Alien (5 page)

He watched his friends. She took a deep breath. “I really
should be going. There’s a cabin not far from here. My people will search for
me in the morning if I don’t get back.” She met and held his gaze as he turned
to stare down at her. “I won’t mention seeing you if that’s what you’re worried
about. You can trust me. I don’t want any harm to come to you or your friends.
They saved me from those coyotes. I owe them.”

His displeased expression was instant. “It is dangerous here
and you are alone without a male’s protection. I won’t allow you to leave my
side or you could be harmed. You are safe with me and the other males will not
touch you.”

There was that protection thing again. “Where you come from
do men protect women? You know, guard them or something?”

He nodded. “Yes. They need protection. We take them into our
homes to care for them.”

Shock rolled through her. What kind of barbaric world did he
come from? She toyed with the empty food bag in her hand as she tried to make
sense of his words. They were obviously more technologically advanced than
humans. They traveled in space, were able to visit other planets, and made
kickass instant food in a bag that not only made it easy to carry but heated it
just by opening the thing.

“Men and women aren’t equal?”

His expression was almost comical, and she was insulted at
the sheer amusement he displayed. He actually had the balls to laugh. “No. Men
are much stronger than women.”

Lynn was tempted to call him a male chauvinist pig but then
her gaze flicked over his broad shoulders, those huge guns he had for biceps,
and took in his general massive size. The men would definitely have a vast
physical advantage if the women of his kind were her size.

She turned her head to glance at the other aliens, all
muscular, big guys in the over-six-feet-tall range. She looked back at Coto and
saw that his amusement had died. He studied her closely, his expression now serious,
and it was clear that the wheels of his mind were turning.

“Have I insulted you in some way?” His voice softened. “I am
aware that women such as you think you are equal here. Your men are weaker than
I am. That was not my intention. Where I come from our men are very aggressive
and a woman without protection would be in danger.”

“Am I in danger?”

He shook his head. “I would fight them if one tried to touch
you and even though I am injured, I would win.”

“Fight? As in seriously punch each other out?” She was
stunned and a little horrified. They fought over women?
For real? Damn, that
is kind of hot but disturbing at the same time.
No guy had ever gotten into
a fight over her.

He flashed a grin. “Do your men not fight over women they
wish to claim?”

An image of Coto pinning her down and caging her inside his
arms flashed in her mind and her nipples tightened as her stomach quivered. Was
it even possible for them to have sex? She wondered what he hid under those
kinky leather Speedos he wore. The idea of finding out became a little
tempting. He was the only guy she’d ever seen who looked sexy wearing those
things.

A twig snapped, making her jump as she jerked her head in
the direction of the sound. Holion stood feet from them, watching them with an
angry expression.

“Coto,” he nearly growled the name, “Gar will clean and
bandage your injuries better now that we have set up camp. I have assigned
Kollen the duty of protecting us while we rest until morning light. Then we
will hunt for Vhon and the Collis.”

Coto slowly stood, his body tense. “I give the orders.”

The other man lowered his furious gaze as his head dipped. “You
were busy speaking to the Earther so I took charge.”

Earther. Ah-ha.
Holion had slipped up on that one.
Neither man seemed to notice the word he’d dropped by accident as Holion lifted
his head and they locked gazes. Coto growled, a deep, rumbling sound that
startled her just a little. It was a mean, harsh noise that the translator didn’t
give words for. She watched in rapt curiosity as Holion backed up, his head
dropped again and his hands clasped behind his back. It was a submissive
gesture that Lynn couldn’t fail to notice. Her gaze jerked to Coto and his
angry expression as he glared at the other man.

Whoa, boy. Coto is the big dog in this pack.
With her
job, she knew her alphas, and it was crystal clear who it was with these men.
Coto took a deep breath and then slowly expelled it. He took another, his harsh
expression softening a bit.

“Do not take authority again, but your orders may stand.
Make certain that Kollen keeps to the high ground. I doubt they are expecting
us to have survived but they could be hunting us. I do not want the woman put
in jeopardy if they attack.”

