Page 45 of Needed in the Night (The Fortusian Mates, #2)

ISLA

My mate sang to me while I slept.

He cooed too, and sometimes he talked as if he knew I was listening. Other voices came and went but his was always nearby, deep and loving and strong. I drew on that strength. His rumble kept me from wandering away so deeply into darkness that I couldn’t find my way back.

Most of all I wanted him to hold me. I didn’t understand why he didn’t.

Pain lurked on the edges of my awareness, and sickness, and a strange numbness.

My mate reassured me that I was safe and cared for and I could rest. And I did rest, but I was so cold I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be warm.

When he finally wrapped me in his arms and nestled my bare skin against his, it was the most wonderful comfort. The chill in my bones abated and my dreams were much more peaceful.

After a particularly lovely dream of lying on a beach in the sun, warm in Mikas’s arms, I opened my eyes to find myself held tightly against hot skin. Our position was so like my dream that it took me a little while to understand that I was awake.

The unfamiliar room in which we lay was dark except for the faint glow from machines behind me that hummed.

Even so, I immediately recognized Mikas.

His beautiful scaly skin. The scar below his left pectoral muscle.

The piercing through his dark green nipple.

The beating of his three strong hearts. His chest moving with deep, even breaths.

The scent of warm stones that told me I was safe and home.

“Mate,” I whispered.

He went completely still. “Isla?” His voice was ragged.

I pressed my lips to his sternum. “Do you have another one?”

He let out a strangled sound and leaned back so he could see my face. His eyes were shadowed, his cheekbones more prominent, his jaw muscles pronounced, his skin almost sallow.

My stomach lurched. With a shaking hand, I touched his face. “You look terrible.”

He leaned against my palm and closed his eyes. “I did not know if I would ever hear your voice again, and you wake teasing me.” When he opened his eyes, he looked at me as if he wasn’t sure I was real. “Am I dreaming?”

In answer, I pinched his earlobe. He flinched and chuckled, burying his face in my hair. “I am not dreaming, then,” he murmured. “Gods, Isla. You must tell Brae.”

I didn’t sense my shadowbat nearby, so I nestled my head against Mikas’s chest and reached out with my mind. Brae?

A wordless reply seared me with its forcefulness: !!!

I winced.

Isla! Brae’s voice in my head was nearly a screech. You’re awake?

Yes, I’m awake. Mikas is here.

Warmth spilled into me from my shadowbat. I’m out hunting , he said excitedly. I’ll see you as soon as your mate is ready to share your attention .

That made me smile. Thank you. I’ll let you know.

Mikas’s lips traveled to my forehead. “He is happy?”

“Very happy.” I kissed his chest again. “He says he’ll come back when you’re ready to share me.”

His smile turned my insides to warm honey. “He is thoughtful. I will need some time alone with my beautiful mate.” His smile faded. “You have been asleep a long time.”

His nearness soothed me, but my stomach churned. “Where are we? What happened?”

“It is a terrible story.” He rested his forehead on mine. “I do not know how much to tell you now.”

“Whatever it is, I can take it,” I promised, lacing our fingers together. “I’d rather know everything at once so I don’t have to wonder. Not knowing is worse.”

“I will stop if you become too distressed.” When I started to protest, he kissed my forehead. “Supervising Physician Nvornik will have my hide if I upset you too much. That is a direct quote, by the way. We owe her and her nurses your life, so I will not cross her.”

That made me smile despite the ball of dread in my stomach. “I like your hide where it is, and I try to never get on the bad side of someone who saved my life, so we’re agreed.”

He held me close and told me about Kona’s attack and the aftermath. Then he caressed my back and cooed as I huddled, trembling and nauseous, against his chest, trying to make sense of what he’d said.

I struggled to accept that we’d been here for two entire Alorisian weeks—the equivalent of nearly twenty-four Fortusian days.

For damn near the entirety of that time, I’d remained unconscious in a healing sleep caused by sharing Mikas’s blood, and then a medically induced twilight state, fighting to survive a terrible stab wound and massive dose of poison.

After the first week, my physician had moved me from my original room to a secure suite in the port’s medical bay, guarded by soldiers trusted by Protectorate Morolo. Only then had Mikas been able to share my bed, and he hadn’t left my side for more than a few minutes at a time since.

“Nvornik warned us your memory might be affected,” Mikas murmured, one hand cupping the back of my head and the other rubbing my back. “Not just the attack itself, but you might have lost an entire day or more.” The prospect clearly upset him immensely.

“I remember everything,” I said softly. “Docking here at the port, the trip to see the glacier, coming back…and being stabbed. The blade was icy cold.”

His chest rumbled. “Protectorate Morolo said they tested the blade. In addition to revealing the type of poison Kona used, it showed clear evidence of having been exposed to outside air and ice.”

The implication left me stunned. “Kona chilled her dagger on purpose, then. To make a point? That her revenge was cold?”

