“Kaede is going to hide me away from the dome-city until reinforcements decide to investigate why they haven’t heard from us.”
Rodriguez grimaced. “That is a fucking awful plan. Just hiding?”
Kaede bristled but seemed to regain control, though that didn’t stop him from glaring hot daggers at the other male.
“It is not awful,” he objected coolly. “It will keep Frahnkee safer than she’d be in any of the sanctuaries and give us the opportunity of perhaps finding the ancestral tribe that is believed to still dwell somewhere in the vast swamps bordering Aminae.”
“Really? You failed to mention that to me,” Frankie said. That was one part of the plan she hadn’t heard.
Kaede snapped his spines in a shrug.
“Finding them is entirely uncertain, but I have hope. The tribes would make a strong ally to force the ruling house to yield.”
“I still don’t like it. We’re just going to be wandering around the forest with our thumbs up our asses while asses in need of kicking are living it up in the city, doing god knows what to our crew.”
Frankie rolled her eyes and laughed.
“And what exactly do you think you are going to do, Rodriguez? Storm the palisade?”
“Anything is better than what your Agraak bulldog has planned,” he grumbled.
“You are welcome to return to the dome-city,” she suggested as kindly as possible, though there was little she could do to disguise the irritated bite to her voice. Kaede gave her an approving look, which she ignored.
If possible, her squadmate’s scowl deepened further. He rolled a hand impatiently.
“Didn’t you have a sister to find?” he snapped.
She jerked as the words hit her. Kaede immediately pressed himself behind her as he growled at Rodriguez. His spines stirred in a slight rattle. Frankie reached back and patted his forearm, communicating that she was all right.
“My sister... Alisha is dead,” she said in a soft voice. She expected another wave of grief to hit her, but instead all she felt was a numbness settle over her with the words. No amount of grieving was going to bring her back.
Silence descended and the Terils bowed their large heads. Emagul dropped his gaze, pain crossing over his features. Even Mi’yar, who always jested that he would perhaps woo Alisha if they’d found her, closed his eyes, his spines flattening for her loss. Her friends, her brothers, all seemed to recognize that there were no adequate words that could be offered.
Rodriguez’s petulant look fell into a sympathetic frown. He rubbed a hand over his short, dark hair and let out a long breath.
“Fuck. I’m sorry, kid.”
Her squadmates echoed his sentiment in their own ways and she gave them all a thankful nod and a tight smile.
“All right, so what do you wanna do?”
She licked her lips and regarded her friends thoughtfully.
“I’m all for taking them down, but we have to be smart about it if we are going to succeed.” There were several nods of agreement. “Rushing in guns blazing sounds good, but it’s not practical in the bigger scheme of things.”
“Agreed,” Emagul rumbled, his gray wings flexing around him. “But your Agraak’s plan hinges on finding a tribe that he is not even entirely certain is still within the area.”
“Kaede?” she asked.
Kaede sighed and shifted forward, his eyes landing on each of her squadmates and the Arobi pack who were now gathered close with the group. His spines flicked, showing a moment of uncertainty, but his eyes met them calmly.
“My father’s grandmother came from this swamp. She never spoke of exactly where her tribe was located, but it was beyond a great waterfall, the Amwalee. I have no doubt that her people are still here. There is no guarantee that we will find them, but my first priority is keeping Frahnkee safe until you are otherwise in position to defeat the warrior ranik who guards the city.”
“And who is Frankie to you, exactly, buddy?” Rodriguez asked as his eyes shifted back and forth between Frankie and Kaede with open curiosity.
Kaede didn’t answer; he just stared the other male down until Rodriguez lifted his hands in surrender and turned away.
“With the pack, there might be some margin for success,” Exeri stepped in, speaking slowly with consideration. “While you search in one direction, we can fan out and trek further ahead and will be able to return before nightfall to camp.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we all split up?” Mi’yar rejoined.
