Viper bit back the grin of satisfaction threatening to escape him. Carmen’s trick with the white cloth had worked, Tina had accepted his gift of the flowers, and he had gotten rid of Bahadur for a while. His eyes glittered with triumph. He would have the females back on the Horizon before they knew what happened and he would have Tina in his bed, preferably under him.
Mate good, his cat purred. She give treat. She like us.
Yes, Viper agreed as he tossed a handful of the multi-colored beans into his mouth.
Viper sat down at the table, smiling at Tina when she pushed the jar of sweets closer to him. He spent the next hour patiently answering her and Pearl’s questions. The questions he couldn’t answer, he either skirted or made a non-committal response to. He didn’t want to frighten Tina o
