Argurma Monster (The Argurma Chronicles #2)

Chapter 6

Beverly tipped her head back, soaking in the sun as she dug her toes into the beach sand. It had been weeks since she awakened, and she had begun to resign herself to her current crapshoot. At least Talech made sure that she was fed. Even when she rebelliously fought him on it, uncertain if she wanted to keep living, he had ruthlessly chewed up food and transferred it from his mouth to hers until she wanted to gag at how unhygienic it was. Needless to say, she started eating again, however little she could manage that was since the gnawing pain had made her physically ill. Then one day she woke up, and the pain was less. And a week later it had faded even more. The pain receded as time passed until gradually, bit by bit, she had recovered until all she had were a few ugly scars and a foul mood to keep her company... and Talech, of course.

She never could escape him and his overly attentive attempts to take care of her. Was it her punishment for all that she had been a willing participant in? He didn’t understand, and she didn’t know how to tell him that all his hovering—once she realized that he didn’t intend to harm her—and all of his careful tending to her needs made her feel guilty. She did not deserve it—not from him. From the beginning there was an unexpected but undeniable connection between them, a magnetic pull that she couldn’t resist, and all it did in the end was harm him and was the eventual cause of his stasis because she had been his one proven weakness. Although she had tried to mitigate the damage as much as possible, she couldn’t deny her involvement and that she had not stopped it.

She buried her face in her hands but looked up when a cool shadow passed over her.

“Regret,” Talech hissed, his expression shifted subtly with the twisting of vibrissae as he fought to find the words. “Do not feel regret for what was not in your power to change.”

“You remember, don’t you?” she said and sighed as she reached out a hand. He clasped it and allowed her to drag him down beside her so that he could pillow his head in her lap. She stroked the spurs along his jaw gently as she had become accustomed to doing whenever his confusion or fear got the better of him. “You remember what I did.”

He rumbled in agreement. “You had great... responsibility. It is in the past. You tried to help me. I remember this. Nothing else matters. Only now matters.”

Beverly’s lips thinned but she nodded. Perhaps he was right and this was her chance to start over. She knew what Talech wanted. He wanted a mate by his side. Something within her responded to that desire but she continuously quashed it, unable to face it. The truth was that they were still both very damaged, and even now, she didn’t know when or if she could forgive herself. She sighed again, this time heavier as she glanced around the beach, her eyes pausing on a shadow a few feet away in the sand.

“Catch anything good?”

The Argurma’s expression shifted, his vibrissae puffing up with interest as he lifted his head and glanced toward where he left his kill. “A razor-toothed sea dweller. It thought to make me its meal when I was seeking fish in the shallows. Now it shall be our meal,” he replied with a grim flash of sharp teeth in imitation of a human’s toothy smile as he sat up.

Her lips twitched in response. She knew well enough that was not how Argurmas smiled. Showing teeth was a sign of aggression among them and so their smiles were closed. She now understood why, and she bit back a nervous laugh. A toothy smile on an Argurma looked more than a little life-threatening.

“Shark, huh? There was a time when that would have been highly illegal, but maybe their numbers have recovered after all these years. All in all, if it was trying to eat you then it’s fair enough that we eat it. I’m surprised you went into the water, though.”

His vibrissae shifted as he glanced toward the water and then back toward the forest. “I calculated that we were taking too much from the land-dwelling prey. It was logical to look to another resource.”

Her eyebrows rose. “I didn’t realize that Argurma were conservationists.”

A chuff of laughter escaped him. “I... do not remember. But only the suicidal would take beyond what can be replenished.”

“I see. Well, roasted shark it is then.” She stretched her arms over her head, working out the tension in her muscles despite the uncomfortable pull of her scars. “Shall we make a fire and eat right here on the beach?”

Talech’s mandibles clicked, and he promptly stood without a word and headed toward the nearest large piece of driftwood. Bending, he hefted it onto his shoulder and continued to comb the beach, loading his arms, before returning to her side and unceremoniously unloading it a short distance from her feet. Drawing her knees to her chest, she watched in fascination as he cracked and broke the larger logs effortlessly with his metallic spider limbs and stacked them neatly with dry tinder tucked in the gaps. There was something so methodical about it that it made her wonder how many fires he had built before because in no time he had a fire crackling, and chunks of shark skewered and roasting above it.

And it turned out that shark wasn’t all that bad. Actually, it was pretty good. Although Beverly wasn’t in a position to really complain about where her next meal came from anyway, she appreciated that it had a mild, sweet flavor more like chicken or alligator. It even roused her appetite better than most of what Talech brought back for their meals, and she ate every bit he offered her until she was comfortably full.

Talech had brought another piece of meat to her lips, but she waved it off regretfully. “No more, I’m full. You eat.”

He gave her a long, skeptical look, and she wondered if he was trying to determine if she was telling the truth. She didn’t have a reason to lie but he had become suspicious once he had realized that she was eating less in an attempt to save more food for him. Now he fed her until he was certain that she was completely satiated no matter how much she protested.

