Cosmic Castaway (Cosmic Romances #3)

18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Rocks are rocks, right?

“Are you sure about this?” I asked.

I didn’t know how much time had passed since we’d crash landed and Mindy had gotten hurt, but it hadn’t been that long. Thankfully, Mindy was doing much better than I would’ve been if I’d been stabbed in the gut. I’d have been down and out, but he moved around with ease and told me he felt almost normal. Drakcol had to heal faster than humans did.

Maybe it was all the running. We had been playing every day. Mindy loved to chase and tackle me into the snow. I was getting faster and stronger. I was able to avoid him longer each time; the trick was changing directions quickly and taking advantage of when he got distracted, which happened often. Though no matter what I did, I ended up in the snow with Serlotminden on top of me.

He would pin me, then growl against my throat. It had gotten harder and harder to not react. Mindy also seemed equally unwilling to move off me. He always pressed his mouth against my neck, keeping it there without using any pressure. Only when I shivered or he worried about me drinking water did he slide off me.

Mindy had been melting and boiling water for me easily enough as well. After his freak out about me being dehydrated—he’d seriously acted like I was about to die—he’d made sure I had plenty of water. Maybe his dramatic as fuck reaction had something to do with his own biology. Perhaps dehydration was more dangerous to drakcol. If it was, I needed to watch how much Serlotminden was drinking; he didn’t always take care of himself.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, tightening the blanket before checking the blaster he’d removed from the smaller crate in the cargo bay.

“We’ll be fine,” I corrected, and he frowned, tail writhing. He was welcome to try and leave me behind, but I’d follow him. If Mindy didn’t want me to go out by myself, then he wasn’t either. So if he planned to go, I was going with him.

I cocked an eyebrow and crossed my arms, silently challenging him to be a dick about this.

He snagged me, tucking me against his chest. I fought the sudden leap in my pulse. In the last couple of days, Mindy had gotten even more physically affectionate, if that was possible. I hadn’t remarked on it, because I liked it. Touch had never been important to me, even as a kid, but it was different with him. I liked the feel of his scales on my skin, the warmth that radiated off him, and how I fit within his embrace.

This, regardless of my wild attraction to him, would go nowhere. Serlotminden was taken, and it was fine. We were friends, as he’d reiterated many, many times. Fuck him.

“Fine,” he said, thumb brushing the edge of my jaw and resting right in front of my ear lobe. Mindy smiled, head lowering, and my stomach dropped. God, was he going to kiss me? Did I want him to? I almost snorted. Of course I did. I silently urged him to keep coming closer and closer until his lips were on mine.

He stopped, not touching me but close. His breath rushed over my skin as he said, “I will find you something tasty to eat.”

I grunted. He was the one that was getting tired of the nutritional bars. I didn’t think they were that bad. They were way better than the chalk Agk had fed me and Vince.

Serlotminden straightened, making me frown, and ran his fingers over my cheeks. He seemed fascinated with my beard—if you could call the patchy growth that. I’d never been able to grow a proper beard or mustache, so I usually shaved it. That wasn’t an option at the moment. But it didn’t matter that there wasn’t much hair, he loved touching and rubbing his fingers over it. The hair on my head was also growing again, which he played with all the time.

“I would rather you stay here,” he said in a low voice, his tail curling around my leg.

His prehensile tail was a curiosity to me. I loved him holding me, dragging the length over my skin, and tickling me with it. But I couldn’t help but wonder how it might feel wrapped around my dick. Could he do that? How would the scales and warmth feel? I shook the thought away. My attraction to Serlotminden was getting out of control.

Being this interested in sex was unusual, for me at least, but I admitted it was more than that. I craved a closeness with him along with sex. I wasn’t going to get either, so I needed to calm the fuck down.

“I’m coming.”

Mindy stared at me, and I crossed my arms, daring him to argue. I could be stubborn when I wanted to be. I wasn’t being left behind. We were going together or not at all. Besides, he’d agreed to me coming.

“Please stay close to me, my Teddy. I wouldn’t survive something happening to you.”

That was oddly dramatic. Sure, he liked me, but if I died that didn’t mean he’d stop breathing. Me? I would have a much harder time, because I couldn’t fix anything on the shuttle or melt water or find food when I eventually needed it.

I grunted again. That seemed to be enough for him, because he moved in front of me and pulled the lever, opening the hatch.

