by V. K. Ludwig
My blood boiled in my veins. “Push back!”
“Away from her neck!” Faruk’s scream had his yuleshi dance and paw underneath him.
The moment Kamenji braced his naked feet against the yuleshi’s black skin beside her windpipes, the beast bucked. His legs tossed up behind him. Lower body suspended in the air for an eternal moment, he gripped her neck tighter. When he came back down, everything went wrong.
He slipped off the rump, dangling on the beasts neck as she dragged his legs between the clawed beats of her front paws. Ash whirled up around them, clouding the leap of yuleshis that sprinted off in panic just as pure horror fogged my head.
It conjured pictures of how his trembling arms released the neck, how he coughed underneath the stampede, how a massive beast pressed its weight into his tiny body.
None of it happened.
When the plumes of ash cleared, Kamenji kicked his feet against the ground and slung his legs around the beast’s neck, dangling there. No matter how she tossed and turned, he held on with all the strength his muscles possessed. And not only that.
Gripping the reins closer toward the mouthpiece, he forced the female to bend her neck to the side. Like that, he steered her into circles that grew smaller and smaller as she tired. When she slowed from violent leaps into a trot, my son did something I’d never seen before.
He wrapped his tail around her left front carpus. With one determined tug, he forced the yuleshi to lift her paw. Suspended like this, she hopped on three legs until, what felt like an eternity later, she stopped.
And we all just stared.
Stared at how he hung from the beasts neck and giggled, grabbed into his pouch, and offered her some meat. Once he eased the tension on the reins, she took it, and Kamenji didn’t release her leg until he’d climbed onto her back.
Jessica sniffled a little before she said, “Look, Katedo. Did you see that?”
“Yes, I saw it.” My voice was barely my own, worn thin from fear. “Now that… he got that from me.”
Beside us, Sevja and Faruk cheered. “Well done, Kamenji!”
“Ride her while she’s still exhausted,” I shouted, snatched the reins from Jessica, and clicked Rogon into motion. “Show her that she can still sprint across the plains of Mekara, but with you on her back! Hum for her!”
Spine straight, horns carried tall, he turned her around and kicked his heels into her sides. She took off at a sprint, and a brightness that submerged my senses washed over me. I heard it rushing around me, felt it tingling beneath my ribs, and smelled it in the scent of fertile loam beneath the dry ash.
Pulling Jessica tightly against me, we sprinted beside Kamenji and Dinale until our yuleshi’s windpipes fluttered and roared.
“She’s fast,” he said, and I could have sworn the pitch of his voice had become deeper as if he’d grown up some more right before my eyes.
I slowed Rogon into a walk beside him. “Who told you to wrap your tail around her leg?”
He shrugged, and a smirk came over his lips as his eyes flicked to me. “A secret trick I came up with.”
“It’ll stay in the family, yes?”
“Yeki.” He stroked Dinale’s shoulder and spoke softly to her before he grinned at me. “Your turn, adi.”
I reined Rogon toward the salt-stained rock, where yuleshis often gathered to lick the mineral before high heat. “I have a feeling we’ll find another leap behind those spires.”
“We had many cubs this sun cycle,” Sevja said as she trotted beside us, along with Faruk. “Most of them female, from what I observed.”
Faruk nodded. “That’s good. Too many young males cause nothing but trouble once they want to breed.”
“By the Heat of Heliar,” Jessica cursed. “How about you toss the rest of that rotten meat out, Kam?”
He shrugged, eyes narrowing when Dinale gave an unexpected buck which he answered with a kick of his heels. “I don’t have any left.”
Not to mention that the stench was different. The sourness of it raised the hairs at the back of my neck, and the distinct undercurrent of metal curled my toes, forcing a lick of bile to the back of my throat. I knew this smell all too well.
One glance at Faruk confirmed it, because he lifted a brow at me, saying, “Could be a dead beast they left behind.”
“After cubbing season when female ushtis and yuleshis are drained from nursing for many moons?”
Unlikely.
