by Mina Carter
Closing his eyes, he let the feelings wash over and through him. For the first time in his life he felt… complete. Content. She fit into a place in his heart he hadn’t realized was empty. Moving his head, he placed a gentle kiss against her temple, not caring that they were in the middle of a crowded corridor and everyone would see him. As a human would say, fuck them, let them look. She was his and he wanted everyone to know it.
Murmuring, she pulled away and he looked down at her, reluctant to let her go from his embrace. Her expression was taut and angry, giving him a moment’s warning before she wound her arm back and punched him in the jaw.
Pain radiated through the side of his face and he blinked, rocking back on his heels a little as he absorbed the blow. It was a good one, delivered well and by someone who had obviously been taught to punch.
“My love?” he murmured, confused. She’d been happy to see him. He knew she had. Why else would she cling to him the way she had? “Is there a problem?”
“That’s for knocking me up without fucking asking,” she hissed. “Or even fucking. Fucking or asking, either would have been a good thing, don’t you think?”
12
F ury joined the merry party of adrenaline and relief surging through Jess’ system. She couldn’t believe she’d made it to safety, against the odds, but that light-headedness flipped to something darker as she looked at Laarn, standing in front of her as bold as brass, saying he’d been scared he would lose her. Her hand stole down to cover her stomach. Asshole hadn’t even had her yet, so how could he lose her?
Ignoring the small gasps and interested silence from the crowd around them, she held his gaze, refusing to look away. A challenge, something they’d been warned not to do with any of the warriors, but right now she didn’t care. This could develop into a full on bitching out fest and she wouldn’t care a jot. Let the rest of them see that their fucking holier than thou lord healer was a man just like them. Him included.
“Talk,” she advised. “And talk fast.”
His gaze never left hers. “My love, I can explain. Let’s take this somewhere else and we’ll talk?”
Her lip curled back. “Don’t you fucking my love me. How about you explain right here.”
His eyes flickered to the side, the implacable mask slipping for a moment. “We’re not alone…”
“Oh, I realize that.” Jess laughed. If she’d been herself and people hadn’t been trying to kill her for the last hour or so, she’d have winced at the harsh sound. She didn’t. Instead, she folded her arms in a silent signal that she was going precisely nowhere and he’d be a fool to try and make her.
“Just as I wasn’t alone when your healer basically called me a slut when I didn’t know who the father of my baby was….”
The memory of the condemning look on Tovan’s face was imprinted on her mind forever. The half second of disgust that slid into speculation before he’d covered it all up with the professional doctor’s face, but she’d seen it. Known what he was thinking. That if she’d slept with so many Lathar that she didn’t know who’d fathered her child, perhaps he had a chance of getting between her thighs.
“…a baby I had no idea I was having because I haven’t had sex with anyone since I left Earth. And for humans, there has to be some cock in cunt action for conception to take place. You see where I’m going with this?” she demanded, not caring that he winced at her foul language. He’d knocked her up without so much as a by-your-leave… she had a right to be a little pissy about the situation.
“Jess, please understand. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” He stepped toward her as though to pull her into his arms again.
Tears thickening the back of her throat, she stepped back with a glare, wishing she hadn’t given up her pistol so easily. Now the excitement from nearly getting killed by purists was wearing off, her control and emotions were on a knife-edge. One touch from him and she’d crack, burst into tears and ruin her tough-girl image.
“What did you mean to happen then?” she demanded, trying for sharp but managing hurt instead. The sound of the pain in her own voice widened the cracks in her shields and just like that, they began to crumble.
“I thought we had an agreement… an understanding? If you’d wanted a baby that badly we could’ve just… yeah. If you’d wanted to make sure, that would have been cool too but…” She coughed, trying to cover the lump in the back of her throat, but it was no good. The tears had already begun to leak.
With a muffled curse, he was on her, hauling her back into his embrace with strong hands. Drawing in a shuddering breath, she didn’t fight. She couldn’t. She couldn’t fight him and the tears that threatened to overwhelm her.
