by Lia Davis
"Porter!" Julian called to him. "Did you find her?"
"Shut up." He pushed himself up and allowed the other side of him to take over. The room was draped in the scent of her blood and fear making it hard to get a lock on her, but at last he located her toward the far corner. "Alyssa."
He crawled across the floor, moving aside the debris blocking his path including her suitcase and some of her snacks.
His nerves stood at attention as he tried sense any life signs to no avail. The once confining space seemed a huge canyon between him and the woman he promised to protect. "Alyssa?"
At last he reached her, a sad crumpled heap on the deck, but her faint heartbeat and shallow breaths let him know she survived. Still, he put his hand on her chest and allowed himself the luxury of exhaling when her chest moved. "Thank you." The blood he picked up on came from a long gash across her forehead.
"Porter!"
"I found her, she's alive, but she's hurt." Like earlier, he checked her pulse then pressed his palm to her cold skin.
"How bad is she?"
"I don't know." He gave her a quick assessment, running his hands over her. Without the benefit of any supplies he couldn't tell. "Go back up and find a place for us to rest. She needs to get warm."
"Get her up here," Julian called.
As he gathered her up in his arms her head fell back and her arm fell lifeless to one side. He pressed his lips together and hurried back to the deck.
"Let's go to the quarters. The ship is secure, even if the tide gets higher. We're wedged against a hill." Julian touched her hair and guided him to their destination. "There's some damage to the boat, but it's hard to assess until sunlight. How is she?"
"We need to get her warm and dry, she was in the corner like she tried to hide." He sped up his steps.
"At least she's alive." Julian ran ahead and opened the door to their shelter. "We have to take care of her like she did us."
He made his way inside. All he needed was to fail her like the ones sick back home. They trusted him and he left, escaping with Julian.
"Put her here." Julian pulled the covers down on one of the bunks. "We have to get her out of the those wet clothes."
Before placing her on the bunk, Porter brushed her hair aside. Why wasn't she moving?
"Put her down."
They had no tools, nothing to fix her if she were truly hurt beyond a bump and scare. He shook his head. Some protector he turned out to be.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm putting her down." He didn't budge.
"Then do it before she freezes."
He paused before kneeling to get her on the bunk without jostling her too much.
At the same time, they reached for the buttons on her shirt, stopped and looked at each other.
"I got it. I want to look for injuries." Porter took it upon himself to unbutton the first button.
"Fine, I'll work my way up." Julian moved down and slipped off her shoes. "Her feet are practically ice."
"Cover her as you go." He worked his way down, unfastening the buttons and taking his time to lift her to get her out of the soaked shirt. After tossing the garment to the floor, he was met with another challenge and frowned at her bra. Only humans went to such great lengths to bind their body parts in strange configurations. After two tries he ripped the blasted contraption open and threw it across the room before laying her back down.
Darkness or not, he got the opportunity to take her all in without the unflattering clothes. She possessed the curves, softness and fragility Lykan women lacked. His mouth watered at the sight of her full breasts and her nipples hard from the temperature, a perfect contrast of textures.
"I thought we were covering her as we went." Julian pulled her pants and undergarments over her hips and let out a low growl. "She doesn’t appear injured to me."
At having her as naked as the two of them he broke out into a sweat. In an attempt to distract his mind from all she had to offer, he leaned in and studied the gash on her forehead, brushing her hair aside.
She moaned.
Relief encompassed him, but he wanted to hear her speak. "Alyssa, talk to us."
"Help." Her voice sounded as broken as the rest of her.
He pressed his palm to her cheek.
Julian bolted to her other side. "Keep talking."
Her eyes fluttered open. "You're here."
"Are you in pain?" Julian took her hand.
"You were in my dream." Her eyes closed and she trembled. "Don't leave me."
"I told you I would be here." Julian let go of her hand and pulled the blanket up over her. "Everything is going to be fine."
"Please." She snaked her hand out of the blanket and reached for Julian.
Maybe he needed to leave the two of them alone. She wanted Julian and he was the best choice for her. "Stay with her and let me find any supplies." Porter went stand.
"No!" She liberated her other hand from the blanket and held it out to him.
"Alyssa?" Though he instantly took hold of her hand, he tried to harden his tone and his body. He was not her soft place to land.
She turned and gazed up at him. "Don't let go."
Julian smiled.
"What do you need?" He sucked in his cheeks. Damn those big blue eyes staring at him.
"You." Her teeth chattered. "Don't let go."
He couldn't let go if he wanted to, and he did. Her touch set him off. It seared through him, made him want to pull her in, hide her, protect her, or maybe something else. Something primal. Something he only experienced briefly one other time. "Not now."
"What?" Her shaking amplified and she tried to pull them closer.
"These blankets are worthless." Instinct took over and he lay down beside her. "We have a higher body temperature than she does."
"Well, she is more than welcome to any of my body temperature." Julian slid into the bed as well.
"Don't leave me," she repeated once more.
"We're here," Julian cooed. "Try to sleep."
After a few minutes her breathing evened out as she succumbed to her body's need for rest.