No, the way my stomach turned told me this was something bad, and proof offered itself when we followed the stench. It intensified to a degree Jessica pressed a hand to her face, covering mouth and nose when I wished she had covered her eyes instead.
When we rounded a large boulder, she flinched in my arms. “By the Three Suns…”
A nudge with my heel immediately spun Rogon around. “Don’t look.”
“Mekara help us,” Sevja mumbled. “Are those the warriors we sent to Warlord Toagi with the medication right before the torrent hit?”
I glanced over my shoulder, back at the five corpses littering the ground around the exposed roots of a dead tree. Faces ashen, their tailclaw wounds oozed with worms, but at least their heads had been turned toward north, toward Mekara. A gesture of respect as a substitute to burial rites.
My jaws clenched when I spit out that one word I hated the most. “Freeraiders.”
“They stole the medication.” Kamenji showed neither fear nor disgust as he looked over the dead and made the sign of Mekara, a tap against his sternum before he waved his hand toward the sky and forward. “Why didn’t Warlord Toagi report they never arrived?”
“No satellite access,” I said. “The torrent caused magnetic disturbances. He probably also thought I wouldn’t send warriors out during the storm, and figured the delivery simply got delayed.”
“What are you going to do, adi?”
Unfiltered rage swelled my muscles, and every tendon in my body tightened. “I will hunt them. I will find them. And I will kill them all.”
Seventeen
Jessica
Kam’s little gray toes wrestled with mine as he flicked through a holographic puzzle of the Decalon solar system across from me on the couch. “Can I ride Dinale next sun?”
Katedo nuzzled me right above my temple even as he looked over a holographic map, working through his scout’s reports of freeraider activities, animal population, and signs of solar flares. “Only outside the southern gate, and even then, you’ll have warriors with you.”
Satisfied with the answer, Kam smiled. “Do you know where we’ll settle?”
“There’s a large tree up north that could hold us comfortably, with a rich population of tendetu and large fields of wild grain. Unfortunately, it’s infested with freeraiders.” Gentle lips pressed a loving kiss to my cheek before he whispered, “I’m sorry for working so late. Once I went through my shimids’ notes and Kamenji goes to bed, I’ll be all yours.”
All mine.
Those words reached deep into my core and still rang clear. Even though Katedo insisted that my wekhja healed before he would sleep with me again, he generously made up for it by showering me with affection. I spent my nights on his chest, my evenings in his arms, and not an hour passed during the day where I went untouched. He came to the lab for a kiss and interrupted his work for something as simple as a quick stroke of his knuckles across my cheek.
“I get why they stole the medicine.” I tugged a large fur to cover our legs. “But I can’t wrap my mind around how things between warlords and freeraiders got this bad to begin with.”
Beneath the fur, Katedo’s tail stroked up and down along my thigh. “A long time ago, there was one Jal’zar warrior who united most of Solgad’s population underneath his rule.”
I’d read about that. “The first warlord, Kukumeh.”
“Uh-huh.” Another kiss to my head. Another caress along my thigh. “In his opinion, Jal’zar needed a permanent place to settle so they could focus on science, medication
, technological improvement. He carved Noja into the mountain, but not everyone followed. Some Jal’zar said our nomadic roots are what Mekara wants for us, and settling would surely anger the goddess.”
Kamenji’s eyes remained on the swirls of light that came together in a projection of planets as he said, “Mekara did get mad, and our people got sick without the sun.”
Katedo cleared his throat. “Or maybe they just lacked serotonin and vitamins.”
“Amimi says it was Mekara’s wrath.”
“Anyway…” Katedo gave a faint shake of his head. “Kukumeh eventually chose the path in the middle, rotating our people between Noja and the plains. Problem was, after decades in the city, the plains sprawled with those who opposed his ways. So he appointed warlords to rule Solgad by his side. While four of them kept the plains safe, the fifth would occupy the city until it was time to rotate.”
I didn’t realize I was gaping until Katedo tugged on my lower lip, and I blinked myself out of sheer amazement. “The Empire might want to add that to the travel guide. It’s fascinating.”
