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His eyes widen in surprise as he tastes the broth, and I grin in response. “I’ve never actually cooked over an open fire, so I’m glad it’s edible.” I know he can’t understand me, but I still feel the urge to talk to him.
After a few minutes, Draggar drains the last of the cup and he clears his throat. “My gratitude, Haley. How long have I been sick?” His voice is scratchy and hoarse with disuse and I wince in sympathy.
“About two days.” I hold up two fingers and then point to the sun streaming inside the cave entrance. He must understand the gist of what I said because he nods his head before his eyes sink closed with exhaustion. It doesn’t long before he falls asleep again, a snore rumbling through his chest.
I watch his chest as it rises and falls as he slumbers. My eyes trail down and over the rippling muscles of his abdomen and the leather loincloth that hangs low on his hips. The hard bar of something intriguing twitches causing the material to move and I resist the urge to fan my face.
He’s so alien, and yet, familiar, and I’m so attracted to him. I’m not going to deny that.
But it’s more than just mere attraction or lust. I should not have feelings for him, but I do. That weird magnetism that I thought might have been my imagination is back, and it draws me to this alien man.
It hits me, then. I’ve felt this way before. When I was outside the spaceship, I felt this exact same pull. Only it wasn’t quiet this strong. I remember thinking something was watching me.
I study his face, relaxed now that he’s no longer in the deep throes of illness.
It was Draggar. He was there. I’ve seen how he can move so soundlessly through the jungle and his color changing skin. He would have had no trouble blending into the trees and bushes. He was watching me.
I don’t know what to make of that. Of him.
He’s rugged and courageous, but also gentle and honorable. He could have turned his back and run to safety – the dinosaur would have been distracted by me and probably wouldn’t have pursued him. Instead, he threw himself into the fight against an animal bigger than him without a second thought, and then, he picked me up and outran two more dinosaurs.
I have vague memories of Draggar carrying me in his arms and humming to me when I grew distressed and the warmth that flowed through me when he cradled me so gently against his chest.
There’s a part of me that is screaming that I can trust him, that he is somehow special to me, but the logical side is loud, too, and reminds me that I’ve just met him. And he’s an alien, and my experiences with them haven’t been all that great so far.
I don’t know what I’m going to do about it, but for now, sleepiness begins to settle in again. That bubble of safety that seems to follow him around is still very much active even though he is injured, and it relaxes me. It’s been a long couple of days, and the worry I’ve felt while watching Draggar battle against the illness that ravaged his body has caught up with me. I stifle a yawn as I curl up on the edge of the pallet next to him. A little nap won’t hurt.
It doesn’t take long for sleep to claim me as I drift away to the comfort of the warm presence beside me.
Chapter 15
Draggar
I wake up slowly. My head is pounding and when I crack open my eyelids to gaze up at the rocky ceiling of a cave momentary confusion descends. Then, my mind clears and it all rushes back to me. The aliens. The tiniio. The Pugj. Betrayal. Eyes watching me with concern and a soft hands tracing over my skin. Haley.
A soft mass warms the front and side of my body and gentle puffs of air tickle my neck, and I realize it is Haley. She is draped over my body with one arm draped over my chest and her face buried against my neck. Her legs are tangled with mine and her soft thigh is hitched up to cover my hips.
My cock is already hard, but as she shifts in her sleep sending a waft of sweet, musky fragrance to my nostrils, my cock jerks in its eagerness. Tingles of desire shoot down my spine and center themselves at my groin. I want to move my hips against her and to touch her, but most of all I want to taste her sweet essence.
But I cannot. Not yet. Not until she welcomes me. It is imperative that both mates accept the bond. For I know that is what she is – my spirit mate. My amoris.
Until then, I will wait. I will woo her as the Ancestors did when our females existed and before the amoris bond disappeared with them.
I was not sure before whether the strong feelings I had for Haley were because of the amoris bond, but now, I am. She is the mate to my spirit. My amoris, and I am hers.
The second heart inside my chest, the one that can only be awakened by the bond, beats strong and steady sending a rush of mateblood through my veins. It is that surge that enabled me to run so fast away from the tiniios and away from the pursuing Tussoll males. Now, that it beats, my second heart will give me a burst of strength and speed all so that I can better protect my mate.
That unending magnetism I felt for Haley from the very beginning and the desire to protect her against everything is the pull of the amoris bond. It is the reason I was drawn repeatedly to the crashed ship and to her. It is why I jumped so quickly into a fight with a tiniio and why I felt the urge to spirit her away.
Even if I did not know, yet, that she was my spirit mate, my spirit did. My second heart did.
I grit my teeth as I try to master the desire that consumes me, and I will my cock to soften. It is harder than it has ever been and the need to claim my mate is strong. With each beat of my second heart the urge to join with her, to seal the bond between us, deepens. It is the amoris bond at work.
Now is not the time, I tell myself. Soon.
I marvel for a moment that it is possible to experience the bond with another species, something I have always been told was impossible. The hope that fills me makes thoughts of the future flit through my head.
My eyes skim over Haley’s delicate features, and my chest fills with warmth for my mate. She is courageous and kind with eyes that shine brightly with intelligence. She is more determined and resourceful than anyone I have ever met.
