Freeing Luka: The Clecanian Series Book 2 by Victoria Aveline (readict books TXT) 📕

on his lap. To Alice’s surprise, it didn’t try to bolt as soon as he let it go. “Calm down, female. This guarsil needs medication.”

“What?” she said softly, kneeling down to study the creature.

The guarsil, as he called it, was the size and color of a pomegranate, its round body covered with dark red, wiry hair. As Luka reached into his bag and retrieved a small green tablet, the guarsil snuggled into his lap, trying to burrow between his legs.

“Its mother left recently, but he hasn’t moved out of the nest like his brothers and sisters. A few days ago, when I checked on him, I noticed he had a bit of a cold.”

“A cold? You’re treating him for a cold?”

He held the green pellet out to the animal, and Alice watched as long arms she’d thought were cute little hands shot out from its round center to snatch the tablet. “Guarsils are pack animals, and they’re endangered. I know where his nestmates have moved to, but if he doesn’t get better soon, I won’t be able to return him to their pack. A cold won’t kill him, but being alone when he gets better will.”

Alice watched as the tiny animal nibbled the edges of the green object. Its small, sharp teeth attacked it the way a human would corn on the cob. “It’s kind of cute.” She smiled.

Luka gave a humorless laugh. “Cute now, but in about two months when it reaches maturity, it’ll be vicious. Their small size is deceptive. Animals will come by sniffling around a waiting guarsil, thinking it’s a fallen wanget fruit. When they get close enough, all the pack members attack. They’ve brought down animals a hundred times their size.”

Like some kind of terrifying out-of-water piranha. Alice leaned away from the creature and glanced around.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything get you,” Luka said, smirking up at her under dark brows.

The retort that bubbled up evaporated on her tongue. He would protect her. She felt it. No man from her past had ever made her feel quite as safe as Luka did.

Unaware of her open regard toward him, he dropped the squirming guarsil back into the roots of the tree.

“Why are you trying to help it?” Alice asked, recalling that healing animals was her passion, not his.

He shrugged. “Because I’m here all the time and I can.”

She held his stare. Would all Clecanian men go out of their way to help an unlikeable, vicious animal? She thought not.

“How often do you come here?”

“Before you?” he began, peering at her meaningfully. “Every day or every other day. As often as I can. Sometimes other researchers schedule work, which means I’m not able to visit.”

Ignoring his first comment, she asked, “What kind of research are you doing out here? I thought your field was Clecanian reproduction?”

He surveyed the area with a lopsided grin. “I study the mating habits of different animals to see whether there are any noticeable patterns in their rate of reproduction and their mating practices. Do their bodies produce more of a certain chemical while in heat that could be harnessed and used in Clecanians? Does the time of year or their diet result in more or less births? That type of thing. Mostly I just come and watch. I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for, but the interesting ways in which they couple helps me brainstorm.”

“What kinds of interesting ways do they couple?” she asked curiously. Some creatures on Earth were known to mate in odd ways. Would they be similar here?

“Well…” He pointed to the water. “There are certain types of suu who are hermaphroditic. When they choose to mate, they’ll attempt to stab each other with their reproductive organs and inject the other with their seed. They sometimes die from the wounds sustained.”

“I think that’s very similar to slugs on Earth.” She laughed, recalling the first animal science class she’d taken after a year of uninteresting general ed courses. “I don’t know how slug mating habits could help your research, though.”

With another slanted smile, he hiked his shoulders. “If you look hard enough, you can always find similarities that could lead to some useful piece of information. Hermaphrodites are rare among Clecanians, but battles for dominance aren’t unheard of. The Rotun in the East wrestle to decide who their spouses will be. Whoever wins becomes the lead of the marriage and makes the majority of decisions with input from their partner.”

She eyed his large frame, glad she hadn’t been taken to a Rotun city. There’d be no question about who’d win in a wrestling match between her and Luka. “Seems like the men would have an unfair advantage.”

He hissed a laugh through his teeth. “You haven’t seen a Rotun female. They may not be as big, but they’re strong and are trained to be excellent wrestlers.” Squinting into the sky, he said, “Let’s go. I thought we could take a walk and see what we can see. I’ll tell you what I can about the animals if we spot any.”

Alice nodded and began to rise, one hand on her bent knee. Luka took hold of her other hand, helping her the rest of the way.

“Thanks,” she muttered when she was on her feet. His hand twitched in hers, but he released her, stepping away to retrieve his bag. She attempted not to ogle his ass as he bent to grab the bag. “What’s in there, anyway?”

He tightened the loose strap over his broad chest before giving her a vague answer. “A few things I thought we may need.”

Rolling her eyes, she motioned for him to lead the way.

As they traipsed through the forest, Luka kept reaching out and briefly touching her. While she was annoyed at first, after a while she began to wonder if he truly couldn’t help it.