The Bond That Heals Us (15 page)

Walking over to her, he bent and slid his arms under her head and knees. She barely weighed anything as he lifted her up and into his arms. When she sighed and draped her arm around his neck, Davin’s heart did a small flip. No, he couldn’t afford 89

to get attached to her, couldn’t afford to fall in love, no matter how much she was starting to affect him. Not if he wanted any chance of saving her.

“We need to get her back to med bay now. I can’t help her here.”

The other men stopped talking and all looked at him.

“What makes you think you can help her at all?” Taber’s question was clipped.

“Your first attempts weren’t successful.”

Davin stood there and glared at the other man. The Briel warrior didn’t look away, his cold, blue eyes transmitting silent threats. Not that it mattered to Davin. If anything happened to Sara, he’d punish himself enough for both of them.

The tension was broken when Kamran stepped between them, his steady, calm gaze traveling between the two warriors.

“He’s a healer. I thought I recognized those markings.” Kamran nodded. “Other than Sara herself, I doubt there is a better physician in the quadrant at the moment. That is, as long as you feel up to this?”

“I have to try.” And next time he wouldn’t stop until he’d succeeded.

Kamran nodded. “Let’s move quickly and get her back. Haylie is already off to let med bay know. They’ll be ready for you when you arrive.”

Davin nodded and made his way to the door. He paused, waiting for Taber to move aside, allowing him passage. Their gazes locked for a moment as they came to a silent understanding—Sara wouldn’t die. Taber finally nodded and stepped back and to the side, opening passage. As Davin walked out of the small shed, many of the miners were standing around, each staring at Sara in his arms before looking down at the ground.

Davin couldn’t help it—he walked slowly past them, giving each man a chance to wish her well, and prayed she heard each and every one of them.

“See that, wild one?” he whispered. “Everyone wants you to get better. Don’t let them down.”

Kamran, who’d come out with him, stopped to talk with several of the miners as Davin carried Sara out.

“Medical staff are on their way and shifts are to be cut starting now.” Kamran’s voice drifted over the group. “My lack of knowledge of what was going on here isn’t an excuse. I will do what I can to make things right.”

A smattering of applause went through the crowd behind them as Sean fell into step with Davin. Together they navigated her limp body through the narrow tunnels, careful not injure Sara further. After what seemed like an eternity, they reached the doors to the rover bay. The guards who’d been there earlier came over to help, bringing two EV suits with them. The look on their faces was nothing short of painful.

“We’ll get the crawler ready for you,” one of them said.

Davin nodded as he squatted on the ground, careful to keep Sara’s body held high as he fumbled with the suit, not wanting any part of her body to touch the red dirt.

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“I’ll help you get her suited up. Then take the crawler and get her back to the station,” Sean said as he grabbed the EV helmet.

“You’re not coming?” Somehow, Davin had grown to like the man over the past few days. He felt a little more secure with him at his side. It had helped that Sean’s inner guilt seemed to have lessened as he worked to make things right in the mines.

Sean smiled faintly but shook his head. “Kamran asked me to stay and coordinate things here. Seems I’m useful again.” The faint trace of bitterness undercut his sincerity.

Davin stopped and squeezed Sean’s shoulder. “I don’t think there was ever a question of your usefulness. Everyone respects you.”

“We’ll see.”

The two men worked to get Sara suited up and into the crawler, careful not to jostle her too much. The seat strap held her in place, but Davin knew it would be a hard ride on her body. Before climbing into the seat beside her, he gripped Sean’s forearm below his elbow, saying goodbye as he would to a fellow warrior. Davin pulled his EV helmet on and signaled for the chamber to be decompressed and the doors opened as soon as Sean was clear. As the large metal doors creaked open, Davin gripped the controls tightly, his foot hovering expectantly over the throttle. Sara didn’t have time to wait.

Before they were fully open, he slammed the crawler forward and scraped through the still-rising door.

The ride over the sand dunes was rough as he pushed the crawler full throttle. The wind had picked up, beating against them and blowing clouds of dust up into his EV

mask. Davin kept one hand on the controls with the other across Sara’s chest. Whether it was because he’d managed to slow the parasite’s progress or that simply moving her around managed to settle her nerves, Sara wasn’t as restless. If she could stay that way for the remainder of the journey there, it would be a blessing.

