Cosmic Castaway (Cosmic Romances #3)

12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Apparently, sunlight is necessary.

“I need sun,” Serlotminden whined—an honest-to-god wheedling whine.

It had been a full-time job keeping him entertained, and he couldn’t lie on the floor of the cockpit or sit for long enough to work. I also worried about the sharp shards of screen and creaking rocks hurting him. When I told him no, he’d listened, which shocked me, but that meant he was bored.

“Is it life or death?” I asked, forcing a nutrition block into his hand.

He muttered darkly under his breath in his language, hauling me closer to his side, but he started to eat. “Drakcol need sun. Don’t humans?”

Vitamin D was a thing, and I was probably in desperate need, but I hadn’t been sweating what vitamins I needed or not. It was safe to assume I was deficient on pretty much everything.

I shrugged with a grunt.

“If I can’t work on the beacon, I want to go outside.”

“Have you forgotten the huge nests that could be dangerous and the massive alien?”

“I haven’t.”

“Then we should stay inside.”

His bottom lip slipped out into a pout, and I rolled my eyes, though I started to soften. Mindy was working some kind of magic on me that I didn’t understand, but it was sure as hell effective.

He said, “I have recovered enough to defend you. Besides, I promised to keep you safe.”

I scoffed. I remembered, but that didn’t mean placing ourselves in unnecessary risk.

Mindy nuzzled me, chuckling. “You like to worry about me, my Teddy.”

“Someone has to,” I muttered.

He grinned against my arm, and my mouth went dry at the feel of his lips on my skin. I viciously reminded myself of his relationship with the other drakcol. I refused to become enamored of Serlotminden.

And why him? Why now? I much preferred not being attracted to anyone, barring my celebrity and book crushes. No one would ever convince me that Jenson Ackles wasn’t one of the sexiest men alive, though I couldn’t say with certainty if I would’ve let him fuck me if he’d asked. I more liked the idea of people, romance, and sex than the reality. No one had ever interested me before now.

Which begged the question, again, why Serlotminden?

“Please,” he pleaded like I had the final say, which I didn’t. Mindy could do as he pleased. He was an adult, and he knew more of this universe than I did. Who was I to tell him no? Though the urge to keep Mindy safe didn’t relent. I’d stood beside Vince when he needed it, sometimes shielding him from the consequences of his temper, and I felt the need to do the same with Mindy.

Of course, you didn’t stop Agk or save anyone besides yourself , my brain viciously reminded me.

“Fine,” I said, pushing my dark thoughts away, “but we need to stay by the shuttle.”

“We? I’m going to go by myself.”

I turned enough to see him. “There is no chance in hell you are going outside without me, Serlotminden. We are going or we are staying. What’s it going to be?”

Serlotminden dropped his head to my shoulder, rubbing again. God, he did that a lot, and it sent waves of awareness through me, making my stomach swoop. After a moment, he said, “We will go and stay right next to the shuttle. You won’t wander far, Bartholomew, right? I need to keep you safe. You’re my friend and responsibility.”

I ruffled his hair, and Mindy groaned.

“I get it,” I said. “Let’s go.”

With my help, Mindy got to his feet, though he released a pained moan that made me wince.

I stroked his back, soothing his tense muscles. “Breathe, Mindy.”

He huffed against my neck, and the urge to apologize for my smell swelled again, but I swallowed it. Serlotminden didn’t care, and it wasn’t my fault. I continued to run my hand over his spine, ignoring his twitching wings. Once he’d relaxed, we went to the cargo bay and opened the door.

Even colder air rushed in, which seemed impossible, but I shivered violently. Thankfully, the sun was shining brightly, glinting off the clean snow. Mindy grinned and dragged me out the door with an exuberant shout. The snow crust broke under our weight, sending cold shards into my ankles, but I didn’t mind. It was nice to be outside.

Mindy let me go and stretched his arms above his head. His wings broke free of his shirt and sprawled. “I needed this.”

I hugged myself, wincing in the bright light. “Do drakcol truly need sun?”

“Yes,” he replied. “When we are babies, we have to spend a lot of time outside in the sun. Light, plants, and fresh air are important to our health.”

“Then we need to make sure you get enough sunlight.”

He cast a beaming smile at me before he began to explore the area in shuffling steps, scanning it with some type of technology. Probably a good idea. We needed to make sure the cliff was stable and not going to crush us. Not too worried, I took a seat on the cargo bay door, keeping the blanket tucked around me.

Serlotminden walked back and forth, peering at the massive nests. I didn’t think anything about it until his wings flicked.

“Don’t even fucking think about it,” I said. “There might be hibernating birds or something in them. Let’s not disturb anything.”

“They could be a threat to you, and my sensor is not working. There is something in the ground or air interfering with my technology.” His tail thrashed in what I assumed was agitation.

“Think about it. Right now, we are fine. Don’t poke the bear.”

“I thought bears meant something different to gay people?”

“Either way, let’s not poke them, since they both growl.”

