Chapter 7
1572 Words
7Topper woke up groaning when she tried to roll to her side and it hurt. Before she could get mad at her aging body over the discomfort, she remembered the night’s activities and laughed. There wasn’t an inch of her that had escaped Stark’s attention. She would be paying for that debauchery the rest of today unless she called Nonny for a tonic.
As full consciousness returned, Topper also realized the guest bed was empty of the male who’d used her so thoroughly. Guess Glacierans didn’t hang around to chat the morning after. They were not much different than most Earth men in that regard.
Snorting at her silly sense of abandonment, she swung her legs to the floor, only to find out they were not very willing to hold her up this morning. She laughed again, then cursed the horny alien who’d caused her weakness.
She gingerly walked out of Stark’s room to hers, then directly to the shower where she turned on the hottest water she could stand. It went a long way to easing her aches. By the time she was dry, she was nearly ready to face the day… and the alien who hadn’t bothered to face her the morning after.
To deal with the remaining discomfort, she settled for popping a few of the painkillers she found in her medicine cabinet. Real healing would have to wait for later. At least now she would be able to walk without wincing with every movement.
This time when she entered the hallway, she heard male voices in the kitchen. She walked in on a conversation that halted as they both turned to look at her.
Stark bowed his head once, his silver eyes gleaming with pleasure to see her. The way he was looking at her almost made up for waking up alone. And damn, that reverent head bowing thing he did was sexy. The alien was so constrained most of the time.
To know what he was like under all that calm demeanor made her want to smile at him like a mad woman. It also made her want to go sit in his lap and say good morning for real despite her aching body. Luckily for her still aching legs, their audience put a damper on that urge.
Theo grinned at her around his coffee cup. “Look who finally got up today. Stark and I have been out here talking for over two hours. All that extra sleep must have been good for you though. You’re actually smiling this morning.”
“What are you talking about, Theo? I’m not smiling,” Topper denied, heading to the coffee pot. She started to pour herself a cup and then stopped. “Wait—I don’t like coffee. I drink tea. What am I doing?”
“Besides delaying the search for the green meanies by sleeping in?” Theo demanded.
“Oh, stuff it,” Topper said, not turning around. “Or you’ll be the first ever dragon toad.”
Theo snorted and looked at Stark. “Has Topper threatened to turn you into a toad yet?”
Topper froze and swung around to glare fearfully at Stark who stared at her panic with one eyebrow raised.
“Yes,” Stark said succinctly, his gaze never wavering. “Topper threatened and then I reminded her that her magic didn’t work on me. As I recall the conversation, you and your fire-breathing skills were Topper’s backup plan.”
Theo laughed and drank his coffee. “Well, she’s right. I’d fry anyone’s a*s Topper asked me to. Even yours… though I am finally starting to like you… a little.”
“Yes and we were both so worried about your opinion. I could barely sleep for worrying about it,” Topper said sarcastically, turning back to the sink.
She filled her tea kettle with water and put it on the stove to boil.
“So… did you guys come up with a plan while I was sleeping in?”
Topper put a teabag in her favorite mug and turned back to face them. She avoided Stark’s gaze, afraid of seeing humor there. She would laugh and that would tell Theo far more than a sultry glance would. The only time she laughed at a man was when she was mind wiping one.
Theo frowned and took a sip of his coffee. “Actually, what we came up with was something scarier. If the beeberg caught a shifter in its animal form, it could go after it for a host. Stark seems to think that may be why we haven’t found her yet. He thinks maybe she’s got her eye on a shifter and is just waiting for the right opportunity.”
Topper drew in a startled breath. The possibility hadn’t even occurred to her. No one in Magic thought of shifters as animals—not really. “We need to put out a no shifting ban until the creatures have all been located and caught.”
“Agreed,” Theo said, rising from his chair. “I’m heading back to the office to do that right now. I’ll let you both know if I hear anything else. Finish making your tea, Topper. I know my way out. Stark—see you later.”
