“Mia, I have told you—I cannot take you into danger!” Storn’s voice was low and harsh. “I love you too much to endanger you.”
“I don’t care about the danger—I just want to be with you,” Mia pleaded. “Please, Storn—I don’t care what we have to face as long as we face it together!”
The big Satyr frowned.
“I can’t—” he began but Dr. Liv interrupted him.
“Instead of spending your last night arguing, why don’t you spend it together?” she suggested.
“What…what do you mean?” Mia asked, swiping at her streaming eyes.
“I mean what I said—spend it together,” the doctor repeated. “Look, your injuries have been healed enough that you’re not in any imminent danger,” she told Mia. “You’re going to have some pain and swelling for a while and I don’t know how long it will take for your voice to get back to normal, but I think it’s safe for me to release you from the Med Center.”
“Really?” Mia asked, looking at her hopefully. She still hated the idea of Storn leaving, but if she could just spend one night in his arms—just one night—she would have a beautiful memory to cherish forever.
“Really,” Dr. Liv said firmly. “I’m going to let you go and I want the two of you to go back to your suite and take this time to be together.”
“If you’re sure it’s safe…” Storn said, looking at her uncertainly.
“I’m sure,” Dr. Liv said firmly. “Go and make some memories both of you can cherish.”
“Thank you,” Mia whispered, swiping at her eyes. “Thank you so much, Dr. Liv.”
“Yes, thank you,” Storn rumbled, as he gathered Mia gently into his arms.
“You’re both welcome. And for what it’s worth, I don’t agree with the Council’s decision to give in to the World Council’s demands at all.” Dr. Liv shook her head disapprovingly, her blonde ponytail swinging with the motion. “My brother-in-law, Sylvan, is the head of the Council and he agreed with me, but he couldn’t overrule the whole Council,” she added. “I’m very sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Mia whispered. Sighing, she laid her head on Storn’s broad shoulder and let herself rest in his arms. “Thank you again,” she told Dr. Liv. Then she looked up at Storn. “Let’s go back to my suite, okay? I just want to spend time together while we still can.”
“As you wish, lovely one,” Storn rumbled.
And with a final nod to Dr. Liv, he scooped Mia up and carried her away.
28
“Help me out of this, would you?” Mia said hoarsely, tugging at the hospital gown she was wearing. “I want to take a shower and wash everything that happened with Hank down the drain, where it belongs.”
“Of course.” Storn was quick to untie the strings that held the loose gown in place. He didn’t blame his lovely one for wanting to wash away the horrors of the past few hours. What she had been through at the hands of her ex-mate was terrible. He just wished he could have gotten to her sooner. Despite his impending excommunication from the Mother Ship, he couldn’t regret what he had done to the bastard.
Mia reached into the large shower stall and swayed dizzily, clutching at the shower door for support.
“Here!” Storn was quick to reach for her. “I don’t think you’d better shower alone,” he told her, frowning. “You’re too weak.”
“I’m just…overwhelmed. The past few hours have been a lot.” Her soft voice was raspy and weak. It hurt him to hear the damage that bastard had done to her, to see the hunted, haunted look in her beautiful eyes.
“Let me come in with you,” Storn told her. “That way I can support you and we can both wash the past away.”
“Yes.” She nodded and leaned her head against his chest. “Let’s wash away the past and forget about the future. I want to just live in the present right now.”
Storn thought that was an excellent idea. The idea of leaving her was an ache in his heart that was difficult to ignore, but he could see the sense of only concentrating on the here and now. It was, after all, the only time they had left to them.
Gently, he helped her into the flow of warm, soothing water. As it rained down on both of them from overhead, he cradled her in his arms, loving the way she fit against him with her small, curvy body molded against his own, much larger frame.
For a while they just stood there in the warm flow holding each other, and then Storn reached for a cleansing glove. The moment he put it on and squeezed his hand into a fist, it began making a rich, sweet-smelling lather. He used the glove to wash Mia all over, bathing her tenderly, showing her with his actions how much he loved her.
He was especially careful around her neck and shoulders. He didn’t dare to touch the bright red band of raw skin around her throat, where the wire had twisted so cruelly tight. Just seeing it made him want to go into Rage again and he had to breathe deeply through his nose, reminding himself that the danger was past and Mia was all right now.