“We saw what happened with Juniper…” He swallowed hard at the memory of watching K’hor break down over her lifeless body. “Fuck. I don’t think I will ever forget what happened with Juniper and how the heat took over.”
“Yes?” Matrix asked, his expression one of confusion, obviously having no idea what Sparx was trying to get out.
“We were so focused on her, I can’t remember what K’hor said his physical symptoms were. Do you?”
“Why?” Matrix was perked up, moving to the edge of his seat. His expression turned hopeful. “Do you already have a pair that are experiencing the heat?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Sparx hedged, considering he technically didn’t know if what he was feeling was part of the heat or a prime example of simple lust.
He did know that whatever he was feeling, he had planned on keeping to himself for a while longer. He needed time to think over what it meant and what he would do. What he needed to do. Sparx would prefer to completely ignore the strange fluctuation of emotions he was fighting against. He knew it was pure selfishness speaking when he hoped that ignoring the mating would make it go away, but it was a complication he hadn’t wanted to deal with in the first place.
He had so many questions, and the first one was if a mating could be willed away—if that’s even what this was. Also, if it did fizzle into nothingness, what would happen to Lucy? Would she be free to mate with another? Possibly even one of his own men, living within arm’s reach yet belonging to someone else?
Cracking his knuckles, he barely bit back the growl that threatened to burst out of his throat. Just the thought of another claiming her for his own made him want to tear the fictional man apart. Limb by limb. Until there was nothing left.
“I don’t remember K’hor speaking much on what he was feeling, other than pure obsession with Juniper those early days.”
Sparx jerked his attention back to Matrix and away from the fantasy of killing whoever threatened his link to Lucy.
“The healers said that the mating affects our males at a much slower pace than the Earth females.” Matrix leaned back and crossed his ankle over his knee. “They aren’t built for the mating heat like we are, so their reactions are amplified in comparison. It’s one of the reasons why Juniper was so ill. After the healers realized what was happening, we knew what to expect. The few men within Gunninng who’ve been blessed with mates seemed to be the anchor needed for their mates to endure the heat.”
This was the information he needed, Sparx thought. He knew the basics when it came to mating and what he needed to prepare his men for, but since none of them had met their mates yet, the details were still unclear. Details that would let him know if he was making the right choice—or if he had a choice at all.
“What does that mean?” Sparx asked, even though his anxiety was only getting worse the longer their conversation continued. “Will she—I mean, will they need the healer if the mate isn’t available?”
“Why wouldn’t he be available?” Matrix leaned forward with an even more confused, but now also concerned, expression. “I don’t understand what you are saying, Sparx. Has there been a problem with one of our Djaromir that has required us to remove him from his mate?”
“No. No, no,” Sparx sputtered as if that were a ridiculous thing for his friend to suggest, even though he’d just suggested that very thing. Looking around the room, he let a brief silence fill their small circle within the command center. “But what if the male doesn’t want a mate? Will the female be all right if the male isn’t available to complete the mating?”
Colby snorted where he was still posted behind Sparx’s shoulder.
“That makes absolutely no sense.” Matrix ran a hand down his face as if he were exhausted. “You’re making my head hurt trying to follow what you may be thinking, Sparx. Are you sure you are feeling well?” Waving a hand in his general direction, his friend gave him a level look. “You seem more…on edge than normal.”
“I’m—” Sparx paused briefly in the middle of his lie, almost unable to force it out. “Fine.”
Colby snorted again. This time louder.
“Do you have something to say?” Sparx half turned to glare at the miner behind him.“Yes, Colby,” Matrix interrupted from his chair with a dry voice. Leaning back, he raised his brows. “It sounds like you might know what’s happening right now. Do you have anything to add to the craziness that your leader is spouting off…or at least an explanation for it?”
“Sir.” Colby paused to lick his lips nervously, his gaze darting from Sparx, who was still glaring at him, to Matrix, and then back again.
“Yes?” Matrix asked, wiggling his fingers to Colby to hurry things along.
“Not you, sir.” Colby bowed his head in respect to Matrix before placing a hand on Sparx’s shoulder. “I may be your second in command, but I am also your friend, so I hope you don’t kill me when I tell you that you’re acting like an idiot.”
Matrix sucked in his breath where he was sitting, completely frozen in his chair, with his mouth open. His eyes were glued to Sparx, waiting for a reaction.
Which he didn’t give.
Colby, the man he trusted to take charge and lead Fyeir in his place, was telling him the honest truth. For that he couldn’t be angry or even shocked that his friend had called him out.