He wrapped his arm around her and clenched his jaw. Her naked body vibrating against his may be a bit too much. "Julian?"
Julian grunted his acknowledgement.
"How are you feeling?" If the heat flowing through him would transfer to Alyssa she would stop her trembling.
"Like I'm stuck on an island in a storm holding a human and in bed with you."
Julian may be optimistic, but he was also literal. "Did you notice anything about Alyssa?"
"What do you mean?"
He remained silent. Julian needed time to process.
Julian turned on his side. "She needs us."
Porter continued to wait. Julian always had pets, but he always ended up taking care of them.
"She's very beautiful and very small." The bed shook as Julian moved around and he chuckled. "I wonder if she knows what a Lykan can do?"
Porter nodded soon Julian would catch on.
"Maybe we should have found some clothes for her." His makeshift bedmate moaned, his voice laced with frustration. "Damn it."
He may as well let Julian in on his findings. "Did you notice the moon?"
"What?" Julian cleared his throat. "Well with being shot up with crap, the storm, a naked female shivering on me, and the feeling like I want to explode, I didn't really have time to look at the sky."
"We're right around day fifteen of the cycle." Surely he didn't need to spell it out further.
The room fell silent while Julian performed the necessary calculations.
At last he spoke. "Day fifteen by ourselves on an island with a broken ship, no way off for days and one tiny human female?" The last trace of optimism in his tone vanished.
"Yes." He shut his eyes but couldn't turn his body off. It didn't help that her shaking didn't let up.
She turned on her side facing him and pressed her face into his chest. "It's so cold
."
He held her tight.
"Porter, what are we going to do?" Julian wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Humans get sick too easily." With no tools at their disposal and his own irritation and arousal growing, he needed an outlet. "You need to watch me, but we need to fix her, heal her and take care of her."
He shut his eyes and in a burst of energy, shifted to his wolf form. The bed creaked with the extra weight.
"Porter." Julian's tone let out a warning.
He took his time inhaling and exhaling, forced his mind to remain with his human side, the part that could reason, the part where he wouldn't turn the naked female in bed with him over and satiate his own desires. Instead, he licked her wound imparting their special brand of healing properties.
"You're going to scare her."
His fur encompassed her and she curled up to him, in her uneven sleep she raked her fingers across his pelt but slowly, slowly her shivers subsided.
"She's warming up," Julian whispered.
He concentrated on her temperature, the way her breath brushed against his fur setting off a cascade of pleasure, how her heartbeat echoed around him.
"Now how do we get through the next few days?"
Without speech at his disposal he didn't answer. They both wanted her and soon they would both need her more than anything. If their own battle didn't do them in, the female lying between them might do the trick. No, he didn't have an answer and didn't want to care.
Damn those big blue eyes. Damn Julian. Damn him.
Warm, cozy, safe. As consciousness tried to wake Alyssa she tried to push the nuisance away, wanting to say in the incredible place in her dream where her body was encompassed by nothing but softness and the faint breathing of another. All she wanted was to drift away and remain in her private paradise.
She hugged her pillow closer, the scent of earth and musk overtaking her and a bit of fur tickled her nose. A chuckle escaped her throat.
"Alyssa?" A man's lips grazed her ear and a set of hands grabbed her hips.
She moaned and willed her body to stay in her dream where a man held her. Maybe he wanted to make love to her, his erection pressed against her back. Her body flooded in preparation. She was ready to lose her virginal status if anyone ever wanted to take it.
"How are you feeling? Does your head hurt?" the man asked.
Strange question for someone who wanted to be with her, but oddly enough her forehead throbbed. She slid her hand up, across more fur to her head, gasping at the pain caused by her own touch and the distinctive flakes from dry blood. Fur? Blood?
In an instant, her mind jolted fully awake, her muscles seized, and her she opened her eyes into an expanse of brown fur. Living, breathing, brown fur. A wolf! "Help!" Strength found her, she pushed the monster away and turned smack dab into a different expanse, a man's bare chest. "Oh, God!"
"It's okay." The man took hold of her.
"There's a wolf!" She attempted to swat him away, but he kept a firm grasp on her. They needed to run, hide, get away before the wild animal woke and killed them both.
"Alyssa, it's me, Julian." He bent down. "Julian and Porter."
Her heart sped, thumps that ran together, and she couldn't catch her breath as her mind replayed the events of the night before in a flash. The boat, the storm, and the shifters. The incredible shifters. She garnered her courage to look up at his face. They may have only spent a scant few hours together, but she would never forget his face.
Only in her dreams would a man, or male, like him want her. Even on the off chance he did, they could never even have one night of fun. Still, his eyes seemed to glow, a beautiful shine that she wanted to stare at and explore. She didn't notice that before.
"The wolf in your bed would never hurt you. Porter shifted to keep you warm."
As if by magic the fur behind her morphed into skin, hands and arms. She bit the inside of her mouth. Wolf or shifter, either one was dangerous, and she was in bed with two. "Porter?"
"You can look." Julian nodded. "It's okay."
