Janey was chatting with the Trog and Devlin, and she watched him covertly. Then turned away to pace the floor.
Maybe it wasn’t Callum. Maybe it was just a natural progression. Yeah, she’d been put off sex, but that was understandable. She’d come away from the research center with a total aversion to being touched and to being held. But a lot of time had passed since then, and she was a healthy adult woman. On top of that, and the whole ship had turned into some sort of knocking shop since Skylar, and then Jon, had come aboard. There were probably a whole load of pheromones or whatever just floating around on the air waiting to zap her. So it was hardly unexpected that her own libido had decided to wake up at long last.
And perhaps it was pure coincidence that Callum had arrived at the exact same time her sex drive had decided to return from the dead. That combined with the fact that Callum was Collective, and she’d always had a fascination for anything Collective, she was predisposed to fall for him—it wasn’t only not unexpected, it was probably inevitable.
She just needed to prove that.
Prove that Callum wasn’t the only man who could make her heart beat faster and her insides melt. Somehow, she just needed to trigger her brain. She peered across at Devlin. In his own way, he was as gorgeous as Callum.
As if sensing her stare, he glanced over and held her gaze for long moments. Then he broke the contact and spoke to the Trog, who nodded and left with Janey. The door slid shut behind them, leaving her alone with Devlin.
He strolled over to stand in front of her, a small smile on his face. One hand reached out and he cupped her jaw. “I go back to my ship tomorrow.”
“I know.” She stepped in closer and looked up at him from under her lashes. Tried a little flutter and felt like a complete asshole. Shit, she didn’t know how to do this. How did you get a man to kiss you?
She licked her lips, and at last, he seemed to get the message. His big hand slid from her jaw to the back of her neck, and he pulled her closer.
At the touch of his mouth, she swayed toward him, her breasts brushing against his chest. His lips were warm and hard, and he pushed hers open and thrust his tongue inside. Tannis waited for the rush of heat to overwhelm her.
It never came.
There was no revulsion. It appeared that particular reaction had been banished, and she was glad. But there was also no burning need. No urge to meld her body with his, to push herself close until they were one.
After a minute, he raised his head, a rueful expression in his eyes. Dropping his arms from around her, he stepped away. Head cocked on one side, he studied her, and she had to prevent herself from squirming under the intense scrutiny. “Callum Meridian?”
She started at the name. “Callum Meridian what?”
“You tell me.”
For a few seconds, her lips tightened and she considered the idea of telling him to mind his own goddamn business. But she supposed it was his business in a way. She had just come on to him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” She broke off not really knowing what to say, because she had meant to get him to kiss her. And she’d always been crap at apologizing especially when she was in the wrong.
Devlin shook his head, disgust clear in his expression. “Jesus. Callum Meridian. Well, I wish you luck with that—you’ll need it.” He gave her a long look. “So what was this—trying to make him jealous?”
“No!” She bit her lip, and then her innate honesty made her go on. “Well, maybe a little, but not really. I just wanted to see whether…” She really wished she had never gotten herself into this.
He chuckled at her discomfort. “Don’t worry. I don’t think I’m up to warding off your protectors anyway.”
“Protectors?”
“So far, I’ve had Rico, Janey, and Jon come and tell me that if I harm you in any way, they’ll—”
She gritted her teeth. “They’ll what?”
“Actually, it varies from drain me dry, to rip my throat out, to slicing off my dick with a blunt knife and tossing it out the airlock.” He shuddered at the last one. “So maybe it’s for the best. You know, you have a good crew—you obviously inspire loyalty. The Coalition could use you.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
He shrugged. “Well the offer is open. At least until you become one of those bastard Collective monsters. Though come to think about it, it might be useful having a member of the Collective as part of the Coalition.”
“No.”
He laughed, easing the harsh lines of his face. “Okay, I guess it’s time for bed. You do know the Trog snores, don’t you?”
“So you were only coming on to me for the chance of a quiet night?”
“Yeah.”
Tannis paused just outside the room, wanting to thank him for not making a big deal out of her kissing him. She reached up to touch his face. “Thank—” Her words were cut off as a fist came out of nowhere and slammed into Devlin’s mouth, hurling him to the floor.