“I mean… it’s no secret that I had a thing for you. Right from the beginning I’d hoped that if any warrior claimed me, it would be you, even if you did glare all the time and try and scare me off.”
He lifted her chin, wiping her tears with gentle fingers.
“Shhh… we did, we do have an agreement,” he said in a soft rumble, his green eyes locked onto hers, his stare intense. “And I didn’t intend for this to happen. Do you think I would have denied myself your body and your pleasure in favor of getting you with child through other means? Yes, I took your eggs and fertilized them to see if my theory was correct. But, I didn’t implant them. I swear on my oath as a healer, Jess, I would never do that to you.”
He leaned down to brush his lips over hers and she shivered, closing her eyes as she fought the need to surrender to him.
“Jess, did you go into my lab for anything while I was gone?” he asked, lifting her chin up so she had to meet his eyes.
She frowned. “Errr… yeah. I didn’t feel well and none of the other healers seemed interested in talking to me so I tried your lab. It let me in, though, and I didn’t touch anything, I swear. Just used the diagnostic bed, that’s all,” she assured him earnestly.
Crap. What if there was a penalty for trespassing in the labs or if she’d destroyed a delicate experiment or something? Then she winced as she realized she’d not only destroyed all the experiments, but the labs to boot. If there had been anything delicate in there, it was a shattered, twisted mess now.
But, unexpectedly, he smiled. “That explains it, my love. I didn’t destroy the eggs. They were stored in my lab. When you initiated treatment, the AI must have thought you wanted to implant them and did.”
She looked at him for long moments, replaying what she remembered of her visit in her head. “It did mention something about viable tests and if I wanted to proceed.” Her cheeks burned as she realized how stupid she sounded, adding in a small voice. “I thought it just meant proceed with treatment for my stomach bug. Then my abdomen got hot, but much lower down than for a digestive problem.”
The backs of his fingers brushed gently against her cheek. “That was the implantation sequence, my love.”
There was a cough behind them and they both turned to find Daaynal looking down at them. “Laarn, I think it may be better if you took the Lady Jessica to the safety of your quarters while we deal with this situation here.”
Laarn inclined his head. “Of course, Your Majesty. Immediately.”
She bit her lip as he bent to scoop her up, her skirts rustling around her legs in a swish of silk as he held her high against his chest like she was the most delicate thing in the universe. The leather of his jacket was warm beneath her fingers as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. Not to hold on, he would never have dropped her, but because she wanted to touch him. Reaching out, she wound her fingers through his hair, savoring the feel of the silky locks against her skin.
“Wait!”
Laarn had barely taken two steps when a harsh voice rang out from behind them. He half turned, Jess peeking from around him, to see Saal in the ruins of the lab doorway. A rifle in one hand and a blade in the other, it was obvious from his blood-stained face he’d been in a hard-won fight.
“I challenge Laarn K’Vass,” he announced,
pointing at the healer with the big knife in his hand. “For the right to claim Lady Jessica of Earth.”
“NO.”
Laarn’s snarl was instinctive. Jess was his. Even if she weren’t carrying his baby, she would have been soon anyway. And she would be again. Soon. As soon as she birthed this one, he planned on putting another in her belly, the traditional way.
“She’s mine. She’s accepted my claim. She carries my child.”
He didn’t miss the flash of anger at his words, particularly the last ones. Of course, he knew Saal had been sniffing around Jess for weeks, but she hadn’t paid him any mind, avoiding him wherever she could. The fact that the male had kept up his pursuit, despite no signs of interest from the female he wanted, said he was both too stubborn and too stupid for his own good.
“Your Majesty,” Saal spoke directly to Daaynal, who was watching the scene with a big shoulder leaned against the corridor wall and his arms folded. His expression was so forbidding Laarn probably wouldn’t have addressed him directly, even though he was the guy’s sister-son.
“This warrior,” Saal indicated Laarn, “left his mate unattended and in danger. I protected her. Therefore, by our laws I have the right to challenge his claim on her.”
