He stopped but did not release me. Instead, he tightened his arms around me and lowered his head until our helmets connected. “I need you close, Abby. I need you safe in my arms.”
Sweet. It really was, but I was a practical girl in all the ways that counted. “And I need to take care of you. You are injured and in pain.”
“The pain is nothing.”
“Not to me,” I whispered. “Now, mate, please put me down and give me that green wand so I can stop worrying about you bleeding to death or getting rabies or something.”
“What is rabies?”
“Nevermind. Just…please.”
Cormac lowered me to the ground, and I stood before him with my hand out until he dug around in his suit and produced the healing gadget. He activated it somehow and gave it to me.
“Thank you. Now, sit. Or lay down. I don’t care, but I’m using this thing all over you, and I can’t reach your head.”
My mate went down on one knee like a knight from Camelot and bowed his head so I could reach everywhere.
I moved as slowly as I dared, starting with the nasty furrowed slices on his shoulders and upper arms. Once the wand flashed a different color—which I assumed meant it was done doing whatever it needed to do—I started at the top of his head and covered every inch of him. He was mine, too. I didn’t care if he was covered in blood and gore, as long as none of it was his.
His breathing slowed as I worked, and I took that as a good sign until he suddenly reached out and pulled me to him, his head resting dead center in my chest. He stayed there like a little boy who needed comfort, his arms locked around me until one of the Atlans yelled that the ship was ready and it was time to go.
Cormac stood, and I gave him a quick, tight squeeze around his waist before turning to yell at the first Atlan I saw.
“Stryck, come here, please.”
The Atlan, still in beast mode, moved with shocking fluidity to stand a few paces in front of me. I looked him over from head to toe. Yep. Covered in blood and guts and god only knew how much of it was his.
“Have a seat, big guy. And hold out those hands.” He’d spent who knows how long pounding at his prison cell. I imagined every bone in his hand must have been broken dozens of times.
Stryck did not sit. He knelt on one knee, as Cormac had. And he…shrank. Kind of. His face returned to normal, his body still huge but notIncredible Hulkproportions. He held out his hand, first one, then the other. When the light flickered, he moved them around, pulling away when I tried to lift the wand to a nasty-looking cut on his head. Instead, he inclined his head to me in a small bow. “Thank you, my lady. The rest of my injuries are minor. Others require your attention first.”
Were all aliens this freaking noble and selfless and just…wow. “Okay. Who should I chase down first?”
“Your legs are too short for a hunt. You would catch none of us.”
“It’s a turn of phrase. Never mind. Who’s hurt the worst?”
“The Hyperion.”
16
Abby
“Ruk?” Ruk was hurt? Badly?
I felt Cormac stiffen in alarm and realized I hadn’t seen the big guy since he’d peeked his head in the entrance to ask if we were all right. “Where is he?”
“He is already on board the ship. We carried him to the cargo area and covered him in blankets. He wears no armor, and Latiri 4 is cold.”
“You aren’t wearing armor, either,” I pointed out. In fact, he wasn’t wearing anything except a pair of ripped pants. I wasn’t dead. Nine super-sized, gorgeous men—aliens, don’t forget they are aliens—with more muscles than seemed right or fair? And all on display? At the moment, I had my own professional, nearly naked basketball team. Except bigger. And taller. Some darker skinned. Some light. All magnificent.
And I didn’t want any of them. Not like that. I was a one man kind of girl. My man.
“Okay. Take us to him, please.” I glanced back over my shoulder at Cormac. I was more than willing to help these guys heal, but I was still too rattled by nearly being eaten alive by those scary black scaly dog monsters to let my mate out of my sight. I needed him next to me, or I wouldn’t feel safe. At all. “Will you come with me?”
Cormac snorted as if I had asked the most ridiculous question ever spoken. Even Stryck grinned, a bloody, feral thing on his face. He was so terrifying and so adorable all at once that no words would form in my mouth. These guys were just like the Atlans on Earth. Heartbreakers, every one of them.
Stryck led the way. I followed of my own accord until I stumbled, just a bit, over a rock I hadn’t seen. The next instant Cormac was carrying me again. I was tired and scared and grateful that he was mine.