Page 20 of Monstrous Hunt
“What’s wrong?” She glanced over at Snryx. “Did I pass out?”
“You could say that,” he replied lightly. “Do you have any pain?”
Her brow furrowed. “No. I feel fine. Good, actually. Is the baby okay?”
“The embryo is still rapidly developing. How about your shoulder and knee?”
She gingerly lifted her injured arm wrapped in a dirty rag. “It’s still sore but nothing like before. I couldn’t even lift it without throwing up.”
“Good. I injected steroids to reduce the inflammation, pain relievers, and healing agents that will help the bones and tendons knit quickly. In a day or two, Kroktl needs to allow you to walk on your own so we can test your muscle and joint response to weight-bearing activity.”
“Fine.” I stuck out my bottom lip and huffed loudly. “But only because the medic says I can’t carry you every second of the day.”
She laughed, a bright, relaxed sound of joy that wounded me. Literally, it felt as though I’d taken a bolt from the YRR’s laser eyes straight in the chest. One blast of her sweet emotion disintegrated me into vapor.
While I was trying to remember how to breathe, Rizan stepped over to the door and retrieved the smoothie he’d made. “Could you drink a little?”
“Mmmm, yes, absolutely. I’m starving, actually.”
Lohr scrambled over to the chest and brought back his plate of food as well. Carefully, Snryx helped her sit up, while I shoved pillows around her to make sure she was comfortable. I peeled the cloth off her arm and rubbed my mouth against her shoulder while she sipped the smoothie. Tracing the delicate shell of her collarbone beneath my tongue, I willed my saliva to rush healing to the broken bones and torn ligaments. While resisting the urge to come all over her again to wipe away the last traces of ozone from her scent.
“What are you doing?” She asked breathily.
I rolled my eyes up toward her face though I didn’t lift my mouth from her skin. “Healing you.”
“I stink.”
Rumbling softly, I pressed my teeth teasingly into the outer curve of her biceps. “I know. You should really let me do something about that.”
Startled, she choked on the smoothie, coughing and laughing at the same time. “I never thought you’d agree with me. At least I took a bath in the river, but I still don’t feel clean.”
“I wasn’t speaking about the scent of your body. I love all your smells. Sweat, skin, cum. I’ll lick every inch of you and relish every moment of it.”
“Vomit,” she added flatly. “Shit. Blood. Cave germs. God only knows what microorganisms I picked up in the river.”
My jaw flexed, my teeth sharpening. The raptor stretched inside me, eager for a fight. “Still not why you stink, baby. I’d take care of you even if you were covered in filth and not even care. It’s the smell of ozone that I can’t tolerate on my mate.”
“While I did sample shigella dysenteriae and esherichia coli in the river water, the levels weren’t high enough to case you any intestinal distress,” Lohr said. “Though without Snryx’s treatment, I would be concerned about vibriosis in addition to theAeromonas hydrophilainfection on your thigh.”
Her shoulders quivered but she continued to eat from the plate Lohr braced on her lap. “That sounds terrible even though I have no idea what any of that is.”
“The worst infection was from the bites.” Snryx’s voice remained even and calm, but I noted his body temperature around his core dropping. He’d done that before, but I hadn’t understood why.
On the grid, I felt his emotions as my own.
And he was fucking pissed.
10
NATALIE
Ihad the opposite of morning sickness. I wanted to eat everything in sight.
At first, I thought it was simply a side effect of the shitty dehydrated food I’d gagged down in the cave, but I devoured everything that Lohr and Rizan made me. Over and over and over. I couldn’t even begin to guess how many pounds of fruit and greens we were going through for smoothies alone. Everything tasted so fucking amazing, though. Especially the thick cuts of steak and fish. My body seemed to be crying out for meat.
Not my body. The growing baby inside me. And it was growing at an alarming rate.
My breasts were even more swollen and tender to the touch. My stomach had a baby bump that was noticeably bigger every single day. It probably should have freaked me out. A lot. We still didn’t know what might happen to me as it continued to grow, but I couldn’t find it in myself to worry. Not when I felt so good.
