Samantha placed her hand on Shay’s arm and smiled gently. “I can’t wait to hear the results.”
Knowing full well she was failing to keep her concern from showing in her expression, Shay smiled back at the woman. “Thanks, Sam. I’ll let you know.”
“You’ll be fine. Both of you.” Sam gave Shay’s arm a gentle squeeze before releasing her hold and exiting the room.
Drakkal grinned and walked over to her. “Was about to come looking for you myself,kiraia.”
She looked up at him and smirked. “Sam and I were having a little female bonding time. There were some…interesting discussions.”
“You were talking about cocks, weren’t you?”
Shay’s grin widened.
Drakkal chuckled. “And you reached the conclusion that mine’s the best, of course.”
She looked him dead in the eye, serious as could be, and said, “Yes.”
“Good.”
Her lips twitched and she lowered her voice so only he could hear her. “I quite enjoy my knotty kitty.”
He drew in a slow, deep breath and lifted a hand to his temples, covering his eyes. “That’s another pun, isn’t it?Kraasz ka’val, what is wrong with you terrans? Donottell Arc that one.”
Shay snickered. “Better hope Sam doesn’t tell, either.”
Drakkal’s hand fell, and his brows were low as he stared down at her. “You said that to Samantha?”
“Maaaaybe.”
His lips trembled and peeled back to reveal his fangs, and he drew in several breaths as though he meant to speak but had failed to find the words before finally saying, “You’re lucky I like you, terran. Get on thefucking chair.”
Shay laughed as she moved to the chair. “Oh, I love it when you talk dirty.”
Though she was sure there’d be no fucking on that chair…at least not while Urgand was present.
Urgand manipulated a control, lowering the chair to a more comfortable height for Shay to sit. He wore a long white coat that might’ve looked right at home in a hospital or lab back on Earth were it not for its collar, which fit snugly around his thick neck. She’d also never imagined a doctor quite as broad shouldered and clearly well-built as him…or with face tattoos and short tusks protruding from his lower jaw.
“This won’t take long,” Urgand said. His voice was deep and gravelly, but it possessed a decidedly professional tone that eased a bit of her nervousness.
More of her anxiety faded when Drakkal positioned himself beside her, not quite close enough for them to be touching, but close enough for Shay to feel his body heat.
Urgand used the controls to raise the chair, simultaneously lowering its backrest to smoothly lean her back. Components of the chair shifted as her position altered, cushioning the new points of stress on her body at her lower back and neck. Without thought, Shay reached out and grasped Drakkal’s flesh and blood hand, clutching it.
“Got you,kiraia,” Drakkal said softly, giving her hand a squeeze.
In that moment, she loved him. She loved him more than she’d thought possible so early in their relationship, more than she’d thought possible at all, but there it was. She really, truly, deeply loved her gruff, sweet, persistent azhera.
She held his gaze, unable to voice the emotions swelling within her, until movement on her other side drew her attention away.
Urgand had pulled up a holographic display in the airbeside the chair and was working through options on it. “Just going to scan you, Shay. Nothing invasive, nothing painful.” His lips moved as though he were muttering to himself as he perused the display in front of him. “How’s your wrist feel? Any tenderness or pain?”
Shay lifted her right hand off her belly and turned her arm to look at the inside of her wrist. There was a small red mark there, evidence of the new ID chip she’d received yesterday. Getting a body scan for that had been interesting. Arcanthus had been startlingly professional during the process earlier that week, which had involved Shay stripping down to her birthday suit and stepping onto a glowing platform.
Despite Arc averting all three of his eyes, Drakkal had been more grumbly than usual—which said a lot considering how grumbly he tended to be. There was no question about his trust in Arcanthus, but when it came to Shay, instinct was in control of Drakkal. He was quite…beastly. And Shay wasn’t embarrassed to admit that turned her on, especially once they’d returned to their room and he turned that beastly nature on her.
She twirled her hand around. “No pain, doc.”
“Good. Boss has never had an issue getting those in, but it never hurts to be sure.” Urgand highlighted something on the holographic menu.