Frankie looked at Kaede. He knew the dangers of the swamp better than any of them. She was honestly surprised that the others made it as far as they did without an experienced guide... but then again, they did have the Arobi. They would have alerted the squad to dangers. Kaede shook his head. When he spoke, his voice rumbled out in a cautious rasp.
“The Arobi will have no trouble locating us. While Agraaks have a good sense of smell, as do our cousins the Edokas,” he said with a small nod to Mi’yar, “we don’t possess the ability to be able to track our way back to our companions as quickly and successfully. It will be best if we stay together. Besides,” he stared out into the swamp in the direction that they’d been going, “with the dangers as we go further into the swamps and closer to the great rivers, the more eyes and weapons we have available, the better.”
The company muttered in agreement. Some looked a bit doubtful but overall everyone seemed to agree it was the best course of action. Weapons were checked and packs shouldered as they prepared to move out.
The Arobi circled each other in their eerie silent communication before breaking apart and scattering in four directions, their black bodies disappearing quickly into the foliage. Kaede waved their group forward and cut a path into the dense brush.
Frankie jogged to his side. She gestured to the narrow pistol that Kaede wore strapped to his thigh.
“If you were so determined to fight the guys, why didn’t you just pull that on them?”
“It is for when there is no other choice. I find no honor in fighting with pistols. They are effective but require little strength and mastery to use them. To use them to defend one’s ormar bonded is an insult to our mates.”
She sighed.
“Kaede, we aren’t mates.”
“We aren’t,” he agreed. Did she imagine a slight hesitation in his voice? “But as we have fulfilled ormar, I will give you no less respect and protections that are due until the time that we go our separate ways.”
“Kaede...”
His eyes snapped to her, a hard, disapproving look in their brilliant depths.
“It is a matter of my honor.”
A reluctant sigh passed her lips.
“All right, then. Even though the shit back there was crazy, I want to thank you for doing what you thought was necessary to protect me... even if it wasn’t.” Her lips quirked as she spoke and his curved in answer.
“Perhaps it was an overreaction, but I do not regret it, especially if it keeps that human’s hands to himself,” he whispered before striding ahead, his head erect and his spine straight. His tail, which he’d hidden the entire time they’d been together, slid across her hip as he passed and twisted and curled in the air behind him. She grinned at the sight.
It really was an adorable tail. That was definitely a topic she was interested in revisiting. A tail offered so much potential.
Just behind her, Emagul let out a low bass rumble, calling the squad to advance. As one, they moved seamlessly in formation following after Kaede as if he had always been one of them. Picking up her pace, she took her position. Rodriguez at her left cut a quick look at her and smirked, no doubt thinking perverted thoughts as he tilted his head toward Kaede and puckered his lips. Frankie covertly flipped him off, pressing her extended middle finger against her thigh. He let out a snort of repressed laughter, and that was that.
He had her back, like always.
A warmth filled her chest. Not one among them, not even that prick, was treati
ng her any differently. She was still just Martins to them.
Grinning, she shouted to Rodriguez.
“Hey, how do you manage not to get eaten alive by the blood vilks?”
He shuddered.
“Is that what they’re called? Damn things were getting me good until I bought some bug repellant off Emagul. Apparently, some of their forests on Itashvanda get pretty bad with blood-sucking insects, though the bastard charged me a fortune for the bug spray.”
“It was a bargain,” Emagul put in, though his lips curled smugly.
“What about you?”
“Magic spit!” she shouted gleefully.
Rodriguez’s lip curled with disgust, making her chortle.
“Yeah, you just go ahead and keep that.”
The group advanced, their bodies crashing through the underbrush, but otherwise making little sound for stretches of time. Sometimes the Teril brothers would start wisecracking on each other, or trading insults with Rodriguez, but the atmosphere among them was that of watchful expectation. The swamp was a dangerous place, and none of them—with the exception of Kaede—really knew what to expect. Even Kaede seemed to be increasingly alert as he splashed through a shallow stream. Frankie couldn’t help the foreboding feeling that swept over her.
