Page 55 of Alien Warlord's Fury
He complied with surprising docility, sitting up and turning so I could examine the wound. It wasn't deep, but the edges looked angry and red.
"This needs cleaning." I reached for my pack, pulling out the small medical kit we'd brought. "You should have said something."
"There were more urgent matters." His lips quirked, and heat rushed to my face as I remembered exactly what those urgent matters had been.
I busied myself with the antiseptic, dabbing it carefully along the cut. "Any other injuries you're hiding?"
"No. But you have several." His fingers traced a bruise blooming on my hip, then another on my thigh. "From the fall during our escape."
"I've had worse."
His expression darkened. "I know. I've seen your scars."
The intimacy of that statement hit me. Yes, he had seen all of me now—every mark, every scar left by Hammond's experiments. I'd been completely exposed to him, not just physically but through our bond.
And he was still here.
"Your turn," he said, taking the antiseptic from my hands. "There's a scrape on your back."
I turned, letting him tend to me. His touch was gentle, almost reverent, as he cleaned the wound. When he finished, his fingers lingered, tracing the line of my spine.
"Claire," he said, my name sounding different in his mouth now. Softer. "What happened between us?—"
"Changed everything," I finished for him.
"Yes." He hesitated. "I need you to understand what this means. For my people, a mate bond is rare. Sacred."
I turned to face him. "And for humans, we don't have anything like it at all. This is new territory for me."
"For both of us." He cupped my face in his hand. "I never expected to find my mate in a human woman who challenges everything I believe."
I smiled at that. "And I never expected to bond with a warrior who drives me crazy with his caution."
"Caution that has kept us alive," he reminded me, but there was no heat in it.
"So far," I conceded. I leaned forward, resting my forehead against his. "So what now?"
"Now we finish what we started. We save the children from Hammond."
I nodded, grateful he didn't try to talk me out of it or suggest I stay behind. We were in this together now, truly partners.
"We should get moving," I said reluctantly. "The longer we wait?—"
"The more time Hammond has to continue his work," Nirako finished. He stood, gathering our scattered clothes. He handed me mine, then began dressing himself.
I pulled on my clothes, watching him move with that fluid grace that had first caught my attention. Now I knew how that controlled power felt directed at me, around me, within me. The memory sent shivers through me that wasn't caused by the cave's chill.
"Your markings are flaring again," Nirako observed, a hint of amusement in his voice.
I looked down to see the silver lines pulsing brighter. "Apparently they respond to certain thoughts now."
"What thoughts?" He stepped closer, fully dressed now but somehow more intimate than when we'd been skin to skin.
"You know exactly what thoughts." I finished lacing my boots and stood. "We don't have time for this."
"Later, then." The promise in his voice made my markings flare again.
I cleared my throat. "We need to get to a vantage point, see what we're dealing with after yesterday's sabotage."
