Blood ran down Roark’s bare back from at least two gunshot wounds, but he stood tall and strong like a beast among men.
The attacker must have panicked, for he scrambled through the hallway, his footsteps loud as he raced down the curved wooden staircase.
I expected Roark to give chase, but he stood there panting and I could not leave my post, half in, half out of my bedroom. I could not leave Noah unprotected.
“Roark?”
The front door slammed against the wall and I knew the attacker was gone. Across the hall, Miranda opened her door and screamed when she saw Roark.
He staggered then, leaning against the wall.
Miranda rushed past me, saw the destroyed crib and gasped. “Where’s Noah? Where’s the baby?”
Even though I could hear his angry crying, I said, “He’s in my room, on the floor.”
“I’ll get him.” Miranda rushed past me and I sighed in relief as Noah’s wails calmed immediately to the sound of her crooning words. She reappeared in the door, Noah safely in her arms.
“Natalie.”
I rushed to his side and slid under his arm, helping to hold him upright. He was heavy and I bit my lip as he leaned against me with a lot more weight than I was expecting. God, he was huge.
“Miranda, call 9-1-1. Roark needs an ambulance.”
“No, mate. I would not let your hack physicians touch me. Your Earth bullets, fortunately, went through me, so there is no need to retrieve them. Get my bag and use the ReGen Wand. That will heal me enough to get back to Trion and the pod.” I dashed into the other room, grabbed the small bag he’d brought with him, pulled out a small metal wand thing. It looked much like the device he’d used on me for his medical exam. Well, the probing. It was more of an orgasm by magical dildo than exam. Running back, I gave it to Roark, who pushed a button. A blue light came on.
“Wave this over my back.”
I did as he said and watched as his body healed somewhat, thankful it didn’t go someplace private. While Roark was sweating and he breathed raggedly, I could see the tenseness leave his shoulders. The pain was lessening. As Miranda and I watched over the next few minutes, the wounds had closed up mostly, the blood stopping.
“Good. Enough,” he said, reaching to grab the wand. “If it gets worse, we’ll use it again and again to stave off the worst. We must get back to the brides processing center. Someone on Earth wants to do us harm.”
I shook my head. “But that’s in Miami!”
“Your parents keep their plane at the municipal airport,” Miranda reminded me. “I’ll call and have it readied to take us to Miami.”
The thought had never occurred to me to use my parents’ private plane. Since they were overseas and the plane didn’t have that reach, they went first class on commercial flights. Their jet was just waiting to be used.
“Thank you,” I said to Miranda. “Tell them we’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Chapter Thirteen
Roark
I couldn’t wait to get off this primitive fucking planet. The ReGen wand was the only thing keeping me well enough to protect my family and see us to the transport center. Money spoke here on Earth, just as it did on Trion. Natalie had not mentioned that she came from wealth. Of course, we’d had one night together and we hadn’t done much talking.
The size of her home, the fact that she had servants to assist her, the extravagance of the furnishings and art in her home all led me to believe she was wealthy. But the airplane was something else entirely.
Natalie’s jet was small and slow, nothing like the ships used in the Coalition Fleet, but it was the best they had on Earth. I assumed their military had better, faster ships, but had no way to know for sure. Nor did I care. My highest priority was to get my mate and my son home to Xalia where I could surround her with guards, keep her safe and sleep beside her every night. The jet was slow, but I was thankful for it now, knowing I could get Natalie and Noah—and the woman, Miranda, who seemed to be my mate’s second—to the brides program’s transport center faster than by any other means.
An efficient woman, Miranda had arranged for our transportation within moments. She had driven a large vehicle while Natalie and I sat in the back next to a large seat Noah was buckled into like a warrior’s battle harness. Natalie said it was a car seat, but since we, too, sat in seats inside the vehicle, I did not understand the significance. Miranda drove us the short distance to the airstrip while Natalie ran the ReGen wand over my wounds, one after another. As soon as the bleeding stopped in one wound, she would move on to the next. But each time I moved, the wounds would tear open and the blood would flow.