26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Nala

“Mama.” An insistent whisper pulls me from my sleep. “Mama!” Also, there’s an oddly wet warmth surrounding my hip. “Mama! Wake up!” Ellen whisper-yells, tugging my hand.

I give up on any pretense of being asleep. “Yes, chipmunk? Everything is alright. I’m here,” I repeat the mantra I’ve been whispering to her every time she wakes up.

“But Mama! My dress is wet,” Ellen whispers.

I pull the blanket aside, groaning as I notice the large wet stain on the bed and Ellen’s soaked clothes. Mine, too. And…oh my god, the side of Faelin’s pants are wet as well.

Ellen’s eyes start tearing up. “I’m s-sorry, Mama.”

“It’s okay, chipmunk.” I pull her into my arms, wet clothes and all. “It happens. Let’s get you out of these wet clothes and into the shower, okay?”

“I’ll bring dry clothes,” Faelin says from behind me.

I didn’t even notice him waking up, let alone getting out of bed. “I’m sorry,” I hastily apologize, cringing at the wet stain on his pants. “It’s my fault. I should have woken her up when I went to the bathroom, but I just—”

“Stop, Nala.” Faelin waves his hand dismissively. “It’s fine. I…We should probably move to a different room until we can clean up this bed. Mine is free, if that’s acceptable?”

He says it with such sweet hesitancy it makes me want to kiss him, but I restrain myself because Ellen is already watching us with suspicion. “Well, we don’t want to invade your bed,” I tease him, throwing his words back at him.

“You’re always welcome,” he retorts playfully, stealing another kiss from me before leaving the room.

“Failin kissed you!” Ellen giggles.

Oh, great. “Yes, he did. People kiss when they like each other and I like Faelin.”

“I like Failin too! Can I kiss him like you did?”

A blush creeps up my cheeks as I hurriedly go over my interactions with Faelin Ellen might have seen. We have kissed, yes, but if I remember correctly, those were mostly chaste kisses. “You like him that much?”

“He’s nice... Isn’t he?” Ellen’s carefree smile disappears, replaced by worry as she looks up at me. “Failin is nice, right, Mama? He’s not like Master Drayth. I just know he’s not,” she repeats stubbornly.

“He’s very nice,” I assure her. “In fact, I think he’s the nicest man I’ve ever met.”

“And he’s a high bird, like me!” Ellen squeals, swiftly returning to her cheerfulness. Child mood swings never cease to amaze me. “I like him. Can we stay here with Failin, Mama? I don’t want to go back to Master Drayth and Aunt Mu.”

I crouch in front of her, gently squeezing both of her shoulders. “We are never going back to Master Drayth. Never. I don’t know if we can stay here, but I promise we’ll never return to that place.” I won’t tell her that Drayth is dead, she wouldn’t understand anyway, but I need her to know that we’ll never live in such a dreadful situation again.

“Yippee!” she cheers, then freezes still, staring wide-eyed at the bed. “Mama? What is that?”

Panicked, I turn around, moving in front of her to protect her from danger. A relieved sigh escapes me when I notice she’s pointing at the strange creature I’d rescued from the Arcade.

In retrospect, I realize that touching an unfamiliar, scared, and wounded creature was exceptionally stupid of me. Even if it had been just an Earth dog it could have bitten me. A completely alien creature? I should be glad I didn’t lose my arm.

Since the furry creature has slept curled around my feet the whole night without biting them off, I think it’s safe to assume it’s not acutely dangerous. Still, I should probably find out more about it before letting Ellen play with it.

I finally have a chance to take a good look at it as it slithers from beneath the cover, watching us cautiously. Its dark fur is matted and tangled, caked with its purple blood. Two stripes of lighter fur run along the creature’s back, reminding me of an Earth skunk, but this animal is much leaner. It looks kind of like a lizard with three pairs of short legs. A furry lizard.

“You know, Ellen, I actually don’t know what it is,” I admit. At the sound of my voice, the creature cocks its head, its forked tongue darting out of its mouth. “It was injured and I brought it here with us.”

She watches the creature with unbidden fascination. “Can we keep it?”

I hesitate, not sure how I’m going to feed yet another hungry mouth with my nonexistent income. “I don’t know, chipmunk. First, we need to make sure it’s not dange—Ellen!”

Before I can stop her, my sweet little angel approaches the animal. “Hello,” she coos, extending her hand toward it. The furry lizard sniffs it. Clearly satisfied, it bumps its head against Ellen’s hand, requesting pets. “Look, Mama!” Ellen giggles. “He likes me! Please, please, please, can I keep him?”

“Ellen… We don’t even know what it is or what it can do. It could be dangerous.”

She completely ignores me, picking the animal up into her arms. “I’ll call you Fluffy,” she says, running her fingers through the creature’s tangled fur.

“We’re absolutely not calling it Fluffy!”

“Yes, we are.” My adorable daughter gives me an adorable pout and stomps her foot. “Look, he’s fluffy.”

It’s impossible to argue with that logic. With a resigned sigh, I capitulate. “Fine, we’ll call him Fluffy. But put him down, please.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to take off your clothes and take a shower. Actually, Fluffy,” I smirk over the stupid name, “could use a wash, too.”

Ellen’s eyes light up. “We’ll go together!”

Before I can say anything, she darts into the bathroom. I hurry after her, worried that the animal won’t like being shoved under a stream of water and might claw her face off. Displaying a surprising amount of intelligence and perhaps prior training, Fluffy jumps into the sink, headbutts the faucet, and lets out a low whine.

“He must be thirsty. Why don’t you turn on the water just a little bit so he can drink?” I suggest to Ellen, who eagerly rushes over to take care of her new pet. “We’ll have to find him something to eat, too.” So it doesn’t start eating us. I don’t add that out loud but it’s the most prevalent thought on my mind. I saw the creature’s sharp teeth.

