by S. E. Smith
In the meantime, she had snuck out of the house at least a dozen times and each time, either Armet or Jazin caught her. And each and every exit she used was then either barred or a guard placed in front of it. She was really beginning to get desperate.
It was time to break out the knives, she thought with glee as the picture of Jazin stuck to the door floated through her mind.
A knock on the door roused Star from her dark, gleeful thoughts. She let out a deep sigh and hoped it was her sister and River. She knew River had to be careful right now since she was pregnant but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help Star escape the confines of the house. She was going batty being locked up!
The knock sounded again as Star approached. “I’m coming. I’m coming. Keep your pantyhose on,” Star called out in frustration.
She opened the door and stood back in shock when she saw Madas Tal Mod standing outside the door. The huge Tearnat’s lips pulled back to reveal a set of even, but very sharp, teeth. Star’s eyebrow rose. It was probably the closest thing to a smile a Tearnat could make, she guessed.
“Hi Madas,” Star said in surprise. She glanced around to see if there was anyone else with her. “Would you like to come in?”
“That is usually what happens when someone requests entrance into a room,” Madas teased.
Star chuckled. She liked the big female Tearnat. Not just because she saved her life but because she did have a wicked sense of humor.
“I guess you are right,” Star laughed as she opened the door further. She waited patiently as Madas entered, sniffing the air as she came through. “What brings you here? Jo and River wouldn’t have happened to send you here to rescue me, would they?” She asked hopefully.
Madas turned in an elegant circle to look darkly at Star. “You need help?” She growled out menacingly. “The Kassis lord is mistreating you?”
Star released a deep sigh and shook her head. She motioned with one hand for Madas to have a sit on the long, dark burgundy couch in the center of their living area. Star sat down on a matching chair across from her. There was a small, delicately carved crystal table between them. A refreshment tray containing hot tea, dozens of small pastries and breads, and a mixture of fresh fruit had been brought in earlier.
“Not unless being kept on a pedestal is considered mistreatment,” Star reluctantly responded. She reached over and poured Madas and her some tea. “Would you like some pastries, bread, or fruit? They always bring me way too much. Plus, it isn’t much fun eating alone all the time.”
Madas reached over and gingerly took the small cup of hot liquid from Star. She then proceeded to load a plate full of each of the items. She always did like the food and drink on this planet. It was one of the few that reminded her of her home.
Madas grinned when she saw Star’s eyes widened at the size of the helping on her plate. “I am much larger than you, little warrior, and never turn down the delicious food available here. It reminds me of my home. My clan lives at the edge of the great mountains. We grow much of our own food there. Fruit hangs heavy from the trees that surround our village and the grasses along the snow ridges are used to make breads. We are careful of the amount of meat we eat. Gril’s clan comes from closer to the desert where there is not an abundance of such things. His clan survives primarily on the flesh of the animals that live in the region,” Madas explained.
Star looked at the huge, dark green, brown, and black creature closely. She could see the beauty in the way her skin formed into soft scales. Her head was delicately curved with a series of ridges along the top that flowed down like waves of hair. Her skin was very soft and dry, not hard and wet like she had expected. She wore a long-sleeved light tan shirt with a darker brown vest over it and soft, dark brown pants tucked into mid-calf length soft, brown boots. Around each wrist was a band of what looked like gold. Her claw-like fingers were slender and the nails, while very long, were carefully manicured. Her long tail wound down along her side and the tip curled around one ankle like a cape.
“You are very beautiful,” Star murmured out loud before she blushed in embarrassment.
Madas chuckled as she leaned back. “Thank you, little warrior. It is not often that other species look beyond what they want to see. Most think of the Tearnats as a savage species with little culture or capacity for caring,” Madas said, her eyes sad for a moment. “I am just as guilty. When I first saw Gril….,” her husky, warm voice faded as a small rose color filled her face.
“Oh no you don’t,” Star said in fascination. “You are so not going to start and not finish! How did you two meet?”
Madas blushed again and looked down at the plate in her lap. “He was on a training mission. The single fighter ship he was in developed engine problems and he was forced to land. He had never been to the mountainous regions of our home world before. My clan was very isolated at the time. My mother led our clan after my father died. In our clan, the females were taught to fight as well as the males. My mother believed it was important that all members of the clan be ready to defend it if necessary. There are many animals that live in the mountains that would not hesitate to attack. We were excellent hunters and trackers. I learned how to use the plants to heal from my grandmother.” Madas paused to take a small bite out of the fresh fruit on her plate. Her eyes closed briefly as the sweet juice flowed down her throat. When her eyes opened, they glittered with humor. “I saw Gril’s fighter landing in a meadow half a mountain away from our village. I rushed to see what it was as I had never seen one before. When he stepped out of it and turned, I thought I had never seen an uglier male in my life!”
“You thought Gril was ugly?” Star asked amazed.
Madas chuckled. “You have to understand, I had never seen a male like him before. He was all muscle and he was bigger and paler than the males of our clan. He gets his coloring from the desert.”
