“Does that mean you are making the intimbar?” Grish called out.
The snarl that returned as his brother disappeared from the room was all the answer he needed. Laughter erupted from him. He did not like to see his brother in pain, but the male needed a push to rejoin the living. He had been patient, waiting for his brother to come around since they arrived on Antari Minor, but now was time for action if he didn’t want to see Borth sink further into despair every season.
“Did you say something about intimbar?” Crystal asked, her voice a welcome distraction from his train of thoughts.
She had sat up, soft wisps of curls falling loose around her face. At some point in the last few minutes, they had escaped the tight confines of the band containing her hair. She looked rumpled and charming.
He inclined his head and reached out a hand to pull her gently to her feet.
“You did. Borth is preparing it for us as we speak. It is good to warm the blood after the work today.”
Her regard turned skeptical. “Borth is… Really?”
“Yes, even my brother has decided he can be civil enough to sit and enjoy a cup of intimbar with us.”
“Big shocker there. Seems to me he’s more inclined to flee at the sight of me than sit down and enjoy a drink together.”
“Ah, so you have noticed that,” he replied with a chuckle. “It is his way of protecting himself. If he stays away, there is less chance of becoming attached. A reasonable plan for a stubborn male.”
“I see,” she murmured, her lips pinching together thoughtfully.
Grish struggled not to grin triumphantly. His female was now armed—and judging by the light gleaming in her eyes, she was plotting something. The human male he had fought beside for so many revolutions would get a similar look when he was plotting another lunatic idea. He was almost eager to see what his little katna was thinking. And he had said nothing that could be considered betraying his brother’s confidence.
It was, as the humans would say, a win-win situation.
“Come. I am certain that Borth has the intimbar ready by now,” he said cheerfully as he placed a hand at the small of her back, ushering her along at his side.
Crystal gave him an amused look but did not object to being herded into the kitchen.
Borth looked over and frowned at their arrival but trudged, albeit reluctantly, to the table where he set down three large steaming cups of intimbar. As they seated themselves at the table, Borth sat as far away from them as he could. The male reluctantly pushed their cups toward them before falling into a stony silence as he stared into his cup.
Grish restrained an impatient sigh. This wasn’t quite what he had in mind. Everyone was drinking from their cup, but in complete silence. No one attempted to speak. He fidgeted, trying to think of some way to stir conversation. To his relief, Crystal beat him to it.
Seated close at his side, Crystal made a small sound in her throat and directed a smile at Borth. “Thank you. This is really good.”
Borth’s eyes glowed with a flash of pleasure as he regarded her over the rim of his cup. He grunted, took a long drink and swallowed. “You are fortunate to drink my intimbar. Grish would have poisoned us with his heavy-handed way around a cooking unit.”
“You can cook?” she asked, the delicate eyebrows that graced her face winging upward.
His brother grimaced. “No, but I can make intimbar.”
“Ah, well, that explains the reliance on the replicators,” she replied, her smile widening. “I suppose one of us will need to learn to cook so we have some variety in our diet.”
Borth’s expression darkened slightly. “No need. The replicator supplies for all our nutritional needs, even yours once I input your species into its data systems.”
“Oh, but at least it’ll be a way for me to contribute. I don’t mind learning. I mean, I was never anything beyond passable at cooking on Earth, but I’m pretty sure I can guarantee that I won’t poison us… I think.”
Grish suppressed a groan as his brother’s expression completely shut down. The male tipped his head back, draining his cup before pushing up to his feet. He paused only long enough to give Crystal a hard look.
“There is no reason to go through the trouble. You will not be here long enough to make it worth the effort,” he said sharply.
Crystal turned in her seat, obviously watching his brother as he stalked to the sanitary unit and placed his cup within it.
“It is no trouble!” she called after him. “Idle hands make all sorts of mischief from what I’ve heard.” A cunning grin lit her face. “If it’s not cooking, then it’ll be something else. And all it would cost is your company twice a day.”
Borth’s spine visibly stiffened. “Then find some other mischief,” he barked without a backward glance.
With a soft hum, Crystal turned once more to the table and picked up her cup. Grish noted the gleam in his mate’s eyes as he met her gaze over its rim. He raised a brow ridge, and her eyes crinkled slightly in amusement.
“Do I wish to know what you have planned?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, a soft chuckle escaping her.
Grish eyed his mate and took a long drink. She was definitely going to do something. He wasn’t able to decipher any meaning from her side of the exchange with Borth. He debated on whether he should warn Borth as they sat in companionable silence with their drinks. Once the last of the intimbar was drunk, he stood, took their cups, and carried them over to the sanitation unit.
As he initialized the sanitation cycle, he heard light steps behind him. Turning, he met her eyes, his gaze tracking her as she leaned forward into his chest. The warm scent of her filled his nose as her soft breasts brushed against him. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.
Drawing back, he smiled down at her, his hand lifting to brush through the soft wisps of hair framing her face. He contented himself with that simple touch, though he yearned to draw her closer, to fully press her body against his. The desire to feel her heat and scent her skin crawled through him restlessly.
