20. Chapter 20
Slipping into Marissa”s mind to tease her with increasingly erotic images kept his focus off his own body enough to hold off the nausea. The pain from his injuries slipped back enough from his conscious mind that he could ignore it for a while.
Besides, he enjoyed feeling her become overwhelmed with pleasure. The hard ache of his member was a welcome distraction from everything else and his anticipation of being able to ease it inside her helped him maintain their connection.
They were both trying hard to avoid thinking about things, he could feel her mind shy away from different words and thoughts, and that was okay. Talking like they were helped both of them but they were going to need to touch each other soon. Better to get the physical needs dealt with before they addressed the highly emotional ones.
He could feel her worry about him and he wondered if he could get a clean set of clothes before he saw her. It would take too much energy to look more human but a new shirt and clean pants would be a good idea. His torturers had removed his shirt and boots when they started and the doc had cut away most of what was left of his pants to check his injuries.
Maybe he”d ask for some socks and boots, too, to hide the parts he was regrowing.
Did you want to get some sleep?his mate asked when the silence between them stretched.
I need to rest,he admitted. But I am loathe to do so without you here.
Is there anything I can do to help?
Cooper was tempted to tell her to get her own rest, that he would sleep while she did, and suffer through his discomfort alone. He knew, however, that not only wouldn”t she appreciate that, she”d likely be suffering as well.
Do you know how much longer this is going to take?
Let me ask.
He could feel the shift in her attention while she talked to someone else. It was odd to be able to feel her and know what she was doing without actually being able to hear or see her. Like she was a presence in the back of his mind that he was always aware of. It wasn”t an uncomfortable feeling, the way it had been during his training, with a judgmental instructor watching his every thought, waiting to pounce.
Marissa felt like a part of him he hadn”t realized was missing until it was suddenly there and he was complete.
He didn”t intend to drift off to sleep, and hadn”t truly, but his doze was interrupted when the door to his cell was opened and the most beautiful creature he”d ever seen walked in.
Had she always been that beautiful? Was he just now realizing how magnificent she was in every way? The first time he”d seen her, smelled her, she”d captivated him but he hadn”t truly appreciated her.
”You”re projecting,” she said softly when she knelt down next to him. ”And that tells me just how tired you are.”
”Are you truly here?” he asked, pulling back to look at her when she tried to lay with her face against his chest. ”I”m not imagining you?”
”I”m here,” she said. ”I think you might be embellishing all my qualities in your head but I”m not going to argue with you about them.”
Marissa pulled a blanket over them that he hadn”t noticed she”d had and pressed the front of her body to his. She buried her nose in his neck, her hair tickling at his chin, and inhaled. Tension slid out of her body and the constant buzz of anxiety he”d felt in her mind quieted.
”I can”t touch you,” he said, an apology and a complaint.
”I can touch you a little,” she told him and spread her hands against his chest. ”But we have three guards on the door and an audience on a visual feed.”
He noticed her hands were restrained together the same way his were just in the front of her body and he nodded.
”It”s enough,” he said, shimmying until his chin rested against the top of her head and their bodies were pressed together.
Cooper took a deep breath and felt his body relax. His mate was there, they were together, everything else would work out. He drifted into sleep with the feel of her breath against his skin.
He woke with a screech of agony that he quickly bit down on until it was just a hard breath coming out of his nose. He”d been so focused on Marissa joining him that he hadn”t noticed she was still wearing her boots. She”d shifted in her sleep and kicked what was left of his toes.
”Are you hurt?” she demanded from the seated position she”d shoved herself into. ”What”s wrong?”
Cooper rolled onto his back and did his best to breathe through the pain.
”I”m making a new rule,” he said through gritted teeth. ”No shoes in bed.”
Marissa looked at her boots and then down at his legs.
”Shit,” she gasped when she”d taken in the damage. ”You”re bleeding again. We need to get the Doc. What happened to your toes?”
He nodded and let out another slow breath. ”Probably need to be re-wrapped,” he said.
”Major,” one of the guards called from the door. ”Time to get up and moving if you”re awake.”
”I don”t think-” she started but Cooper cut her off.
”I can walk,” he said. ”Probably not running any time soon but if you can help me up, I can walk.”
She nodded. ”I can do that.”
”Major, if you”ll come to the door, one of us will get him situated,” the guard called.
”John, I can handle this,” she told him.
”All due respect ma”am, you still look like shit. Let us do our job, alright?”
Cooper could see the indecision in her eyes and smiled. ”You look good enough to eat but I also know that you”re still exhausted. And still technically a prisoner until they get us cleared. Let someone else help me to my feet and we can deal with that.”
