“How many men have had access to the women so far?” Sparx gave the men behind him a withering look when they began to protest at K’hor’s words.
“I have ordered the men to visit and speak to the women in groups of fifty.” K’hor cast a sidelong glance at Matrix as he increased his pace. “My mate cannot keep up if we continue at this pace.”
“I apologize, Juniper.” Matrix immediately slowed and gave her an acknowledging nod. “I am just anxious to see if my mate is among the others.”
“Same,” Sparx added gruffly as he slowed his steps as well.
“I understand.” When she shivered and pulled the cloak up a bit, K’hor watched her worriedly.
“Here, Tiny.” Holding open his own cloak, K’hor tucked her under one of his arms. Although he could admire her form outlined by her thin clothing, the cold was not so admiring. She was practically shaking despite the warm haven his cloak and body offered. “I will have furs commissioned for you just as soon as possible.”
“I’m fine,” Juniper argued even as she burrowed closer. Her face turned into him as she followed his lead. “God, you smell good.”
K’hor let a wide grin spread across his face before catching the envious glances the others were shooting him.
“She truly feels the pull?” Matrix asked in a whisper, his voice full of doubt. “She’s craving your musk?”
K’hor glanced down to where Juniper had her nose buried in his tunic. “It appears so. She can’t describe exactly what she smells but says it’s intoxicating to her senses.”
“How is that even possible?” Matrix argued. “Our people have traveled great distances over the years and have never met another race that responded to our mating call.”
Sparx shook his head at their friend. “Why question fate, Matrix? If humans have the ability to complete a mating bond with the men here, it’s a sign from the stars.”
“Maybe. Most likely there’s never been a mating between our two races before due to lack of opportunity,” K’hor replied, thinking out loud. “As far as I know, a Djaromir male has never had contact with a human female before now.”
“Do you think their planet may have more mates for us?” Matrix’s question caused the miners following them to talk amongst themselves.
“I guess it is possible. If they produced one of our mates, there may be more,” Sparx added, his tone thoughtful.
K’hor felt Juniper stiffen.
“Wait, what?” she murmured, lifting her face away from the leather of his shirt. When she looked up at him with lust-filled eyes, K’hor felt his body respond in kind. His body hardened proudly for his mate regardless of who else was present, the need to breed, with his fated female riding him hard, grew the longer he spent in her presence.
“I asked if it’s possible that Earth is filled with mates for Djaromir,” Sparx repeated.
K’hor could hear the hope in his fellow Warlord’s voice even as Juniper froze under his arm. “What is it, Tiny?”
Juniper’s scanned the men in front of them with a furrowed brow. “You won’t try to invade Earth or anything, right?”
“Invade? No,” Sparx rumbled. “But if the human planet holds possible mates for our men, the Djaromir will have no choice but to make contact.”
“But—” Juniper snapped her mouth closed when Matrix clapped his hands together in excitement. The thundering sound making her visibly jump.
“Can you imagine a planet filled with mates just waiting for us to arrive?” he wondered out loud. At his words, the other men voiced their own eagerness as they followed behind them.
When K’hor saw his mate’s eyes filled with worry, he knew he would somehow need to soothe her fears. Her hesitation was understandable, but Djaromir had no time to spare when it came to their future.
Their possible extinction was a sad reality. They had not had a new life born in the past six years, and out of the handful of juveniles living in the tunnels only two were female. There was not a day that went by that he wasn’t reminded how important it was for them to find their mates. Their numbers were dwindling fast, and his men were lonely. A planet full of women was a dream he had never expected to fall into his lap, but Sparx was right. If humans were compatible and could answer the mating call of the Djaromir…
K’hor rubbed Juniper’s arms as she looked past him at the others where they stood. “Tiny, Sparx is right. If Earth has possible mates, we will have no choice but to approach your planet.”
“You wouldn’t attack though, right?” Juniper asked as she nibbled on one of her small rounded fingernails.
