Iska hurried back to Avril and went to lift her again.
She held up a hand and shook her head. “I can walk. You don’t need to carry me.”
He wanted to carry her. Iska loved the feel of Avril in his arms. It was nothing like he thought it would be. Her bare flesh was soft and warm, nothing like a damn slippery, cold snake he’d always thought humans would feel like.
He tamped down on his protective urges and held out his hands instead, letting her take her time as she slowly moved.
They made it three steps before she stopped.
From the tightness in her jaw and the gray shading on her skin, Iska could see Avril was about to pass out.
He curled his hand under her knees and pulled her into his arms again.
“I’m fine,” she whispered.
“You’re not. You’re injured, and you were almost killed. Anyone is allowed to freak out when that happens.” He carried her the short distance to the cave and set her on the ground.
“That must happen to you all the time. I’m guessing you’re a regular in the fight club.”
“That’s different. I fight because I enjoy it. It stops my skills getting soft, so I don’t make mistakes when I’m hunting a bounty.” Iska kept an arm around Avril’s waist until he was certain she wouldn’t pass out. “Hold still while I see what the damage is.”
He checked the red marks on Avril’s neck. Her throat would be sore, but she should recover from that injury. He ran his hands carefully over her arms. The flesh felt too warm and was damp with sweat.
His attention moved to the puncture wounds on her thighs and calf. “That human didn’t do this to you.”
“I met a pyro dragon.”
Admiration mingled with rage. His human had the courage to escape from a pyro dragon. He knelt at her feet, sniffed the wounds, and recoiled. “They’re infected.”
Avril nodded and sighed. “Of course they are.”
She remained silent as Iska carefully checked the other cuts on her legs.
“The two puncture wounds are the worst. The rest will heal easily enough.”
Avril’s hand touched his shoulder. “You said you came in here to save me.”
He didn’t look up. “That’s right.”
“You shouldn’t have risked yourself.”
Iska glared up at her. “Do you think you’re not worth saving?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not anyone sp-sp-special.”
Iska caught hold of her shoulders and pinned her against the wall. “You’re special. You’re worth worrying about.”
Avril blinked up at him. “You don’t even know me. You shouldn’t have put yourself at risk.”
Iska’s grip tightened on her shoulders. “Dammit, Avril, I do know you. I like what I know. I wasn’t going to leave you in here. This is my fault.”
Her gaze turned quizzical. “How is this your fault?”
He growled out a breath. “I should have been there. We should have played together. Maybe I’d have realized what was going on, and you wouldn’t have stepped through into that level. I could have stopped you.”
Avril smiled briefly. “I couldn’t tell the difference. You wouldn’t either.”
Iska leaned back. Avril needed to know everything he did about this place. She deserved that after everything she’d been through. She’d hate him when she knew this father was involved in this. “I know who created this place.”
“Aliens?” Avril nodded. “I thought it might be. The technology is advanced.”
“Not just any alien.” Iska looked away. “Mehabs. My family.”
“Your family?” She shook her head.
“I had no clue until I came in here. Have you heard those smug announcements?”
“Sure. They announce when there’s a fight happening or something big going on in the game.”
“I heard one not long after I came in here. I’d recognize that smug, arrogant voice anywhere.” He glanced at Avril. “It was my father. He always was a sick mother fucker. It would be just like him to get his kicks from doing something as twisted as this.”
“You knew nothing about it?”
He glared at her. “Of course I didn’t. I haven’t spoken to my father in years. The last time I did, he told me I’d be dead within a year and he wouldn’t bother coming to my funeral.”
Avril sucked in a breath. “He doesn’t sound... kind.”
“That’s because he’s an asshole. He doesn’t know how to be kind. If you don’t meet his standards, he doesn’t want to know you.”
“And he’s running these games?”
“He’s not alone. I think the Vincole are involved too. I bet he’s funding it, though. He loves nothing more than to beat down the little guy. What could be more fun than throwing defenseless humans into a game like this and watching them suffer?” Iska growled and scrubbed his fingers through his fur. “He’s the one who needs putting down.”
“You’re right. He does sound like an asshole.”
Iska huffed out a laugh. It was the first time he’d heard Avril curse. His finger brushed down her cheek. “You don’t hate me?”
“You think I’d hate you because your cold, cruel father is involved in this?” She tilted her head. “And you said you knew me.”
Iska shrugged. “I mean, it looks dodgy. It makes me look bad in your eyes.”
“Not for a second.”
The tension in Iska’s gut eased. Avril wasn’t rejecting him. She saw past the corruption of his family. “You are worth worrying about. I worry about you. I had to make sure you were safe.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “It’s too dangerous in here. We’re going to die.”
“That’s bullshit.” Iska squeezed his eyes together for a second. “I mean, that’s rubbish. You’re a kick ass warrior princess and—”
“You’re a fear inspiring alien, who is undefeated in the fight ring.”
“You know I’m undefeated?” A purr rumbled in his chest.
“I do my research. I looked into how many fights you’ve won. It’s sort of terrifying but also impressive.”
