Cosmic Castaway (Cosmic Romances #3)

13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Bathing can be awkward.

It had been a few days, I thought, since Mindy had bitten me. The days were starting to blur together, and we didn’t exactly have access to a clock. We slept when we were tired and were awake when we chose to be.

He’d acted the same, though he kept staring at me like he was trying to figure something out. I’d tried to act the same, but I still felt the press of his lip ring into my skin, his teeth against my neck, and the way his scaled tongue had dragged over me. Even just remembering sent shocks down my spine.

I liked it, and that was not going to work.

Serlotminden had started to recover faster. We went outside frequently, no further than directly around the shuttle, and he was now working on the computer to get the distress signal operational. As soon as it was, his drakcol boyfriend would hopefully find us.

Today, I’d left Mindy in the cockpit. As I was useless in that regard, I made other plans. What I wanted was to get clean, to wash away the stench of Xome and all that happened there. In reality, all I could do was scrub off the layers of grime coating me and get rid of the pungent odor that was making my own eyes water.

I opened the bay door and peered around for any threat. I hadn’t mentioned my plan to Mindy or he would’ve come with me, but I was fine. The nests hadn’t presented any threat yet, nor had the huge alien come near our crash site. Also, even with the looming threats, I needed a bath. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been properly clean. Probably not since I’d gotten abducted. Agk had sometimes given us water to wash, but it was a little more than a wet rag to scrape off the worst gunk.

This wasn’t much better, but Serlotminden had a bar of soap and what I assumed was shampoo. Pushing my glasses up my nose, I filled a curved piece of hull with snow and dragged it back to our cabin. I would have to pull the water back out, but I didn’t want to strip naked in the cargo bay. It took three trips to bring the bowl-shaped pieces of wreckage I’d found before I was satisfied. I didn’t know how much water the snow would give us after Mindy melted it, but I needed enough for both of us. If I wanted to get clean, so would he.

Done, I closed the bay door. I didn’t want the cold, let alone something alive, wandering inside.

I went to the cockpit, figuring enough time had passed. Mindy didn’t pay attention to his own needs, and what he needed was to rest. He hadn’t completely recovered yet, and I was determined to keep him as healthy as possible.

Serlotminden was fiddling with several panels, which were alive with light and strange symbols I assumed were his language. He’d made progress, apparently. His huge-ass boyfriend would find us sooner rather than later.

My jaw tightened at the thought. I should be excited about a proper rescue and being finally able to retrieve Vince, but the thought of that drakcol and Serlotminden made my stomach sour. I didn’t fucking like it, even though I had no reason to. His and the other drakcol’s relationship was none of my business.

We were friends—Serlotminden had said so enough times.

Hands fisted, I shifted to his side. I wrapped my arms around him, wanting to touch him, which was a first for me. But I liked the feel of him in my hold—sue me. Mindy leaned back into my embrace, and I pushed my frozen nose against the nape of his neck, making a shiver go down his spine.

“It’s cold, and you need to rest,” I said.

“You are quite shove-y.”

“Pushy,” I corrected, though it probably didn’t matter; I understood him and that was all that counted. “And I’m making sure you don’t hurt yourself.”

“I don’t mind. I like it. You take care of me like I take care of you. It makes sense.”

“Come on. Besides, I have some snow for you to melt.”

“My specialty.” He stilled. Serlotminden turned around, hand clutching his injured stomach. “You went outside.”

I shrugged.

“Bartholomew,” he growled. “It’s dangerous.”

“I went to get snow. Nothing else. I’m fine.”

“I would have gone with you,” he said, dragging me between his spread legs and holding me against his chest.

I draped my arms over his shoulders. “You would’ve insisted on hauling the snow and hurt yourself.” Mindy started to protest, but I covered his mouth. “Don’t deny it.”

His lips pursed against my palm, and my mouth went bone dry as I recalled the feel of his tongue on me. My hand slowly slid down, and he chased my touch before snagging my hand.

“Please don’t do it again,” he said. “I’m scared of something happening to you.”

“I will be careful.”

Serlotminden frowned, chest rumbling.

“Fine, I won’t go outside without you. Happy?”

Mindy yanked me flush against him, our hips slotted together. “Now I am.”

Heat swarmed my cheeks. I wiggled out of his hold. “Come on.”

