The Lasaran (Aldebarian Alliance #1) - Dianne Duvall Page 0,53

now that they aren’t dosing you. I still think the drug should wear off soon.”

“I hope so.” He brushed her hair back from her face in a tender gesture that made her chest tingle. “Do you need to relieve yourself before we sleep?”

“Yes,” she grumbled.

Lips twitching, he turned toward the edge of the bed and helped her awkwardly gain her feet.

Lisa yanked the lab coat out from under the mattress and wrapped it around her.

“Game spoiler,” he said with a grin.

“Game spoiler?”

“Is that not the correct term for someone who won’t let you engage in an activity you enjoy?”

She thought for a moment, then smiled. “You mean spoilsport.”

He tossed the word back at her. “Spoilsport.”

Laughing, she headed into the bathroom.

Taelon woke slowly. He would never have believed he could find something enjoyable on this primitive planet, but waking up like this was his new favorite thing.

Lisa slumbered on her side, turned away from him, both knees drawn up to the base of her big belly. Taelon was curled up behind her, spooning her as she called it. Both were naked. Her back warmed his chest. Her bottom pressed against his groin where he was already hard. The fronts of his thighs cradled the backs of hers. His left arm formed her pillow. His right arm wrapped around her and held her in a protective embrace he still couldn’t believe she allowed. Sometime in her sleep, she had linked her fingers through his and held their clasped hands to her full breasts.

He allowed himself a moment to enjoy the peace and tranquility holding her brought him, the rightness that suffused him whenever she was close. Then he sighed and reluctantly let the ugly part of his new reality intrude upon his thoughts.

A week had passed, and neither Roland nor the soldiers in black had returned. Taelon’s wounds had not healed. His strength had not returned. And exercising his telepathy still made his nose bleed… unless he was communicating with Lisa. With her it remained inexplicably easy.

He didn’t understand why the drug had not worn off. He had not been dosed in over a week. Could something else be at play? Had the years of torture damaged him permanently? Had his regenerative capabilities been taxed to the point that he had lost them entirely? He had never heard of such. But none of his Lasaran brethren had been tortured on a daily basis for at least two or three solar cycles.

Had those butchers at the base wounded him so greatly—taking their samples and injecting him with toxins—that he would never be whole again?

He buried his face in Lisa’s soft hair. He cared more for his little Earthling every day he spent with her. He had hoped to coax her into coming back to Lasara and bonding with him. But he remained too weak to contact his ship.

And she and the baby needed a strong protector.

As if his daughter knew he was thinking about her, the baby kicked where his arm touched Lisa’s tummy.

Lisa sighed and shifted slightly, pushing deeper into his embrace.

Carrying his baby was taking its toll on her. Exhaustion dogged her constantly despite her attempts to hide it. And the pains she experienced had not lessened during their days together. He had hoped that being away from the stress of the base, that being free and able to rest more and consume nutritious meals would help her. But, like him, she did not exhibit any improvement.

Her belly seemed to grow bigger by the day. He feared the baby would come soon despite her assurances that Earthling pregnancies lasted nine months. Taelon had no knowledge of childbirth and feared what would happen should circumstances compel him to deliver the baby himself. They had no clean, sterile medical facility. They had no tools, no healing serums, no database he could search for information and guidance, no communication technology that would allow him to consult the Sectas. They needed help. And he knew of only one place they might obtain it.

But it posed great risk.

“You’re thinking too hard again,” she murmured, tightening her hold on his hand.

Brushing her hair aside with his nose, he pressed a kiss to her sleep-warmed neck. “Can you hear my thoughts?”

“No. But I know they’re racing.”

Because she knew him. The seven days they had spent together in this dismal motel room had been both torturous and blissful. He was anxious to leave, to ensure Lisa’s safety and well-being, to find his sister, then get them all the drek