by Cynthia Sax
“I hunt rock vultures, harvesting their meat and creating garments from their skin. I trade those garments with others for items I need.” She frowned, her forehead furrowing. “You don’t rut with many females, do you? After rutting, you’re supposed to tell me sweet words and flattering lies.”
Did she think a clone had unlimited rutting opportunities? He lifted a strand of Lea’s hair to his nose and inhaled, savoring her unique scent. “I’ve been at war. Rutting hasn’t been a priority for me.” He shifted under her, his cock softening. “I’ll leave you with a flock of dead rock vultures and you’ll stay in the tunnels.”
“You’re leaving me here?” Lea’s bottom lip curled. “I thought I’d pleased you.” She pushed away from him. His cock slipped from her warmth, Tolui keenly missed their physical connection.
“You pleased me, gerel.” He jumped to his feet and stood beside her. “You’ll do as I say and stay in the tunnels.”
“I’ll do as I wish.” She tilted her head back to glare up at him. “I’m not truly your slave. I allowed you to capture me. I could have escaped you, lost you in the tunnels.”
Tolui’s mood darkened. “You’ll never escape me.” He stepped closer to her.
His fearless female held her ground. Her nipples were taut and his seed dripped down her legs. The musk of her arousal teased his nostrils. “You’re leaving me,” she reminded him.
“I’m leaving you temporarily,” Tolui clarified. “You’re mine, Lea. If you try to escape me, I’ll hunt you down to the ends of the universe and bring you back.”
“You’d bring me back here?” Her face softened. “To our home?”
“Chamele 4 is not our home.” Frustrated, he swept his hands over his hair, brushing the strands back.
“It’s my home,” Lea muttered. She bent over to pick up her clothing, sticking her bare ass in the air. “You’re leaving me here at home and then you’re returning home.” She straightened.
She makes no sense. Tolui yanked his tight leather leg coverings over his wet skin. “You told me you wanted to leave the planet.”
“I wanted to leave because I didn’t feel safe.” Lea laced her chest covering, concealing her beautiful breasts. “I feel safe with you here.” She pulled her leg coverings up. “So there’s no need to leave.” She stuck her small feet into her oversized boots. “Ever.”
Tolui gritted his teeth, his female aggravatingly stubborn. “We’ll have our choice of planets.” He fastened his own snug-fitting boots. She opened her mouth, her eyes flashing. “And don’t say you’re choosing Chamele 4,” he cautioned. “There are more hospitable planets in the system, planets where we can live on the surface and not in tunnels.”
“I like the tunnels.” Lea tossed back her head and strolled into the main living space, her hips swaying and her boot heels ringing on the stone.
He followed her, wanting, needing to watch her, to be with her. Lea opened her pack, revealing a small power converter, and a smile brightened her face, her mood changing as swiftly as the winds.
“This is what you risked your life for, foolish female?” Tolui helped her lift the device, placing it on top of a flat boulder. “Why do you need a power converter?”
“If you forget about me and don’t return, I’ll use it to leave Chamele 4.” She fiddled with one of the severed cables.
“I’ll return to you.” Tolui ground his teeth. “And this little power converter is useless. You’ll need over a hundred of them simply to achieve escape velocity and overcome the planet’s gravitational pull. You’ll also need a ship.”
Lea slid her gaze away from his.
“You have a ship?” Tolui cupped her chin, forcing her to look at him. He saw the verification in her eyes. She has a ship. Excitement filled him. “I need access to it.”
“And I need a proper power converter.” She turned away from him, the slashes in her chest covering reminding him how he’d almost lost his gerel.
“I don’t need a proper power converter.” He skimmed his fingers over the tears in the leather, his mood darkening. “This smaller device will give the ship enough energy to operate its communications system. I can contact my warriors and arrange for them to meet me here.”
“And then you’ll leave me,” she muttered.
“Not yet,” Tolui assured her, needing to spend more time with his female, binding her as tightly to him as he was bound to her. “I have tasks to complete before I contact my warriors.” He stroked her back, tracing her proud spine. “You can take me to your ship in three planet rotations.”
