ARMOR [New World Book 2]

by C. L. Scholey

  “Do humans wash clothed?” he asked.

  “We wash alone,” she muttered.

  Amy spread her fingers ever so slightly and her eyes roamed over his body from head to toe, pausing for a long moment on his maleness. Dasks smiled. He could smell her tingle of attraction. She liked what she saw and this time he knew it was him that caused the scent to waft to his nostrils. It was very pleasant and arousing to inhale.

  “Not right now,” he said. “I want to see if you have any hurts. The healing water will cure your ailments. Don’t drink it though; it will make you sick from the chemicals. We discovered this on Dargon when Slocks kept getting into our washing pools and tried to bite our toes. It healed the human females after mating with a Castian.”

  “Will it cure anything?”

  Dasks assessed her. She looked so hopeful his heart ached for her. “Almost any ailment. Our women were poisoned by the Tonans almost four hundred years ago. We have determined the healing water wouldn’t have saved them.”

  Amy’s look clouded.

  Dasks moved into the water. She stood there obviously undecided. Something warred within his female. There was such hope and yet so much fear of being disappointed. What was it she battled? Her shoulders set with determination. The smell of courage wafted from her—it was a very pleasing scent. Ever so slowly the rags of clothing she wore began dropping to the ground. Each item gave off a fine layer of dust as it hit the floor. To say her body was grimy would be polite. Most of her was as gray as Earth. Dirt was marred between her toes when the wrapping came off her small feet. A fine layer of blond hair covered her lower legs and around her sex was darker coarse hair. Interesting—Dasks was almost hairless. Is the hair some kind of female shield?

  The perfect female body before him was incredible. Dirty she might be, but beautiful she was. Curves enhanced her perfection. Her legs were long and slender as were her arms. Tiny hands fluttered near her sex to cover it. Dasks smiled. There was nothing to cover; he knew her sex was up inside waiting for him. She’s so thin. He would need to make certain she was never hungry again. The feeling of great protectiveness flowed yet again.

  With trepidation she came forward, her arms across her luscious rounded bumps Dasks had learned were breasts. They bounced a bit as she moved forward and looked large for her slight frame. They were as white as the pictures of the snow Dasks had seen and would shame an Effie flower by far in comparison. He had seen her dusty rose-colored nipples and his mouth felt a sudden yearning to suckle one and tongue the bud.

  Amy lowered herself into the steamy water. She groaned and Dasks knew it was a delighted sound. Lower she sank until she was covered to her neck. The water began to fizzle around her and swirled while it cleansed her. Round and round it swept over her body making her giggle then gasp. She looked surprised and swatted at the bubbles as they circled her creamy thighs.

  “Hey. What’s happening?” she cried out as the intensity of the swirling motion increased dramatically and swirled higher under her chin.

  Dasks pulled her against him immediately sensing her concern. For some reason the water was frightening her. “It’s all right. You’re being washed.” She felt so frail in his arms.

  “The water washes me on its own?”

  She was incredulous and Dasks felt her rise to her tiptoes trying to escape the intrusion.

  “Of course. What else would you use?”

  Amy gasped suddenly, a small “eep” escaped her lips and she held very still, her eyes widened. “I’ve been violated by water; it went in my…it went up my¼ Oh my God!”

  Dasks chuckled when her legs clamped together. “Lucky water. Now under you go so the water can finish and you can eat. Take a breath.”

  Amy took a shallow breath and Dasks thrust her under. Amy flailed about but Dasks kept her still as the water attacked her matted hair. The strands came to life as they whizzed around her head. He could feel her annoyance with him, but it wasn’t overwhelming and he wasn’t concerned. This was in her best interest after all. Right before she needed to breathe he released her.

  She came up and gasped in a huge gulp of air. Her hands pawed at her nose and she sneezed a few times. She then tugged at her ears.

  Perhaps he should have warned her that the water would clean everywhere. Dasks pushed her down again. She stopped struggling and soon enough the water calmed and swirled no more. Dasks released her. When she came up, her eyes were open and she had the oddest expression on her face.