K’hor was hypnotized by the sight of her lips and straight teeth as they worked around the tip of her finger anxiously. He was jarred back to reality when Matrix bumped his shoulder as he stared at his mate.
“No, of course not. We would not risk the lives or safety of possible mates by attacking your planet.” K’hor glanced back at the men nodding behind him. “Phaetons are not the only race with access to resources that would encourage your leaders into an agreement with our people.”
Sparx dropped a heavy hand on K’hor’s shoulder. “Very true, K’hor. Any negotiations would be peaceful.”
Juniper narrowed her eyes on K’hor as if trying to determine if he were being truthful. K’hor straightened where he was standing before her, meeting her gaze head on. It seemed like an eternity under her assessing eyes before she nodded once and continued walking.
K’hor let out the breath he had been holding.
“For someone so small, she has a mighty stare,” Sparx remarked softly before chuckling. “I have a feeling you will be feeling the weight of that gaze quite a bit in the future.”
“As long as she’s here to deliver it, I will be more than willing to accept whatever look she cares to give me,” K’hor admitted with a grin and a shrug.
It was true, he thought as he watched Juniper as she set a comfortable pace a few steps ahead. K’hor was mesmerized by the luscious sway of his mate’s hips, when Matrix roughly elbowed him in the side. The Warlord had disappeared for a few moments to the back of the pack but hadn’t been gone long.
“What?” K’hor snapped after peeling his eyes away from the heart-shaped ass he wanted to squeeze. His frown lessened immediately at the grim look that had taken over Matrix’s face.
“One of my men was stung by a treidl while gathering food this morning and we have been unable to get the tip of the stinger out. His condition has begun to worsen…rapidly.” Matrix’s hand dropped to the large knife he carried on his right hip. “I cut as much out as I could, but the very tip is escaping my reach. If I cut deeper, Djester could go into shock.”
“And, if the stinger doesn’t come out soon, your warrior will die from the venom it continues to deliver,” Sparx added, echoing K’hor’s own thoughts.
The large insects that buzzed around the surface carried enough venom to down a juvenile byorin. Extremely aggressive meat eaters, treidls were one of the more dangerous predators they had to watch for when hunting. With stingers that rivaled the length of Djaromir hunting knives, they were truly frightening creatures.
“The fact that he hasn’t succumbed yet is a miracle…although, I wouldn’t hold out hope for him to last much longer.” K’hor patted his fellow Warlord on the back solemnly. “I’m sorry, ‘Trix.”
Considering their circumstances, every life on Djaromir was treasured, and the loss of one was always hard to take.
“Me too.” Matrix rubbed a hand down his face, the action flashing a spiderweb of scars tracing the back of his muscled arm. “The treidl was aiming for me when Djester stepped into its path. If he hadn’t intervened, I’d be the one in his place.”
K’hor gave his friend a grim smile. “I’m sure the weight of that knowledge is a heavy one. I’ll have my healers ready and waiting once we get closer to the city.”
Matrix shook his head sadly. “That may be too late, K’hor. When we first arrived, he was still moving under his own power.
After we passed the gate, my men say he collapsed. He’s now unable to walk or speak. Soon he will not be able to swallow or breathe on his own.”
“The venom will stop his heart long before we make it to the healer,” K’hor finished, the outcome no surprise considering they had seen stings like this before.
“Maybe I can help.”
The men turned in unison to face his tiny mate where she was standing a few feet away. With her hands on her hips and a determined look on her face, Juniper stood staring at them.
“Tiny?” K’hor looked at her in puzzlement.
“I was just thinking…” Juniper held up one hand and wiggled her fingers in the air. “It sounds like you need tweezers to get this stinger thing out. I don’t have any tweezers, but I can offer you a smaller set of hands than the ones you’ve got.”
K’hor looked at both of his friends when he realized he was too stunned to speak. Matrix and Sparx were having a similar reaction, their mouths hanging wide as they watched Juniper where she stood pinching her fingers together again and again to show them what she was offering.
