“Someone has to,” I muttered.
He grinned against my arm, and my mouth went dry at the feel of his lips on my skin. I viciously reminded myself of his relationship with the other drakcol. I refused to become enamored of Serlotminden.
And why him? Why now? I much preferred not being attracted to anyone, barring my celebrity and book crushes. No one would ever convince me that Jenson Ackles wasn’t one of the sexiest men alive, though I couldn’t say with certainty if I would’ve let him fuck me if he’d asked. I more liked theideaof people, romance, and sex than the reality. No one had ever interested me before now.
Which begged the question, again, why Serlotminden?
“Please,” he pleaded like I had the final say, which I didn’t. Mindy could do as he pleased. He was an adult, and he knew more of this universe than I did. Who was I to tell him no? Though the urge to keep Mindy safe didn’t relent. I’d stood beside Vince when he needed it, sometimes shielding him from the consequences of his temper, and I felt the need to do the same with Mindy.
Of course, you didn’t stop Agk or save anyone besides yourself, my brain viciously reminded me.
“Fine,” I said, pushing my dark thoughts away, “but we need to stay by the shuttle.”
“We? I’m going to go by myself.”
I turned enough to see him. “There is no chance in hell you are going outside without me, Serlotminden.Weare going orweare staying. What’s it going to be?”
Serlotminden dropped his head to my shoulder, rubbing again. God, he did that a lot, and it sent waves of awareness through me, making my stomach swoop. After a moment, he said, “We will go and stay right next to the shuttle. You won’t wander far, Bartholomew, right? I need to keep you safe. You’re my friend and responsibility.”
I ruffled his hair, and Mindy groaned.
“I get it,” I said. “Let’s go.”
With my help, Mindy got to his feet, though he released a pained moan that made me wince.
I stroked his back, soothing his tense muscles. “Breathe, Mindy.”
He huffed against my neck, and the urge to apologize for my smell swelled again, but I swallowed it. Serlotminden didn’t care, and it wasn’t my fault. I continued to run my hand over his spine, ignoring his twitching wings. Once he’d relaxed, we went to the cargo bay and opened the door.
Even colder air rushed in, which seemed impossible, but I shivered violently. Thankfully, the sun was shining brightly, glinting off the clean snow. Mindy grinned and dragged me out the door with an exuberant shout. The snow crust broke under our weight, sending cold shards into my ankles, but I didn’t mind. It was nice to be outside.
Mindy let me go and stretched his arms above his head. His wings broke free of his shirt and sprawled. “I needed this.”
I hugged myself, wincing in the bright light. “Do drakcol truly need sun?”
“Yes,” he replied. “When we are babies, we have to spend a lot of time outside in the sun. Light, plants, and fresh air are important to our health.”
“Then we need to make sure you get enough sunlight.”
He cast a beaming smile at me before he began to explore the area in shuffling steps, scanning it with some type of technology. Probably a good idea. We needed to make sure the cliff was stable and not going to crush us. Not too worried, I took a seat on the cargo bay door, keeping the blanket tucked around me.
Serlotminden walked back and forth, peering at the massive nests. I didn’t think anything about it until his wings flicked.
“Don’t even fucking think about it,” I said. “There might be hibernating birds or something in them. Let’s not disturb anything.”
“They could be a threat to you, and my sensor is not working. There is something in the ground or air interfering with my technology.” His tail thrashed in what I assumed was agitation.
“Think about it. Right now, we are fine. Don’t poke the bear.”
“I thought bears meant something different to gay people?”
“Either way, let’s not poke them, since they both growl.”
However, he continued to inspect the nests. I wasn’t going to be able to make him stay on the ground, even though I was fairly certain that flying would hurt his stomach.
A strong gust of wind blew over me, eliciting a shiver, and Mindy whipped in my direction. When I shivered again, he took a single step toward me. I frowned for all of one second, then I realized Ididhave the power to keep Mindy earthbound. I stared directly at him and stated, “I’m cold.”
In a blink of an eye, he was moving toward me, arms extended. “Why didn’t you tell me, my Teddy?” As he walked, Mindy limped, favoring his injured side, and panted in sharp bursts. Serlotminden wasn’t doing as well as he acted.