  “Dasks?”

  “Yes.”

  “The water, um, shaved me. Um, all over.”

  “I’m afraid Castian males have no hair except on their heads. It would tug or get caught on the armor. The water must have seen it as dirt.”

  Quickly Amy reached up to feel her head. Her hair was longer when not matted and much darker. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Why do you have hair on your head, but not on your body?”

  “Something from before olden days,” he said, shrugging. “I believe it’s the equivalent of humans having wisdom teeth. At one time they were necessary, but nature just can’t give up its hold on them. I hope you weren’t too attached to having hair in those places. It won’t grow back.”

  “Ever?”

  “No.”

  “How do you know?”

  “There are a few human females on Dargon. Cobra’s son, Rask, mated with one and he explained a few things to other warriors before we left. Once our healing waters cure you, you will never have the same ailment again.”

  “You mean Lisa will never have a cold again? Like a vaccine?”

  Dasks knew the word and nodded. “Yes, nor will Leah ever suffer from the same sickness. Although, healed bones can be broken but are fixed easily enough by a mate or grown warrior aiding a child. You will never grow hair on places human females might normally again.”

  Thankfully she didn’t appear concerned, just interested.

  Amy seemed to asses herself as she stood still. Dasks felt her hands move under the water near her left breast. For a moment she smiled, hope soared—then dashed. The smile was replaced by sadness. He saw and sensed it at the same time.

  “Amy?”

  She took a deep breath and seemed to brighten although he knew it was forced.

  “Well I certainly am clean.”

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing,” she whispered. Her head lowered to hide her eyes.

  Dasks had never smelled this new scent either. It was something he knew when it assailed his senses. She was lying to him, and she was not only sad, but afraid.

  * * * *

  Dasks waved his hand over the control panel. A series of clicks and a small whistle sounded. The noise was his imprint. No other hand over the door panel could make the same sound, all were unique. It was how Talsk could identify him as his warrior mate. The door was solid for privacy. A person’s emotions were their own in the sanctity of their rooms.

  Talsk looked disheveled when his door slid open. Dasks looked past him. Meg was sound asleep in Talsk’s bed. Dasks could scent a different odor to his warrior mate. It was as though Meg were a part of him, as though her blood flowed through him. And because Talsk’s blood flowed through Dasks, he felt a sudden rush of protectiveness toward the woman. If the woman died, so would Talsk.

  “You mated,” Dasks said with surprise. “Already?”

  Talsk dragged him into the room and the door slid shut. “It—was—amazing.”

  Dasks’ eyes widened. Talsk sounded like he wanted to jump up and down. Dasks sniffed the air and grew concerned. He moved quickly to Meg. There was blood on the bed.

  “She’s hurt.”

  Talsk was beside him, shushing him. “I marked her. Look.”

  With a great deal of tenderness, Talsk turned Meg partially so Dasks could see her back. On her left shoulder blade was the mark Talsk wore on his face on his armor. The mark was already healed and glowed green. It was perfect.

  “You did that?” Dasks as
ked.

  “With my fangs.”

  “Didn’t it hurt her?”

  “At first. Remember to bite Amy before you mark her. There will be no pain if you bite her and she will hold completely still.”

  “Why the blood though? She’s healed.”

  “Meg said Castian males have more stamina than human males. She was too tired to go to the healing waters a second time after she cleansed so I brought back a piece of the sheet and washed her while she slept. I didn’t have the heart to wake her so the bed could change its sheets. She looks so perfect while she’s sleeping.”

  Dasks’ eyes widened further. His warrior mate was downright smitten!

  Talsk ran a careful hand over Meg’s bouncy riot of clean red curls. Dasks noted the woman still sported a spatter of tiny brown dots across her nose and cheeks. They were cute. Castians had no such markings and Dasks very gently trailed a finger across her skin.

  “Meg calls them freckles.”

  When Talsk looked at Dasks his eyes were shining with happiness. An astonishing amount of fondness for the woman oozed from Talsk. No, it was much more than just fondness. The emotion was…invincible bonding. Dasks felt his guts clench. He wanted to feel the same way about his female.

