by Laurie Roma
“Aye.”
“The Helios are weird. Even though he doesn’t really follow the customs, I think he still believes in some of it. Like the name thing,” Rogan explained with a shrug.
Emma wiped her hands on her apron, then she rubbed at her temples. They were all giving her a headache. “What name thing?”
“You know, why he doesn’t use a last name. He left Helix because his mother was seriously whacked.”
“He told me,” Emma said softly.
Trip’s mother had tried to make her children fight each other to the death in order to pick the next leader of their tribe. It was one of the reasons he was so good at fighting.
He’d needed to be in order to survive.
“So, he’d use Emma’s last name?” Jais asked with a laugh. “Trip Rage. That sure as hell suits him.”
“As I said, the Helios are weird,” Rogan repeated. “Just go with it.”
Emma’s temper flared to life. The Dragon Warrior with glowing red and black eyes wanted to call the Helios weird? Yeah, right. “What am I supposed to do? Jump on a table and tell him to stop hitting people because I want him to mate me?”
Jade nodded. “Aye.”
“He did ask for a suite to be prepared for the two of you in the other residence,” Rogan added before shoveling some food in his mouth. “We’ve been wondering why you haven’t moved in yet.”
“When did he ask for the suite?”
“The day after he brought you here. You know, right after he got you fired from your other job. He contacted us while we were in the Capital.”
Emma opened her mouth, then closed it again. Trip had asked for them to be included with the other mated pairs weeks ago, and he hadn’t said a word to her.
What was her male thinking?
She jerked her apron off and stomped toward the doorway, muttering, “All of you people need to come with a damn manual.”
“Oh, this is going to be good,” Jais whispered gleefully as he raced after her.
When the door slid open, Emma entered the main bar area of Exodus. Lights and noise assaulted her, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. Scanning the room, she ignored everything but the Helios male currently holding a Krytos male a few inches off the floor with a hand wrapped around his throat.
Pushing her way up to the square bar in the center of the room, Emma hoisted herself up. She should have apologized for almost kicking some poor girl in the head, but she was on a mission now.
When she was standing on the bar top, she shouted, “Trip!”
He didn’t seem to hear her, so she shouted again.
Another Krytos male lunged at him from the side, but before she could shout a warning, Trip’s other fist shot out.
The Krytos male fell to the ground.
The music cut off as she screamed, “Trip Rage!”
Time seemed to stop as everyone in the bar turned to look at her. She watched as Trip’s body tensed, then his head slowly turned until he was looking right at her.
Courage, she told herself.
“Trip Rage,” she shouted again. “Do you want to continue to fight those assholes, or are you going to come over here and claim me?”
His amber gaze locked on hers, Trip tossed the male he was holding to the ground. His long strides ate up the distance between them until he was standing in front of her. Suddenly, he jerked her off the bar, into his arms.
“Finally,” he growled, triumphantly.
Then, he kissed her.
Starlight exploded around them, and the roar of applause filled the air. When he pulled back, Emma saw that they were surrounded by their friends, their family.
Happiness welled up like a spring inside of her, and the words she’d been holding back simply spilled from her lips. “I love you, Trip. I love you so much.”
“And I love you, mate.”
“Now, take me home, and make me yours.”
“You always have been, Emma,” Trip said with a smile. “You’ve always been mine.”
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laurie Roma lives in Texas, and mainly writes contemporary, romantic suspense, and sci-fi romance. She can usually be found tapping away on her keyboard, creating worlds for her characters while she listens to music. Of course, her playlist depends on her mood...but then again, so does her writing. She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached at [email protected].
For all titles by Laurie Roma, please visit
www.laurieroma.com
3013: THE SERIES
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