The Unexpected Bonding Vow - Michelle Howard Page 0,30

he started to speak, her shoulders inched upward then dropped as if she consciously told herself to relax. She tipped her head to the side and nodded. “Yes. But it won’t arrive until tomorrow. It was the only vessel I could find that met my needs and was affordable enough to get me off Quantoon. For all the shuttles, the passenger lists gets reported to Maurin if a boarder is deemed suspicious.”

She held her hands out to her sides. “I don’t have any luggage or traveling necessities, so I’ll definitely look suspicious. Then there’s you.”

Then there was him, wearing his torn shirt and blood stained clothing. As if reading his mind, she scurried to the small nook in the corner. Garik tensed, his hands flexing while he ran through what she could find or use against him.

“I have these, though.” She held up a bundle of clothing from a satchel.

Garik drew closer and accepted what turned out to be a pair of men’s pants and a shirt. He eyed the clothing then her as suspicion reared its ugly head again.

Saedra folded her arms about her waist once more and did the side to side rock. “So, I was thinking, if I got you this far, you might need those.”

How long had she been planning this? Was she truly involved with Maurin in his abduction? Why else would she have clothes? “Was there someone else you were going to escape with?”

And didn’t that give him a surge of jealousy.

A quick shake of her dark head. “No, I added those to my request once I realized you were the prisoner two weeks ago.”

Two weeks of intense well thought out planning. Garik’s fingers clenched on the clothing but she rushed to say, “At first I was going to try and do this on my own. I didn’t know how that was going to work but I...I couldn’t stay. Then I heard your name whispered by the guards. Suddenly I had hope. Believed that I could make a success of my escape.”

She dropped her arms, her brown eyes pleading as she closed the distance between them. Her fingers tentatively drifted over his right forearm and Garik forced himself not to move away from the caress. It was gentle, like the woman herself. Soft strokes glided over his battered bruises.

That didn’t stop him from chiding her. “Your actions were foolish, sesi. For now, I accept you are being partially honest. Your motivation is still in question and there’s something you’re not telling me. I’ll figure it out.”

She flushed and her grip tightened around him. Garik winced as her nails pierced his skin to dig into a tender bruise.

“Sorry, sorry.” She yanked her hand back and stared at his arm as if she could heal the half-moon crescents.

“I’m going to clean off more of the grime and put these on.” He raised the clothes in the air, drawing her attention. “Not much room in here so turn the other way if you don’t want to see something.”

He deliberately added a taunting tone to his words and had the pleasure of watching her flush spread up her neck to her face. To his surprise, she didn’t turn away. Garik shrugged. He wasn’t shy about his body and definitely wouldn’t be shy about it in front of his bond mate. The intimate position he’d found himself in while they shared the bed was only another sign the bond was doing what it was supposed to do. He just needed to get used to this unusual feeling of caring about someone.

Flicking open the groin flap of his pants was met with silence. Jerking them down his legs, received a shocked gasp. When Garik straightened, Saedra let out a squeak. He looked up after stepping out of them and her face was bright red, her eyes rounded in shock.

“You good?” he asked, though amusement quivered in his chest.

She nodded.

Since he didn’t wear anything beneath his pants, his cock stretched out, tapping his thigh when he moved. Her gaze lowered and her stare felt like a caress. Biting off a moan, Garik crossed the room to the water unit resting on the counter that doubled as a table. When he turned it on, a clear trickle came out of the curved silver faucet, hitting the recycling tray at the bottom before draining. After a few moments, the trickle became a steady stream of lukewarm water.

Garik glanced around for a cloth to use but ended up grabbing his torn shirt to dampen.