Last Call (Stranded in the Stars Book 1) (19 page)

He grabbed the numbing agent and slathered it over her broken ankle as well as the areas around where the creature had torn her open. Jack disinfected each cut and tear before stitching her closed, he had to repeat the process for her arm.

When he was done cleaning her up and fortifying her wounds, he sat back and took in her injuries, moving himself back to her very swollen ankle. He lifted it carefully between his hands with the intent of locating her break. He gently probed her skin with his fingers until they were in position.

Jack knew that she was sleeping and that the painkillers were keeping her that way but he also knew that she was going to feel it, if not tonight, tomorrow morning. He hoped he had given her long enough to fall under.

He watched her face as he snapped her leg, realigning her bone using his strength to traction her skin. A short pop and the fractured tibia was back in place. Her body spasmed as a pained moan escaped her lips. Jack felt like praying to the stars at that moment because she hadn’t woken up from the pain.

I don’t want to cause her anymore pain, she has already gone through too much.

There was nothing to be done for her bruises or the blood loss this night, tomorrow he would make sure she ate and rehydrated. He moved away from her still form to tend the fire while he refueled himself, giving his body the extra nourishment to enhance his effectiveness at replacing his bots.

When he was finished eating he threw the wrapper of his protein ration into the flame and addressed his carnage covered armor, picking the pieces up with disgust and appreciation. Blood soaked through portions of the material and it angered him that it belonged to Allie.

He should have known better than to completely shut down when he was working on the reactor.
Everything happened so quickly and my sensors were being scrambled
, he knew his excuses fell flat and that he had failed in more ways than one today.

Jack picked up the offending pieces and walked outside their small camp to discard them, feeding them to the hungry wildness of the planet. When he was satisfied that his failures were buried deep he made his way back to the fire and laid himself down next to Allie, tucking her blanket over both their bodies. He curled his body around hers protectively.

“I will make it up to you.” He whispered into the golden gloom.

Now that they were a significant distance from the crash site it was easier for him to monitor their whereabouts with clarity. There was nothing that could damage them for miles in every direction and the only sound in the darkening night was the snap of the fire and Allie’s soft breath.

He buried his face in her wild hair and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Fourteen:

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A
llie woke the next morning to the sound of scraping. She pried her eyes open, her eyelashes crusty from tears, and spotted Jack running a stone over the edge of his dagger. Small silvery sand came away.

She felt hot and weak and it took her a fair amount of effort to move her arm up to prop her torso and head high enough to look down at body.

“You need to eat.” Jack stepped back into view, his voice noted a hint of anger as he approached her with a ration of food and a canister.
Eat?
She looked at her foot and felt a wave of nausea pulsate through her. Her weakened state forgotten, she turned to the side and heaved.

Nothing came up but the sounds of hacking. She felt a tug on her hair as it was pulled back from her face.

“You’re dehydrated, malnourished, suffering from blood loss, and are coming down from some powerful painkillers.” She could feel his steely arm wrap around her back and lift her to a sitting position. Her vision was doing flips, the area around her spinning. It made her want to dry heave again.

His hand cradled her spinning head as a water canister was pushed against her mouth, he tipped it up until she felt liquid touch her tongue. The water soon filled her mouth and streamed down the sides of her chin. The lukewarm liquid slid down her dry throat until it pooled at the bottom of her stomach.
      

It had never tasted so heavenly.

“Good.” He poured the entire bottle down before tossing it aside while she lifted her hand and wiped the stray drops off her chin.

“Jack?” She peered at him, her sight continued to spin but was now caught in a cobweb, dragging it along for the ride as she willed her head to be clear of it.

He answered her by pushing a ration between her lips, practically shoving it in her mouth before her reflexes took over and she bit down to stop it from be rammed down her throat. Annoyed, she chewed slowly, feeling her lost energy begin to return. It was only after she worked her way through the bar that she realized that she was still naked. That her only covering was currently pooled in her lap.