“Freeraiders continue to refuse to join a tribe. Which would be fine with me.” Katedo’s sigh let my head sink deeper into his chest. “It’s their hypocrisy that makes them so unbearable. They contribute nothing to the maintenance of Noja, say that we turned our backs on Mekara, then steal the advancements the city allowed us in the first place.”
The remnants of anger in his voice over the dead warriors didn’t go unnoticed. “Why five warlords?”
“A solar cycle has ten moons. Each warlord occupies Noja for two moons, then roams the plains for the rest. The occupation and civil wars interfered with the schedule until recently. Now that we have five warlords again, we continue with proper rotations.”
“So there’s you, Warlord Toagi, and…” I thought for a moment. “Warlord Fesaho?”
Katedo nodded. “He’s old and sickly, and we expect him to travel to Mekara soon enough. His son will likely replace him after that, should he succeed in the trial, and is determined to take a wife from Earth.”
“I’ll win the trial,” Kam said.
Katedo’s lips pressed into a slash for a moment before he continued. “Warlord Haruto is planning to marry a woman and, from what I’ve heard, he already met her and is very fond of her.”
Kam shut down his puzzle and gave a lazy stretch of his limbs. “And Warlord Razgar.”
“Yes, Razgar…” Something akin to a grunt rumbled at the back of Katedo’s throat. “A restless spirit, settling his tribe in one place only to uproot them a few suns later and move elsewhere. Reliable when called upon for help, but his temper is volatile. Sometimes I wonder why he struggled through the trial, considering he shows little interest in his tribe’s concerns.”
When he stroked his nails along my scalp, I curled myself tightly against him, feeling more cherished than ever before in my life. “Who’s your favorite?”
His chuckle tossed my head around a little. “Toagi.”
“What? He stole Ceangal.”
“Yes, I should thank him once I get the chance,” he rasped, pressing what had to be kiss number forty of the day behind my earlobe. “Toagi does a great deal of thinking and doesn’t act rashly. It’s a trait I admire and appreciate, no matter how he angered me.”
Kam rose and walked off with a hitch in every other step since he’d spent the entire day on the back of Dinale. “I’m tired.”
“Choose a story,” Katedo said. With a final flick of his wrist, he shut down the holographic map. “Let me bring him to bed really quick. How about you bring us some mokhot?”
“Sure.”
I went to the kitchen and grabbed two clay mugs, along with the corked jug that sat in the corner. As odd as it had been when I’d carried my stuff from my quarters back to Katedo’s, Kam had not once arched a brow at me living here until we left for the plains.
I was part of the tribe now.
One within Mekara.
I’d never been one with anything or anyone before, and the thought put a smile onto my face when I returned to the living area, and placed the mugs and jug on the table.
“He’s exhausted and saddle sore,” Katedo said as he returned, and rummaged through a shelf before he sat back on the couch. “I didn’t make it to page four before he dozed off.”
“I’m surprised he can still walk.” I sat back down and pointed at the small wicker basket clasped between his hands. “What’s that?”
“A gift for you.” Basket placed between us, he opened the lid, and retrieved a wide bracelet, the pale-purple metal intricately tooled with motifs of what looked like sand dunes, rocks, and cliffs. “Remember what I told you about the rain and the soil? You are what grounds me in the here and now.” Click made the clasp when he closed it around my wrist, the metal so smooth and polished I barely noticed it on my skin. “And I’m beyond grateful that Mekara brought you into our lives.”
My throat tied up just as pressure behind my nose threatened tears. “It’s… it’s beau-u-tiful…”
“Are you making room for happiness again?” he asked with amusement on his tone, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him. “It has several settings for stones, but I thought I’d let you choose them. Do you like it?”
“Like it?” I pressed my salty lips to his and kissed him for long moments. “I love it, but I wish you would have told me, so I could have given you something, too.”
He pulled me onto his lap and placed my hand onto his uniform-clad chest. “Each sun, you gift me companionship, your thoughts, your closeness… it’s all I need. Except, maybe…” The back of his hand stroked down along my shirt before he gripped the hem and lifted it high enough to reveal my wekhja. “Looks healed enough to me.”