They crested one of the larger dunes, bringing the colony into site. Davin felt relief rush through him just as his communicator chirped in his ear.

“Captain Jagt, come in. This is Chief Bond.”

“I’m about fifteen
mics
from the station. You have that medical team ready?”

“They’ll grab her the second that chamber decompresses. They wanted me to ask you if she’s stable.”

“Yes. Tell them it’s some sort of parasite. I can track it down better once I get her to med bay.”

There was a brief pause and he could hear the muffled voices chattering in the background. “Problem?”

“Nothing I can’t straighten out for you. Just get her back here in one piece.”

He smiled and snuck a look at Sara’s unconscious form. Somehow he wasn’t surprised she had such loyal friends.

“We’ll be there shortly. Thanks…Haylie.”

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“You’re welcome, Captain. Oh,” her chuckle crackled through the com. “Kamran says don’t even try flirting with me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I don’t have a death wish.”

The silence that followed the soft click of the com turning off was soon replaced by a moan from Sara.

“Wild one? Its okay, I’m getting you some help. Hang on.”

“Davin?” her weak voice was barely a whisper.

He gave her arm a hard squeeze through the EV suite. “Hold on.”

“Not feeling good,” she muttered and tried to roll over toward him.

His heart began to pound as he tried to fight a powerful blast of wind and sand against the crawler and hold her in place. “Sara, listen to me. Lie still. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Cold.”

“Haylie will have a nice warm blanket waiting for you. Just stay still a little bit longer. Can you do that for me?”

“Okay.”

Davin slammed his foot against the accelerator again and pushed the already speeding crawler even harder. When the open door of the station crawler bay was finally within sight, he felt a sudden release of built-up fear. Help was there.

The door and decompression took longer than he was able to wait. Hopping out, he lifted Sara into his arms and carried her across the bay to the closed inner door. He could see through the window Haylie waiting with a team of medics. Some of them wore EV suits, and all were weighted down with several med kits.

The hiss of the seal cracking as the door opened was the best sound in the world.

Davin walked up to Haylie and bent his head down.

“Get this fucking thing off me.”

Haylie pressed the clamps with a pop and yanked it off. “The stretcher is over here.

They’ll get her strapped in and we can—”

“No time, I’ll carry her.”

He looked into Haylie’s hazel eyes and saw the concern he felt reflected in her eyes.

She gave him a good long look before passing some silent judgment on him. Haylie nodded, “I’ll escort you in case I need to yell at someone.”

“Don’t…”

They both looked down at Sara, who had her eyes open a tiny bit. She was looking at Haylie as she tried to lick her lips. The EV helmet made her soft voice seem hollow and distant. With a limp hand, she motioned toward Haylie’s stomach.

“We’re taking you to med bay now.” He pulled her as close to his chest as their suits allowed.

“Don’t upset the baby,” she muttered as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

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“Shut up, you, and get better. Or who will be there to keep me in line?”

Sara mumbled something else, which quickly turned into a moan

“Let’s go.” Haylie spun and pushed past another group of medics who were on their way to the mines.

The station was as bright and cheerful as it had been when he’d first arrived. The bazaar was loud as humans and other species shouted, talked and laughed as they conducted business. Under different circumstances Davin would have joined them, bought a drink and tried to broker a deal. One that would take him far away for a long time. He clutched Sara a little tighter to his chest as they pushed through the crowds, Haylie clearing a path for them as they went.

When they passed the corridor that led to the bars, images of their one date filled his mind. Their ground-moving kiss in the hall that led Davin to her bed, still fresh as ever. He needed her back and was going to do whatever it took to fix her.

The sterile air in med bay sent a rush through his body as he marched Sara through one of the doors Haylie held open and over to an isolation bed. Rachael was at her side as she and Haylie began to work off the EV suit. Davin made short work of his own, tossing it into a corner behind him. His feet had been bare in the suit’s boots and now as he kicked off his boots and stepped onto the med bay floor, his skin seemed to absorb the cold, sending a chill through his body.

Rachael tried to shove him out of the way as she moved around the table. “Thanks for helping, but we’ve got her now. One of the Briel doctors is on his way.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said in a voice that felt foreign to him. Looking at Haylie, he tried to keep all uncertainty from his voice. “I’ll need something to sit on if I’m going to do this properly.”

