Glenn, Stormy and Hagen, Lynn - Pax's Blues [Lady Blue Crew 2] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (8 page)

“Follow me, little bird,” Colt whispered as they moved deeper into the solarium.

Pax nodded, holding his breath as he followed behind his mate. His legs were beginning to cramp in the squatting position, and he wished he could stand straight and stretch them. This only solidified Pax’s resolve to never leave the ship. There was just too much danger in walking off of the retractable ramp. Sooner or later the crew would learn what Pax already knew. Staying on the ship was safer.

Pax cursed his attention span when he found himself fingering another plant. What the hell? He clipped a piece off with his fingernail and shoved it in his shirt. Maybe Gigi could find a way to make it root if they made it back to the ship in one piece.

“Get down!” Colt shouted as he shoved Pax nose-first into the dirt path.

Pax tasted the gritty soil in his mouth and spit it out. Phasers began to blast all around him as Colt shot and then ducked behind the plants. Pax could feel his body shaking convulsively as he tried to keep his head down.

“Colt!” Pax shouted and got to his knees when his mate fell over, the smell of burning flesh stinging his nose.

No!
Colt had been shot. Pax felt the tears cascading down his face as he reached past his unconscious mate and grabbed the phaser, wondering how in the hell to use it.

“There’s a big bounty on your head, mister. Why don’t you come out with your hands raised, and we might not take your lifeless body in. The bounty didn’t say anything about dead or alive,” a menacing voice called from Pax’s left.

Pax swung around, the phaser clutched tightly in his hands as he aimed it toward the voice. His hands were shaking uncontrollably, but Pax was going to do whatever it took to keep Colt safe. He may not deserve the hawk shifter, but Colt wanted him, and that was good enough for Pax.

Pax slammed his eyes shut and shot the phaser when he saw a man step onto his path. Pax fell on his ass. The blast kickback was stronger than he had anticipated.

“You piece of shit!” the man shouted as he fell into a grouping of plants.

Pax was more concerned about the foliage being hurt than the man. Pax quickly got back up, knowing there was a second man to deal with. He squeezed off another round when he saw movement. He breathed a sigh of relief when he missed. It was just Remy.

“Hold your fire,” Remy shouted as he shot his phaser over Pax’s shoulder. Pax heard another scream and assumed it was the other gunman. He didn’t much care. He dropped the phaser and scrambled to Colt when Remy ran toward him.

“He’s been shot,” Pax cried. He was trying to hold it together, trying to be brave for his mate, but it wasn’t working so well when he saw the smoldering wound in Colt’s shoulder. “Help him!”

Remy grabbed Colt’s unconscious form from the ground and lifted him up, running down the dirt path and toward the exit. Pax grabbed the phaser off the ground and tore off after Remy. His heart thundered in his chest the entire way.

Pax had no idea what he would do if Colt died—probably curl up and die himself. He hadn’t had that much time with Colt, but he already knew he didn’t want to live a second more than the sexy hawk shifter. The man was his entire world.

This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. Colt was the good one. He was kind and caring and sexy as hell. Pax was the one that should have been shot, not Colt. Pax got so worked up he was sobbing by the time they reached the Lady Blue.

His entire body was shaking as he followed Remy onto the ship then to the middle deck where the sick bay was located. He hovered near the door when Remy carried Colt inside and laid him down on one of the medical tables.

Pax covered his ears when Remy started shouting. He backed farther and farther into the corner as crewmember after crewmember came running into the room. Pax didn’t have a clue what to do. He’d just be in the way, and he knew it.

Pax almost said something when a strange man came running into the room and hurried over to Colt. Pax even took a step forward, ready to tell the man to stay away from his mate, until he realized the man was a doctor and trying to treat Colt’s wounds.

“Get this fucking ship off the ground!” Remy shouted. “And I want the cargo secured. Now move, damn it!”

Tank flew out of the room along with Crank and Blade. Gigi bounced from foot to foot looking like he was about to pass out. He suddenly darted for the door.

“I’m going to go make something for everyone to eat.”

Pax moved farther into the corner as Gigi ran past him. He knew that Gigi could use his help, but he wasn’t about to leave the sick bay until he knew whether Colt was going to live or die. And if Colt died, there would be no reason to leave. Pax would just curl up next to his dead body and pray that the darkness took him quickly. His heart would never recover from losing Colt.

Pax sank down to the floor and drew his knees up to his chest as he watched the doctor work on his mate. His muscles felt like they were locked in place. His lungs didn’t want to work. Pax could barely breathe as it was, and it was getting harder with each breath.

“Please don’t die,” Pax whispered to himself. “I need you.”

* * * *

Colt groaned. His throat felt like someone was sanding it down, making it gritty and dry. His shoulder was killing him, and his head was pounding out a staccato beat. “Pax.” He croaked the name out from his fuzzy mind.

“Right here, Colt. I’m right here.”

Colt heard his little bird’s voice speaking to him from his right side as his hand was folded into a smaller one. That wasn’t right. His little bird sounded like he was crying. Colt tried desperately to open his eyes, but his head splintered when the bright light shone into them.

“Relax,” a voice Colt didn’t recognize tried to instruct him.

Colt may have felt like he’d been run over by a shuttle, but the knowledge that his mate was in the same room with a stranger penetrated the light haze his mind was swimming in. Colt’s hand shot out, his eyes remaining closed, as he pulled Pax to his side, his arms wrapping tightly around his mate.

