Chapter Three

 

This was a stupid idea.

Really stupid.

As in the stupidest idea she’d ever had. And she’d had a few over the years.

Going to meet with Ricky, the asshole who’d pushed her down a flight of stairs, alone was the biggest one that sprang to mind. This might almost rival that one.

She peered out from behind the building closest to the medical center. She felt a little silly sneaking around like some sort of super spy. But they’d all been warned to stay away from medical and the last thing that she wanted was to get caught. That would involve explanations. And she wasn’t certain that she could explain what she was doing to herself let alone anyone else.

The coast seemed to be clear.

Okay, now she sounded like some cheesy private investigator. She shook her head at herself. She should just march on into medical and demand to speak to Moroco.

Except she wasn’t certain he’d even see her. Three days had passed since he’d come to her place to check her wound and the only communication she’d had with him was a message that Racar would be taking over her care.

Screw that. If he didn’t want to see her again then he could tell her to her face instead of sending her a cowardly message.

Why do I care? He means nothing to me.

Except, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Couldn’t stop playing their conversation over in her head.

And she was leaving.

She’d made the decision to return on the transporter that was headed to Earth in ten days. And despite the fact she was fully healed, she needed medical clearance. So here she was. She chose to ignore the fact that Racar was now her healer and she could have just commed him. For some stupid reason, she wanted to see Moroco. She didn’t really know why, but she couldn’t ignore the urge.

So here she was.

She hadn’t told Sophie she was leaving yet. She didn’t want to leave her sister, but she was beginning to feel like she was a bit of a third wheel. It was obvious that Sophie was making this her home; she didn’t need Saff anymore, so there was no reason to stay, right?

She wasn’t going to stay where she wasn’t needed.

Even though the thought of going back to Earth on her own was daunting as hell, she didn’t have much choice. She had nowhere else to go.

The two Ashleys were eager as hell to get home. If they didn’t stop chattering on about how much they were looking forward to getting their nails done and a spray tan then she was going to steal a blaster and just shoot herself in the foot.

Surely, that would get her a quiet room in medical.

Nice and close to Moroco.

Saffron. You’re an idiot.

This would be much easier if she knew where he lived. But it wasn’t as though she could just go around asking. People would start to wonder why she wanted to know. She’d worked hard to make everyone believe she hated that asshole. And it hadn’t been that hard to act that way.

Most of the time.

But then there was the rest of the time. The times he surprised her by doing something kind. Like checking up on Sophie for her the other day when communications went down. He wasn’t the complete asshole he pretended to be. She also knew he wasn’t the murderer many people thought he was. Idiots.

Her feelings towards Moroco were no longer as cut and dried as they once had been. Maybe it was true what they said. Sometimes there was a very thin line between hate and love.

And wasn’t that a disturbing thought.

Still channeling her inner spy, she crept forward and walked around the outside of the building. She’d never looked for another entrance, but surely there had to be one. Ah-ha. There. A door.

Of course, she’d probably need a code or there would be some sort of facial recognition security attached…the door slid open as she approached.

Well, that was kind of disappointing.

She snuck inside.

***

Moroco was worried.

And he hated worrying. In fact, he never worried. Worry was a stupid emotion. No, he wasn’t worried. He was concerned.

He couldn’t understand why the Sky Warrior wasn’t waking. His internal bleeding had stopped. His broken wing was healing. In fact, it was healing at a fast rate. He hadn’t realized that their species had accelerated healing but it was the only explanation he could think of for how quickly the bones were knitting together.

His vitals were good. Steady. But he wasn’t waking up. Morocco rubbed his hand over his face as he sat in the sleeping chair in his private office. He’d been here day and night, not wanting to leave while the Sky Warrior was here.

He laid his head back and closed his eyes. He just needed to catch a short nap then he’d check on his patient.

He was just drifting off when he heard his door open. He’d left instructions with his staff that he wasn’t to be disturbed unless there was an emergency or something changed with the Sky Warrior. Even then, no one would enter without announcing themselves first.