“The only thing you are going to be doing is taking a seat out in the waiting room.

Now move!” Rachael gave him a light shove.

“Please get him a stool.” Haylie’s voice was steady, a voice in command.

Rachael gaped, her gaze passing between Haylie and Davin. “You can’t be serious.

He’s not a doctor.”

“Actually he is and he’s here. The other doctors aren’t. Now please, Rache, get him something to sit on so we can save our girl.”

For one tense moment, Davin didn’t think she was going to help. Finally, Rachael let out a long sigh, nodded and disappeared behind a curtain.

“Do you need anything else?” Haylie asked, one hand resting on Sara’s shoulder, the other on her stomach.

He brushed a piece of hair from Sara’s cheek. “Make sure no one touches us. Not until I find this thing in her system. I’ll have to concentrate to find the little fucker and it will take a while. “

“How long?”

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Davin looked into her hazel gaze and held it until he knew she knew how serious this was. “Long.”

Haylie swallowed hard and nodded. “Then get your ass to work.”

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Sara hurt. Not a shallow ache or a cramp, but a severe pain that pulsed through her in waves. She was getting buried by it, losing her identity with each successive wash of discomfort. The small reprieve between waves was getting shorter and shorter in duration. Soon she wouldn’t be able to keep her head above the surface any longer and she’d sink. And she didn’t want to sink, wasn’t ready to give up and die. God, she’d just begun to live her life! It wasn’t fair.

The pain rolled over her again, sucking the air from her lungs. She wanted to scream but knew she couldn’t afford that luxury. She had to fight. Keep ahead of it, refuse to give in.

When the next reprieve came, something strange happened. She felt something, a presence that hadn’t been there before. She looked around in the dark, trying to see something, anything, that would offer her hope. But the next wave of pain came instead. This time she felt her head dip below the surface and she almost let it take her.

But she felt the pull of that presence again, encouraging her to kick to the surface.

This time when she looked around, she was surprised to see a light. It was faint at first, so much so she wanted to discount it as a trick, something her mind was conjuring up to offer her broken body hope. But soon she realized it wasn’t a trick. It grew stronger, chasing the blackness away and making it easier to breathe.

It took some time, but she finally felt she could control the pain. A soft buzzing in her mind told her she was going to be okay, that she had to help it fight. She didn’t know what she was combating, but she trusted that voice. So she fought for all she was worth.

When the light was finished healing her, Sara finally felt at peace. The hurt was gone, replaced with a soft ache she knew meant she was on the mend.

Thank you
, she whispered in her mind. She swore she felt a soft caress on her face like a hand. The touch of the fingers was replaced by a gentle kiss.

Sleep, Sara.

And she did.

* * * * *

The first thing Sara realized when she opened her eyes was that it was very dark.

The soft beeping of the heart rate monitor threatened to lull her back to sleep. It wasn’t until her brain caught onto the reality of what she was hearing that she started to pay attention. The patient’s heart rate was a bit slow but stable. Probably indicating they were coming out of surgery.

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What she couldn’t remember was performing the operation. Frowning, she tried to recall anything from the past few days, but every time she thought she had figured it out, the memory slipped away. Her stomach growled, which encouraged Sara to flip over to her side and draw her knees up to her chest. A dull ached pulled at the muscles in her back, and for the first time in her life, Sara was tempted to administer herself some pain meds.

Why the hell was she sore anyway?

The blinding realization hit her like a blow to the head, sending Sara bolt upright in bed. She’d been sick, stuck at the mines. Her hands went to her temples and began to massage the skin, hoping the massive headache that pounded beneath would stop.

What the hell had happened to her? One minute she had been flirting with Davin and the next thing she knew, pain was pounding her into submission.

Davin…

Sara looked around the room. She was definitely back at the station and in med bay.

The isolation room by the look of the equipment. God only knew how long she’d been out of it. Had she infected anyone else? Was that why she was here?

“Computer, time and date?” Her voice was barely a hoarse whisper.

“Twenty-three hundred hours, six minutes. Eighth day, second month, 2328.”

“About time you woke up,” a gruff voice spoke softly.

