Saved by the Beast (Kindred Tales)

“Look, words aren’t the only way of communicating,” Bard pointed out, remembering the way Makenna had pushed her nipple between his lips and put his hand between her legs while nearly crying with need. “And I tried to give her the translation bacteria pill, but she bit it in two and only ate the first half.”

“She bit it in two?” Olivia exclaimed. “Why in the world would she do that?”

Bard shrugged unhappily

“Hell, I don’t know. I gave it to her after Last Meal—maybe she thought it was dessert. Anyway, it must be bitter inside because afterwards, I couldn’t get her to take the other half. And only having a half dose doesn’t seem to have helped very fucking much.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Dr. Olivia said, frowning. “She needs a full dose to really begin to understand and speak our language fluently.”

“Can you give her a full dose, then?” Bard asked, feeling desperate. “I need to explain to her that we can’t…do what we did last night anymore.” He could feel his face getting hot again, but he needed to make Makenna understand that what they had done was a one-time thing. If he went much further with her, he was afraid he would start wanting to bond her to him and that definitely wasn’t an option.

But Dr. Olivia shook her head.

“I’m afraid not—it wouldn’t be safe to give her another dose at her size. We need to wait a week or so for the first half-dose to work its way out of her system and then we can try again with a full dose.”

“What? A whole week?” Bard demanded. “But I need to be able to talk to her!”

“Well, as you said, words aren’t the only way of communicating,” the human doctor replied, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth. “But for now, let’s find out what this, er, object you say you felt inside her is.”

They both looked at Makenna, who was sitting on the exam table and watching their conversation with wide eyes. She was wearing one of Bard’s uniform shirts, which covered her better than the nightshirt had, though she’d had to roll the sleeves up multiple times. The crimson fabric looked beautiful against her creamy brown skin.

Bard wondered how in the Seven Hells they were going to explain to her that the doctor needed to examine her between her legs. He was afraid it was going to seem like a cruel and invasive procedure and there was no way he could make her understand that they just wanted to help her.

“Hello, Makenna,” Dr. Olivia said, smiling at her in a friendly way.

Makenna smiled back and nodded silently. She seemed unwilling to use her limited vocabulary with anyone but Bard.

“You have something inside you?” Dr. Olivia pointed at the place between the girl’s thighs and raised her eyebrows.

Makenna’s creamy brown cheeks flushed and her eyes flew quickly to Bard.

“Bard angry?” she asked quickly.

“No, no, baby girl,” he assured her quickly. “But it hurts Makenna.” He pointed between her legs too. “Bard not want Makenna hurt.”

This seemed to make her feel better but she still reached out for him, her small hand feeling for his, as though she needed reassurance.

He took it and squeezed gently, feeling how soft and small her fingers were. She was so young and delicate and beautiful, he thought—not for the likes of him. Still, she was his responsibility and he wanted to take care of her.

“Can I take a look?” Dr. Olivia asked, raising her eyebrows and pointing again. “Dr. Olivia look?”

Makenna seemed to understand this because she nodded—reluctantly, Bard thought—and repeated, “Dr. Olivia look.”

“Thank you. Okay, we just need to get you into the right position…”

Dr. Olivia had her lie back on the padded exam table which the human doctor quickly reconfigured so that the bottom half of it split in the middle and turned into stirrups and supports for Makenna’s feet and legs.

Makenna lay back and allowed herself to be put into position with no problem, but when Dr. Olivia started looking between her legs and actually touching her, she stiffened and a look of terror came over her lovely face. She was still holding Bard’s hand and though she made no move to close her legs or get away, her grip on his fingers tightened until it was almost painful.

“Wait a minute,” he said quickly to Dr. Olivia. “She’s upset—this is upsetting her.”

“Poor thing.” The human doctor gave Makenna s sympathetic look. “I’m afraid this is probably bringing back some very bad memories. I imagine that having this object placed inside her was a pretty traumatic experience. But I still need to see it in order to get it out of her. So hold her hand and try to calm her down while I do the exam—okay?”

“Okay,” Bard muttered. He looked down at Makenna. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide. “It’s okay, baby girl,” he tried to reassure her. “Just hold on to me. Dr. Olivia helps Makenna.”