The Tracker's Quest: (Forced To Serve #6)

by Donna McDonald

  “No. But I will tell you what I surmise from the rumors I heard about her. The child may be a ne plus ultra. On my planet, I was born with no great talent. So I pledged my life to the first male who pretended to care. When he left our planet for work on Ethos, I foolishly followed. I knew he was angry I had remained barren. He told the suzerain my children were supposed to be gifted. He told him my adama’s curse on our mating kept him from giving me one,” Ineid complained.

  “Your adama?” Seta asked.

  “No. If you will not promise to kill me, I will tell you no more,” Ineid declared.

  Seta watched as she rolled to her side and turned her back to the room. The female’s paleness was alarming. Obviously the stimulant’s effects had run out.

  “Try to stay alive while I’m gone, Ineid. I will be back. And I swear I will try to help you,” she said, walking to the door. She sighed when she heard another harsh laugh in response to her promise.

  “Be warned, oh too compassionate child of the wicked Trax. Chief Arghane is bidding against the Siren for rights to you. He has pledged all the wealth he has earned up to now. I heard the medics whispering about it in the halls. Maybe when that twisted Ethosian forces you to kill him, you will indeed come back and use your dark skills on me.”

  Seta sighed. “Thank you for all the warnings, but nothing changes what I have to do. May you be at peace until we meet again.”

  The news about Arghane didn’t surprise Seta. Like the news of her father’s deception, it only depressed her. Maybe Ji was right. Maybe agreeing to her father’s quest and coming back to Ethos had been a foolish thing to do. Certainly she and Ji should just escape, but even fleeting hope would prevent her from doing so. In addition to the rest of her female family, now there were two other innocent beings—a mother and child—whose fates would haunt her for life if she didn’t at least try to change their situation.

  Zorinda’s power swirled in her midsection letting her know the demon was aware of her churning thoughts. But there was no comfort in alien strength at the moment. No being, no matter how powerful, could change a culture and society with brute force. Sadly, Ethos was just one of many primitive planets based on similar principles of individuals as commodities.

  The Peace Alliance involved themselves in the cultures of planets which offered them something valuable in return. But Ethos? Ethos and its endless deserts were not going to be going into the valuable category any time soon. Help from the Peace Alliance was improbable. Suzerain Trax would continue to rule over the lives of his followers, including those he created.

  So where did that leave her? She was beginning to suspect her plan of avenging Rena’s death was no more than a half-hearted dream. Seta pushed away her epiphany as she exited into the hall.

  “What did she say?” Arghane demanded.

  Seta shook her head. “Nothing of any value. The suzerain’s interactions with her have warped her mind. Hate for him rules her entire being.”

  “She will adjust in time. All do,” Arghane said with a shrug.

  “Ineid is starving herself,” Seta said sharply. “She refused to tell me anything because I refused to shoot her. Did it ever occur to you that females have sensibilities and feelings just like males?”

  “You speak foolishly. We all belong to Suzerain Trax—even you,” Arghane said, glaring at Seta despite the Siren’s frown at his words.

  Seta snorted. “You are wrong, Arghane. No one owns anyone else. That is against nature. One day you will see it for the truth—and so will the other males on Ethos.”

  “How am I supposed to believe the independence of a female destined to be mated to one of the most possessive species ever found in recorded literature?” Arghane declared. “Your guardian here would kill any male he saw as competition. Obviously he has not told you how bloodthirsty his kind are.”

  “See? That’s exactly the proof you are wrong, Chief Arghane. If such a condition were true, you’d already be dead. Apparently the word has spread you are competing for me. Give it up while you can because Ji won’t have to kill you—I’d gladly do it myself. Or didn’t I make myself clear about my preferences the other day?”

  Arghane’s glare bounced off her back as she strode away. Even long-legged Ji had trouble keeping up with her as her legs ate up the ground.

