Chapter 26
Telok carried Lacey through Tovuunshai with swift strides, having long since left the others behind. She remained curled against him, wrapped in the blanket with only her bare feet sticking out over his arm and some tousled locks of hair brushing his chest.
He neither spoke to nor made eye contact with the winddancers he passed. Each time he and Lacey were greeted, he felt her bunch up a little tighter, and thorny vines coiled around his hearts to match.
Their mating scent was potent, clinging to them both, making tendrils of desire tease at the edges of his mind.
Though it bore many familiar elements, it was a new smell.
One they had made together, one that marked their bond, one that belonged only to Telok and Lacey. And by the Eight, it made him hunger.
He flexed his lower hands, squeezing the bag straps and spear shafts he held. Their mating had been disturbed by kurghests, and it was his fault.
For so long, Telok had resisted, had avoided mating with her out in the Tangle. He’d always known the dangers. But he’d let his instinctual need to conquer and claim her trample his instincts for survival. He’d brought her to an isolated place, where they’d both lowered their guards completely.
There had been no stopping the mating frenzy this time, and he’d come devastatingly close to having claimed Lacey and lost her within moments because of it.
And yet he could not deny the truth of his hearts…
He would’ve changed nothing if given the choice, even knowing the kurghests would attack.
What sort of mate did that make him? What sort of protector?
“Can you take me to the shower?” Lacey asked, her soft, muffled voice shattering his thoughts.
Telok clenched his teeth, biting back both the growl and the words of protest that threatened to escape him. She wanted to wash off that scent? Wanted to clean away the traces of what they had shared?
After letting out a slow breath through his nostrils, he nodded with a grunt and changed his course, heading for the shower closest to their den.
A male and two female winddancers stood within the enclosed space, chatting with buckets of water on the floor beneath them as they scrubbed swaths of cloth. Their attention turned to Telok as he entered, their eyes first lighting up in warm greeting before quickly widening in concern.
“By their eightfold eyes, are you all right?” the male asked in vrix, stepping forward.
One of the females glanced rapidly between Telok and the bundled human in his arms. “The human, is she—”
“Leave,” Telok growled, flaring his mandibles.
The winddancers winced back from him and hurriedly collected their silks and buckets, sloshing water over the sides. They scurried past without looking at him again.
“They must’ve found kurghests,” the male said in a hushed voice.
“We had best check on the others,” one of the females replied. “More might have been hurt.”
Telok set down his and Lacey’s belongings beside the doorway and strode deeper inside.
“Are they gone?” Lacey asked, parting the blanket to peek out of it.
In as gentle a tone as he could manage, he said, “Yes.”
“Okay. You can put me down now.”
He didn’t want to. Apparently, his arms didn’t either, as they refused to move for several heartbeats, remaining stiff around her. This was the only way he could ensure she was safe. The only way he could protect her. Once he let go…
With a huff, he forced himself to set Lacey down on her feet, forced himself to withdraw his hands, forced his arms down to his sides to keep from reaching for her again.
She stilled and groaned. “There’s more?”
Telok canted his head. “More?”
“Your…cum.”
His mandibles twitched, and his cock throbbed behind his slit. “Ah…”
Drawing the cloth back from her head, she studied her new surroundings. There was an unsteadiness about her well beyond the trembling Telok had felt while holding her.
Lacey took in a deep inhalation, expelled it slowly, and turned to face him. “Thank you. I can—” Her eyes rounded. “Oh my God, Telok…”
Under her gaze, his wounds throbbed with warmth, spreading their aches deeper into his body. “I am fine.”
“Bullshit.” She moved to the shelves on the wall, which bore folded cloths, jars of oil, and baskets filled with cleanleaf. “You are not fine.”
Plucking up a cloth, she faced Telok. “You carried me all the way back here, and I was too stuck in my head to realize you were injured and bleeding the whole time.”
“Next time you may carry me, and we will be even.”
“Why do you always find your sense of humor at the worst times? You could’ve hurt yourself more, Telok. There is…so much blood.”
Even had they torn off my legs, I would have carried you back without complaint. So long as you are safe.
He stretched his arms to the sides and pivoted at his waist. A few of the many cuts he’d suffered tore as he moved, sending twinges of pain through him. “There is no hurt.”
“That’s twice now you’ve lied to me.”
