Ka'Cit's Haven (Riv’s Sanctuary #3)

She made a sound like air moving between her teeth and gave him an annoyed look.

“What?” What had he done?

She shook her head then and knelt beside him as she reached for the inside of her cloak.

Without warning, she brought the garment to her mouth and ripped a piece of it.

“What are you doing?”

His eyes were wide now as he watched her.

She placed his hand on her thigh as she ripped another piece of cloth and began pressing it against the bruise.

She was…patching him up? With her own garments?

“You don’t have to do that.”

She ignored him.

“It doesn’t hurt. I—”

She gave him such a sharp look that the words died on his lips.

As he watched her rip the fabric into a thin band, he became speechless.

He tried to pull his hand away, but he could admit it was a weak attempt because she promptly grabbed it, shot him a look that told him to stay still, and placed it on her leg again.

Ka’Cit fought to breathe past the lump forming in his throat.

She was tending to him. In this situation? Even when he was sure she was terrified to bits, worried out of her mind, she was taking the time to tend to him?

“Nee-ya…” he whispered almost inaudibly.

She was kneeling between his legs and he without his mask, he could scent her now.

It was a delicious sweet scent that gave him the image of running his tongue across her skin just to test if that’s what she tasted like—sweet like the way she smelled.

He swallowed hard as he watched her, not wanting to move…not willing this moment to end…but at the same time…too afraid to feel.

15

“Your hand was bleeding this entire time. I can’t believe you didn’t notice.” Nia frowned at him, then paused.

Shit.

Her gaze met his.

He’d carried her through the dark tunnel, tried to calm her down, all while his hand was swollen and bleeding.

Blinking, she averted her gaze and refocused on his hand.

Though the blood had mostly clotted, the swelling was dark against his blue skin. He’d hit his hand against something hard.

She knew it wasn’t an old injury too. It was fairly new.

“Don’t worry, I’m a nurse,” she said in the silence. Somehow, she felt the need to speak even though she knew he couldn’t understand her. “Well, I was a nurse, you know, back where I’m from…Earth…but not a proper one, I suppose. I only worked at the free clinic in my neighborhood—not in a hospital or anything. I wasn’t doing it as a job per se. I didn’t need the money.” She let out a small laugh. “Not that I was rich, or anything, but Dad was smart with money. He’d made it so that I wouldn’t have to work or depend on any man, ever. I was lucky. So after I left nursing school, I worked at the free clinic a few days a week. I did it because…well…the people needed help. Healthcare can be expensive if you don’t have insurance where I’m from.” She huffed another short laugh through her nose. “A good old bleeding heart like my father. He is like that too.”

She glanced at Ka’Cit..