.
Gently, he bit at her lips, and she opened for him. His tongue swept in, mapping her teeth and tangling with hers. She sucked gently, and he groaned, his breathing growing deep and ragged as she struggled for a breath of her own.
This was what she wanted, what she’d hoped for when she had studied the manual for the replicator. She’d wanted him to stay here with her and make this a night she would remember.
Deno was the first man she’d wanted in a long, long time, and she hoped he wanted her just as much.
Gathering her courage, Tabby wrapped her arms around Deno’s waist. Fingers digging into the material of his shirt, she yanked the hem from the waistband of his jeans and rested her palms flat against the warmth of his back.
His blue, alien back.
Her inner self tried to shock her, but it was too late for that. Their kiss had already taken her past the point of no return. Different or not. Alien or not. Deno had stoked a fire within her. It was a huge inferno that wouldn’t be tamed by words or kisses alone.
Tabby needed him in a visceral way that she couldn’t explain. She didn’t want to explain it, and she’d be damned if she would deny any part of it.
As much as she’d wanted to be independent, Tabby wanted Deno more. If he’d have her, she would be his in every sense of the word, and she didn’t plan to wait. If only she could manage to get him to cooperate before she changed her mind.
Chapter Sixteen
Deno reveled in the sensations holding Tabitha brought forth. The warmth of her body against his, her satiny skin, the feel of her velvety tongue brushing against his a
s they kissed.
Her soft mouth and little teeth nibbled at his neck, and his body went up in flames. Heat blasted through him. His blood flowed through his veins like molten lava.
His body clenched when she breathed in his ear, and he wanted nothing more than to carry her to his bed, cover her body with his, and make love to her, but he couldn’t. Not yet. It was too soon. Tabby wasn’t like other women. She was his, a goddess, the woman with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life.
Damn it, he would do this right even if it killed him.
Grasping her upper arms, he slowly pulled away, hoping she would understand that he didn’t want to pull away from her. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms for the rest of his life.
“We can’t... we shouldn’t do this. Not here.” Not yet.
Perhaps he should have voiced his last two words out loud, as well.
“What?” She gazed up at his through passion-glazed eyes, her lips still damp.
Every muscle in his body clenched as she looked up at him, clearly ripe for the taking and yet he denied them both out of some sense of... what, decency?
“We shouldn’t do this.” He rested his forehead against hers. “Not yet.” Deno took a deep breath. “Don’t misunderstand me,” he said when she tried to pull away.
“I want you more than I have ever wanted any woman in my life. But you are not just any woman.”
He leaned back, his hands still holding her. Deno wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted the contact, or if he was afraid she would take what he had to say in the wrong way and try to run. Perhaps it was both.
“You must know how it is between our women and us.” He searched his mind for the correct things to say. “As you probably know from what Xeno has told Charly, we mate for life. Forever. Once we’re bound together, there is no other for us. Once my beast imprints itself upon you, chooses you, there will never be another for me.”
“And you don’t want that.”
“I didn’t say that.” He shook his head. “Please don’t assume something that isn’t true. I want you. I want you as my mate, but you must understand, once we mate, once we make love and my beast claims you it can’t be undone. You can’t wake up in the morning and decide you’ve made a horrible mistake and expect it to all go away. If you leave me, you will leave me alone for the rest of my life. There will never be another. I can’t just move on to some other woman.”
Reaching up, he cupped her face in his hands and stared deep into her beautiful eyes. He wasn’t certain he’d ever seen such a gorgeous color of purple before he met Tabitha.
“Don’t think I’m saying this for just me. I don’t know what would happen if you should decide to leave me after we’re bound. I hear it’s painful, and I wouldn’t want that for you. The idea of your suffering because of me is unbearable. I’ve already hurt you once. I never want to do that again.”
“So...” She paused to lick her lips, and Deno’s stomach muscles clenched. “What you’re saying is once we decide to make love, we’ll be mated whether it’s what I want or not?”
“I’d like to be able to lie to you and tell you no. But, the thing is, my beast has already begun bind itself to you. At this point, you can still walk away, and you won’t be affected.”
“But you already are, no matter what I do?”
“Yes.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Once my human mind decided I would like to get to know you better and make you my mate if you agreed to it, my beast began the imprinting process. It’s not something we can control.”
“So, your tiger has already said it’s my mate, whether you like it or not?”
“No.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “It can’t imprint if the heart hasn’t already chosen.”
“Then, what you’re saying is that your heart chose me and your tiger is preparing to make me its mate, correct?”
Deno didn’t know what to say. He’d half expected her to lose her mind and go ballistic when she found out that his tiger had basically already claimed her.