  Chapter 7

  Alone once more in the union suitor quarters, Seta looked at Ji who had studied her silently during their rapid trek back to their quarters. She undressed slowly, tossing each piece of clothing on the bed after searching it thoroughly. Given Ineid’s expansive knowledge of their task, Seta now believed something in the domicile was bugged because gossip had spread too quickly. Ji had obviously missed the hidden device in his search.

  She looked at him hard, willing Ji to understand what she meant when she touched her fingers to her lips before speaking. “I failed to find out anything useful from Ineid. All I got for my efforts was to become covered in Ethos desert dust. I’m going to take advantage of the cleansing area. Would you like to join me?”

  Ji raised one eyebrow. “I seemed to recall us fighting about our connection only a few hours ago. In fact, we were still debating it when Arghane showed up. What is prompting you to make such an enticing invitation?”

  Seta shrugged and slipped off her leggings and skirt. “Haven’t you noticed that resignation to one’s fate is a common mood setting for females on this Creator-forsaken planet? I am resigned to servicing you, Siren. After today, I’m afraid you’ll trade me for a better model like Ineid’s mate did.”

  Before she could begin the process of tearing away her hygiene straps, Ji was suddenly standing in front of her and grabbing her hands.

  “That’s not how it will ever work with me,” he said softly.

  “Do you swear you speak true?” Seta asked.

  Ji nodded. “Aye. If you are only for me, then I will be only for you. It is the Siren way. Our link will prevent it, or at least make it extremely improbable.”

  She pulled one of his hands to the strap on her shoulder. “Promises mean little at the moment. Rid me of these and prove your interest.”

  Sighing with anticipation, Ji ran a fingertip down the narrow bands crisscrossing the front of her. “I’m glad you only have two chest glands. I’ve always thought more were redundant on a female. Two are more aesthetically pleasing to me.”

  Seta snorted at his comments. “Am I supposed to be glad you think my body design is sufficient for your needs? Undress here, Ji. I will collect our clothes and sanitize them afterwards.”

  “Stop trying to change the subject until I finish my statements. I think you are exquisite,” Ji whispered, snapping the bands at both shoulders. He ran his fingertips down until he stroked both her breasts to attention. “Your species is as responsive as Earthlings’ to a soft, appreciative touch. And your more reserved Ethosian nature is quite the challenge for a Siren male to warm up. Your beautiful body represents the perfect blend of female physical traits for me.”

  “And if I never return your poetic adoration? Can a Siren commit to a female with so little capacity for returning his compassion?” Seta asked.

  Ji stepped away from her to delay his reaction to her challenge. He knew she hadn’t really meant it as one. Seta was just being her honest, doubting self, as was usual for her. It was the Siren’s call trying to convince him everything she said was meant as mating challenge requiring a firm answer from him.

  To give himself some time to calm down, Ji unbuttoned his shirt slowly, stripped it off, and tossed it on the bed where all her clothes already lay. His braid fell forward over his shoulder as he bent to unfasten his pants and toe off the foot coverings he’d worn. When he raised his head, Seta was holding the end of his braid between her fingers and rubbing it back and forth. The reverently appreciative look on her face deflated his rising anger, but made the rest of him hard and hurting to have her.

  When she raised her gaze to his, Seta looked to be in great emotional pain. His heart
contracted with an emotional reaction so fierce it froze him in place. At the moment he wanted nothing more fiercely than to love and comfort her.

  “You know, I used to wonder if any of your bonding partners ever braided this for you after you’d been with them. That tiny little detail used to eat away at my imagination even though I felt no curiosity at all about what you did with them otherwise. I felt jealous only of someone performing that tiny intimate task—and to this day I have no idea why. All I remember is that a part of me wanted to be the only female who braided your hair for you.”

  Ji swallowed hard. Though not a declaration of love, her statement was a declaration of possession, even if a veiled one. The thought of Seta longing to possess him in any way at all was more thrilling than if she’d simply agreed to be his mate.

