Cosmic Castaway (Cosmic Romances #3)

26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

You think that is cute?

I didn’t want to leave the river, because Bartholomew was sitting so prettily on my lap and I adored it, but I didn’t want him to grow cold. So we emerged from the warm water, and I carefully dried him off. He tensed, making me stall in my movements. Did he not like it? I enjoyed taking care of him, but that didn’t mean he liked me doing it.

“Can I take care of you?”

His mouth opened, then paused, clearing his throat. “How did you mean?”

“Like this.” I started to dry him again. “I need to take care of you.”

“Fine.”

Grinning, I dried him off, but I kept my pressure soft so as not to cause him pain. Bartholomew was covered in bruises. They had turned a sickly yellow in places, but my mate had assured me he was fine, and I’d chosen to believe him.

When I moved behind Teddy, his breath sharpened and his head bowed. Taking advantage of the bare skin, I bit the back of his neck, and he gasped. I bathed the same spot in case it had hurt, and Bartholomew groaned low in his throat.

“Flower, you need to change. I don’t mind assisting you.”

Bartholomew leveled me a glare, which made me smile, and he stepped away. He stripped right in front of me, taking the wet undershorts off without hesitation. My soul pounded in need at the sight of him completely bare. He yanked on a dry pair of undershorts, pulling them over his flat butt.

“Change, Mindy, and stop staring at my ass.”

“Hard to do, but as you wish.” I removed my wet undershorts and tugged on dry clothes.

“Let me,” Bartholomew said, turning my back toward him. His fingers slid through my wet hair, making me groan loudly, and he started to braid it. “I like taking care of you too.”

“That’s because you fit.”

He chuckled. “Explain this ‘fitting.’”

I frowned. “You fit.” How else was there to phrase it? “When I hold you or we spend time together, you fit.”

“I guess I do.”

“You do,” I assured him. He was my mate; of course he fit.

Once we were dressed, I started toward the shuttle, keeping my eyes on the surroundings for the other alien. I refused to let the threat of them steal any enjoyment of time with my mate, but I’d never risk Bartholomew. Not ever.

The jungle was silent, and we made it out of the tree line without incident. I tucked the blanket around my mate, brushing the skin of his neck. Bartholomew shivered, and I grinned.

“Come on, Flower. I want to take a nap with you.”

He let out a long breath, but he didn’t fight my hold.

We trudged across the snow to the cliff. The nests appeared empty, but I hadn’t investigated them. My mate had stopped me the first time I’d tried. In retrospect, I agreed that poking around nests that might have sleeping creatures was probably not wise. Nonetheless, I kept watch on them, but truthfully, I wasn’t concerned.

Leaning over, I nuzzled my mate and took a deep inhale of his earthy perfume. Stars, he was certainly my flower. I kissed him, and Bartholomew squirmed. I chuckled, straightening, and continued to the shuttle. A nap curled around my mate sounded extremely nice.

Bartholomew came to an abrupt stop.

“Flower?”

He pointed, and my gaze traveled in the direction he indicated. A creature lay in the snow—not moving. It wasn’t large enough to cause concern; not to mention there was a good chance that whatever it was, it was dead. But my mate was stricken and trembling.

“I’ll check.” I motioned for him to remain where he was. My mate had enough things troubling him that he didn’t need anything else to clutter his thoughts. Carefully, I stepped closer to the blob, patting the blaster on my hip. The animal was covered in white fur, and had six long legs like the crustacean creatures from the river, but this one did not have a rock shell. It was soft and pudgy with floppy ears. It had a curly tail that wiggled and a snout that snorted at my approach.

When I crouched in front of the creature, its beady red eyes opened and it let out a pitiful whine. One of its legs was broken, pointing in the wrong direction.

“Poor thing,” I muttered. I would need to end its suffering. Normally, I’d bundle the creature and take it to the closest medbay, but we didn’t have that here, and I refused to allow it to suffer.

Someone grabbed my forearm, and I looked at Bartholomew, who stared at the small creature. “It’s hurt,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Can we help it?” he asked, expression expectant.

Stars, how did I say no? And if I did, would he forgive me? The poor animal was suffering, though. Was it right to leave it in pain? “I don’t know how.”

Bartholomew crept closer to the creature, and it opened its eyes once again With a single finger, he stroked its snout, and its tiny tail wiggled. He smiled—a full smile—and petted it again. The creature tried to move closer, but it couldn’t. A pained whine sounded, and my mate frowned, scooting closer to the injured animal.