Rage was an easy emotion to read on Holion’s face as he
lifted his head and flashed a nasty look at Lynn before he met Coto’s gaze. “Our
mission is to retrieve Argis Vhon, not to protect a woman. Are you sure you did
not injure your head when you were attacked? I question your priorities and
your ability to clearly think.”

In the blink of an eye Coto moved, nailing Holion square in
the chest. The other man grunted loudly from the impact of Coto’s fisted hands
as he was thrown back from the sheer force of the hit. He flew a good five feet
and landed on his back. Coto snarled, taking two steps before he halted, his
blue eyes flashing with emotion. His lips parted and his sharp teeth showed
clearly as he glared at the downed man.

Lynn was shocked to the core at the sudden violence. She
couldn’t move and wasn’t even sure she breathed as she watched Holion struggle
to sit up. He pushed away from the ground, getting to his feet quickly. He
opened his mouth, growling viciously. His hands clenched into fists.

“You think you can take me?” Coto moved to the right,
putting his body in the way so Lynn couldn’t see Holion anymore. “Try. The last
thing we need is for you to be injured since we may face an enemy when we find
Vhon, but if you want to do this, we will fight.”

Lynn leaned sideways enough to get a view of Holion. As much
as she appreciated Coto putting his body between her and the angry alien, she
wanted to see what was going on. It was fascinating and horrifying at the same
time. It astounded her that they were such an advanced race if they used
violence to work out differences. She wondered briefly if Coto had moved to
protect her or if he just didn’t want her to see most of what was going on
between him and the other guy.

“You are not acting rationally, Coto. You should be
discussing strategy with us to find Argis Vhon, but instead you are feeding and
coddling the woman.”

“It is dark and we can’t hunt until their sun rises.” Coto
growled. “What I do is not up for your judgment. Were you raised with Vhon? He
is a brother of my heart and his life is everything to me. You question this?”

Holion shook his head, his gaze dropping to the dirt between
them. “My apologies, Vartas Coto. I am stressed and angry. Our ship is damaged,
we are trapped here, and the enemy may have Argis Vhon. Their ship went down
close to ours. All our lives will be forfeited when Hyvin Berrr finds out we
allowed his son to be taken by our enemy.”

Coto relaxed his stiff shoulders and sighed loudly. “We are
all under stress and I’ve ordered you not to use my title, friend. Others will
come when they realize they can’t contact us. We will find Vhon. The Collis can’t
leave here either with the damage we inflicted and Vhon is too valuable for
them to take his life if they find him first. Kollen will guard our camp, we
will relax this evening, and tomorrow we will have him back with us.”

Holion nodded, regret on his features. “My apologies again,
my friend. I never wish to fight with you. It has been a bad day.”

“Yes,” Coto agreed, “it has.” He turned then, his exotic
gaze fixing on Lynn before he moved toward her.

She didn’t miss the trepidation she saw on his face. She’d
overheard a lot that she now tried to do the math on. Whoever this Vhon dude
was, he was in danger. It sounded as though two ships had fought and both had
crashed. Coto’s men and whatever a Collis was, were enemies. Vhon’s father had
to be Coto’s boss. The guy wasn’t going to be happy in a murderous way if
something happened to his son.

“There’s no reason to be afraid.”

Lynn shrugged. “Shit happens. I’m glad you two aren’t going
to go to blows. You could open up your wounds.” Her glance flicked over his
bandaged wrist and she gasped at the sight of red on his hand. She rose to her
feet. “You did! Let me see.”

He held out his arm to her as she took his hot hand, a jolt
going through her as her fingers curved around his long, strong ones. She kept
her attention on his wrist where the bandage showed fresh blood. She looked up,
had to tilt her chin to meet his narrowed gaze, and frowned.

“You need your doctor to look at this.”

“Yavil isn’t a doctor but he is medically trained for
emergencies. Let us go inside and he will tend to me.”

Movement at the corner of her vision had her turning her
head.
Speak of the devil
, she thought, watching the tall blond with the
dark eyes cautiously approach them with his first-aid bag in hand. He met her
curious gaze for a second but then turned his full attention on Coto.

“I’m ready.”

