Choosing Rose (Other World Series Book Six)

by Ramona Gray

  He gave Brian a disgruntled look. “Fucking fairy could have warned us.”

  “Are they from your Earth?” Rose squinted into the trees at Duncan. He looked human from what she could tell.

  “Nah. No idea where Arden is from, he’s a closemouthed little fucker, and Talla is from a world that doesn’t have any of the modern shit we do. Same with Duncan. His world is some kind of medieval place or some shit like that. He had never seen a gun, and he had a fucking sword when he came through the orb. An honest-to-god sword.”

  Wallace sat up straight and glanced at Duncan. “He’s good with it too. You should have seen him take on the blowcat that went after us last month. Fucking thing had to weigh at least two hundred pounds and took us by surprise. We’d be dead if it hadn’t been for Duncan and his fucking sword.”

  “Blowcat?” Brody said.

  “Big fucking cat, kind of looks like a tiger only with blue stripes and this fucking hole in the top of its skull. It blows some kind of shit on you from that hole and it burns like a motherfucker. Normally, they avoid us, but this one was a mama and we got close to her den.”

  Wallace took the plate of meat that Davis handed him with a nod of thanks. “Duncan’s stupid quick with that sword, but he’s got a soft heart. He didn’t kill the blowcat, just drove it off while the rest of us got the fuck out of there.”

  He shoved a piece of meat into his mouth and chewed. “Said he didn’t want its babies to starve to death. Like we need more fucking blowcats on the island.”

  “So, you have no idea who built these huts?” Rose took the plate of meat from Doc. “Thank you.”

  He nodded and handed a plate to Brody. Their fingers brushed, and Brody’s freckled skin took on a rosy hue. Doc studied Brody for a moment before moving on.

  “No.” Teagan was accepting his own plate of food from Davis. “Arden said they were empty when he found them.”

  “Maybe it was the locals who built them,” Peter said.

  “Nah, they got their community built behind the yellow bush. It’s why they rarely get killed by the fucking pinkies.”

  Rose stared at Wallace. “What do you mean?”

  Wallace pointed to the yellow flower bushes that were planted around the huts. “See those plants? They give off some kind of repellent that keeps the pinkies away.”

  “You’re kidding me,” Peter said. “Those things are afraid of plants?”

  “I’m not. They hate those motherfucking plants. It’s the only thing keeping them from attacking our camp.”

  “Why do they hate them?” Rose asked.

  “No idea,” Teagan said. “But Wallace is right. They hate them and avoid them like the damn plague.”

  “Why don’t you have more of them?” Solomon asked. “If those plants keep them away, shouldn’t you have them planted every few feet.”

  “They’re not exactly easy to get,” Teagan said. “They mostly grow on the west side of the island and the locals protect them.”

  “Can’t blame them for that,” Brody said under his breath.

  “I got this,” Wallace pointed to the scar on his neck, “trying to get more plants. One of them got me with a goddamn spear. Cut was deep too. If it hadn’t been for Doc, I’d be fucking dead right now.”

  “It’s fucking ridiculous,” Brian suddenly grumbled. “They have more than enough of the plants. Even if we took a hundred of them, they’d be fine. They live behind a goddamn wall of them.”

  “Have you tried cutting some branches from the plants you do have and growing them?” Brody asked Teagan. “If you get a root system started, and the soil is good, you could grow as many as you want.”

  “Do we look like fucking gardeners?” Wallace grinned at him.

  Before Brody could reply, a deep voice said, “When did our visitors arrive?”

  Rose watched in amazement as all of the military men jumped up and stood ramrod stiff. She turned and stared at the man who had emerged from one of the huts. He was dark-haired and tall with a well-defined body. He was shirtless, and she stared at the tattoos that covered his upper chest before studying his face. A shiver went down her back. His eyes were cold and although there was a smile on his face, she could see no warmth in it. His gaze landed briefly on her and she had to suppress her immediate urge to stare at the ground. Cowering like a scared dog wasn’t like her, but there was something about the man that made her feel uneasy and afraid.

