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“Okay.” She sat up with his help and tried to stand…but wobbled and nearly fell.
“Here, let me help you.” Without hesitation, Kier swung her up into his muscular arms.
Thrax watched, his hands fisted at his sides. Every atom in his body was shouting that another male was touching his woman—demanding that he go to Kier and take Andi from his arms. But he couldn’t make himself do it. Couldn’t force himself to face his partner after what he’d done to her.
As the three of them left the milking room and the scene of carnage that was happening behind them, Thrax vowed to himself that he would never hurt Andi again.
From now on he would stay completely away from her so that she never had to see him and remember what he had done to her.
27
ANDI
Andi huddled in the back of the ship for the long, silent ride back to the Southern Continent. Thrax was flying and Kier was in the passenger’s seat up front. Occasionally Kier tried asking a question or making a comment but Thrax was nearly silent, answering only in monosyllables and grunts and eventually the other Kindred stopped trying.
Andi was beginning to recover some, mentally at least. She ached between her legs—Thrax was incredibly strong and he really had been pounding into her—but she would live. She could guess why her partner was being so silent—he was probably thinking of what had happened between them—of what Mistress Stoneheart had forced him to do to her.
But it wasn’t his fault. And he didn’t really hurt me—even though I might be walking funny for a while, there’s no permanent damage.
Except to their partnership. Andi was worried that the single session of rough sex might have done what years of difficult missions couldn’t do—it might put a wall between them that would be almost impossible to get over.
I’ll just explain to him that it wasn’t his fault and that I’m not angry at him, she told herself uneasily. I’ll make him understand that everything is still good between us.
But things weren’t good—as she learned when she and Thrax finally got back to their own ship, after dropping Kier off at his.
Andi didn’t even try to talk to her partner at first. She was sticky and sweaty and her palms and knees were raw—she wanted to clean up and get dressed in something that didn’t show her breasts.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she told Thrax, as he slid into the pilot’s seat and began warming up the ship.
“Fine.” He didn’t even look at her—just stared straight ahead at the control panel as though that was all he could see.
“Thrax…” Andi began, but then she couldn’t think what to say. She was exhausted, she realized. So tired she was about to drop. Neither of them had gotten any sleep at all and her mind had been going a million miles a minute during their flight from the Northern Continent to the Southern one. She needed to collect her thoughts and get cleaned up.
“What?” he was still staring straight ahead.
“Never mind.” Andi sighed. “We can talk after I get that shower.”
It seemed hard to believe that they had only been gone a single night, she thought a little later as she stood in the shower stall and washed herself thoroughly. It felt like so much had changed between them—and not necessarily for the better, unfortunately.
She shampooed her hair and washed herself thoroughly, wincing as the hot water hit the cuts on her knees and palms. She winced again as she washed between her legs. She was still full of her partner’s cum and it took a long time to get thoroughly clean.
It’s a good thing he can’t get me pregnant, she thought as she finally finished up. Because he was a Hybrid and couldn’t Bond with a woman, Thrax also didn’t have to worry about impregnating anyone. A Kindred warrior almost always needed a Soul Bond with a woman to get her pregnant. And since Andi and Thrax weren’t bonded, she knew she didn’t have to worry.
But there were other things to worry about—such as her partner’s continued silent treatment when she finally came up to the front of the ship.
Her hair was still damp and she was wearing a skirt and blouse that she’d found at the back of her storage area. It was the only outfit that didn’t scrape against her wounded knees, which were still very raw.
Thrax shot her a sidelong glance but said nothing when she finally got seated in the passenger seat.
“Wow, I feel a hundred percent better,” Andi remarked with a sigh. “Do you want a shower too, before we go?” she asked.
Thrax only shook his head and looked straight ahead.
“Are you sure? It’ll make you feel better,” she coaxed.
This time Thrax didn’t even bother to reply. He had a dark look on his face—one of the darkest Andi had ever seen there. But she had never let her partner’s brooding intimidate her before and she wasn’t about to start now.
“You might as well talk to me, you know,” she told him. “You know I won’t give up until you do.”