“I can teach you a few moves if you like. We can train together when we get out of here.”
“I’d like that. But that’s our first challenge, getting out of here alive.”
“The first challenge is fixing the wounds on your legs. If I don’t stop the infection, you’ll get a worse fever.”
“I cleaned them with water, but it didn’t help.”
Iska’s fingers flexed. “I’ve got a way to treat them if you’ll let me.”
“Do you have a medical kit?”
“Even better.” Iska knelt again. He darted out his tongue and licked Avril’s leg. “Our saliva has healing qualities.”
Avril gasped and nodded. “Of course. I know about this. I read about the antiseptic properties in your spit.”
“You make it sound so unappealing. I won’t spit on you.” Iska tracked his tongue slowly over the first puncture wound. He tasted the infection. It was a bitter, sour taste that made his mouth water as the healing enzymes got to work.
He glanced up to see how Avril was doing. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him, but she didn’t speak.
He gripped either side of the puncture wound, held her leg in place, and went to work. Only when the bitter taste had gone did he stop licking.
It was only then that he heard Avril’s labored breathing. He lifted his head. “Is something wrong?”
Her cheeks were flushed and her pupils dilated. “No, everything is great.”
He slowly released his hold on her and noticed her legs shook. “Was that too much? You’re still in pain?”
“No! My leg feels much better.”
Iska continued to study her. Something was going on with Avril, something she wasn’t sharing with him. “I’ll tend to the other puncture wound and then deal with the smaller cuts.”
“That’s good. Yep, that will work.” Avril’s voice sounded shaky.
/> The second wound was more infected. Iska clamped his lips around the damaged flesh and sucked out the infection. He spat on the ground and wiped his mouth. “That’s the worst. I’ll clean the wound now.”
“Great,” Avril whispered. “You do that.”
He gave her another puzzled look before setting to work on her injury. This time, he paid more attention to Avril’s face. He increased the length of his licks, sliding his tongue from her knee, over the injury and to the top of her thigh.
Her eyes fluttered shut, and her hand went over her mouth.
Iska’s brows rose, and he grinned. She was getting off on him licking her. Mehabs used their tongue to clean themselves and heal injuries. He had no idea of the effect it would have on a human.
Now they were out of immediate danger and Avril’s injuries were improving, he decided to have some fun.
Iska slid his tongue slowly over her leg, dipping it behind her knee and across the soft flesh of her inner thigh.
A small groan was muffled by the hand Avril had clamped over her mouth.
This was incredible. He’d never seen a female react like this before. Mehab females did not enjoy being licked by her mates.
He sat back on his heels and saw the flushed color of her skin and the way her thighs shook.
Avril lowered her hand and blinked her eyes open. “Are you done?” She sounded disappointed.
“You have other injuries. You rest while I deal with those.” Iska leaned forward, his tongue ready to explore the rest of Avril and see how far this could go.
Avril pressed her back against the wall as one hand reached out toward Iska. “They’re not serious injuries.”
“You can’t risk getting an infection anywhere else.”
Avril chewed on her bottom lip. “Only if you’re sure.”
He kept the grin from his face. “Absolutely sure. Don’t worry. I won’t miss a thing.”
Iska moved down to her feet and discovered several scratches on her calves. He ran his tongue along her flesh and felt Avril shudder beneath him.
He repeated the movement across her other calf, and she groaned.
Her skin was grimy and tasted of sweat. But when he’d washed that away with his tongue, he could taste her sweetness.
This was a flavor he could get used to. Iska pressed his tongue harder against Avril’s skin, and her shuddering increased as he moved up past her knees and back to her thighs.
“I think you’re done now,” Avril whispered.
“I missed a bit.” Iska looked up again and saw her eyes were still closed. His tail stuck out behind him. It was as hard as his cock. He’d never felt such desire for a female before.
Mating among Mehabs was quick and full of passion. The female initiated, and the males were always happy to go along for the ride. This was a different kind of desire. Iska loved the slow build sensation of what was to come as his tongue continued to glide across Avril’s skin.
Iska brushed aside her short skirt, revealing her black panties underneath.
He flicked his tail around and swiped it across her exposed flesh.
Avril gasped, and her eyes shot open. “What was that?”
“I’m drying you. You don’t want to catch a chill.” Iska swiped the end of his tail down the length of her thigh and watched as Avril drew in a shaky breath.
“That feels...”
“Better?” His tail swished backwards and forwards between her open thighs, and he used his tongue to lift the edge of her panties.
“Oh, my stars,” Avril breathed out. “I think I’m about to faint.”
Iska slid his tail up and around her waist, holding her in position. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ll catch you if you fall. I’ll protect you.”
Avril’s laugh was shaky. “You’re going to protect me?”
Iska slid up her body, rubbing his fur across her thighs, over her stomach, and up to her breasts. “Who else? You’re my warrior princess. I’ve seen you fight. You can look after yourself, but it’s always good to have someone watch your back.” His lips were so close to hers he only needed to move an inch and they’d be touching.
Instead, he dropped his mouth down to the red marks around her throat and spent several minutes licking and sucking her flesh until she trembled again.
