Saedra leaped to her feet on the opposite side, the hem of the white shift fluttering around her thighs. Unexpected dizziness from being upright sent him stumbling, but he righted himself before he fell.
Saedra reacted instantly and rounded the bottom of the mattress, one arm extended. “Are you alright?”
She looked as stunned as he felt from their desire for each other. Another moment and he would have taken what she wasn’t yet offering. He shook his head and was pleased that he remained steady on his feet. The few hours of rest had improved his condition and jumpstarted his own healing process. “I’m fine.”
“You should be careful. I don’t have anything to treat your injuries here.”
Too sweet. His chest ached from the overload of these new emotions she was causing. She was sincere and meant it. As she nibbled on her bottom lip and crossed her arms over her chest, Garik fought his need to have her in his arms again. His gaze went around the one room structure seeking any source for communication. There wasn’t even signs of a portable comm unit.
Last night she’d mentioned a shuttle but it wouldn’t arrive for three days. Or two if they counted yesterday. That meant they could be gone by tomorrow. Garik considered his own resources. If he had access to a communicator, he could have them leaving within a few hours if not sooner.
Shoving a hand through his matted hair, then grimacing at its tangled state, he tried to focus on a plan while his cock did sporadic twitches in his pants. “You mentioned two passes on a traveling tour shuttle that will come by here?”
The moment he started to speak, her shoulders inched upward then dropped as if she consciously told herself to relax. She tipped her head to the side and nodded. “Yes. But it won’t arrive until tomorrow. It was the only vessel I could find that met my needs and was affordable enough to get me off Quantoon. For all the shuttles, the passenger lists gets reported to Maurin if a boarder is deemed suspicious.”
She held her hands out to her sides. “I don’t have any luggage or traveling necessities, so I’ll definitely look suspicious. Then there’s you.”
Then there was him, wearing his torn shirt and blood stained clothing. As if reading his mind, she scurried to the small nook in the corner. Garik tensed, his hands flexing while he ran through what she could find or use against him.
“I have these, though.” She held up a bundle of clothing from a satchel.
Garik drew closer and accepted what turned out to be a pair of men’s pants and a shirt. He eyed the clothing then her as suspicion reared its ugly head again.
Saedra folded her arms about her waist once more and did the side to side rock. “So, I was thinking, if I got you this far, you might need those.”
How long had she been planning this? Was she truly involved with Maurin in his abduction? Why else would she have clothes? “Was there someone else you were going to escape with?”
And didn’t that give him a surge of jealousy.
A quick shake of her dark head. “No, I added those to my request once I realized you were the prisoner two weeks ago.”
Two weeks of intense well thought out planning. Garik’s fingers clenched on the clothing but she rushed to say, “At first I was going to try and do this on my own. I didn’t know how that was going to work but I...I couldn’t stay. Then I heard your name whispered by the guards. Suddenly I had hope. Believed that I could make a success of my escape.”
She dropped her arms, her brown eyes pleading as she closed the distance between them. Her fingers tentatively drifted over his right forearm and Garik forced himself not to move away from the caress. It was gentle, like the woman herself. Soft strokes glided over his battered bruises.
That didn’t stop him from chiding her. “Your actions were foolish, sesi. For now, I accept you are being partially honest. Your motivation is still in question and there’s something you’re not telling me. I’ll figure it out.”
She flushed and her grip tightened around him. Garik winced as her nails pierced his skin to dig into a tender bruise.
“Sorry, sorry.” She yanked her hand back and stared at his arm as if she could heal the half-moon crescents.
“I’m going to clean off more of the grime and put these on.” He raised the clothes in the air, drawing her attention. “Not much room in here so turn the other way if you don’t want to see something.”
He deliberately added a taunting tone to his words and had the pleasure of watching her flush spread up her neck to her face. To his surprise, she didn’t turn away. Garik shrugged. He wasn’t shy about his body and definitely wouldn’t be shy about it in front of his bond mate. The intimate position he’d found himself in while they shared the bed was only another sign the bond was doing what it was supposed to do. He just needed to get used to this unusual feeling of caring about someone.
Flicking open the groin flap of his pants was met with silence. Jerking them down his legs, received a shocked gasp. When Garik straightened, Saedra let out a squeak. He looked up after stepping out of them and her face was bright red, her eyes rounded in shock.
“You good?” he asked, though amusement quivered in his chest.
She nodded.
Since he didn’t wear anything beneath his pants, his cock stretched out, tapping his thigh when he moved. Her gaze lowered and her stare felt like a caress. Biting off a moan, Garik crossed the room to the water unit resting on the counter that doubled as a table. When he turned it on, a clear trickle came out of the curved silver faucet, hitting the recycling tray at the bottom before draining. After a few moments, the trickle became a steady stream of lukewarm water.
Garik glanced around for a cloth to use but ended up grabbing his torn shirt to dampen. He swiped the stains and blood from his face and chest then cleaned off the rest of his body as best he could. It would have been nice to have a full soak in a hydronic bathing pool but this was better than nothing and at least he no longer smelled.