“It’s worth a try, right? I mean, if he’s gonna die anyway I can’t really fuck it up any worse—I mean—” Juniper snapped her mouth closed. “I’ll just shut up now.”
Convinced his expression matched those of his brothers, he could say only one thing.
“I love you.”
When Juniper laughed out loud at his words, K’hor realized she thought he was joking. He wasn’t. Not in the slightest. The truth may have fallen out of his mouth an at inopportune time but it had been as natural to him as breathing.
He loved her. She was hilariously awkward, breathtakingly beautiful and surprisingly brave. In other words, Juniper was perfect.
When Matrix offered her his arm to lead her to Djester, Juniper looked back to K’hor as if seeking permission. Nodding his chin at her, he let her know without words that he wouldn’t be far behind.
“You love her already?” Sparx asked, his tone full of amusement that K’hor knew was directed at him.
It didn’t ruffle him a bit.
Patting his Warlord brother on the back, K’hor grinned. “How could I not?”
Chapter Thirteen
That was going to stain.
Nestled in one of the alcoves off of the main cavern, Juniper wiped her hands down with the damp rag Matrix had handed her as she fought down the urge to vomit. Traces of blood that had once decorated her fingertips began to dye the cloth as she ran it over her skin again and again. Studying her red-tinged hands, complete with bloodstained nails, Juniper felt her stomach turn. The more she scrubbed, the more her skin burned. The cleaning strokes were making her fingers raw, but she was determined to get as much of Djester’s blood off as possible.
What Juniper had just done was going to stay with her for a while. A long, long while.
When her stomach dipped again at memories she would prefer to forget, Juniper couldn’t help but drop the rag. Her insides whirled as if she had just gotten off a rollercoaster.
Thank sweet baby Jesus she’d managed to find this empty nook.
The last thing she wanted to do was toss her cookies, much less do it smack dab in the middle of an excessive amount of overly attractive men. Even tucked in the cubby, Juniper could hear them moving around the main part of the tunnel.
Placing her hands over the curve of her stomach, Juniper took in a deep breath of air.
“Do not puke, Junie. It’s just a little bit of blood.”
When the pep talk did nothing to calm her fluttering stomach, Juniper decided to put mind over matter and try to ignore the nausea gripping her insides. Eyeing the gross-looking rag on the floor of the tunnel, she kicked it with the tip of her sandal. Juniper winced when the fabric flipped over to expose a side even more bloodstained than the one before it.
“Gross.” Bending down to grab it, she immediately regretted the action. Severe dizziness struck, leaving her frozen in place. Positioned in a crouch, she found herself unable to stand back up again.
Whoa.
Juniper wondered for a moment if she was having some type of adrenaline crash or going into shock. Neither of which would surprise her considering what had just happened was borderline traumatic. Never in a million years—no—never in a trillion years would she have ever imagined that one day she would be using her fingers as if they were human tweezers to pull out a deadly stinger from an alien bug that stung an alien man on an alien planet.
Juniper shivered as she remembered the feel of skin and muscle as it separated under her fingertips.
It was by far the craziest, most out of character thing she had ever done. Literally. Juniper was the type who hated not knowing what was going to happen next. She was predictable. She was safe. She always tried to think two steps ahead so there were no surprises on the horizon—probably because all surprises in her life had been generally bad.
Hell, she wasn’t someone who crossed outside of a crosswalk much less OFFERED UP THEIR FINGERS TO DIG IN AN ALIEN MAN’S CHEST.
Yet here she was. Wiping some poor guys blood off her fingers after wiggling them around in a hole they’d carved in his pec. She’d been shaking as she’d pulled out the stinger that had caused the ruckus. A stinger that ended up resembling the tip of a thick black sewing needle. The experience had not only saved his life. It had convinced Juniper of one thing. She was never going to ask to take a stroll outside.
Ever.
K’hor wasn’t joking when he said it was dangerous. If she wasn’t sure she would be having nightmares for nights to come, she’d probably feel a little badass right about now considering what she’d done.