  “Since we are confessing—I will tell you I lost count of the females who passed through my bed on the Paladin. I remember only the last one just before you. I remember her because she was the first partner in my entire Siren life that I was unable to pleasure. All I could think about was how she wasn’t you and you didn’t want to be her. My sadness over my seemingly unsolvable dilemma was so great my body wouldn’t respond even in a cursory fashion. My entire family would have been ashamed of my failure if they knew. After her I stopped asking females for bonding and contacted Synar about coming to the Liberator.”

  “So you really did give up being captain of the Paladin because of me,” Seta said.

  Ji stepped closer. “It wasn’t about leaving the Paladin or my work there. It was about needing to be with you. Even though I didn’t understand my true motivation at the time, I now think I knew on some level your destiny was following a stronger path than mine. We are together now and it keeps me sane enough. The least word of kindness from your lips makes me forget everything except remaining at your side. Needless to mention, your invitation to share a cleansing just made my whole trip here worthwhile.”

  Seta shook her head and dropped his braid. They both watched it swing down the front of him and swish across proof of his extreme physical interest in her. The reality of their connection was an uncomfortable tightening in her gut. It signaled a stronger neediness than when he had consoled her while she grieved for Rena. It signaled something growing between them she had vowed never to let happen with any male. She would not be owned. And she had no intentions of giving control of herself away.

  She had issued the invitation as a way of having a private discussion. Her error loomed large between his legs. “What if I changed my mind about the cleansing offer?” she asked.

  Ji smiled as he walked around Seta until he could stop and bend close to her ear. “You can either relieve me with your body, Sweet Joy, or you can watch me relieve myself. If you choose the latter, we’ll consider it training for future times when you decide at the last minute you aren’t in the mood.”

  He leaned in and traced the edge of Seta’s ear with the barest brush of his lips, then righted himself to walk away when she shivered violently. “Come with me,” he ordered, leaving her to follow. “You can decide which it will be after we’ve rid ourselves of Ethosian desert dust.”

  After he’d disappeared from sight, Seta covered her breasts with her own hands, an action which demanded she acknowledge the ache for Ji to be doing it. Because of him she throbbed between her legs, a sensation only the boastful Siren male had ever caused in her.

  Whirling around she marched to the cleansing area, opened the cylinder, and climbed inside. Liquid ran in tiny streams over every muscle of Ji’s body. It even dripped off his face onto her as she crowded close to him in the small space. Realizing what she wanted to do, she closed her eyes and cursed him for having the power to distract her from her original intention. She shivered when his sexy voice whispered into her ear.

  “The streaming liquid should cover our words well enough if that was your plan. Is that why you got us naked so quickly?” Ji demanded.

  Seta nodded. Telling herself to focus, she kept her face lowered and her eyes closed. “Ineid knew precisely what we were doing and that I was being sent to fetch Endara. She said Suzerain Trax has already sent several males to try and retrieve her, but none have returned. Rumor is the miners are killing them. I suspected the quest was no more than a trap to lure me back to Ethos, but apparently it is also because I am expendable.”

  When Ji leaned back, he nodded solemnly and stared at her. Weary of fighting her own reaction to the male, she lifted her hand and let her fingers interrupt the streams rushing down his chest. “How do you turn off your bonding interest enough to focus on the problems we face? I can barely think like a rational female at the moment, much less a warrior. Your power over my body makes me resentful.”

  She didn’t catch Ji’s mumbled words in Siren, but her feet leaving the floor quickly got her full attention as did the cold cylinder wall against her back. His determined mouth on hers ignited her response to him like a fire flint being struck to thatch. Talented lips sliding against her neck elicited a groan which escaped a mouth that wanted to call him back to kissing it.

  This was not the sweetness he’d shown her in bonding up to now. This was raw. Needy. Desperate. And his obvious need for her made her ache. Her hand slid between them to investigate.

  “You are a divine creature. Please, Seta. I must have you before I go mad with longing,” Ji croaked. The begging question bypassed all the promises he had made to himself to not touch her, but he couldn’t find the strength to take it back or to stop what was happening.

