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Chapter 11Berus

Chapter 11

Berus

Goddess, what was that amazing smell? Berus followed his nose to the ship's galley.

At first, he thought it was Emil giving cooking another try. The human male had been one of the first to get sick of replicator meals. He was the reason they had so many Earth spices on board.

Emil's creations had been decent, but he didn't enjoy the process of cooking very much, and he'd stopped bothering after they'd invested some of their earnings into better ingredients and additional gourmet settings for their replicators.

Berus had tried, too. Once. He burnt the tepin so badly that they still teased him about it, and it came up every single time someone on the crew made a crack about replicator food. After the first batch of tepins they'd raised had all been eaten, they'd gone back to pre-cooked and pre-seasoned packages kept in cold storage to help supplement their replicator meals.

Emil had been the only one who'd managed anything palatable, but the appetizing aroma wafting from the galley was much more than merely palatable. Someone was making magic in there. It also had Tallean-leaning flavors, though they were mixed with Earth ones too. Had the human male done some more research?

But it wasn't Emil he found in the ship's galley. It was Cami.

The kitchen apparatus dwarfed her, and someone had helpfully set up several crates in front of the work area she could use as steps to reach the counter and other equipment. She stopped humming and turned around when he stepped into the kitchen.

Their eyes met, and he lost all his words.

Stars!

There was that pounding in his heart again. Berus had been avoiding Cami, and for good reason. First, Ulrek had ordered him to stay away from her until Rehden was off the ship. He didn't want to make any trouble, not with the bounty hunters still looking for them. If pressed, that would be the reason he'd give his crewmates.

The second reason was the real one. The way Cami made him feel, possessive and almost out of control, terrified him.

Berus had long known that a mate was not in his future. What female would want to chain themselves to someone who'd been one of the Dominion's lowest-ranking soldiers?

He'd first joined the military because he was hungry and desperate, not because he wanted to. He'd gone through the basic training, then the aptitude testing. The results had been conclusive. He'd scored well below average for anything requiring mental capabilities. His parents had been too poor to send him to school, and that alone meant he'd gotten none of the mathematical questions correct. The fact that he was virtually illiterate hadn't helped either.

All in all, Berus had been good for one thing and one thing only: fighting. He was a lowly soldier, destined to be blaster fodder and to die forgotten in space.

He'd figured he'd be long dead by now; it was a miracle he was still alive. He had Ulrek to thank for that. Because of his captain, and now friend, he'd been given another chance. Here, on the Revenge , he'd learned how to read and write, and some basic math skills. They'd even given him the responsibility of scanning the bounty hunter notice boards, which was how he'd learned about Rehden and the missing arms shipment.

The crew treated him like an equal and asked for his opinion. At first, he'd thought they were teasing him, because who would really want his opinion? But he realized they truly cared. They didn't look down on him the way the Dominion had. He'd come a long way since that fateful day he bid the inner planets farewell forever.

But while his self-worth improved, he was still sure no female would want him as a mate. First of all, he lived on a ship, and most females didn't like being spacebound, preferring instead to have solid ground under their feet. Second, he had a bounty on his head. It wasn't as big as the one Ulrek and Tuhror had, or even Ckzarr or Kirex—Berus was an afterthought for the Dominion— but it was still there.

Ulrek had gotten lucky. Delaney had already accepted work on the New Horizon , the current official name for the Revenge , before she'd even met him. Ckzarr was doubly lucky in Roxy, because she was already crew.

Berus doubted he'd have their good fortune. The final nail in the coffin was that he didn't have too much to his name, considering he'd only started earning enough to put extra credits away over the past few years.

And so he'd stayed away from Cami, just in case what he was feeling was the beginning of a mate bond. He didn't know what a mate bond actually felt like but decided to be extra careful, just in case. The last few days had been difficult, but he'd managed. Until now.

Cami stood there, a big spoon in her hand.

"Berus. Hi." She grabbed a platter and plated up some of whatever she'd been cooking, then offered it to him. "Since you're here, you have officially been voluntold to be my taste tester."

He took the platter from her. The golden-colored pocket reminded him of Hunter's Purses. He'd only had the premade, heat-from-frozen versions of them before. These ones looked and smelled much, much better.

"What is voolen-toed?" he asked. "That word is not in my translator."

According to his translator, "voolen" was an alternative, accented pronunciation of "woolen" which meant made of animal fibers, and "toed" meant having toes. Somehow, Berus didn't think that was what Cami meant.

"That's when someone else tells you that you're volunteering. You've been told to volun teer. So, voluntold."