So, whoever this was, they weren’t one of his staff and they weren’t trying to be quiet. He kept up the pretense that he was asleep.

Just a little closer…just a little closer.

As he was getting ready to move a sweet, familiar scent hit him. It couldn’t be. What was she doing here? He opened his eyes just as she stuck her face mere inches from his.

“What are you doing here?” he snapped.

“Eek!” She jumped back, placing her hand over heart, her face growing pale. He should probably feel bad for scaring her. But she was the one who had been sneaking up on him. “You scared me! I thought you were asleep.”

“I was trying to sleep. Until you interrupted me.”

“Oh. Sorry. I wasn’t sure if you were sleeping or dead.”

“That’s why you were close enough to kiss me?”

“I certainly wasn’t going to do that!” There was a note to her voice that made him raise an eyebrow in interest. Hmm, did she want to kiss him? Maybe he should kiss her.

No. No, that would be a foolish idea. Right up there with pulling her into his arms, raising her skirt and slipping inside her. The last thing he needed was to join with a human female. Especially this human female.

He had already decided to stay away from her. And she wasn’t supposed to be here.

“What are you doing here, Saffron? Were you not told to stay away from medical?”

A look of guilt crossed her face and then she frowned at him. “I, well, I…um…needed to see you for a minute.”

Alarm filled him. “Is it your wound? Has it grown red? Is it painful? Why did you not call for me? I mean, for Racar. He is your healer now.” And why hadn’t Racar told him there was a problem? Stars, he shouldn’t have handed over her care to the other healer, even though his feelings towards her were becoming problematic.

He moved to his bag and grabbed his gloves, pulling them on.

“My wound is fine.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I need medical clearance to leave on the transporter headed to Earth soon.”

What?

“No.”

“Huh?” She stared at him in shock.

Why had he said no? Wasn’t this a good thing? He would no longer need to avoid her until she found a mate. She would leave, and his life would go back to normal.

Boring. Lonely.

She placed her hands on her hips, glaring up at him. “There’s no medical reason I can’t be on that transporter. So I need you to sign whatever documents you need to and get it done, buster.”

Buster?

“Why have you not spoken to Racar about this?” She looked guilty for a minute. What was going on here? “I am surprised you wish to leave. I thought you would stay with your sister. She is in a delicate condition. I hope you did not upset her with this news.”

Pregnant females were to be kept calm and unstressed. Toriq would not be happy if this news had upset his pregnant mate.

That guilty look returned.

“You have not told her?” he guessed. Interesting. “Why not? I thought she would be the first person to know.”

“Well, I can’t leave without medical clearance. So sign whatever papers you need to and I’ll get out of your hair.”

“My hair? How could you be in my hair? It is not long enough for you to step on.” His dark hair was kept short and neat.

“Look, you’ve made it more than obvious you don’t want to be around me, so I’d think you’d be eager to be rid of me.”

Yes, he had thought that as well.

“So give me medical clearance and I’ll be gone, never to be seen again.”

“No.”

An alarm buzzed on his communicator. The Sky Warrior. His vitals were increasing. He turned and rushed out of his office.

“No? What do you mean, no?”

“No, I’m not giving you clearance. Return home.”

“Hey! Where are you going? Stop running away from me when I’m talking to you.”

“I am not running away.” Preposterous. Although he could have sent someone else to check on the Sky Warrior or he could have sent Saffron to Racar for medical clearance to fly. Since there was no real reason she couldn’t. But then, she should have gone to Racar in the first place. There had to be a reason as to why she had come to him and he had to have time to think about that.

He stopped and turned towards her. She came close to banging into him. So close that her scent surrounded him. Sharp and sweet. His cock hardened. “I need to see to a patient. Return home. Now. You are not supposed to be here. Ask Racar to arrange an escort for you.”

“I don’t need an escort. I need you to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me.”

He raised one eyebrow. “I am not avoiding you. I merely have more important things to deal with.”

