“They didn’t hurt me.”
Serlotminden sagged, releasing garbled words, then said in English, “Why didn’t you tell me or pull away?” When I didn’t say anything, he looked directly at me. “Bartholomew?”
How did I tell him that when I panicked, I froze? That was literally the worst thing in a situation like this—stuck on an unknown planet that was probably hostile. I couldn’t get the words out, so I shrugged.
“Oh, my Teddy, you are far more work than I thought.”
Pain flared in my gut. I yanked out of his embrace. “Sorry.”
I started to turn toward the crabs, who remained motionless, but Mindy grabbed me, keeping me close. “I like work.”
“Seriously?”
He cocked his head. “I am serious.”
I took a deep breath. This was not his first language. He came from a very different culture. Getting mad was petty when I doubted he’d meant it badly. I met his confused gaze. “What you said was insulting. I don’t want to be hard work for you. It makes it seem like you’re mad that you have to take care of me, which you don’t. I can take care of myself.”
“No,” Mindy shouted, making the crabs scuttle even further away. “No, my Teddy, I like caring for you. I love it. Humans are delicate, though. Like flowers. You need so much.”
Every man wanted to hear he was a delicate flower. He sure knew how to rev my engine.
“But I will take care of your delicate self,” Mindy said with a bright smile.
Yeah, this was getting worse.
“I don’t need you to,” I commented.
“As you have said before, but I need to. I have to. You are mine to keep safe. My flower.”
“I don’t like being called that,” I said calmly. His expression fell, and I felt like an asshole. “But you can, I guess.”
Serlotminden beamed. “My Flower. Pretty and delicate. Like that… bull. He liked to smell the flowers. I like to smell you.”
I felt heat rush to my cheeks, then spread to my neck, and I grunted, refusing to acknowledge that maybe I didn’t hate it as much as I’d thought.
Chapter 19
Meet-cute at first tackle.
Eventually, I wriggled out of Serlotminden’s hold to inspect the crabs. He grabbed me, tugging me back.
“No, they’ll hurt you.”
Mindy was worried about me—to an extreme level. I didn’t know what to think about it, but it was probably how drakcol were. Or maybe it was him. He’d been protective of me since the beginning.
“They don’t seem aggressive,” I commented, successfully freeing myself from Mindy’s arms. I crept closer and crouched. The rock-crab shook slightly. I patted it, and oddly enough, it began to calm. Slowly, it unfolded, and I swallowed my immediate rising terror. The creature looked like a crab, a rock,and a spider had a baby. I choked back the urge to scream and met the crab’s distended eyes.
It studied me for several long seconds before ambling to the river. The other rock-crabs followed suit until the bank was free of them.
I stood with a slight smile. “See?”
Serlotminden held out an insistent hand for me. I shook my head, but interlaced our fingers. He was being ridiculous, but this was a stressful situation, so he was allowed a certain amount of leeway. Besides, at the end of the day, I quite enjoyed how overprotective he was. It made me feel safe… and cared for.
We continued to explore the riverbank in search of something to eat. My gaze kept moving to the waving fronds on the trees. The icy blue leaves never stopped moving. Something about the writhing movement captured my attention and made my stomach churn.
The world disappeared around me as a memory surged. The fight ring back on Xome. The creaky benches. The metal rivet floor around the dirt ring. The rancid smell of death, piss, sweat, and puke. Vince was holding my hand in a vice grip as two people fought in the center. One was a massive garganlic who worked as a guard for Agk. The other was a slight human male that had been brought by his owner.
My eyes had closed, but nothing blocked the screams or the coppery scent of blood as the guard played with the human like a cat played with a bug. On and on the fight continued until the crowd released a disappointed cry. I peeked, and the human was flat on the ground, thrashing as his mouth opened and closed, but nothing but blood came out.
