“Toilet paper? Sure, if you’ve got it, I’ll take it.”
She put her hand out and without looking at her he offered her a soft biodegradable cloth.
“Hey, this is even nicer than what the Betari stock,” she commented, feeling it between her fingers. “Really, this stuff should be in the bathroom at the Ritz hotel.”
“I am glad it meets your approval,” he muttered, his face still turned toward the river.
When she’d finished she stood and fastened her pants, then joined him on the other side of the tree.
His glowing eyes finally turned her way. “My impression of human females was that they tended to be more fastidious than this.”
“Hey, I climbed across a building, ran—covered with mud!—from an alien posse, shot a spitting centipede from hell, and wrecked my manicure. Sorry, warrior, but I’m not sure I can be called a lady by any stretch now.”
“I knew that you fell.” His gaze swept her. “What I do not understand is how you could have fallen in such a way so that you are so completely covered in muck.”
Summer put her hands on her hips. “Oh, I liked it so much I rolled in it. Like a hog.”
His brow creased.
“I used the mud to cover my scent so they couldn’t track me,” she said impatiently. “You know—because I was escaping?”
“It is very effective,” he agreed. “You do not smell human at all. I detect only organic decay and fish remains.”
“You know”—Summer shut her eyes briefly—“believe it or not, I was happier not knowing just how much I stink.”
“You may wash in the river. In fact,” he grumbled, heading that way, “if you are to spend any more time with me, I insist.”
As much as she wanted to get off the planet, needed to get back home, she knew she had to sleep. Had to eat. And if the Betari couldn’t cross over into Erah territory, she certainly wouldn’t mind washing the muck off either.
“Why are you out in the middle of nowhere anyway, warrior?” Summer asked, following him. “Did your clanbrothers banish you to the wilderness for having too much charm or something?”
He stopped, his mouth pursed to retort, then his brow creased. “Why are you walking like that?”
“We human types call it ‘limping.’” Those boots had done a number on her; she was wincing with every step. “And gee, O great alien overlord, I don’t know—maybe because my feet hurt?”
With a g’hir’s shocking speed he swung her into his arms.
“What the hell are you doing?” she cried, struggling at finding herself cradled in his arms—not that it did any good. His grip was warrior strong, his long strides carrying her to the river faster than she could have jogged there. “Put me down!”
“I intend to.” He spoke as if he were trying not to breathe while he carried her. “The Betari clanbrothers have retreated into their own territory for the moment but they may return at any time. We cannot afford to dally about till the suns rise simply because your feet are tired.”
He was already wading into the river, water sloshing around his legs as he bent down to place her, sitting, on a large smooth rock there.
“Tired! Are you fucking kid—!”
With the swift movements his kind were capable of, he unfastened both her boots, already pulling the right one off before she could finish her protest. It felt like sandpaper being scraped against her injuries to have the leather yanked across them like that.
He stopped instantly at her whimper.
“Wait . . .” His frown deepened. “How much do they pain you?”
Without waiting for an answer, his touch gentled but even such care couldn’t stop her from gritting her teeth as he eased the boot off.
He stared at her bare foot for an instant then with doubled gentleness removed her other boot and tossed both to the nearby shore.
His alien square-jawed features were softened by the moonlight, his eyes luminous as he bent, gently cupping her heel to examine one foot then the other.
“Little one . . . why did you not tell me?”
She couldn’t see the abrasions, cuts, and blisters as clearly as he could—not with his alien acuity—but she bet her feet probably looked as bad as they felt. The cool air and blessed freedom from the pressure and rubbing of her footwear was pure heaven though.
“You are badly blistered, the soles of your feet have many cuts.” His touch hovered over one spot lightly. “Some of these are showing the early signs of infection.” He looked up at her. “This is the result of your journey through the Betari territory?”