Cosmic Castaway (Cosmic Romances #3)

33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

What just happened?

I sat with my back to Serlotminden in the tent, fiddling with some random wires and twisting them into a bracelet for my boyfriend because I had nothing else to do. Our icy home didn’t offer much in the way of entertainment besides sitting around.

Pookie did offer some distraction. She enjoyed scuttling in dark corners and scaring the shit out of me or leaping onto Serlotminden from the ceiling and chasing his tail. She’d never hurt either of us, but she did like to play. Yesterday she’d escaped out of the hatch and caught an animal, bringing it back for us. Pookie had panted, tail thumping in obvious pride. I’d been horrified, but Mindy spent at least thirty minutes calling her smart, cute, and amazing, all the while petting her. Pookie had eaten every ounce of affection and come back for seconds.

Mindy had cleaned the dead animal, but the laser scalpel started to flicker and die. We used it a lot and hadn’t recharged it, because we couldn’t. He’d assured me he had the skills to make a knife with some bone from an animal or shrapnel from the shuttle, but still, I was concerned. We only had a couple of nutrition bars and a handful of water cubes left. Sure, Mindy was providing, but I liked having a back up.

What if there was another snow storm? What if it lasted longer and we were snowed in?

With ruthless efficiency, I shoved those thoughts into a drawer in my mind and locked it. I refused to let myself panic about something that might never come to pass. We were fine, and Mindy’s brothers would rescue us soon.

Besides, Serlotminden was doing his utmost to distract me day in and day out. Usually with funny stories from his youth, language lessons, or mauling me. Currently, he trailed kisses over my shoulders, tongue flicking my skin. He’d found out how much he loved giving me hickeys, and now, it was his favorite pastime. It was getting ridiculous how many marks he’d left.

His tail tickled my ass as he kissed my neck. “Mate.”

I rolled my eyes at his cajoling tone and continued making a bracelet. Since there was nothing to do, Serlotminden would much rather pass the time making out or fucking. The former, I didn’t mind usually, but I also liked being able to breathe without him attached to my mouth. The latter, I wasn’t always in the mood.

“I want to go on another date,” he announced.

“Because our first one was so spectacular?” I teased, twisting a wire around a random stone.

He nipped my neck, making me laugh. “This time we could actually swim or…”

“Yes?”

“You can fuck me.”

“What?” I asked, turning around and abandoning my project.

“I’ve been thinking.”

“A bad sign.”

Serlotminden hauled me onto his lap, making me straddle his muscular thighs, then bit my nose. “Silence, you.”

I chuckled.

“I do not require as much preparation as you.”

“Because you’ve had anal sex before.”

“I have, but no. Drakcol do not need as much stretching as humans, at least according to Kalvoxrencol. I’ve never been with another human beside you.”

“We don’t have lube.” That had been his whole argument with me. Though we did have soap. It would work fine. But I didn’t see the need to go to the river. We could fuck right here.

“The water might be enough.”

I frowned. So he still hadn’t thought about the soap, and he planned for me to fuck him dry. Yeah, that was a no. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I need you inside me. I do not normally… What is the word?”

“Bottom?” I offered.

“Perhaps. I am usually the one who fucks.”

“You top.”

Serlotminden replied, “If that is the term. It seems Seth and Caleb were bad in my language classes.”

“They didn’t teach you proper sex terminology? How shocking.”

He nipped my nose, probably understanding my teasing tone more than my words. “I want to try.”

“We can wait.”

“I don’t want to. You cannot take me, but I can take you.”

My lips pursed. Serlotminden had a bad habit of not thinking things through. I was worried if we tried and it hurt, he wouldn’t tell me. Also, I didn’t like the idea of being exposed in the river when there were unfriendly aliens around. In the shuttle, the door was closed and locked. It would be hard for someone to come in, and we’d hear them.

Not to mention, part of me had hoped our first time with penetrative sex would be a tad more… private? Romantic? I wasn’t sure exactly what word I was searching for to name the emotion coursing through me, but I wanted Mindy and me to have an unforgettable experience.

“Please,” he said. “I want to. I really want to. I need this, Flower. I need to feel connected to you.”

Fuck. There was no way to say no when he was being this romantic. Still… “Why, Mindy? Why do you need it? We’re already fucking.”

“It feels more intimate to me. I want to be the same person.” His brow furrowed and his tail thrashed as he fell silent. After a few moments, he said, “I want to feel your soul beat with mine. I need it.”

Fisting his hair to pull him even closer to me, I said, our lips brushing, “You want to be one with me.”

