There are three women in the kradi, and it smells like flowers and herbs. A fire burns in the center of it, ensuring it’s cozy and warm while the smoke escapes through a small hole cut into the top of the kradi. My eyes are immediately heavy-lidded, and Terex reaches out, grabbing my shoulder as I stumble.
The woman who greeted us gestures for us all to sit on rugs near the fire.
“I am Moni,” she says, “and this is Talou and Fenri.”
We introduce ourselves, and Moni turns to me while Talou and Fenri murmur quietly to the others.
Moni’s green eyes study my makeshift sling. “We will need to remove this, child,” she says, and I swallow around the lump in my throat at the sympathy in her voice.
Terex sits behind me and gently unties the sling, carefully removing it while I hold my arm at a ninety-degree angle.
Moni glances at Terex, and he moves closer, a knife in his hand. My heart almost stops, but he simply uses it to slice the sleeve of my pajama top, cutting away the material until it falls, revealing my poor elbow.
It’s bruised and swollen, and I still can’t move my arm at all without vicious pain.
Moni takes it and hums, studying it silently for a long moment. She gestures to one of the other women, who passes her a bowl of what looks like green mush. I flinch as she slathers it on my elbow, crying out as I hurt myself with the movement. Terex moves even closer, placing his huge hand over mine where I’m clutching my wrist.
“Gently, Ellie,” he murmurs, and my heart flips at the way he says my name even as I fight back tears at the pain.
Whatever is in the green paste starts burning, and I cry out again. I want to pull my arm away and wipe off the paste, but I know any movement will make it hurt worse.
“Be at ease, child,” Moni says. “You can’t have healing without pain. Perhaps this is something that you have been slow to learn, hmm?”
She looks into my eyes for a moment, and it’s as if she’s looking directly into my soul. I shiver, and then the moment’s gone, and the burning begins to ease, my elbow going numb beneath the paste.
Moni examines it again, giving a pleased hum at whatever she sees. Then she reaches for a piece of clean material, expertly folding it into a much better sling than the one I had. She pins it in place, and just like that, I can once again think past the pain.
“Thank you,” I say, and she simply smiles and nods at me.
“Think about what I said.”
Moni hands Terex some cream to put on my feet once I’ve cleaned them, and then I watch as the others are fixed up. Vivian had a deep cut along her back, which she’d kept to herself, and Nevada’s knee has swollen to twice its usual size. Alexis’s ankle is sprained, but by the time we leave the healer’s kradi, all of us are feeling much better than when we first walked in.
Terex waits until the others are a few feet away and then draws me close. “I want you to sleep in my kradi, tiny female. What will it take to make this happen?”
I stiffen. “Are you making fun of me?”
Terex frowns. “I don’t understand. I find that I do not want to let you out of my sight. Will you stay with me?”
I pull away, suddenly furious. “Did Vivian put you up to this? What did she offer?”
He glowers down at me. “Enough,” he snaps.
I blink, stepping back.
“You are behaving erratically, likely because you are tired and hurt. I am willing to be patient, but you will sleep where I can see you.”
I blink up at him, completely and utterly confused. The world is dancing around me, and I’m so tired that I must be hallucinating.
Terex takes my silence as agreement, and once again, I’m treated to his heartbreaking grin. “Come, female, I will give you food, and you will sleep.”
His voice is low and pleased, and I sink into it as he leads me toward his kradi while I practically sleepwalk behind him. It’s only when he opens the flap to his kradi and gestures me inside that I freeze.
What am I doing?
Terex glances at me. “Ellie?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to sleep in here.”
“I will not hurt you, tiny female. I vow on my honor. I simply find that I wish to see you safe and content for the night.”
“Terex…”
“What do you want? I will bargain with you.”
I stare at him. I want him. I want to feel like this isn’t a dream and a guy like him could possibly want me as a woman, not because he feels sorry for me and sees me as some sort of pet, or because someone has convinced him to play with me for a while.
I sigh. I want other things too.
“I want to find Charlie.”
“One of the females. The one with the head injury?”
“Yes. I was watching the fight. It wasn’t a Voildi that took her. She was hurt, but she was tough. She would’ve fought back or made some sound if she could.”
I’m suddenly hit with guilt. We should’ve stayed and searched longer. What if it were me, abandoned by my friends?
Terex examines my face. “We searched the surrounding area, Ellie. We searched a greater area than she would have been able to travel alone, and we looked in any places she could have hidden if she were scared. Staying would have been useless.”
I nod. “Well, either way, she’s out there somewhere. Nevada’s right, and if she’s going after the other women, I want you to help me find Charlie.”
Terex studies me for a moment longer and then nods. “If this is what you wish, I will make it happen. I will help you find your friend, and you will stay in my kradi.”
I eye him. “I’m not having sex with you.”
His eyes widen and then darken, the violet turning a deep purple. “When we tumble, it will not be because of a bargain,” he tells me. “It will be because you have begged to feel me inside you.”
I blow out a breath. Oh boy.
Chapter Five
Terex
I lead the tiny female inside my kradi, triumph filling me as she sighs, immediately moving toward the fire. My kradi is large and comfortable, as befitting my status, and I am proud to present comfort and warmth to Ellie.
Her large eyes examine her surroundings, and I almost smile as they dart from my furs on one side of the kradi. She is a nervous female, and while I don’t understand why, I am willing to be patient.
I will wait for her to be ready to tumble with me. Even if it feels like the wait will kill me.
I muse over that as Ellie explores my space, poking her head into the smaller room used for bathing. I have never felt this way about a female, never felt the need to keep a female close and ensure she is safe.
Ellie’s gasp tells me that Arana has filled the bath, and I smile as I make my way to where she is eyeing it with longing.
“Would you like to bathe or eat first?” I ask.
Her stomach rumbles, but she nods toward the bath. I will have food waiting for her when she is finished.
“You will need help getting undressed,” I say, and she flicks me a look.
“No, I won’t,” she says quickly. She gestures for me to leave, and I almost laugh. Sometimes she is as skittish as a wild animal, and other times, she is quick to order me around, as if she is the warrior.