Star nodded. She had wondered why Gril was so much lighter than Madas. He also had just one ridge on his head and his teeth were longer and sharper. His coloring was more like the color of the desert camouflage outfits that the military wore back home.
“So, what happened?” Star asked impatiently. “What did he do when he saw you?”
“He didn’t…. at first,” Madas responded with a glint in her eyes. “Remember, he was in my territory. I knew how to hunt, track, and remain hidden. I was the best warrior in our clan and the daughter of the leader. But, I underestimated his ability to sense he was not alone. He is very good at trusting his instincts and he had experienced war where I had not. For two days, we played with each other. He would disappear, trying to circle around me while I would stay one step ahead of him. I grew to respect his skills as he came closer and closer to me.” Her voice grew warm as her memories flooded her. “On the third day, he caught me. He had set a trap and I walked into it.”
Star was staring at Madas totally mesmerized by the story. Her hand reached up to her throat. What must it have been like to have the huge Tearnat stalking her day after day? Then, to be caught in a trap, unable to get out. Star could feel her own pulse increase at the thought.
“What did you do?” Star breathed out.
Madas grinned. “I cursed him, fought him, and fell in love with him,” she said quietly.
“Yes, but....,” Star grounded her teeth together. “What did he do?”
Madas’ cheeks burned with color as she lowered her head. “He claimed me. Over and over until I couldn’t think straight. Then, he demanded I take him back to my clan so he could tell them I belonged to him,” she hissed out softly.
“How did your mom feel about him?” Star asked curiously, wondering how her own parents would react to Jazin’s claim on her.
“She insisted he prove that he was strong enough to claim me,” Madas replied looking out the window as she remembered how frightened she had been. “In my clan, a warrior has to prove he is strong enough to protect his mate. If he is not, both die. I was taken during the night to the Death Springs. Gril had
three days to find and rescue me.”
“What do you mean, you would both die? What happens at the Death Springs?” Star asked quietly, sensing this was not a good thing.
Madas looked intently at Star before she lowered her eyes. “There is a place in the mountains where the heat of the planet is closer to the surface. There are springs in this area where the water boils and nothing can live. My clan uses these springs as a test. Cages are suspended above the largest boiling spring and the male or female who is being claimed is placed in it. For three days and three nights, they are left there alone. If the warrior claiming them does not complete the journey to the Death Springs before the light of the fourth day, the cage is lowered into the boiling water,” Madas explained quietly. “The path to the springs is deadly. Many warriors have lost their lives trying to make it. Even then, some have made the journey but did not arrive in time to save their mate. If they survive but their mate does not, they are given to the boiling waters for failing to be a good protector.”
“But Gril made it,” Star insisted. “He saved you, otherwise you wouldn’t be here now.”
Madas smiled. “Yes, he made it. My clan was not happy that I was claimed by a warrior from outside the clan. They….” Madas shook her head sadly. “Tell me why you are unhappy, little warrior. Perhaps I can help you.”
Star realized there was more to the story of Madas and Gril but she also realized that she would not get any more today. They spent the next several hours talking about Star’s frustration at getting Jazin to realize that she might be small but she was strong. Madas laughed as she told Star about the night she was injured. She told her how she had warned Jazin that there were some forces in the universe he couldn’t control. One of them was his mate.
Madas promised that if Star really wanted to get out for a while, all she had to do was call. Madas would be more than happy to sneak her out. After all, she was forever doing it to Gril! Star gave her big, alien friend a fierce hug before she left. This world really wasn’t so different from the one she had known in the circus. Friends came in all different sizes, shapes, and forms there as well.
Chapter 4
“Jazin, I have to return to Earth and tell my parents Jo and I are alright. I was thinking maybe…,” Star said later that night. She stared into the mirror and shook her head. “No, I’m not going to tell him I’m thinking maybe,” she sighed in frustration. “Since when did you ever ask to do something, girl? You are not growing weak and needy! Walter would turn me over his knee and spank my ass if I became a wimp,” she growled out to her reflection.
“No one is going to turn you over and spank you but me,” a dark growl came from behind her.
Star squeaked in surprise. She had been so busy trying to figure out the best way to approach Jazin about taking her back to Earth that she didn’t hear him come in. It was late, well after midnight. It was always late when he came in lately. Since she had been injured, he insisted on her sharing his bed. She refused for all the fat lot of good it did her. She went to bed in her bed and either woke up in his or he was in hers.
She was just so afraid he was going to turn out to be like Justin, her first real boyfriend. She felt like she had been in a cocoon her entire life until she and Jo got their condo in Orlando. It was kind-of difficult to go on a date or get serious about anyone when you were in a different city every other night. Not to mention, she had more surrogate aunts, uncles, and grandparents than any kid needed as a chaperone. In Orlando, she and Jo had lived with their parents for the first year after they gave up the circus. They wanted to make sure it was something them really wanted to do. She had been so consumed with learning the new routines and adapting to life outside of the small world of the circus that she didn’t even think about dating.