“What was that for, katna?”
“I just… I wanted to show you how much I appreciate you. You’re so kind and make me feel safe and wanted.” She sighed, her cheek leaning into his touch as if she were positively touch-starved.
One corner of her mouth quirked up. He almost mistook it for amusement until he saw the vulnerability in her eyes. Whereas the first might have made him consider drawing away if he thought she was only playing games, the latter made him want to shield her and claim her as his mate in truth. He rumbled as he placed his other hand on her hip, the curve practically swallowed beneath his grip as he pulled her against him, luxuriating in her closeness as he breathed her in.
Her scent and the feeling of her body against his did something to him, sending heat rushing through his blood. He growled low in his throat and instinctively held her tighter. She stiffened but soon melted against him before he had a chance to loosen his grip. He was aware of every dip of her body, the softness of her belly gently nudging his cock as it began to stir. A tightness at its base made his breath shudder out of him, his hand slipping around to press against her bottom.
At the press of his hardening cock against her, a breathy sound eked out from between those beautiful lips as the smell of her desire bloomed rich and full. Despite the heat of her sexual need for him that began to tune his body to hers, slowly beginning the process of binding them together, it was her need for his strength, support, and devotion that bound him more to her within his heart.
“Of course I want you, katna. At this moment, I want nothing more than to show you how much I want and need you,” he rasped, his breath fanning her face, stirring the small curls as he leaned forward to draw in the scent of her silky skin. “More than just desire of flesh, I want all of you forever. You have only been here for days and have already brought great happiness into my life.”
She pressed into him, a so
ft groan leaving her, her body soft and welcoming. Her cheek burrowed against him in a sign of stirring affection, but she issued no invitation.
He understood. It was too soon yet.
He leaned down and brushed his lips against the corner of her mouth before he pulled away from her. “I am a patient male, katna. I will look forward to the day you welcome me into your bed and your heart. And though he may not admit it, Borth needs you just as much as I.”
A delicate shiver raced through her as he set her away from him. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do. He would be patient. There was much pleasure and joy to be had just waiting for them.
Chapter 9
Maybe she exaggerated her cooking skills. Her mamá had tried to teach her to cook, and there were a few dishes she could make reasonably well that didn’t require a lot of effort, but Crystal never had the patience to really develop that particular skill. Especially not after adulthood, when meals were comprised of whatever she could scarf down between work sessions. For the first year on her own, she nearly lived on toaster strudels.
It was sad, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
And not only because she was hoping that Borth would admit defeat, or at least warm up to her a little if she actually went through the trouble to provide him with a decent meal, but she couldn’t take another day of the shit the replicator shot out.
That was why she was leaning against the counter, her datapad in hand as she hacked into the programming. It was surprisingly straightforward. Unfortunately, she learned that replicators worked using prefilled materials that could be used to make certain foods. Most standard replicators came with very little stock, and on outlying planets like Antari Minor—cue the suspenseful music—getting anything more varied than the basics was nigh impossible. Still, she wasn’t above working some magic and attempting to program the instructions and food profile for a few meals she enjoyed.
Attempting being the key word.
“Okay, let’s see how this works,” she muttered.
Unplugging the datapad, she set it aside, scooted back in front of the replicator, and made her selection. Vaca frita with french fries. A nice, simple comfort food from her childhood. Setting a plate beneath the replicator, she closed the compartment and waited expectantly as the machine whirred as it initiated into the first sequence. She was hopeful as the box filled with a muted light until it receded, and she got her first look at the food.
Somehow it looked even worse than the crap she was trying to improve upon.
The stringy meat and vegetables gooped on the plate were pale gray. The french fries were perfectly rectangular straws, white as raw uncooked potatoes.
Well, looks weren’t everything.
The containment compartment lifted away, and she grabbed the plate of food. Bringing it up close to her face, she took one sniff and gagged. The spices were so far off that it was like sticking her head over hot garbage. The combination she had clearly failed at describing left a base sourness that was just barely covered with the scent of a spice so hot that it stung her nose to sniff at it.
Holding it away from her, she sighed. Tweaking the replicator was out until they got the intergalactic comm system that would allow her to search for replicator codes from Earth resources. Downloading a book or music from an intergalactic vendor on her datapad or ear transponders was one thing, but digging into Earth’s manufacturer copyrights to fetch program codes for their replicator needed more juice than she could get with on her little datapad.
Crystal moved to set the plate on the counter when suddenly the ground beneath her feet trembled, then pitched with enough strength to send her crashing to the floor. The sound of the plate cracking was minor compared the rattle of everything surrounding her as she scrambled away from the counters to slip under the table.
Wrapping her arms around the table legs, she ignored the wet mess slicking the front of her shirt and leggings as she ducked her head down and rode out the earthquake. The loud crash of dishes and housewares as they hit the floor filled the air around her. Something struck the table with a bang that made her flinch. Instinctively, she wanted to crawl out from beneath the table, but she forced herself to stay put, reminding herself that it was the safest place in the kitchen.
