Page 42 of Needed in the Night (The Fortusian Mates, #2)
“I am too accustomed to having you on my lap with nothing between us,” Mikas murmured in my ear as the crawler trundled over the ice at what felt like a truly glacial pace. “I am anxious to book the next leg of our journey and get to our cabin.”
“That makes two of us,” I said, happy to have something to talk about to distract from my unease. “What do you think? Solan? Tivor?” I thought about it. “Or do what Pioni did and wander the port until we feel drawn to a particular ship or destination? Maybe we should let or hearts or fate decide.”
“I am not sure what is best.” He rested his forehead on mine. “I am uneasy. I do not know why. I thought it was the danger of the ice, or our lack of a definite plan, but now I wonder if there is some other cause.”
“I know what you mean.” I leaned against his bicep and did my best to lace my gloved fingers through his bare ones.
I would have given a lot to be able to curl up on his lap, but we had to stay secured into our seats in case of trouble.
My argument that I’d feel safer in Mikas’s arms than in the harness, or that we were in more danger while traveling through space than in this vehicle, was unlikely to persuade the guides to let me flout their rules.
And I’d promised Mikas to be a good tourist, so I stayed in my seat.
Some of our group slept during the journey while others watched the scenery via the windows and viewscreens.
I tried to relax and enjoy the trip, occasionally scanning the faces of the other passengers—those I could see, that was.
Nearly a third wore protective gear that hid even their heads and faces from sight.
When Mikas and I weren’t discussing our next potential destination, I entertained myself by trying to guess what species those in full-body gear were based on body size, number and locations of appendages, and mannerisms.
As much as I wanted to continue with our journey and get back to sharing a clothing-optional cabin with Mikas, I hoped we’d have time to have some drinks and food in the port and watch the seemingly endless parade of travelers from across the galaxy.
In the hour between our arrival from the cruiser and boarding the crawler I’d seen dozens of unfamiliar species, some of which even Mikas couldn’t identify.
We both enjoyed people-watching, as did Brae, so I suspected neither would object too strenuously to relaxing in a lounge prior to boarding our next ship.
When we were within minutes of the port, I reached out to Brae. We’re almost back , I said. The glacier was beautiful. What have you been doing?
There are four hot biospheres in the port, he replied immediately, his voice high-pitched with excitement. I’ve been basking and snacking .
I gasped softly. Mikas glanced at me and raised his eyebrows. I patted his hand in reassurance and mouthed Brae . He chuckled and kissed the top of my head through my hood. I missed the heat of his lips.
Please don’t tell me you’ve been eating anything you shouldn’t have in those biospheres , I said to Brae. You know those are carefully balanced environments.
I’m not uncivilized , my shadowbat huffed. They stock special feeding areas.
Oh, good , I said, relieved. We’ll be arriving at the same gate we departed from in a few minutes. If you’ll meet us there, we’ll go book our next ship and then decide what to do before it leaves.
I’ll meet you there .
I relayed what Brae had said to Mikas. He chuckled. “Trust Brae to find a feast of insects on an ice planet.”
“A shadowbat’s instincts are strong when it comes to danger and food.” I nestled my head against his arm. “Gods above, I’ll be glad to get out of this thermal suit. I’ve had an itch on my back for the last hour and I can’t scratch it.”
“Where?” He slipped his hand behind my back and scratched between my shoulder blades with just the tips of his claws, carefully not to shred the suit. “Here?”
I had to bite my lip to stifle an inappropriate moan. “Lower,” I murmured. “To the right.”
Obediently, he moved his hand and scratched. Ahhh . I might have slumped over if it hadn’t been for the harness. “Oh, that’s the spot,” I groaned. “Thank you.”
He gave the rest of my back a thorough scratch for good measure and took my hand as the crawler reached the ramp that led to the dock inside the port.
Our guides had told us at the beginning of the excursion that all forms of transports on Aloris were designed to withstand the climate but were stored in protected and temperature-controlled areas to lessen the chance of damage or deterioration due to weather.
Once the crawler safely docked and connected to the port’s climate system, we released our harnesses, stood, and stretched.
My stiff muscles protested the long hours of sitting.
Now my fantasy of what Mikas and I would do once we boarded our ship began with a hot bath or shower and a long massage.
Something told me Mikas wouldn’t object to this new plan.
While some of the passengers opted to wear their gear all the way into the port, several guides and other passengers opened their thermal suits. I took my suit off to the waist and tied the sleeves around my hips with a sigh of relief. My jumpsuit was quite warm enough inside the port.
With Mikas in front of me, we made our way up a series of ramps from the crawler to the gate on the lower ring that led to ground transportation.
At this massive five-level port, one of four terminals on Aloris, passenger ferries belonging to large cruisers loaded in the second-level ring.
Small and medium-sized ships loaded from the third and fourth rings.
The fifth ring at the top was a hotel and resort.
Hand-in-hand, Mikas and I emerged through the gate and into a crowd waiting to board crawlers and other ground transportation.
I scanned the area, looking for Brae and the place we were supposed to leave the rest of our protective gear to be cleaned and reused, but it was hard to see anything through the crush of travelers.
A three-legged creature I didn’t recognize stepped on my foot, and a massive, lumbering Biltrobian bumped into me hard enough that I nearly fell. He rumbled something that might have been disgust. His equally enormous companion made a gesture indicating my relative height and chortled.
I scowled at their disdain. Just because I wasn’t two and a half meters tall and built as solidly as a meteorite didn’t mean they could just?—
Icy cold sliced through my back and deep into my chest.
I blinked a few times, puzzled by the sensation. A draft of outside air coming from the gate we’d just passed through? The cold spread through my insides. Suddenly, I couldn’t get a full breath.
“Isla.” Mikas’s voice seemed to be coming from a long way away. He was holding me by my upper arms, his expression part stricken and part pure rage. “ Isla …” The word was a distant roar.
Somewhere nearby, Brae screeched, which he almost never did in public—especially when he traveled in shadow form.
“Mikas,” I said, or tried to say. The word turned into a gurgle. My legs went out from under me.
Mikas caught me, cradling me to his chest. He was bellowing something but I couldn’t tell what he was saying. I also thought there was a lot of screaming and frantic movement around us, but that was vague too. Everyone but Mikas were just shadows.
Brae? Even my thought was wispy. Help …
No reply, or at least not one that I heard. That was strange. Where was Brae?
When the pain arrived, it was distant too and not at all like when I’d been shot on Ngara. Whatever had happened, I must not have been hurt that badly, but thinking had become difficult.
Stranger still, something hot and sweet ran over my lips and into my mouth. Was someone giving me a drink?
“Isla, swallow ,” Mikas said through the ringing in my ears. His voice sounded like his mouth was pressed to my ear. “Drink, my love.”
My back hurts . I’d meant to say that out loud but the words got no further than my brain. One of us was trembling violently. I wasn’t sure if it was him, or me, or both.
I coughed. Warm liquid bubbled up and spilled down my chin.
“Please do not leave me,” Mikas rasped. “I will not make it a day without you.”
The sweet, hot liquid in my mouth tasted like Mikas—like sun-warmed stone and love, like what had come from his fangs when he bit my leg. That made no sense, but very little made sense at the moment .
“Drink,” he begged. “Isla, please .”
With the last of my waning strength, and with darkness closing in, I struggled to do as he asked. He was hurting and I didn’t want him to hurt. I didn’t want to leave him all alone.
Oh, my beautiful Mikas. My heart. My mate.
He clasped me to his chest and roared.