“She already pushed you to the bottom, Thargen,” the blue-skinned cren with short, spiky hair and green irises said.
Thargen ran his sleeve across his mouth, wiping away alcohol and spittle. His laughter still hadn’t quite died down. “I like her, Drak.”
“Think you found a keeper, Drakkal,” said the other blue-skinned cren, who had yellow eyes and a long ponytail.
Wait. Do they all think…?
“Anyone who can put Thargen in his place the first time they talk to him is worth having around,” the largest ofthe cren said.
“You have found a good female for yourself,” said the ilthurii.
Fuck, they do.
Drakkal glanced at Shay, meeting her gaze briefly. His expression spread more of that fuzzy warmth through her—it said,Yeah, she’s a keeper, and she’s mine forever. She didn’t understand how that simple look could say so much, but there it was. And shelikedit.
“You’re cleaning that up, Thargen,” the sedhi said in a deep, smooth voice. His eyes were on the vorgal—save for the third one on his forehead, which lingered on Shay.
Weird.
Drakkal turned back toward the others and cleared his throat, calling their attention to him. “Everyone, this is Shay. She’s one of us now.”
The human woman hopped down from the counter and approached Shay. She was wearing a loose tunic and leggings, and had long, wavy brown hair and big brown eyes. Even wearing boots, she was about five centimeters shorter than Shay. The woman had a sweet, shy air about her, as though she’d rather sit unnoticed on the edge of a crowd.
She held her hand out to Shay. “I’m Samantha, but you can call me Sam.”
“Nice to meet you,” Shay replied, grasping Samantha’s hand. Once she released it, she shot Drakkal a glare. “You didn’t tell me there was another human here.”
“Didn’t tell you there were three cren, two vorgals, an ilthurii, and a sedhi here, either,” he replied. “I’ll make sure to compile a list next time.”
She gave him a droll look. “I think there being another human here would’ve been noteworthy. We’re not exactly common here, are we?” Turning back to Samantha, she smiled. “Sorry, it seems Tiger here was a bit forgetful. It really is nice to meet you, Sam.”
“She’s got some claws,” Thargen said with a delighted hoot. “Ireallylike her.”
“So do I, Thargen,” Drakkal growled, “so don’t get any ideas.”
The female ilthurii hissed soft laughter, eyes narrowing and mouth curling into a grin. The small spines on the top of her head laid back. “This will be better than Razi’s dramas.”
The sedhi stepped forward—thoughsaunteredmight’ve been the better term, as he moved with a grace that might’ve been comical had it not been so overtly sensual. He offered Shay a roguish grin and settled one of his cybernetic arms over Sam’s shoulders. “I’m Arcanthus. A pleasure to finally meet you, Shay. I’m?—”
“He’s my secretary,” Drakkal said, “though I let him drive the car sometimes.”
“If I recall,” Samantha said with a grin, “it’s you who always drives the car, Drak.”
“Well, would you trust Arc at the controls?”
“Not really.” Samantha cleared her throat, and her cheeks pinkened. “He can’t seem to keep his hands to himself.”
Arcanthus bent down and tipped his head to rest his cheek atop Sam’s hair. “It’s not my fault. Three eyes simply aren’t enough with which to admire you. To not touch would be criminal.”
“Youarea criminal.” Samantha, fully blushing now, smiled and leaned against Arcanthus’s chest.
Shay flicked her gaze back and forth between the tall, confident sedhi and the small, shy human. They were of two different species and two wildly different, opposite personalities. And yet they meshed like two halves of the same whole.
Shay had absolutely no question of how deeply and trulythey felt for one another. Was it possible for her to have that sort of thing? Was it possible to have that withDrakkal?
“Don’t mind him,” Drakkal said, pulling her attention away from the couple. “He’s like that most of the time. He manages to do surprisingly decent work when he actually sits down to do it. Enough about him, though…”
Drakkal introduced her to everyone else one at a time. The ilthurii was Sekk’thi, the blue cren were brothers, Kiloq and Koroq, and the brown-skinned vorgal was Urgand. Drakkal presented the big, white-haired cren last, calling him Razi.