She inhaled and finally twisted around to find him returned to his human state, and as naked as her and Julian. The three of them were undressed in a tiny bed together. Her stomach bottomed out. What she felt with Julian in what she thought was her dream was in fact reality, and Porter seemed to have the same condition or maybe shifters were naturally in such a state.
"Just consider me your living blanket." He raised his eyebrows. "Are you dizzy?"
She opened her mouth but wasn't sure how to answer. Dizzy as in her world seemed to be spinning out of control? Then the answer was yes. "What's going on?"
"Do you see me clearly?" Porter took her chin in his hand and stared into her eyes.
As clearly as she saw any amazing male who supposedly turned into an animal to help her. "Am I okay?" Maybe someone else needed to tell her, since she didn't know.
"Do you hurt anywhere?" His eyes also seemed to shine.
She inhaled, blinked and took in the space around her, tried to piece everything together. A slice of sunlight came in through a window. Before they were in the hold where no natural light could reach them. "What's going on?" The last thing she remembered was hiding down below waiting for them. Somehow they kept their promise and found her.
"We are in the officers’ quarters." Julian tapped her.
She turned to him. "What?"
"We ran aground on a tiny island. It's only the three of us."
"Where is everyone else?" Her voice came out scratchy, disjointed.
Julian simply smiled.
"Porter?" She moved to her back and glanced over at him.
"The storm was very bad. Lucky for you, you had two superior males looking out for you. We are the only survivors." He ran his fingers across her forehead. "As soon as we get up I want to find something to put on this. I don't want any scars. While shifted, I did lick your wound clean. I know humans don't believe in the medicinal value, but trust me."
Two naked shifters, her, one uninhabited island and a storm that left no other survivors. He licked her wound clean? The image overwhelmed her, she wanted to run but sat up instead. Her head whirled and she covered her eyes. "Oh no."
"I really want you to rest today. You were knocked around a lot yesterday." Porter pulled her back down on the bed.
Her focus darted between them, but their focus was elsewhere. A quick peek revealed she lost the blanket along the way and her breasts were exposed. She gasped and put her arm over her chest. Her cheeks heated.
"Maybe we all need to rest today." One side of Julian's mouth lifted in a smile. "Or not."
Without any words or humor, Porter stared down at her, or different parts of her.
Caught in watching him, she held her breath.
"You never told me how you were feeling." He seemed to glare at her and she wanted to know what happened to him to exude such misery.
If she possessed the confidence she wished for, she would have come up with something catchy, flirty, or seductive. One of the lines other women said to make men want them would roll out of her mouth. Of course she needed to remember she wasn't that type of girl, nor were either of these males someone she could even be with. She already crossed every line since stealing the antidote, but any physical relations with the Lykans were considered deadly. No human ever survived after being with them.
"What's the plan?" She slid one hand down, trying to make sure not to touch anything that didn't belong to her, and pulled the blanket up. At the moment her plan was finding clothes for all of them. "Don't you have sick Lykans to attend to?"
The smile vanished from Julian's face and Porter's eyes darkened. The glow disappeared.
"What do they have?" Along with the frightening stories of the big bad wolves came the even more terrible tales of the diseases they festered.
Julian lay back on the bed.
Porter paused and turned away. "It looks like Pyrexosis. We haven't seen any in my lifetime."
&
nbsp; She dug her nails into the thin blanket. The disease was a death sentence. Like other diseases in the same class, pyrexosis was transmitted through the exchange of body fluids, bringing nerve damage, extreme fever and weakness. It only affected females, but males were carriers. The simple sweet act of Porter trying to heal her could have already harmed her. She didn't need to ask twice why neither answered her question back on her island. They would have been immediately killed. She never thought about the repercussions of her actions until after.
"Why would you come to our island for medicine? We haven't been in contact with anyone from Lykos since…" She let her voice trail off.
"Since our Alpha and your Premier's daughter became mates and your kind decided we were trying to kill your population." Porter got out of the bed and ran his hand through his hair. "That wasn't due to pyrexosis."
No, the death wasn't caused by pyrexosis, but there was an outbreak way back then. She remained silent.
"If you haven't had a case, you must have a treatment." He narrowed his eyes.
Shame on her for studying his form during their conversation, but his backside was perfect muscular, rounded in all the right places. At least she had the decency to turn away before she spied anything else.
"Do the humans have a treatment?" His question came out more as an accusation.
She pressed her lips together.
"Do they?" He tapped his foot.
She took a breath. "Our treatment was eliminating the source." The humans and other shifters of the Federation burned the old Lykos island long before she was born. Still no one went there.
Julian sat up and turned his back to her.
"Put the dogs out when they get to be a pest." Porter took a swipe at a dresser and the furniture toppled to one side, the drawers slid out and spilled out some clothes.
"I never said that." She toyed with the edge of the blanket.
The silence that took over the room weighed down on all of them. "What's the plan?" she asked again, hoping it wasn't on their list to kill her after they saved her.
"We need to assess the damage on the ship. It will be a few days before we're ready to set sail." Julian stood and opened the door to a small closet. "We need to find all the supplies we can."