  “Give her some time,” Talsk said.

  Dasks knew his emotions were in high scent. Talsk was picking them up easily.

  “Meg said you killed human males in front of your female and scared her.”

  “I saved her,” Dasks raged.

  Meg stirred and frowned in her sleep, she muttered something a bit fearfully.

  Talsk jumped from the bed to grab Dasks’ arm, hauling him away. Talsk growled at him.

  “Your anger is scaring her,” Talsk snapped.

  “I’m not mad at her. You know I would never ever harm her—she is you, you are one.”

  “Why are you here anyway? Shouldn’t you be trying to mate with Amy?”

  “Cobra wants us to bring the mother of the three children to him, with her little ones. The tiny females like you. It would be best if you came.”

  Talsk’s entire demeanor changed and he smiled. “Meg has promised to give me a little female of my own. I want to be a father. I can’t wait to see how a child that size comes into the world.”

  “I think babes are smaller,” Dasks said, though he had never seen one.

  “Smaller?” Talsk said with surprise. “I can’t imagine anything being smaller than Lisa.”

  Dasks shrugged. “Come on, Cobra is waiting.”

  They left Meg sleeping and went to collect the woman and her children. It wasn’t long before they stood in the large cabin where Cobra conducted business.

  The woman standing before Dasks was thin but taller than Amy. Long blond hair flowed almost to her waist. She was a beauty. Leah stood ramrod straight in front of Cobra. Eyes the color of her son’s centered onto their leader.

  Dasks admired the woman’s spirit. Cobra was three thousand years old, never mated but had one son, Rask. Rask had been left in charge of Dargon while his father was away. Cobra wasn’t leader of the Castian army for nothing. Their commander was fair but tough.

  “I gave my word that if you lived your son could stay aboard with you. It’s only fair to tell you that he has no protection,” Cobra said.

  Leah paled and Dasks scented her worry.

  “Will your men hurt him?” she asked quietly.

  “No. My warriors will not harm him. They have his scent and have been reminded of children.”

  “Reminded?” Leah asked, looking confused.

  “Our memories of scent go back hundreds of thousands of years. Because we are all connected emotionally, if one Castian male has ever had the scent of something all Castian males would remember the smell as well after being reminded. Such as lying. Most Castians have never been lied to, but some have. One smell of deception or something unfamiliar and we search for the scent. It’s very important that you never lie to me,” Cobra warned.

  Annoyance oozed from the woman.

  “I’m no liar. I just want to make certain my son will not be harmed,” she snapped.

  “A Castian warrior would never kill a child. By having no protection I mean we will be unable to shield him if we are ever under attack. We are at war with the Tonans, who are without honor and would kill a child—male or female. A warrior can shield a female child, but not a male. My men are mating with the women they have brought aboard for their own protection. Only a mate, his male relatives and his warrior mate can shield a grown female. They bind with blood.”

  Dasks shifted his feet and Cobra gave him a sharp look. Dasks nodded in understanding. For Amy’s sake he needed to mate with her. It was her only real way of being safe from harm. Once mated, their connection would warn him if she were ever under any duress. No matter where she was or how far away, he would be able to sense her emotional and physical state.

  “Why won’t you shield him?” Leah asked.

  Dasks heard the pleading tremor in her voice.

  Cobra lifted his hand to the woman’s face. The backs of his fingers glistened when he touched her. Oddly enough the woman didn’t calm. Cobra frowned. It was apparent he wasn’t expecting that.

  “It isn’t a matter of won’t but can’t,” Cobra explained. “A Castian male has his own protective armor. We’re born with it. A warrior has never needed to shield a Castian male—there are no memories of it.”

  “But my son isn’t Castian.”

  “Exactly.”

  “You say that like it’s an important factor when the real importance is he’s aboard your ship and you are responsible for him,” Leah raged. “Now stop telling me why you can’t keep him safe and start telling me how you will keep him safe.”

  She has guts. The last person to snap at Cobra almost went through a steel wall.

