Page 19 of Taming the Alien Outlaw
The command is guttural, but understanding flashes across her face, and she nods. Gently, she curls her arms around me and guides me back in the direction from where we came. Mak walks on my other side and whines softly. I wish I could reassure her,but this is the worst attack of mating fever I’ve had yet. I don’t know how Olivia can bear touching me. My body feels alive with flames.
Murmurs of conversation from the rebels we pass reach me, but I can’t make them out. Instead, I focus entirely on the female holding me and her calming presence.
It takes far too long, but we finally manage to reach my dwelling. I get the door open and the two of us stumble inside, leaving Mak to maintain watch. To my surprise, Olivia redirects our path from the sofa where I’d been heading and leads me into the bedroom. She gently guides me onto the bed.
“Rest for a minute. Let me get a cold cloth.”
Before I can keep her from leaving me, she rushes into the hygiene room and quickly returns with a wet towel. She wipes my brow and my chest, and while it’s soothing, it does nothing to dampen the raging fire.
“Where’s your powder stuff? I’m guessing this is the mating fever you’re all afflicted with?”
I grab her hand and hold her palm tightly against my chest, directly over my heart. Olivia’s touch is the only thing that affects me. “I don’t have any more.”
“What do you mean?” Her voice rises in pitch.
“Shhh. Just be here with me.” My eyes remain closed and I breathe in the scent of her. In and out.
To my relief, she does. The gentle strokes of her other hand through my hair and across my brow are the most soothing sensation. I lose all track of time while I lie here, but with each slowly passing tick, the fever and pain subside. When it finallybecomes manageable, I carefully open my eyes and stare up at Olivia. Concern is etched deeply into the lines on her face.
“You scared the shit out of me. Do you know that?”
I try to smile. “I’m sorry. But know I would never harm you, no matter what state I might be in.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, you asshat. I know you’d never hurt me. I thought you were fucking dying.”
“That would have solved many of your problems, though, I suppose.”
Olivia smacks my shoulder. “Don’t even joke about that, dickhead.”
“Ouch. I’m a wounded male you’re abusing.”
She rolls her eyes, but a small smile curls her lips up. “Stop trying to play the sympathy card. It’s clear you’re feeling better.”
“I am. Thanks to you.”
She props her hip onto the bed next to me, and I realize I have not loosened my hold on her hand that continues lying over my heart. I gently stroke the softness of her flesh. The fact she has not removed it herself does not escape me.
“Why don’t you have any of that drug?” Olivia asks quietly.
“I used what small amount I had left of the nearly non-existent supply we purchased from Alik this morning before you woke.”
Her brow crinkles. “I don’t understand. From everything we’ve been told, the prince makes sure every person on the planet gets enough. Even you guys. It’s pissed Horek off that he’s tried—and failed—to catch the person at the drop-off point each time.”
With my free hand, I brush Olivia’s hair back that has fallen over her shoulder and tuck it behind her ear. “On my honor—what little of it you think I have—I swear, we do not receive what you are being led to believe we are.”
Chapter 9
Olivia
As much as I don’t want to admit it, I believe Janik. I also believe Johnna, Horek, and Alik. Which meanssomeoneis lying. Now it’s a matter of convincing him of the fact, and finding out who that might be. I’m also not sure I want to analyze why I was the only one who could calm Janik’s mating fever attack. Or the fact that I haven’t left his side or made him let go of my hand even though it’s clear the fever has passed.
“Do you go to the drop-off points yourself or do you send someone?”
Janik tilts his head slightly. “On the occasions we are notified a ration is being delivered, I send one of my people.”
I nod. “How rare are these supply drops?”
He pauses like he’s calculating. “Perhaps every six moon cycles. It is what we pay for. But what we are given would only last three if we didn’t make it stretch. Most of the rebels in camp wait untilthey’re on the edge of losing control before they take enough kanet powder to make the murderous rage manageable.”
