Saved by the Beast (Kindred Tales)

“Oh, well…” Bard wasn’t quite sure what to say but the little Tolleg seemed very insistent on making sure the healing potion he’d given him to drink would work.

Leaning over Makenna again, he looked into her big, dark eyes.

“Makenna hurt,” he said, brushing his fingertips over the dark bruise—it looked like someone had backhanded her really hard there.

She flinched a little and nodded agreement.

“Yes, hurt,” she said softly.

“I’d like to try and heal you, baby girl,” Bard told her. “Bard heals Makenna,” he added, trying to simplify the idea for her.

She frowned in concentration.

“Bard heals? Makes all better?” she asked hesitantly.

Bard nodded.

“Yeah, baby girl. That’s it exactly!”

She raised her eyebrows in question.

“How?”

“Like this.”

Curling a finger under her chin, he tipped her face up towards his own and leaned down to her. For a moment, all he could see was her lips, as lush and dark as ripe tinga berries. What would it be like to take that sweet mouth with his own?

Shaking off the impulse to kiss her, Bard made himself concentrate on the dark bruise he’d been wanting to heal from the moment he first met the little female and held her in his arms. Gently, he placed a soft kiss on her high cheekbone and then, when she made no move to stop him, began to lick her there.

Her skin tasted like the tears she’d been crying, salty and hot. She gave a little gasp when she felt his tongue on her cheek, but then she seemed to relax and Bard felt her arms creep around his neck as he continued to bathe her cheek gently with his tongue.

“She is probably healed now, yes she is, yes she is.” Yipper’s voice broke into the kind of dream-state he had fallen into. Reluctantly, Bard drew back and saw that the little Tolleg was right—the ugly bruise that had marred her cheek was gone.

Makenna looked up at him, her dark eyes half-lidded and the warm scent of her feminine desire drifted up to his nose. It seemed she had been enjoying the “healing” as much as Bard had. His shaft twitched in his trousers and he felt guilty at the thought.

“Bard stopped?” she asked softly. “Why Bard stopped?”

“Uh…” Bard cleared his throat. “Because you’re all healed now, baby girl, so there was no need to continue. See?”

He reached for the old-fashioned mirror which Yipper was thoughtfully holding out to him and showed Makenna her reflection.

“Oh!” She put a hand to her previously wounded cheek, which was now completely clear. “Bard healed Makenna!” she exclaimed, examining her face from all angles. “Bard healed!” Putting down the mirror, she reached for him and drew him into a tight hug. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for healing Makenna.”

“It was my pleasure, baby girl,” Bard told her. And unfortunately, it had been—his shaft was half-hard in his trousers as proof. He cleared his throat and looked at Yipper. “Well, we’d better get going. Thank you again.”

“Not at all! Not at all! I’m very glad that it works.” Yipper was looking much happier now. “Now you can take good care of her and I know that you will. Yes, you will! Yes, you will!”

Bard nodded.

“I will,” he promised. And as he gathered the little female off the table and cradled her close to his chest, he made himself another promise.

I’m not going to lay another hand on her—Makenna is completely off-limits from now on!

17

Makenna thought she was beginning to understand a little more of the language they spoke here, on the big white ship. She still wasn’t much good at speaking it, but the things that the people around her said were making more and more sense.

She had understood some of what the nice doctor lady had said, though not all of it. At any rate, it had been clear she just wanted to help and in the end, she had—they had actually managed to get the spreader out of her!

Makenna was incredibly grateful for that. Now Bard could help her with her first ripening in the way she needed to be helped. Though, she rather hoped he would wait just a little while, she thought, wincing a bit, because she was awfully sore inside.

Bard had carried her from the place she’d heard him call the “Med Center” back to his living quarters. Then he had made more food for them, which was nice. Makenna wished he would let her do the cooking, though. She enjoyed the tasty dishes he put in front of her, but in her culture, it was a woman’s duty to do domestic chores. If Bard did all the chores himself, what need did he have of her?

I’ll prove to him that I’m worth keeping around, she promised herself. And I’ll give myself to him completely just as soon as I’m not so sore inside.