Rever was on his feet in a heartbeat, his chair crashed to the floor, breaking, as a vicious snarl tore from his throat. Brenda had felt fear instantly, thinking the man had finally lost his temper. Instead Rever had turned abruptly from the table to march away, leaving most of his meal untouched.

Ali stood up, grabbed his plate, and had rushed after him within seconds, leaving Brenda alone with Tina at the table.

Tina rolled her eyes. “He’s got no sense of humor.” Brenda was pissed. “Are you trying to push every damn button he has? You’re provoking him on purpose by totally insulting him.” Green eyes had narrowed as Tina glared across the table. “So what? The guy is a screwing machine but that’s about the only thing he’s good at. He’s so much like an animal that I’m shocked he’s housebroken and doesn’t try to piss on my leg or hump it.

He growls, for God’s sake, like a damn pit bull. I love a great fuck and all but shit, he’s horny all the damn time. The guy doesn’t have an off switch unless he’s pissed and then he sulks, being a big damn baby and won’t touch me at all.” Tina stood up. “I’m going to my room. The food here is fucking awful.”

Brenda finished her meal alone until Ali returned looking pissed off. Sitting down hard, the Zorn woman shook her head.

“That red hair is driving my Argis Rever crazy. He wouldn’t eat and is pacing the backyard trying to calm his rage. She has questioned his manhood. He is Argis. If she were a male he would kill her for that insult. Do all humans show no respect?”

“I can’t stand that woman either, if it helps, and where I come from she wouldn’t get away with acting that badly. It’s just her. She’s a bitch.”

“What is that on your world? On Zorn it is a female animal that breeds.”

“It’s kind of the same but when you call a person that it’s an insult.” A smile curved Ali’s mouth. “She deserves an insult. If I called her a bitch would it upset her?”

“Her? Probably not. My guess is that she’s used to that term and has heard it a lot in her lifetime.”

“What would insult her?”

Hesitating, Brenda slowly smiled. “Tell her that she’s an asshole.” A grin spread on Ali’s face. “I know what an asshole is.” After dinner Brenda had talked with Ali for a bit before turning in for the night.

She’d heard Tina yelling and she’d heard some snarls coming from Rever but after a while it had gotten quiet. That was until Tina’s yelling had woken Brenda up near dawn. She jerked back to the present.

Brenda waved off the bathroom light and opened the door, stepping right into the hallway to return to bed. A second later she gasped when something large impacted with her hard enough to push the air from her lungs. She would have been thrown to the floor if two strong arms hadn’t caught her, yanking her into something warm, fleshy and solid.

The light in the hallway was dim but there was enough glow for her to see by. She stared at a broad, naked chest in front of her face and two thick arms held her around her waist, knowing it was Rever without looking up at his face. She stared at a muscular chest inches from her nose, his skin hot to the touch, and she realized her palms were pressed flat against his lower stomach. Soft hair and hot skin were under her fingertips.

Her gaze slowly rose to look at his face when he didn’t release her.

Rever’s eyes did glow in the dim light, the blue was amazing and that up close and personal, they were something she couldn’t look away from when their gazes locked.

Brenda wasn’t even aware that she was still breathing until she noticed how he smelled wonderfully male and there was a hint of some kind of masculine soap, the combination an intoxicating aroma. He blinked at her and his arms around her eased the tight hold.

“Are you all right? Did I harm you? I was walking too fast and did not know you were going to step into my path.”

She loved his voice when he spoke softly to her, that slight rumble gave her the best kind of chills. It was hard to think with his body pressed so close to hers, his warmth soaking into the front of her but she realized she had to answer his question.

“I’m fine. I’m also sorry,” she got out. “I should have looked or something before I just stepped out.”

“You had the right to assume no one would be roaming the house this early.” His arms loosened even more but he didn’t release her completely. “Are you sure I did not harm you? I heard you make a sharp noise and you are so little that I fear breaking you.”

At five-foot-four, a hundred and fifty pounds, no one had called Brenda little in a long while. Rounded, sure. Curvy, definitely and even chunky were the words she’d heard to describe her body. Then again in Rever’s arms she did feel almost tiny since the man was tall, wide, and just big all over. She still couldn’t look away from him and she didn’t want to, mesmerized by his gorgeous eyes. She could happily stare into those depths for hours at a time.

“I’m fine. You just knocked the air from me. Thanks for keeping me from sprawling on the floor.”

He lowered his face a few inches to slowly inhale, breathing her in, and his blue eyes closed as a soft sound came from his throat that sounded real close to a whimper.

The arms around her tensed, tightening for a second, before his eyes snapped open. He released her instantly, stepping two feet back so they were no longer touching.

“Are you all right? Did I hurt you?” Concern filled Brenda that maybe she’d injured him.

“I am fine.”

“You have a pained expression.”

Forcing her gaze from his, she let her attention wander down his body, realizing for the first time that he was damn near naked. She could only stare at his bared skin, her attention locked on a pair of shorts that looked to be a Zorn version of briefs, only tighter and form fitting on his hips, the tops of his thighs, and the front of them were presently tented, shocking her. The man was aroused and those shorts didn’t hold him down. The fabric of them was thin and the outline of a thick cock was so clear that it left little to the imagination. She’d never seen Valho naked but it looked as though Zorn men were big all over judging by Rever.