“‘m ‘ungry too,” Ellen mumbles, standing on her tiptoes to reach the faucet to drink from it alongside Fluffy.

“I’ll figure something out, chipmunk. Now, take those wet clothes off so you don’t catch a cold.”

“How do you catch a cold?”

Chuckling, I run after her, pretending to chase her. “Like this!” We both laugh as I grab and tickle her. Fluffy tops it off by jumping on my head and nipping at my ear playfully. “Alright, alright, that’s enough.” I disentangle the animal from my hair and set it on the floor beside Ellen. “Shower. Now. Both of you.”

To my astonishment, Fluffy lets out something between a chirp and a bark and darts into the shower cubicle. It must have spent a lot of time in someone’s house, or he’s more intelligent than I thought. Probably both.

I set the water temperature for Ellen. She knows how to turn the water off and on, but I want to make sure she doesn’t scald herself. Fluffy chirps as the water starts falling on them and rubs himself against Ellen’s feet. “You can wash him,” I instruct her, seeing he clearly likes water. “But be very careful. He was hurt when I found him. It’s probably just scratches, but it still might anger him if you touch them.”

“Yes, Mama. Like this?” She runs the tip of her fingers down Fluffy’s back, barely even touching him.

“That’s perfect, chipmunk. Now turn around. I’ll wash your hair.”

Fortunately, the bathroom is stocked with basic supplies, so I shampoo Ellen’s wild curls, get her to rinse, then use some of the shampoo on Fluffy as well. He doesn’t protest, standing obediently as I scrub him clean. His blood turns the first round of lather purple, but the second one stays white. I conclude that his injuries have stopped bleeding.

By the time I’ve finished washing them both—and taken part in a foam battle that Ellen won by default—my dress is soaked through. I chase a giggling Ellen out of the shower, scrub her hair, and wrap her in a large towel. After making her promise to wait for me in the bedroom, I finally step into the shower myself.

As the stream of hot water rains down over my battered body, a delighted moan escapes me. There’s a dark bruise forming over my ribs, another one on the side of my head, and countless more covering my arms and legs. No serious injuries though, which feels like a miracle given everything I’ve been through.

I wish I could enjoy the shower a little longer, but not having Ellen in my field of vision is making me anxious. “Ellen? Are you still there?” I call as I step out of the shower.

Faelin peeks his head into the bathroom instead, his gaze darkening at the sight of my naked body. “She’s here,” he says, clearing his throat. “I brought food. I thought I had brought enough for both of you, but that little creature is insatiable.”

“Yep, Ellen turns into a devourer of worlds when she’s hungry,” I joke, stretching my arms up before leaning against the bathroom counter.

Faelin’s gaze is stuck on my breasts. “I…uh, I meant the animal…thing,” he murmurs, swallowing roughly as he watches a droplet of water run down my chest.

“I know. I was just kidding. Could you please hand me a towel or do you plan to continue ogling me some more?” I prompt.

“I…towel. Right. Sorry.” He hands me one, then tries to adjust his tightening pants.

Faelin looks like he’s already taken a shower too. Water still glistens through his short hair and he smells amazing. With my towel now hanging uselessly in my hand, I step closer to Faelin, drawn like a moth to the flame. My fingers tracing the outline of his jaw, seemingly of their own accord. “You’re hurt,” I whisper, pointing to his split lip.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Lyri was just showing me how worried she was about me.”

“She what?!” My fists clench. “She did this to you?” I’m going to have a serious conversation with that bitch. Nobody gets to hit Faelin but me.

As if reading my thoughts, Faelin chuckles. “I told her you wouldn’t like it. Don’t worry, it’s nothing. I’m fine. Everything is dealt with.”

I know what he’s implying, but I still ask, needing to hear the words. “Drayth?”

“Drayth is dead. You and Ellen are safe.”

The wave of relief washing over me is so strong my knees buckle. Faelin catches me as I stumble and pulls me into his arms. “You’re safe,” he repeats softly. “And you will always be safe. I’ll make sure of it, I promise. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect Ellen better back on the ship. I never should have let them separate us. I swear, I’ll do better from now on.”

My tears soak into his shirt along with the water from my skin and hair. “You did everything you could. And you saved us. I’ll never be able to repay you. And now,” I sniffle, “I’m making you wet.”

“Yes, that’s just wrong,” he says, grinning. “I should be the one making you wet.”

My core clenches at Faelin’s words. Fuck, I want him so much! We kiss each other desperately, my tongue tasting his. His groans and the hardness of his cock I feel under his pants spurring me on further. I’m about to lose myself to passion on the bathroom floor when Ellen’s voice brings me back to reality.

“Mama! Fluffy ate the last seka roll!” she complains. “I want more seka rolls!”

Groaning, I rest my forehead on Faelin’s chest. Damn, how did I forget my daughter was in the next room? Was I really about to fuck Faelin here, within Ellen’s earshot?

Faelin chuckles, his chest making a deep rumbling sound that resonates in my loins. “I’ll get more seka rolls. And some dry clothes,” he adds with a wink. “We’ll continue this later.”

“Yes, later,” I agree breathlessly. “But we need to talk first.” Just having casual non-committal sex with Fealin is no longer an option for me, and Faelin needs to understand this.

Human men would get nervous from hearing the “we need to talk” line, but Faelin merely smiles. “We can talk all you want, my perfection, but it won’t change the fact that you’re mine. You both are. Now, I suggest you get dressed before I return or the two ravenous creatures in the next room will eat your share of the food again.”

Listening to Faelin tease Ellen on his way out of the room has my heart swelling with love. He’s right. We are his.