“No, I can take it off, but it’s ruined anyway.”
He took off his wrist device and sat down on the toilet seat, lifted his arms and she gently tugged the sleeves, but his face was riddled with pain. She lowered his arms again and using the scissors from the kit, cut the sleeve along the underarm and round the armhole so she could remove it without touching his injury, then she cut off his singlet as it pained him to move his cut arm.
“The good news is that it’s clean, but this is only a temporary patch. The doc needs to check you over,” she said, inspecting the wound, which was mildly weeping blood. From the box, she recognized gauze, lint, bandages and tape, and a few other things. Darren said to putaglowing blue gelUniversal Healanton it, from a tube she didn’t know. Between the two of them they finally had him bandaged up.
“Promise me you’ll go to the medical station. We don’t know if the blade was clean. You probably need a shot of something,” she said, looking into his eyes. Being as he was seated and she was standing he had to gaze up at her but not by much. He was so tall and massive and she was small by comparison.
His pale blue eyes lit with amusement. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, a smirk playing around his mouth.
She raised a brow. “It’s not hurting anymore?”
“The gel has anesthetic in it.” With difficulty, he took off his one-sleeved jerkin and dropped it on the floor. “Check the rest of me.” The words sounded like an order, but his tone was pleading, respectful, and she took it in the spirit in which it was meant.
Having cut off his tops, she studied him. His torso was magnificent. Huge brawny shoulders, massive biceps and a six pack to die for. All presented in that cherry-tinted skin. He was ripped enough that he would grace every newsstand on the cover of a glossy magazine for bodybuilders to the envy of all of them. Even his muscles had muscles.
And he had risked everything for her, even his life. If that didn’t show her how devoted he was to her, she was a fool. She felt his pull, despite their resistance to the other, for different reasons, despite that he was breaking down her walls. She was attracted to him. She loved him and she couldn’t fight it any longer.
She couldn’t resist running her hands over him: starting on his shoulders, down his pectorals, over his hard nipples, a darker shade of cherry, around his ribs and down his abs. She stopped at the waistband of his leather pants, which covered his hips and legs. Bulging thigh muscles rippled under the leather. She swallowed and flicked her eyes up to his bare torso. She felt weak at the knees at the sight of him, and at his scent, pine, masculine, distinct in the confined space.
“Have you been wounded on your back?” she asked, rubbing her fingers over his biceps. “Stand up, turn around and let me check.”
He got to his feet but didn’t turn around. She felt his arms around her and suddenly she was pressed to his warm, hard body. He kissed the top of her head, his large hands stroking her back.
“I almost lost you,” he whispered in her ear.
Bereft of words, she looked up at him. Their eyes met, hers full of love and longing, then he lowered his head and he was kissing her. She didn’t resist as he deepened the kiss, walked them from the bathroom across the room to the bed, all the while kissing her. They stood by it, arms round each other, clutching the other like they were the only ones who made sense of existence.
At first his kiss was gentle, holding back his passion until his tongue pushed at her lips, demanding that they open. She yielded to him, and he drove his tongue inside her mouth, plundering it, and she was willing to be plundered. She dueled her tongue against his, matching his passion. It was the hottest kiss of his life, until he pulled back, breaking their connection and remembering his place.
He blinked rapidly, then looked at the floor. “Forgive me. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”
She cupped his cheek, stroking her thumb over his light brown stubble, which he usually had at this time in the late afternoon; she lifted his face, and caught his reluctant gaze in hers.
“I want you to do it. We’ve only got a week until we’re separated forever,” she whispered. “With me stuck on Drypso, and you returning to Ohiri, we’ll never see each other again.” She swallowed back tears.
He tried to strip her dress off single-handedly, and she had to help him. She wore only her bra and panties, which showed off her curves, and they were the loveliest thing he’d ever seen. He ran his good hand over her breasts, which were middling size, not too big, not too small.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, taking off her bra. He took a nipple into his mouth and sucked. She gasped, and he thrummed the other with his thumb and it hardened beneath him. Her skin was so soft and silky.
He stopped what he was doing and pulled back, taking a step away, and she could have cried at the loss of him.
His handsome face was lined with worry, and a frown marred his beautiful looks. She’d messed up his man-bun. It was coming apart and silver wisps of hair fell about his ears. Or maybe it was the battle.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.
She lay back on the bed.
“I’m sure. We must have this to remember,” she said.
He got on the bed and crawled over her, raising her knees and parting her thighs.
“I will treasure the memory,” he whispered, like a vow. Kneeling between her legs, he slid off her panties, and she lifted her hips to help him, then his hands and mouth were all over her. It had never been this way with Brad.
She’d never felt her need so much with any man. Maybe alien warriors had magical powers; maybe he’d cast a spell over her. She didn’t care, she wanted this moment to last forever; she wanted to be frozen in time. With him. From the reverent look in his eyes, he worshiped her.
She only knew she wanted more. More of him. More of this. In a flash she had jumped off — from what exactly, she didn’t know — but she felt the intensity so much it almost hurt. When she came down, she lay there limp and spent. The intense yearning that had filled her replaced by intense love for him. He stretched out by her side, lying on his good side because he couldn’t lie on his injured arm, then he turned onto his back.
He closed his arm around her and pulled her close. She cuddled into him, relishing his warmth and his pure male scent, his quiet strength.