“You might not leave after those three planet rotations.” Lea leaned against him, her form fitting perfectly into his. “I plan to do my best to make certain you stay.”
She wishes for me to stay with her. Tolui wrapped his arms around her, his chest heating. She wants me, a clone discarded by his source.
Chapter Three
Lea had fallen asleep at sunset with Tolui’s warm hard body pressed against hers, lying safe and protected in his arms. She’d woken at sunrise to an empty chamber.
He left me. She brushed her hands over his discarded leg coverings.
He said he’d leave me. Lea smothered the ache in her heart and focused on repairing the garment, piercing through the two pieces of leather with one of her hoarded fastening tools, her stitches small and neat. She’d sell the leg coverings if…no, when he didn’t return.
Lea tied the sinew into a knot and cut the homemade thread in two with her dagger, the light reflecting off the sharp blade. She set the primitive fastening tool and the dagger aside and she shook the leg coverings. Two matching bands of brown rock vulture hide broke up the black leather, the design pleasing to her eyes.
“You won’t leave the tunnels without me,” Tolui rumbled.
Lea jerked, surprised by his voice, having not heard him return. He’s here. Her heart leapt and her fingers trembled.
“Do you always sneak up on beings?” She scowled at him, hiding her relief under a concealing layer of anger.
“Yes,” Tolui replied bluntly, unapologetic and dominant and vibrantly male. He stood before her, naked, his muscles flexed and his golden skin broken by silver scars. “There’s a shortage of females on this planet. The males search for you.” He spread his claws. “And I haven’t yet killed all of them.” Blood dripped from the tips.
But he did kill some of them. Lea gazed at her dangerous male, that knowledge both thrilling and frightening her. “Did they follow you back here?”
Tolui sniffed the air and his eyes flashed. “No, I’d never be that careless.” He retracted his claws and approached her, his cock flatteringly hard. They’d rutted three times during the sundown and still he wanted her. “I would never risk you.”
Lea stood, holding the leg coverings between them. “If they saw you—”
“No one saw me.” Tolui’s body faded from view, disappearing into nothing.
Fear filled Lea. “Where are you?” She reached out with her hand. Her fingertips brushed warm skin. His skin? “Tolui?”
“I’m here.” Tolui flattened her palm against his chest as he reappeared, the contact solid and real and reassuring.
He’s here. He returned. “You can turn invisible.” Lea stared at him, awed by his ability. “Is that why Daisun thought he was only tracking me?”
“Yes. I also tread lightly, leaving no footprints on the sand.” Her warrior lifted his chin proudly, his long black hair rippling behind him. “All Chameles, even clones, have this skill.”
He sees himself as merely one of many clones, interchangeable and replaceable. Lea worried her bottom lip with her teeth. Am I as replaceable to him?
That depressing thought dampened her lust. She couldn’t rut with Tolui when she knew it meant nothing to him. “We should hunt rock vultures while the sun is high in the sky.” Lea held up his leg coverings. “I repaired these for you.”
“You repaired my leg coverings?” Tolui eyed the garment with open suspicion. “Why woul
d you do such a thing?”
He doesn’t like the design. Lea sighed. “They had a hole in them.” She draped the leg coverings over a boulder and she moved to the hide hanging on the nearest stone wall. Her collection of daggers was displayed on the dried rock vulture skin.
“Only one leg had a hole.” Tolui touched the band of brown leather on his leg coverings.
“I didn’t have black leather.” She filled the empty sheaths on her thighs and waist with weapons. “A brown patch on one leg tells other beings the garment had been repaired. A brown patch on both legs could be a decorative statement, an added touch no other leg coverings have.”
“No other leg coverings would have this.” Tolui held the leg coverings up to his big body. “It’s one of a kind, not a replication.” He met her gaze. “I will be unique.”
Lea struggled to contain her emotion. “You are unique.”
His lips flattened. “I’m a clone.” Tolui tugged the garment over his legs.
