Marcun (Sky Warriors Book 1) Page 5

  He pulled back with a grumble. “I was not going to attack him. Just punch him a few times.”

  “Your definition of attack and mine seem to differ,” Tecan said dryly. He studied him warily for a moment. “Your temper seems a little sharp.”

  Sacaren frowned. “Normally you have the most control of all of us.”

  Marcun took a deep breath and let it out slowly. What was wrong with him? “It is this place. With its boxes and concrete and there are too many people.”

  “We have visited places more populated,” Tecan pointed out.

  “That are more built-up,” Sacaren added.

  He rolled his shoulders. “Yes, but I did not have to hide where I was.”

  “Ah, that is it,” Tecan said. “You are used to playing the role of enforcer not spy.”

  That was it exactly. He went in with force not stealth. Sneaking around, blending in, hiding was just not him.

  “What made her think you were selling yourself for sex?” Sacaren asked, all teasing gone.

  “I do not know. You are the only two people who have visited me. But she did offer me a job at her place of work.” And she has asked him to come to dinner. He kept that back. It was not important and he had still not figured out why she had done it.

  They were silent for a moment, thinking.

  “Perhaps you have been making noise while you sleep again,” Sacaren offered.

  “I do not make noise while I sleep.”

  “You do,” Tecan added. “Perhaps those are the sex noises she heard.”

  He narrowed his gaze at the two of them. “It is time for me to go.”

  Tecan smiled. “No need to go off in a bad temper. Even you must find it somewhat amusing that the most celibate among us has been accused of selling his body for sex.”

  “No. I do not.” He went to pick up the plate that held the brownies.

  “Where are you going with that?” Sacaren asked, looking alarmed.

  “I was going to throw it out.”

  “But it is food. It smells like good food. It would be a waste to get rid of it.”

  Marcun rolled his eyes. Sacaren had a huge appetite and he loved food.

  “Fine. You test it first. If you die some horrible death we will know not to eat it.”

  Sacaren shrugged. He pulled a piece up and sniffed it. Then he licked it. He tentatively took a bite. They watched him, waiting for a reaction. His eyes widened. “This is delicious.” The whole piece disappeared into his mouth and he licked his fingers.

  No bloating. No foaming at the mouth. No problems with breathing.

  “Nothing. It appears as though these are just as she said. Brownies.” Tecan reached for a piece and it was gone in two seconds.

  Marcun took a piece, taking a cautious bite. A delicious flavor erupted in his mouth, making his taste buds dance. It was sweet and a little tart.

  Amazing.

  He opened his eyes and reached for another only to realize they were all gone.

  “Who ate the brownies?” he snapped.

  Sacaren and Tecan gave him innocent looks. But he saw the evidence of dark crumbs around Sacaren’s mouth and then Tecan swallowed. Loudly.

  They both took a step back, holding their hands up.

  “Easy, Marcun. You can get more,” Tecan told him.

  More. Yes, he could. From the little female.

  He needed more.

  “You need to take this opportunity to get close to her.” The look in Tecan’s eyes was not one he trusted. He was the most easygoing of all of them, but he was smart. Very smart.

  “What do you mean, get close to her?”

  “You want him to fuck her to get answers.” Sacaren looked thoughtful. “Good idea.”

  “Wait. What?”

  Tecan sighed. “I did not mean that.”

  “Why not? Everyone knows that in the throes of passion a female lets down her guard. And Marcun could use some stress relief.”

  They both stared at him.

  He could not kill them. They were his pack mates. He could not kill them.

  Although he could hurt them. Just a little.

  “I was speaking of the offer of employment,” Tecan said. “You said she told you to come to her for a job.”

  “I know nothing of her work. She makes food.” Food came from the aCook in their ship. On planet, they ate food others cooked. He would not know where to start.

  Tecan shrugged. “Then learn. It will give you an excuse to stay close to her and that will give you the best opportunity to discover when the jewel arrives. Now that she has seen you, it will make it harder for you to follow her. This give you an excuse to be around her.”

