Page 37 of Havik: Warlord Brides
The mood in the room shifted. Thalia shivered. She enjoyed teasing him and she thought he enjoyed their verbal sparring. Apparently, she read the situation wrong.
“Fine.” She pushed off the chair a little harder than necessary. Havik had an ex-wife. He didn’t talk about it and she hadn’t asked, but she could understand how his grumpy ass had an ex-wife. “For the record, I’m not useless, I’m not helpless, and I can do a hell of a lot more for you than pretend to be bait.”
Holding out a hand, she touched the ceiling and redirected herself toward the corridor. She underestimated the force of her push and rocketed into a wall. Frustrated, she kicked the panel. Only then did she see that the panel held onto the wall with one loose screw.
The panel wobbled and broke free, heading right toward her at an alarming velocity.
Havik
This female. She smiled and teased and promised many a delightful distraction, none of which he deserved or desired.
The faster they completed this mission, the better.
She kicked at a panel. It broke free, every edge jagged metal, harboring bacteria her immune system had no capacity to fight.
Unacceptable.
He moved too fast for his mind to question why he identified the hazard and why he disliked the idea of her inevitable injury. This was why she could not be trusted to do more than lure sentient being traffickers into a trap. In an instant, he pushed her out of the way and took the blow from the panel. She hit the wall with a gasp as the panel sliced across his upper arm, cutting both cloth and skin.
Her eyes were wide, and her hair fanned out, dark blonde at the base and toxic green at the end.
“You’re bleeding,” she said, shoving off the wall toward him.
She removed her tank top and tore it in half before he could respond with a gruff, “It’s nothing. I will heal.”
“Off,” she commanded, tugging at the collar of his tunic. He complied, removing the garment. “Hold this here.” She pressed the wadded cloth to the gash. When his hand covered hers, she pushed away. “You might heal fast, but I’m sure gunking up the ship’s innards with blood is bad for our health.”
Nimbly, she collected the droplets of his blood that floated in the immediate area. “There,” he said, pointing up.
Without a word, she placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed, launching herself up. She touched the walls and ceilings to redirect herself and cleaned up the splatter. Spotting a bright red box strapped to the wall, she worked her way across the room. With the kit in hand, she bit her bottom lip and her nose scrunched.
It was adorable. Not that he was studying her face, because he was not even looking at her or the way she wore only a brassiere and her hair floated around her like she was a mythological creature of the water, adencadiz. Those stories had fascinated Havik when he was young. The idea of so much water that a person could live in it, breathe it, baffled him. He had yet to see the ocean at that point and he studied the illustrations in his book of fables. Thedencadizwere beautiful creatures but deadly. They sang a sweet melody to lure people into the water. Sometimes thedencadizloved the person and they lived together under the water. Sometimes they feasted on the bones of their victims.
He knew which type she was.
Thalia tucked her knees to her chest and slowly spun until her head pointed toward him. She pushed off the ceiling and drifted down. “Give me a hand,” she said.
“I thought this was your first time in space,” he said, reaching for her outstretched hand.
“Never been off the planet before. Those three years frozen in a tube don’t count.”
“You maneuvered quite skillfully,” he admitted. Color rose to her cheeks, a pleasing pink that brightened her otherwise dull complexion.
She opened the medical kit. Straps held the contents in place. Her focus grew intense as she inspected the contents. One by one, she removed the supplies and read the labels.
“That is unnecessary,” he said. “The wound is no longer bleeding.”
“Still needs to be cleaned or you’ll get an infection.”
Havik should have told her that his superior immune system would eradicate any germs as the Mahdfel did not easily pick up infections, but he selfishly wanted her intense gaze focused on him.
“I don’t suppose you know if this is a cleanser. It’s foam. Normally these things have swabs.” She held up a squat white bottle.
“I have never opened the medical kit. I do not know.”
“Right, right. Super soldiers don’t need no doctoring,” she muttered. “Do it for my peace of mind, please.” Opening the cap, she tested a little of the product in the palm of her hand. “Smells like alcohol. Now, hold this.” She shoved the kit into his hands. Grabbing onto his shoulder, she maneuvered behind him and wrapped her legs around his waist.
His tail reached for her.
