Page 21 of 80% Beef 20% Cake (Alien Fated Mates #2)

21

M y head heaved, as if its insides were churning and sloshing about. Dizziness pulled me under the murky waters, muddying the past and present.

Ginger’s lips brushed over my lips.

I tucked my chin to my knees and pinned my elbows to my head.

Her silver-white hair fanned out beneath her on the turquoise moss, flashing as brightly as her smile.

I dragged my broken body toward the shelter of the cantina. Searing agony flooded me. My vision dimmed and anger consumed me. Another Rock Dweller would have to service my mate.

“NO BLANTING WAY,” I roared.

The prickly sensation under my skin had disappeared, but a new irritation drove my eyes open.

“It fits perfectly.” My mate’s sweet voice washed over me. The soft one she used after her treatments. Only she wasn’t talking to me.

“It’s a little tight,” a male voice grunted.

Despite the sting, I forced my heavy eyelids open. Even in the dim, magma-lit cave, the brightness blinded me. A threat lurked beneath my nose, and I would eliminate any males vying for my female’s attention.

“You might have to wiggle a little to get it to fit.” My mate’s giggle lit a spark deep within me.

Ginger didn’t giggle. Irritation swelled under my skin. The prickly waves overrode the pain surging through my head. My eyes cracked open and narrowed on another male’s blurry outline. Too close to my mate, in my territory. Was he touching her?

Possessiveness thrummed through my veins, and I bellowed, “OUT!”

Ginger rushed to my side. Her pallid skin, slick with sweat, heightened the dark moons under her eyes. Her usual heady linnea scent filled my nose, only this time, a sour tang dampened the floral aroma. She needed medicine. My medicine.

The blanket pooled in my lap, and I shook my head as Nebula nuzzled my palm and cloaked herself. Or at least I thought she did. With my vision fading in and out, I couldn’t be sure. Groaning, I slung one leg off the blanket bed into the moss. Pain rocketed through my thigh. What the blant was wrong?

“JayJay!” Ginger’s tiny palm, a cooling balm against my chest, urged me back into the bed. “What are you doing? You can’t get up yet.”

I’d prove my strength by showing my mate I could provide for her in all ways. As I forced myself to my feet, my body screamed, each tug of swollen muscle and barely knitted together bone begging me to stop.

“Mine,” I boomed. My vision blurred as if I were deep underwater. I doubted I made much of an impression standing naked and broken in front of my competition. Images swam into focus and grew murky again, out of my reach. “I’ll be the only male who provides treatments.”

“Steady there, my friend.” The silhouette rushed toward me as if to attack, but my eyesight turned black. Left useless, swaying, my fists turned to hammers with no one to punch at.

Ginger’s voice grew distant. “Thank you for your help, D’Rasma, but you should go until his mind has returned fully.”

“Whatever you need. I’m in your debt for selling my plants at the market and designing these wonderful clothes…” D’Rasma’s voice trailed off as I fell back to the bed and drifted to sleep.

A cool hand smoothed across my forehead, and water loosened my swollen tongue from the roof of my mouth. Half-awake, I wrapped my hand around Ginger’s wrist. She steadied me while I emptied the entire container into my mouth, swallowing every drop.

As my vision cleared, I took in Ginger’s sallow face. “You’re not well,” I groaned.

She brushed her lips across my forehead casually, like she’d done it a hundred times. The outward affection stirred my soft coil to life.

“I’m so happy you’re okay, King Kong. I was worried about you.” The gold, green and amber of her eyes shone with moisture.

“What happened?”

“Hill just left. I can catch him if you want to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth?”

The image the translator created left my muddled brain even more scrambled, so I nodded.

“’Kay. One sec.” She jogged toward our open door, popped her head out and called him back.

But I had no desire to see Hill. Right now, my eyes were only for Ginger. Despite the heat, she wore a fluffy pink tunic and loose stretchy pants and looked as soft as a cloud. Nebula nosed her head under my hand, drawing my attention, and I sifted my fingers through her coarse hair, surprised to see her so exposed.

A moment later, Hill appeared with Efred in tow.

“JayJay, you’re one lucky Rock Dweller,” Hill said.

“Blessed by the goddess Sola herself.” Efred shook his head, dismayed.

It hurt to hold my head up, but I mustered a smile for my teammates. “I assume I need to offer you my thanks for getting me out of a sticky situation.”

“You don’t remember?” Efred scraped the knobby protrusions on the backs of his hands together. I hoped he earned his wings as a mature Drack, and one day, I would see him soar.

Ginger propped a rolled hide behind me, easing the pain in my trembling abdominals to just this side of tolerable. “He’s only just woken.”