Chapter 18
Making camp turned out to be an eventful affair. First was the matter of convincing a pair of Terils that they were going to be sleeping in a platform in the trees. Their incredulous stares had almost been worth the hour of arguing. Frankie had been shocked to find out they’d been sleeping on the driest patches of the ground they could find the several days they’d been trailing her through the swamp.
It had taken one very irritated Agraak telling them in no uncertain terms just exactly what sort of predators hunted the forests of the swamp at night to convince them. Even then, Borth had jested that he pitied any creature that tried to eat him and his brother, that it was sure to find them unappetizing and difficult to digest. Still, they swallowed their protests and got to work helping Kaede assemble four platforms in a pair of solid trees.
By the time the platforms were made, the Arobi returned. The pack, heaving with exhaustion, reported that they’d found no obvious sign of inhabitants but suggested that they continue moving parallel to the waterways. The pack would continue to fan out from that apex. Exeri and his brothers agreed with Kaede that the main riverway would hold the most likely chance of success from what they had seen of the thick, sludgy mires further away from the river.
Game that had been hunted in the waning hours of the day was eaten without fuss or ceremony before everyone ascended to their platforms as the sun crept closer to the horizon. The Arobi were the first to leap easily onto their platform. With a smooth bunch of their muscles, they were airborne. Their bodies stepped lightly along the platform as they organized their places, and with that, they curled up together, each with their dark muzzle tucked into the soft fur of their brother’s back.
Borth and Grish took another platform that creaked so ominously that no one else seemed inclined to share it. The brothers didn’t seem to mind. Instead, they found it hilarious and chuffed their amusement as Mi’yar and Rodriguez climbed up onto another platform with Emagul. No one suggested that Frankie and Kaede share a platform, and she could tell from the gleam in his eye and the smug curl of his lips that Kaede was satisfied with the arrangements.
Hauling her up into his arms, her body supported by his arm and his tail looping tightly under her ass, he made quick work of scurrying up the side of the tree to the highest platform. It wasn’t of great distance from the other platforms, but enough to give some semblance of privacy.
He swung onto it with limber ease. His claws hit the reeds with a quiet sound and very slowly lowered her to the platform, allowing her body to slide against his in her descent. A purring rattle echoed around them as his spines vibrated, and his eyes gleamed in the dark like polished carnelians. Frankie stared up into those beautiful eyes and a shiver raced through her.
He lifted his hand and ran the back of his claws against her cheek, his gaze softening, and he explored the contours of her face. She leaned into the touch, reminding herself that it was just the effects of the ormar.
It didn’t truly mean anything, so there was no risk in enjoying it.
She felt the gentle glide of his tail, the skin silky against her as it slid up her leg. With one hand she caught the end of it so that she could inspect it. The skin itself was supple but the last few inches formed a hard, narrow point. She experimentally passed the thumb of her opposite hand over the top of it and winced as it pricked her skin. A drop of blood beaded the tiny puncture. Kaede immediately gripped her finger. He examined it before popping it into his mouth and swirling his tongue over the injured digit.
“So, about the tail... when were you planning on telling me that you have one? Why keep it hidden?”
“It is not a feature that civilized Agraak possess. Though I refuse to have it cosmetically amputated as my mother would like, I keep it hidden to keep the scorn of the palisade houses from us.”
“Seriously? It’s just a tail. A rather nice one.”
It really was. The base of his tail was dark green like the rest of him but as it extended further, it darkened into true black. The vivid red tip was the only splash of color on him. He looked at her thoughtfully, his eyes taking her measure.
“We bred them out of our society. It was considered an unnecessary reminder of our lives in the swamps. My father’s grandmother had a tail, though it was always concealed behind her long lipini, but none of her hatchlings inherited it, nor her grand-sired hatchlings. My mother was... displeased... when I was born with the traits and coloration that marked me in the likeness of our most ancient forebearers. It was shameful to her, to have her only hatchling appearing deformed according to our society’s standards.”