  “At ease, men.” The man, he had to be their leader Patrick, waved a careless hand at Teagan and the others. They sat down and picked up their food again as the man moved toward the stone table. A woman came out of the hut. The military men didn’t glance up from their food, but Peter and Daryl, even Solomon, stared openly at her.

  Rose couldn’t blame them. The woman was gorgeous with a body that the goddess Aphrodite would have coveted. She was close to six feet tall and she had long dark hair that fell nearly to her waist. She had full breasts and hips and she walked with a natural seductive sway that had Daryl practically drooling into his plate of mystery meat.

  As the woman picked up the knife and cut chunks of meat from the still-steaming body, Teagan said, “They came out of the orb a couple of hours ago.”

  Patrick leaned against the table, watching as the woman added more meat to a plate. “And they survived the pinkies attack?”

  “Not all of them. One was killed by the pinkies and one was killed by a sharkgator when they jumped off the cliff.”

  “They from Earth?”

  “Not from our Earth.” Teagan glanced at Rose.

  “Is that right?” Patrick studied each of them for a moment. “You explain the rules?”

  “Not yet.”

  Patrick took the plate of meat from the woman and ate a chunk with his fingers. “Explain them, Teagan.”

  Teagan sat his plate of meat on his thigh. “The rules are simple. You know the most important one – don’t go into the jungle alone. Keep the noise level down. Help out around camp. That includes cooking, hauling water, and cleaning. Got it?”

  Rose and the others nodded as Patrick ate another piece of meat. “Are any of you fighters?”

  “They’re scientists,” Wallace said.

  Patrick rolled his eyes before turning to Daryl who was openly staring at the woman’s breasts. “Talla belongs to me and I don’t share. Keep your eyes to yourself or I’ll cut them out of your head. Understand?”

  Daryl didn’t reply. Rose grabbed Solomon’s arm when Patrick dropped his plate on the table and moved across the clearing. He moved deceptively fast for a man his size and Daryl made a startled grunt when Patrick grabbed him by his lab coat and hauled him to his feet. His plate of food hit the ground, the meat sliding off to land in the dirt. Patrick shook him roughly before dragging the smaller man to his tiptoes and putting his face only inches from Daryl’s.

  “Do you understand me, maggot?” His voice was calm, but the back of his neck had turned a bright red. Rose crowded closer to Solomon, her heart thudding and her hands shaking so bad she could barely hold her plate of meat.

  “Patrick -”

  “Shut up, Teagan.” Patrick didn’t look away from Daryl’s face. “Do you understand me, maggot?”

  “Yes,” Daryl whispered.

  “Yes, what?”

  “Yes, Sir, I understand.”

  “Good.” Patrick released him. Daryl staggered back, sitting on the fallen log with a harsh thud. His face was pale, and he stared at his plate on the ground without saying a word.

  Patrick turned and studied the rest of them. “The rules are in place for a reason. This world is dangerous and without the rules, you won’t survive. Without us, you won’t survive. You need us. You do what I say, when I say it, and we’ll get along just fine. Isn’t that right, Wallace?”

  “Yes, Sir,” Wallace replied.

  “Good.” Patrick returned to Talla and she smiled at him before handing him the plate of food. “Now, let’s eat our dinner like civilized folks and get to
know each other.”

  Chapter Five

  “Solomon, wake up.” Rose pushed on Solomon’s shoulder. He snorted and rolled away from her, burying his face in his folded up lab jacket that served as his pillow. She sighed and stared up at the ceiling of their hut. Early morning sunlight was shining through the cracks in the wood, but no light shone through the roof. Whoever had made the thatched roof had done a good job. Even with the middle-of-the-night rainstorm, no water had leaked through.

  She sat up in the bed. It wasn’t much of a bed, just a big pile of furs, but it was better than the ground, she supposed. Her body ached, and she rubbed at her back before gingerly touching the bump on her head. It was still tender, but the bump seemed a little smaller.