She moved in front of me and slipped a loose, custom-tailored tunic over my head, smoothing it over my pectorals as if she touched me all the time. Her display of ownership over my body triggered my rumba, the same as a mate’s claim would.

Efred’s purple scales shimmered as he flung his arms wildly, reliving the moment. “You took off by yourself, you big brave asshole…” He pulled a crate up to my bedside and sat, legs spread wide. “We couldn’t turn back to help without driving the other four hellsna back to the settlement.”

It was all coming back to me. Ginger rushing toward me in a blaze of glory.

“The best news though”—Efred’s taloned feet bounced, undulating the mossy floor below me, and I clutched my aching stomach—“only four veiny bastards are left! Your plan to herd them off the cliff…it worked. For one of those overgrown maggots, anyway.” He sucked in a huge breath. “Can you believe it really blanting worked?”

“And they’ve been quiet ever since.” Hill’s lips pinched, as if he was uncertain why.

My stomach growled, and sweat broke out over my forehead ridge from the effort of sitting. “That’s great news.”

Despite an ecstatic thrum of energy pulsing through my veins at that revelation, my smile wavered, and I clutched my swollen guts. What would really make me happy right now was lying back down. Ginger wiped a cool cloth over my head. Her sharp gaze dropped to where I held my stomach and what felt like all my organs in both hands.

“I’ll have your pants and shirt ready tomorrow, Hill, if you want to come by after your shift and say hi.”

Hill nodded and bid us farewell.

I spoke to his retreating back. “And you’ll be paying fair value for those.”

Hill hopped down the short drop, exiting our cave and stifling his laugh. “Of course, Protector.”

Efred returned the crate he’d been sitting on, placing it next to the growing pile of sewing supplies against the black cave wall. “Oh, Ginger…they’ve got two enforcers harvesting all the lunal they can get their hands on right now. Sisip wants you to craft as much of that, what did you call it…chain mail stuff, as you can.”

“Absolutely. Bring it on by when it comes in.”

She should’ve been focused on resting and healing. Those males did not need her clothes. I held that honor.

Ginger slid the door shut after them and came to sit by me. Our cave had gained several chairs over the last few days, and her linnea scent, weakened by illness, mixed with the musk of far too many males. It seemed we were the new command central.

A recently added table stood against the curved wall, holding a sewing machine. Hides covered the floor, little leather clippings piled in a heap, and whirls of skinny string dotted everything.

“How long have I been out?”

A container met my lips, savory steam spilling from it. As much as I liked her feeding me, I needed to show Ginger a strong male. A male worth claiming, so I took the container in my hands, lifted it to my mouth, ignoring my screaming ribs, and swallowed the contents in three gulps.

“You may be ready for something more substantial than soup.” Her smile grew so tender my heart turned over like a powerful ignition, stuttering and restarting.

Her head dipped. “Five days,” she whispered, as if she didn’t want to say it. Or she didn’t want me to see her worry. “Dr. Ten came by yesterday.” She still wouldn’t look at me. “I was so worried.”

Ginger flicked an elephant charm on my wrist, and its light music floated through the cave.

Five rotations? I’d never lost five rotations of my life before to anything. What had I missed? So many questions plagued my mind. Foremost, had Ginger sought treatment elsewhere? No. I exhaled. She couldn’t have, she looked awful. Then I second-guessed myself. Unless it hadn’t worked?

My brain, still unable to focus, jumped to a sneering image of Devile.

I’d start with the easier of the two. Though if someone had been servicing her—my chest tightened—they had no blanting idea what they were doing. “Has Devile arrived?”

Ginger brushed a finger under her glistening eye. “I don’t know. Want me to go to command central and tell Sisip you’re awake? I’m sure she’d like to talk to you.” She cupped my shoulder, rising on wobbly legs from where she sat cross-legged by my head.

Her leaving sent waves of prickling heat under my skin.

“NO,” I barked.

When she jerked backward, I regretted my outburst.

I softened my voice. “Come here.” I opened my arms. “Rest with me. You look unwell.”

The swelling in the joints of her hands had visibly worsened. Too tired to argue, she tucked herself into my side. A floating sensation rolled down my spine, filling me with satisfaction. Her easy agreement confirmed she’d slept here while caring for me. Nebula’s head rested against my thigh, and Ginger’s cheek nuzzled my chest. Though my insides felt like they’d been through a sausage grinder, contentment filled me.

When I woke next, Hill stood near Ginger’s sewing machine. How did these males keep entering my space without me knowing? I’d never been so unaware before. He read through messages on his wristport while Ginger adjusted the length of his pants.