“Yes.” There. He’d said it. He had admitted that no matter what she might think, his heart was involved. If she wanted to, she could walk away, leaving him already imprinted on her and lonely. It probably was no worse than he deserved. “You would leave me, at best, half a man, because I would never get over losing you.”
“You know,” Tabitha said, reaching up to cover his hands with hers. “A human man would never admit to such a thing. He would consider it a weakness and deny that losing a woman would have any effect on him at all. Well... most men would anyway.”
“I’m not like your Earth males,” he said with a low growl.
“Wow.” She laughed. “You say that like I meant to insult you or something.” She shook her head. “Well, I didn’t. I said that because it’s true. Most men I’ve seen would rather die than admit a woman meant much more to them than the next piece of ass they would get.”
“Earth males are fools.” He growled again, shocked that his tiger was making itself known when they hadn’t mated and she wasn’t in danger. “My brother’s and I have said that very thing time and time again.”
“Yeah, I think I’ve heard your brother say that more than once.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it. Reno thinks they're little more than a waste of skin, and Ceno has told a story about how his mate punched one in the mouth the day they met.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I can’t imagine Sela punching anyone in the mouth, but he swears it’s true.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I saw her in action when those Argarians attacked. Let me tell you, I’d want her on my side if we were ever attacked again.”
“Anyway, what I’ve been trying to say is,” Deno said as he sat back and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I’d like to take things slowly between the two of us, so you have the time to think the situation over and decide for yourself, how far you want our relationship to go.”
“And you’ll respect that no matter what I say and how your... beast feels about all of this?”
“Yes. Absolutely.” He nodded. “Just let me say this, to get it out of the way, so you have no more questions about it.”
“What?”
“What is between us is a sort of chemistry, yes.” Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “However, no matter what our hormones say, how my body is reacting to you, to your scent, it’s not only that. This also involves our hearts. Just like you watched my twin fall in love with your sister, no matter how hard you tried to drive them apart, I, too, am falling in love with you. I am optimistic that giving you time to come to terms with what’s happening will also give you the time to, I hope, fall just as deeply in love with me.”
Chapter Seventeen
Tabby stared at Deno for the longest time. She couldn’t believe he’d just come out and told her he hoped she would fall in love with him.
Words escaped her. They truly had. What should she say to that? What could she say? She liked him well enough now that she’d gotten to know him a little better, but she wasn’t sure she could ever fall in love with him.
The attraction between them was electric. Her nerve endings sizzled every time he touched her. She wanted him with a passion she hadn’t thought possible before. Still, there he was practically professing his love for her, and she wasn’t positive she even liked him.
Well, okay, she liked him, but she didn’t know if she could ever live with the man in any other situation than the one they were in, here on board the ship.
She bit her lip, part of her wanting to tell him she cared, just a little. Another snarky part of her still wanted to tell him to go piss up that rope.
“You’ve had a lot to digest.” He pulled his arm from around her shoulders, and she immediately felt the chill of the room.
Was it because he was warm or because she wanted him to keep his arm around her?
“Yes.” She licked her lips and almost jumped when she heard a low growl rumbling deep in his chest.
“That’s... that’s okay.” Standing, she twisted her fingers together and backed away from the seat. “I-I guess I should go to bed. I mean to sleep.” Her face burned as though a thousand suns shone down on her.
“Yes. We should both get some rest.” He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He seemed sad, as though she’d rejected him already.
He stood and turned to head through the kitchen to his hard bed.
“Wait!” Tabby grabbed the back of his waistband. “I know we’re not on Earth, and I know this...” She paused when he turned around and waved her arm to encompass the room. “Wasn’t a date, but...” Her hands trembled as she twisted her fingers together. “Can I get a goodnight kiss anyway?”
Deno held out his hand and waited until she took it. Leaning down, he pressed a light kiss to the back of her hand, then turning her arm over, he kissed the inside of her wrist.
“Good night, Tabitha. Have sweet dreams and pleasant thoughts of me.” He held her hand between his for a moment as his warmth seeped into her fingers. Then, moving closer, he grasped her shoulders, bent, and placed a kiss so light on her forehead, she wasn’t positive he’d even made contact. “Until tomorrow.”
Until tomorrow.
Deno’s last words echoed through her mind most of the night. She wanted to fall asleep to have those sweet dreams he’d wished for her, but she couldn’t. Her mind wouldn’t shut down. Over and over, she heard Deno saying he was falling in love with her.
It made her wonder. What would he have said if she had told him she thought she might be falling in love with him as well?
As much as she’d wanted him, he’d been right to put the brakes on their passionate interlude. She needed time. They both needed time. Getting to know each other was a process that shouldn’t be rushed. It didn’t matter that, with Deno’s declaration, she already knew the outcome. Falling in love was a risky business, and she wanted to make sure they did it right. If that was even possible.
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