“You do now.”
“So you saved me and I have to serve you forever?”
He shook his head. “No, slavery is not permanent. You work until your debt to me is paid.”
“And who decides when my debt is paid?”
“I do.”
She scoffed. “Oh, that’s fair.”
A deep growl rumbled up from his chest. His eyes flashed as he leaned close, getting right into her face, their noses almost touching. “You are not of the Bear, so I will forgive that insult. Once. Do not make the mistake again, and do not ever question my honor. You will be released when your debt is paid.”
She bobbed her head in a nod, fear and adrenaline making her heart race. The man was enormous and he had fangs. He could kill her with both hands behind his back. She licked her parched lips and cleared her throat. “And where will I go then? As you said, I’m not a Bear. I have no clan to return to. From what I’ve experienced so far, I doubt I would survive on this planet without protection.”
“There are far greater dangers than rival clans and the cold. We will negotiate your position here when the time comes, little bear. Rest now.”
“Wait. Please. How will I work off my debt? I can’t cook or sew or do anything domestic. We had machines to do that for us in my time. I taught history to children on Earth.” She struggled upward again, and the furs slipped down, baring her breasts. Squeaking, she hauled the covers back up while he watched, his gaze lingering on the edge of the pelt. A hot blush flooded her cheeks again, but she set her jaw and ignored her embarrassment. After the incident with the black bear, she wasn’t taking any chances. “I assume the work won’t include servicing any of the men on this planet.”
A dimple tucked into his cheek as his white teeth flashed. “That isn’t work, little bear. That’s pure pleasure.”
Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Her mind replayed the dream she’d had of them together. Pleasure didn’t even begin to describe it. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was as good in real life as she imagined. Squeezing her legs together, she tried to quell the sudden ache between them. She’d just met him—how could he do this to her?
“Perhaps you need a demonstration.”
His gaze heated and he leaned toward her, his lips touching hers. She caressed his jaw as her mouth moved under his. His hands caught hers, forcing them behind her back, holding them so she couldn’t move. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss, sliding his tongue along her bottom lip.
“Open for me.”
Obeying, she stroked his tongue with her own. Goose bumps erupted over her flesh, and her heart rate kicked into warp speed. Her skin felt too hot and too tight. Wetness flooded her sex, made her moan and press closer to him. She tugged at her arms, wanting to touch him, but he shifted her wrists into one big hand, using the other to thrust the furs down. His fingertips closed over her breast, his rough skin abrading her nipple.
“Oh, God.” Her breath rushed in and out, but she still couldn’t suck in enough oxygen to satisfy her lungs. She arched into his caress, pushing her breasts forward.
Nothing had ever felt this good. His steely hold almost made it better for her. Sexier. It was wrong to be so turned on by this, but she couldn’t remember why just now. A low rumble sounded in his throat as he swooped down to capture her nipple in his teeth, worrying the peaked flesh. He flicked his tongue over the tip, exciting her further, making her cry out.
A light knock sounded on the door. “Lord Kesuk.”
Kesuk jerked back, panting hard as he stood and tugged the cover up over her chest. He stalked to the door and flung it open to glare at the intruder. “Imnek.”
A gangly young man stood beyond the threshold, his gaze darting from Kesuk’s glower to Jain’s flushed face and back again. Shifting nervously under Kesuk’s glare, he cleared his throat.
“Speak, boy,” Kesuk demanded.
Snapping his gaze away from Jain, Imnek focused on the hulking man in front of him. “M-my lord. The weretigers have landed and will visit High Den before traveling to Sea Den.”
“Hmph. Leave us.” Kesuk shut the door in the boy’s face.
Jain cleared her throat, struggling to come to grips with what had just happened. No man had ever made her want so much, so quickly. Not even her husband. Just thinking about Kesuk made her body throb—having him near pushed her past anything she’d ever experienced. All the feelings rushing through her scared her to death. Feelings weren’t logical, weren’t controllable. She needed to step back and think, and she couldn’t do that with him touching her and confusing her. When he swung to face her, his gaze hard with lust, she grasped at the first thing she could think of to distract him. “Um…weretigers?”
“Yes.”
“They landed? They have a spaceship?”
Hope fluttered in her chest. There was technology somewhere. Not everywhere was like this, where they had slaves and bartered with human lives and kissed people without asking. She pressed her tingling lips together. The man had actually held her down to kiss her! Her sex clenched at the mere thought of what he’d done. She shook herself. She was not excited about some backwoods barbarian sticking his tongue down her throat. She was not.
“Yes.”
“And…?” Could she have another word please? She wanted to know about the other wereanimals. Was he allowed to tell her more? Did he even know? Maybe the weretigers were better. Maybe she could go with them.
“And they will trade with the Browns before they come here.”
“Browns? Not the Blacks?”
“No. Meadow Den is too remote; they will meet with the Blacks in the borderlands.”
“I see.” Only she didn’t see. Browns? Borderlands? “So, where do the weretigers live?”
“Vesperi.”
“Is that a planet? Or is it a country on a planet?”
“A planet in a neighboring solar system.”
