Page 37

On some level, that sentiment had echoed through his core for a minute. And now, he knew that this unconscious female in his arms would have something to do with defining that hole, even if it wasn’t her job to fill it.

Myhnn , his beast, declared in Drahk.

Liekki rolled his eyes. His dragon may be confident of who she was.

However, just as the honey clung to the female’s form, it stuck to his olfactory senses and saturated it with the saccharine scent, leaving only an obscure trace of the person he held.

He could take the time to dissect the smells around him and drill down to just that hint that was her, but there would be time enough for him to discover that later when she was on the mend.

As he walked, every time her breathing lessened, he blew a small puff of smog directly into her face.

It wasn’t much, not the actual healing smog.

They were outside, and the fact there was not only a soft breeze, but his rapid movement made it hard for the cloud of smoke to settle around her for long.

Thankfully, it was enough to open her airway and resume her raspy breathing.

She needed to be in an enclosed space soon.

He was so grateful to see his place come into view that he had to keep himself from running to his door, drawing attention. Liekki spotted Druk, one of the morning patrols, cutting across the bright-lavender sky.

Liekki held his position but used the moment to blow the slightest puff to the wounded female, unable to risk the swirl not dissipating before it reached the treetops. A signal that would draw curiosity.

He watched the dragon’s path and knew Druk was headed in the same direction he’d come from; he was Liekki’s relief from duty.

By now, Liekki would have flown to the security headquarters and given his southern night report to Edjer.

However, he knew Liekki’s priority was to the Mckenna and would probably assume he’d been pulled to another task.

Edjer knew no news was always a positive unless Druk’s dragon messaged back with a situation. Liekki would radio the head of security when he got inside his residence.

Once the sky was clear, Liekki made his way out of the forest and to his front door, keeping his pace moderate yet with long strides.

When he was inside with his door sealed behind him, he allowed the tension to leave his shoulders as relief moved through his muscles like tingly fingers.

Keeping his back pressed to the door for a moment, and he stared down into the face of the woman.

She was still with him, still hanging on.

He could not say if she was a rare beauty or had average features, a face as indistinguishable and unremarkable as a sea potato.

Still, it didn’t matter to him because she was his to heal and safeguard.

His home was large, not as massive as the Mckenna’s suites, but second in size.

Liekki enjoyed his space, and the two-story structure was his perfect escape.

Before the recent days, that escape was always in the form of parties and women.

Often, when the lively evening meals ended in the hall, a handful or two of his friends came back to his house for more naughty pursuits.

The spacious place had been hauntingly quiet for some time now. Not for lack of offers, but he’d used the excuse of pulling overnight duty to keep away questions he wasn’t ready for or couldn’t address.

“Hel-lp m—”

The low, hoarse croak brought Liekki’s gaze to the female.

Her lips were so swollen he was shocked that air could get in, let alone that sound could travel out.

When his gaze rose to her eyes, he noticed one sat swollen shut and half covered by clumps of her wild, golden-brown strands glued to her skin by the honey.

The other eye was opened a crack. The slit allowed him a narrow glimpse of a hazy orb locked in on him as a single tear ran out of the corner of her eye.

Tracking the glimmering sight of a diamond rolling over distended hills of her face arrested his heart. The lid shut again, and once again, she faded away into the darkness of a pain-induced coma.

“I’ve got you, little lure.” Shoving away from the door, he rushed through the foyer and up the stairs, taking them two at a time. This fragile human somehow had drawn his dragon to her, and they’d see her hale and hearty and then get some answers.

At the top of the stairs, Liekki turned left to his master bedroom. He could have placed his patient in one of the two spare bedrooms, but he knew his dragon would never go for that; it needed her close.

Liekki strutted to the massive bed that took up a large portion of his bedroom. It sat parallel to his landing on the other side of the giant sliding door. His bed faced the rising sun, which Liekki loved. Quickly, he laid her down on the bed. Her body appeared tiny in the middle of the big frame.

