Chapter 4

Taylor

CW: attempted sexual assult

I was shaking as Scaron held me against the cave wall. I’d fought against him as much as I could, but he was just too strong for me.

“Stop squirming,” he commanded, as the hand he’d placed around my neck squeezed even harder.

“You’re mine now. You remember that.”

With his free hand, he pulled down his pants and released his hardening cock.

No, no, no! This can’t be happening!

He started to pull my pants down when one of his goons came running in.

“He’s here! Brexl found us!”

“Mot!” he swore and pulled his pants back up.

“Stay here, or you’ll regret it,” he growled then released me.

I watched as both males stomped out of the cave and fell to my knees as I gasped for air. Not trusting my shaky legs at the moment, I crawled to the cave entrance and watched as Brexl took on all three hunters. He made it look deceptively easy. He landed every punch he threw and ended the fight with his claws making contact with Scaron’s side. I could see the blood dripping from here.

I held my breath as the three hunters backed away and left the shore. Brexl did it! He fought them off, just like I knew he would. My joy was short-lived, however, when he took his first step toward the cave and stumbled onto his knees in the shallow water.

“Brexl!” I cried out as I jumped into the water and ran toward my rescuer.

He was trying to stand up again by the time I reached him, and fell after taking one step.

“Brexl,” I said his name as I check him over for wounds. I gasped as soon as I saw the hilt of a knife sticking out of his torso.

“Oh, my god! You’re hurt!”

“I’ll be fine.” He panted, looking more pale than I’d like.

“Maybe so, but right now you look like shit, so let’s get you back to the cave where I can bandage you up.”

“What about you? Did they hurt you?” My heart squeezed at his words. Here he was with a knife sticking out of his stomach and he was asking if I had been hurt.

“No, they didn’t hurt me. They annoyed me, but didn’t hurt me.” I tried to lighten the mood but Brexl’s eyes only darkened.

He slowly raised his hand and tracked the newly forming bruises on my neck.

“I should have killed him. Sinking my claws into him was far too kind a punishment for what he did to you.”

I shook my head. “You did the right thing. If you had killed Scaron, it would have probably sparked a war between the two dekes’.”

“War or no war, Scaron should die for trying to take you, for scaring you like that.”

“I don’t disagree,” I smiled at my protector. “But I don’t want anyone else to get hurt on my behalf. Come on, let’s get you out of this water.”

I stood and looped Brexl’s arm around my should, but in doing so, I accidentally cut myself on one of his bone spikes.

Brexl’s eyes grew wide, and he immediately shifted out of his grim reaper form.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as if he were ashamed.

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t mean to scratch me.”

His face took on his normal neutral expression, and he was silent as we walked the short distance to the caves.

I climbed up to the wall to enter the cave Scaron had me in, when Brexl tapped me and shook his head.

“The tide will be coming in soon. We have to go higher.”

I looked down at his bleeding side and nodded. “Do you think you can keep climbing?”

“I will do what I must.” That wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, but it would do.

We made our way up the rock wall to a cave that was high enough to be almost completely dry. I crawled in first and then helped Brexl crawl in after me.

He was looking even more pale than before, which wasn’t good.

“Here, lean against this wall.” I propped him up and reached into my pockets for the gauze and salve I’d found on the ship.

“I’m going to take off your vest, okay?”

Brexl swallowed hard, and after a brief hesitation, nodded his head.

His vest was held together with a long strip of thin leather woven down the center like a shoelace. I untied it from the bottom and started to unlace it. When I got to the middle of the vest, he let out an involuntary, high-pitched whine. He clamped his hand on top of mine as he held his eyes tightly shut and breathed through the pain.

“Sorry. I bet that shifted the knife. I’ll go slower.”

He nodded his head and let go of my hand.

I slowly undid the rest of the laces and Brexl let out a grunt as the vest fell open, revealing a dark blue chest and torso full of pale scars. There were so many of them. They were like a tapestry weaved together on his skin, telling his story. I wanted to trace each one with my finger and let him know his future would be much happier than his past.

Brexl

The pain was excruciating, but having Taylor this close to me more than made up for it. I could feel her breath on my skin and her hair lightly tickling my chest as she helped me remove my vest.

Each movement shot a new wave of pain through my side, and I wanted nothing more than to get this knife out of my skin.

I leaned back against the wall and Taylor sat back on her heels, assessing the situation. I loved the way she looked when she was concentrating on something. Sometimes she bit her bottom lip, sometimes she’d bite one of her nails, but she always furrowed her brow. She was adorable.