His arms fell, and he was suddenly aware of a great weight pushing down on him, making his limbs heavy. “My pain is not yours to carry.”
She glared at him. “You got those protecting me!”
“And I will wear the scars with pride.”
“You— Ugh. Just shut up and come here.” She jabbed a finger toward the floor beneath one of the spouts.
Telok shook his head. “You do not—”
Lacey hissed at him, her features contorted in anger as she bared her blunt white teeth. She aimed that finger at him. “No more talking!”
Swallowing a chitter, he strode over to her, stopping beneath the spout. She reached up, caught the dangling silk rope, and pulled. Cool water rained upon Telok.
He exhaled harshly, spraying water from his face, as a shiver wracked him. Many of his wounds radiated with sharp stings, the pain pervasive enough that he couldn’t identify a single source. Ducking his head, he raked a hand through his hair, tugging back the loose strands.
She released the cord, stopping the flow of water. Stepping close, she used the now wet cloth to wipe the dirt and blood from his hide and carefully dab around his wounds. Though her touch was gentle, her hands trembled, and there was a worried crease between her eyebrows.
Telok covered one of her hands with his own, stilling it. “I am fine. You need rest, my nyleea.”
Despite all that had happened, that word still felt so sweet upon his tongue.
She shook his hand off. “Stop lying.”
He caught it again and cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. Her eyes were red and wet. Another buzz rattled his chest. “You are safe. That is all I need to be fine.”
“But you’re hurt and bleeding. And it could have been worse, so much worse. Just…let me do this.” She tugged her chin and hand out of his grasp and resumed cleaning his wounds. “Let me take care of you.”
Warmth thrummed along his heartsthread. Though he wanted little more than to slip his fingers into her hair, tilt her head back, and kiss her, Telok lowered his arms, shifting his body only to help her reach where she needed to.
She tugged on the rope once more to rinse away the remaining dirt and the fresh blood that had seeped from his larger wounds. Her blanket was damp and stained with blood by the time she’d finished, though he knew the worst of the stains had likely happened while he’d carried her.
Lacey held out her palm. “Sticky butt silk.”
“Not butt,” he said even as he drew a wad of sticky silk from his spinnerets and placed it on her waiting hand.
“It might as well be.” Her words lacked the bite they normally possessed.
Telok’s mandibles drooped.
Pulling off a small portion of the silk he’d given her, she applied it to one of his larger injuries.
She worked quietly, focused on her task, the corners of her mouth slightly downturned as she sealed the wounds one by one.
Throughout, her eyes filled with more tears, until finally, one spilled down her pale, freckled cheek.
His hand darted up to catch that tear on a crooked finger and wipe it away. Both his chest and his throat were tight. “You bear a hurt I cannot see.”
“You shouldn’t have to suffer so much,” she said softly. “All these scars… And now you’ll have more because of me.”
“If every bit of my hide must be scarred to keep you from getting even one more, I will welcome it.”
She glared up at him, fire once more sparking in her eyes. “But I don’t want you to do that.”
Telok lowered his face toward hers. “I protect what is mine.” He grasped her chin, making sure their eyes remained locked. “And you are mine, Lacey.”
A shiver stole through her, but she pressed her lips firmly together as she continued glaring at him.
Yanking her chin away, she took a step back and looked away. “I need to wash up.”
Telling himself that he was not hurt by the way she’d withdrawn, he strode toward the shelves. “I will clean you.”
“No.”
He halted and turned his head to look at her over his shoulder, mandibles twitching.
The anger that had been in her eyes was gone, leaving her looking…worn. “I can do it myself.”
“I will tend to my mate.”
“Please, Telok.” She clutched at the blanket covering her chest. “I just…need this time. Alone.”
Alone.
That word slammed into him with all the weight and force of a charging yatin, knocking the air from his chest and leaving him reeling.
Did she…regret mating with him? Had the kurghests so soiled their joining that she couldn’t bear to have Telok see her, to have him touch her?
No.
He would not accept that, even if she were to tell him it was true. He regretted nothing they’d shared today, and now that he’d claimed her, now that she was truly his, he would not let her go.
But this request… He could give her this. Could give her privacy.
“I will be near,” he said. His eyes lingered on her until he begrudgingly forced his legs into motion and stepped out.
Facing toward the doorway, he leaned his left shoulders against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. His hide itched all over, urging him to go back to her, but he just curled his claws into his biceps and gritted his fangs.