But right now she wasn’t the one these shifters were avoiding—Airk was.
All the fire breathers anywhere she’d seen so far—didn’t matter what clan or creed they hailed from—avoided the man like he was a rat on a ship come to inflict his brand of curse upon them. Even her sisters’ mates, each a powerful, badass king in his own right, were visibly wary around Airk.
Granted, despite being a closed off, unemotional robot, the man still managed to give off an aura of threat, more than the usual that came with these incredibly dangerous shifters.
But it seemed to Angelika that any creature tortured with the kind of isolation he’d endured for centuries deserved to be surrounded by care. Not pity. She found it impossible to pity the kind of strength he’d shown to survive that. But to continue to isolate him by making him a social pariah…that was just cruel.
The disappointment from a moment ago when he refused to touch her wrapped a tighter fist around her heart. She could have been the one to care for him—as a friend—but she’d gone and ruined it with that damn suggestion to mate. He hadn’t even let her get out a single reason or tell him all the ways it would benefit them both. She’d only wanted to open a…discussion. But he’d shut her down hard, and no amount of persistence or cheer on her part had been able to break through the walls he’d slammed up between them.
Another black dragon shifter skittered by like a frightened rabbit, pewter-eyed gaze darting between her and Airk, and she hissed through bared teeth, which only made him duck his head and scurry faster.
Airk said nothing. No reaction, as usual. Though, in small moments when he thought he went unwatched, she sensed he wasn’t oblivious. He noticed. Even so, the man seemed to feed into the fear, if anything, doing nothing to make friends or influence people to his side, generally keeping to himself.
Why anyone believed he’d be a good ambassador to other white dragons was beyond her.
Her back to the man limping along behind her in stone-cold silence, Angelika swung into the medical room. Everything in this room screamed infirmary from the bright lights, to the sterile stainless steel appliances, white-sheeted hospital beds, and glass-fronted cases showing a multitude of medical tools and items.
“Sit,” she said, pointing at one bed.
She grabbed blunt-tipped scissors, then turned and froze at the sight of a bare male chest. Impressions hit her all at once—the breadth of his shoulders and the ridges of his muscles, but also a series of scars crisscrossing his abdomen. As though he’d been flayed open so many times, his dragon healing eventually couldn’t prevent the scarring. Gods, the things this man had been through.
Awareness slid through her like melted butter.
Logic had driven her mating proposal. Or so she’d told herself. But the way she had to tamp down the lust swamping her now, maybe it had been a bigger part than she’d let herself believe.
His hands went to the button of his pants.
Holy shit. “I didn’t say strip!” she squeaked.
He jumped, then stopped moving, watching her closely.
Heat flooded her face. Helping him with his wound was her priority—or should be. Only, given the way her body had come to buzzing life thanks to what he’d bared so far, she was struggling mightily not to forget herself. What would he do if she’d let him strip naked and she wrapped her hand around his cock? Maybe tasted him? Had any woman gifted him that kind of pleasure before?
Given his treatment of her so far, he’d probably sit back, arms crossed, and glare at her until she got it over with.
Get your mind on the task.
His expression went from wary to blank in a flash. “I offer my apologies. Any time they cared for me in…” A muscle in his shoulder twitched as though he couldn’t speak the name of Everest. “They didn’t let me out of my cell when tending to my person. Instead, I was made to remove my clothes in order for them to inspect me from afar.”
Angelika cleared her throat. Forget a blow job. The man clearly needed a long, strings-free cuddle. Except the last thing he’d want from her was a hug, even though she desperately wanted to wrap her arms around him and press her lips to his temple. “You’re in a better place now.”
He stared back, unmoved. Airk did that a lot around everyone. She didn’t take it personally.
Instead, she snagged a rolling stool and pulled it up to sit in front of him, then proceeded to cut away the material of the black combat pants he wore. Apparently Airk had taken modern clothing tips from her sisters’ mates, all three warriors first and foremost. Each a reluctant king.
Seeing that the wound was on the back of his leg, she stood. “Flip to your stomach and scoot up on the bed, please.”
He did as she asked, resting his chin on his crossed arms, the muscles playing across his back. Her nipples tightened.
Gah.
Forcing herself to focus, Angelika inspected the wound a long gash from the back of his knee almost to his Achilles, which was closing slowly. Whatever he’d hit had cut deep, ripping into the flesh. “What did this?”
“Rock. I think.”
No wonder the rending appeared so jagged. “Hmmm. If you weren’t a shifter, I’d say you need stitches. Instead, I’ll bandage it so you don’t trail blood everywhere until it heals properly.”
Silence.
She wrinkled her nose at his back and took that as agreement, then left him lying there to gather the things she’d need. She didn’t speak again until she was rolling a bandage around the leg, covering the non-stick gauze she’d taped over the wound. “Don’t do anything too strenuous the next hour or two.”
“I heard you had been educated in the medical profession.” He kept his head turned away, talking to the wall.
Her eyebrows lifted. Airk instigating conversation was a rare thing. “I’m a trained nurse,” she confirmed. “I have a degree and experience working in several hospitals and everything.” Her hands slowed as unbidden memories washed over her. “Mama had each of us learn different skills that would serve us in the modern world both in terms of supporting ourselves and as possible skills that would be needed on the run. Meira has her computers. Skylar is a pilot. Kasia was getting an engineering degree when Pytheios found us.”
“Meanwhile, you chose to heal people.”
She shrugged, not that he saw it. “Given that dragon shifters were after us, I figured medical skills would come in handy.”
“No. You like to take care of people.”
Angelika’s hands paused, and she glanced at the back of his head. Even though she knew he did, she was often surprised by the way Airk observed things others did not.
Airk’s observant nature must’ve come from years of trying to piece together what was happening in the outside world through the small and random contact he had with other prisoners who had come and gone where he was kept.