and wraps his arms around me. "Hold on."
"Pak," I splutter, realizing I've lost the kid somewhere.
"His father has him." U'dron tugs on me, and so does the thing under the water. He frowns, realizing it’s trying to pull me out of his grasp, and reaches under the surface. A moment later, he pulls out the biggest spaghetti-monster creature I've ever seen, its tentacles flailing and twisting, the beak hidden amongst the tendrils dripping with blood.
I don't want to think about whose blood it is. I just want to get out of the water. I cling to U'dron as he tries to fling the thing away, but it just latches onto his arm. With a grunt, he ignores it, holding me tight against him. Our eyes meet briefly, and there's a wealth of emotion in his before he focuses on the water and begins to haul me to the shore.
I tuck myself against him, because he's warm and strong and saving the hell out of me. My big damn alien hero.
"I have you," he murmurs against my hair as he emerges from the water. "I have you, R'ven. You are safe."
"I know," I manage, teeth chattering. "P-P-Pak?"
U'dron moves up the beach, away from the water, and sets me down carefully on the sands. "Wait here." Like I'm going to go anywhere? But he jogs over to his discarded bag and clothes, and to my horror, I notice he has several sea-creatures still clinging to his big body. There's something snakelike wrapped around one leg, and the spaghetti monster is creeping up his shoulder, tendrils sticking to his skin everywhere. There's something with suckers on his back, too, and I let out a little cry of distress at the sight.
He turns, looking at me. "R'ven?"
"You've got…things stuck to you, U'dron."
He relaxes. "Yes. I know. They can wait." He grabs his pack and jogs back to my side, kneeling next to me. He pulls out a knife and cuts away my sodden clothing. "You are too cold," he murmurs. "Your lips are the color of my skin, and I am pretty sure that is not supposed to happen." His tone is gentle but teasing, and I want to giggle but my teeth are chattering too hard. God, he's just the best. Trying to make me smile at a time like this?
Who'd have thought Prince Charming would show up on an ice planet with blue skin and furry forearms?
U'dron cuts off my tunic, and I'm too cold to even care that he pauses for a moment at the sight of my tits. I greedily take the tunic he offers me, letting him help me pull it over my head. He wraps a thick fur around my shoulders, and I want to cry with how warm and good it all feels.
"Your leg is not that bad," he reassures me.
My…leg? I look down at my half-frozen legs and nearly faint at the sight of the blood running down my calf in rivulets. "What the fuck…?"
U'dron grunts and then yanks the spaghetti monster off his shoulder, tossing it to the ground. "They have small claws near their beak they sink into the skin to hold on to their prey."
"Ew," I breathe, watching in fascination as blood glides down his arm, too. Why is that oddly sexy? Is it because it's following along his hewn biceps? Or is the ice just getting to me?
U'dron flings off the other creatures, tossing them onto the sand without a second thought, and then gets back to work on me. He cuts a long strip from my destroyed leathers and wraps it around my leg, tying it tightly. "Is that all right?"
I nod. Truth is, I can barely feel it. "What about you?"
He gives me another little half-smile of teasing again. "I have had worse when I pricked my finger."
"Showoff," I manage to tease back.
He gives me a flash of fanged teeth that have never looked so damn sexy and then helps me to my feet. "I will build you a fire, and then you will warm up. Are you hungry? Thirsty?"
Fire sounds like heaven. "I would love a fire, but they won't let me."
He frowns down at me, and I realize I sound like I'm whining. I've forgotten all about Pak and Dad, and I glance down the beach, looking for them. They're a short distance away, Pak watching us with big, wary eyes as Dad puts his hands on his son's shoulders and gives us an impassive look. He's sporting