“Of course, Sheriff.” Stark bowed his head to acknowledge being included in the farewells.
Theo paused in the doorway. “I still haven’t heard from Alfred. Can you run by and check on him? He’s probably back in his fish bowl, but that would be good to know. I’d go myself, but I figured since you and Stark would be out and about…”
“Fine,” Topper said. “I’ll check on him today.”
“Thanks,” Theo said, once again heading to the door.
She and Stark said nothing more until they’d heard his truck start up and pull away.
When the tea kettle whistled, Topper poured the water over her tea bag. She carried it to the table and took Theo’s vacated but still warm seat.
“What happened between you and Theo?” she asked.
Stark felt one corner of his mouth lift. “Males on your planet are very similar to mine. Now that your sheriff feels we are working together, he is no longer threatened by my power as much. However, the peace between us might have been jeopardized if the fire breather had suspected you’d spent the night in my bed.”
“One of many reasons why I always slept with men who didn’t live around here,” Topper ground out, blowing on her tea to cool it. “Well, I’m glad Theo feels better about you being in Magic. His improved opinion still doesn’t change what we have to do though.”
Stark nodded in agreement. “Nor does it change how I feel about what happened last night.”
Topper took a sip and burned her tongue. She was always doing that, too impatient to wait for it to cool to a drinking temperature. “I guess that is true for me as well.”
The silence between them grew and Topper let it. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk about last night or not. But obviously Stark did.
“I must ask this question. Do you now regret giving yourself to me?”
Topper sipped her tea. Now that she’d burned her tongue, the hot liquid didn’t bother her so much. She looked at Stark over her cup—met his direct gaze.
“I don’t regret the first couple of times, but the last two or three took their toll on my older female body. I’m surviving this morning, just maybe walking a little funny. Theo didn’t seem to notice, which makes me think no one else will. The dragon misses nothing.”
Stark rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sure the answer I seek was in that explanation, but I failed to hear it. Let me rephrase—did I harm you in my enthusiasm for you last night?”
Topper snickered. His concerns about her always made her laugh. She just wasn’t sure why. “No, Stark. You didn’t harm me. I’m just not twenty, so your enthusiasm has me aching in places that I forgot existed. I’ll be fine. Stop worrying.”
She swallowed hard when Stark reached out and picked up her hand. He brought her fingers to his lips. He was so gallant. Once again she wondered about how relationships worked on his world.
“Topper—in my whole long life, I never lost control with a woman until you. The entire time I was talking to your fire breather, all I could think about was if you were going to hate me when you awoke. I was unable to enjoy the food your dragon insisted on making for me.”
Topper set down her mug with an exasperated thump, sloshing tea over the side. “I don’t know what kind of females you’re used to on Glacier, but I would have stopped you if anything had been a problem. But I didn’t want to stop you, so I didn’t. Now I’m paying a tiny price for my overindulgence this morning, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about repeating everything we did. Earthlings are like that. We’re excessive, especially women who’ve found a man who makes love to her the way she’s always dreamed a man would.”
Stark swallowed hard and sighed. “It relieves me to hear I pleased you.”
Fed up with explaining something that still had the capacity to make her blush despite her age, Topper stood and leaned over the table. She grabbed Stark by the shirt front and yanked him close enough to put her mouth on his. He let her kiss him, his mouth relaxed and compliant under her exploring one. Moaning, she bit and sucked his bottom lip, before making herself turn loose.
Sighing after she let go, Topper lowered herself back to the chair and picked up her tea again. “Did that answer any remaining questions you might have?”
“Yes,” Stark whispered, his voice husky with renewed arousal. “Yes, my lovely witch, I believe it did.”
Topper nodded, swallowing nervously at the possessive look in his eyes. Stark looked like he was ready to drag her back to bed. She really needed to learn to control herself better. Maybe when Stark went back to his planet—until then, she’d just have to deal.
“Good. Now that we got that straight, where are we going to start our search for the beeberg?”
- Writer
