Page 5 of Hunter’s Harvest

“The shuttle! Where’s the shuttle? There were four of us.” I turned my head too fast, and the room started to spin again.

I was suddenly in his arms, and he was ushering me to lean back on the bed. His bed.

He tilted his head and held it there a long moment. Then he stood, went to a shelf cut into the rock, and came back with a Xarc’n medical unit.

“You have a concussion,” he said, and held it out to me. “My unit is not made for humans. But it tried to heal you.”

That was good to know, but I wasn’t asking about my head. I sat up again and grabbed him by the forearm before he could move away. “My friends. Charles, Vince, and Mari. Are they alive? Did you find them?”

His yellow-gold eyes landed on the spot where we touched, and his chest erupted into soft purring.

I sat there frozen. Every human living in a Xarc’n-friendly settlement knew what it meant for a Xarc’n warrior’s chest to rumble, and I knew it too. His body thought we were compatible. We weren’t mates yet, but we could be.

Wait! Hadn’t there been vibrations when I woke?

And his arms had been around me! But he’d released me, so that meant I wasn’t his mate yet, right? Unless his arms had already gotten stuck around me when I was asleep. Surely, the initial moment of the mate bond lasted longer than that! I didn’t know how long I’d been out though. I pulled my hand away.

“Do not fear my noises. I will not harm you.” He looked like he was afraid I’d bolt.

“Did your arm get stuck?” I asked, needing to know.

He frowned and repeated. “I will not harm you. Do not fear my noise.”

Did he not understand me? I tried something else.

“Where is your hunter group? Do you live here alone?”

He furrowed his brows.

“Can you understand me?”

“Unnerstan,” he repeated in English. “No unnerstan.”

Well, that explained it. There must be something wrong with his translator. Or maybe it didn’t even have Earth language installed on it.

“I have to find my friends.” I pointed to the door of the cabin. “I go.”

I put a hand down and pushed myself up to standing. Almost immediately, the room tilted sideways. Okay, maybe I not go. Not right away, anyway.

He caught me before I hit the floor, and lowered me back into the furs.

I found myself pressed against his solid, musclebound chest. He held me there a moment, his breath warm against my temple. His nose brushed against my hair, and he inhaled, slowly, deliberately.

He was purring again. This time it was loud. He growled too, and the primal sound sent a shiver down my spine. His fingers flexed against my waist, pulling me closer before he seemed to catch himself. With deliberate care, he set me back onto the furs, his hands lingering just a little longer.

Then a very human cup was placed into my hands. I hadn’t even realized I was so thirsty. I drank deeply and recognized the vitamin mix the Xarc’n warriors used so often. It was light and slightly fruity, but not very sweet. It hit the spot, and I felt the dizziness melt away almost immediately.

“Eat,” he said in English, the single syllable so guttural it might as well have been a grunt.

He placed a sealed glass container into my hand. Clearly, he’d put many of the items in the home to good use.

The moment I opened the lid, I was assaulted by the smell of overcooked fish. I gagged, closed the lid immediately, and shoved the container back at him.

“Thank you, but I don’t think I can eat that.”

“Eat,” he said again. “Strong.” He put the stink bomb back into my hands.

I shoved it back. “No. Sick.” I made an exaggerated retching noise, hoping that was communication enough.