I’d gotten lost in her gaze and didn’t hear a question she’d asked.

“Brexl, can you hear me? Oh dear, I think you’re more light-headed than I realized. Well, we better get this over with then.”

She pulled out her medical supplies from her pocket and a thread and needle from my bag. My hands grew clammy at the thought of being stitched up, but there was nothing to be done for it. It was that or bleed to death.

“I’m going to pull the knife out now, okay? I’ve got the needle ready, along with the salve and gauze.”

She bit her bottom lip again, and all my nervousness melted away.

“Okay,” I nodded my head.

Taylor inched closer. She placed her left hand on my skin next to the knife and put her right hand on the hilt. I closed my eyes and held my breath, preparing myself for the worst.

In one smooth movement, Taylor removed the knife. I grunted as the pain washed over me and winced as she pressed a clean cloth to my wound to stop the bleeding.

“I’m going to hold this here until the bleeding stops.”

She was so close to me now. I could feel the warmth of her skin on mine. I almost didn’t mind the wound, the pain, or even the circumstances that brought us here. I just wanted Taylor to be close to me. I shouldn’t want that. I was no good for her. But I wanted it all the same.

It would be useless for me to try to stop wanting her. As long as I never acted on my feelings, everything would be okay between us. She said she didn’t want me, and I couldn’t blame her for that. I wouldn’t want me either.

Taylor dipped her body impossibly closer to mine as she pulled the cloth from my skin and inspected the wound.

“I’m going to put this salve on your gash. It might sting a little.”

With gentle fingers, she spread the sticky ointment on my skin. I sucked in a sharp breath as soon as she made contact.

“Sorry,” she chewed her bottom lip and gave me a distressed look.

“It’s alright,” I assured her as I worked to slow my breathing.

Once that was done, she stitched up my wound. Then she bent down again to wrap the bandage around my torso.

Her body was almost completely pressed against mine as she reached behind me to loop the gauze around my middle. Her sweet scent wafted up to my nose and made my mouth water.

My cock began to stir, and I had to use all my willpower to keep it down.

“All done.” Taylor sat back on her heels and looked over her work. Her fingers traced the top of the bandage and lingered on one of my scars.

“Do they scare you?” I asked.

“What? Oh, sorry.” She pulled her hand down and looked away.

“Do they scare you?” I didn’t know why it was important to know if my scars scared her, but it was.

“No. They’re beautiful in their own way. Like snowflakes. Each scar is unique.”

I pointed to the one she’d been touching. “I’m actually fond of this one.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” She gave me a shy smile, but her expression was intrigued.

“I was a small child when I received this one. I had been walking behind my grandparents’ house when I tripped over a rock and fell onto the sharp end of a toy I’d left outside.

It cut me. It didn’t hurt much, but it still scared me. My grandmother heard me crying and came to check on me. She scooped me up onto her lap and pressed a cloth to my cut. She told me that every great warrior falls sometimes, but it’s up to me to get back up again. Then she fed me my favorite sweet berries until I felt better.”

I rubbed the scar on my chest. “It’s a reminder of her kindness. I might not have my appia anymore, but at least I have this.”

“That’s a beautiful memory. I don’t have anything to remember my family by.”

Taylor’s words were a stark reminder that, although I loved that Taylor was here, she had lost everything in coming to Valo Prime.

“You can have this.” I pulled her necklace out of my pocket and handed it to her. “To make new memories.”

She ran her fingers over the pendants with a smile on her face. “I knew you’d find it. This is a good memory. You saved me from Scaron.”

“I’d save you from a pack of jagwas to keep you safe.”

A humorous smile drew across her face. “You already did, remember? On our way to the mountain, a jagwa pounced on me, and you threw it off.”

“Well, I’d do it again,” I reiterated with a smile.

“You keep me safe.” It was a statement, not a question. She knew I’d always be there for her.

“Always.”

“What do I do for you?”

“You exist.”

“That doesn’t sound like an even trade,” Taylor said with a frown.

“It is.”

I was feeling tired, and I didn’t think I had the words needed to express how happy being around her made me feel. Not only was she beautiful and confident, and smart, but she didn’t fear me. Even my fellow shifters looked at me with fear in their eyes, but not Taylor. She only saw me, Brexl, the male, not the monster, and that was a gift I’d cherish for the rest of my days.