by Mary Auclair
Now I understand why no warrior ever resists.
He usually held his control in a steel hand, allowing nothing to get in the way of his goals. With no other female had he felt the urge to make her his mate, no matter how attractive.
He could afford not the slightest distraction to affect his better judgment when both their lives hung in the balance.
Later, when we’re safe.
Karian shook his head against the intrusive thought, knowing it was the mating urge speaking.
“I’m so thirsty,” Rose said from somewhere at his back. The need in that voice tugged at his organs, made him want to provide everything she ever needed. She didn’t deserve to be thirsty, or hungry, or cold. She deserved to spend every minute of her life cared for and cherished. He wanted to be the male to provide this for her.
A fool, again. He was such a fool.
“I shouldn’t take more, but my head hurts,” she added.
“Take as much as you need, there’s no point in depriving yourself of anything.”
Karian didn’t trust himself to turn around. If he saw need and want in those stormy eyes, he was going to melt, and everything was going to be lost. “I’ll set off in the morning to find fresh supplies.”
“What makes you think you’re going to succeed where I failed? There’s nothing for miles around. No water, no prey to hunt, and no edible vegetation. Nothing.”
“If the pod landed on this planet, then it’s capable of sustaining life.” Karian shrugged her objection away with a wave of his hand. “There’s no mistake in the programming. You just haven’t been able to find it.”
“And you will?” Her tone was mocking again, with an undertone of irritation. “You’re so full of yourself.”
“It’s not arrogance when you know you’re the best.”
Karian moved away from Rose again, intending to sit by the opening of the pod to keep watch while she slept. As he took his first step, Rose scoffed at his back, and a bag of water landed on the back of his head. He swung around, and locked his gaze with a desert storm in those large, beautiful eyes. Her cheeks were flushed red and she crossed her arms on her chest, making her round, full breasts puff up in two soft mountains. How he would love to run his tongue along those soft mountains, suck on the nipples in the middle until they were hard and ripe.
Stop. It.
“Well, I guess we’ll see about that.” She lifted her brows in challenge and reached for another pack of water, then drank it in two long gulps. “That’s your plan for tomorrow? Scavenging and hunting? Good, I’m in.”
“What do you mean, you’re in?” His mind was racing. Did she really mean it? She thought he would allow her to go out there, in a desert they knew nothing about, and roam free to get killed, maimed, or worse? “You’re not going out again. I’m going to find us another shelter, food and water, and you’re going to stay here, where you’re safe.”
“No way.” She had the nerve to shrug his objection off. “I’m going with you, whether you want it or not.”
“I will not allow you to put yourself in danger.”
“You’re going to make me stay here?” She smiled that mocking little smirk that perked her nose up. “You and what army?”
Karian glowered at her until she squirmed, standing first on one foot, then the other, but still sustaining his gaze. Damned stubborn female—she was provoking him, but he wouldn’t give in. She wasn’t going to put herself in danger ever again. He wouldn’t be able to bear it if she was hurt.
“It is settled.” Karian showed her his fangs, and this time, she had the good sense to shrivel under the command of his superior strength. “You will stay in the pod while I venture outside. That’s an order.”
Rose narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t argue. He watched closely as she bent and picked up another pack of nutritious sludge, then proceeded to gather some of the stuffing from the seats and make a primitive bed out of composite foam. She sat cross legged and started to suck the foul liquid, her face twisted with disgust, but thankfully silent.
Karian was grateful for the end of the argument. She had a way of making his blood boil, and he was close to walking right over there, pulling her into his chest, and kissing her adorable mouth shut.
I’m losing my mind. I’d best start thinking with my head, not my seed stem.
Rose finished her ration and threw the package away, then lay down on the makeshift bed. Karian watched her turn and toss until she fell asleep, a drop of saliva dangling from her slightly open lips, her body limp. He finally relaxed. The battle to keep her alive was nothing compared to the battle he had to wage with himself to control his urges.
He stared at the sterile panel of steel as the hours went by, one after the other, in the small shelter of the pod.
Rose’s sleeping body tormented his every breath. Her offer to share her body tantalized him, kept him awake through the silent hours. The way she had touched him, the feel of her fingers, had been almost impossible to refuse.
Almost.
Males took females, a tale as universal as life.
Then why don’t you take this one? She’s willing. You’re an idiot.
The urge to take this female and mark her was overpowering. He had almost given in twice. The first time he’d kissed her, he’d been so grateful for the cage, he could have kissed the bars that held him.
Her taste made him stir, the feel of her tongue, the way she opened her mouth for him, so eager, so hot, full of passion. When he’d pulled her soft, fragile body to his and felt those plump breasts against his chest, he’d nearly given in. He could have taken her, even with the cage.
He was a fool to even think about her that way. It was a waste of his time and energy, one he couldn’t afford. He had too much to do to think of taking a female.
The sooner she was out of his sight, the better.
With a monstrous effort of will, Karian brought his focus back to the current situation. The signal had gone off for too long, the Cattelans were sure to be on their way soon—if they hadn’t already found their location. There was no way to know when Karian’s people would get the signal. It could be days or weeks from now.
