Page 26 of Mates for the Raskarrans #1-6

Gregar checks the noise-makers, sets his weapons within grabbing distance of the tent entrance.

Then he looks at me as if he, too, has just realised that we are alone and can’t talk and with no further activities to complete, it’s probably going to get awkward.

He scratches at the back of his head, considering me for a moment.

Then he walks over to one of the trees at the edge of this little clearing and abruptly starts climbing it.

If I’m supposed to follow - no chance. He scales it like a pro, claws digging in to the bark as he flies up the trunk.

I stand at the bottom, unsure my arms are even wide enough to wrap around it.

With no shoes to protect my soft little feet, I’ll injure myself before I get any kind of purchase on the bark.

It’s high, too. So high that when Gregar pushes up into the leaves, I lose sight of him. His greenish-brown skin helps, the perfect camouflage in the forest. But I would have thought for sure a guy of his size couldn’t just disappear among the branches.

Then he’s heading back down, practically sliding down the trunk, a wide grin stretching across his face as he turns to me, gesturing for me to follow. I wrap my arms around myself.

“Uh, don’t know how you expect me to climb,” I say, then waggle my fingers at him, with their worn little nails. “No claws.”

Gregar shakes his head, then comes to my side, close enough to touch me.

I catch a hint of his scent, musky and delicious, and can’t help taking another lungful.

The air grows charged as we stand close together.

He leans in, his head dipping close to mine.

I can feel the tickle of his breath over my face and dammit, I want him to lean down and just kiss me already.

I let my eyes flutter shut.

Then he’s wrapping my arm around his neck, hefting me on to his back like a child. I yelp, wrapping my legs around his waist, squeezing him in a vice grip, my arms going equally tight around his neck. Gregar just chuckles, then launches us both up the tree.

I scream, burying my head in the back of his neck, gripping him even tighter. Then he’s slowing, leaves ticking across my skin, and I realise his tail is wrapped tight around my calf, just as I’m wrapped tight around him. It’s strangely comforting.

The branches are thinner up here, but Gregar climbs them with confidence, no branch he puts weight on bending more than a little bit. Up and up we go until, suddenly, there’s no more tree above us, just sky.

And the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen. A fiery ball of orange lights up the ocean, the sky a canvas of pinks and purples fading in to dark dark blue.

Down on the beach, most of it was hidden by the tree line. The beach must go round a corner, though it looked poker straight from where we landed on it. I look to my left and see the slow curve of the sand, height giving me a new perspective on the land.

It is beautiful, this place. In all the fear and worry, I had started to forget that.

As I watch the sun descending below the horizon, the fear of heights and the tension in my body just melts away.

I relax my vice grip, holding on to Gregar just tight enough to feel safe.

He’s so broad and strong. I’m not afraid he’ll tire and drop me, but the thought of the distance between us and the ground doesn’t allow me to relax completely.

“It’s beautiful,” I tell him.

“ Dro’hvresh ,” he answers.

It doesn’t matter that we can’t understand each other. It still feels like we connect in that moment.

He points a finger, and I follow it with my eyes to a dark shape on the sand.

The escape pod. It’s a distance away, but I can just about make out figures around the fire.

I feel as though my spirit reaches out to them, connecting with them.

Back on Earth, I’d have called this nonsense, but here in a world where dreams can be shared, it doesn’t seem so impossible.

My girls. My tribe. And Gregar’s tribe taking care of them.

No, not Gregar’s tribe. Our tribe.

Perhaps this is why I needed to be out here. Perhaps I just needed a moment of perspective to truly accept everything.

When the last of the sun slips beneath the horizon, I shiver a little, a breeze tickling at my neck.

We are quite high and I am quite underdressed, so despite Gregar’s warmth, I feel a bit chilly.

He pats my hand against his chest, then starts the climb down.

I think he goes slower on purpose, so as not to scare me.

When we hit the floor, he swings me round into his arms and carries me across the clearing to the tent. I could protest, but it’s kind of nice. I like the way he handles me like I weigh nothing.

When we get there, he sets me down inside it, then uses one of the bed furs to bundle me up, wrapping it around my shoulders before heading back outside.

There’s no ulterior motive to it - he doesn’t even take the opportunity to feel me up like most human blokes would have.

He’s genuinely focused on caring for me, just as he has been all day.

I thought being stranded here meant dying sooner rather than later. Now, there’s no reason why I can’t live a full life. A good life. A really good life. With Gregar.

As if he knows I’m thinking about him, he finishes whatever he’s doing with the fire and turns to me.

I slip back inside the tent, making room for him to enter.

He smiles at me, reaching out to brush his fingers across my cheek.

Giant claws protrude from those fingers when he wants to climb trees - vicious looking, strong enough to punch through bark.

Yet he touches me with utter gentleness.

I shiver again, but this time, it has nothing to do with feeling cold.

Gregar gives me a questioning look, and I don’t think it’s wishful thinking that I see a hint of hope, a hint of desire in his eyes.

His hands tense at his sides, as if he’s holding himself back, and his whole body goes very still.

I wonder if he doesn’t quite trust himself not to just ravish me. My core pulses at the thought.

“Linasha,” he says. “ Ey’ahsak Liv.”

And damn if the way he says my name isn’t the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.

I give myself five seconds to really, really think if this is a line I want to cross.

Decide I really, really do.

I drop the bedding he’s wrapped around me and step close to him. Go up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his.