  He made a good point. Marcun still wanted to argue against it, however. Because he felt almost too eager to spend more time with the female.

  And that disturbed him.

  Sacaren licked his fingers. He had given up all pretense that he had not eaten the rest of the brownies. “And see if you can get more of that brownie stuff. It is delicious.”

  If he got his hands on more brownies, he would not be giving it away.

  “I must go, it will be sunrise soon.” He moved towards the door. “I will be back in three evenings unless there is something to report.”

  Sacaren looked at the empty plate mournfully. “For the first time I wish I had this assignment. I wonder if all females on this planet can make those? We need to put that down as a requirement for our mate.”

  “Yes,” Tecan agreed seriously.

  “It is a shame this female is already mated and probably a thief. She might have made a good mate.”

  Marcun left, shutting the door none too quietly behind him. He stood there for a moment trying to bring his raging emotions under control. This was not him. When he was on a job, he was focused. Always.

  He did not allow distractions. He did not let anyone to get between him and his pack mates.

  And never a female.

  4

  “Mom, I can’t.” Eden leaned her elbow against her desk, resting her forehead on her hand. She’d purposely turned her phone’s holographic setting off. Although she’d told her mother it was broken.

  “Eden, it is just a dinner with a few people at my house. Surely you can spare a few hours for your poor mother.”

  Poor mother. Uh-huh. Her mother would give a five-star general a run for his money. She was a tyrant in a tiny, fragile-looking package. Needless to say, Eden took after her dad in appearance.

  Simple dinner.

  Nothing was simple when it came to her mother. Even though she was still married, Eden knew she would invite some old friend. And oh, what a coincidence she would bring her son with her who was…wait for it…single! And no doubt with a decent job, excellent credentials, from a good, upstanding family.

  Sometimes Eden felt like a prized dog. Being matched and mated off to a guy who she could then create these perfect babies with. It wasn’t that Eden didn’t want babies. She did. The longing ran deep. Sometimes it was an ache that hurt so badly she could scarcely breathe through it. But she was thirty-two, not-quite-single, and spent all of her time running her business. When would she find time for a man let alone children?

  “I haven’t seen you in so long. I’m a lonely old woman, Eden. I’m not getting any younger.”

  Actually, Eden was pretty sure she was. The new laser surgery her mother was using was damn well working miracles. Soon she’d look younger than Eden.

  Wasn’t that depressing.

  “You’re my only child, Eden. I just want to see you, but you’re always so busy.”

  And the guilt trip began. Eden gritted her teeth. For years she had given in to her mother, been taken in by her woe-is-me speeches.

  She would not give in to her. She would resist.

  “I’m busy running a bakery, Mother.” Something her mother wouldn’t understand. Eden’s father had died when she was a child, but he’d been a successful attorney. The money he’d left her mother ensured she
didn’t want for anything. Some money had been left for Eden as well—money she’d used to start her bakery.

  She glanced around her office with a tired sigh. The bakery opened from five to ten then closed when the pollution was worst in the middle of the day. She opened again at four, usually on her own since she wasn’t doing any baking, just operating the counter. The bakery then closed around six. Most people were back in their homes by then. She knew from her history lessons that Earth once had more set seasons and during summer the daylight hours were longer. That had all changed. Daylight hours were becoming shorter. And you didn’t want to be out during the middle of the day when pollution was at its highest. Or when the night was at its darkest.

  “Eden, darling, don’t you think you’ve had your fun dabbling in a career.”

  Fun? Eden started banging the palm of her hand against her forehead. Dabbling? Really? Did her mother not realize that she had invested everything into this dabble? That she worked her ass off just to be able to pay wages each week? That Eden couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a day off. Or just went a whole twenty-four hours without a horrible churning feeling of panic in her gut.

  But no, her mother wouldn’t know. Because she never came into the city to visit. She wasn’t interested in anything her daughter did unless it affected her. Eden let out a deep breath.