Fucking finally. “I agree.”
He leaned over, poured a mug of mokhot, and reached it to me. “Drink.”
The moment I took a swig and my lips left the brittle clay, he pressed his mouth to mine and lifted me up. He stroked his tongue into my mouth, kissing me as he carried me to the bedroom. There, he lowered me onto the pod and took the mug.
“In a few suns, Razgar and I will ride out with two warbands, and chase off the freeraiders in the north.” After he took a sip and placed the mug onto a small table, he climbed onto the pod and opened his uniform shirt. “But before that, we’ll hold seya i bekta, the traditional sun feast, in celebration of our reunion with the plains.”
“Should I be concerned?”
“Absolutely.” He dropped his shirt to the ground, opened his pants, but then went ahead and undressed me first. “Mother does like her mokhot, and after the third mug she usually starts telling stories about my childhood. Wait until you hear the one about how I lost my loincloth during the funeral rites for a warlord.”
I gave a playful swat at his good horn when he tugged my pants down. “Stop messing with me. You’re riding out with a warband. Is that gonna be dangerous?”
“Hardly.” Stripping out of his pants, his hard cock slapped against his ribbed stomach before he slipped behind me, and pulled me to sit between his legs. “Freeraiders neither have the leadership nor the self-discipline to pose a real challenge for a warband. And if they did, rest assured that I might not return from campaigns unscarred, but I always return.”
With a tug on my shoulders, he pulled me back to rest against his chest. His fingers skillfully dug into the muscles along my neck, but it was those kisses he placed along the shell of my ear that lulled me into a pliable mess. There he was again, that attentive male whose touch was nothing but tender and purposeful.
The way his tail stroked along my thigh made me moan, but I gasped when he pressed the hard muscle against my pussy, letting it flick and rub along my clit. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to be good to you with all I have, and I happen to have a tail.” His whisper tingled over my damp earlobe where he’d suckled it, just as he let one hand slip down to cup my breast. “Showing you that I’m all yo
urs, Jessica, and I’ll never just walk away from this on a whim.”
His words seeped into my skin with comforting warmth. “Zovazay would bring you back.”
For a moment, I could have sworn he held his breath.
Until his other hand slipped toward my breast, and he kneaded them both, his grip firm but the way his thumbs circled my nipples nothing but gentle. “Zovazay doesn’t equal happiness in a relationship, Jessica. Love does, along with commitment, respect, and support.”
I knew that but… “Once bitten twice shy.”
Katedo wrapped his strong arms around me, and lowered me onto the pod until my shoulder blades sunk into the soft furs. “Have you ever considered that what your ex did has nothing to do with fate or soulbonds, but with the fact that he was an asshole?” Resting between my legs, he stroked a pearl of seed from his ava, and circled my entrance with his smooth crown. “Imagine having a mate who can’t master his anger, and the bond feeds you so much of it you can’t breathe. Zovazay can do wonderful things, but it can’t fix poor character.”
His words resonated my thoughts as he rolled his hips and sucked on my nipples. He parted my labia but didn’t enter me, taking his time to get me ready.
Ready and desperate, because I angled my legs and lifted my pelvis in search of his delicious ridges. “I’ve waited for days.”
“I’ve waited for solar cycles.” The tip of his cock throbbed against my slick opening as he palmed my face, bringing my gaze to connect with his. “When I rut, I’ll fuck you from behind with all my strength while I grip your hair and press your face into the furs, using you any way I please. But when I’m clear-headed, it will be like this. Look at me.” His fingers trembled on my cheek when he pushed inside, sending a shiver across my body that curled my toes. “I’ll make love to you, often and thoroughly, and look into your eyes so you’ll know exactly who’s giving you pleasure.”
I moaned at the thickness of his cock, and how his ridges stimulated my walls. Gods, this male could move, drawing his hips back before he slowly thrust again, finishing it with an upward roll that let his smooth pubic bone press against my clit. The motion was deliberate, caressing the hard, pulsing bud with a sinful rhythm.
