The doctor returned, probably alerted by the pod somehow, and checked his gadgets and the pod’s readouts. I stared at the man. I knew I probably looked half feral, but that was how I felt. “She is healed?”
His face was serious, lips thin and taut, and I was grateful that he did not try to jest or put me at ease in that odd way medical professionals had, as if they were uncomfortable unless they were trying to ease another’s pain.
I didn’t care about being in pain; I cared about my mate.
“Yes. The pod took care of her injuries. She might be sensitive to touch for a few days as the newly regenerated skin adjusts, but she is fine.”
My knees would have collapsed, so I leaned on the edge of the strange pod’s bed and locked them under me. “Inform the princesses.”
“Of course. Of course.” He turned on his heel and hurried away, leaving me alone with the only person in the universe I cared about at the moment.
Carefully, I lifted the sheet and inspected her skin. It appeared normal. Healed. At least what I could see of it.
“Destiny, wake up,” I said, my voice rough with unspoken emotion.
After a few seconds, her fingers twitched and her eyes opened. She blinked a few times, and I knew the second she focused on me. A brilliant smile spread across her face. That smile. Goddess, I would kill for that smile.
“Nix! Are you all right? Not hurt?”
“Thanks to you mate.” I sounded angry, I could hear the rumble in my voice.
Instead of cringing from me in fright, she smiled brighter. Stubborn female.
She lifted her hand to my face, cupped my cheek, and I leaned into the delicate touch. I needed to feel her.
“And you? How do you feel?” I asked. I had to be sure before I touched her, before I did anything. “Are you still in pain? The doctor assured me all your burns have healed.”
It was then she realized where she was and sat up. The sheet slipped and she tugged it up to cover herself. She looked down, as if she could see herself through the covering. One hand reached behind her, touched her back, then her ear.
“I’m… I’m fine.”
I knew she was, for the pod had analyzed and checked off completed diagnostics on specific parts of her body. The advanced healing system made sure injuries were healed and finalized before moving onto the next. I’d spent many hours in a ReGen pod myself, during the war. Taken them for granted.
Never again.
I was relieved she was whole, but I’d had hours to calm myself to that. Now, now I was furious.
“Good,” I said evenly, reaching into the pod and scooping her up, sheet and all.
“Nix!” she cried as her arms went around my neck. Her body was warm and soft in my hold. I felt her breathing, her heartbeat against my own. Thank fuck she was alive and mine. Mine.
But that didn’t lessen my determination to set her straight. My mate would not behave in such a way again. In a few minutes, I would ensure it.
“I can walk,” she commented, trying to wiggle out of my hold.
I was having none of it, so mid-pace, I shifted her, tossed her over my shoulder.
“Nix!” she cried again, pummeling my back with her fists. The sheet was twisted, so I wrapped it over her back—her bare ass was mine to see, mine to spank, mine to fuck—and gripped her thighs.
“Settle, mate.”
She must have heard the tone of those two words, for she fell silent. For all of twenty seconds.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Fortunately, the palace medical team has a ReGen pod and you were brought here directly after the explosion.” I thought of her beneath me, unconscious, bleeding. “You are well?” I asked her again.
“Nix, I’m fine. Put me down.”