Chapter 12
Sweat had broken out all over his body, the pain wasn’t too, but CristOF refused to stop paddling. He couldn’t believe that he had passed out earlier and that his Tera had taken it upon herself to paddle the boat herself. Looking over at her, he could tell her arms hurt from the exertion. She was so soft and delicate, she wasn’t used to such hard labor. He kept her talking for several reasons: one, to keep himself awake; and two, to keep her from being so scared.
He kept her talking for several reasons. One was to keep him awake and the second reason was to keep her from being so scared. She was trembling and had her arms wrapped around herself like she was trying to hold herself up.
“You told me a little about your family. What are their names?” he asked getting her to think about something else.
“My parents are John and Mary Kincaid. I’m the eldest of five daughters. My sisters are Lola, Sarah, Allison, and the youngest is Daisy.
“What are your parents’ professions?”
Tera smiled. “Teachers, both of them.”
Your parents must be proud to have you follow in their footsteps.”
“I guess they are. Of course, they’re happy for us girls to do anything that would keep us busy and out of trouble, away from boys,” she laughed.
He growled at the mention of boys, which made her laugh again. He loved the sound of her laughter. She continued talking about her family.
“We can definitely be a handful, especially when we are all together.”
The mentioning of a handful had him glancing at her chest. It had been really hard not to stare at her shirtless state. She wore one of those contraptions that human females wore under their clothes. If not for that tiny piece of black material, her beautiful, full breasts would be completely bare. That thought made his cock stiffen uncomfortably. Kitana! How he wanted to make love to her.
She shivered, and he knew that she was probably cold too. “Would you like my coat?”
“No, if I get too warm I’ll probably fall asleep. I need to stay awake so that I can keep you awake.”
“I appreciate that,” he told her.
She shivered again and it pulled at him to do something for her. He should take his coat off and have her put it on anyway but he didn’t want to take even that much time to stop paddling. Getting her to safety was his priority. The sooner they reached the last island the sooner he would be able to take her in his arms and warm her with his body.
He felt a little relief seeing the small island where the shuttle and his team would be awaiting. Just in time, since the suns were now rising, illuminating the ocean despite the fog. They would soon be visible to their enemies.
“We’re almost there. I’m going to get out ten feet from the shore to pull the boat the rest of the way.
“I can help,” Tera offered.
“No. Don’t get out of the boat until I tell you to. I want to make sure it is safe first.”
He listened for voices as they approached the shore, but there wasn’t a lot of noise. However, he felt eyes on him but he couldn’t see anyone on shore. CristOF jumped out into the water, pulling the boat with him.
“CristOF, someone’s in the woods over there,” Tera whispered.
He glanced in the direction she was staring and also noticed movement. CristOF pulled the boat far enough onto land to keep her from floating back out into the water as he looked in the direction she was pointing. He had to make sure whoever was in the woods wasn’t the enemy.
“Stay by the boat,” he told her without taking his eyes off the wooded area.
He ignored the throbbing from his wound as he walked forward. It had started to bleed again and needed to have a new bandage. The nanos had helped start repairs, but all the rowing had aggravated the wound and slowed down the healing process.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to sneak up on whoever was watching him so he stood out in the open, his blade in his hand, which, he kept hidden behind his back. CristOF didn’t call out, just waited. A few seconds later, a familiar figure appeared. Warrior RusENcame out of the trees.
“You’ve been gone a while,” RusEN commented.
CristOF sighed in relief and tucked his blade into his boot. Leaning down like that made sharp pain shoot up his stomach and ribs. “Kitana!”
Tera jumped out of the boat and was at his side in a flash. “Are you okay? Oh no, you’re bleeding again. Help him please!”
His friend was quickly there on his other side. “What happened CristOF? Who is this female?”