The outrage that filled her face quickly drowned out the small hint of hurt he’d glimpsed. Good. Because for some reason he couldn’t stand the idea that he’d hurt her. Trying not to think about that too hard, he turned and walked into the Sky Warrior’s room, certain that would end the conversation. He came to a sudden stop.

“More important? More important?” Saffron half-yelled from behind him. “Are you serious?”

Stars, why couldn’t she have done what she was told for once? With his heart rate increasing rapidly, he half-turned and pushed her back.

“Leave. Now.” He made certain to make his voice as ugly and cold as he could.

“I will not. I want medical clearance to fly. The sooner I have it, the sooner I can get away from you.”

He didn’t risk looking down at her. No, taking his eyes off them right now could be a very bad idea. Especially with Saffron in the room.

He heard the door slide shut behind them.

“Saffron. Leave. Now.” She needed a lesson in obedience. Desperately. And as soon as he’d gotten them out of this situation safely, he was going to take great pleasure in teaching her what happened when she went against his orders.

One of the three Sky Warriors who stood by the unconscious Sky Warrior shook his head. He then spoke in clear Zerconian. “The little creature stays.”

“Who are they?” Saffron asked from beside him. “Are they angels? And what is that smell?”

Sky Warriors did have a distinctive scent. Not unpleasant and something you quickly grew used to.

The one to the right of the speaker studied her in a way Moroco didn’t like, running his gaze over her in a leisurely manner.

“Stay behind me,” he growled, stepping in front of her.

She dug her finger into his back. “Hey! You make a better door than a window!”

What did that mean? He didn’t have time to ponder the meaning of her words. He kept his gaze on the one who had spoken. He had to be the leader.

“You speak Zerconian.”

“When we learned that Marcun had landed here we uploaded your language.”

“Uploaded the language?” Saffron asked. He felt her move around from behind him once more. “You can do that? Wow, that must make life so much easier. Who are you guys?”

“Saffron, obey me!”

“Jesus, do you have to be such a prick all the time?” she grumbled. “I shouldn’t have woken you up from your nap, obviously it makes you cranky. Well, more cranky than normal.”

The one he thought was the leader frowned. “You were napping while our packmate lies here, injured?”

“I can assure you he has received the greatest of care. You have not made your presence known to the Emperor. Why is that?”

“Because we have no wish for anyone to see us,” the Sky Warrior replied. “Except now you have. And her. Who is she? She is not one of you.”

He pondered what to say. If he told them she was no one would they let her leave? Probably not now that she had seen them. That meant he had to figure out some way of protecting her. He still didn’t like the way one of them was staring at her.

“She’s mine.”

“Ah, she is a pet, then?”

“Hey! I’m not his pet. I’m a person.” Saffron dug her finger into his side.

The leader narrowed his eyes and Moroco risked a look down to see Saffron was once more peering around him.

“Your pet is very disobedient. You should punish her more often.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “I have had that thought many times.”

“What?” Saffron scowled at him. “Nobody is punishing me!”

“I shall send her away,” he offered. It was worth a try.

“No.” The leader shook his head. No one moved, but the tension in the room grew. Their facial expressions didn’t change and yet he knew that if he made a wrong move he was dead.

And so was Saffron.

“She has seen us now. She stays.”

Moroco guessed they didn’t want her to sound any alarms. All right, so they wished to remain unseen. Fine. He’d help them leave. Quickly.

And then once they were gone he was going to teach Saffron a few long overdue lessons in minding him. And he would enjoy every minute.

“Your packmate is stable. He can be moved. He had internal bleeding, which I repaired. As you can see his wing was broken. It is healing at a fast rate. By rights, he should be awake now.”

“He has gone into a healing sleep,” the leader told him. “He will come out when he is fully healed.”

“Then there is no reason why he cannot be moved. You may take him with you.”

And get far, far away from Saffron. He hated that he felt so much at a disadvantage. It wasn’t a familiar feeling. Moroco might be a healer, but it didn’t mean that he wasn’t a good fighter, and he preferred to be in control of every situation.

“We will take him with us.”

Good.

“But to ensure his continued health, you will come with us. You and your pet.”