Page 81 of Healing Creek
The implication that he and Seneca had worn her out with sex was not lost on Creek. The words and the satisfied grin on Jupiter’s face struck a blow to his heart as powerfully as his fist had struck Creek’s jaw. He missed Grace. He could have been sharing a bed with her every night. If he hadn’t been an idiot.
Another blow landed on his jaw, throwing his head back. “Fuck. Are you actually trying to break my face?”
Jupiter sobered. “Nothing so serious as that, but maybe you should go and get it checked out in the med-bay. If I hit you too hard.” His hands had lowered as frustration fixed across his face. Creek saw his moment and swung a powerful blow toward Jupiter’s jaw. It connected with a loud smack and Jupiter staggered back.
With a roll of his shoulders and a twist of movement, Jupiter shook it off. “Damn, you punch harder these days.”
Since Grace had healed him. “You were right,” Creek mumbled.
“What was that?” Jupiter rubbed the back of his glove against his jaw.
“You heard me. You were right, about Grace. I never should have left her with her family.” Done with sparring—and getting punched in the jaw—Creek clasped the strap of his glove between his teeth and yanked. It loosened and he shook his hand free. “She might be safer, but a warrior does not stay behind when the battle is coming.”
“A warrior?”
“Grace was attacked many times and she survived, and where are her enemies now?” Creek put a fist over his heart. “We’re a pack. We fight together. Defend each other.”
“Kill for each other,” Jupiter finished the thought, the hint of a grin on his lips.
“She was more than strong enough to be an Arena Dog mate. I knew that, but I was blinded by fear.” He’d never had anyone to look out for but himself.
“Sheisstrong enough,” Jupiter corrected. “You speak as if she’s dead.”
“Gods forbid. No, she’s alive and well, but far out of my reach.”
Jupiter tugged at his gloves to loosen them. “And if she wasn’t so far?”
“I don’t even know where they were headed.”
“There are coms for that.”
The two Dogs put their gloves into the cleansing processor so they would be ready for their next use and headed for the gym door.
“And what would I say? Forgive me, I was a fucking idiot?”
Jupiter threw an arm around his shoulder and squeezed. “That might be a good start, but I think it’s missing something important.”
Like, that he loved her. “Missing a lot. Why would she forgive me? I broke my promise to her and left her. I treated her worse than her family treats her. And I left her with them.”
“Mmm,” Jupiter grunted. “My mates and I have discussed this, and Feeona believes there will need to be some getting on your knees…and groveling. Lots of groveling.” Jupiter patted his shoulder as he spoke. “So, what are you going to do?”
Creek humphed then sighed. “I guess I’d better start by explaining to Mercury that I am going to have to leave for a while.”
“I think you should start with getting that jaw looked at. You’ve got a nasty bruise starting and I think your lip is swelling.”
They stepped into the lift together and Creek said, “Bridge level” at the same time Jupiter said, “Level two.”
Creek scowled at his pack brother. “Cancel level two,” he said for the computer. Then to Jupiter, “My damn jaw is fine.”
A few minutes later they stepped onto the bridge in search of Mercury. The Dog stood next to his small mate where she entered calculations into the navigation station. Still agitated and anxious, he approached Mercury with less submission than he thought might be appropriate. “May I speak to you in the command center?”
Mercury spoke without looking up from Samantha’s workstation. “Not right now. We have a problem with the nav charts.” They were headed for the forest planet that Samantha had spoken of often. But Creek didn’t want—couldn’t stand to wait any longer to act on his feelings about Grace.
Surprising him, it was Jupiter who spoke up. “It’s important.”
Mercury stopped and looked up to meet Creek’s gaze. “Is that right?”
“Yes. It’s important to me.”