She looked around for her clothing but found nothing.
Why does this keep happening to me?
It was becoming much to hot to be wrapped up in a blanket. Feeling herself weaken from the effort of even thinking about it, she lifted the cloth over her breasts.

“You’re well on your way to being healed.” He said flatly, sitting back and putting space between them.

She stretched her limbs and shifted her form just enough to get a feel of what she would be dealing with, she felt sore all over but none of the sharp pain from yesterday.
Was it yesterday?
The sun was out.

“How long have I been asleep?” Her voice felt weak.

“A little over a day. We left the ship twenty-six Earth hours ago,” he answered. “Don’t move your arm or your leg sharply or you’ll tear the stitches.”

Allie tensed her muscles in each area, feeling the toughness of her stitches and the tightness of her skin. She looked at them, barely even seeing the sutures, her skin looked perfectly aligned but for a glossy white line. The main indicator that she was sewn up was the rosy pink of her flesh around the affected areas.

Her eye caught the large bruises that blotched her ankle and lower leg, her foot unrecognizable from the swelling. She reached forward to run her fingers over the delicate skin.

“I realigned your broken bone while you were asleep last night.”

“Thank you. It feels sore but not painful.” She focused on her knees next, acknowledging that he had removed all the glass from her skin. There was nothing left but patches of pale white flesh. New scars to add to her collection.

“You’re welcome.” He snapped at her, bringing her focus back to him.

“Is something wrong?”

Once again he didn’t answer her, choosing instead to move to her feet. He coated his hands with the medicinal salve and spread it over her legs. She watched as his large hands cupped her calves, lifted her legs and massaged every square inch of her skin. The tips of his fingers traced the small, shallow slashes that peppered her from toe to knee.

Her breath hitched when he pushed her legs apart, drawing the small blanket upward to bunch at her waist. The entire lower half of her body was exposed to his view. She could feel a heat spread like wildfire through her body.

“I wish you had a cut further up so I didn’t have to feel like such an asshole for wanting to touch you.” The pads of his fingers ran little circles behind her knees.

She felt so fuzzy, so warm, so weak. Her existence could melt into the ground just from his words. Her body ached in more ways than one and was soft and pliant and receptive to his attention.

There was something dark and powerful about him when he was dressed in his sharp armor. The crossing of buckles that stretched over his straining muscles, the stiff mesh undertone to his metal plating, and the grey unbreakable, unrippable under armor. Except now, large portions of his armor were missing, his chest bare under many of the straps.

Her breath felt strangled as she was unable to suck in air from how much she wanted him. He exuded confidence, control, and yet felt like a violent warning.

It entranced and frightened her when he would appear like a human male one moment then be a robot the next. He transitioned back and forth in a blink of an eye; when she knew he was focused solely on her and yet aware of everything happening around them. Jack and safety were becoming one and the same. He had given her the push, the opportunity to face her demons and then he saved her soul.

He saved it and then took it for himself. She wanted to be one of the many swimming in his stormy eyes. She wanted to be the only one.

When she lowered her body to lie back down onto the folded blanket, he moved his fingers up past her knees. Goosebumps prickled her skin and her existence was defined by them and his fingers.

Jack was staring between her legs with furious intensity. His fingers became his hands and they became restraints. The cords in his neck stiffened as she stared back at him, his jaw ticked. Her goosebumps faded and warm waves of embarrassment took its place the longer he held her in place and stared at her. She shifted to push the blanket down.

He caught her hands and lifted his gaze, locking eye contact with her. “Why did you leave me?” His voice was laced with menace.

Allie took a shaky breath as she tried to pull her hands free from his grip. She closed her eyes to break the intensity and the cobwebs that still remained.

“I heard my friend and I saw something. I thought it was her and I needed to face her.” She said softly, wishing she could just forget the events of yesterday.

“You could have said something, warned me.”