“I need it.”

I wanted it too. Hell, I needed it. “Fine, but we’re bringing soap because it can work as lube. I will not fuck you dry.”

He grinned against me, pushing me onto my back and covering me. His lips found mine. The kiss was soft and unhurried, not leading anywhere, but my dick perked up.

All it needed was a smile, and it was raring to go. I’d never desired someone like I did him. It felt odd, yet nice. “And,” I said, breaking away, “we are thoroughly checking the area for danger before we fuck.”

“Alright.”

I rubbed his cheeks with my thumbs, and he nuzzled my forehead like a needy cat, making me smile. He was so fucking cute. I hooked my legs around him to lock him against my body. “And I need a promise.”

“Anything.”

“If it hurts or is uncomfortable, you will tell me and we’ll stop.”

Serlotminden frowned.

“I knew it.” I rolled on top of him, changing our position so I was sitting on him. “You were going to stay quiet.”

“I want you.”

“And I don’t want to fucking hurt you. Sex is not worth it unless we are both enjoying it. Besides, penetrative sex is not everything, Mindy. We are perfect as we are right now.”

A warm smile stretched over his lips. “I will tell you, and we will stop. I promise.”

When his fingers trailed down my naked chest, following the trail of hair, I took a sharp inhale. He palmed my hardening shaft through my pants, and I groaned. Fuck. I ground my dick against him, chasing the friction.

“That’s it, Mate. Take your pleasure. I want to see it.”

I licked my lips. “If you want to go on a date today, you need to stop.”

He kissed my neck. “Let’s go, then.”

We both got fully dressed before stepping into the chilly cabin. Pookie didn’t even look up from her nest. She was curled into a tight ball, legs pressing into her body, asleep. Serlotminden slung his arms around my waist and he rested his chin on my shoulder. I’d never known someone as physically affectionate as him before, but I didn’t mind. He only released me to grab the blaster, in case we came across trouble.

The air was nippy as usual, but I swore it was growing warmer. Winter was probably ending. I was ready for less snow and cold.

Serlotminden snagged me, swinging me around until I faced him. I pressed my lips against his, wrapping my arms around his neck to keep him close. I was so happy. It was stupid. It was unbelievable. It was undeserved, probably, maybe, I honestly didn’t know. But god dammit, I was.

He escaped, racing away from me. His tail wiggled in anticipation.

“You’re ridiculous.”

My words didn’t dampen his smile as he crouched, eyebrows lifting.

I held up a hand. “Don’t. Don’t you fucking dare.”

With a growl, he launched at me, and I darted in the opposite direction. My pulse pounded in my ears. Anticipation flooded me. The first few times we’d done this, I’d panicked, but Mindy wasn’t attacking, he was playing. This time promised to end in sex, and I was excited for it.

Running faster, legs burning, I bolted in the direction of the shuttle.

“Bartholomew,” he screamed; the true terror in Serlotminden’s voice made me freeze. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him rushing toward me, blaster drawn. Time seemed to slow as I looked forward.

A massive alien was flying straight at me. They had a humanoid appearance, huge sprawling wings, talons for feet, and were covered in black feathers. The owner of the nests.

I was locked in place as the alien flew toward me, talons spread wide. My heart pounded as they got closer and closer. I ordered myself to move, to fall to the ground, to do something, anything, but my knees were locked and I was stuck in place. Helplessness clouded my thoughts, making everything around me feel like a dream. Impossibly slow, the alien flew toward me, promising death, and with that promise the ghosts that haunted me screamed and a metallic thud of a bolt echoed in my thoughts.

Something smashed into my back, knocking the air from my lungs and me out of that clouded, dream space, and I crashed into the snow. The weight crushing me disappeared as a shriek rent the air, making my hair stand on end.

Rolling over, I shouted, “Serlotminden!”

The creature’s talons were dug deep into Serlotminden’s side as they struggled to fly away with him. I grabbed the blaster that had fallen to the snow, fumbling, and lifted it. My hand shook. My muscles started to freeze and terror flooded me. I’d never shot the blaster before. I hadn’t needed to. I did not want to hit Mindy. I might kill him.

“Let him go!”

The alien didn’t react, struggling to take him away.

They were hurting Mindy, my mate.

I lifted the blaster higher and pulled the trigger. An orange beam shot out of the muzzle and singed the alien’s feathers. They dove. I scrambled to my feet, not giving myself even a second to think, and chased after them, yelling. Serlotminden did not make a sound, and he hung lifelessly from the alien’s talons. I lifted the blaster again and shot. The beam hit the alien in the wing. They screeched and dropped Serlotminden, who crashed into the ground in a motionless heap.