“Really,” she assured him with a pat to her belly. “As delicious as it is, if I eat another bite my stomach is going to revolt.”

He glanced toward the skewered bit of meat and his nose twitched briefly before his gaze darted suspiciously back to her. At long last he grunted quietly to himself and brought the meat to his own mouth. His lips parted and his sharp teeth tore into the meat—that never failed to make her flinch just a little. She had gotten better about it, however. She was able to sit sedately while the large male devoured piece after piece of flesh. In fact, she felt relief when he filled his stomach. She knew that it took a lot to fuel his enormous body and the last thing she wanted was for him to become ill. She recalled the way that Kaylar ate and that had given her a good base scale when it came to Talech’s health, though she had to adjust it for the excess energy drained by his implants. Those consumed even more of his energy, making him weaken far more rapidly if he attempted to eat less.

Talech suddenly snarled in annoyance and lowered his food. She peered at his food worriedly.

“Are you okay, Talech? Is there something wrong with the meal?”

He shook his head, his vibrissae rattling as they twisted through the air with his agitation. Suddenly his hand rose, and he grasped the vibrissae implants around his mandibles only to yank it ruthlessly. It tore from his flesh, and Beverly jumped at the spurt of blood.

“What are you doing? You’re hurting yourself!”

“No more,” he hissed. “Unnatural. Too much input.” He grabbed the vibrissae at the other side and tore them off as well. It was a wet, sickening sound that left another river of blood pouring down both sides of his face. “No more.”

Beverly sprang to her feet, tearing strips off her shirt as she hurried over to him to press them against the ravaged flesh around each mandible. Tears sprung to her eyes at how thickly the blood was flowing down his face.

“You shouldn’t have hurt yourself. If you dislike it that much, I’m sure I could have had them removed in the medical un—”

He shook his head abruptly and shifted away from her. “No. Never again,” he seethed.

Beverly’s teeth sank into her bottom lip as she blinked back tears and nodded her understanding. He would never willingly consent to be confined in a med bed after what had happened in the labs.

“Okay. Okay,” she soothed. “No med unit. The damage has already been done anyway. I will need to suture you up, but I can do that in our room, right? We can get it properly cleaned, and I’ll stitch it closed.”

A purr rattled from his chest and he nodded. He gave the meat a forlorn look and Beverly chuckled as she slipped off her shirt and began to pile the meat inside of it. The bra she wore was old but covered as much as a modest bikini top that were all the rage when she was a young woman.

“I’ll just get this packed up and you can eat after we get you cleaned up. How does that sound?”

His purr rumbled even louder. Nodding his head, he stood and waited patiently. “We will eat on the beach again?” he asked hopefully.

Her stupid heart went a little sappy at that vulnerable note in his voice, and she nodded. “This is a better spot to enjoy our meals anyway, don’t you think?”

He clicked his mandibles, and she took it for agreement. Tying the shirt closed, she tossed it over her shoulder and headed back toward the facility with him. “Let’s get you fixed up, big guy.”

Thankfully, Argurmas were capable of turning off their pain receptors and healed quickly. That was at least one thing that still seemed to function correctly in his cybernetics, for which she was extremely grateful. Not only did he sit stoically as she stitched the sensitive flesh around his mandibles but within days the wounds were healed and she no longer had to restrict him to a fluid diet to prevent food from getting into the sutures. He protested that part quite strenuously but had purred contently when she patiently fed him the broth as he had done for her. She was almost disappointed that they healed as quickly as they did, and she no longer had an excuse to enjoy such closeness with him.

Even though they slept together every night to provide each other mutual comfort as they had since that first night of recovery when she woke screaming from her nightmares, there was something about taking care of him that made her feel even more connected to him—even when his attitude infuriated her. Perhaps that was why she had soothed him in turn when his confusion became too much to endure and his nightmares woke him from his sound sleep beside her.

What a pair they were. They clung to each other beyond instinct but by mutual need born from nightmares and pain.

But despite it all, they returned to the beach every day. At times Talech waded into the shallows to fish, his arachnid limbs plunging like numerous spears into the waves, and at other times the male had his most recent kill attached to his hip as they went. But they always ate at the beach. Even when he was unable to eat meat in order to heal properly, he still insisted on taking her down there and feeding her so that she could enjoy the fresh air and sun.

They had been going down daily for weeks when she suddenly noticed something new on the beach. Startled, she grabbed Talech’s arm as excitement rose rapidly within her breast.

“Talech... is... is that a ship?”

The hatch suddenly opened and a lean but powerfully built male roughly a head shorter than Kaylar had been, and even more so compared to Talech, strode out across the beach. Her eyes widened. They were rescued!

Then the beast beside her roared furiously before taking off at a full run toward the male. Beverly stared in horror after him, her mouth dropping open. He was going to tear their rescuer apart before they could even get off the damn island!

“Talech, no!” she shouted as she took off after him.