Page 143 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Thorin

I woke up feeling fine. That was immediately my biggest clue that something had gone very, very right for once in my life.

My eyes were sticky and sandy as I struggled to get them to open, but when I did, the light around me was set to a soft glow that didn’t hurt.

I was in the med bay aboard the Vagabond.

The realization made me pause as I assessed what I was feeling, not the crawling, panicked, sickening fear I expected.

I felt relieved. I was on the Vagabond; I was safe.

Turning my head, my thick, sleek hair shifted beneath me; someone had undone my braids.

My fingers immediately tingled to set that to rights, it felt wrong to have my hair loose and free to be grabbed at.

It conjured up the image of Camila with her braid undone as we fought to escape from that UAR battleship. Where was she?

Had I dreamed that part where she told me she was going to stay?

That she loved me? I lifted a hand to touch the bare Caratan chain crossing my cheek.

No, the pariah sigil was gone. It had really happened.

Turning my head, I checked the med bay, looking for any sign of the Doc or Camila.

There! She was curled up in a chair at the side of the cot I was on, her long hair tamed in a thick braid again, and her body clean.

She was dressed in black cargo pants and a shirt, her bare toes peeking out from beneath the fabric.

I didn’t want to disturb her sleep just yet; she looked peaceful but tired.

There were dark bruises beneath her eyes that told me how exhausted she was.

My belly had fully healed, as had my shoulder.

When I peeked beneath the sheet covering me, I saw not even a sign of scarring, and thankfully, the shot had gone just a few inches wide of the tattoo covering half my chest and shoulder.

My leg… it was wrapped tightly in a rigid cast, covering me from foot all the way up to my thigh so I couldn’t even bend my knee. It wasn’t hurting, but that might’ve just been because the Doc had drugged me up. I felt clearheaded, though, which I appreciated.

Sitting up, I investigated the cast a little more. My leg wasn’t hurting, but it was still itching, what was up with that? That had never happened to me before. When the door to the med bay slid open and Luka stepped inside, I brightened. Just the man to ask.

“Thorin, you’re up! How are you feeling?” he asked, his face breaking out in a wide grin, his shimmering black eyes twinkling happily.

“Just so damn itchy,” I said, speaking softly so that Camila didn’t wake up. Too late, my female sleepily lifted her head, blinked blearily my way, and then started smiling widely.

Opening my arms was the only invitation she needed.

She leaped from the chair onto the cot and straight into my lap.

“You’re awake! You’re okay!” she told me.

Then she pressed her mouth to mine, and I forgot all about the Doc.

Yanking her close and delving into her mouth, I slid my hand down her back to feel the soft curve of her spine, the luscious globe of her ass.

I pressed her tightly against my hard cock, and she ground down against me with abandon.

I had her right where I needed her, in my lap, in a bed.

I barely registered the swish of the med bay door as the Doc left with an amused chuckle.

I needed my female right now; we needed this moment to reaffirm how alive we were.

Camila was on the same page, yanking off her shirt and kicking away her pants.

“You good?” she asked in between kisses, as we pulled the sheet out from between us.

In answer, I lined us up and drove home in a single thrust. “Perfect.”

*

Camila

Admittedly, greeting the guy who had just nearly died with a round of sex was probably not the most responsible thing I’d done.

Not that I could regret it for even a single moment.

Cuddling afterward on that tiny cot felt good, too, and that big cast around his leg might be uncomfortable against my bare thigh.

It was an affirmation that he was going to be all right.

The Doc knocked on the door. “Is it safe to come in yet?” he asked, his voice filled with amusement.

I scrambled to yank on my shirt, not helped by Thorin, who was just grinning like a maniac while he stared at my chest. Once I had the shirt on, I yelled that he could come in, shimmying into my pants beneath the sheet.

I was sticky between my legs but ignored that in favor of listening to the Doc checking Thorin’s vitals.

He was quick as he scanned him. “All good. You still seem to heal at a remarkable rate, as always.” The scanner dipped to scan the leg.

“The break is almost healed as well. The cast should be able to come off later tonight.”

