Free Coto's Captive by Laurann Dohner

Didn’t you say you thought you were tracking Vhon when you were attacked?”
    “Yes.” Coto slowly pulled away and gripped her arm, helping her to sit up. He stood, removing his leather Speedos all the way. He held out his hand to her again. “Let’s get clean first.”
    “The river is too far.”
    He smiled. “Zorn technology. Trust me.”
    He led her to one of the black packs and reached inside to pull out a packet. “Wash cloth. I think that is the right term you would understand. The human bounds on Zorn work with our programmers to make communications smoother.”
    He opened it and handed her a warm, wet piece of material. She studied it. It was really soft.
    “Wipe over your skin to get clean.” He bent and removed a second one.
    She had to admire the way that he seemed so comfortable with his nudity. It made her feel a little shy as she removed her jacket, doing what he did. He started at his face, moved slowly down his shoulders, then his chest to his stomach. She realized quickly that the cloth remained damp and seemed to absorb everything.
     
    Coto avoided staring at Lynn. She seemed ill at ease with baring her body in front of him. He found it endearing. Earth women were shy about nudity. He’d break Lynn of that in time, until she preferred being undressed in his presence.
    Some of his amusement faded. She hadn’t agreed to return to Zorn with him as his bound. They didn’t know each other well but he wanted to keep her. He’d seen Rever make a mistake by bounding to the wrong woman. It had been corrected when he’d met his Brenda, but the lesson was learned. Coto refused to believe Lynn hid a dark, deceitful heart. She was sweet, smart, and everything he could want in a woman he would spend the rest of his life with.
    She wanted time to get to know him better. He’d sent a distress signal to Zorn when they’d engaged in battle with the Collis. The ships they used to avoid detection on Earth didn’t have many weapons. He estimated he had two days before help reached them, if the signal had been received. Otherwise, it could be a week before someone was sent to investigate why they hadn’t reported in.
    He finished cleaning up and withdrew a shirt from his pack, unfolding it. “Here, Lynn. Wear this.” It bothered him that the other men could see so much of her in just that torn jacket of hers. The crew had been without women since they’d left Zorn and Lynn had a beautiful body. He’d kill anyone who tried to take what was his. That was her .
    She accepted it. “Thank you.”
    He located sleeping shorts and offered her those too. “They will be large on you but will cover more.” He strode over to one of the sleeping blankets and used his shara to slice off a long strip. Returning to her and dropping to his knees, he used it to make a belt to hold up the loose shorts. He liked having a reason to touch her and she allowed it.
    He glanced at her feet. “We should return to the river to cover your feet.”
    “I have a plan.”
    He looked up at her, resisting the urge to pull her back into his arms. He’d enjoy nothing better than stripping her bare and taking her back to the sleeping mat. He resisted. He’d shown her they were sexually compatible, but he’d learned enough about Earth women to know they wanted more than sex from a male.
    “What?”
    “We’re going to Mr. Avery’s. His daughter and I were friends. She keeps clothes and stuff there for when she visits him every Christmas, and we’re about the same size. I’m also going to borrow a gun from him. I don’t want to run into those coyotes again without one.”
    “I can protect you.”
    She smiled. “I know, but I like to protect myself. Welcome to Earth. I’m your equal here. Deal with that.”
    He chuckled. She was tiny but he wouldn’t point that out to her. Berrr’s female was fierce. He wouldn’t underestimate Lynn. She had tracked and found him in the woods when he’d been wounded. It was a skill he admired.