Page 23 of Rescued

“I just want him to feel better.” Lan’ara blinked her stinging eyes and swiped at a tear that had escaped to roll down her cheek. “I want to heal him, Tante—but there’s so much to heal!”

“Slowly,” her mentor counseled her. “Don’t take too much of his burden upon yourself too quickly, my dear. Try to enjoy your Claiming period. Are you going to do the entire month here at the Healing Grotto or go someplace else?”

Lan’ara bit her lip.

“I had thought that maybe we would shorten it a bit,” she admitted. “Nate is very anxious to be allowed aboard the Mother Ship to see his friends and he can’t go until I can promise that he’s at least somewhat healed of his trauma and won’t be a danger to anyone.”

Tante Na’lla frowned, her wrinkled face creasing in disapproval.

“What did I just say? Take things slowly. You shouldn’t rush the Claiming Period, child.”

“I’ll try not to,” Lan’ara promised doubtfully. “It’s just…I want so much to heal him. And I know that seeing his friends again would make him feel so much better.”

“If you’re not careful, your body will begin cannibalizing itself to try and heal your prospective mate,” Tante Na’lla warned. She fixed Lan’ara with a stern look. “Have your breasts grown heavy with Healing Nectar?”

“No,” Lan’ara denied quickly. But she couldn’t help crossing her arms over her chest protectively. Were her breasts fuller than they had been? And were her nipples more tender? Surely not—she must be imagining it, she told herself.

A female Empath of Careesa Prime only began to make the Healing Nectar in extreme circumstances—often when her mate had suffered a debilitating physical injury or had gone through a traumatic emotional loss.

The nectar was a sweet, sticky, amber liquid that distilled a female’s healing Essence into its most concentrated form. It was good for healing almost any ailment—mental, emotional, or physical—but it drained the female who made it—sometimes almost to the point of death.

“No, I’m not making any nectar,” she said again, trying to reassure herself as much as her mentor. “I’m sure everything will be fine. We’ll just have to get to know each other—or Nate will have to get to know me—during our Claiming Period. I already know him—much of him, anyway.”

“Be careful and don’t rush things,” Tante Na’lla lectured. “You need to think of yourself as well, child. Not just your fated mate.”

Lan’ara started to say something…but then she felt an uneasiness coming from the direction of the hut she was sharing with Nate. It wasn’t far from the beach where she and Tante Na’lla were meeting, but she didn’t want him waking up alone and getting upset.

“I have to go,” she told her mentor. Bowing her head formally she said, “Thank you for sharing my burden.”

“Your burden is my burden,” her mentor said, giving back the traditional reply. “But please—be careful, Lan’ara. Don’t let him drain you!”

“I won’t,” Lan’ara promised. Getting up, she brushed the sand from her long white gown and bent down to plant a kiss on her mentor’s winkled cheek. “I love you, Tante. I promise I’ll be careful.”

But how careful could she be when every part of her was crying out to heal her fated mate? Lan’ara just didn’t know…

FIFTEEN

DAVRIK

“I’m very sorry, Sir Davrik, but I am afraid that Sonya is not for sale. She is our resident songbird after all, and her lovely voice and prodigious talent brings in many, many customers who are aurally inclined, if you see what I mean.”

Davrik clenched his fists under the table and tried to remain calm. Just as he had finished signing the ridiculously long contract to join as an Ultra Diamond Plus member of the House of a Thousand Flowers, the Sluggorn manager had finally arrived. The obsequious clerk had introduced them and Davrik had asked for a meeting at once. He was, of course, desperate to go see Sonya, but buying her contract and setting her free had to take precedence.

But now the manager—who looked like a human-sized slug—was telling him that Sonya was not for sale. It was maddening! However, there didn’t seem to be anything he could do about it…for now.

“Then I want to buy time with her,” he said, struggling to keep his voice even and calm. “I want to buy all her time for the next week.” That ought to give him time to get to know the new Sonya and hopefully gain her trust. And he would figure things out after that.

The manager waved his antennae in what Davrik took for a gesture of surprise.

“I see…so you want the Supreme Treatment?”

“Sure, if that’s what you call it.” Davrik shrugged his shoulders. “I just want her all to myself.”

“Let me check the schedule,” the slug-like manager burbled.

He pulled up a holo screen like the one the clerk at the front desk had used to show the various “flowers.” This one was color coordinated and thickly printed with the names of the various flowers and their clients.

“Hmm…yes. Yes, all right.” At last, he nodded, his antennae bobbing with the gesture. “You are in luck, Sir Davrik. You can have all of Sonya’s time for the next week except for two solar hours which have been reserved for another client.”

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