Olivia and Harper shared a look. “We have to help the others,” Olivia said with her jaw set with determination.
Rykker nodded. “We will do what we can. But first we need to move. It is not safe here.”
“Agreed. And we need to get this woman medical care,” Arkness added.
Olivia helped Harper to her feet. She took a step, trying to rest her weight against her human friend, but her leg couldn’t support her. She cried out and fell to the side, barely caught by Arkness’s strong arms. He hoisted her up in them easily enough with a haughty grin, instinctively showing off his prowess and strength. He looked at the others and immediately realized his mistake.
His own braggadocio had sealed his fate in this regard. He was the pilot, for one. And he had been bragging about his superior medical training on top of that, all of which made him the de facto extraction person.
Rykker started pulling weapons and anything else that might wind up being used against them from the dead Raxxian bodies. “I’ll hide them as best I can.”
“I’ll help,” Olivia offered, thinking this would be the opportunity to tell Rykker about what happened the other night. She just hoped he would take it well.
“But—” Arkness began to protest.
“It’s okay,” she cut him off. “Go. Get her to the ship safely and tend to her wounds. I’ll see you soon.”
The warm look in her eye put his troubled mind at ease, at least a little. “As you wish,” he said, then, with Harper in his arms, turned and strode off into the woods. She turned and noted the jealous look in Rykker’s eyes and the flare in his nostrils. Had he sensed what was up?
“We should be quick,” Rykker said, cutting her off before she could broach the subject.
He began hauling bodies, the bloody evidence of his work quickly vanishing off into the brush. Olivia did what she could to help, offering aid but otherwise staying silent. This wasnotthe time, she realized. She’d just give it a rest until they had a better moment to discuss the confusing situation. It wasn’t what she wanted by any stretch, and her attraction to Rykker was as intense as it was for Arkness. But she had to be upfront with him, didn’t she? It was the only fair thing to do. For all their sakes.
“Where did you learn to fight like that?” he asked as they dumped the last body into a shallow grave he dug out of the softer ground off in the underbrush.
“Kickboxing class. A little Muay Thai when I was younger. And some BJJ in college.”
He looked at her like a confused puppy, head cocked to the side. This massive, sexy man stared at her in a way that made her heart go thump-thump, and the smell wafting off him wasn’t helping any.
“Did you just make up those words? They do not translate.”
“No, really, they’re real things.”
“Oh?” he shot back, but not frustrated or angry, but rather with a sexy little grin creasing his full lips.
“Yeah, really. I’ll show you later.”
She somehowfelthis cock stir hard in his trousers even before she saw it, as if her body knew what it wanted, the rational thoughts she tried to hold on to be damned. But she had just been feeling this same kind of connection with Arkness only this morning, though, to be fair, that was after her tryst with Rykker.
What is this?she lamented.I’m so damn confused. And aroused. Fuck! What am I supposed to do?
She didn’t know, for sure. But one thing was clear. She would hold off on having that talk with him. For now at least. Once whatever this was settled down, then she would be able to articulate the situation clearly.
“Come on,” he said, looking up at the sky. “We need to get moving before dark sets in.”
Olivia followed him into the woods, her mind racing and her body all sorts of discombobulated. Soon she would figure this out. But for now they would trek.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
They’d only been hiking maybe twenty minutes with quite a way to go to catch up to the others, given their head start, when Rykker abruptly grabbed Olivia and pressed his hand over her mouth firmly, physically lifting her as he stepped back into a thorny bush until they were both concealed.
If anyone else had done something like that, she would have been all elbows and fists, but this was Rykker. He was one of the good ones. And if he reacted to something she couldn’t see like that, there had to be a reason. A mere two minutes later she had her answer.
Raxxians. Quite a few from the sound of it. Apparently, there were indeed more in the area, just as Harper had said. She strained her ears, realizing that she could actually focus in on their conversations and even the sound of their footfall. It was an ability she didn’t know she had up until this very moment. She glanced up at Rykker’s statue-silent face. He too was listening, holding absolutely still and barely even breathing.
They remained like that, immobile, for nearly ten minutes after the Raxxians had passed. They’d been heading in a different direction than the one where the pair had just hiddentheir slain comrades’ bodies and it was a good thing. Being carnivorous as they were and with a penchant for raw flesh, the Raxxians were known to have a particularly strong sense of smell when it came to fresh blood. Had the wind been moving a different direction, this could have been a very bad situation indeed.
Rykker finally stepped out of their hiding spot and lowered Olivia back to the ground. “My apologies. There was no time to verbally?—”