“I think so.” The words were a growl. “She probably exposed the dagger during the excursion. Maybe even just meters away from us while we were admiring the glacier. But we did not know who she was because of her protective gear.”

“We both felt uneasy,” I reminded him. “Maybe there was something familiar about her that we saw subconsciously but didn’t recognize at the time.”

“Maybe. Or maybe we both suspected our escape from Fortusia had gone too easily.” He inhaled my scent from the crown of my head. “We may never know Nubo’s true level of involvement, unless during her trial Kona decides to speak plainly.”

“I’m not going to hold my breath for that.” I sighed. “I think we should stick to our plan to get far away from Fortusia under our new identities.”

“I agree.” He growled quietly. “We chose to help Kona when we thought she was in danger, and this was her repayment. ”

“I don’t regret that we warned her about the threat, even if it was all a sham.” I rubbed my nose on his chest. “I would rather have a kind heart and risk suffering for it than force myself to be hard. The universe needs more kindness, not less.”

“My Isla.” He kissed my hair. “I am sorry you remember the attack. I did not want you to have lost memories of that day, but I confess I hoped you would not recall the act itself.”

“Don’t be sorry.” I cupped his face with my much-colder hands.

“I’d rather remember so I don’t have to wonder how it felt or what I went through.

” I stroked his cheeks with my thumbs. “What I remember most, though, is what you said to me, and what you did to save me from a truly horrific death. I wouldn’t want to have forgotten that. I’ll never forget it…my mate.”

“I have never heard sweeter words.” His voice was rough again, but now it was happiness and not grief that made it gruff.

Mikas kissed me then, finally. My body came alive as if I hadn’t yet fully woken up until his lips were on mine. His kiss was gentle at first, and then much more hungry when I ran my fingers through his hair and pulled. His growl made me shiver and not with cold.

When he lifted his head, he cupped my face with his hot hand.

“I have one more thing I must tell you. The cytotoxins in the poison caused significant damage to the skin and muscles on your back. You are still healing and those regenerated muscles will be weak until you strengthen them.” His gaze searched my face.

“But what you must know is because the skin is new, all your scars from…before…are gone.”

I wasn’t sure how to react to that. Not relief, exactly, and not regret. Maybe it would take me more time to process this news.

“I wasn’t ashamed of my scars,” I said softly, because Mikas was waiting with obvious unease for a reply.

“I only kept them covered to avoid having to explain how I got them.” I squeezed his hand.

“Scars mean I survived—that someone tried to hurt me, or kill me, and failed. The agent who took me away from the palace on Agicord told me that when she saw me looking at hers. I’d never heard anything that made as much sense as that. ”

I’d shared that sentiment with Novee after our escape from Ngara.

She’d wept at the news her back would be scarred after the plasma rifle shot.

She had every right to be upset, and I would never have said otherwise, but she had asked why I wasn’t more distressed.

My explanation had helped her then, and I hoped it still did, wherever she was.

Mikas touched his right leg. It bore no visible scars but had been reconstructed after he’d lost the original limb in battle. “Survival is no small thing,” he agreed. “It is a triumph.”

“It feels like a triumph to me,” I said. “I’m alive, Kona is in custody, Nubo is light-years behind us, and as soon as I can get out of bed, we’ll be on our way to Jakora, by way of a few more beautiful planets.”

“There is nothing I want more.” He kissed my forehead. How I loved forehead kisses now.

The thought of continuing our journey made me think about clothing-optional cabins, which in turn made me think of something else. “Mikas, since they moved us into this suite, when the physician and nurses come to check on me, are you naked in bed with me?”

“Where else would I be?” He tilted his head.

“They know I am your mate. I believe they would have found it strange if I were not naked in your bed holding you as you recovered. This is how mates care for one another. In fact, Nvorkin believed skin contact between us would be essential for both your physical and emotional recovery. That is why she moved you from a medbay pod to a standard patient bed I could share as soon as she could. She is Tocanian, and they also experience strong mate bonds.”

I blinked at him. “She prescribed being naked in bed with my mate for healing? ”

“Yes, she did,” he said, very seriously. “Obviously, I was reluctant, but she insisted.”

Oh, my heart. He was teasing me .

To play along, I feigned sadness. “I hate to be a burden, you know. I’m sure there are other accommodations in the port. You don’t have to share this little bed with me.”

Very, very carefully and slowly, he wrapped his arms around me and rolled to his back so I lay on him as I’d done on the basking stones. I braced myself for pain, but felt none—only some stiffness in my muscles and the weakness in my back and shoulders he had warned about.

Oh, gods. He was so warm. I melted against him until I lost track of where I ended and he began.

“I take it back,” I murmured, my head on his chest above his hearts. “You are not allowed to leave.”

He kissed the top of my head and stroked my back, his chest rumbling in that way that felt and sounded like a purr. “My mate, I simply must stay. Doctor’s orders.”