Page 7 of Craving Stardust

“Thank you.” I could barely host the energy to speak. Blood trickled from my wounds, and my leg throbbed so much I could barely keep hold of my mind.

I was big. It too more effort on her part than I liked, but she eased me out of the vessel and onto a long, bright blue flimsy square of fabric. Then she lifted one end and used it to drag me inside her dwelling. I lay on the fabric, feeling incredibly helpless.

And grateful to this person for her kindness.

My mind kept shooting in all directions, making it difficult to focus. I wanted to do something to help her; I hated being so defenseless. But I couldn’t make my limbs move as they should.

Inside her dwelling, she dragged me through two rooms with strange, silver devices that hummed, not stopping until I lay beside a wooden frame with four posts, covered with a blanket crafted from multicolored patches.

A small black fluffy creature watched us from a high wooden stand, blinking its golden eyes. It peeled back its lips and made a ssssss sound, but it didn’t attack. The fur on its tail and spine bristled and it arched its back, making more ssssss sounds. As long as it remained where it was, I’d ignore it.

Iris lifted me from beneath the arms, a comical thing since I was so much bigger than her. My mate was strong. Resourceful.

No, she couldn’t be my mate.

Yet somehow, she was.

She hauled me up onto a soft surface, falling back with me lying on top of her, her legs splaying around my body.

“Sorry,” she mumbled by my ear. “You’re heavy. I’m not trying to be mean when I say that. You just weigh more than me.”

“I’ll… help.” I’d try. I could barely hold onto consciousness. It kept swimming in and out of focus.

She squirmed out from beneath me and spread my legs wide, stepping between them before grunting and shaking her head. With a sigh, she lifted one of my legs, then the other, bringing them back together. At my side, she grabbed my hips. This time, I pushed off the floor with my good leg, aiding her in getting me up onto the patchwork surface.

Once I lay on it, she stared down at me, nibbling on her lower lip, a plump pink thing so unlike my pale green lips. “I have to cut your clothing off. It’s the only way I can check out your wounds and see what they need.”

“Do… after.”

“You mean after I hide the ship?”

“Yes…”

“But you’re bleeding. Everywhere.”

“Hide ship…first.”

She frowned a moment before sighing. “Alright.” She rushed from the room, returning with a strip of thick cloth. “I’ve got other stuff I’ll use later, but this will immobilize your leg for now. I know you want me to leave you now, but I can’t. Not with your leg like it is. It’s not an open fracture as far as I can tell, but when it breaks, bone bleeds like a…” Her voice lowered. “Yeah, better not to mention stuck pigs. If I can immobilize it, it’ll not only be more comfortable, it might slow the bleeding. I’m no EMT. My faulty medical knowledge comes from TV shows.”

I didn’t know what she meant, but I sensed no threat from her words.

While she ministered to my leg, my eyes rolled around in my head. Agony kept crashing through me, threatening to suck me into the abyss. It was all I could do to remain aware of what she did with my leg.

It hurt. So much.

“Stay with me,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. Her fingers traced across my forehead with a delicate touch, and again, sparks flared across my skin.

“True mate,” I mumbled.

To think I’d found her on this uncharted planet so far from my own.

THREE

Iris

Fear for Lordek gnawed on the back of my throat as I quickly peeled off my red dress and tugged on jeans and a t-shirt. I ditched the heels—forever, probably—and stuffed my feet into sneakers.

After watching him breath for a few moments, wishing I could do more for him than leave him lying in my bed bleeding, I raced through the house.

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