Dressed in a soft-looking emerald shirt with purple and gold sunbeam circles, Ginger’s fresh change of clothes likely meant I’d slept through another night. Stiffer than usual, her hands operated scissors, trimming Hill’s plain brown pants. Untreated, they were the mantu’s natural color, rough and unpolished. Not as nice as mine. She rose from her crouched position and stepped back, her eyes traveling over Hill’s body.

My low growl filled the room, and two heads spun to face me.

“What do I have to do to keep you awake?” Ginger’s eyes glowed like banked embers in the amber light as she laughed and walked to where I sat. She sighed when I slung my heavy arm around her waist and pulled her close. The jostling sent Nebula scampering away, camouflaging herself with the cavern’s interior.

“Hill, will you please tell Sisip JayJay’s awake again?” Ginger spoke to Hill, but her gaze remained fixed on me. “When I passed D’unter and Saluda in the kitchen earlier, they wanted to visit. They could bring him some proper food?”

“I’ll give you two some time first.” Hill departed with his old pants folded over one arm. “Thanks, Ginger. These are great.”

Ginger waved him off, but her gaze never left mine. My fingers crawled up the soft fabric covering her back and threaded into the silky hair on her nape. The brown stripe on top was thicker. Did that mean her health had gotten even worse?

“How are you?” My unused voice rattled in my throat.

“Much better now that you’ve joined us again.” Her cool palm smoothed over my forehead ridge and around the curve of my head in soft circles, igniting a deep rumble in my chest. With both hands, I snatched Ginger by the waist and placed her over my lap so she straddled me. My coil sprang to attention. The need to remedy her sour scent combined with my desire overpowered my protesting stomach muscles and sore ribs.

“You need another treatment,” I growled.

Her eyelashes fluttered as my little touches worked her over, but they flew open again at my words. She lifted herself, pressing both small palms on my shoulders, and clambered off me. “Not till you’re better, King Kong.”

My forehead ridge dipped and rose, teasing her. “You could do the work. Climb back on.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Well, I guess that answers that question.”

“And what question is that?”

She hesitated a moment. “Whether you’re enjoying the sex—” She cleared her throat. “I m-mean the treatments.”

The uncertainty in her eyes had my blood burning, and my body ached to touch her. How could she not know my true feelings for her? Once again, I’d failed at letting her know her value.

“You should never doubt my desire for you.” Words were not my strength, but concealing my attraction proved impossible as she nursed me. Even if humans didn’t work the same way, I was hardwired to believe that caring for a potential mate signaled interest from a female.

“JayJay…” Her gaze swallowed my attention, and the hope shining there lifted the lurking veil of sadness. “Do the terms of your banishment allow you to travel off-planet?”

That wasn’t the response I’d expected, though anticipation looked much better on her than despair. She wanted me to travel off-planet with her? I sat up straighter, fortified by the knowledge she would choose to have me with her. But the conditions of my exile were absolute, and I soon deflated, reluctant to disappoint her again. “I cannot leave Tern.”

The heavy sadness returned to her eyes with a vengeance. Despite the longing on her face, she forced her lips to smile. “Ah, well. I probably wouldn’t have done well in the competition, anyway. I haven’t prepared nearly enough.”

I clasped her wrist, tugging her in close, and smoothed my palm over the dip in her spine, sending a shudder through her body. “What are you talking about? Why are you so sad?”

“Visitor shuttles have been canceled until the hellsna are under control—” Her voice broke. “But I thought maybe Bonic could take me back in time for the competition.” She jammed her hands deep into the pockets of her stretchy pants. “Then Dr. Ten told me the tablets they’re working on won’t be ready, so I thought if you came with me….” A tear trickled over her flushed cheek, and she shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. It’s all hypothetical, anyway. I’m going to decline the invitation.” Then she finally looked at me. “I’m just glad you’re all right.”

My heart was breaking for her. “I’d give you the world if I could, but I have no control in this matter.”

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

I stroked her soft hair until she calmed, all the while convincing myself another Rock Dweller could travel with her and keep her in good health. Tino had a crush on her, and Sannit made her laugh. With him, she wouldn’t cry.

“I can’t meet your needs.” A hard lump formed in my throat. “You must choose another male to service you.”

She leaned away from me, her face scrunched into an adorable expression. “Are you kidding me right now?”

Though startled, I didn’t move when she whacked me on the shoulder.

“I’m a disgusting mess right now. Look at me!” She pointed at her puffy eyes and wiped her nose with her sleeve. “My life is falling apart, and I need you to just…” She flailed her hands around her head as if she didn’t know what to do with them, and I leaned back a little in case my head became the target.

“Can you please, for the love of all that’s holy, listen to my words and hear what I have to say?”

She focused on me with such intensity that I feared breathing might set her off.