Dirt and honey covered her; he knew it would get all over the blanket she lay on. However, with her unconscious, he couldn’t have her undress and shower.

Liekki knew first that he needed to remove the gown from her and get the stingers still burrowed into her skin out. It wouldn’t be easy since her body was so swollen; he may not reach some until the inflammation decreased.

Opening his nightstand drawer, he removed his blade.

It was one his father had given him the day he’d transitioned into young adulthood and left the schoolhouse.

It had one of his heartstone polished and imbedded in the pommel.

The white-blue of the stone, similar in color to an iceberg, always filled Liekki’s heart with a blaze that seeped into every part of his body.

Before the Great Catastrophe, Liekki had been around humans and more than his share of their women.

He knew they were more modest than Drahks, and this woman may not be pleased to discover he’d removed her outer garments without her knowledge or permission.

However, if he didn’t treat her injuries, she wouldn’t get better.

Besides, with the amount of honey soaked into her clothing, the gown wasn’t much use to her anymore.

Once he got the venomous needles out, he knew she’d rest better.

He sat down beside her legs on the bed and placed his knife on the bed beside her hip. He needed to take care of plenty of places before divesting her of her limited apparel.

When he shifted toward her feet, he frowned at seeing a single slipper on her foot.

He pulled it off and dropped it to the floor.

For a moment, he wondered if she’d lost it during the attack or perhaps it had been snatched from her foot by one of the many bushes he’d rushed them through.

However, when he lifted one of her legs to begin to get the honey off, he noticed the cuts and bruises on the sides and bottom.

Strangely enough, the abrasions covered both her feet.

She’d been without proper foot covering for a while.

Not that slippers were fit for travel through an overgrown forest, but neither was her hospital gown, for that matter.

He knew he thought of her as his patient, but apparently, she’d been hospitalized for real.

But, despite the damage from the bees, Liekki didn’t see any signs of human sickness.

Outside of the insect swelling, her body appeared healthy and perhaps well-fed.

Holding her ankle in his hand, he figured the most efficient way for him to assist her and reduce her pain quicker would be by heating his mouth and melting or at least thinning out the sticky substance on her skin.

Then, he could easily swipe it away using his dragon’s agile, forked tongue to pluck out the stingers.

He’d then applied a coating of its fiery saliva, better than any salve.

Liekki was glad the female was out because he wouldn’t have to contend with her human sensibilities towards his actions. By the time she found out or if she discovered the method used in her healing, by then she’d be too happy to be better even to care.

He paused to blow more smoke toward her face and began.

The honey started at the tops of her feet, but he did not locate the first rough, tiny spindle until he reached the side of her calf.

Once the honey was gone from the area, it was a quick tug, and the first ebony needle was out.

He collected it from his tongue and dropped it onto the nightstand.

On and on he went, licking and plucking, all the while distracting himself with counting the items removed and ensuring he added just the right amount of saliva to her skin.

She had so many around her knees that he didn’t think any bees would be left to rebuild their hive.

It was somewhere around the inside of her first thigh, right above the side of her knee and directly below the hem of her gown, when he became aware that his mind was no longer counting bee sticks but cataloging her taste and smell.

At first, he thought it was the organic fresh honey, but her nectar began to fill his mouth, coat his throat, and flood his mind.

Yes, she tasted of honey, but it wasn’t simply the sweet floral notes that he was savoring; instead, it was a sweet, spiced honey with a smooth finish.

It made him recall a time when he was a youngling, and his mother had allowed him to get a caramel square at a farmer’s market.

The taste of that treat had clung to his palate and remained in his mind all day; the flavor and scent of this woman would do no less. Her taste had done no less.

His head felt hazy with lust, and his core drew tight. The fire simmering there began to blaze hotter. A maddening thought raced toward his mind as he shifted away to grab his knife.