When at last the tremors subsided, Crystal slowly crawled out, scattered shards of broken dishes biting into her palms everywhere she set her hands down. She hissed with pain, thankful when at last she was able to push up onto her feet. Gripping the side of the table with one bloodied hand, she looked around at the destruction in awe. One short earthquake had demolished so much.
Where the fuck had that earthquake even come from?
She tiptoed through the mess, stopping occasionally to pick up something that had managed to not break when it fell. All the dishes were toast except for one cup, although many other items seemed to have survived well enough. She set her armload and that one lonesome cup down and leaned wearily against the counter. Turning so that her back rested against the edge, her eyes skimmed the room taking in damage.
The door leading out to the rear fields opened as two Terils forced their way through, their wide eyes skimmed over the room anxiously until they came to rest on her. They pushed their way forward, their boots crunching noisily as they rushed over to her. Dark mud streaked across their faces, coats, and arms from doubtlessly being thrown to the ground by the tremors. Borth even had some broken bits of plants clinging to him that he didn’t appear to notice as he made quick work of inspecting her.
“Katna, have you been harmed?” Grish asked, his voice laced thickly with concern.
“Scared the shit out of me, but I’m fine.”
“Not so fine. You have injured yourself,” Borth ground out, one of his large hands closing around her left wrist, holding her hand still as he inspected the flesh of one palm and then other.
She grimaced at the mess, her hands stinging. They didn’t look that great.
“Yeah, the broken dishes made the floor around the table where I was hiding into a bit of a landmine. It was difficult to avoid them when I was coming out.”
“You should have waited. We would have removed the table from above you,” Borth chastised. “Stay here.”
With a muttered oath, he dug through one of the half-open drawers until he found a strip of cloth. The moment he had it in his hand, he tore it in half and returned to her side. She tried not to wince as he wrapped each of her hands, but it was beginning to really hurt like a bitch as she came down from the endorphin rush. All the while, Grish’s large hand stroked her hair and back comfortingly as he murmured softly to her.
Borth snorted at his brother’s ministrations, his own face creased with a fierce scowl. Muttering under his breath, he dropped her hands and began to thoroughly inspect the rest of her. It was almost sweet the way he glared at every scratch as if they were a personal affront against him. What was less than sweet was her body’s response to his touch as a slow fire kindled within her that grew with arousal at every light touch. Her skin tingled with awareness with every pass.
She needed to get ahold of herself. It was starting to feel a little too good, and she was still focused enough to know that it really wasn’t the time for her to body greenlight the idea of getting wild with the brothers.
“I’m okay, guys… Really,” she assured them as she gently pulled away from their attentive exploration.
Borth’s expression went blank, but then his eyes focused on the slop smeared all over her front. His head tilted as he inspected the gray globs.
“What is that?”
Crystal grimaced down at herself. “That would’ve been dinner if I’d been successful at reprogramming the replicator.”
“But why are you wearing it?”
She shrugged and gave him a crooked smile. “The gods have a sense of humor and decided to send an earthquake the moment I was mourning over my culinary failure. If you still want to try it, feel free to lick it off me.”
She batted her eyes playfully, enjoying the way one hand rubbed the back of his neck as if he couldn’t decide exactly how to respond. She was mostly kidding—poking the bear, since he was so determined to avoid her—but the other half of her was curious if the sparks would fly the way they had in Grish’s arms.
For some reason, she suspected that Borth would be a force to be reckoned with. His eyes ran over her possessively, desire flaring in his eyes at the suggestion as his gaze fastened on the way the damp shirt clung to her curves. He swallowed, but eventually shook his head.
“Lick it off… No. It smells like something Matida killed and regurgitated,” he muttered with a wrinkle of his flat nose. Obviously, he wasn’t going to pull his punches about how he really felt about her attempt at improving their meal experience. He expression morphed into a glare as he stared at the replicator. “After we clean up this mess, I will check the replicator to make sure you did not delete what edible food we have available.”
“Edible is debatable,” she replied—perhaps a little louder than she intended.
His dark look transferred to her, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he made his way over to a narrow utility closet where he pulled out something that resembled a broom. Crystal was surprised to see something so low-tech in the efficient household.
“You aren’t going to summon a cleaning droid or something?”
He snorted and shook his head, but lapsed back into silence, leaving Grish to reply. Obviously Borth’s social hour had timed out for the day. He was back to ignoring her as he set to work with the broom, sweeping up a large pile of broken dishware. Grish nodded to the shards as he began to stack and re-store the things that had survived the earthquake.
“The droids are good at cleaning up dirt and even your little cooking experiment, but not so good when it comes to larger rubbish. We will make quick work of this and leave the droids to clean the remaining fragments and spills,” he explained.
Teril's Fire: A Mate Index Alien Romance (The Mate Index Book 12) Page 7