“There’s no oozing,” she said to herself as much as to me. “No blood on the cloth, which is a good thing.”
She slid the makeshift fabric bandage aside as I tried to think of things that would keep my mind distracted. If only I knew what things I did not find arousing. The thought of battle axes made my heart race, and even imagining running from Imperial guards sent a thrill through me.
“I think it’s healing well,” she said with a loud exhale. “The skin isn’t warm, which means it’s probably not infected. If what they say about the Vandar healing quickly is true, you might be just like new in a day or two.”
Once she’d moved my bandage back into place and wasn’t touching me, I opened my eyes. “What else do you know about the Vandar?”
That startled her. “What do I know about your people?”
I shifted, moving my kilt back over the bandaged gash. “You know more than I do.”
“Then that’s sad, because I don’t know much.” She copied my position by leaning back against the wall. “I only ever saw you guys twice. The day you came to sign the agreement with Lexxona and do the lottery for your boss’s war bride and the time you tried to rescue me.”
“But you knew about us before then. You had heard. Just like you heard we heal quickly.”
She shrugged. “I guess so. The Vandar raiders are kind of notorious, but I have no idea if half of what people whisper is true.”
This piqued my curiosity. “What do they whisper?”
She moved her head to glance at me quickly. “The obvious stuff. That’s you’re bigger and stronger and have tails.”
I was suddenly very aware of the tail hanging to the side of me, the tip twitching as if it knew it had been mentioned. “That does not seem notorious.”
“I think it’s the other stuff. That you fly in hordes of massive ships that can be invisible, so you appear out of nowhere. Back when you first brought down the Zagrath, they called you wraiths and violent marauders.”
Some of what she said sparked flickers of familiarity. The word horde was one I had used many times, but I could not accept myself as a violent marauder.
“Obviously, the Empire was lying about you to scare people when they’re the ones who took over planets and siphoned off the resources, but the stories they used to tell were pretty scary. Then when your boss walked into my friend’s bakery wearing nothing but a kilt and a fur throw that didn’t even close…”
“You were afraid?”
She laughed. “More like we thought he was crazy. It was freezing outside. It’s always freezing on Lexxona. It’s an ice planet.”
“Vandar run hot,” I said, knowing this in my bones.
“I gathered.” Another furtive glance at me. “I wasn’t scared until you tried to take Jasmine. You were the one who fought us off. I’d never seen anyone move like that or disarm so many of us so quickly.”
I had no memory of this, but the tremor in her voice was like a dagger to my heart. “I frightened you?”
“You are…were very intimidating.”
“But not now?”
She drew a slow breath and released it. “To be honest, I was terrified when I realized I’d been taken captive and tossed in a cell with you. You’d made it pretty clear that you didn’t like humans and barely tolerated me.”
This could not be right. How could I dislike her simply because she was human? And how could any male not be intrigued by Skye? “I did not dislike you.”
Another small laugh. “Are you sure? I’m pretty good at reading people, and you could barely stand to be in the same room as me.”
“Impossible,” I said, even though this tickled a vague memory that I pushed aside. “I could not go from disliking you to…”
She turned her head to look at me. “To what?”
If I were wise, I would not reveal my feelings. After all, I had suffered an injury that had robbed me of my memories. I was unsure what was true about me and what was not. Aside from the basics that Skye had told me, I was unsure who I truly was.
But for some reason, my feelings about her felt like the one true thing. As much as reason told me I should not act on them, my heart told me she was safe. My gut told me that being truthful with Skye could never be a mistake.
I twisted my body so that I fully faced her. “I must believe you when you say that we were not lovers before. I might even believe you when you tell me I was intimidating. But I cannot believe that I did not desire you, even if I pretended I did not.”