When he moved his tail from around her waist and up to her cheeks, Avril opened her eyes and grabbed hold of it.
Iska hissed quietly. “I’ve warned you about grabbing my tail.”
“What if I want to grab it? Are you going to stop me?”
“Never.” He checked the marks on her neck. They already looked better. “You can trust me never to hurt you. I’ll always look out for you wherever you are.”
Avril’s gaze dropped, as did her hold on his tail. He missed the touch of her hands on him. He wanted it back.
“You didn’t have my back when I went into this game.”
He hissed again, more in anger at himself than anything else. “I was wrong. I didn’t think it was important. It was.”
She looked away. “Maybe to me.”
He tilted her chin back until she met his gaze. “To both of us. I like you. I mean, when we fight together, it’s perfect.”
“That’s not real. You like a fantasy figure. You know me now. You can see what I’m really like.” Avril smoothed her skirt down over her thighs.
“That’s not what I meant.” Iska ran a hand through his fur. “I’m not good at all this feminine shit.”
“You mean talking?”
He grunted. “Talking about feelings. It makes my fur itch.”
“You don’t have to talk when it comes to how you feel.” Avril’s gaze dropped to her bare legs. “You did a pretty good job of showing me. Unless you really were just cleaning my wounds and got carried away with that tongue of yours.”
“I wasn’t. I mean, I was. You’re not going to die of infection now.” Iska nuzzled Avril’s neck and felt her rapid pulse beneath her skin. “Once I got a taste of you, I didn’t want to stop.”
Avril touched his arm and ran her fingers along the fur from his elbow to his wrist. “I’m glad you didn’t. I liked it.”
“Me too, it was fucking amazing. I mean, shit, sorry. It was great. I could lick you all day every day.”
Avril chuckled under her breath. “Neither of us would get any work done if you did that.”
“Fuck work. I just want to fu—” Iska winced and ducked his head. “I want to get to know you better. You seem decent. Better than decent. You are...” he slapped a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. Every time he spoke about his emotions, they stuck in his throat.
Avril gently pulled his hand away and held it between hers. “I get it. And I want to... bloody well spend time with you as well.” She laughed. “That’s the best cuss word I can come up with. It sounds so weird when I swear but so cool when you do it.”
“There’s nothing cool about it. When you grow up in the gutter, you don’t give a crap how everyone talks. Getting your next meal and not having your head stomped on are the most important things.”
Avril’s green gaze held his. “I didn’t know how bad things were for you as a cub.”
Iska shrugged. “I lived. I don’t mean to offend you by swearing.”
“You don’t. It’s a part of you, just like this ridiculous hair is a part of me.”
“Your hair is amazing.” Iska lifted a strand and kissed it.
“Much like the rest of me, it’s desperately in need of getting clean.” Avril pulled the hair from his hands, sniffed it, and wrinkled her nose.
Iska grabbed her face and licked her cheeks.
She squirmed and giggled. “What are you doing?”
“Giving you a tongue bath. It’s the next best thing to an actual bath.”
She laughed and pulled away. “Enough with the tongue bath. Now that I can walk, we need to figure out how to get out of here.”
Iska dropped his hold on her face as he saw the hap
piness leave her eyes. “Everything will be fine. We’ll stick together. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
Avril nodded. “I know you won’t. I do trust you.”
Iska shoved a hand over Avril’s mouth, his gaze turning to the opening of the cave. Every fur on his body stood on end. Someone was outside.
He pressed a finger against his lips as he looked at Avril. She nodded, and he lowered his hand from her mouth.
Iska was about to move closer to the entrance and see who was after them when a bright light blazed into the cave.
He ducked back and covered Avril with his body.
Her arms wrapped around him, and he felt her heart thudding against his chest.
They’d been discovered, but no one was taking Avril from him, not now he’d found her.
Chapter 19
“Come out slowly with your hands up.” A deep male voice spoke from outside the cave.
The hope Avril had felt faded. For all of ten minutes, she’d imagined there would be a way out. Iska had found her, and together, they could beat this place.
“I won’t tell you again.”
She looked up into Iska’s face and saw rage and a hint of concern in his amber eyes. “We have to go.”
Iska growled, the reverberations pulsing against her chest. He kept a tight hold on her as they inched toward the cave entrance. It was their only way out.
“Stay close to me,” Iska whispered. “We’ll see how many are out there. We can fight our way out of this.”
Avril nodded but didn’t see how that would be possible. He was just one Mehab. He couldn’t fight against a group of armed soldiers.
The blinding light in front of them lowered.
Avril blinked until she could see better. Four soldiers dressed in black stood outside. Matte-black helmets concealed their faces, and they all held long wooden fighting sticks. They looked like the weapons of the Vincole. She was convinced they were also involved in this game, alongside Iska’s father.
“On your knees,” said a tall soldier who stood slightly ahead of the other three.
“Who are you?” Avril asked. “What do you want with us?”
“That’s not your concern,” the soldier said. He pointed at her. “You should be fighting.”
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