My wounds are not deep enough to need caza root and I know I’ll heal naturally given enough time. She, however, does not know this. I am hesitant to inform her as she gently cups my face and strokes her hand up and down my arm in a soothing gesture. If I were to die right now, I would die happy in the arms of my linaya.
“Can you walk?” she asks softly.
I nod. Pain shoots through my body as I stand. I grit my teeth to keep from wincing with each step. When I stumble slightly, she wraps her arms around me from one side to help me walk. It is amusing that she believes she could support my weight in such a way, but I enjoy the idea of holding her, so I say nothing and simply allow her to assist me.
She leads me to the pool at the back of the cave. Releasing me, she strips until she is covered only in the small, triangular scrap of material between her thighs and the strange band of fabric wrapped around her chest.
She dips the cloth of her tunic into the water and wrings it out before gently dragging material over my scales to clean my wounds. As she works, I study her closely, appreciating the aesthetic of her form more than I did the first time I saw her in such a state of undress. Perhaps my injured state grants me this boldness as I make no attempt to avert my gaze traveling over her beautiful body.
She is mine and I long to know everything about her.
The sensuous curve of her breasts and the soft flare of her hips make my mouth go dry. My fingers flex and extend at my sides with a great need to touch her.
Already, the mating heat calls to me. I imagine parting her legs and settling between them, gripping her thighs to hold her in place as I thrust deep into her core. Her long hair falls over her shoulders in fiery waves as she kneels over me. Unable to help myself, I reach up to grasp a silken tendril, twirling it tenderly around my finger. The image of her hair spread out beneath her as she watches me with a heavy-lidded gaze while I mount her overtakes my mind.
Her lips curve into a beautiful smile and I push away my lust-filled thoughts. She has not yet given me permission to touch her in that way. Until she does, I will satisfy my desire by allowing her to lavish all her gentle concern and attention on me as she tends to my wounds.
Methodically, she works on cleansing my body from head to toe. I don’t mean to fall asleep, but her hands deliver me to such a blissful state that I close my eyes and drift away to the sound of her soothing voice.
Chapter 16
Lilliana
Varus closes his eyes as I tend his injuries. I listen to the sound of his breathing becoming soft and even, satisfied that he doesn’t seem to be in pain.
I gently cup his face as I eye his sleeping form. “I don’t want you to die, Varus. As crazy as it sounds, and I don’t know if this mate bond you talked about is influencing me, but I’m starting to have feelings for you.” A faint smile curves my lips. “And it doesn’t matter to me that you’re not human.”
My gaze travels over his body and I marvel again at the perfection of his form. I trace my fingers along his toned chest and abdomen. Running my hand over the thick cords of muscle on his arm, I thread my fingers through his and gently lift his hand to my lips, pressing a soft kiss to the space between his thumb and forefinger.
He nearly died protecting me from that other Drakarian. He cares so deeply for me. Would it really be so strange to fall in love with an alien? As I study him, our differences don’t seem as stark as they did when I first met him.
His build is powerful and yet he moves with a lethal, fluid grace that belies his hulking form. I study his claw-tipped fingers and a small smile curves my mouth. Though he is as deadly as he is beautiful, he’s treated me so tenderly in the time we’ve been together.
Ever since my parents died, I’ve been fiercely independent. I’ve had to be. I have no one to rely on but myself. Sure, I have friends, but that’s different. Varus hardly even knows me, but he cares for me better than anyone. Would it be so bad to fall for a man who wants only to provide for me? To love me?
I lean down and place a sweet kiss to his cheek, whispering against his skin. “Thank you for protecting me, Varus.”
After I finish cleaning his injuries, I chew some of the caza root into a fine paste and hope that it doesn’t make me sick. It’s a risk worth taking since it would be impossible for me to survive without him. The taste is disgusting, but it’s the least I can do since he was injured protecting me. Besides, I want to take care of him the way he took care of me when we first met.
Carefully, I rub the medicinal paste into his wounds. I’m astonished to find the torn tissue already beginning to knit together.
I glance down at my injured forearm. While it’s healing, my recovery rate is nowhere near his. This root must work much better on his people, which I suppose is to be expected. After all, Drakarians evolved on this planet and my race did not.
Satisfied that he is beginning to heal, I carefully lie down beside him. I rest my head on his shoulder and my arm across his chest, placing my open palm directly over the swirling pattern of glowing scales. I’m