  “Eden? Eden, are you still there?” Her mother’s voice rose.

  “I’m here, Mother. Sorry, I’ve got a bit of a headache.” It wasn’t a lie. The headache had started as soon as she’d seen that her mother was the one calling her.

  I shouldn’t have answered. Should have just ignored her.

  Problem was, nobody ignored Priscilla Summers.

  “Eden, you’ve had your fun. After Barry left I really thought you’d give up this silly idea of yours. Did you decide to carry on with this little bakery because you thought it would bring him back? Eden, honey, he’s not coming back.”

  Yeah, no shit. And thank God for that.

  Eden bit her lip before she could say the words. But did her mother really think so little of her? That she’d kept the bakery running in the hope it might draw Barry back? Why the hell would she want him to return? Barry was a thieving slimeball. A useless waste of a human being.

  “Eden, men don’t want women to be men.”

  What the hell did that mean? Eden stared down at the phone incredulously. Her mother sounded like someone from the 1880s. She thought Eden wanted to be a man? Okay, this conversation was going to a weird place. And considering some of the talks she’d had with her mother that was saying something.

  “Mom, I’m not trying to be a man…”

  “They want them to be feminine,” her mother added, ignoring her. “They want women to look to them for protection, to provide for them. Now, I know you think I’m old-fashioned, but your father loved to take care of me.”

  Eden gave up trying to hold her head up. She dropped it down onto the desk.

  “I know you don’t want to hear this.”

  Oh crap. Those words usually meant that her mother was about to drop some bombshell of wisdom on her.

  “But I cannot help but wonder if Barry would still be here if you’d let him take the lead role in your relationship.”

  She did not just say that. Eden raised her head. To her horror, tears welled. After everything Barry had done, her mother still wanted to pin the blame on her.

  Obviously taking Eden’s silence as some sort of agreement, her mother carried on. “But let’s put that topic to rest, shall we? We all make mistakes, dear. It’s what we learn from them that counts. It’s been nearly a year since Barry deserted you and you can file for divorce. You can find yourself someone new. Start over with a new man. But you’re not going to find him if you keep hiding in your bakery, working all the time. I know you’re scared to get back out there. That’s where I come in. Your husband will need your full attention, not to mention the children that will come. Why don’t you sell up now? If money is an issue, you know you can move home. Your bedroom is always here for you.”

  Right. Move home. Become the dutiful daughter her mother wished her to be. Marry whatever lawyer or doctor her mother threw her way. Stay at home and tend to her husband and children.

  Once, she’d thought that was exactly what she wanted. Maybe because her mother had hounded it into her that she would want that out of life. It wasn’t that Eden didn’t want a family. But she loved her little bakery. Keeping it wasn’t the easy choice. Maybe not even the sane one. Running her own business was hard, made even harder by Barry the jerk. But it fulfilled her. It was hers. It meant something to her.

  And her mother would never understand that.

  “I’m not coming home, Mother. And I’m not giving up the bakery.”

  There was a long pause.

  “Well, that is … disappointing.”

  That was Eden. Always a disappointment.

  “You will come to dinner this Sunday.” There was no question in her mother’s voice. “You are still my daughter. I raised you, clothed you, fed you all on my own.”

  Well, her and a nanny and their housekeeper. But Eden knew better than to say that. She’d pushed her mother enough for one day. She loved her mother. She really did. But the woman was a bulldozer with some antiquated beliefs. “I won’t always be here, Eden. Don’t be left with regrets like I was when your father died. God rest his soul.”

  Her mother wasn’t even religious. It was just a way to heap on more guilt. And Eden was falling for it.

  She bit back a frustrated groan. The very last thing she wanted was to attend one of her mother’s dinner parties.

  But she would do it.

  “Fine, Mother. I will be there.”

  “Good, Eden. Now, don’t worry about dressing before you arrive. I’ll have something chosen for you.”

  Oh, no way.