“I think its leg is broken,” he said. “We can help it, right?”

“We can try.” I might not know how, but I’d do everything possible to save this small animal for my mate.

He smiled again softly, petting the creature. “It’s so cute.”

Cute? It was cross-eyed and had floppy-ears and snaggle teeth. What was cute? I was cute. This was… odd… ugly… not cute.

Teddy started to take off his blanket, but I stalled him. My mate was far too thin to manage in the cold. I whipped mine off and helped bundle the rather docile creature. I carried it in the crook of my arm and tugged Bartholomew along as I tried to puzzle through how Bartholomew found this creature cute. It seemed impossible. If he thought the animal was cute, then did he think I was? I fought a frown. I refused to be jealous over an animal. I snagged my mate close and stepped into our current home.

I made a nest for the creature I’d christened Pookie. She was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen, but she was so ugly it was cute. She looked like a rabbit in size and shape, with beady eyes and long ears, but she had long legs like a spider that crowded her body, though each one had small paws—complete with pink toe beans. Her front teeth stuck out and were jagged and her tongue was long and forked. Her piggy nose and tail completed the ugly-cute picture.

Pookie was an odd thing, but I liked her.

Every time I petted her, Pookie’s small tail wiggled, and she pressed closer. I kissed the space between her floppy ears, and Mindy frowned. I rolled my eyes. He was so easy to read. He wanted to be the center of attention. Whether that was with everyone or me alone, I didn’t know. Selfishly, I hoped it was the latter.

Pookie whined, her one crooked leg trembling.

“I’m going to hold her, and you can straighten her leg,” I said.

“She might bite you. Let me hold her.”

“No,” I replied. “Trust me. Please.”

“Flower…”

“Mindy, come on. I can do this.”

Worry drove his eyebrows together, but he said, “Fine.”

I gathered Pookie to me, making soothing noises while she whimpered. Mindy gently grabbed her leg and pulled. A sickening snap sounded, and Pookie screeched but didn’t attack. Mindy quickly wrapped her leg with a couple of pieces of metal he’d salvaged to keep it straight, and I kept petting her in an attempt to calm her.

“Are you well?” he asked me.

“Perfectly fine.”

He brushed his strong fingers over Pookie’s long ears, and she thumped her tail. His lips quirked. “It seems we have acquired a pet.”

I booped her snout. “I’ve always wanted one.”

“I love pets,” Mindy said loudly, shifting to my side to hug me. “We’ll take good care of her.”

“We will.”

Mindy kissed my cheek before bounding off. He got water for her and more blankets, shoving a couple of our shirts in her nest so she got used to our smell. He kept talking and talking about Pookie and what we should do and how we’d be like a small family. She’d fallen asleep almost instantly after we set her leg, but I leaned against the cold metal to watch him.

My heart pounded as warmth filled my stomach. Serlotminden was so adorable. He put his whole heart into everything he did. Giving everything. I hugged myself, watching him dart around to provide Pookie whatever she might need. Was this why? No one had ever touched my heart like this, and was it because I needed someone like Mindy? Someone who loved so fully? I wasn’t sure, but I liked him now and I didn’t ever want to stop.

When my eyes started to flutter close, Mindy gathered me into his arms. I made a grunt of protest, but he kissed me and put me into the tent.

“What about Pookie?” I asked, already half asleep.

“She’s fine. I promise.” He settled beside me and drew me close. I shifted on top of him, sprawling, cheek on his chest. Mindy covered us with some blankets, but I pulled it over my head, burrowing against him. I preferred to be completely covered. I felt safer. Hidden. I didn’t know.

“Am I too heavy?”

“No, Flower. You’re perfect.”

My mate was fast asleep on top of me, his weight not near enough to bother me, which worried me. He was far too thin; he needed to gain more weight. A snort came from the other side of the tent, and I smiled. It wasn’t only Bartholomew anymore. Pookie, as he called her, would need food as well. My mate was attached to her, and I had to do the absolute best to care for her.

I dragged my hand over his back and smiled. This was so nice. “Flower, I will take care of you. I promise. I will find a way to provide, even here.”

He grunted, fisting my shirt.

The movement made my smile broaden. Bartholomew was slowly getting more and more comfortable with me. It was only a matter of time until he trusted me entirely. I was sure of it.