Frankie snorted. “Then they’re idiots. Clearly you get a lot of use out of it. Besides, I think it’s actually pretty, especially with that splash of red at the tip.”
He hesitated and looked down at his tail as if trying to see what she saw.
“You truly like it?”
In answer, she lifted it up and rubbed the baby-soft skin against her cheek. His narrow pupils dilated, and his lips parted on a ragged sigh. His tail pulled free of her hands but then his mouth descended against her neck, his lips trailing lightly over the skin.
“Show me,” he rasped against her throat. “Show me how a male shows his affections toward a female among your kind.”
She swallowed nervously.
“Well, I guess the most important thing is that they kiss the woman they care about.”
“Kiss,” he whispered, drawing out the syllable on a soft hiss of breath against her ear. “Show me this kiss, Frahnkee.”
A shiver ran through her and she licked her lips before drawing back to tilt her head toward him. He looked up, his yellow eyes with their carnelian centers focusing on her as he pulled his head level with hers. He leaned nearer to her so that his breath tickled her lips. She met him the rest of the way, her mouth caressing his in the most delicate brush.
A low growl vibrated from his chest. He pressed closer to her, his mouth following hers, impatient for the erotic tutelage. When her tongue teased the seam of his lips, he didn’t part them to allow her exploration. He sucked it into his mouth, his tongue twining and caressing her own in the hollow of his mouth before plunging voraciously into hers.
Frankie moaned and clenched her fingers into his dark braids. She couldn’t seem to keep up. His mouth plundered hers with such abandon that it made her breathless as everything shifted and spun around her.
As he pressed closer to her, his hard shaft prodded the apex of her thighs through her anidupar, the tiny tentacles around it twitching against the fabric. Frankie whimpered and leaned into it, her breath coming out in pants whenever his lips released hers long enough for her to drag in breaths of air.
Kaede’
s hands dipped until they met the high hem on her hips. He gathered it in his palms and pulled upward. She felt the lower draping fabric sliding between her thighs. It rose from between her knees until it licked her mons before baring her to the night air. The fabric, and her skin, still smelled faintly of him from when he gave her a tongue bath earlier.
Though she’d whispered a soft protest that she could beat the bug repellant out of Rodriguez if she had to, Kaede wouldn’t hear of it. He’d licked her mercilessly until he was satisfied that she was well covered. Unfortunately, she’d been left unsatisfied in other ways—and she hadn’t been the only one judging by his pained expression. Now she leaned into him with desperation, demanding satisfaction.
Kaede did not yield to her demands, her pleasure answered by his own aggressive, sensual assault. She was drowning in the overwhelming crush of his desire, igniting her own to greater, uncontrollable heights.
His large hands flexed as he pulled the rest of her clothing free of her body and dropped it to the platform. Her straps holding her weapons soon followed with his trailing caresses over her body. They hit louder, and some part of her groaned in dismay, knowing that by now her squad would know exactly what they were doing. She just couldn’t seem to care when his lips were brushing her skin and his long, narrow black tongue slipped along, tasting her.
He dropped to his knees, pulling her down with him, as he continued to explore her with mouth and hands. This time, there was more certainty in his touch, as if he’d committed to memory every curve of her flesh.
Kaede pushed her forward until she lay against the platform, her breasts exposed to the moonlight. Her thighs shifted around his hips; but he slid back, his body rubbing with delicious friction as he dropped further down her length. When his tongue touched on the mouth of her pussy, she arched into it, the familiar pleasure overtaking discretion.
He explored and prodded, playing her expertly as he brought her to orgasm as he stroked, plundered, and sucked her flesh into his mouth. She quaked with ecstasy, her knees closing against his jaws even as she tried to wiggle away from his ceaseless strokes. He chuckled against her and gave several slow, tantalizing licks to her sensitive flesh, despite her whimpered pleas, before crawling back up her body.
Heart of the Agraak Page 13