  “Talsk, take the female children to a familiar person,” Cobra said.

  Leah grabbed her girls and son and pulled all three children to her. “They are my children. All of them. You either take all four of us or let all four of us leave, together,” she demanded.

  Cobra sighed heavily when the woman’s eyes flashed at him.

  Dasks felt amused at his leader’s apparent frustration and also Cobra’s attraction to her. The females were too important to release. Leah was obviously fertile and too great a prize to leave behind. The mother would never leave her son alone on a dying planet. It was no wonder Cobra’s touch hadn’t settled Leah; her love for the child was like a burning star of emotion, glowing too bright to be overshadowed by mere secretions.

  Cobra looked down at the male child. He squatted down to his eye level. The little male stood as straight as his mother.

  “I was told it was you who stopped my warrior from taking his prize,” Cobra said.

  Dasks stiffened.

  “She’s a woman not a prize and yes I cut her loose,” Craig answered.

  Dasks was impressed with his response.

  “There are creatures we battle the likes of which you’ve never seen,” Cobra said.

  “I’ve never seen the likes of you before and I’m not dead,” Craig replied.

  “My armor can’t protect you,” Cobra warned.

  “Then teach me to be a warrior like you,” Craig said hopefully, his eyes lit with eager enthusiasm.

  Dasks scented the little male wasn’t afraid of Cobra but enthralled with him.

  Craig’s request startled Dasks; the child could never really be any kind of decent warrior. The appeal didn’t seem to faze Cobra. The child was serious. The idea was amusing; he was so tiny and defenseless. But Dasks could sense Cobra’s shrewdness—he too would sense the little male’s awe of him. Their leader had found an obvious way to handle the mother through her child.

  “If I teach you to fight like a Castian that will mean you’ll be my warrior. You’ll have to listen to me above anyone else, including your mother,” Cobra said.

  Craig looked up at his mom, smiled sheepishly and shrugge
d. “Sorry, Mom.”

  Talsk and Dasks chuckled.

  The little male was as spirited as his mother. Perhaps the warriors couldn’t shield him, but Dasks decided if he needed to he would help defend him. It was a shame the little male could never have a warrior mate to watch his back. No Castian could take the risk. Cobra stood. He leveled a look onto Dasks.

  “Take them to my cabin,” Cobra said.

  Dasks was startled but said nothing. Cobra’s scent of high attraction to the female was prominent. He and Talsk led the woman and her children away.

  Chapter 4

  “Why can’t I leave your cabin?” Amy asked Dasks.

  Amy had been aboard the vessel for one week. Dasks had kept her sequestered away the entire time. She most decidedly had cabin fever. The intrigue of holographic games had worn off fast. Dasks had introduced her to an eerie-looking thing he called a Glosh and informed her its name was Ebbie. He had apparently reactivated it. He claimed Ebbie was his old pet and thought she might like it. She didn’t. It looked like an Ewok with fangs that walked on all fours. Red eyes glowed in the dark and never closed. It gave her the creeps when it growled and snarled. She admitted she was afraid to be alone with it—hologram or not. Dasks had deactivated it.

  Amy had slept a lot. She supposed her tired body needed the rest. The healing waters drew her to them twice a day. Each time the lump in her breast shrunk just a tiny bit but never went away. In her heart Amy knew the water wouldn’t cure her, but perhaps it would prolong her life for a bit longer.

  Both Amy and Dasks were sitting on flat mats on the floor at a small table. The ground was soft; they had no need for pillows or stuffing. Amy had eaten more than she had in a very long time. Her belly was rolling from being so full. The Castians had come prepared. Their replicator had been programmed with Earth cuisine as well as Castian foodstuff. The gauntness was beginning to leave her sunken cheeks as she indulged. There wasn’t much else to do but eat. Amy was beginning to feel like Gretel and wondered if she were being fattened up. Dasks had been right. Since coming aboard the vessel, she had not been hungry or cold. Just bored to tears. She didn’t like being left alone with her thoughts. The good the bad or the ugly.