He was an idiot. A big stumbling idiot who had absolutely no place being a warlord, the leader who’s place it was to preserve their way of life, if he rejected a blessing bestowed to him from their ancestors who lingered in the stars.
Lucy was that blessing.
It did not matter that he was terrified of something happening to her. It did not matter that he was worried about his effectiveness as a leader because some may think Lucy a distraction. None of that mattered when being weighed against the way her smile made him feel. The way one touch on his chest seemed to calm the racing of his heart. The sense of peace and home that filled his being whenever he looked into her gorgeous amber eyes.
Mates were everything to each other.
“I’ve found my mate.” The announcement landed like a chunk of ore directly in the center of them all.
Sparx sat up a little straighter in his chair, the knot of anxiety he’d felt centered between his shoulder blades loosening the longer the realization settled within him. Saying that out loud had felt good. Incredibly good.
He frowned.
“At least, I think I’ve found my mate. I haven’t been around human females enough to know what normal behavior for them is, but other than an initial attraction, she hasn’t indicated that she feels something towards me. That’s why I was curious if you remember what K’hor had described feeling during his heat. It wasn’t just a few hours ago that we were talking about how long it had been since either one of us had visited the brothels, and I just don’t—” he broke off what he was saying, worried that voicing the idea would take away the blessing he’d been given. “The last thing I wanted was a mate, and now that I think I may have one—”
“You want to be sure,” Matrix finished with a nod. “I understand your hesitation. Tell me what is it that you feel right now.”
Looking around the room at the Djaromir who were loitering close, listening in on their conversation, he let out a heavy sigh. He might as well let everyone hear what he was about to say, considering they might have the same question at some point. Hopefully.
“I feel as if we are…tethered,” he said for lack of a better word. “As if there is a link between us, even though she’s not next to me. I can tell she’s in her room sleeping right now, restlessly, as if she cannot get comfortable.”
Colby and Matrix both gave him strange looks at those words, and he shrugged.
“Don’t ask me how I know she is sleeping. I just do.” Pushing up from his seat, he began to pace, the repetitive rhythm of his boots calming the inner turmoil he felt swirling in the pit of his stomach. “I know that she needs me there,
even if she doesn’t know it. Holding her and keeping her safe. Offering her comfort.”
His words were met with silence in the crowded room, everyone staring as he continued to pour out the words that had been souring his stomach.
“I know she was mad at me when I left her alone in her rooms, even as I kept walking away. I hurt her feelings. And that’s just what I feel coming at me through…whatever it is that connects us. Personally, I’m worried that physically she will be a liability. She’s already been hurt once on Djaromir, and I was unable to prevent it. What if it happens again, only this time it’s more serious? At the same time, I know that I cannot let her go. No matter how scared I am of losing her.”
Colby clapped him on the shoulder, offering his support without words.
“That sounds like a mating to me,” Matrix said solemnly before letting his lips spread into a wide grin. “If you were thinking clearly, you would have been able to see that as well.”
“Which is yet another reason why I thought of ignoring this mess.” Raking a hand through the hair on the top of his head, Sparx gave Matrix a worried glance. “How can I be the warlord needed for Fyeir if I have this distraction hanging over me?” Pointing angrily at the monitors on the wall, he said, “Right now I am supposed to be handling correspondence not only with the Phaetons but also Earth, yet all I can think about is the woman I can’t keep out of my thoughts. If I mess this up, it could derail the entire volunteer program before it’s even begun!”
“Let me handle all of that,” Matrix offered, standing up and walking up to him. “I can take care of everything that is needed regarding Earth and the Phaetons. Colby can handle the volunteers just like you’d planned, and I will take your place here—”
“You can’t—”
“I can,” ‘Trix interrupted, clapping Sparx on the back with a jarring pat. “Go to your mate and give in to the heat. I will handle all of this until you are in a better place to take back your seat.” Giving him a half smile, Matrix shook his head. “It never occurred to us to consider we might find mates for ourselves and what we would need to do to handle that, now did it?”
“Not at all,” Sparx said dumbly, feeling beyond relieved at the way the other warlord and Colby were stepping in. “Are you sure you have this handled for me, ‘Trix?”
“More than sure, friend. Hopefully, one day, you can do the same for me.” Jerking his head toward the door, Matrix gave him a narrow-eyed look. “Go. Take care of your mate.”
“Will do,” Sparx said, turning without a second thought and walking swiftly towards the door.
Behind him he could hear the usual buzz of the command center begin again as his men, and his stand-in, went back to work.
