“Aye, but not the way you’re thinking so you can just put that out of your mind. Females,” he grumbled.
She gave him an innocent stare. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. Damn females always trying to make matches.”
“I just don’t want you to be lonely. Either of you.”
“Not lonely,” he said shortly. “Now give me another one of those so I can get out of here before you start trying to match me up with Saka.”
They both laughed and she gave up.
Varga appeared just as she was finishing the meal.
“There you are,” he said with a sigh of relief. “I don’t like waking up alone.”
“I’m sorry, but after being in the medical bed, I wasn’t tired. And remember, I didn’t have to trek across the surface—someone carried me the whole way.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to cook for everyone,” he muttered, but he surveyed the array of food hungrily.
“I enjoy it, and it helps me relax. Now help me carry this out to the table, please.”
“Anything you want, sweetheart, but first…”
It seemed to her dazed mind as if he swooped on her, lifting her into his arms and kissing her until she melted against him. Maybe the meal could wait after all…
A discreet cough interrupted them, and she looked over Varga’s shoulder to see Issar standing in the kitchen entrance, his strange features solemn but his eyes laughing.
“I hate to interrupt but my female is hungry.”
Varga growled but she ignored him and smiled at Issar. “I’m sure she is. I have a meal prepared if you could help me carry it—”
“I said I would do it,” Varga interrupted.
“But you started kissing me instead.”
Issar’s shoulders shook, and she grinned at him as Varga reluctantly put her back on the ground.
“Shall we eat?”
Varga sighed but helped her carry the dishes to the table. The rest of the party gradually trickled in, even Polly. Unlike the others, Polly hadn’t taken advantage of the opportunity to get clean. Not only was she as filthy as ever, she had abandoned the coverall and was once again naked.
“Would you like something to wear, Polly?” Joan asked, but the girl only shook her head and crammed another pastry in her mouth. Joan looked over at Rummel helplessly, but he only shrugged.
After the meal, Varga washed the dishes, then reluctantly handed over two more of his tunics. While Saka and Taliane modified them, Joan sat down with a tablet he had given her that was supposed to help her learn a written language. It was slow going, and she found herself watching Polly more than the device. The girl wandered around the room, touching things with a cautious finger, an odd look on her face.
“Do you like the ship?” she asked when the girl came close to her.
“It’s very soft. I’d forgotten what that was like.”
Joan’s heart ached as she remembered the barren cell. She wanted to ask how Polly had ended up in the mines but she was afraid to bring up painful memories.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to get clean?”
“No!” Polly’s eyes widened and she skittered backwards, then rushed out of the room.
Joan sighed and returned to her tablet.
Varga went off to the training room with Issar and returned an hour later, the sheen on his skin accenting all those bulging muscles and the thin golden lines of his scars. Her nipples tightened as she surveyed him, and she knew that he noticed.
“I can’t wait to have you alone again, little bird,” he murmured as he sat down beside her.
His smoky scent filled her head and she leaned into him. “Me either. But it’s a long time until bedtime.”
“Not that long.” His eyes gleamed with amusement. “I have adjusted the ship’s clock to Hothian time. It will help to ease the transition once we arrive. It will also make this a short day, but I doubt that anyone will object.”
“I think you’re right,” she laughed. The effects of the medical bed had faded, and several times she had found herself nodding off over the tablet. She suspected she was not the only one. “I’ll go and make an early dinner. Perhaps some soup…”
“I already told you that you did not have to cook for everyone.”
“I know, but I really do enjoy it.” She leaned closer and ran a teasing hand down his chest. “Besides, the sooner we eat, the sooner we can go to bed.”
Heat flared in those dark golden eyes. “In that case, tell me how I can help you.”
She laughed and led him towards the kitchen.
Chapter Eighteen
Later that evening, Varga reluctantly climbed out of bed. Joan murmured sleepily but didn’t wake, and he paused a moment to admire the sight of her. How quickly he had become used to waking with her in his arms. Leaving her to sleep, he went to check on her lizard. George was also sleeping, but according to the medical bed, she was healing satisfactorily.
Next he went to check on the autopilot. Everything was on course, but as he returned through the lounge, Saka stepped in front of him.
“Can I talk to you, Varga?”
“About what?” he asked cautiously. Damn, he’d thought she was asleep.
“My future.”
“Can’t it wait until the morning? And you would be better off talking to Joan.”
“No, I wouldn’t. She doesn’t know what our world is like. She won’t understand why I can’t go home.”
The genuine anguish in her words made him pause. He suspected his female would insist on helping but he wasn’t going to wake her. With a sigh, he sat down.
Saka sat next to him, closer than he would have preferred, but the Myyp were a tactile race and she wasn’t actually touching him.
“Why can’t you go