When she had taken enough time to establish she had all my attention, she leaned in closer and cupped both of my cheeks. “There isn’t an unworthy bone in your entire body. You meet all my needs.” Then her smile brightened. “Though I may require hearing protection in a few years so I don’t go deaf early.”

All the air left my lungs, and I closed my eyes. I let it sink in.

She playfully tapped under my closed eye. “Open up. Are you okay in there?”

When I opened my eyes, honesty radiated from her face. I felt starstruck.

“I know it will take time for you to believe me because you’re you, but, JayJay, you’re one of the best men. You’re probably the best man I’ve ever had the privilege of calling friend.”

A female who might overlook all of my shortcomings was a rare gem. But friend didn’t sit right with me. Friends must act differently on Earth.

“Plus, I would never intentionally ruin a Rock Dweller’s chance to find their life companion. I’d rather be sick for the rest of my life than rob someone of love. JayJay, I’m so sorry. If I’d known—” She gulped. “—I never would’ve…”

Her eyes swirled with an anxiousness I hated. It created pools at their rims.

Although I needed her to know I loved her as more than a friend, I didn’t want to scare her away. “I love having you near. This is more than just a treatment to me.”

“JayJay…” She swallowed, her thumb sweeping over my forehead ridge just as a sharp knock rattled the door.

“Hang on.” Ginger rushed a pair of pants to me, her eyes locked on my rigid coil as I shuffled into them like an invalid, unable to stand on my own.

“If you keep looking at my coil like that, it won’t be going down anytime soon.” Her intense focus made me feel I had a chance at winning her over, pushing past friendship.

Ginger’s cheeks pinked as she rushed to let in our guests, then sat at her sewing machine, fiddling with the gear she was working on.

Sisip’s tawny ears twitched and triangulated as her piercing gaze scanned me. On her heels were Saluda and D’unter. Tall and proud, they stood decked out in protective gear, Ginger’s trademark attention to detail stamped all over them.

Although unpolished and the original brown of the mantu hide, she’d added protective features customized for each species. D’unter’s new headgear, similar to the one D’Rasma had been trying on when I first woke, dangled from a clip on his belt. Saluda wore a tunic exposing the Drack’s arm scales, but the neck rose high and split, covering the thinner skin behind his ears and under his throat. They’d been transformed into warriors.

“Nice to have you back with us. Excellent work devising a plan to kill one of those evil creatures,” Sisip said.

With Ginger away from me, all my aches and pains returned. I needed everyone out so I could attend to her. Hill should’ve given us more time. Yet the need to reassure the team kept me in check.

“I can’t take the credit for that. D’irk uses the same tactic to hunt mantu. I only adapted it.”

D’unter and Saluda crowded in, piling the food they’d brought on top of a chair, and my stomach growled. They shifted on restless feet, waiting for Sisip’s update, eager to talk.

“Mayor Yurst has informed me Devile arrived last moon and is spending an enjoyable rotation recuperating from his long flight at the mayor’s poolside.” Her sarcastic delivery made it clear how she felt about that plan. “Both Yurst and Devile will arrive at command central at first sun. I’m sending an armed guard.” Her snort shivered down her long whiskers. “Well, a couple of scouts, anyway.” She eyed the hide rolled behind me for support while I shoveled mantu sandwiches into my mouth. “Will you be ready?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Absolutely not.” Ginger dropped the lunal rings she was working over long sticks and shook her finger at me, then Sisip.

Saluda and D’unter laughed so hard they covered their mouths.

I tipped my chin to Sisip, ignoring Ginger’s attempt to cast me as a youngling. “I’m much stronger this rotation. I will walk a bit and then rest. You can count on me.”

Ginger huffed. “Idiotic gorilla.” Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she stormed over to the chair by her workstation, throwing around bits of pelts and cutting through a thick mantu hide. Her shears snapped with much more force than necessary.

“I’ll have Hill notify you when they arrive.” Sisip cupped my shoulder and squeezed before she left our small cave.

Saluda’s and D’unter’s wary eyes focused on Ginger’s scissors, snipping open and closed.

“Maybe now is a good time for that walk. We’ll help you, Protector,” D’unter said.

“Now is as good a time as any.” I propped one hand on D’unter’s shoulder for leverage and heaved as Saluda braced behind me. If I tipped over, I’d crush him.

I needed to do this so that Ginger would see me as a strong mate, protecting her and the residents of Tern. My legs wobbled but held, and my tender insides protested. With my teammates at my side, ready to help at a moment’s notice, I made my way across the rolling floor. Each step sent pain shooting up my healing leg.

Ginger snipped away. She flicked her hair from one shoulder to the other, lashing it back and forth like a jungle cat’s tail.