“Oh, I almost forgot!” Lan’ara jumped up and ran to the cold storage unit. She got the delicate little loam-cake she’d made earlier and brought it out to the captain. “I made something for you, too,” she told him. “I used a little of your special soil—I hope you don’t mind.”
“Well, how thoughtful of you!”
Captain’ Glo’ll’s golden eyes glowed with pleasure. He took the spoon Lan’ara offered him and dug in, taking a big bite of what looked like the world’s densest chocolate cake. As he chewed, his eyes widened and then closed in obvious pleasure.
“I hope you like it,” Lan’ara said. “I just put a little sweet sap and a few spices…”
“Like it?” The Cytovian’s eyes popped open. “My dear, I love it!”
A whole bouquet of long-stemmed roses in every color of the rainbow sprouted from his chest, right over his heart. He plucked them and handed them to Lan’ara, who blushed and took them with many thanks.
“In all my years as Captain of The Dark Star, no one has tried to make proper Cytovian food for me,” he remarked, taking another bite of the sweetened loam cake. “And the fact that you went out of your way to make special treats for the rest of the crew speaks volumes about your character, my dear.” He looked at Need. “I know you consider this young lady an investment, but in my estimation, you’re a fool if you give her up.”
“Well…” Need looked distinctly uncomfortable but before he could really answer, a snorting, trollish voice broke through the crew’s chatter.
“I notice you made something special for everyone but me, so you did, girly,” Drung said, glaring at Lan’ara. “Why didn’t you come ask me what Trollox delicacy I might like for sweeties?”
“Oh, I…” Lan’ara didn’t know what to say. It was true—she hadn’t even thought to ask the huge Trollox what recipe she might make for him. But that was because she hated and feared him! He was the one who was responsible for asking the slaver to use that awful stick on her, which had stolen her maidenhead! And he had said crude and disgusting things to her more than once. That didn’t exactly make her want to do anything nice for him.
“She didn’t ask what you wanted because Trollox food is disgusting,” Psoas said, twisting his rubbery face into an expression of extreme revulsion.
“And I’ve told her several times never to go anywhere near your filthy room,” Need growled. “Besides, after all you’ve done and said to her, you don’t deserve a damn thing from Lan’ara.”
“She should have been mine,” Drung snarled, drool running down his tusks. “The girly should be cooking for me right now, and warming my bed with her soft little body!” He glared at Need. “Sell her to me. I have investments I can call in, so I can. I’ll pay you the forty thousand so you get your money back, so you will!”
“Why do you think I bought her in the first place?” Need exploded. His eyes were glowing red, Lan’ara noticed, her stomach clenching in fear. “To keep her away from you, you filthy, disgusting, Trollox! If you even come near her I’ll fucking kill you.”
“So you admit you bought her just to anger me!” Drung roared, all three of his heads glaring at the big Kindred. “How dare you take the female who should be carrying my heir? If she was mine, her belly would already be swelling, so it would! I’d keep her in my rooms so she could cook only for me and breed her every hour on the hour!”
Need pushed back from the table, his eyes blazing and blood-red.
“You three-headed son-of-a-bitch,” he growled. “If you say one more thing about my female—”
“All right, all right. That’s enough!” Captain Glo’ll’s cool, smooth voice broke into the argument. “Drung,” he said, turning to the angry Trollox. “How many times must I tell you that Lan’ara belongs to Needrix? I am not a meat-based organism but even I know that it is rude to speak of ‘breeding’ another male’s female. You must cease this talk at once or I will be forced to censure you.”
The Trollox pushed back from the table. For a moment he just stood there, towering over them all, with all six of his piggy eyes trained on Lan’ara.
She stared back, unable to help herself. She felt like she had swallowed a fist-sized piece of ice and it was sitting in her stomach, refusing to melt. Gods and Goddesses, if he came after her now…
But then Need was in front of her, shielding her with his body and glaring fiercely at the Trollox.
“Go on,” he growled. “Get out of here. And don’t let me hear you talking about my female again!”
For a moment Lan’ara was sure the two males would come to blows. And though Need was nearly seven feet tall, the Trollox was almost nine feet and he out-massed the Kindred as well. The coldness in her stomach seemed to spread, filling her veins with icy water that displaced the warm blood. What was she going to do?