“I thought about it, at a time or two, I wanted to; to go back to you that is but the despair in its voice.” She shivered, “She saved my life and I left her there on that evil ship to rot. They were all rotting and there was nothing I could do.” A tear fell from her eye to slide off and land somewhere in her tangled hair. “I took the light and your dagger with me.”

“You could have been killed. I told you– from the first day– that I don’t do search and rescue and you nearly died.” He let go of her hands abruptly and threw the blanket off her. “Look at your body, you had half a hundred cuts, you’re covered in bruises, you’ve been bitten through muscle tissue, you have a broken tibia, and that is probably nothing compared to your mental state.”

Allie pushed herself back up, angry at his words. “I’m alive. I’m healing, both because of you. I did not expect either from you, I know you don’t do search and rescue, I’m not one to easily forget. I left you of my own volition and I don’t regret it.” She was gaining energy from her anger.

“Why don’t you regret it?” He asked, his voice low as he reached out to take a lock of her hair between his fingers.

“She wasn’t there.” Allie looked down at her hands.

“Your friend?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “I know now, I never left her.”

“How are you so certain?” The tug on her hair made her scalp tingle.

“I never felt her presence at least not the real her. It’s hard to explain, I don’t think you would believe me even if I tried.”

“I believe there was something wrong with that ship. I believe you that she wasn’t there. The ship was, how should I say this, wrong? I’m also having a tough time with explanations today.”

“You believe me?” She wrapped her hand around the one tugging her hair.

“What happened may be unexplainable but yes, I believe you.”

Allie felt a sense of relief overcome her, she wasn’t crazy. “Thank you, Jack, I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I thought I was crazy. I thought I had finally cracked.”

The corner of his lip lifted up in a smile. “If you’re cracked that makes you all the more perfect.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. The kiss so light it could have been made of steam and whispers. She felt herself crack a little more when he drew away.

“You need to rest more. The energy your body needs to heal will deplete faster if you remain awake.” His hands moved over her shoulders and lightly pushed her back down. Her body once again lying across the blankets.

“You’ll be here when I wake up?” A wave of soul deep exhaustion settled in her bones. Her eyes, once easy to keep open when sitting up now felt like they were holding the weight of the world. Even if he told her he was leaving she didn’t think she could muster enough strength to stop him.

“I’ll be here. You won't be able to walk by yourself for some time until your foot has had time to mend. The swelling hasn’t gone down but it will once we’re back at my ship and we can ice it.” Jack tucked the blanket comfortably back around her. The heat from earlier was now only a minor nuisance now that she was exhausted and reassured.

“I can stay here and heal if you want to go back to your ship. I still have my rations, I would just need some water. Once my foot is good enough to stand on I can meet you back at your ship in a few days.”

His eyes flared. “You’re not alone anymore, Allie, I may still seem like a stranger to you but by now I would have hoped you knew me better, after everything.”

“That’s–” He cut her off before she could respond.

“Tomorrow I’ll carry you back. We’ll be at our destination by nightfall. There is nothing you can do about it, I’ll overpower you in any attempt at deviating from my plans. There is no place you can hide from me.” She watched his face go from angry to threatening.

“I didn’t mean–”

“I don’t give a fuck what you meant. Go to sleep.” He walked out of the cave.

***
      

Allie was going to faint. She had woken the next morning by being lifted off the ground and cradled in Jack’s arms.

They had barely spoken all day only stopping at short intervals so she could relieve herself and eat and drink. The tension from the evening before still sharp.

She tried to keep her eyes closed all day as the speed he was moving was making her dizzy. Each jostle of every step he took resounded through her body. Allie knew he was angry but she didn’t know how to fix it. All she wanted was this ordeal to be over with. She needed time to think, to be alone, and to regain some measure of control of her situation.

It was just after nightfall when they approached the surrounding terrain of her cave. The familiar landmarks beckoned like beacons of home as her ache morphed into muddy relief. She could relax once she was in her own space, the thought of sinking into her spring and wiggling her toes to the glowing blue entities beneath could be a dream come true.