Still in a crouch, Juniper’s stomach turned.
Scratch that. She wasn’t badass at all.
Using her forearm to wipe beads of sweat from her forehead, she stood slowly. She felt hot and cold simultaneously, shivering and sweating like she was struggling through withdrawal. For a split second, she considered that maybe it was more than just heightened anxiety. Although she wasn’t a fan of blood, she’d never been this much of a baby before.
With shaking hands over her abdomen, Juniper grimaced at the assault deep inside. Relaxing the fists that she hadn’t even been aware she was clenching, she tried to think of anything but throwing up. Breathing in through her nose, she held the breath for a tick before blowing it steadily out in a loud stream, counting each one slowly as she gathered her thoughts.
You saved a man’s life today, Junie.
That thought made her stand a little taller despite her shakiness. Drawing a slow breath in, Juniper catalogued everything she’d been through since waking up here.
Kidnapped—check.
Almost being sold into slavery—check.
Finding out she was stranded on an alien planet with men that needed women and not completely losing her shit—check.
Using her fingers to probe for a venomous stinger in an alien man’s chest like some sort of medical McGuiver—check.
Huh. Maybe she was a badass after all.
“You’re crazy,” Juniper mumbled as she continued to try to distract herself.
“What’s crazy?” a deep voice asked from close behind her.
Juniper spun around to face Sparx, where he’d snuck up on her just a few feet away. She had no idea how such a big man managed to move so quietly.
“Where’s—” Looking around the Warlord’s big body for K’hor, she frowned when she didn’t see him.
“K’hor is busy readying the men he is sending with Djester,” Sparx offered at her unspoken question. “A group will carry him as fast as they can move from here to the city. Now that the stinger is out, our healers will have the chance to treat him.”
Juniper clasped her hands together, wincing at the feel of dried blood on her fingers. “I’m just happy that I could help,” she mumbled as she went to step around him. With her stomach still clenching, the last thing she wanted to do was vomit on the floor in front of him.
Sparx grabbed her arm as she moved past, his grip gentle yet unyielding as he stopped her from joining the others. Juniper turned to face him, the contact distracting her from her from the physical discomfort that had refused to ease. “What’s wrong?” she asked, after catching the worried look on his face. “You don’t think he’s going to make it?”
Sparx dropped her arm quickly, “No, it’s not that. I think Djester is going to be just fine thanks to your assistance with that stinger. I was merely curious.” Sparx gave her a grin that would have been tempting if she hadn’t met K’hor. “Are the other women like you?”
“Like me?” Tilting her head to the side, Juniper tried to figure out what he was referring to. “What do you mean?”
“Small. Soft. Fragile,” Sparx gestured up and down her figure, his cheeks turning slightly pink as he stumbled over the words. “I—some of my men are concerned they may accidently hurt their mates.”
“Ohhh,” Juniper breathed as she began to catch on to what he was trying to say.
At first, she had thought he was referring to the fact that she had been having a mental meltdown when he found her and was trying to ask if the others were crazy. He was worried about their physical differences. “You mean because of our size difference?”
“Yes!” Sparx exclaimed, relief apparent on his face at not having to explain further. “Are any of the others more robust?”
“Robust?” Juniper frowned, unsure if she should be offended or not. “I’m not robust?” Propping her hands on her hips, she glanced down her body and the mound of furs covering it.
“Tiny is the smallest bride of them all,” K’hor interrupted, his arrival unnoticed by the pair. Holding out his hand, he smiled at Juniper. “Come here, Tiny.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being short,” she mumbled just before a sharp, cramp-like pain sliced through her abdomen. Reacting with no more than a wince, Juniper moved to his side and leaned into the comfort he offered. She was used to the pains of cramps, annoying but nothing knew considering she got them once a month. That last one, though, had been worse than the ones before it, the pain now moving from what she could tolerate to an entirely different level.
Miners of Djaromir: K'hor Page 10