  “Fine. Breach me now,” Seta whispered fiercely, wincing when Ji obeyed her command in one fiery thrust. The second elicited another vicious stream of Siren pouring out from him.

  “No. Not Siren. Speak English,” she ordered. She closed her eyes to better count the slide of him in and out as her insides quivered in a delight she had not known was possible to feel. She opened them reluctantly when Ji stopped and held her still against the wall.

  “I can’t tell you what I just said,” he whispered softly. “I can’t tell you until you are able to hear it without judgment. Since I must say the words or implode, they will be spoken in Siren. All I need from you is one thing and you know what that is, Seta of Trax. Accept the pleasure I offer you. Return what passion you can to me. Do not make this just another task on your list.”

  Seta felt her eyelids slipping down as Ji began to move again, only more slowly. “Are you addicting me to you, Ji? Is that why I crave you so fiercely? Arghane would have me believe that is what is happening. I can’t tell what the truth is where you’re concerned.”

  Ji drove in hard and pushed Seta up the wall until she hissed. Her panting barely appeased him as he brought her level to his gaze. “Yes. Chief Arghane is technically right. I could addict you if I chose to do so, but Shades of Kellnor, Seta, I’ve been trying not to do that in the entire time I’ve known you. Now find your pleasure before I lose my mind.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Seta frowned at the half-threat, half-command warning, but then Ji shifted again which caused her to immediately shatter in his arms. The pleasure spiraled up through her energy as clear and sharp as a fighting knife cleaving her open. Ji’s rumble of satisfaction echoed off the cylinder walls as he called out his gratitude as well. His body responded in the most basic of male ways, emptying his essence into her.

  His weak slide to his knees afterward caught her off-guard and had her clutching her limbs around his hips to hold on. His silken whispers in her ear made her forget to keep track of how long they lingered on the floor in the cylinder. Her thick mat of blonde hair was soaked by the time awareness returned to her mind.

  “You are a huge distraction to me,” Seta declared.

  Ji laughed. “Most of my brothers are much more endowed than I am, but I am glad you find me sufficient as a male, Seta of Trax. It makes us evenly matched, as Commander Jet would say.”

  Shaking her head at his sorry attempt at humor, Seta eased away from him and
forced her shaky knees to support her weight. Ji was still on his and staring at the lower half of her in adoration.

  “Have you ever. . .?”

  “No,” Seta said, interrupting the question. Her face flooded with heat. “Do not ask me for anything else right now. I have to focus on what must be done.”

  Ji leaned forward, put his arms around her, and pulled Seta’s hips against his shoulders. “There is a world of pleasure I wish to show you. It’s as if every female before was just a means of learning things I want to do perfectly for you. I hope one day you grant your permission.”

  “Ji—stop. I cannot return that level of interest so do not ask me for it. It is all I can do to let you violate me now and again without complaining,” Seta said.

  “Violate you?” Ji declared. He let go and rose to standing at his full height. “Is that what our every interaction is to you? A violation of your body?”

  Seta bit her lip. Perhaps it had been the wrong word to use, but it was how she usually thought of bonding. “Do you want my honesty? Or do you want me to spare your ego? I am grateful for the pleasure you can give me, Ji. I admit it doesn’t compare to anything I’ve known before you. But in my mind all such acts are a violation even when done with permission.”

  “You have my apologies then. I have never violated a female in my life. Not one. I certainly do not think of what I do with you in those terms.” Ji turned his back and rinsed off one final time. Carefully avoiding their bodies touching, he pushed open the cylinder door and stepped out. “Don’t worry about attending to my clothing. I brought extras with me.”

  After Ji left the cylinder, Seta sighed and stepped under the liquid to wash herself. It had not been her intent to hurt his feelings. Ji was always encouraging her to express herself, but when she did, this was always the result. She had no words of praise nice enough for Siren ears.