I shifted my weight and Heart instantly came awake with a jerk. He shot up on his hands and glanced around before his wild black eyes fell to me. I remained still, wary of his reaction at being woken, but he blinked lazily before his expression lost some of the startled harshness.
That was when I felt it—a hard rod poking into my leg. Because of course aliens got morning wood too. But Heart seemed confused. His hips thrust a couple of times before his nostrils flared and he jerked away from me, his aura cowering like he was ashamed.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I said.
But he didn’t want to hear it. He turned away from me, his giant shoulders heaving, before he immediately retreated to a woven basket in the corner where he kept his food. There he worked with his back to me, and I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want him to be embarrassed. I knew a little about Drixonian history. If Heart was like the rest of them, he’d been a child when the females of his species had died from the virus. After that, their libidos had gone dormant. Most had never had an orgasm, or even been hard.
Heart, for all I knew, might not even understand sex or what his body was doing. But I let him have his dignity. I was sort of flattered I’d made him hard. Then I rolled my eyes at myself. Seriously, Miranda? I was most likely the only female he’d ever seen in his adult life.
After preparing a wooden slab of food, he brought it to me with more qua. I had to pee, but I held it in and dutifully ate my food. It wasn’t anything special, but it was food, and I’d long since learned to take what I could get and not complain. My niece had taught me a saying she learned in kindergarten: You get what you get, and you don’t get upset. So that was my mantra. I was alive. I was okay.
Afterward, Heart poked at my mud cast and then gently pulled me to my feet. I swayed on one foot, but he held me steady. For a moment, he regarded me, and then lowered himself to one knee and gestured to his back.
“Ooo, a piggyback?” I asked.
He only blinked at me. Well, if this meant he was going to take me to solid ground so I could relieve my bladder, then I was all about it. I climbed on his back, which was difficult with one operating ankle, but as soon as I wrapped my arms around his neck, he tucked his hands under my knees.
Even though my vision was shit, I still closed my eyes while we descended. Heights had never been my favorite thing, and this tree house was way too high off the ground for my liking. While inside, I could pretend it was on solid ground, but out here, I got vertigo.
When we touched down on the forest floor, I was able to communicate I had to pee with a series of hand movements, and he left me alone long enough behind a tree for me to do my business.
Afterward, I climbed on his back again and we set off on a path away from the tree house. I was a little wary. Was he taking me to some leader who’d sacrifice me?
His aura was calm, and when my nerves raged too much, he would pat my leg. I forced myself not to panic. My grandmother always said not to borrow trouble. So, I’d worry when I actually had trouble.
We traveled until what felt like mid-morning. Occasionally he’d stop and hand me some berries or leaves to chew on, but other than that, he kept a steady pace. It wasn’t until the air grew humid and I heard the sound of running qua he slowed down. The trees were denser here, lusher.
When he pushed a large leaf aside to reveal what lay ahead, I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A lot of it was blurry anyway, so I had myself half convinced it was a mirage, but as we drew closer, it became very, very real.
Qua trickled down a small cliff in a gentle waterfall to fill a wading pool about the size of half a large neighborhood pool. The qua was edged with large rocks except for a pebble-covered area sloping down into the water. It was perfect, like something out of a movie, and I could barely believe it was here. I hadn’t been outside the walls of the Night Kings compound other than when we traveled on their hover bikes, so I hadn’t been aware of all the beauty this planet possessed.
I slid off Heart’s back and took a few cautious, limping steps toward the qua. He stepped up beside me. I turned to him, unable to control my delight. “Thank you for bringing me here. It’s beautiful.”
His eyes scanned my face and his aura, while smoky, seemed calm. Almost peaceful. He swung me into his arms and placed me on a low rock so that my legs dangled into the qua. I jerked my ankle out of the water as my mud cast began to soften and fall apart. But Heart wrapped his large hands around my knee and slowly lowered my limb back into the water.
“Oh, it’s okay if it gets wet?”
He worked quickly, cupping his hands with qua and washing away every last bit of the mud cast. After carefully removing the splints and bindings, he placed them on a flat rock in a sunny spot to dry. His large hands ran down my calf, prodding at the injury with careful, gentle movements. The care with which he held me nearly took my breath away.
How many times had I bandaged my siblings’ boo-boos and injuries? Many times. How often did anyone tend to me? Barely ever. And I never cared. I was like a cat—when I was hurt, I wanted to be alone. But I couldn’t deny I enjoyed being taken care of.
Was it really so bad to let him do this? What was so wrong with letting my guard down for a little? This was an unprecedented situation. As soon as I was better, I’d be my independent self again. I’d find a way back to my girls. I wouldn’t get used to this silent warrior’s attentions.
Heart let my leg drop back into the qua, and he plucked at my pants before gesturing at it. Oh right, I could bathe. I wanted to do that more than anything, to wash away the feel of those Kulk’s hands grabbing at me.
Heart turned away, like a gentleman. To be honest, I didn’t care that much about nudity. This was an alien planet, and I’d never been too hung up on modesty. Boobs were boobs and butts were butts, right? Still, it was pretty cool he gave me privacy. I quickly slid off my pants and untied my top before sliding into the warm qua. I let out a long moan, reveling in the feel of getting clean. I dunked my head under and rubbed the qua out of my eyes. With a contented sigh, I relaxed back on the rocks behind me, the qua up to my collarbones, and turned my face up into the sun with my eyes closed.
A shadow fell across my eyelids, and I looked to find Heart making his way around the outside of the pool toward the waterfall. “Heart?” I called after him.
He jerked at the sound of my voice and looked at me over his shoulder. His aura was calm, so I knew everything was okay. He motioned toward me with his palms down. Stay. I could have gotten annoyed at him for giving me Fido commands, but he didn’t have another way to communicate, so I let it slide.
He picked his way up the small cliff, scaling it like a monkey before reaching the top. I could barely make him out up there. His skin blended into the foliage around him, but his black and white hair stood out like a beacon. He entered the stream above the cliff and then without warning, braced his hands over his head and dove down the waterfall.
I cried out his name in surprise just as he landed in the water with a small splash which would have scored great in the Olympics. He surfaced quickly, the water beading off his scales like he was coated in a thin oil.
He swam toward me until he could walk on the bottom. He rose out of the water like Jason freaking Momoa in Aquaman, all long, dripping hair and bulging pecs and Christ on a Cracker he was completed naked.