Thorin was not nervous or uncomfortable in the med bay now; he seemed relaxed and happy.

As he jabbed a finger at the hard cast on his leg, he grinned.

“You managed to save the leg, Doc? How?” I wondered, too, I’d been too exhausted when Luka had treated him to absorb the details.

Our flight with Ziame’s small stealth ship had only taken a few hours before the Vagabond had caught up with us.

“As you recall, something about the drugs they used to enhance you, and the repeated breaking of your bones, had caused the bone to deteriorate. As it turned out… the adrenaline you stupidly risked administering to yourself saved your ass. It stabilized the issue in the leg, and the bone is now steadily recovering, regaining the required density and strength, as well as healing that break.” The Doc sent him a stern glare before cracking into another smile.

“You were lucky, Thorin. With continued treatment, you should be able to keep the leg.”

Thorin deflated on the spot, staring with open-mouthed surprise at his leg.

Then he sank back on the mattress. “Wow… Seriously?” He was struggling to process the news, but he reached for the tip of my braid, tugging on it softly.

I was starting to get used to that bit of touch—that bit of contact—he liked to make.

It was a bit of a dominant, teasing thing to do, but underneath it, he just craved the connection.

“Yes,” Luka affirmed, nodding his head as he explained.

“You’ll continue to need a low dose of adrenaline, probably for the rest of your life.

It appears this human hormone is just what your body needs.

With a regular supply, the bone and muscle will remain stable.

” He went into a more detailed explanation that I kind of zoned out on; the bottom line was simply that, with a regular shot, he was going to continue to be fine.

It was fantastic news and just sheer dumb luck that he’d blundered into that solution.

The Doc helped Thorin get dressed, opting for a gladiator’s fighting kilt for once, since pants wouldn’t go on over the cast. Meanwhile, I quickly rushed to the washroom to clean up and fix my appearance.

It was one thing that the Doc had seen me right after sex and knew it; the others didn’t need to know.

Then the three of us made our slow but steady way to the mess hall, where the rest of the crew had gathered to celebrate our successful escape.

We were greeted by the entire crew of rowdy gladiators and the human women.

A feast had been laid out, and Tori was cradling her baby, Novalee, in one arm and turning up the music through a data pad with the other.

Sunder had a wing flared out, half in front of her, so she was a little shielded from the rest of the room.

I spotted Abigail in Ziame’s lap at the head of the table, the two with their heads bent close together as they talked softly.

Ziame’s hard and terrifying appearance was softened by the delicate shape of his ears, which were pointed forward and focused entirely on his mate.

I couldn’t remember how scared I’d been of him that first day; knowing who he was now, it seemed impossible to reconcile this image with that of the Beast I’d seen.

The others were all around the table, already sharing drinks and food while boisterously talking and joking with each other.

When we stepped into the mess hall, everyone paused what they were doing the moment we were noticed.

Then there was a virtual stampede as huge gladiators leaped to their feet and rushed to greet Thorin with back slaps, fist bumps, and taunting verbal jabs.

“My brother!” Jakar said. “Let’s go a round on the mats.

I’ll be the fast one this time. Maybe it’ll impress your female enough that she’ll decide to upgrade! ”

Thorin growled at him, but he was laughing the next moment as he jabbed the red-skinned Pretorian in the upper shoulder with a hard fist. His arm tightened around my shoulders.

“I think if she hasn’t decided to leave me yet…

she never will.” Jakar’s eyes twinkled as he held out his two right fists to me.

I bumped first one, and then the other, with my own, which made him throw back his head and laugh jovially.

We were herded to the table and plied with food, and Thorin was in such good spirits that his typical scowl never made an appearance.

After we’d eaten our fill, Thorin raised a hand and asked the gathering to fall silent.

“I’m happy to be home again with all of my brothers, but…

eh, can someone please explain to me how?

” I had heard snippets about what the others had been up to while we’d been on the run and then taken, but over the past two days, while Thorin had been recovering, I’d mostly been focused on being at his side.

I still had some questions left unanswered myself.