Page 7 of Entangled by the Alien Mercenary (Monster Mercenary Mates #4)
Tasseloris
She had fainted. Her body was so light and frail as I held her in my arms, cradled tightly against my chest. She was tiny compared to me, and I worried that I’d hurt her if I tried to move her. Had she gotten injured in ways I hadn’t been able to see? I could smell the blood from the cuts and abrasions on her wrists, but she did not smell sick. She smelled good—tired, but good. Her scent was female, a little exotic, and uniquely hers while also marking her as Elrohirian.
Though tempting, I could not stand here with her in my arms until she woke up. She needed help, and I needed answers. If I’d had my comm, I’d have called for help in a heartbeat, pride be damned. Dravion, our doctor, would be able to take care of her injuries on the spot and ensure there was nothing worse than exhaustion and bruises going on. My mind flashed to the moment I’d seen her and noticed the noose around her neck. What a barbaric, cruel way to keep her in line while they rested. It had infuriated me so much that I’d leaped into action without formulating a proper plan of attack. It was the only reason the others had gotten away, leaving us in a clearing with a dead campfire and an even deader Rhico.
We could not stay here, and I needed my backpack with supplies so I could bandage her wrists. I wished she’d stayed conscious long enough to tell me her name, but it hardly mattered. We’d have time for that later. Right now, I needed to heal her wounds and get her to safety.
Distracted by my female, I had let the Elrohirian male go, and he’d snuck away behind my back. I would have liked to press him for answers while my female rested, but I was not going to track him down now, no matter how obvious his trail was. Turning, I strode away from the clearing in the opposite direction from where Jalima’s males had fled. There was a cave nearby that would make for a suitable resting spot. I’d sensed it—a void in the dirt, a place where plants did not grow. It was the perfect place to rest, safe from the Takchaw, who could not penetrate rock.
“Kreeepiche?” The sound came from my left and slightly above. I already knew what I’d see before I looked, but I looked anyway. There she was—the little Entling—dangling upside down from a tree branch. Her pink tendrils and petals tilted up toward the sun, her green eyes huge in her delicate little face. She was as cute as my female was, and also still nameless.
“You can’t keep following me, sweet one,” I said to her with a deep sigh. Not only was she going to get me killed if anyone saw me with her, but I had my female to keep safe. I could not protect them both. “Find your Sire,” I insisted again, but it was clear that the little Entling did not understand—or maybe did not want to understand—what I said. She made another sweet little chirping noise and then let go of her branch to float lightly to the ground. I ducked around her and kept walking, and I knew that she was following. Fine, I’d make this work somehow.
I held my pretty woman against my chest, one-armed, once I entered the cave. The supplies I needed were in my backpack, and it took a moment to extract them from beneath my sails and the vines I’d grown from my shoulders. If Master Eryngium saw me now, he might actually be impressed. Most plantists could only master one of these skills one at a time, not both at once. The sail was heavy, but I managed to shift it aside so I could free my bedroll. Once that was spread on the ground, I gently placed my female on it.
The Entling was still at the entrance to the cave; she had not come in, but her curious eyes were watching everything. I glanced at her and then started saying things that would see me killed if any Viridara heard. “If you’re going to stick around, you might as well make yourself useful, you know.” I gently picked up my mate’s wrist and showed the little Entling the wounds the ties had caused. After I’d cut the bindings, I had been appalled to discover just how deep the wounds were. “Some Virad berries would help with this. Can you bring me those?”
The Entling made a soft noise that could be agreement, and then she twirled away, her pink vines lifting as if a breeze had caught her. With the Entling gone—hopefully to bring me what my female needed—I focused on her lax, prone form. She wore tall leather boots and some kind of fashionable jumpsuit with a sash around the waist. It looked elegant and not at all suitable for a trek in the woods. Dirt had smudged her knees, and a tear in her left sleeve showcased the pale skin beneath. Dark circles sat like bruises beneath her eyes as well, a testament to her rough night—evidence that maybe she’d had trouble sleeping for more than a single night, actually.
I pulled my med kit from my backpack next and got to work with the limited supplies I had, using the tissue regenerator to heal her wounds and giving her a shot of Dravion’s replenishing stimulants to boost her system. She looked like she needed it. She looked like a woman who’d been on the run awhile, with nobody to look out for her. That was in the past because now she had me, and I’d make sure nobody could harm her. Soon, she’d be back to smiling, with pink in her cheeks and, if her clothing was any indication, a shopping trip to look forward to.
