With everything she’d been through, she must be running on empty. He pulled his phone out of his pocket.
Her auburn brows drew down. “What are you doing?”
He punched a contact and began to type. “Texting.”
“Texting?”
“Yeah. This realm revolves around digital tech. I can use my phone to send text messages.”
“Oh.”
He shot her a look. “You’ve heard of this tech before?”
She nodded. “Yes. But the realms I usually work in don’t do digital. Who are you messaging?”
“Just shouting to someone who can help.”
“A dealer?” Her gaze was filled with a mix of trepidation and disgust.
Did she really think he worked at that level? A lowlife dealer? He tried not to let the assumption sting, but it did. It colored his voice when he answered. “No. They don’t offer the pure stuff, anyway. They lace it with all kinds of garbage to make a better buck.” He paused while he tapped, then continued. “I have a trader friend. He can get you what you need.”
Aria picked another piece of meat off the gyro. “Could he look for something else too?” She slipped the meat onto her tongue, which slowly pulled it between her full lips.
The pink tongue and those lips—Lucas’s ability to think screeched to a halt. When she quirked a brow at him, he yanked his mind out of the gutter and cleared his throat. “Sure. What do you need?”
Aria fidgeted in her seat. “There are herbs that Dragonas use to stave off their reproductive cycles. Do you think he could find some for me? Do you have enough currency for both?”
Lucas had heard things—no more than rumors, really, stories traded among Sadie’s sex-starved male company—about how the hormones turned Dragonas into wanton, sex-crazed beasts, and the pheromones seduced any male within reach. Despite his best efforts, images of Aria naked and panting in his arms flitted through his mind.
She raised the second brow as she stared at him, and his skin flushed. He swallowed hard. “I should. But are you so sure you need it? You said you dreamed of Nikolai before you met him. Doesn’t sound like hormones to me.”
Her lips tightened, and she reached out to stroke Mai. When she spoke, her voice was barely audible. “It’s not just him I’m attracted to.”
Lucas stared at her, and his heart twisted. The Sabres. They’d been big, muscular, and damned good looking. He did his best, but he couldn’t stifle the surge of jealousy. “Any woman would think those guys were gorgeous.”
Her brows lowered. “What guys?”
“The Sabres. They put models and movie stars to shame. The women pile onto them at bars.”
Aria scooped the shrew into her hands and pushed herself to her feet. “I wasn’t talking about the Sabres.” She shot him a molten look that vibrated straight through to his already agitated heart.
As comprehension dawned and shock permeated Lucas, Aria picked up Mai, and her plate. “Think I’ll take this up for a midnight snack. I’m beat, going to bed.”
Lucas’s mind spun as she walked from the room. Did she just admit to being attracted to him? Shehadcome looking for him at Demeti’s lair. And she’d wanted him to come with her and Nikolai.
But why would she be attracted to Lucas? He was nothing like Nikolai. And if she hadn’t lusted after the Sabres, didn’t that shoot down her reproductive cycle theory?
His mind slowly regained traction. Herbs. He was supposed to be asking about herbs. It wouldn’t hurt to inquire, so he added her request to his text. His contact didn’t live in this realm, but he kept an apartment here, and checked in using the local technology regularly. He usually responded within a few hours.
Lucas sent the text, then applied himself with vigor to the remaining gyros. He’d roomed with Betsy before, and she understood the voracious Morph appetite. By the time he sat back and burped, he felt much better.
Physically, he was now on the road to recovery. Mentally was another matter. Demeti’s attentions had awakened unhealthy memories that had resisted containment since the collar incident. They danced among more balanced, but not overly attainable, images of the petite but powerful Dragona.
The woman who seemed determined to become his undying obsession. And who might have just admitted she found Lucas attractive.
Lucas sighed. And decided another shower might be in order...
28