Coto nodded, his fingers firmly clasping Lynn as he turned,
holding onto her, and led her toward the igloo-like tent. She followed meekly
behind him as he opened the flap of the thing.

The light inside wasn’t blue, instead regular white light
came from a round disk that may have been the smallest, coolest lamp she’d ever
seen. It was the size of a pot lid but the light it put out was tremendous,
making the room bright as daylight but not glaringly so. Someone had set up
bedrolls on the floor, spaced a few feet apart. Coto kept hold of her as he
crossed the room, walking between two bedrolls to the far side. He released her
and pointed to one.

“Please sit.”

Coto bent and removed his boots. They were big things,
heavy-duty like military issue. It made her wonder if they were in some kind of
alien army. She hoped they weren’t there to check out Earth for a possible
invasion. That concept left her feeling cold but if they were merciless
killers, they sucked at it since they’d saved her. Coto had also been super
nice to her. She relied on her gut instincts and believed what they’d told her
was their reason for being on Earth. Some of her tension eased.

The bedroll was a thick, comfortable pad as she got settled,
sitting cross-legged, and then looked up. Her jaw dropped as Coto lay back flat
on his bedroll, both hands going to the front of his pants, which he pushed
down his legs and totally removed. She stared at his kinky shorts again, those
long, muscular legs, and forced her lips firmly together.

Don’t gawk
, she ordered, forcing her gaze to Yavil.
Of
course Coto has to take off his pants. The other man needs to clean his wounds
and rewrap them before they set up camp.
That made sense to her. Yavil
reached for Coto’s bleeding wrist first and removed the bandage.

“What did this?” Yavil reached for a bottle.

“They were vicious creatures with sharp teeth.”

“Dogs,” Lynn offered quietly. “They are similar to what you
chased away when you found me.”

The blond glanced at her with his dark, strange eyes and
nodded. He went to work on cleaning the wound and then put on some kind of
goopy cream that was yellow. He bandaged the wrist, had Coto turn, and did the
same to the other arm.

Lynn watched silently, amazed at how efficient the other man
was and how Coto didn’t even flinch. Lynn was pretty sure she would have cried
and whimpered if she had those injures. Yavil patched up all his wounds except
the one high on Coto’s thigh. He scowled.

“I wish you had brought a house helper to tend you.” Yavil
glanced at Lynn. “What about her? She could do this.”

“You do it.” Coto didn’t even glance Lynn’s way. “It would
not be a good idea to have her tend to me.”

Yavil snorted. “It would cause you new pain.”

“Yes,” Coto agreed. “I’ll do it if you aren’t comfortable.”

“Thank you.” Yavil stood. “Just clean it well, put on the
cream to seal the wound, and bandage it again. I will be outside. I have yet to
eat.”

Lynn watched the other man flee the tent. She turned her
head and saw Coto sit up, spread his legs, and stare at the bandage high on the
inside of his thigh. He shifted, trying to get a better look at it.

“He’s not going to touch that one?”

Coto finally met her gaze. “Unless it is life or death, men
are not comfortable dealing with wounds in that area. Most of our healers are
women who tend to our injuries. I am not actively bleeding and my life is
secure so there is no reason to make him ill at ease with having to tend me
this way.”

“Are you kidding me?” she gasped.

“No.”

“Of all the homophobic bullshit.” She rolled her eyes, going
to her knees. “Lie back and I’ll do it. I’m not a nurse but I’ve tended enough
injured animals to do something this simple.” She crawled toward him, careful
to avoid the stuff on the floor that Yavil had left behind.

Coto’s pretty eyes widened and then he shook his head. “No.”

She was on her hands and knees close to him, their gazes locked.
“No?”

He blinked once. Twice. A third time. “It would not be wise
right now for you to do this.”

“Why?”

His hesitation before he answered lasted several long
seconds. “I am attracted to you.” That was blunt. “I have fed and have rested
from my battle with the sharp-teethed creatures that attacked me.”

“Okay. They were dogs, not creatures. What’s your point?”

“I can do this myself.”

She cocked her head, staring at him, and then grinned. “Are
you afraid you’re going to get wood or something?”