There was nothing to do about it. Worrying about things out of his control wasn’t the Eok way, so he pushed it out of his mind. He had plenty of things to take care of in the meantime.
Rose used too much water and too many food rations. Even if he refused to use any, she didn’t have more than a few days’ worth. The pod was too hot in the day and too cold during the night.
Tomorrow, he was going to find a better shelter. Tonight, he had to resist the lust.
ROSE
Rose opened her eyes to the early morning’s soft blue light. Her head still hurt, but the pain was a low pulse in the back of her skull, a remnant of what her body had endured the days before. She looked around, expecting to see Karian asleep in the far corner of the pod. She frowned, puzzled, then irritation took hold. The pod was empty. Karian must have left some time before without waking her, just like he’d said he would. Muttering unladylike curses about pig-headed males, Rose scoffed, then sat in the makeshift bed.
What an arrogant asshole.
The Eok warrior wasn’t what she had expected, in more ways than she wanted to even think about. Yes, he was arrogant and high handed, and thought that he had every right to order her around like some brainless doll. He made her want to claw his eyes out sometimes—most of the time, actually. If only he were always unlikable. But he also had a sharp sense of humor, was as smart a man as she’d ever known, and had a body to spend her nights dreaming about.
Shame burned her cheeks at the memory of the way she had flung herself at Karian. Well, she wasn’t going to make that mistake again, sensual dreams or not.
As Rose picked up another pack of food, she paused, then added one of water as well. She ate and drank, looking at the pod’s paneled walls, her mind going back to her family and the looming threat of the slave trade. Steel walls and nu
tritious sludge mixed together in a soul-sucking facility where their only jobs were to produce children. This was going to be the lives of the people she loved if she didn’t succeed in saving the small human settlement. Panic compressed her chest, and it took her a long time to be able to breathe again. The nutritious sludge stuck to her tongue, coated her throat in a thick, repulsive chemical taste, but Rose forced herself to eat. She was going to need every ounce of strength she could get.
A plan had formed inside her mind during the night. She had come to realize that now that their existence was known, there was no going back. The human village was going to be the object of a hunt so massive that no matter where they hid, they were going to be found. It could be sooner or later—maybe even years down the road, when Rose was old and tired—but they would be found. Gaining protection for her family was no longer enough. She couldn’t protect them without protecting the entire village. And what they needed wasn’t anonymity anymore, but protection. They needed allies and protectors.
The Eoks were the strongest race of warriors inside the Ring. If she could secure Karian’s help, maybe he would help her obtain the Eok nation’s support for her entire race. For this, she needed to talk to Karian as an equal.
The first step to prove her worth to Karian was by contributing to their immediate needs. She wasn’t going to allow him to shoulder the sole responsibility of their survival. If she caved in to his domineering ways now, there was no telling what he might do. He might never intentionally hurt her, but he would deem her unable to provide for herself, unable to choose for herself.
Rose slid the water ration into the elastic band of her pants. Now all she needed was something to hunt with. With a frown, she studied the contents of the trashed pod. A smile spread on her lips. There, in a corner, lay the broken stalk she had taken the first time she ventured outside. She picked it up and looked at it. After a good sanding on a rock, she would have a nice sharp tip to use as a spear. Rose flipped her newfound weapon over in her hand, assessing its weight and feel. After a few minutes, she headed out into the desert. This time, she wasn’t going out unprepared.
As her face met a warm, early morning desert wind, resolve poured like iron down her veins. If she listened to Karian, there was life in that desert. She had an inkling he was right. He might be arrogant and controlling, but he was a survivor. Rose would do good to learn from him and she wasn’t foolish enough not to try, even if he was being an ass about it.
She felt a wild smile spread on her face. With a bit of luck, she would show him. The best thing she could do would be to succeed where he failed and bring back a kill from her hunt. Whatever animals lived in this desert should be at their most active in the early dawn. If things went her way, she would find some prey to roast for breakfast.
After about half an hour, she spotted a furtive, scurrying movement behind a cluster of vegetation. Smiling, she stalked closer to her prey. The animal, whatever it was, was behind the long, yellowing shoots, digging in the sand with its front paws. She couldn’t see precisely what it looked like, just that it seemed vaguely reptilian.
The animal’s head came into view as it emerged from the vegetation, chewing on the dry, hard grass. It looked like a harmless small beast, with leathery, hairless skin and long claws perfect for digging the hard dirt. Its head was round with a short muzzle framed by long, square teeth. It hadn’t seen or smelled her, thanks to the wind blowing upward from the animal to Rose.
Holding her breath, Rose brought her shoulders way back, arching her back in the tense fashion her father had taught her. The shoot was lighter than the wooden spear she was used to, but it went flying through the morning air with blazing speed and accuracy. The animal looked up with large, fearful eyes. Comprehension came a second too late, and the spear pierced the soft skin of its abdomen. A pathetic cry flew through the peaceful air, and the creature convulsed a few times, then went silent. Rose stood still, a smile spreading across her lips.
She had done it!