“That’s a load of trall,” Laarn snapped, irritated beyond measure that this piece of draanth was even still speaking. There was no way he was letting a little fucking upstart, a lowly J’Qess, steal his little human from under his nose. “Jess protected herself. We all saw it.”
“Not when they attacked she didn’t,” Saal argued. “They came to her room first and she’d be dead, or worse, if I hadn’t hidden her.”
Daaynal turned his head. “Lady Jessica, is this true?”
Jess nodded, her face pale, and Laarn growled in anger. “It means nothing. He’s just trying to cover his ass. We all know he was friends with Dvarr. I say we execute him, here and now, for purist leanings.”
“No! He’s not!” Jess burst out, her arm tightening around his neck. She looked at him, her full bottom lip quivering just a little. “He’s not Dvarr’s friend. He’s saved me from him before when he was guarding the emperor’s war-room. I wanted to see you…” she said to Daaynal. “About my twin sister, the ill one? But he wouldn’t let me in. Threatened me. Saal saved me then as well.”
Daaynal sighed, running a hand through his long hair. “Well, that does put us in a bit of a bind, doesn’t it? If he’s protected your female twice, Laarn, then he does have the right to challenge.”
“No…” Jess gasped, clinging tightly to him. Her horror at the idea eased something deep in his chest. “But I don’t want him, Saal that is. I mean, I’m grateful to him for rescuing me, but I don’t want him as my husband… err, mate. Laarn is my mate.”
“Not yet,” Daaynal growled as he pushed off from the wall. “Laarn, Lord Healer… do you accept the challenge?”
“Gladly.” He let go of Jess’ knees and stood her on her feet, pushing her gently behind him. “I’ll make him wish he’d never been fucking born.”
“You can try, healer,” Saal spat the word like a curse, throwing the rifle to the side as he advanced. Tension in the corridor rose as warriors moved out of the way, lining the walls to watch. It was rare a warrior of Laarn’s standing was challenged, and the lord healer to boot? This would be all around the palace before sundown.
Laarn grinned as he pulled the big sword from its sheath between his shoulders and paced around his opponent, stalking him like a deearin stalking its prey. Unlike some warriors, he had none of the big feline DNA in his genetic makeup, but he felt like it now, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the fight ahead.
Although Saal was from a lower ranked clan, that didn’t mean he wasn’t a good fighter. His position as war commander, albeit of a very small group, stood testament to that, as did his steady gaze and firm grip on the weapon in his hand.
Laarn’s amusement fell away as they sized each other up. Neither of them made a move, not yet, too concerned with watching how the other moved, the way he gripped his weapon. Neither was inexperienced enough to think this was an idle or easy bout.
Saal was the first to move, using the big, vicious-looking blade in his hand to test Laarn’s defenses. Shorter and wider, it wasn’t as refined as the blade Laarn wielded but more brutal, designed for messy, close-quarters combat.
The healer blocked instantly, knocking the blade aside, and sneered. “Is that all you got? A child could fight better.”
At his taunt, Saal snarled and attacked in a rush. Laarn met him with a bellow of his own, their blades clashing in midair. Saal grinned, twisting his blade and trying to snare Laarn’s up, but he’d been in too many battles to be fooled by such a trick, slamming his elbow up into Saal’s face.
The other warrior grunted, jerking his head back so only the edge of Laarn’s elbow grazed his jaw. They broke apart, circling again. The next time, Laarn attacked first in a flurry of heavy blows designed to drive his opponent back. In a challenge fight, it would be to the edge of the area and out of it, but today? He planned to pin the bastard to the bulkhead with his own weapon.
Saal kept blocking, so Laarn kept moving, kept driving forward. His hair danced over his shoulders, his body in constant movement as he used the powerful muscles in his torso to make the big blade twist and turn in a deadly dance of flashing steel.
Saal blocked, time after time, but Laarn didn’t care, his focus absolute. With each clash of blades, the younger warrior got a little sloppier, a little slower… slow enough to start leaving openings in his defense.
