Free Ruth's Bonded (Ruth & Gron Book 1) by V.C. Lancaster Page A

when the children of the tribe would play in the sunshine.
    That was over now. Now he would have
to endure her silence and disappointment and reproach until their time in this
cell ended, whenever that would be. He would have to let her go, and meet his
fate knowing he had failed her.
    Gron reached the wall and collapsed
against it. He had no energy, and no will to fight anymore. He bore one last
look at her; he had to see if she was improving, how she was faring. Her bare
skin gave him pause. He knew she would look different from him - she already
did – but to have no pelt at all? Perhaps that was why she wore the coverings.
She must suffer scratches and grazes from the slightest thing. Her long mane
hung down her back providing some cover, but not much. The bones of her spine
raising her skin was alarming, he had never seen that before. He could see her
ribs too. He could see no muscle on her and wondered if she was malnourished.
He suddenly felt very bad about taking the morsel she had offered him from her
rations. He noticed as well that she had no tail. If he was right about her
coming from a tribe that lived off the fruits of the ocean, her smooth skin
would ease her passage through the water and dry more quickly. With no tail,
she could not be from the trees as he was.
    She was sitting hunched away from
him, but he had already seen enough to know she was mature. Perhaps young, but
mature. She did not look like she had borne many children though, and the idea threaded
through his mind again that perhaps she had not mated yet, not yet gathered her
harem. Perhaps she was captured because she had only just left her tribe and
was alone. She was very brave to attempt to Bind him so quickly, if that was
the case.
    Even if she had no other males, she
still knew that he was not strong enough. Even with no other males to protect
and care for her in this place, she would not take him. That cut him deeply,
but he deserved it, he knew. He had failed. She was still now. Her shoulders
were not shaking with sobs and her breathing was controlled and steady. He
could rest.
    He allowed his shoulders to slide
along the wall until he lay on the ground, and he fell asleep, thinking of her
back turned to him.

Chapter 12
    Ruth was cold. The adrenaline of the
attack had left her, and she had nothing left to eat or drink. Food was clearly
being withheld, either as punishment or because they were too busy treating
their wounded. She hoped vindictively that it was the latter, but she recognised
that it didn’t make a difference. She was still hungry. If it was the latter
though, food might come sooner. She was shaking quite badly now. She didn’t
want to be, but it was like she couldn’t get over it, couldn’t calm down. She’d
really thought for a moment that she was going to be sexually assaulted by a
group of aliens, while the only person who could help her was pinned to the
floor two feet away.
    She looked over to where Gron lay. If
she was being charitable, she’d say he’d passed out. If she was being mean,
she’d say he’d fallen asleep. She wished she could sleep, but she couldn’t
bring her body to unbend. She wasn’t sure if she should go over and check on
him. He’d taken a lot more than she had. He might be seriously hurt. On the
other hand, what could she do? She didn’t know what his pulse should be, or
even where to find it on him. If he wasn’t breathing, she didn’t know how to
revive him. Try to copy the Kiss of Life she’d seen on TV? She sighed. She
should probably get over herself and at least go and see if he was alive. If he
was asleep or unconscious, she didn’t have to worry about being naked. She
could get back over to huddle against the wall without him ever seeing her
body.
    She really hoped he was alive. He
seemed to have been recovering when she’d left him, but she really didn’t want
to be held in a cell with a dead body. That would be nightmarish. She also
didn’t want to lose him. Ruth