“You’re Tolui, the being I gave my body to.” The being I care for. She slung six empty packs over her shoulders. Her big, strong male could carry the packs once they were filled. “You’re the only being I want to touch me.”
“You haven’t met the other clones yet.” He fastened his boots, his movements jerky. “They resemble me. You could have the same feelings toward them.” Tolui straightened. “But if you touch them, I’ll kill them…slowly.”
“Yes, yes.” Lea rolled her eyes, her male extremely bloodthirsty and even more delusional. “Will you kill them before or after you kill me?” She stomped out of the chamber.
“I will kill them.” Tolui followed her.
“Only if they touch me.” Lea brushed her palms over her plants, savoring the contact with living things, a rarity before Tolui’s arrival. “And that won’t happen. You insult me by implying I’ll spread my thighs for your clone warriors.”
“They resemble me,” he repeated, sounding as though he sincerely believed the nonsense he was sprouting.
“They aren’t you.” She hopped over the stones, avoiding the activation of her crude alarm system. “Did they survive a crash? No. Did they capture me? No. Did they save me from the rock vulture? No. Did they fill me with their seed again and again? No.”
Lea raced through the dimly lit tunnels, heading for the most southern exit in her domain. Only rock vultures visited the southern wastelands, Daisun and his brutes preferring more populated terrain.
Tolui trailed her soundlessly, easily matching her pace, his breathing level. The air dried, the temperature rising. Lea panted, her muscles burning, her lungs aching.
She turned a corner too abruptly, stumbled and Tolui caught her, lifting her off the stone floor. “Easy,” he murmured, holding her against his body, his heat comforting her.
“Is stopping my fall what a clone would do?” Lea taunted. His eyes flashed and she sprinted away before he could reply.
In three heartbeats, Tolui was beside her again. He transferred the packs from her back to his, lightening her load. They turned right two more times and arrived at the opening in the rock, the sun’s rays illuminating the cavern.
Lea pressed her right index finger to her lips and then pointed to the sand she’d spread on the stone. It was smooth, reassuring her no one had yet found the entrance. Tolui nodded, indicating he understood.
She slipped through the opening and squinted, the brightness blinding. Reddish-brown sand swirled around her boots, boulders dotted the horizon, the land devoid of life. The intense heat sucked her breath and dried her lips.
Lea beckoned for Tolui to join her, feeling safer with him by her side. He loomed over her, offering partial shade from the merciless sun, and they trudged away from the entrance. The wind pelted sand against their leg coverings.
Lea climbed upon a big flat boulder she’d used in the past and reclined, staring up at the clear sky. She extracted two daggers from the sheaths and waited for the rock vultures to arrive, her heart pounding, beads of sweat drying instantly on her skin.
Tolui set down the packs and lay beside her, pressing one of his shoulders against hers. “We need bait.”
“We are the bait.” She snuggled closer to him and he put his arm around her. “I usually slay the scout and leave before the others arrive. Are you certain we can slay an entire flock?”
“I’ll slay the entire flock.” Tolui squeezed her arm. “You process the rock vultures.” She opened her mouth. “I’ll avoid the torso,” he reassured her. “You’ll have your perfect hides.”
A rock vulture circled above them, signaling their position to its flock members. Its brown wings stretched wide, bare of fur or hair or feathers. “They’re fierce, Tolui.” Fear filled her, fear for him, her warrior male.
“Chameles have evolved to fight rock vultures and similar creatures.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, his breath hot. “And clones are even more equipped.”
Lea frowned. “You’re not all Chameles and you’re not all clones. You’re Tolui.” She waved her daggers in the air, agitated by his lack of a real response. “How many rock vultures have you slayed?”
His chest expanded. “I slayed one when we first met.”
“That was a lucky kill and the rock vulture hadn’t been targeting you,” she huffed. “I’m fighting by your side.”
“Gerel—”
“Out here, I’m not your slave,” she snapped. “I’m your equal and I will protect you. I—”
The rock vulture dove, its wings folded close to its body, its deadly talons outstretched, its mouth open, revealing rows of sharp teeth.