  She put on her shoes before standing and heading toward the doorway. There was no door, just another fur hung across it. Unlike Solomon, she hadn’t slept at all last night. She’d been too afraid, felt too guilty to sleep. It was her fault they were in this mess, and she wished to God she could go back and change it.

  So, you would have let Vida die? You would have let Solomon torture a living being in the name of science and research?

  She pulled the fur back, blinking in the light before stepping out of the hut. She felt guilty about what had happened, but she didn’t regret trying to rescue Vida. He hadn’t deserved to die that way.

  John and Leslie didn’t deserve to die either.

  She winced and rubbed at her forehead. No, they didn’t, and she would carry the burden of their deaths for the rest of her life.

  She walked quickly to the wooden structure behind the huts. It was an outhouse and, surprisingly, not that terrible to use. She peed and used one of the broad, smooth leaves piled next to her as toilet paper.

  When she emerged from the outhouse, there was a man sitting by the fire. He was sharpening a long sword against a stone. He stood, placing the sword on the log beside him when she approached.

  “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met yet. I went to bed before you were, uh, finished your watch. I’m Rose.”

  “I’m Duncan.” She didn’t miss the way his gaze lingered on her small breasts and hips.

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “The pleasure is mine, Rose. Please, sit with me.”

  She sat down next to him. “Everyone else is still asleep?”

  “Yes, other than Davis. He’s on watch.”

  She glanced up into the tree. Davis was sitting in the tree and he nodded to her before studying the jungle around them.

  “Were you on watch all night?” She asked.

  “No. Only until about midnight. Brian took over for me for a few hours and now it’s Davis.”

  “Oh.”

  “I’ve always been an early riser, even on little sleep.” Duncan stared into the fire and Rose took a closer look at him. Unlike the military men, his dark hair was long and pulled into a low ponytail at the back of his skull. He had surprisingly pretty green eyes with long dark lashes.

  “I’m not usually,” Rose said. “I just – I didn’t sleep much last night.”

  “No, I imagine you did not.”

  “I don’t want to be afraid, but I am. There isn’t even a door on the hut, you know? What if those pink things attacked the camp at night, or another animal.”

  “We always have a guard at night. The yellow plants keep the pink creatures away and some of the more dangerous animals on the island have only wandered through the camp a few times. We killed them when they did.” He studied her mouth. “If you wish, I would be more than happy to offer my services to keep you safe at night.”

  “Oh, um, that’s kind of you, but I have a boyfriend. A fiancé actually – Solomon, the taller guy with the dark hair?”

  Duncan’s gaze slipped to her throat and he shifted away until there was more space between them. “My apologies, Rose. I did not know you were with someone. In my world, the women wear collars to show their attachment to a man.”

  “Are you serious? You make your women wear collars?”

  “They wear it as a symbol of the man’s love for them. When a man and a woman are sleeping together, he gifts her with his collar so that others will know she belongs to him.”

  “It sounds kind of barbaric and slavish to me. What if a woman doesn’t want to wear one? Do you force her to?”

  “Some men do, but that is uncommon. Most women gladly wear their man’s collar. Although, the Lord Traven’s beloved was one who did not wish to wear one.”

  “Lord Traven?” Rose asked.

  Duncan smiled a little. “Traven was the lord of my home and my best friend. He fell in love with one of his employees in his household when we returned from the war. She refused to wear his collar at first.”

  “She changed her mind?”

  “Eventually, but it took some persuading on Traven’s part.”

  He stared into the fire as sorrow flickered across his face. She patted his arm tentatively. “I’m sorry, Duncan. You must miss your friend.”

  “I do. I miss Traven and my world very much.”

  “Did you have a – a woman in your world?”

  “I did not.”

  “Oh.”

  “Considering that I was sucked into a ball of light, it is probably for the best that I did not have a woman to miss me.” Duncan gave her a wry smile. “Truthfully, I was very discontent with my life and yearned for a change. This, however, was perhaps a bit more than I wanted.”

  She smiled at him. “I bet it was.”

