Page 41 of Secretly Mated To My Monster Alien Boss
She was jealous.
Now she had to treat the woman who was engaged to the guy she’d fallen for. And Kiara would do her damn best to helpLeyra, that was for sure. It wasn’t her fault Deryg had lied and trampled all over her feelings.
But her hands were shaking with adrenaline and she had no supplies. No disinfectant, no gauze, no nothing. Leyra’s wound was awful; whatever bullet that masked figure had used, it had charred her skin on the outside, leaving a red gash between that kept bleeding.
“I need something to stop the bleeding, to tie you with,” she whispered.
“You can rip my dress. But the fabric is too soft to hold,” Leyra said. “You can go on without me. I’ll be okay and you have a better chance of survival without me in this state.”
God. Not only was she gorgeous, she was apparently selfless, too.
“No,” Kiara said, leaving no room for argument. She wasn’t leaving anyone behind. “We’ll patch you up and then find Darcy and hide.”
Deryg had promised to find them. She shouldn’t have trusted him at this point, but her heart hadn’t gotten the memo. She still believed he would keep his promise. It was in his Deruzian DNA, after all.
“I have an idea,” Carol piped up from behind them.
Kiara sighed. Carol, bless her heart, had a lot of ideas. None of them were good. “For the last time, Carol, we can’tflirtwith those masked figures and hope they not shoot us.”
“No, dear, the flirting was just to distract them enough so this tall and fast one could steal their guns and obliterate them,” Carol said patiently. “Didn’t your mother teach you anything?”
“Self-doubt, mostly,” Kiara whispered. “But I’m working on it.”
She might be dead in five minutes, a bullet through her head. One of her final thoughts couldn’t be about how she didn’t trust herself and her instincts.
“Here, take this,” Carol said.
Kiara turned just in time to see Carol yanking off a cream corset–or maybe it was a waist cincher?–from underneath her dress. She threw it their way. Her dress was a bit more lumpy now, but there really wasn’t a difference.
“It’s all about the magic of illusion, darlings.” Carol beamed. “And it constricts like hell. It should help.”
Kiara laughed. In relief or incredulity, she didn’t know. But one thing was certain–she was damn glad Carol had come tonight. “Thank you.”
She made quick work of fitting the corset around Leyra; thank God both her and Carol had the smallest waists in existence. She was careful to be as gentle as possible, tugging the many layers of her robes as slowly as her trembling allowed. Then she ripped a long piece of Leyra’s silver fabric to secure everything in place.
“Does it feel okay?” Kiara asked, focused on the task of saving Deryg’s…fiancee?
“Better. I have trouble breathing, but the blood isn’t flowing as fast. Thank you. Saving a life is a great honor.”
“You’re very welcome. And you saved my life, too. So thanks.’
“It was my duty. I am faster, you were in distress.”
Andshe had a good, pure heart. Well, hearts. When Leyra had been born, someone must have spilled all the blessings onto her.
Leyra was also annoyingly observant.
“It is you,” she said as she sniffed the air.
“Excuse me?” Kiara asked, her hands freezing as she tied the knot.
“Your scent was on Deryg,” Leyra went on.
Her tone wasn’t accusatory in the slightest, but Kiara still felt awful. Deceived and disappointed that Deryg had lied to her about having a mate on Deruzia. Distressed that she was nowstanding in front of said mate after she’d had Deryg’s tongue inside her.
“I’m sorry,” Kiara said quickly, before she lost her courage, heart shriveling with every word. “I didn’t know you two were betrothed. Or married. Or mated. Or whatever you are. I didn’t even know you existed–”
From down the corridor, Carol gasped. “Oh my God, did someone cheat on you? Andliedabout it? Where’s the bastard?Who’sthe bastard? I’ll have a strong word with him. That is inexcusable. My Matty would never do such a thing. That is the lowest of lows, scummiest of scums. You both deserve better.”