I kept the blaster pointed at the alien, but they didn’t attack again. Instead, they jerkily flew to the cliff, clinging to the nest as black blood dripped from their wing.

I slid to the snow next to Mindy, and a wide green puddle surrounded him, marking the snow.

“Serlotminden,” I screamed, clutching his cold cheeks. “Honey, please.”

His eyes fluttered open. “Bartholomew.”

“Keep talking,” I demanded as tears coursed down my cheeks, but he didn’t. His eyes closed and didn’t open again, no matter how much I cried.

The alien screeched, and I lifted the blaster. They hadn’t left the cliff, staring at me. I wanted to kill them. They’d hurt Serlotminden. I’d never wanted to kill anyone before in my life, not even Agk, because I had seen too much death, but I wanted to kill this alien. They deserved to die. They deserved to feel the pain Serlotminden was experiencing. My finger shook on the trigger.

But if I shot and missed, it could cause a cave-in and block the shuttle. That would spell death for Mindy. I lowered the blaster, and the alien screeched again.

I could not leave Serlominden to grab anything to help me drag him, so I ripped the blanket around my shoulders off and tied it under his armpits. Keeping my eyes on the alien, who watched me, blood dripping from their wing, I dragged Serlotminden toward the shuttle.

I had to get him inside. Now.

With grunts and tears frozen on my cheeks, I hauled him inside painfully, agonizingly slow. I slammed the door closed, keeping us safe from any threat. Skittering came from behind me, and Pookie snorted, snuffling Mindy.

“Not now,” I told her. “Please, Pookie.”

She trailed me as I dragged him to the cabin and into the tent. I ripped off his shirt and pants. Blood leaked from the deep punctures in his abdomen and thigh. The alien’s talons had gone straight through his scales. One had also pierced his old injury, and it was deep, leaking green blood everywhere.

I grabbed the medicine he’d first used and the laser scalpel. I tried to fill the needle with the medicine, but I didn’t know how much to use or how it worked. It didn’t draw like a human one, not that I had experience with that either.

I patted his cheek. “Serlotminden. Please, Honey. I don’t know what to do. You need to tell me what to do.”

His breathing was shallow.

“Do not do this to me. I cannot lose you. You promised! We’re supposed to stay together. Damn it, Serlotminden. I need you. Do you fucking hear me? I need you!”

Serlotminden didn’t open his eyes, and blood continued to stain the blankets under him.

Tears continuously slid down my cheeks as my hands shook. I fiddled and finally got the vial filled. I had no idea if I did the right amount, but I injected him, massaging the site for a few moments. I grabbed the tweezers and pulled the broken scales away like he had before while trying to apply pressure to the open wounds, but there were too many, too much blood, too much. Fuck, there was too much.

I flicked the laser, but it shuddered and clicked off. My heart stuttered.

“No. No.” I flicked and flicked. It didn’t come back on. Throwing it with a scream, I grabbed one of the blankets and shredded it. I wrapped the pieces around him like a makeshift bandage. Blood soaked them. It was not enough. Serlotminden was going to die.

A sob caught in my throat. “Please, don’t leave me. I can’t do this without you.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to do this without you, Honey.”

Serlotminden did not respond. His breathing was shallow and wet as his scales grew cold.

He needed help, but there was no one here except me. Useless me.

Pookie nosed me, and I petted her, sobbing. He needed someone, anyone, but I had nothing.

That was not true.

The four-armed alien was around. Maybe he’d help if I somehow made him understand. I thought of the winged alien outside. It would be a risk. A huge one. Perhaps the four-armed alien had thought Serlotminden was one of the creatures from the cliff, and he’d been trying to protect me. Of course, he could’ve been trying to steal me for his own reasons.

My eyes went to Serlotminden. I would have to leave him, but he’d die if I did nothing.

I pressed a hard kiss to his forehead, taking a deep inhale of his fresh scent, though it was tainted with the tang of blood. “You are not allowed to die. I love you, and you love me. You have to stick around and let me make you laugh. We have to grow old together. I don’t want any other future.”

I grabbed Pookie and planted her on top of his chest. “Protect him. Don’t move.”

She grunted, laying down.

With one last glance, I left the safety of the shuttle to brave two different aliens. I would not freeze, I would not stop, and I would not fail. Serlotminden was counting on me.