“Mine!” he growled as much as his scratchy voice would allow.

“Yes, yours. I am well aware of that since the young man hasn’t left your side for one moment. Now please release him before I have another patient. He’s turning blue.”

“He’s already blue,” Colt growled, even though it hurt his throat to do so. He loosened his grip on Pax but just enough for the man to breathe. Until he could open his eyes, Pax wasn’t going anywhere. And if the stranger tried to force his mate from his side, Colt was going to show the stranger how well a hawk shifter could fight with his eyes closed.

A hand ran down his chest, the feeling making his feathers lie down flat. He was no longer ready to tear the stranger apart, although Colt wasn’t going to totally relax.

“He’s the doctor, Colt. His name is Imlay,” Pax said soothingly. “Don’t eat him.”

As bad as Colt’s body hurt, he began to chuckle. Leave it to his mate to make him laugh with his strange way of thinking. “I won’t, as long as he stays away from you, little bird. Remember, no one gets to touch you.”

“But you,” Pax added with a sigh.

Colt felt his mate’s head rest on his non-wounded shoulder, and Colt finally relaxed. “But me,” he agreed as he ran his hand over his mate’s hair.

“As touching as this is, I really need to take a look to make sure your wound is healed. I’m told you are a hawk shifter, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why you didn’t shift to heal,” Imlay said from somewhere above his head.

“We always revert back to our human form when injured, doc. It’s harder to treat a hawk than it is a human.”

“Then it doesn’t seem to do you much good to be a shifter, now does it?”

“Are you always this cheery, or have you met the crew?” Colt asked as Pax’s fingers traced along his collarbone. The gentle touch made the hawk want to caw. He could feel himself getting hard, and he wanted the doc to vamoose. Colt needed to stake his claim on Pax again, and the doc did not get the privilege of witnessing it.

“You’re in no shape for that, so knock it off.”

Colt growled at the doctor. He blinked several times as he cracked his eyes open and looked up at the man. “Don’t tell me what I can and cannot do with my mate.”

The doctor’s pristine eyebrow arched. “Fine, then bleed to death. No skin off my nose. I’m just a passenger on this hunk of junk.”

Colt heard Pax whimper and turned to look at his little mate. Pax was paler than usual. His eyes were red and puffy as if he had been crying. Colt started crooning as he pulled Pax to his side.

“I’m fine, little bird, nothing that a bit of rest won’t cure.”

“Rest, my ass,” the doctor snorted.

Colt leaned his head up and growled at the man. “Leave.”

Imlay tossed his hands up in the air and spun away. “Dumbass! Don’t come crying to me when you’re dead. I won’t want to hear it then.”

Colt’s head dropped back down to the pillow when he heard the sick bay doors swoosh closed. He turned his head toward Pax and nuzzled into the side of his head, inhaling the sweet scent of his mate.

“Are you okay, little bird? Did you get hurt?” Colt frowned when Pax’s fingers clenched in his shirt. “Pax, answer me.”

“You can’t—” Pax’s words were broken by a small sob. “You can’t leave me.”

“Oh, baby, I’m not leaving you,” Colt whispered quickly. “I’m right here, little bird. I’ll be good as new as soon as I rest.”

“You were shot!”

Colt’s eyebrows shot up at the vehemence he heard in Pax’s tone. He never actually heard Pax shout before. He was intrigued and strangely aroused. It was hot watching his mate get pissed.

When Pax struggled to get away, it was all Colt could do to hold onto the little man. He was strong, but he had been weakened by his injury. Besides, he only had the use of one arm. When Pax continued to struggle, Colt rolled over on top of him, resting his body on his good arm.

“Knock it off.”

Pax pressed his lips together and glanced away.

“Look at me, little bird.” Colt waited patiently for Pax to look at him. He smiled when Pax finally did. “I’m not going anywhere, Paxton. I promise. Fate gave you to me, and I’m not going to do anything that would take you away from me. I love you.”

The blue in Pax’s eyes darkened as his mouth fell open in a shocked look. “You love me?” he gasped. “But, you know what I’ve done, what I’ve been. You know what I am. You said my past was my past but… but, how can you love me knowing what I've done?”

“Because you are you.” Colt couldn’t caress the side of Pax’s face like he wanted to so he leaned down and placed a small peck on his mate’s lips instead. “You make me laugh. You make me enjoy the world in a way I haven’t since I was a small child discovering life. The wonder you see in everything amazes me.”

If anything, Pax’s mouth fell open even more. Colt chuckled at the stunned expression on the man’s face. He loved being able to shock his little mate, but he wished Pax wasn’t quite so shocked that he was loved. Pax should expect it, not be amazed by it.

“You, my beautiful little bird, bring joy to my heart with every breath you take. You—no, no, Pax, no tears.” Colt quickly leaned up and kissed away the tears that started trickling down Pax’s blue cheeks. “No crying, little bird. I never meant to make you cry.”

“But no one has ever loved me before,” Pax murmured.

“Good, then I’m the only one.” Colt grinned when Pax’s eyes widened. “I like being the only love in your life. It makes me feel special.”

“But you are special,” Pax said quickly. “You’re wonderful. You’re so strong and good, and you take such good care of me. My life before was horrible, and you do everything to make it better. I couldn’t ask for a better mate than you, and if anyone thinks you’re not special then they can kiss my ass because—”