Sara leaned over and pulled the curtain that hid her bed from the rest of the room.

She gasped when she saw Davin slouched in a chair tucked in the far corner of the room. He had well over a day’s worth of growth of beard and she couldn’t help but think how sexy it made him look. He was wearing a dark blue shirt that could barely contain his massive biceps and was pulled tight over his chest. His shoulder-length brown hair was a mess, as if he’d been running his hands through it over and over.

He was the most beautiful sight she’d ever laid eyes on.

“Hi.” She choked on the word.

Davin didn’t move, his gold eyes locked on her body. Sara felt pinned in place, naked under his gaze. He looked her over clinically at first, passing over her in long sweeps. But after a few minutes, his gaze slowed and locked on her neck, her breasts and the swell of her calf that poked out from under the hospital gown.

Sara felt her face flush and did her best not to squirm. She reached up and touched her hair, finding several knots in her long strands.

“I must look terrible,” she chuckled, not quite able to meet his gaze.

“You’re perfect.”

He said the words with such intensity, such absolute sincerity, Sara didn’t know how to respond. This wasn’t the Davin she’d met last week, was it? He’d been all smiles and jokes then. He’d played and teased as he kissed her, as they made love with the passion of a rocket blasting off. She’d felt light and happy when she was with him, relaxed for the first time in a very long while.

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Looking at him now, she could tell things were different. That somehow, he’d changed in the time she’d been sick. Sara shifted her body so her feet now hung over the side of the bed. Her legs felt stiff and more than a little underused, but that wasn’t about to stop her from doing what she wanted to do. With slow, deliberate movements, she eased herself off the bed until she was standing shakily on the floor. It took her a few minutes to steady herself enough that she felt able to attempt to walk.

Davin didn’t move but she knew he was holding his breath. Not wanting to look into his beautiful golden eyes, Sara concentrated all her attention on the floor in front of her. It really was a short distance, but when she could barely lift her foot off the floor to take a step, she knew it would be a painful journey. One foot after the other, she made her way to the halfway point between the bed and his chair. Really, with only a few more steps his outstretched legs would come into her field of vision. As long as she ignored the shooting pains in her legs and lower back, she could do this.

Suddenly, her bare foot refused to cooperate and she stumbled forward. Sara’s arms whirled madly around as she tried in vain to catch her balance before toppling forward.

She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to block out the imminent pain of impacting with the floor. It never came.

Large, strong arms were around her back and waist, catching her in mid fall. The air in her lungs rushed out as her body impacted the solid muscle wall of Davin’s chest.

Sara couldn’t stop the trembling that shimmered through her. His wonderful masculine scent wrapped around her like a blanket, chasing away the rest of her fears. Sara breathed in deep, enjoying the soft buzz that filled her head.

“Open your eyes.” His words were soft, heavy in the silence of the room.

How could she resist him? Sara opened them, but didn’t meet his eyes. Instead, she did her own inspection of his body. Her fingers followed her gaze as she took in his every detail. The muscles in his neck were tight, corded as if they’d been strained from overuse. She touched the base of his throat when he swallowed hard. His skin was warm under her cool fingers and she absorbed his heat. When he swallowed again and his grip tightened around her waist, she felt a sudden rush of fear.

“Am I okay?” She couldn’t look at him, instead focused on how his pecs pushed up against his shirt.

“You will be. We got the parasite out of your system.”

This time she looked up into his eyes. “We?”

Davin scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to the bed. He set her down gently and pulled her blanket up to cover her legs. She thought he was about to return to his chair when he climbed up and joined her. She was able to move just enough for them both to fit. He rested his head so it lay on her stomach, her breasts brushing against him.

“Davin?”

“Close your eyes and try to rest. We’ll talk later.”

“How long was I out?”

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“Rest.”

“Davin…”

“You are the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met,” he growled against her.

Her heart began to pound and the increased rhythm was picked up by the computer. Something was wrong and he was keeping it from her. Probably didn’t want her to worry and was trying to shelter her from the bad news. Anxiety clawed at her chest, making it hard to breathe.

She was about to argue with him, demand the truth when he slipped his hand around hers and began to stroke the inside of her wrist with his thumb. That simple action took all of the fight from her. Her heart rate dropped back to normal, the pressure in her lungs eased and she suddenly felt very tired.

