~from Bound by War (Laken's upcoming book)
“Fuck, Laken, what the
hell was that?”
“The next person who
takes a step toward them will be dealing with me. Understand?” Hamza
demanded.
There was grumbling,
but Laken didn’t care. Well, he did, but he was too busy staring into eyes the
color of amber. Beautiful. They were simply beautiful.
His gaze traveled over
the too-thin body. The obvious proof of what Torin went through enraged Laken all
over again. The lilac skin of the Blishue’s upper body sported ugly dark blue and
yellow bruises, but it was the thick, pristine white bandage around Torin’s
torso that worried him the most.
He whined deep in his
throat. What horrors had that female visited upon his mate? He didn’t
know—wasn’t even sure he could handle knowing. Nothing in his life could
prepare him for whatever Torin went through, but he’d manage. Somehow.
“It’s not as bad as it
looks.”
The melodious voice
snapped Laken out of his critique of the injuries. He raised his eyes back to
the face that had been wiped clean of blood, at least. “Neo said you might’ve
died if you haven’t been brought aboard. I’d say it was serious enough.”
That alone terrified
him to the depths of his soul. He could’ve lost his mate before he’d even found
him.
“It’s very hard to kill
a Blishue. I’m Torin.”
Someone muttered something
sarcastic behind Laken. Most likely Raiden. But that did remind him he had an
audience, so he shoved that terror into a dark little corner for now.
“Hard, but not
impossible. I’m Laken. I guess you know everyone behind me.”
Look how nice and
polite he was being when all he wanted to do was tackle Torin and kiss every
inch of him. Of course, that thick white bandage reminded him why that would be
a bad idea. Torin also needed a shower.
“I do. Some better than
others. I’m sure they’d say that was most unfortunate.”