Through it all, Saedra had made no sounds but the skin on Garik’s back burned from the intensity of her stare and his cock only got harder and harder. Injuries no longer paining him meant he had no means of ignoring his arousal any more. He turned to face Saedra and was thrown by the passionate blaze in her eyes.
A stronger man would have resisted. Garik couldn’t. He crossed the room to stand in front of her. Saedra tipped her head back to keep her eyes on his face. The action also gave him a clear look at the jagged scar slashing over the right side of her face. He’d glimpsed it the night before but in the morning light, it was an angry vivid white against the canvas of a pale cheek.
Garik traced the scar with a single finger, ignoring her flinch. “What happened?”
“Maurin,” she whispered.
Anger rose like a wave threatening to pull him under. His thumb rubbed over the healed scar and he tried not to think about the pain she must have felt. Saedra had proved she was stronger than his original thought when he’d studied her frail slender appearance in his cell.
No woman who’d planned her escape with such meticulous care would ever be considered weak in his eyes. She was nothing like the women Garik sought to assuage his sexual needs. Because he had a problem with trust, those women were few and far between.
Now there was Saedra. Saedra who bravely met his gaze. Saedra who had risked her life to enter the cell of an assassin and free him.
“I shouldn’t do this,” he said.
Her lids fluttered. “Do what?”
Ah fuck, the innocence drew him too. It was like waving a red flag in front of a charging animal. Garik lowered his head and took her mouth with a hungry snarl. He swallowed her surprised gasp, hands cupping her face as he devoured her lips.
Chapter 9
Stunned, Saedra initially hesitated when Garik kissed her. She’d been taking in the slopes and planes of his muscled body. Nude, he was a fine specimen. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t seen many men without clothes. She knew his body with its sculpted muscles was a treat.
; Then he touched the scar on her face. Usually, when anyone drew attention to the injury, shame would roll over her.
Instead, having Garik’s hands on her filled Saedra with an entirely different feeling. Before she could protest or distract him from further questions, he’d kissed her. Saedra moaned and rose on her tip-toes, meeting him with the fierce thrust of her tongue in his mouth. Excitement lit her nerve endings.
Her experience was non-existent but her response was instinctive. She pressed her hands on his chest for balance and the sensation of his skin beneath her fingers left her dizzy.
Garik nipped her lips and teased the edges with his tongue. The hands cupping her face tilted her head this way and that as he attempted to consume her. Saedra, for her part, didn’t fight or resist. She wanted to give him everything and more. Her first kiss and it left her starry eyed she was sure when he finally pulled away.
His mouth was wet, his gaze heavy lidded. “Saedra.”
Her name was a whisper of sound. She leaned into him, wanting all the contact, as much as she could stand. His hands drifted over her shoulders, rubbing their way down her arms until he caught her hands in his. He raised the left one and turned her wrist up, baring the slashes from their mate bond. The wound was developing a dark purple outline.
Heat singed her cheeks and an uncomfortable wetness formed between her legs. “Garik, w-what are you doing?”
He kissed the marks softly, gaze never leaving hers. Saedra couldn’t stop shaking. Desire was a new feeling for her. An unfamiliar emotion she had no experience to fall back on or to fully understand.
“You are a lot of temptation, Saedra. I’m not sure you know what you’re asking for.” Garik released her wrist and stepped back.
Saedra was oddly pleased with his statement. He wanted her. As much, if not more than she wanted him. On top of that, she was his bond mate. That meant he was hers. He had said Gerelins couldn’t break the bond and it was for life. A vow which compelled him to make sure no one could ever get away with hurting her again.
Giddiness burst through her like a series of bubbles and she wanted to kiss him again. Kiss him until all the bad things were pushed to the back of her mind and she could focus on something she wanted. Something good.
He clenched the clean pants in his hands. “Ah, sesi. Keep looking at me like that and we are going to end up back on that bed, petti coincin.”
Holding her gaze, he slid them over his hips. Saedra swallowed and licked her lips. His cock was a hard pulsing length against his leg, the tip a deep rosy color. Garik reached down and pushed his erection inside, tucking it away from her sight as he did up the flap of his pants.
Her brain was muddled. She barely paid attention as he pulled the black shirt over his head and tugged it down. Saedra tried to get her mind back on track now that he was no longer touching her or flashing his naked parts in her direction. “What are you calling me? I don’t understand the names you’re using, unless they’re insults?”
Garik stiffened. He tipped his head to the side and his brows arched with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Sesi?” she hesitated as she said the word to make sure it was correct. At his nod, she added, “Petti coinçin.”
She was sure she butchered the last but Garik seemed to understand which words she was attempting.
“Don’t you have a translator?” he asked, coming back toward her.
“No.” She suddenly ducked her head and toyed with a loose thread on her shift. She searched the floor for her dress and went to pick it up from a crumpled pile. “My father didn’t think it was a good idea for me to have one.”
Having an implant was so commonplace as to be an expected process not long after a child was born. Her father hadn’t even made an effort to have her fitted for the device, though she knew he and most of his men had one.
“Who is your father? One of Lord Maurin’s people?”