“What did you do to me?” Her voice was soft and sleep filled as she spoke.

“I couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to you. So many people here need you. Care for you.”

“I don’t understand.”

She wanted to focus on him, what he was saying, but his steady caress of her wrist was making it impossible.

“You’re perfectly healthy, wild one. You’ll be fine in a day or two.”

“Then why are you so sad?”

He didn’t answer her before she drifted off to sleep.

When her mind stumbled back to consciousness, Sara was afraid to move. Scared that Davin would have left her alone, not wanting to disturb her. But when she tried to move her arm, she couldn’t. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see his long, hard body still resting in the same spot where he’d climbed up. She could tell by the steady in-out of his breathing that he’d fallen asleep too.

Somehow her short nap had done wonders for her body. Her muscles didn’t feel the same overwhelming exhaustion they had when she’d first woken. In fact, she almost felt ready to go for a run around the station. And that type of exercise was normally the furthest thing from her mind.

Instead she kept her gaze locked on Davin’s body. He really was the perfect man.

Tall, broad shoulders, tight ass and a cock that could pleasure her until she didn’t have the energy for another orgasm. He didn’t take life too seriously but had been there for her when she’d needed him. How else would she have gotten out of the mine and back to med bay in one piece? He was her knight in shining armor.

As she shifted her body, Davin groaned and pulled her closer to him. The wonderful weight of his body sent a shiver of desire straight through to her pussy with such an alarming speed that Sara gasped. She’d been stuck unconscious in a bed god knew how long, weak from some sort of illness, and right now all she wanted to do was strip his body bare and ride him until she screamed from multiple orgasms.

Not really a bad idea.

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Her body must have still been stuck on overload because another surge of arousal moved through her, this one so powerful she arched her body off the bed. The motion stirred Davin but didn’t wake him. When he shifted, she felt his massive erection pressing against her leg. He moaned and pulled her even tighter against him.

“Davin?” Her voice was husky as his name rumbled from her.

He moaned, his hand sliding up her body to her breast, where he kneaded her sensitive skin. Her nipple instantly sprang to life, pebbling against his heat. As his touch brought her body to life, Sara began to feel a tingling building between them. It was different from before when they’d made love in his ship. The warm buzzing now held a degree of power to it, one that hadn’t been there before.

“Wake up.” She gave him a gentle shake and prayed he could hear her.

“No.”

Relief was mixed with arousal when he shifted, lifting his handsome face to look at her.

“I think I’m ready to check out of here.” She offered him a small smile. “I’m feeling better.”

“Your doctor will be the one to make that decision. Not you.” As he spoke, he flicked her nipple with his finger.

Sara closed her eyes, soaking up the erotic sensations he was sending into her.

When he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, she let out a low moan.

“Who’s my doctor? Get them the hell in here so I can leave.”

“That would be…” He dropped his mouth to her breast and suckled her through the thin fabric for a moment before lifting his head again. “That would be me.”

The shock was almost as powerful as her arousal. Davin slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her down on the mattress until his body hovered above hers. Heat was rolling off him and Sara felt it cover every inch of her. She gasped when he rolled his hips against her.

“But you’re not…a doctor.” She gave her head a little shake. “You wouldn’t help back at the mine.”

“I had a change of heart.”

“Why?”

“You were sick.”

It was then Sara felt her world begin to spin out of control. Davin lowered his head, inch by inch, down to her. His golden eyes were wide, steadily locked onto hers. She bit down on her lower lip, sending a small pulse of pain which did little to counteract her arousal.

“You seem different,” she whispered when his mouth was only an inch from hers.

“I am different. It changes you.”

“What does?”

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“The gift.”

Davin brought his mouth to hers, but neither of them closed their eyes. Their kiss was gentle, as if they were testing the feel of each other for the first time. And somehow it was different. Davin felt harder, somehow older than he was. She could feel him holding himself back.

They both stopped at the same time, Sara’s mind spinning madly. She reached up and caressed the side of his cheek.

“Thank you.”

Davin closed his eyes and smiled his lopsided smile. Sara ran her hand into his long hair, relishing the softness of it. Complete contrast to the feel of his body hard as steel.