  “Tell me about your world, Rose. Was it a place much like the others’ world? One filled with such magic like electricity and steel machines instead of horses?”

  Her grin widened. The way Duncan said electricity was adorable. “It was. The steel machines are called cars.”

  “Cars, right. That’s what Wallace called them. They go very fast and run on a liquid that burns.”

  “Gasoline. We used to use gasoline but most of our cars are electric now, even the air cars.”

  “Air cars?”

  “They’re cars that can fly like an airplane. Did the others tell you what an airplane is?”

  Duncan nodded. “They tried to explain. I confess, I find it very difficult to imagine such things.”

  “I bet you -”

  “Duncan, you bastard, you didn’t fill up the water bucket yet.”

  Rose looked behind her to see Wallace standing at the stone table. He grinned cheerfully at her. “Morning.”

  “I’m on water duty this week.” Teagan came out of his hut and took both water buckets when Wallace held them out to him.

  “We need some more leaves too.” Wallace scratched the stubble on his throat. “I’m about to take an epic shit, pretty sure I’m gonna clean out the leaves supply.”

  Teagan picked up a leather bag with a long strap and slung it over his shoulder. “Thanks for the warning.”

  “I got your back, brother.” Wallace clapped Teagan on the back before ambling toward the outhouse.

  “Now that we have more people, it may be prudent to build another outhouse,” Duncan said.

  “Probably. You seen Davis?”

  “He’s on watch. I will go with you to get the water.” Duncan stood, and Rose watched as he picked up the sword and sheathed it in a leather scabbard around his waist.

  “Can I come?” Rose stood, and Teagan studied her for a moment before nodding.

  “Sure. Duncan, grab the flowers.”

  She watched as Duncan walked to one of the empty huts. He returned carrying some of the yellow flowers. They grew on long vines and the vines were twisted into circles. He placed one around her throat. He handed a circle of plants to Teagan who pushed it over his head and around his throat. Duncan put on his own necklace of yellow flowers before staring at the smaller circle in his hand. With a small grin, he plopped it on top of Rose’s head like a crown.

  “A little extra protection for you.”

  She gave him a shaky smile. The idea that the crown an
d necklace of yellow flowers would protect her from the horrifying pink men seemed absurd, but she had no reason to believe they would lie to her about it. She touched the soft petals of the flowers around her throat. They gave off a vaguely minty smell.

  “Are these edible?”

  “Don’t know,” Teagan said. “We haven’t seen any of the animals eating them, so we assume no. Besides, we don’t want to waste them by eating them.”

  “Right. Sorry, that was a stupid thing to ask.”

  Teagan shook his head. “It wasn’t. But, yeah, don’t eat anything until you ask one of us about it.”

  “I won’t.”

  She followed Teagan and Duncan toward the edge of the trees. As they passed the clothesline, Teagan stopped abruptly. “What the hell?”

  Duncan’s hand dropped to the handle of his sword. “What is it?”

  “Where the hell are my pants?”

  “What?”

  Teagan pointed to the clothesline. “My other pants were hanging here last night. They’re gone.”

  “Are you certain?” Duncan studied the trees around them.

  “Yes, I’m certain. When you only have two fucking pairs of pants, you keep track of them.”

  “Maybe Wallace or Brian took them by mistake last night in the dark.”

  Teagan scowled. “Maybe. C’mon, let’s get the water.”

  * * *

  “Holy crap.”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty.” Teagan was already kneeling at the edge of the water and filling up the first bucket.

  Rose stared at the large waterfall as Teagan filled the second bucket before dipping his hand into the water and splashing some onto his face. She knelt next to him and dipped her fingers into the water. It was freezing cold and she cupped some water in both hands and drank.

  “God, it’s so cold,” she said.

  “The waterfall keeps it cold.” Teagan had already moved away and was picking off the broad leaves from some bushes near the water. Duncan was staring into the jungle around them, his sword out and held loosely at his side. She hurried over and began to pick some of the leaves, stuffing them into the bag around Teagan’s waist.