Laarn grinned, an evil expression that had nothing to do with humor, and slid a jab into the next opening he saw. Then a solid kick into the next. Each time Saal left himself open, Laarn capitalized on it. But not with his blade. Oh no, that would be too quick and he wanted this asshole to bleed… to suffer… to stand as a warning to every other warrior out there that Jessica Kallson was his.
Instead, he took Saal apart with his fists, switching his blade from hand to hand to keep the male’s dagger at bay as he got a blow through every gap he could. Blood dripped to the floor as they moved, splattering across the bulkhead with each heavy blow. Saal’s blocks got weaker and weaker, the male stumbling backward and desperately blocking. Fear showed stark on his face, his arms trembling as he tried to lift his blade one last time.
Laarn growled and slapped the weak block aside, reaching in to wrench the blade from Saal’s grip. Throwing both their weapons aside with a clatter, he grabbed the other male by the throat and pinned him against the wall, his feet dangling inches off the floor.
“Jess is mine,” he hissed right in Saal’s face.
Saal’s face was bruised and bloody, one eye already swollen shut… he needed a healer but Laarn didn’t care. It wasn’t going to be him, that was for sure.
“Touch her again, think about touching her… gods, you even look at her the wrong way, and I’ll fucking gut you… slowly. Over days.” He smiled deliberately. “If I can bring a warrior back from the grip of death, how long do you think I can make you dance on its edge? Think about it.”
Letting go, he watched as Saal dropped in a pathetic heap on the floor. Without another word, he turned and walked toward Jess. She watched him with wide eyes as he came to a stop in front of her. He was bloody from the fight, but he didn’t care. If she wanted him, she had to accept all of him. Lifting his hand, he held it out.
“Lady Jessica, do you accept my claim?”
13
A s soon as she’d said yes, Laarn had scooped her up in his arms and carried her in silence through the warriors lining the walls of the corridor. A walk of triumph, he’d made sure to look each warrior in the eye as they passed, the hard, possessive look on his face making Jess shiver.
Silence had reigned on the walk back to his quarters. A feeling of safety filled her as she curled up next to his broad chest, her arms around his neck, but she was tempered with increasing anticipation and nervousness when he d
idn’t speak.
She stole a look at his face, their gazes clashing. His expression was tight, not the pleasant and neutral one she was used to seeing. A shiver rolled down her spine. She’d spent weeks pushing him, trying to get under his guard and now that she had, she had the sudden feeling she’d poked the bear once too often.
Since she’d first met him, she’d wondered what an enraged Laarn would be like, and she’d seen it in the corridor outside the healer’s hall as he’d practically taken Saal apart with his bare hands.
She’d seen many fights in her time—growing up in a crowded tower habitat, illegal bareknuckle fights for money and gang clashes over territory had been commonplace—and only an idiot would have thought Laarn had needed the big sword back in place over his shoulders to take Saal down.
Instead, the weapon had been merely window dressing. Seconds in, it had been apparent that Saal was out of his depth—outweighed and outmatched by the tall, rangy healer. Laarn’s attacks had been methodical and precise, that of a surgeon as he targeted his blows for maximum effectiveness. Another shiver hit her. She’d always seen the kind and gentle side of Laarn—kind and gentle for a Lathar anyway—but today she’d seen the warrior and he was awe inspiring.
And deadly.
All to claim her.
She bit her lip as they turned another corner. They were in a part of the palace she’d never been to, one of the western wings and she started to take notice. Although she knew Laarn had to have quarters of his own here, she’d only ever seen him at the lab, even when it was obvious he’d just woken up.
Less than a minute later, he stopped before a set of double doors, which slid open silently in front of them. As he carried her inside, her eyes widened at the opulence of the rooms, quickly glimpsed as he carried her through to a huge bedroom. The decor wasn’t the clean, white and marble utilitarian sort she had grown used to seeing. Instead, it was all heavy wood and embroidered drapes, an older style, which made her think of a nomad tent or a desert sheikh’s harem.