“Are there any other people in this solar system?”
“Aquatilis.”
Realization slapped her straight in the face. Oh, shit. She knew what planet she was on now. Icy dread slid down her spine. Only one other planet in Aquatilis’s solar system could support human life, and she didn’t even want to remember the stories about what happened to the humans who settled there—here. She shuddered, her stomach roiling because she had to ask and she really didn’t want to. This should not have happened. She should be safe on Aquatilis five hundred years ago. Licking her lips, she forced the question out. “This…this is Alysius, isn’t it?”
Please say no. Please say no. Please say no. For once, she actually wanted to be dead wrong.
“Yes.”
Again with the one-word answers. She wanted to shake him. “Yes?”
His eyebrow hiked up. “Yes, this is Sea Den on Alysius. Home of the Arctic Bear Clan. I am Lord Kesuk, leader of the clan. Are there any more questions?”
She shook her head, mute. Entire settlements had been wiped out on this planet, the first ever to be colonized. Large animals had attacked and killed the unprepared settlers. When they’d founded the colony on Aquatilis, they’d abandoned the failed attempt on Alysius until they could develop a way to eradicate the animals without damaging the planet’s ecosystem. Colonization had still been in its infancy when she left Earth. “In my time, scientists said adapting to Aquatilis and becoming merpeople would prove easier for humans than staying on this planet.”
He sucked his teeth at the mention of merpeople. “It takes a predator to kill a predator. The first bear-shifters settled here just before the sun failed. We had to learn to survive with the means at our disposal. Or die with those who came before us.”
“My brother said—”
“You journeyed to Aquatilis to join him, yes? What of the rest of your family?” He switched topics, turning the focus on her. She hated that. She didn’t like to talk about herself or her past. Especially not her family.
“They were dead. After my divorce—”
He interrupted again. “What is dee-vorce?”
“My husband and I—”
“You are mated?” His eyes narrowed, his shoulders tensing.
A frisson of panic slipped up her spine, sweat breaking out on her forehead. It was the same look he’d worn before he mentioned his precious honor. What had she said? She raked her mind for what she might have done to piss him off now. “Divorce is when you get unmated.”
“There is no unmating. Mating is for life.”
She threw her hands up. “Fine, then. I’m a widow. He’s been dead half a millennium. Oh, darn. Happy now?”
He growled but made no further response.
“Anyway. My husband and I divorced, and I was at loose ends, so I decided to stay with the one family member I had left. The Aquatilis colony was looking for teachers for the growing merchildren, and I hoped my brother and I would become closer if I moved near.”
Now, why had she said that? He didn’t need to know that “distant” was a good way to describe her relationship with her family. She’d been the misfit non-genius in her logical, rational, scientific family. She sighed, her mood darkening. Any opportunity she had to try developing a relationship with her brother was gone now, and she ached for the loss. Her eyes smarted, but she resolutely pushed the tears away. There was nothing she could do about it. She shouldn’t cry over something that never was.
“Your marriage was unhappy?”
“To put it mildly.”
“He beat you?” Kesuk’s fangs popped out, his face reddening.
“No!”
He relaxed a little, fangs retracting.
How could she say this in a nice way? “He just didn’t want me.”
“Fool. Who would not want you?” He snorted.
There was a loaded question. “Um. Well, he wanted other women.”
And there came the fangs again. “He was unfaithful to you, his mate? Did the man have no honor?”
“Look, buddy. Honor wasn’t a big deal back then. Neither was infidelity, really. I just got tired of dealing with it, so I bitched at him and he left me for his girlfriend. We divorced. End of story.” And end of discussion. She didn’t want to talk about this. Time to go back to her questions about Alysius.
His eyes lost focus for a moment, and his head cocked to the side as though he were listening to something. How powerful was a bear’s hearing? She didn’t know.
When his gaze sharpened and fixed on her, she shivered under his stare. If just a look did that to her, she didn’t stand a chance if he touched her again. That terrified her. She controlled everything about her life, and he was not the kind of man to let her run things. That much she knew already. And he thought she was a slave. Nothing about him should turn her on. He was pushy, peremptory, and rude.
“I am needed elsewhere. I will return later.”
She opened her mouth to ask another question, but he issued a sharp nod, then turned and left the room, leaving her mouth flapping over an outraged response.
“Well, I was just dismissed, huh?” She stuck her tongue out at the now-closed door.
Yep. Definitely rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. At least in her society. So why had she stared at his tight ass in those leather pants while he walked away from her?
She sighed, wondering where he’d needed to go. Whether she liked it or not, she was bored and lonely without him.
Chapter 4
Jain’s eyes narrowed as she lay in that big bed of hers. Her pretty mouth tightened into a scowl of annoyance. Tension stiffened Kesuk’s shoulders. He’d had enough to deal with in the two days since he’d seen her without coaxing her out of an ill humor. He considered her for a moment before deciding she needed a reminder of who was in charge here.