Saedra pulled her dress over her head with rough jerks, hating this topic after the sizzling feelings he’d created with his kiss. Garik was smart. She knew that from everything she’d heard about him. One wrong word and he’d know everything and leave her behind after all her hard work. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
He continued to push. “Is that the reason you want to leave Quantoon? To escape your father?”
Talk of her father ruined the wonderful swell she’d been feeling from their intimate moment. Saedra ran her hands through her tangled hair and glared at him. Pressure built inside her chest behind the fear of his persistence. “Why aren’t you listening to me?! I said I don’t want to talk about him!”
The last came out in a shriek and Saedra slapped a hand over her mouth. She’d never yelled at anyone. Not once in her entire life because of fear of retaliation. Her throat locked as she nervously waited for his response.
Garik’s lips twitch. “The little rabische has a bit of a bite to her, hmm?”
“You’re making fun of me,” she declared and her stomach cramped at the thought.
He must have sensed her mood change. His mouth became a grim slash. “No. I’m teasing, Saedra.”
Once more her lack of experience with humor was a hindrance. “Right. Well.”
“Have you never been teased?” he probed.
Saedra could only shrug. How to explain her childhood or life in general without going into the nightmare of having Maurin as a parent? She spun on her heels and marched away only to be confronted with a wall.
There was nowhere to go in here, no way to remove herself from his irritating presence but she headed for the mattress on the floor and the stash of blankets strewn about from their hasty morning tumble.
Saedra grabbed the first one and started to fold it. The act of busying herself by cleaning up usually worked when she was home. It allowed her a way to calm down and ease the temper that didn’t often make an appearance.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take more than a few minutes to fold the blankets and gather the torn clothes Garik had thrown on the floor. So focused was she on the task, she didn’t hear him come up behind her.
His hands slid around her waist and he tugged her into his chest. Saedra jerked but didn’t bother fighting. He’d win anyway. Her mood soured and her spirit was at an all time low which was saying something. She usually tried to follow a positive thinking mantra.
All the work she’d done, all the planning—the fear of failure, it hit her suddenly and Saedra dropped the stack of blankets. Her head lowered to stare unseeing at the floor.
Garik leaned over her shoulder to catch sight of her face. “Saedra?”
“It was so hard,” she choked out.
The hardest thing she’d ever done. Every day she’d worried her father would discover her plans. Worried someone would find the tunnel she’d dug under the bushes. Worried the hover-cycle wouldn’t be where it was supposed to be after she requested and paid for it sight unseen.
Even now, worry gnawed in her gut about the tickets for the flight. There was still a chance things could go awry with leaving.
“You did well, sesi. Ease yourself.” Garik lifted her completely off the floor, turned her around and cradled her in his arms.
Saedra leaned her face into his chest, unwilling to look at him. Unbidden tears coursed down her face. Garik lowered her on the bed then climbed in behind her as she cried silently. Garik’s arms came about her waist, the heavy weight conveying strength and security.
It was too much and her silent cries became heaving sobs she didn’t bother muffling. All the while Garik murmured soothing words and nuzzled her neck. She focused on the cadence of his voice more than the words. The tears dried first, followed by the little whimpers. When she finished, Saedra lay drained from the emotional storm. She held onto Garik’s forearm and took several deep breaths to calm down.
“Better?” he asked.
She nodded, too embarrassed to speak.
“Sesi means sweetheart,” he added. “Petti coicin is little girl.”
She needed to know.
He snorted. “Hardly. I’m impressed by what you’ve done.”
“Did you mean what you said when I rescued you?”
***
Garik frowned at the back of Saedra’s head. Listening to her cries had torn him apart. Unsure what to do, he’d just held her and whispered reassurances. That wasn’t something he was used to doing. Her sudden question caught him off-guard. Turning her carefully so he could see her expression, he asked, “What did I say?”
Her gaze dipped, studiously avoiding his own. “That you would make sure no one hurt me anymore?”
At the needy expression in her brown eyes, his chest clenched and his heart skipped a beat. The vow. She was referencing the bonding vow. The protective urge he’d felt upon waking with her in his arms welled inside him. He tipped her chin up and made sure she read the promise reflected in his gaze. “I meant it.”
In the short time they’d been together, Garik was fairly certain he would kill anyone who looked at her wrong. There was something about Saedra pulling at the core of him that made him want to take care of her. Bonding vow or not, he was drawn to her.
“Thank you. No ones ever wanted to look out for me.”
Garik growled and leaned up on one elbow. He wanted to make sure she understood him. “You’re my mate. I will defend you. Never doubt that.”
Her smile trembled on the edges but it was there. “Alright. I trust you.”
She scoured his soul with that statement. How could she say that so easily? Garik closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. “I am a dangerous man, Saedra.”
She laughed, the sound light and brief. “I know.”
Her agreement caused him to snort. Laughter had removed the pain from her brown eyes and they now glowed with a spark that was becoming familiar to him. The corner of Garik’s mouth curved up. “Of course, you know.”
The Unexpected Bonding Vow Page 8