“Move.” Lea jumped off the rock, her boots sinking into the sand. Tolui remained where he was, lying directly in the creature’s path. “Tolui, move!” She wound her arm back and snapped her wrist, releasing one of her daggers. The valuable weapon soared straight and true.
The rock vulture screeched as the blade embedded in its stomach. The creature’s course didn’t change. It headed directly toward Tolui, her idiot male not moving.
He’ll die. Fear surged down Lea’s spine. “Move, Tolui!” She flung the second dagger. The weapon whistled through the air and landed with a thud in the rock vulture’s chest.
The creature drove its head forward and Lea’s heart squeezed. It widened its jaws, its deadly teeth a breath away from her beloved warrior’s scarred face. Lea screamed.
Tolui calmly swiped his claws across the rock vulture’s neck and batted its torso to the side. The creature flopped on the ground, gurgling, blood spraying over the sand. Moments passed and the rock vulture stilled.
Tolui’s safe. Lea panted, her heart racing, her chest heaving. He’s alive. Her hands clenched and unclenched.
Tolui rolled off the boulder and landed on his feet. “Why didn’t you avoid the torso?” He yanked her daggers from the creature’s torso.
“Why didn’t I avoid the torso?” Lea fumed. “Why didn’t you move?” She stalked up to Tolui. “You brute.” She slapped his bare chest, the sound ringing in the silence. “You big stupid brute.” She hit him again and again, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You could have died.” He stood still, allowing her to assault him. “The rock vulture could have killed you.”
“If I’d died, would you have cared?” He slid her daggers into her empty sheaths. “Would you grieve for me, gerel?” He strapped his arms around her, pushing her face into his chest.
“I’m not your slave,” Lea mumbled into his skin, avoiding his question.
Tolui’s body shook. “Gerel doesn’t mean slave, foolish female.” He nuzzled his chin into her hair. “Gerel means mate, the direct translation being light. You’re the light to my darkness, the sun to my moon.”
“Oh.” Some of her anger faded.
“I’ve fought fiercer creatures.” He rubbed his rough palms over her back, his stroking lighting fires inside her. “There was no reason for you to worry.”
Because he doesn’t worry about me. Lea pushed away from him. “Why s
hould I worry about losing you?” She stomped to the dead rock vulture. “According to you, all beings are interchangeable.”
My gerel cares for me. Tolui smothered his joy as Lea stuffed the dried meat into one of her packs. They’d filled other packs with hides, sinew, and the remaining parts of the rock vultures. His resourceful mate wasted nothing.
She set the pack with the others. “We’ll have meat for a hundred planet rotations.” Lea beamed at him, her beauty taking his breath away. “And I can craft garments to trade for other goods.”
“You’d craft garments such as mine?” Tolui swept his hands over the brown bands on his leg coverings. The thought of Lea crafting garments for other males didn’t please him.
“No.” She shook her head. “Your leg coverings will be one of a kind…as you are.”
She hasn’t met my clones. Dread coiled in Tolui’s stomach. “There are more edible creatures on the planet.” He lifted five of the packs, leaving the lightest pack for Lea to carry. “Why don’t you hunt them?”
She twisted her lips, her expressions easy to read. “I don’t dare to hunt those creatures. Daisun and his males target them. If he catches me…” She trembled.
Tolui’s mood darkened even more. During his sunrise trek, he’d seen Daisun’s cruelty firsthand, had noted the callous way the leader of the squatters treated every being, including precious females.
“He won’t catch you.” Tolui walked closely behind Lea. Her footprints were clearly marked in the sand, her scent heavy and distinctive, his gerel easily tracked. “While I’m off planet, you’ll remain in the underground tunnels.”
She jutted her jaw, stubbornness written on her face. “If beings are interchangeable, why would you return to me? You could use a more convenient gerel to ease your needs. No.” She shook her head, her brown curls cascading down her back. “You’re not coming back. I’ll have to leave the tunnels. I—”
A rumble rolled across the sky. “A ship is coming.” Tolui flattened his palms on Lea’s back and pushed her roughly toward the scan-blocking tunnels. “Run!”
