Chapter 14
Rogar opened his eyes when he felt someone tugging on his clothes. Callie’s face swam in front of him. He’d known she wanted his body. He smiled, then frowned. Something didn’t feel quite right. He was almost certain mating was out of the question. He shook his head. “I’m not sure I can mate, Callie. Maybe later?”
Someone snorted. He turned his head a fraction and saw a young woman. It was the same one who’d come to the house yesterday. The one who’d told him it was Callie’s birthday. Except he hadn’t quite pulled off the surprise he’d planned for her.
DeeDee, that was her name.
“Hello again,” he said.
She smiled. “Hi. It looks like you’ve gotten yourself into quite a fix. Callie said you saved her life. When I said women liked fairy tales, I didn’t mean you had to be the hero.”
“I like being Callie’s hero.” Now it was coming back to him. Zerod had found Callie. They weren’t safe. They needed to leave. His gaze took in the room. He vaguely remembered getting into the vehicle, and Callie driving them somewhere. He’d known she was smart.
“Everyone needs a hero,” DeeDee continued. “Callie more than anyone I know.”
“Do y’all mind not talking as though I’m not in the room? Besides the fact that Rogar could possibly be dying from the amount of blood he’s lost.”
“Sorry,” DeeDee mumbled. “I think I have bandages.”
“Good, then I’ll save mine.”
DeeDee hurried from the room.
Rogar studied Callie. Worry etched her face. It made him feel good that she cared so much, but he didn’t like that his injury scared her. “I’ll be all right. It will heal.”
“We have to get the bleeding stopped or you won’t be all right. You’ll be dead. It would have been a lot easier explaining you were mauled by a tiger, and letting a doctor fix your leg, rather than trying to explain a dead alien.”
DeeDee returned with a basket almost overflowing. “I just grabbed what I thought you might need.” She glanced at Rogar’s injury. His leg was partially uncovered. DeeDee turned a little green, then shoved everything toward Callie. “I can’t…” She slapped a hand over her mouth and hurried from the room.
Callie didn’t waste any time grabbing scissors out of the basket. With her lips clamped, she resolutely began cutting away the rest of his blood-soaked bandage. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of her warm hands against his cold skin.
“Are you okay?”
He opened his eyes and looked at her. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her skin was a light golden brown from the sun’s kiss. And her eyes—he didn’t think he’d ever seen eyes so intense with emotion.
“I heal fast,” he said, trying to alleviate the worry on her face. He never wanted her to be worried about him.
She nodded, then removed the rest of the bandage. One part stuck, pulling the hair on his leg. He sucked in a breath.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve taken you to the ER and let a professional look at this. I’ve only bandaged a few animals at the zoo. I don’t have enough experience.” She glanced down, then grabbed the bedpost when she weaved. “You really need a doctor.”
“No doctor. He would ask too many questions. You know that could cause me a lot of trouble. Promise, no matter what happens, no doctor. You only pulled the hair on my leg, that was all. Look, the wound isn’t as bad as you think. And it has already stopped bleeding. It only needs bandaging again.”
“You’re so brave,” she whispered. Her eyes widened. “I have something that will help.” She covered his wound with a clean towel. “I’ll be right back.”
He rose on one elbow and watched her as she ran from the room. His blood stirred. This was not a good time to think about mating. He lifted himself a little higher in bed. Weakness swept over him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them, and looked under the towel.
Three deep cuts slashed across his upper thigh down to his knee, but he could already see it was beginning to close. In two days’ time, no one would be able to tell that he’d ever been hurt.
Symtarians healed rapidly. Right now, he had to admit it looked pretty gruesome, and the wound had weakened him considerably. His only consolation was that he’d given more than he’d gotten, at least, Balam had.
And he had Callie to tend his injuries. He admired her for showing grit when taking care of him. She had the strength of her ancestors’ blood running through her veins.
He dropped the towel in place as Callie hurried back into the room. She carried a glass of water and something in her other hand.
“Why are you sitting up?” She stopped in her tracks, frowning at him.
He started to move back down in bed.
“No, wait. I have something for you to take.”
She hurried the rest of the way over and helped him to sit a little straighter. As she cradled his head against her chest, she poked something into his mouth.
“Don’t chew,” she spoke softly.
All he could think about was the way it felt to rest against her, hearing the steady rhythm of her heart. He rather enjoyed the idea that she was seeing to his needs.
She brought the glass to his lips and tilted it. “Swallow.”
He did, feeling the object slide down his throat. “What was that?” He was only mildly curious. He knew she would never hurt him.
“A pill that will help with the pain.”
He started to tell her he wasn’t really feeling that much pain, but then decided he could just as easily tell her later. Besides, he might not be in any pain, but he was incredibly tired, which was normal for the healing process to begin. He closed his eyes.
Callie quickly put the fresh bandage on, then made sure he was tucked in, but as she brought the cover up to his shoulders, he grabbed her with more strength than an injured man should have. He looked deeply into her eyes, then slowly brought her closer, until his lips could brush across hers.
Heat immediately swept through her as his tongue caressed hers. His hand slid under her blouse, then under her bra until he cupped her naked breast. She moaned when his thumb brushed across her nipple. It immediately peaked as a swirl of sensations rushed down to settle between her legs.
Then he was falling back onto the pillow, eyes closed, his hand still on her naked breast. “Thank you for taking care of me,” he mumbled.
She drew in a deep, ragged breath. Reaching under her blouse, she took his hand, but instead of removing it, she pressed it against her breast, holding it there for a moment. Then she tucked it under the cover, and straightened her clothes.
It was going to be so hard to tell him good-bye. Maybe she should find a way to end this now…but no, she was doing exactly what she was supposed to do. As long as Zerod was out there somewhere, she could do no less. She walked out of the room. DeeDee was just outside the door pacing, but stopped when Callie came out.
“Is he going to live? His wound looked horrible.” She dragged her fingers through her hair. “Some friend I am, running out on you and all. I just couldn’t…” She visibly shuddered.
Callie wrapped her arms around her friend. “It’s okay. And it doesn’t look as bad as I’d first thought.” She frowned, wondering about that, but then decided she was more used to seeing it, and it did look pretty awful still. “He’s sleeping now.”
DeeDee sighed. “Good.”
“You let us in when you could’ve just as easily turned us away, and you did so with no questions asked.”
“Yes, I did, didn’t I?”’ She cast a sideways look at Callie. “And now you can answer a few of them for me.”
Callie closed the bedroom door. “Have you got something to drink?”
DeeDee nodded and started toward the kitchen.
“Stronger than soda…or wine,” Callie said.
DeeDee raised her eyebrows. It was unusual that Callie ever drank anything stronger.