Dykan grunted in a combination of confusion and discontentment, but he didn’t move closer.
Kat squeezed Ramir’s shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, Ramir. My…um…friend overreacted.”
“No, I didn’t,” Dykan growled low behind her.
Kat bit her lip and ignored him. “He doesn’t know his own strength.”
“Yes, I do. He was lucky I held back.”
“And it’s all a big misunderstanding.”
“I have eyes. Everything is perfectly clear to me,” Dykan growled menacingly.
“And he’s terribly sorry about this.”
“Yes, sorry that I didn’t snap his fucking neck.”
“Will you shut the fuck up?” Kat hissed angrily over her shoulder. “You’re not helping at all!”
“Good! That wasn’t my intention,” Dykan replied fiercely.
With her most amiable smile, she turned back to Ramir. “Can you stand?” she asked him softly.
Ramir nodded. “I think so,” he whispered hoarsely, rubbing his hand over his throat. With a groan, he rose, looking cautiously at Dykan. “Keep that animal away from me,” he told Kat when he was finally standing.
“I’m so sorry, Ramir,” Kat repeated.
Ramir looked from Kat to Dykan and back with an incredulous gaze. “How come you even know someone like him?”
“He’s just a friend,” Kat said with a gentle smile, hoping he wouldn’t ask any more questions about her relationship with Dykan.
“He’s dangerous, a menace to society. Take my advice and stay as far away from him as possible, Kat. He’s not our kind of people. He’s trash.”
Dykan growled and stepped toward Ramir, exposing his fangs.
Shrieking like a baby, Ramir staggered back. He pivoted on his toes, dashing out of Dykan’s reach.
“That beast should be caged,” he yelled as he ran out of the alley like a bat out of hell without giving Kat or Dykan a second glance.
“Have fun at your party tomorrow. Hopefully you’ll have nice weather,” Kat called out after him in her most agreeable nothing-bad-happened-here voice, but she knew it would be to no avail. There was no way she had convinced Ramir that this had been nothing more than a big misunderstanding. Kat dropped her head to her chest and sighed. Looking up, she gave Dykan a furious stare.
“Damn it, Dykan! Was it really necessary to scare him like that? After you almost choked him to death?”
Dykan shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t help it if he’s a wimp.”
“He’s also a friend of the family. He’s surely going to tell my parents about this. You can’t just go around attacking people willy-nilly.”
“That male—if you can call him that—deserved it for touching you,” he said with restrained anger in his voice.
“No, he didn’t. No one deserves to get mangled for touching a female in all innocence.”
“In all innocence? He had his hand on your breast,” Dykan growled slowly. “Every Makaen male would react that way if another male touched his female.”
Kat shook her head. “I don’t need you to fight for me, Dykan. I can take care of myself. But more importantly: who touches me, where and when is none of your business. I’m not your female. You made perfectly clear what I am to you. How did you so eloquently put it? Oh yeah, nothing more than a great fuck. What girl doesn’t like to be called that? At least that so-called wimp is a gentleman and talks to me respectfully.”
Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, since they mostly talked about his garden, not her, but Dykan didn’t know that. And Ramir had said he found her just suitable enough to become his consort. That sounded somewhat respectable.
“You made perfectly clear I mean nothing to you,” Kat continued. “Nothing. So don’t you start going all alpha male caveman on me in public just because we fucked. It embarrasses me and I don’t appreciate it. Understood?”
Dykan’s eyes glowed like fire and it took him a moment to react.
“You are right, milady,” he said in a soft, courteous voice, bowing excessively low. “I apologize for my uncivilized behavior. You must think me such a barbarian. I have no idea what came over me.” Dykan straightened, his eyes emotionless dark pools now. “You’re right. It’s none of my business if you prefer wimps in your bed. I shouldn’t have interfered in your make-out session. I will no longer bother you.”
He turned around so fast it made Kat’s head spin, and stomped away.
“Dykan, wait!” Kat yelled out. This entire situation had almost made her forget why she had come here in the first place.
He stopped but didn’t turn around. “What?”
Damn! The last thing she wanted was to ask him for help. Not after she had just told him she could take care of herself and didn’t need his help. Fudge! But she didn’t have a choice.
“What?” he barked impatiently when she remained silent.
Kat blew out air.
“I…my brother and I…we want to hire you and your crew for a few days. To do a job for us.” She swallowed nervously. “It’s a business deal. You will be paid very well for your services.”
Dykan just stood there like a statue. When he finally answered, he didn’t even bother to face her. “Sorry, Kitten, but you can’t afford us.”
“Name your price,” she prodded.
Dykan shook his head and slowly turned around, his eyes locked on hers. “If you want me to put it more plainly, I will. This barbarian will never work for you, no matter how much you are willing to pay. You might believe you can buy anyone as long as you offer the right price, and it may have worked with me the first time, but no more. You and that idiot brother of yours will have to find other fools to do your bidding. Why don’t you ask that wimp for help? I’m done here. I’m done with you.”
He turned around again and started walking away from her.
Kat quickly pulled the stun gun out of her pocket again and with trembling fingers aimed it at Dykan’s back.
“Dykan, please, wait,” she begged, but he didn’t stop.
Kat couldn’t let him go. She squinted through one half-open eye.
“I’m so sorry,” she muttered before pulling the trigger.
Chapter 11
“Captain, wake up.”
Dykan tried to open his eyes, but it felt as if his eyelids were pulled down by a black hole. It took him several tries to lift them. Everything around him was dark and blurry. He saw something close to him move, but he couldn’t focus. He saw only a hazy image.
“Dykan, are you alright?”
After he blinked a few times, the hazy image turned into the face of his friend Selvin, who looked at him through a hole in a wall made of large boulders. Dykan felt the cold stone floor beneath him.
“What happened?” Dykan asked, pushing himself up. He winced when a sharp pain pierced his back.
“It’s best if you stay seated for a while. I believe we’ve been stunned. The effects will wear off soon.”
Dykan looked around. “Is everyone here? Wherever here is.”
Selvin nodded. “Yes. We are in some kind of prison cell. The others are in the cells next to us.” Selvin pointed to the wall of his cell. “I was taken in the tavern when I went to relieve myself. Boda and Sly when they went up to a room with some of the females. I haven’t heard Loanod’s and Kadaen’s story yet. You were the last one to be brought in. I was too groggy to see anything. I’m sorry.”