I don't so much as twitch my tail as the big animal circles around me. Jade remains still, too, and my protective instincts go through the roof when it nudges its big head against her hand. But Jade just laughs. "Is it okay to pet him?"
Sophie nods, smiling. "He loves women. It's just men he's a little uncertain around."
Jade drops to her knees, releasing my hand, and it takes everything I have not to snatch her back as she rubs the deadly creature's opalescent skin. "He's beautiful. Reminds me of a cross between a lion and a dragon. What's your name, pretty boy?"
The thing licks her face, and I twitch, feeling the need to protect my mate.
"He's Sleipnir," Sophie says. Her gaze slides toward me. "And I know you don't want to hear this, Adiron, but we've decided we're keeping him."
"We?" I ask.
Jerrok moves to Sophie's side. He doesn't touch her, but it's obvious they've got… something going on between them. "I can pay you some of what he's worth, " Jerrok tells me. "And I'm hoping we can arrange payments for the rest. Sophie's very attached to him and I think it's a good idea for her to have another protector."
"I'm still stuck on the 'we' part," I admit.
Sophie and Jerrok exchange a look. Her hand steals into his. "I haven't said anything yet because I didn't want to spring it on you, but…" She takes a deep breath. "I'm staying with Jerrok. Here. Permanently."
JADE
I'm not entirely sure if Adiron is thrilled about Sophie staying. He says he's happy for her. He gives her bear hug after bear hug, until the cat-creature starts to growl at him and even Jerrok is casting annoyed glances in Adiron's direction. For all that, though, I know how my big guy's mind works. He sees Sophie as another little sister that's leaving the nest, and it's going to eat at him. He won't let her know that, because he wants her to be happy, but Adi's got a soft heart when it comes to human women, and I make a mental note to distract the hell out of him later.
Me, I'm just surprised that all three brothers were around Sophie and no one made a move on her. She might be one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Her hair is long and thick, dark and tumbling, and she's got perfect bone structure and lips that would make anyone jealous. Her voice is husky and sexy, and I can't help but feel slightly frumpy and fat standing next to her. Sophie could have been a model back on Earth, or an actress. She's stunning.
She's also a little…fragile. Sophie reminds me a bit of a wounded bird that's just learning how to fly again. Her smiles are slow to come, and she hovers near Jerrok as if constantly seeking protection. In a way, I do understand why Adi and the others viewed her as a sister—there's something about Sophie that makes you want to protect her from the universe. She makes me think she would crumple under pressure.
I guess we're different in that way.
Jerrok's a little more alarming to look at. He's one of the brutal, muscular mesakkah, but he's also scarred all over. There's a network of white scars all over his face, and his eyes are mismatched, one with a red center that tells me it's cybernetic. He moves oddly, too, and one of his legs looks like an oversized, clumsily put-together limb. It doesn't take me long to realize it's cybernetic, as well. At one point, something starts humming loudly. He slaps his leg, and then the humming stops. So yeah, that tells me not everything there is natural.
But the way he looks at Sophie…it's beautiful. He gazes at her with a hungry sort of adoration, as if he can't believe this angel is his. He serves her food and hovers over her protectively as we ready for dinner, and when she rewards him with a shy smile, I swear the man looks as if he's in utter bliss. They're sweet together, and it makes me happy that they've found each other.
I'm quiet through dinner. It's noodles, but I don't complain and choke them down as best I can. Sophie and Jerrok talk with Adiron about his brothers and possible places for them to go. They talk about the Little Sister and the improvements Jerrok made on the ship while they've been waiting for someone to return for her. They talk about how the ship was taken from V'tarrian space and how Sophie found the message in the mirror—and was attacked. I just listen quietly, my hand on Adiron's leg in quiet support. He doesn't like hearing about Sophie and Jerrok in danger, I realize, and I suspect they're considered family to him, just as much as Kivian and Fran, or even crazy Bethiah.