Page 80 of Healing Creek
She was on her feet, packing folded clothes into a travel bag. Amid the white and blue of the room she wore matching pants and blouse in sunshine yellow. By the way it clung to her slender form it was clear it had been made expressly for her. He wanted to skim her body with his hands. Hold her slight curves in his palms.
Since she’d told him she’d lost weight on theAbundance, the clothes were something they had made for her in the last forty-eight hours. Her blond hair brushed midway down her back and he realized it had already grown in length in the short time he’d known her.
There was no point hovering in the doorway. He couldn’t avoid this moment. He had to see it through. He strode forward. Her smile when she noticed him could have lit an entire world.
“Creek.” She threw herself into his arms and for a long moment he let her scent envelop him. Let her body imprint its shape on his.
Then he set her down and away. “TheAbundanceis ready to leave.”
“I’m almost ready.” She turned back to her packing. Her smile didn’t dim, but it would. She would not take his decision easily.
He put a hand over hers to still her movements. “You don’t need to do that.”
“What?” She didn’t understand. He would have to say the words. He would have to crush her spirit.
“You’re not coming.” He made it a certainty. Absolute. Unquestionable.
Her eyes flashed with a spark of anger then dimmed to an ember, warm and knowing. “Don’t you even think that. We belong together.” Her hands caressed his chest up and across his shoulders. “I love you.”
Her words were soft and sure, and they cut like a knife in his gut. She loved him. And he loved her. That was the very reason he couldn’t allow her to return to theAbundance.
He wrapped his clawed hands around her forearms and moved away from her tempting grasp. “You belong with your family.”
Her eyes closed then she looked up at him through her lashes. “I belong with you.” Tears rimmed her eyes.
“War is no place for you, Butterfly.”
She shook her head. “So, now I’m weak and not worthy to be your mate.”
“Never that.”
“And if we’re not mates, what gives you the right to decide where my place is?”
He opened his mouth to say…no doubt, something foolish but he was saved when she didn’t wait for his answer. She twisted her arms free of his grasp, scratching herself in the process. Bright crimson beads of blood welled up along the trail of his claws passing.
“I never took you for a coward,” she hissed at him.
His gut knotted so tight, spewing his insides on the floor might be the only thing to bring relief.
She spun on her heel, presenting him with her narrow back. He reached out, longing for one last touch. If he turned her to face him, would her cheeks be wet? Would her eyes be red and puffy? He’d never wanted to hurt her.
His hand hovered in the air then returned to his side.
Every step toward the door and through the ship to the spanner was heavier than the last. When he shook off the weight to go and find some damned thing he ought to be doing, somehow his heart still beat.
Chapter Thirty-Six
TheAbundance
EarthAllianceBetaSector
2210.214
Pain radiated from Creeks left jaw line and lower lip as Jupiter’s gloved fist unerringly found the exact spot it had landed on his previous strike. The same place it had landed the last four out of five times. It was as if the Dog was going for precision rather than taking whatever shot was open. Precision and power. He was hitting hard enough in the same damn spot that eventually he would split Creek’s lip, despite the gloves.
Creek went for a body blow only to have another punch land on his jaw again. “Fuck,” he muttered as he jogged back out of Jupiter’s reach, jaw aching. “You do something to piss Feeona off?”
Jupiter shook his head with a chuckle. “Nope. All’s well in Feeona’s world today. She’s probably still in bed.”
