This was also the same guy that tried to deny her joining because his life was dangerous, and he didn’t want her to be involved in it. At least, until she proved herself equal to it.
Yeah, right. She wasn’t afraid of this guy. He’d given her no reason to be. Even now.
“Answer the question,” he returned, deliberately not answering her. Saying a lot by saying nothing at all. “You want to be in my crew, or no?”
“Yes, boss,” she mumbled, wondering what he would do if she stood up on her toes and kissed him right here and now. Would he go along with it or pull back?
“Will you obey my rules?” He asked, sending a thrill down her spine.
Obey was such a bad word. It had such bad connotations. If anyone else said that to her, she’d tell them to obey this and double flip them the bird while walking backwards.
But coming from him, she liked it. She wanted to hear it again. She wanted him to praise her for being a good girl and obeying him.
“Yes, boss,” she said again, a soft moan in the words.
He didn’t miss it at all. His gaze darted down to her lips, then back up. Silence stretched between them, so painfully tense, as she waited to see what he would do. If he’d close that last distance and claim the kiss that she was clearly offering.
But he pulled back, and she very nearly whined her disappointment out loud.
“Then, I’ll be your sponsor,” he said plainly.
She blinked, coming back to herself with some breathing room. “Really? You will? Me and Goldie both? ‘Cause we’re a package deal. And I get that’s double the load on you, and it will be more expensive, but we’ll both work hard and-”
“Don’t worry about it,” he cut her off, smirking as he hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his pants. “As it happens, you’ve already been paid for.”
“Huh? By who?”
“The guy who had you abducted in the first place. He sent you along with a bunch of pretty gems that will do well taking care of you.”
Garnet blinked, surprised. “You’re stealing from the guy who hired you?”
“You think he’ll report me for it?” He countered, smirking with one corner of his mouth. Because no, he absolutely would not. Only an idiot would try to go to the authorities claiming theft when the humans he’d trafficked were in the same box as the stones that were ‘stolen’.
Garnet laughed, doubling over, holding onto her belly. “Oh, my gosh! I can’t believe we’re being funded by the guy who stole us in the first place. That’s rich!”
“Yes, you are,” Tanin chuckled along with her. “We’ll sell those stones off, and it will be more than enough to pay for any supplies the two of you might use. We’ll be able to get you some more clothing, and whatever else you need. Don’t worry. Not a financial strain at all.”
Garnet laughed, jumping forward.
He was surprised by the hug, but didn’t resist her. Nor did he stop her when she stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek.
And in so doing, she got to see a little burst of light, like a tiny firework, on his skin.
She came back down on her heels, blinking in surprise. “What was that?”
“Seemed like a kiss to me,” Tanin said, his hands resting comfortably on her hips, neither of them making any move to step away. “Missed my lips though.”
“Not that,” she laughed. “Your skin. It looked like you lit up when I kissed you.”
“I did.”
He lifted his arms and rolled up his sleeves. Totally derailing her thoughts as she focused on the muscles of his arms now being exposed. And the swirling designs on his skin. Not like tattoos. They weren’t different colors, they were just raised designs. More like scars, but they weren’t traumatic. They looked like they were part of him and, when he held out his arms for her to inspect, they were the same texture as the skin around them.
“The whirls are marks of adults in my species.” Tanin explained. “And the lights… Well, they attract our mates to us.”
As she ran her finger down the whirling lines, more sparks, little bursts of white fireworks just under his skin, followed her touch. They weren’t super bright. In fact, if it weren’t for the dimness of the overflow storage space, she might not have seen them at all.
But she did see them, and they were really pretty. Kind of hypnotizing.