She pushed herself to her feet and wobbled slightly before she walked to the door. The guard she”d addressed as John opened the door and let her out into the corridor before coming in and crouching down in front of him.
”I”m going to help you sit, first,” he said. ”Then I”ll help you to your feet. Easiest way to do it without reopening your injuries. You okay with that?”
”It”d be easier with my hands free but I think that all makes sense. Thanks for your help.”
”Welcome,” John said and slid his arms under him to help him sit. Then he stood behind him and lifted.
Most of his weight balanced on his heels until he slowly let it onto the rest of his feet. He wobbled more than Marissa had but could hold himself upright when John”s hands fell away.
”Can you walk?” John asked.
”Slowly,” Cooper said. ”Are we expected somewhere?”
”Yeah, the Doc bought you time to get some shut eye but we”re at the base and they want to get you debriefed.”
”How long did we sleep?” Marissa asked. She”d been looking around for something.
”A few hours,” one of the other guards answered. ”Doc said to let you get eight solid if you could.”
”I didn”t think we had that kind of time,” Marissa said.
”Things got complicated.”
Cooper snorted and started to walk gingerly toward the door with John at his back. His shoulders ached and his feet throbbed but he wanted to do as much as he could under his own power for now.
”Things are always complicated,” he said.
”Yeah, well, this is a bit more than we were expecting. We”ve got situations developing all over the world and some of the aliens aren”t exactly happy with you running off with one of their toys.”
Cooper swore under his breath. ”I need to get my ship back.”
”On the agenda,” John assured him. ”Along with a couple dozen other things that can”t happen until you”ve both been debriefed.”
They moved as quickly as they could down the corridor, which wasn”t all that fast, and Marissa kept turning to look at him. He could feel the worry coming off of her and he adored her for it.
As abrupt and painful as his wake-up had been, he felt better than he would have if he”d been recovering on his own, and he could already feel the regrowth process starting.
There was definitely more than one benefit to sleeping with his mate.
They were met by most of the soldiers on the base as he hobbled down the ramp and half a dozen of them started talking at once. It was all overwhelming to him but Marissa answered questions for both of them.
He was still disoriented and definitely not at the top of his game so he used the time to try and get a feel for the minds around him instead. He wasn”t looking for any particular information, more a read on the general attitudes of those who had him at their mercy.
Most of the brains were ones he had a passing familiarity with, they”d been here the last time he was, and they showed mostly concern about Marissa and what was going to happen next. There were some new ones, as well, and most of them were unremarkable.
Except for one.
The uppermost thoughts were similar to the rest of the soldiers, normal human concerns and reactions, but when they focused on him, it was like a bed of snakes had slithered into their mind and covered any other thoughts they”d had. They slid away just as quickly and Cooper couldn”t figure out who they belonged to but he recognized the pattern.
He was a scout, skilled at acting on his own and gathering information, with enough ability to stay behind enemy lines for a short period of time without getting caught. Most of his clutch had become scouts, with a few going into the support roles that made their jobs easier.
When they were learning about infiltration, however, they”d been in a class with Chelion who were going to be handling long-term infiltration. He hadn”t thought there was anything particularly remarkable about them until they had to practice on each other.
Every now and then, he”d catch the dry, dangerous rustle of the same twisting bed of snakes in their thoughts. He”d never found out what they were but when they came forward, something in their eyes changed, and they became better, faster, and more ruthless. Once or twice, he felt them trying to send them into his mind.
He could send suggestions, read surface thoughts and use them to adapt and learn, but he couldn”t control anybody. The snake thoughts could and most of his nightmares involved them getting into his head and taking control of his body and mind.
Cooper turned to John. ”We need to get to a secure room to debrief.”
John opened his mouth to protest then nodded. He signaled to the people peppering Marissa with questions and what had been a slightly chaotic welcome turned into a slightly rushed march into a part of the base he hadn”t tried to get into before.
They were taken into separate rooms and Cooper breathed a sigh of relief at the security measures he could see in place.
Cooper?Marissa reached out to him.
We”re almost done, he reassured her. Tell them everything you know and I will see you shortly.
There was a single chair on one side of the table, and three on the other. None of them were comfortable but he didn”t really mind. He took the chair that was obviously meant for him and leaned forward so John could undo his restraints.
Three men came into the room and sat down and another guard took up his position on the other side of the door from John. Five humans to deal with him.
The one sitting directly across from him cleared his throat and adjusted the papers in his hand.
”Alright, let”s start with your name. Your actual name.”
Cooper grinned.