“Yes, you are,” she exclaimed, sure she was right.
Justin winced. “Holly, honey, you maybe want to keep your voice down. We’re in public and—-”
“You’re from a more advanced planet,” she accused. “And you crash--landed here or came here to study us and—- Cripes, we’re like cows to you!”
“Honey,” he began, and then glanced to Decker and Anders. “A little help here guys?”
“Nah,” Decker said with amusement. “This is too interesting.”
Anders nodded. “I want to hear more of her theories.”
“I want to see how he explains away her theories,” Decker countered.
“You’re going to farm us,” Holly accused. “You’re going to get the extra blood you need for your -people by using us as cows and milking us by the millions. You’ll lock us up on farms and bleed us daily.”
Justin cringed. Her voice was getting louder with every word and they were definitely garnering attention. “Holly, honey. You need to calm down. We aren’t aliens. Our ancestors come from Atlantis, not space.”
“Atlantis?” She stared at him as if he was crazy.
“Yes. Surely you’ve heard of it?” He barely waited for her to nod before rushing on, “Well, it did exist, and as the myths claim, it was much more evolved scientifically than the rest of the planet and that is where the nanos were developed. They were created as a medical aid, to help cure the sick or seriously injured. And when Atlantis fell, the only survivors were those who had been treated with nanos.”
He paused briefly to see how she was taking this. Noting the frown on her face and uncertainty, he added, “We aren’t going to hurt you, Holly. I made you one of us, remember, honey? I saved your life. I’m the good guy.”
She frowned harder at those words, which was at least better than the screeching she’d been doing a minute ago, he thought, and then Holly asked, “Why did you save my life?”
“What?” Justin asked, caught by surprise.
“In the hotel you said something about turning me because I was your life mate or something. What is that?”
Justin hesitated, his gaze sliding to Decker and Anders. There was no help there, of course, the two men were watching the entire exchange with amused interest and offering little assistance. Scowling at them for it, he turned back to Holly. “Do you think we could take this conversation inside? I really would rather not hold it in a parking lot.”
Holly looked like she was about to say no, but then nodded abruptly and turned to stride inside. Decker and Anders immediately chased after her, trying to maintain their positions at her side, but Justin watched her go with a frown. He had absolutely no idea how he was going to explain the life mate business to her. He didn’t even know if he could. Would it be interfering to tell her that she was his? He didn’t know. The council might consider that undue influence, or tantamount to bribery. After all, he could promise her the best sex of her life: mind--blowing, lose--your--head—-not to mention consciousness—-sex. Who wouldn’t jump at that?
Maybe he should just call Lucian and ask if he could explain it or not, Justin thought, and reached a hand into his jacket pocket for his cell phone.
“Hey!”
He glanced around to see that Holly was standing in the open door of the restaurant, scowling at him. Decker and Anders were behind her, amusement on their faces. It was an expression that they couldn’t seem to get rid of, Justin noted grimly. The bastards were enjoying this.
“Are you coming, or what?” Holly called impatiently.
Cursing under his breath, Justin released his phone and headed for the door. He just wouldn’t tell her, he decided. He’d say, “I’m sorry, I can’t explain that at this time. Perhaps later though,” and then change the subject. It would be easier that way anyway, he thought grimly. He really didn’t want to even think about how hot the sex with her could be, let alone put it into words. Just sitting beside her in the car had been a trial. He’d been trapped in the backseat with her scent, feeling the heat coming off her body and washing over him in a heady wave of Hollyness. Justin had actually considered sitting on his hands to keep from touching her. Fortunately, he’d managed to make it all the way here without doing either.
“Really? And what does he do?” Decker was asking when Justin caught up to them at the table where they’d been seated. At first, Justin didn’t know who they were talking about, but Holly’s answer quickly got him up to speed.
“He works for a company that designs and manufactures photonic--integrated circuit--based components,” Holly explained, and then smiled at their blank expressions and admitted, “Yeah, I don’t really know what the heck that means either.”