The past year was the first time she felt comfortable with the idea of going out. She had only gone out on a couple of dates before she met Justin. He had joined the performing troupe three months before they were kidnapped. Star had immediately been smitten with his handsome, blond looks. It took two more months before he asked her out. She should have known something was up when he didn’t even give her a second glance until a Nighttime Entertainment crew came to film her and Jo performing. The producer of NTE was doing a documentary on the Strauss Family Flyers to promote a film that Star and Jo had been in. After that, Justin was all over her. She was glad she had been nervous of taking their relationship to the next level so soon after he asked her out.
She wanted what her parents had, a loving, long term relationship. She was having second thoughts about whether she should just go ahead and let Justin make love to her before he made any commitment to her. After all, the girls in the performing troupe were always talking about the guys they had ‘done’ the night before. She was reluctant because that wasn’t the way she had been raised. Thank goodness she had overheard the conversation between Justin and several of the other cast members before she made that mistake! She had been on the catwalk above them, checking the rigging before that night’s performance. The sound of their voices had drifted upwards and she heard every cruel word the people she thought were her friends said. She had broken down and told Jo what happened. That next night, her and Jo resigned after their performance. They would meet up with River and let her know they were rejoining the circus. It was where they both fit in.
Star took a deep breath and turned to face Jazin. She refused to back down. He needed to accept her for herself or their relationship could never go any further. Her eyes swept over his black hair that was clipped back at the nape. He towered over her petite five feet two inches but she had never been intimidated by someone taller than her. Walter had shown her that size didn’t matter if you wanted something. She bit her bottom lip as she stared into his dark, almost black eyes. She had never seen eyes that dark before and felt like she could drown in them. His face was defined by sharp but handsome lines. She would have thought his darker colors came from working outside in the sun if not for the fact she had seen the dark coloring disappearing below the waist of his low-hung black pants in the mornings. His eyes were the color of midnight on a moonless night, a small sliver of silver light shimmered in the center. His strong nose and full lips called to her and made her frustrated with her own insecurities. She wanted to give in to him. She had since the first moment she gazed into his eyes on the Tearnat warship. It was only the uncertainty of what was to become of her and her sister that held her back. She had no doubt at all that River was never going to return to Earth. The key difference between River and her and Jo was that River had no other family to return to. Star closed her eyes briefly at the wave of pain that swept through her at the thought of how heartbroken her parents. The idea of losing one daughter would be horrendous but to think that both of their daughters were missing and presumed dead was beyond the realm of sanity.
“What is it?” Jazin asked anxiously. “Are you in pain? Should I call for the healer?”
Tears filled Star’s eyes and she cursed the fact that she had always been a cry baby when she was upset. “No, I’m not in pain. At least not a physical pain,” she whispered. “Jazin, I miss my parents. I can’t help but think about what they must be going through. The idea of losing one daughter is tragic but to lose both of your children has to be unbearable for them. I can’t imagine what they must be going through. They must know by now that something happened to us. We’ve never gone this long without calling them.”
Jazin looked down into the pain filled eyes of his mate. His hand rose gently to touch her cheek. “Your sister has said as much to Manota,” he sighed heavily. “She will not commit to him until she can assure your parents that you are both safe.”
Star jerked in surprise. Jo never mentioned a word to her about her relationship with Manota or the fact that she had been pressuring him to contact their parents in some way. She was getting really tired of people keeping things from her. Just because she was small and had been hurt that didn’t mean she should be kept in the
dark.
“What are you and your brother going to do?” Star asked with a stubborn tilt to her chin. “I won’t let them spend the rest of their lives grieving for us. You can’t expect either Jo or I to do that. If your father thought….” her sharp words faded as Jazin drew her closer to him with a groan of need.
He loved it when she had that fire in her eyes. He couldn’t resist her any longer. The last of his tightly held control dissolved as he felt her body melt into his. He had given her time on the warship to adjust to what had happened to her and to come to terms with the loss of everything she knew but her sister and friend. Once on Kassis, she had fought him harder than any warrior he had ever encountered before when he had taken her to his House. Her world did not accept the same levels of class recognition as his did. She had stormed out of his House crying when he had been greeted by the females who lived there. It was considered a level of strength, power and wealth for a male to have many women in his home. Star did not appreciate his status at all. In fact, the hurt and rage in her eyes had burned through him leaving him feeling anything but proud. When an assassin’s charge almost took the life of his brother’s mate, he had learned that human females did not share – ever. Star’s refusal to return to his House had him rethinking things. She had finally moved into his House just a few weeks ago. Even then, she had only begun to warm up to him the last few days before the dinner and subsequent attack.
Jazin pulled away slightly to gaze down into the passion-filled eyes of his mate. “Manota is going to take Jo back for your parents. Kev Mul Kar, Torak’s Captain of the Guard, will go with them. He has returned from his mission. He is familiar with the Tearnat’s navigational charts. We have the location of your planet from Trolis’ warship. Our technology is more advanced than the Tearnat and the trip should take about half the time it took before to return once they have secured your parents,” Jazin explained huskily.