The day was clear, and the area looked the same as yesterday. I automatically peered at the ginormous nests. I was ready to duck or haul ass back to the shuttle if I saw even a flash of feathers. Though in reality, I’d probably freeze like a deer in headlights, and Serlotminden would have to drag me inside. Hopefully, those car-sized nests would be completely empty and nothing would happen.

But winter might be ending, and they might come back. Perish the thought.

Our feet sank into the snow as we moved across the landscape. It took maybe a couple dozen steps before I was panting and covered in sweat. My heart pounded, and my lungs burned. I was still weak, despite Mindy’s insistence I “play” with him on almost a daily basis, and tramping through the snow was hard work.

He grabbed my elbow, and his tail coiled around my leg. “You should go back.”

“I’m fine,” I panted. If he thought I was going to leave him out here alone, he was a fool. I wasn’t going to sit on the hatch door like normal while he was off hunting… at least not the first time.

The trees grew closer and closer. Their icy blue fronds moved without any wind. Independently moving plants were in no way a good thing, but Mindy didn’t act bothered. Maybe moving plants was normal to him. Who knew what was out there in the universe? Not me. But they freaked me out, and I didn’t want to go near them—something Serlotminden didn’t agree with, because he led us straight toward them.

When we got closer, I noticed the trees weren’t solid blue. They had gray stripes, like that four-armed alien I’d seen. A few bushes with wiry branches grew around the tree trunks. It was warmer beneath the trees, like a hot spring or something moved underground. The snow disappeared, leaving brown dirt with a purple tinge to it. What kind of nitrates had to be in the soil to make it purple?

Dead fronds, small leaves from the wiry bushes, and strips of dried bark littered the ground.

Mindy snatched a long piece of bark, picking at it with his claws. “This will burn well.”

“We have to catch something first.”

He grinned at me, showing off his canines. “I will catch something. I will provide for you.”

I didn’t need him to catch something, nor did I actually care, but he’d insisted. I kept an eye on the trees as we moved further into the jungle, attempting to move as quietly as possible, but that was hard. My feet found bark and twigs like no one’s business.

A rushing sound reached my ears, and my pulse skyrocketed. I knew what that was—I would know that sound anywhere. I darted forward.

“Bartholomew,” Mindy called after me, but I ignored him, bolting toward the low rushing. I broke through the trees, heedless of the branches scraping at my face and arms, and spotted a river of clear water.

The river cut through the trees, disappearing from sight. Tall trees and thick underbrush abutted the riverbank. There were a few clear spaces, letting me see the purple-brown dirt and rocks that looked like… normal gray rocks. I guessed rocks were rocks everywhere.

A quick peek around didn’t reveal any animals, but they had to be around here somewhere. I’d been camping and watched enough documentaries to know animals flocked to water. I crept closer, avoiding the larger gray-spotted rocks, and peered into the clear water. No fish swam beneath the surface, but that didn’t mean something horrible wasn’t lurking nearby, searching for a meal. All I saw, though, was a rocky bottom.

Steam came off the river in waves. With a quick tap of the water to test its temperature, I found it was hot, like bathwater hot. I groaned. God, I was desperate to slip in and get clean. To actually get clean. Maybe Mindy had had the right of it coming out here to explore.

Arms snagged me close, and Serlotminden's mouth pressed against my neck. “Be careful.”

“It’s warm.”

“And it might be dangerous.”

“Worrywart.”

“I have no idea what that means.”

Apparently Caleb and Seth hadn’t taught him everything. “You’re panicking more than needed.”

He turned me around and palmed my cheeks. “I have to protect you.”

He was so close. It would take barely any effort to close the distance between us, to press my lips to his, but I’d never done that. When I was a teen, I’d figured out I was demisexual. Now that I’d found someone I liked, I was hella interested. My experience was lacking, though I was willing to try. How badly could I mess up?

Moving toward him, heart in my throat, I was about to kiss him when I stopped. Dontilvynsan. His boyfriend. I couldn’t do that to Mindy. He’d been nothing but nice to me, and he didn’t deserve me changing the dynamic. Besides, he’d called me his friend so many damn times, and I’d said no kissing during the permissions conversation.

“I don’t need you to protect me,” I commented.

“You might not,” he replied, “but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to. You are mine to keep safe.”

