Mandate Read Online Free PDF Page B

sweaty. I will be here when you are done.”
    He stepped over to her with the slow grace of a predator and bent forward. “This exercise is a distraction.”
    She whispered. “I guessed that much.”
    He nuzzled her cheek next to the flower again before he straightened and headed for the exit.
    With a heavy sigh, she looked over at Rand, “So, do you guys put shirts on at all while you are home?”
    “Nope. It cuts down on the laundry.” He grinned.
    She sighed. “From what Beryl has told me, I am amazed no one has complained about my suit.”
    “It is a nice suit. The lines are clean and the design suits you. Hers were just awful.”
    She snickered.
    “Don’t tell her I said that. She seems to be calm today, but you never know.”
    “I am keeping tabs on her. She is exhilarated but calm. The combat with Toyo has amused her.”
    Rand sighed. “Of course it did. He doesn’t hit her and she has license to pound him into the walls. We have had to obtain a special set of repair bots just for the gym.”
    “How have you adjusted to her strength increase?”
    Rand shook his gold head and then shrugged. “Pretty well. She hasn’t taken a swing at any of us since the supplement. Well, no one but Toyo, and he is rather to blame for her moods.”
    Wren chuckled. “I hope to keep everyone safe and on an even keel.”
    With that goal in mind, she set about creating some snack bars that could be used for Beryl with no preparation. If anyone had told her that she would have become an expert at cooking with insects, she would have sneered that she would never be that desperate, and yet, here she was toasting larvae and estimating their doneness based on the nutty aroma.
    As the chassa cooled, she mixed the rest of the ingredients, sealing everything with a thick honey before pressing it into a pan with oiled hands.
    “That looks good.” Rand looked over her shoulder.
    “It has chassa in it. I can make some without if you are interested.” She smiled at him as Drovin came in.
    Rand went flying through the air and was pinned to the ceiling while Drovin held him there with one arm flung upward to focus the energy that was holding his friend prisoner.
    The dark swirl of emotion coming off Drovin shocked her. Wren sent tendrils of calm into the storm, but they were absorbed and disappeared.
    Contact seemed the less safe but necessary option. A few steps took her to Drovin’s side, and she touched his arm and chest. “Easy, Drovin. He was just after food. He complimented my cooking, so I smiled.”
    She had her mind ready, and the moment that Drovin eased up, she lowered Rand to the floor.
    Drovin’s grey skin was flushed and his heart was pounding. “I…”
    Wren pressed her forehead to his chest and sent calm to him. It crept over him in a warm wave, and she felt his muscles relax.
    He pressed his hands to her shoulders and down to her arms. He lifted her up and their lips were an inch from contact when an alarm rang through the base.
    She felt his hands clench on her arms, but he carefully set her down, backed away and sprinted for his quarters to get into his suit.
    Rand went past her and muttered, “Thank you.”
    The base was a whirlwind of activity for a few minutes, and then, they were gone, leaving Beryl and Wren behind.
    “What about Loesh?”
    Beryl sighed. “He will meet them en route.”
    Beryl was wearing the W’lyn version of yoga gear. She was sweating lightly but calm. Wren was going to try and keep her that way. It would give her something to do while trying not to think about what would have happened next in Drovin’s arms.
    “Beryl, I have to ask, was Toyo a little moody around the others before you two formalized things?”
    Beryl chuckled. “You could say that. He guarded me like an angry hen with a chick. Of course, that ended after the bonding began, for the most part.”
    “How did you two bond?”
    Her charge blushed, her pearly skin tinted pink. “Uh, he nipped my inner thigh at a