First, I had to make her comfortable and fed, but those were all things that were easy to take care of. I tried not to let myself get distracted by her pale, silky-soft hair, or the way her curvy chest rose and fell as she breathed, outlined by her fashionable jumpsuit. So pretty, so stylish—she was in a league of her own, and I was nowhere near good enough for a girl like her. If I let it, I could hear the reprimands and complaints of my mother echo in the back of my head, but I was done listening to the voices of the past. I might still be struggling to find the right focus, and to control it when I did pull forth my powers, but I had done it. Master Eryngium was wrong; I was not a failure, and my mother was wrong too—I was not something to be ashamed of. When my mate woke, I’d make sure she only saw the competent, powerful male that I was.
“Cheecheek?” The Entling was back. She stood just outside the cave, unwilling, it seemed, to cross onto the rock and lose her touch with the earth. She was holding out her cupped palms, the leafy shapes larger than they had appeared previously. In them lay a pile of Virad berries, all of them thick and lush, shiny with health. Whoa, she’d done as I asked? So she did understand some of what I’d said, enough to know I wanted her to collect these.
Kneeling in front of her, I was impressed by how tiny she was yet again—and how fearless she was of me. She was staring at me with a smile and a trusting look in her huge green eyes, and I felt a surge of protectiveness wash over me. Okay, fine. The Entling didn’t know where her Sire was, but I was strong enough to take care of both of them. Both girls. “Thank you, sweet one,” I said to the Entling, and this time I was far less gruff about it. “You did good.” There were only about ten berries—more hadn’t fit in her hands—but they were thick and juicy, more than enough to make a paste to cover my mate’s wounds.
The pink-and-green little creature watched avidly as I squished the berries in my metal food bowl with a spoon. Then I applied the paste to the Elrohirian female’s wrist with my finger and wrapped white bandages around each wrist to protect the injuries. I found myself talking out loud as I worked. “This works as a clotting and healing agent for Viridara, but Elrohirian and Viridara can interbreed, so I hope it works for her too.” Oh, why did I mention breeding? Was I crazy? Now my cock ached painfully in my pants, and my thoughts filled with all the things I wanted to do to this female. My mouth on her skin, between her thighs, her moans in my ears as I sank deep into her tight passage. Now I had a hard-on, a way-too-curious Entling staring at my every move, and a very much still unconscious mate whose name I did not even know.
I should give the Entling a name if she was going to stick around. It was a good distraction as I set about making a fire and food for my female. I couldn’t allow myself to think of her sexy body again, or I’d never get anything done. She’d think I was a total pervert when she woke and found me drooling at her feet. First impressions mattered. “You’re curiously pink for an Entling,” I said to the little creature, firmly yanking my mind off my female and onto my chosen distraction. The little creature had drifted a little closer, a few tendrils sliding onto the rock and several reaching behind her to stay in touch with the dirt.
Frowning at the sight, I went to the edge of the cave and used my own set of draping vines and my hands to scoop up some rich, loamy earth and scatter it across the rock in a trail to where I’d been working. When I sat back down, the Entling was still at the cave opening, but her wide eyes were luminous, glowing with an inner light. I was certain it was happiness. She seemed to dance as she twirled over the trail of rich earth to come to my side. And then, she shocked me by making the leap from the pathway I’d made for her onto my thigh. From there, her leafy fingers reached up, and with another graceful twirl, she rose on her tendrils.
Frozen in place, I waited to see what she’d do, her weight so slight I barely felt it when she settled herself on my shoulder. Some of her pink, skirt-like tendrils slithered around my neck for purchase, and she settled her tiny head in my hair with a deep sigh. Okay then… I guess she really liked me. I recalled Entlings climbing over their Sires and sitting on their shoulders in this manner. Did she think I was her Sire now?
A soft sigh distracted me from the surprising realization. My mate was beginning to stir, her head twisting left and right, her brow scrunched up. She was not waking easily, as if she fought the rise to the surface. I could understand that; nothing good had been waiting for her here until I’d rescued her. She did not know yet that she could trust me to protect her, but she would know it soon. Then her eyes blinked open, and I was staring into the deepest sapphire. I sighed at the sight of that beautiful gaze, and the little Entling on my shoulder mimicked the sigh with a soft chirp of her own.
By the blazing of the stars, I was a lucky man to have found a woman like her. She was gorgeous and brave; I felt so blessed. “Hello,” I said to her, my mouth dry as I searched for anything more to say, but nothing came to mind. Suddenly, I felt as speechless as Solear, and I wondered if he felt as foolish as I did, unable to find the right words.