I grunted. If he wanted to, I wasn’t going to stop him. I turned back to the water, and Mindy hooked his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder.

He took a deep inhale. “You smell so damn good.”

I chuckled at the swear. He put so much emphasis on the word it was oddly forced. He sounded like a little kid swearing.

“Seth and Caleb laugh at me when I swear too,” he pouted.

I cupped the back of his head, my fingers tangling in his hair. Mindy tucked against my neck, and I continued to brush the silky strands. The water rushed by, the air was warm with the stink of sulfur, and far off birds serenaded us. It was nice. Existing like this. How long had passed since I’d breathed and watched the world, enjoying the quiet?

There was a low rumble, but I ignored it, too comfortable to move. Mindy didn’t react either, other than to tug me even closer. I leaned my head to the side, letting him press his face even tighter into me. Why was this so nice? We weren’t doing anything, but it was comforting in a way I had a hard time articulating.

The rumble continued, and something bumped my leg, making me glance at whatever it was. My heart stopped, freezing me into place.

That was not a rock.

What I had assumed to be large gray-and-black-spotted rocks were in fact crab-like creatures. It was butting against my calf, black claws as thick as my forearm. Two distended eyes as well as two antennas peeked out from under the hard shell. Its long legs were arched near the top of the shell like a spider.

It seemed to be investigating more than anything, and I hoped to fucking god it didn’t want to eat me. The rock-crab kept bumping into me, and it was joined by more and more of them.

Mindy hadn’t noticed, and I was struggling to get the words out. I tried to force my voice to work or my hands to pat Mindy. Something. Anything. We needed to move. Now.

Serlotminden is in fucking danger , I screamed at myself, but still, I didn’t move as I watched the growing horde of nightmares.

My breath whooshed out of me when I was yanked back. Wings came around me, and Mindy snarled. The rock-crabs released squeaks—actual fucking squeaks—and flattened to their rock form, though some scuttled into the river with loud splashes.

His arms remained like two iron bars around my waist as he continued to threaten them, I assumed, in his language. When none of the crabs moved for a few seconds, Mindy turned me around, then began nuzzling my cheek and neck.

Tremors wracked his body, muscles tense. His tail ran the length of my leg and his wings surrounded me in warmth. “Are you well—safe—alright?” He growled. “I cannot think of the right word.” Mindy rubbed his forehead on my temple and grabbed my hand, shoving it under his shirt, then dragged it over his side.

He was freaking out. Like really freaking out. More than lack of water freaking out.

“Speak to me, Bartholomew,” he demanded. “Please. I must hear your voice.”

“They didn’t hurt me.”

Serlotminden sagged, releasing garbled words, then said in English, “Why didn’t you tell me or pull away?” When I didn’t say anything, he looked directly at me. “Bartholomew?”

How did I tell him that when I panicked, I froze? That was literally the worst thing in a situation like this—stuck on an unknown planet that was probably hostile. I couldn’t get the words out, so I shrugged.

“Oh, my Teddy, you are far more work than I thought.”

Pain flared in my gut. I yanked out of his embrace. “Sorry.”

I started to turn toward the crabs, who remained motionless, but Mindy grabbed me, keeping me close. “I like work.”

“Seriously?”

He cocked his head. “I am serious.”

I took a deep breath. This was not his first language. He came from a very different culture. Getting mad was petty when I doubted he’d meant it badly. I met his confused gaze. “What you said was insulting. I don’t want to be hard work for you. It makes it seem like you’re mad that you have to take care of me, which you don’t. I can take care of myself.”

“No,” Mindy shouted, making the crabs scuttle even further away. “No, my Teddy, I like caring for you. I love it. Humans are delicate, though. Like flowers. You need so much.”

Every man wanted to hear he was a delicate flower. He sure knew how to rev my engine.

“But I will take care of your delicate self,” Mindy said with a bright smile.

Yeah, this was getting worse.

“I don’t need you to,” I commented.

“As you have said before, but I need to. I have to. You are mine to keep safe. My flower.”

“I don’t like being called that,” I said calmly. His expression fell, and I felt like an asshole. “But you can, I guess.”

Serlotminden beamed. “My Flower. Pretty and delicate. Like that… bull. He liked to smell the flowers. I like to smell you.”

I felt heat rush to my cheeks, then spread to my neck, and I grunted, refusing to acknowledge that maybe I didn’t hate it as much as I’d thought.