We returned to the cabin, and he went right to the bowls of snow. He could literally create fire with his mind. I hardly believed it, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to question it. I needed to get clean, badly. He pressed his hand against the metal, and flames burned in his palm, turning the metal red from the heat. I kept a close watch on him to make sure Serlotminden didn’t overtax himself. It wasn’t worth a bath, as much as I wanted one.

When his breath turned harsh, I gripped his arm. “That’s enough.”

“I’m fine.”

“I don’t want you to hurt yourself. Please.”

His resolve crumbled right before my eyes. “I don’t want to worry you.”

“Then sit.” I had to help him, but he settled onto a stool I’d dragged in earlier. “You’re going to need help bathing.” He couldn’t do this by himself, and my fingers tingled at the thought of touching him.

“You don’t mind?”

“No.” I really really didn’t. I mentally slapped myself. Don’t be creepy . He was taken and injured. Just because he was hot, it did not give me permission to ogle him.

I carefully peeled off his shirt and set it aside. I would dig out fresh clothes for him to wear after he was clean. With the hot water, I wet one of the towels I’d found and wiped his chest. He was formed with tight muscles and hard scales. The injury at the side exposed his mottled white and gold skin. New royal-purple scales, small ones, had started to regrow. After some time, they would probably cover the injury.

Back, wings, arms, and face, I washed him with the soapy towel before cleaning the soap off. I glanced at his pants. “Should I?”

“Sure,” he replied, voice tight, as his tail thrashed, nearly smacking me. I helped him stand before undoing the ties on his pants. Thank god, he was wearing briefs. I didn’t need to see what he was packing. I tried to focus on my task as I cleaned his legs, feet, and tail. Serlotminden took short breaths, his hands fisted on his thick thighs, while I scrubbed his tail. The closer I got to his firm ass, the harsher his breath became.

I had to be hurting him. He must have damaged something in the crash. Fuck. There was nothing I could do about that. Literally nothing.

Once he was clean, I said, “Let’s get you dressed.”

I fished out a clean pair of underwear, pants, socks, and shirt. He was shivering violently from the cold, but he was clean, except for his hair. I held up his briefs, looking anywhere but him.

Serlotminden took the black briefs from me. I heard some shuffling mixed with pained grunts. I tried to keep my gaze averted, but I couldn’t when he released a high-pitched whine. I shifted to help him and froze. A taut ass topped by his tail and two perfect dimples greeted me. Fuck me . My fingers twitched, longing to touch him. My thumbs would slot into those dimples; I was sure of it, and I wanted to try.

He struggled to pull his briefs on and bent over, letting me see his large dick and his heavy balls. The crown of his cock was triangular shaped and wide. The entire thing was covered in delicate scales. He was thick, even without being erect. Much bigger than me or any other humans’ I’d seen.

I ripped my gaze away before he caught me staring. Warmth burned my stomach, and my heart pounded in an uneven rhythm. Why him? Seriously, why him? And why now? I was twenty-four years old, and he was the first person who I actually knew that I was sexually attracted to.

I’d known I was demisexual for almost as long as I’d known I was gay, and I’d had many close friendships, none closer than Vince, and nothing. No one had done it for me, and I hadn’t stressed about it. If I’d never had sex or fallen in love, I was still me, and that was more than enough. Besides, I loved the messy yet perfect romances that I found in the pages of my books.

But now, Serlotminden had charmed me with his smiles and enthusiasm, and I had formed a connection to him. One I’d never had with another living soul. Of course, this life-or-death situation had assisted. But I couldn’t fight the desire he’d ignited.

It was fucking annoying.

When he was done, I helped him pull on his other clothes, trying to look at him as little as physically possible. He kept ducking his head, like he was trying to catch my eye, but I wouldn’t let him. I needed to get a hold of myself first.

“Do you want me to wash your hair?” I asked.

“No. Tired.”

Nodding, I snagged the edge of the tent and helped Serlotminden to his feet. Arms hooked under his, I directed him to the mattress, and he grunted, panting, as he settled. I brushed his long white hair behind his tapered ear, touching the gold piercings that went down to the long dangly earrings that practically kissed his shoulders. Unable to stop my fingers, I cupped his cheek, and he leaned into me.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I didn’t know if I believed him, because tension pulled his shoulders tight and a deep divot resided between his eyebrows, but I let it go. He was an adult. Serlotminden could take care of himself. Whether he lied about if he was fine or not wasn’t my problem. Though I would keep an eye on him. Someone had to and his boyfriend wasn’t here.

Shaking it off, I slipped from the tent to start my own bath while I tried to banish any remembrance of his body.