  “Mother, I can—”

  “I have to go, love you. Mwah. Mwah.” Kisses came down the phone before the call abruptly ended. Eden banged her head against her desk.

  Why? Why? Why her? She didn’t want to attend the damn dinner and she definitely didn’t want to wear whatever ghastly outfit her mother picked out for her. She could see it now. Something pastel, for sure. Which definitely wouldn’t go with Eden’s wild red hair, which she’d inherited from her father. Probably a matching skirt and jacket set that cost more than Eden made in a month.

  Maybe she could sell it.

  “Oh God, Eden. You’re getting desperate now.”

  “Who do you speak to?”

  With a screech, she sat up, staring at the huge male looming in the doorway.

  “M-Marcun?” Her heart raced and she placed her hand on her chest, as though she feared it would jump from her chest. “W-what are you doing here?”

  Besides scaring me half to death.

  As her fright faded, her heart continued racing for another reason. Last night as she’d lain in bed trying to sleep, she’d wondered if she had imagined how gorgeous he was. How big. Muscular. Sexy.

  She’d thought maybe it was the sleep deprivation playing tricks on her mind. But now he stood in her office, dressed in another interesting shirt. This one was a deep red, which was not a bad color on him, but it had another pattern. Dalmatian dogs. Hundreds and hundreds of tiny Dalmatian dogs covered his shirts. It was like nothing she’d seen before. Not that the shirt detracted from the effect his presence had on her libido.

  Wait a minute…

  She stood, feeling alarmed. “How did you get here?”

  “I walked.” He frowned, looking at her with puzzlement. “Are you well? Who did you speak to and why were you banging your head against the desk? Were you having a fit?”

  “Of a sort,” she muttered, moving around the desk towards him. He seemed okay, but still…

  His eyes widened. “Do you require medical assistance?”

  “Oh, I definitely need my head read.” Agreeing to her mother’s demands was never
a smart move.

  “You have machines with that capability? I have heard of them but never knew if that was merely rumor.”

  “What?” She was only half-listening as she studied him carefully. He appeared to be well. No rash. He wasn’t coughing or having difficulty breathing. She didn’t know why she cared so much about this man, maybe it was because he was her neighbor or perhaps it was that he seemed so helpless. Lost.

  “A machine that reads your mind? That can tell what your thoughts are.”

  She saw how alarmed he appeared and forced herself to pay attention to what he was saying. A machine that could read minds? Why the hell would she have one of those even if they did exist.

  “No, I don’t have a machine that can read minds. As far as I know there’s no machine that can do that.” Where exactly was he from? Had he been hiding under some rock somewhere? “Although it’s possible the military might have something like that and not have told anyone. You never know what they’re doing. And who knows there might be something like that out there.” She pointed above her head.

  “Out where?” He looked up. “In your ceiling?”

  She grinned. Damn, he was funny. She knew it was the whole English is a second language thing, and she probably shouldn’t laugh, but it was kind of cute. It somehow made him seem harmless.

  “No, silly. Out there in the universe. There are so many planets and races out there, no doubt there’s something that can read people’s minds.”

  He nodded. “Yes, there is.”

  “Know some aliens, do you?” she teased. The only aliens that visited Earth were foreign dignitaries and then most of the time, they preferred that the Earth Council meet with them off-planet. Earth was like that dirty secret nobody wanted to acknowledge. Polluted, over-populated, and running low on resources. If she let herself think about it too much then it all became overwhelming and scary.

  Of course, there had been rumors about some Zerconian warriors visiting Earth to search for mates, but she figured that was just what it sounded like. A rumor. Why would they come here when they could ship transporters filled with women over to them? Although when those last transporters were taken over by Coizils, a number of women had changed their minds about making the trip. She didn’t blame them. While she’d dreamed about escaping a few times on one of those transporters—her mother would have had trouble ordering to her to dinner if she lived on Zerconia—she knew she would never do it. She had responsibilities here. She was needed. This was home.