However, he continued to inspect the nests. I wasn’t going to be able to make him stay on the ground, even though I was fairly certain that flying would hurt his stomach.

A strong gust of wind blew over me, eliciting a shiver, and Mindy whipped in my direction. When I shivered again, he took a single step toward me. I frowned for all of one second, then I realized I did have the power to keep Mindy earthbound. I stared directly at him and stated, “I’m cold.”

In a blink of an eye, he was moving toward me, arms extended. “Why didn’t you tell me, my Teddy?” As he walked, Mindy limped, favoring his injured side, and panted in sharp bursts. Serlotminden wasn’t doing as well as he acted.

He slipped behind me, legs cradling mine and arms about my waist. His wings came around me as he snuggled me close. I swallowed a groan at the warmth coming off him. I’d been cold, but I hadn’t realized exactly how cold—practically freezing.

“You should have told me sooner,” he said.

“Why?”

“You’re mine to take care of.”

“Because you rescued me?” I asked, my voice thick.

Serlotminden readjusted behind me. “You are my responsibility. I took you, and now I get to keep you.”

“For how long?”

“Until you’re safe.” Mindy rested his chin on my shoulder, his long earring tickling me. “We fit, remember? We’re friends, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Friends.” Because that’s what I’m feeling toward him , I thought sarcastically.

I huddled close to Bartholomew, trying to steal the chill from his frozen body. He didn’t generate enough heat to stay warm in this extreme weather. I should’ve realized he was cold earlier instead of studying the nests. My instincts had been demanding I inspect the nests nearest to us to keep Bartholomew safe, especially since my sensor didn’t work well in this environment. I refused to allow any threat close to him. But how had I even contemplated leaving him alone? Something could’ve come and taken him, or he could’ve gotten too cold.

Humans were a considerable amount of work to care for. I now understood why Kalvoxrencol was always panicking about Seth.

I dragged my nose over the column of Bartholomew’s neck, and he trembled. Still cold. Hell it . I grinned at my thoughts. I did love swearing; maybe it would make him smile like it did my mate-brothers.

He leaned into my embrace. “It’s pretty here, when I’m not freezing and nothing is threatening me.”

This planet was fairly decent for somewhere snowy. I wasn’t fond of snow, but the blueish-green sky, the jungle in the distance, and the faraway jagged mountains all did have a certain charm, if I was forced to acknowledge it. I would enjoy this place far more if this was a pleasure trip. A warm bed, good food, a smiling Bartholomew—that I would love.

Bartholomew released a long breath and settled even further into my embrace. Once again, I was filled with a sense of perfection. He fit. I had no other way to word it. He was perfect. I pressed my mouth against the nape of his neck and breathed.

As his scent filled my lungs, fire sparked along my nerves. Groaning, I bit his neck, tongue flicking his sweet skin. Bartholomew jerked in my embrace, stiffening. I stilled, soul thrashing. What was I doing?

“Uh, Mindy?” His voice was calm, but I felt the tension in his muscles. “Did you bite me?”

I had, but why? Not a single word broke through the static of shock, not even an affirmative, which I owed him. I had bitten him.

“So we need to add that to our permissions,” Teddy remarked.

My breath sharpened. Had he liked me biting him? Did I like it? My cock twitched, and I breathed through my arousal. If I got an erection, Bartholomew would feel it, and I didn’t want that. We were friends… right? I thought so. Friends who did not fuck.

“Human friends don’t bite each other. Or at least my friends don’t, so I’d appreciate you not biting me again,” he said without a hint of distress.

How was he calm? I was fighting against my body because of how amazing he felt in my embrace. Shouldn’t he have experienced something similar? Anything? A hard shard of ice prodded my soul. Bartholomew felt nothing for me. Why did that hurt as bad as it did?

“I understand,” I forced out.

He relaxed against me, returning to watch the scenery around us. “I’m not mad.”

“Thank you.”

I stared at the place where I’d bitten him. It had the slightest tinge of redness. An instinct rose from the depths of my being and demanded I lick the pain away and clean the spot, even though it wasn’t a true injury.

“Drakcol lick wounds.”

“Um, I’m going to need more context, Mindy.”

I brushed a thumb over the redness, wishing it was my tongue. “We have a primal need to clean the injuries of those we care about.”

“It doesn’t hurt,” he replied.

“That’s good.”

“Does that mean you want me to lick your stomach?”

My soul thrashed against my ribs, threatening to break free. An image of Bartholomew sprawled half on top of me as he bathed my injury flitted through my mind, and I growled. I very much liked the thought of that.

“I don’t want to, Mindy,” he muttered. “We are friends and all, but humans don’t do that.”

“I understand,” I said, but disappointment filled me. I craved his tongue on me, badly.

“You need to rest.”

I hid my face against him. “Not yet, please. I-I-I want to hold you.”

“Alright.”

I didn’t understand my own feelings, but this, right here, was perfect. I nuzzled him, and Bartholomew continued to hold my hand, his thumb sliding over my knuckles in perfect distraction.