With a spring in her step, she approached the animal, retrieving it from the ground. It was a strange creature, definitively leaning on the reptilian side. Its body was covered in a thick, smooth leather, completely hairless and without scales. It had a snub nose with three large nostrils, and a long, forked tongue hung from its open mouth. It was small, slightly bigger than a wild cat, but its plump body seemed fat enough to make a good meal.
Rose pulled the spear from the creature’s body and hung it by its hind legs to the piece of string holding her pants, like she did for birds and rabbits back home. At this rhythm, she could have a handful of these before Karian came back. Just as she was about to turn around and walk away in search of more prey, something attracted her attention. She looked again, and a flutter of excitement grew in her chest.
She bent down where the creature had been digging, and pulled on the long, tubular root still semi-buried. Another drop of water leaked from the root, pure and crystalline. With a giggle, Rose brought the root to her mouth and sucked. She was rewarded with a small but sustained trickle of fresh, sweet water, filling her dry mouth with moisture. This was even better than the kill. They needed water badly, even with Karian’s minimal requirements. She had only ten pouches left, barely enough to cover the next two days comfortably.
Rose sucked on the root a long time, closing her eyes and savoring the sweet flavor of the sap. The sound of vegetation moving broke her concentration.
She opened her eyes to look directly into two large, yellow irises slashed by vertical pupils. The animal staring at her was large, at least the size of the cougars that haunted the woods where she used to live. It looked strangely like a cat, but with the same leathery skin as the creature she had just killed. The animal, definitely a predator, fixed its yellow, malevolent stare on her, obviously trying to decide if Rose was a threat or prey. There weren’t any other options.
After a few more seconds, the creature seemed to come to a conclusion, and it let out a long, furious hiss in her direction. Doing so, it exposed two wicked, sharp fangs dripping with a suspicious milky fluid. Her brain resonated with a single word, one that brought with it the worst kind of fear. Venom. This large, powerful, feline-like predator had venomous fangs, to boot. As if it needed anything more to tear her claw-less, fang-less and venom-less self into tender mouthfuls. The only thing she had on her side was the spear.
It felt both futile and harmless between her trembling fingers.
Without waiting, the predator leapt, fangs and claws at the ready. A piercing sound ripped through the unmoving air, and Rose realized she was screaming. She fell on her back, holding the spear in front of her body in the hopes that the animal’s momentum might help impale it. As its long, curved, sharp claws came closer and closer to her face, she realized her mistake. The spear was a good idea, but she had overlooked the most important aspect of it. It wasn’t long enough. She would be shredded to pieces before the beast could impale itself.
As the claws were about to penetrate her skin, the beast was knocked over to the side. A large, midnight blue form rolled into the sand, clawing and hissing in concert with the creature. Karian and the predator rolled and fought, each beast’s viciousness rivaling with the other. Rose stared, paralyzed with fear, as the Eok and the predator fought. Finally, with one mighty slash of Karian’s talons, the beast’s head was ripped from its shoulders and rolled to the ground, cut clean off. Karian stood slowly, his chest heaving in fast, deep movements as he looked at the dead creature.
“Are you okay?” Rose’s voice cut the eerie silence.
Karian’s head snapped her way, and she recoiled at the blue fire in his eyes. His face was twisted with an expression she didn’t recognize, something between the savagery of a berserk beast and the cold stare of a lion about to pounce. In a strange way, he was the scariest of the two monsters she had encountered that day.
“You disobeyed me,” he hissed, his fangs exposed and his talons fully extended into deadly weapons, made to
tear flesh into ribbons. “YOU DISOBEYED ME!”
Fear shot through her in a surge of adrenaline, and Rose turned on her heel and ran.
CHAPTER 9
ROSE
Rose ran with death on her heels. Her mind was blank and her lungs burned, but she pumped her legs through the fire. All those years in the wilderness as a huntress hadn’t prepared her for becoming prey. All her training was useless.
She simply wasn’t fast enough.
The dry, cracked dirt sent clouds of dust into the air as her feet battered the ground in her desperate attempt at escape. In her crazed mind, she had a flash of empathy for the poor creature she had just killed. Rose understood how he—and all the rabbits and partridges she had hunted in her life—felt. Being thrown to the other side of the mirror in the prey-predator relationship sucked big time, and as she ran, she reflected on how terrible it was to be the small, fragile creature about to lose its life.
Behind her, a gravelly, deep sound filled the abrasive air. She was out of time.
A long shadow stretched beside hers, with sharply angled shoulders and long, curved talons extending from ghoulish hands. Panic rippled through her nerves like wildfire, sending tiny bites of electrical shots through her muscles, giving her added strength and speed. She rushed forward, her feet unable to sustain the speed at which her legs were pumping. At length, Rose lost her footing.
The ground rushed to meet her face and she screamed, putting up her hands to protect herself. Strong arms closed around her waist as Karian threw his considerable weight over her shoulder, sending them both to tumble on the hard sand. She was going to be crushed underneath him. Bones were going to be broken, skin torn and bruised.
It didn’t happen that way. Just before the packed dirt met her face, Karian flipped onto his side, taking the brunt of the impact on his shoulder. Sand flew in her face, and she choked on the dry, irritating dust. Her eyes were filled with the particles, making her blink furiously under the sharp pain, but she was otherwise intact.
