Page 9 of Survivor
I nodded. My arms ached from swiping the cloth over Lore, but if I stopped, he overheated.
Vex pressed a kiss to my temple and then ducked out of the nook.
I was no stranger to how a simple infection could claim a life out here in space. I’d seen it happen twice on the asteroid. How the lack of attention from the guards had resulted in avoidable deaths. Tide would bring the meds, but we had no idea if they’d work. We had no idea what bacteria was causing this infection. It was pot luck.
Lore groaned softly and rolled onto his back. I ran my fingers lightly down his beautiful face. “Please, be okay. Please.”
* * *
The herbal tea was working, and Tide had returned with antibiotic cream and clean bandages.
Lore was finally sleeping, a restful, deep, healing sleep. But there was no way I’d be leaving his side.
“Get some sleep,” Tide said. “I’ll watch over him.”
I shook my head. “I’m okay.”
My chest felt too tight, and my eyes burned. Lore hadn’t opened his eyes yet. He hadn’t looked at me. I needed him to wake up, even for a minute to know he was going to be okay.
Vex and Xavier were asleep; they had another shift in a few hours, and so did Tide.
“You need to go sleep, Tide. You have work.”
His jaw flexed, and a dark look crossed his features.
Oh, shit. “You lost the job, didn’t you?”
He sighed. “The boss made it clear that if I left early with Lore, we needn’t bother coming back.” He rubbed his forehead. “We needed that money, but Lore needed to be out of there.” He exhaled through his nose. “Plenty of bodies waiting to take our spot.”
Their being home put paid to my plans of sneaking out to see Vartin, but now, more than ever, we needed that money. Maybe Tide would listen now that we’d lost the chop shop income.
He was looking at me, his silvery-gray eyes glinting in the gloom. “I’m sorry we let you down.”
Wait, what? Is that what they thought? I reached for his hand and tugged him onto my side of the bed. I cupped his lean face and stared up into his unfathomable eyes.
“You saved my life. You guys freed me. You have nothing to be sorry for. Ever.”
His mouth softened, and his gaze dropped to my mouth.
I lifted my chin and brushed my lips against his, softly, tentatively, holding my breath, afraid he would pull away. Instead, his grip on me tightened, and his mouth parted, tongue flicking out to taste me.
I stifled a moan and opened with him, sucking on his full bottom lip and licking inside his mouth. His hand threaded through my hair, and I threw my leg over him, straddling him to allow myself to deepen the kiss. He tasted minty, fresh, alive, and zesty, and I wanted to taste him all over.
But now wasn’t the time for anything more. I pulled back, breaking the kiss into smaller, softer ones, and then pressed my forehead to his.
“I can’t wait to get off this fucking rock.”
“Me either,” Tide said, his voice gruff. “I want you, Rogue. I fucking want you so bad.”
My stomach flipped hard, and it took everything I had not to claim his mouth again, but if I did, then I might not be able to stop, and with Lore being sick and lying right beside us … Yeah, it would be messed up.
I climbed off him and lay down between him and Lore. “Will you stay with me?”
Tide slung an arm over my waist and settled behind me. “Always.”
This was the guy who’d wanted to give me up, who’d fought the hardest not to want me. He was holding me now as if he’d never let me go, and damn, did it feel good.
It was only as sleep deadened my body that the thought hit me. I hadn’t told Tide about Vartin.