“Would you like to see more of your new home, slave?” He asked it just to tease her. He couldn’t help himself. His little bear reacted so well. Remembering the indignant look on her face when he’d left to handle an altercation between two soldiers had made him laugh, and he resisted the smile that pulled at his lips now. Preparing for the weretigers’ arrival had consumed his every waking moment the last few days, but he’d found himself thinking of her far too much. So, here he was, taking the first opportunity he had to come to her.
“Can I have some clothes first?” She shifted, tucking the covers tight to her chest.
“You have no clothes?”
She smacked a hand down on the fur pelts. “Nope. Completely naked here.”
“Are you, now?” A slow grin spread over his face, and he let his gaze slide down the soft curves of her body outlined by the pelts.
His cock twitched as he recalled the first sight of her naked in the snow. It was all he could do not to slide his hand to his leathers to readjust the uncomfortable fit. Her breath caught as her eyes locked with his. She felt this, too, he knew it.
Blushing, she looked away and licked her lips. He cut off a groan. Surely she knew what that did to a man. He wanted that little pink tongue caressing his cock.
Her gaze flicked back to him. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” He let his desire for her show, so there was no mistake, just to see how she’d respond. It was only a matter of time until he had her. It had been a very long time since any woman presented any challenge. For the duration of her stay here, she would be his.
“Like that.”
His grin widened, and he ran his tongue down his canine tooth.
“Like you want to undress me.”
“You are already undressed.”
“That’s entirely beside the point.”
He approached the bed and watched her breathing speed up as he neared. Her gaze flicked over him, cheeks flushed. Good, he made her nervous. An excellent place to start. As he reached out to touch her, her pupils expanded, staring at his hard dick straining the fastenings of his pants.
“If you wish me to stop looking at you as though I want you naked, then do not look as though you want me to undress you.”
“I’m not.” Her voice was breathless, her gaze riveted on his cock.
“Stop.”
“What?” She looked up at him, naked hunger on her face.
“We go.” He bent and scooped her up before he talked himself into burying himself between her legs and staying for a full Turn. She was well enough to suffer from boredom, but not well enough to walk. If she couldn’t walk, she was too weak for the hard sex he had in mind. He schooled himself to patience, knowing he would have her slim legs wrapped around his waist soon enough. Or around his face. He banished that thought before he made it impossible to walk correctly.
Her small form fitted against his chest, her cheek on his shoulder, her short dark hair tickling his skin. The sweet smell of her filled his nose. He breathed in, enjoying the experience of being this close to her.
“Where are we going?” Her arm slid around his neck.
Eyes closed for a moment, he savored the feel of her fingers splayed across his shoulder, her other hand pressed to his chest, stroking over his nipple. His breath hissed out. She would drive him to madness. His cock rode the seam of his leathers as he walked out of her chamber and into the main corridor.
“Is everyone here usually naked?” Her wide green eyes followed the progress of a soldier who’d obviously just assumed his human form.
Kesuk growled to hurry the guard on his way, not liking the way his little bear stared at the other man.
Glancing down at her, he answered her question with a shrug. “No, but our clothing does not come with us when we shift.”
She blushed, glancing into a side cave at an equally nude woman before turning away. “We had laws in my time about indecent exposure.”
“Indecent? Nudity is a natural thing, little bear.” He frowned. The advanced past had been so provincial?
“Ooooh.” Her grip tightened around his neck when she spied what lay beyond the end of the tunnel. He gritted his teeth as her breasts moved against his chest, not
hing but the edge of a fur keeping her soft flesh from pressing against his.
Dripstone rose from the floor and spiked down from the ceiling, creating a circular stone paddock. Only his ancestors had been able to carve with such precision. They’d lost so much in the centuries since settlement. The little one in his arms brought that home to him more forcefully than anything had since the weretigers landed on Alysius.
“Stalactites and stalagmites. I saw them in the Carlsbad Caverns when I was a child. These are huge compared to those.”
“Dripstone. It is created by dripping water.” He jerked his chin to indicate the droplets of water falling from the tips of the stone.
“What is this place? And why are some of the areas laser cut and the rest natural?” Her wave encompassed the cavern and the dripstone.
“Whatever was expedient. This area needed to be large for the herds.”
“Herds?”
They cleared the upper tunnel, and noise from the paddock rose to an overwhelming cacophony. From this position, they overlooked the wide valley of stone separated into paddocks by carved barriers. Loud bawling of cattle and sheep in large grassy fields echoed around them. Sunlight streamed through thousands of covered light shafts in the cavern roof. Men and women roamed the herds, checking the health of young calves, rounding up the sheep for shearing.
Jain leaned forward as he backed away from the precipice, trying to look at everything at once. A sweet smile spread over her lips when she got a better view of the herdsmen. When she stopped trying to keep a stranglehold on every detail, she let herself enjoy life. He could help her in that area. She might even thank him.
“Where are we going next?”
She turned that wondrous smile on him, and he almost missed a step. The woman was beautiful. All the women on this planet had dark eyes and were tall with sleek muscular bodies. Not Jain. Perhaps it was her childlike size that made him feel protective. Even that excuse sounded flimsy to him, because he’d never thought of her as a child. Since the moment he’d seen her, he’d wanted her, and he always got what he wanted.
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