"I see. Thank you," Berus said, amused. "I would've volunteered on my own."

The food smelled delicious, though not as good as Cami. Berus kept that part to himself. The pockets of meat-filled dough were most definitely Hunter's Purses, but they didn't smell quite the same. Not wrong, just…different. But equally delicious.

"Wait! They're hot." She leaned in and blew on the food, waving her hand in front of it.

Berus refrained from capturing her pursed lips. Would it be so bad? Just one small kiss? Or would they end up fucking on the galley's counters? That would surely break any and all food safety and sanitation rules.

To distract himself from the tantalizing thought of sex with Cami, Berus picked up one of the triangular-shaped purses and popped the whole thing in his mouth. It was hot, but not enough to burn him. He chewed, swallowed, and groaned.

The flavors for the purses were all there, but there was something else too. It added just enough complexity to make the dish new and exciting.

"I hope that means you like it," she said with a soft chuckle. "I was a bit worried because you're supposed to marinate the meat ahead of time, but the only meat I found was already precooked and seasoned. It's just not the same unless you cook it in spices. And it was tepin meat, not norbex meat."

Norbex meat would have been very nice indeed, but that was hard to get out here and considered a delicacy. The hoofed animals required very specific conditions to thrive. Cami must have spent some time near or on Tal to have learned to cook with it.

How strange it was that this little Earth female from the other side of the galaxy was giving him a taste of home. A home he'd never see again.

He reached for her face, suddenly wanting to taste her instead.

"What's going on in here?"

Cami's demeanor changed instantly. She looked down, away from his face, back at the counter.

Rehden's voice had Berus freezing for a split second before he continued reaching past Cami and over to the row of purses lined up on a tray on the counter. He picked one up before turning to square a look at the other male, adjusting his stance to ensure he was positioned well between him and the female.

Rehden looked at Berus, then at the purse in his hand. The look of rage that had been on his face flitted across his features before it settled into something more controlled.

"Cami here offered to cook for the crew. You should be thanking her. You won't have access to credits to pay for this trip until you get to New Rhea. Consider this a deposit."

Berus was sure that wasn't the reason she was cooking at all, but felt that explanation would shut the other male up.

Rehden gritted his teeth together so hard Berus could see his jaws working. Cami reached for another serving platter and placed several more of the purses onto it before offering it to Rehden. Berus didn't move, refusing to yield his protective position between the two, and she had to reach around him to hand the tray over.

Rehden took it without thanks. He sniffed it cautiously, then made a face. "These do not smell right."

"I couldn't find the usual spices or meat on board, apologies," Cami said softly.

Rehden looked unsure as he took a tentative bite. "They are…acceptable."

Despite his lukewarm words, he quickly ate the rest on his plate. Then he turned to Cami. "There's no need for you to work while you're on board. Once on New Rhea, I will have access to my credits to pay our way."

But he wouldn't, Berus knew that, because they planned on removing Cami from his possession. It wasn't really theft if Rehden didn't truly own Cami to begin with. Not that Berus would've thought any differently if Rehden's claim had been genuine.

"If you don't wish her to work in the kitchens, perhaps she can offer other services." Berus reached over, and this time, he did touch Cami, cradling her cheek in his palm.

Her eyes widened at his implication, and she inhaled sharply before lowering her eyes and edging away until her back hit the counter. Apprehension rolled off her, her eyes darting quickly up to his face, then at the ground again. Berus knew her response wasn't from his touch, but rather from fear of Rehden's reaction.

Rehden looked ready to attack. He snarled and widened his stance.

Berus was itching for a fight, too. His captain was going to be irritated with him when he found out, but Berus wasn't usually the one to cause mischief, so Ulrek would surely forgive him.

He didn't understand why Cami did this to him. He wasn't usually one to look for trouble, but now? He wanted to fight for her, to claim her in front of the male who believed he owned her.

Rehden's reaction was noteworthy too. It wasn't the reaction of an over-possessive owner. There was something else. Had he formed a mate bond with her? If he had, why hadn't he declared her his mate?

The door to the galley opened before the two could lunge at each other. Dex was suddenly between them.

"Holy fuck, that smells awesome. Gimme gimme!" The smaller human male wedged himself between the two angry Talleans, even as Delaney, Roxy and Ckzarr made their way into the kitchen.

Soon the room was filled to bursting with far too many bodies, and half the crew was between Berus and Rehden.

Berus narrowed his eyes in annoyance at Dex, who only grinned back with a goofy grin on his face as he stuffed a crunchy, golden brown purse into his mouth.

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