Unbondable(Kindred Birthright #1) - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,30

she had on was her new royal blue tharp.

I wonder if I’ll die out here? she thought in a strange, detached way. Or get frostbite everywhere and lose all my fingers and toes?

That certainly wouldn’t be pleasant. She was pretty sure that Yipper, the Tolleg surgeon who lived aboard the Mother Ship, could fit her with new prosthetic fingers and toes that would look extremely real and function perfectly, but it just wouldn’t be the same.

I don’t want to lose any part of me, Kara realized. Not even my fangs.

At the present, she couldn’t tell if her extremities were in danger or not. Since she was already numb from the shot Dr. ThrobGood had given her, it was impossible to say.

Suddenly they jolted to a halt.

“Here we are, baby girl,” she heard Raakshas rasp. Since her face was turned up, Kara could see that they were standing under the belly of a large black ship with red markings. Raak transferred her to one arm only and did something with the other which caused a gangplank to descend from the belly of the ship. He jumped aboard it before it was even finished coming down, his boots clanking on the metal. The move jolted Kara but she was still in no shape to protest. She simply lay limp in his arms as he ran up the plank and into his ship.

What else could she do?

Twelve

The minute they were inside with the door shut tight behind them, Raak carried her to the back of the ship and laid her on a long, low sleeping platform.

“Okay, let’s see the damage,” he muttered and began to examine her.

Kara still couldn’t move but the feeling was beginning to come back to her body slowly. She was able to feel his big hands as he ran them anxiously up and down her arms and legs, paying special attention to her fingers and toes.

She cried out weakly when his touch caused pain and Raak frowned.

“Goddess damn it, I got us here as fast as I could but you’re still in a bad way. We need to get you warmed up, baby girl.”

He left for a moment and Kara heard the sound of water running in the other room. In a moment he came back and lifted her off the bed.

“Wh…where?” she managed to get out.

“Tub,” Raak responded shortly. “Gotta get your core temperature back where it needs to be.”

Kara wanted to protest that she didn’t want him bathing her—the very idea was extremely embarrassing—but there wasn’t much she could do. Though some of the effects of the drug ThrobGood had given her were slowly fading, she still couldn’t move her arms and legs. She did manage to wiggle her toes but she cried out in pain when a sharp stabbing feeling ran through her foot at the motion.

“Easy now,” Raak cautioned her, laying her gently down in a deep tub which was already half full of warm water. “We need to get you heated up but slowly, baby girl. Can’t go too fast or we’ll make things worse than they are.”

At least he didn’t take off her tharp, Kara thought distractedly as the warm water started to lap around her skin. That would have been extremely embarrassing—no man had ever seen her naked before and she wasn’t exactly ready to start now.

The big warrior bent his attention to splashing water over her hands and feet. The warmth of the water sent painful shocks through her fingers and toes but she tried to keep from crying out. Clearly the pain was a good sign—it showed that her extremities were still in working order.

But the water began to rise and the drug in her system meant her head was sinking down as the warm liquid lapped against her cheeks. Kara gave a little cry of fear as she tried in vain to lift her head. Was she going to escape being frozen only to be drowned?

Raak heard her cry and turned quickly, frowning as he saw what was happening.

“Hang on, baby girl—I’ve got you.”

Quickly he slipped into the tub with her, insinuating his muscular bulk behind hers. Kara found herself comfortably supported with her back against his bare chest and his long legs on either side of hers. He had managed to take off his boots, she saw, but he still had on his black flight leathers which were currently getting soaked.

Not that Raak seemed to care.

“It’s okay, Kara,” he murmured, stroking her wet hair out of her face