“Colby,” he heard Matrix call. “You’re in charge of the volunteers and beginning their formal introduction. I’ll take care of the Phaetons and Earth from here before I retire for the evening. Let me know if there are any problems—”
The door swung shut behind Sparx as he strode through them. He trusted Matrix with not only his life but also the lives of his men. Fyeir was in good hands for the few days it would take for Sparx to be able to think clearly again.
His focus was now straight ahead and locked on the future with one immediate, single-minded goal.
Find and claim the female who would stand at his side as he served as its warlord.
Chapter Seventeen
“You will be all right, poor thing,” Sparx whispered into her ear as he pulled the blankets away from her overheated body. “I’m here to take care of you now. You’re already doing so much better.”
“Uh-huh,” Lucy whispered, reaching for the man who’d come to tease her in her dreams.
Gripping his shoulders, she squeezed the leather there under her hands. “You’re arms and—everything is so big.”
“Let’s just take this off you. You’ve soaked through this shirt.” Dream Sparx tugged at the hem of the top Rue had helped her pick out that morning. His voice was sweet and soft as he undressed her with gentle hands. “I didn’t know this was happening or I would have never left you. At least, I don’t think I would—”
“Sir,” a voice asked from outside the fuzzy cocoon that her and Sparx were in.
“Don’t open the door!” Sparx shouted, the sound jarring her a little from the delicious ideas she was wanting to lose herself within.
Cracking her eyes open, Lucy squeezed them shut almost immediately at the burn that ensued. She felt like she’d been through the wringer, or at least more than one bottle of wine. She was hot and sweaty and her mouth was dry as hell. Her eyes burned, even though the light in the room was ridiculously dim and she felt more than a little groggy.
“Sorry, sir. The healers said that all will be well now that you are with her. Although under no circumstances are you to leave her side or her sight.”
“That’s it?” Sparx asked, each word exchanged bringing Lucy a little more into consciousness as her brain tried to figure out the puzzle of what was going on.
“Yes, sir. They will continue to monitor her using the Phaeton bracelet and will intervene if the situation becomes dire enough to warrant it.”
“You can leave now,” Sparx growled, the vibration of the sound doing odd things to her nipples.
“Hot,” she whispered before realizing the scratchy voice that croaked it was her own.
“I know, Lucy honey. Let me finish getting this clothing off you, and then I will wipe you down with a cool cloth. That will make you feel better.”
Lucy only heard part of that sentence and the two-word words her groggy mind fixated on were clothing and off. For the next few minutes, she raised her arms and her hips when he requested, her shirt and pants coming off piece by sweaty piece. Each new body part that was bared to the Warlord of Fyeir enjoyed a brief wash of cold air before it was covered with what felt like a thin sheet. She wasn’t prepared to open her eyes and check, but it felt like just enough to cover her nakedness while still letting her cool. Not that she was really worried about flashing him, all things considered.
The temperature change felt fantastical.
At first, the shock of it had reminded Lucy of jumping into a lake in the fall. Cold enough to feel like a burn before it settled into the sensation of numbness. The air teased over her through the thin covering, no longer making her feel as if she were cooking from the inside out. Her skin still felt a bit too tight for her body, but the itchiness she’d experienced earlier had gone away.
Rubbing her thighs together, she frowned when the movement tweaked her ankle. She’d almost forgotten about the sprain, with everything else her body was trying to process.
“Try not to move. Let me do the work,” Sparx ordered softly, the words drifting across her forehead as he leaned over her.
“What happened?” she asked, cracking one eye open to peer at him. “Why do I feel like I’ve been run over?”
“That would be my fault,” he answered, giving her a guilty look before reaching into a bowl on the table beside the bed. Lifting up a small piece of cloth, he twisted some of the water out before swiping it over the front of her shoulders.
Lucy stiffened. His attention woke her body fully as she wondered what area he was going to wipe down next.
“When I arrived, you were so warm I panicked.” Sparx freshened the cloth, and then moved to her arm, washing all the way down to the tips of fingers. “I called for the healers before remembering that the Phaetons put these bands on the volunteers.” Tapping his fingers against the cool metal around her wrist, he let out a deep sigh. “Normally, I question the wisdom of the Phaeton’s dependence upon technology, but I’ll admit that this gadget has shown its worth.”
“What’s wrong with me?” she asked. Her body aches seemed to indicate she’d been drinking her ass off or she was fighting the flu. Possibly both, she considered, given how wretched she felt—although she was feeling better with every second that passed.
&nbs
p; “Nothing is wrong with you,” he answered without really answering, while continuing his journey with the cloth.
Lucy caught his fingers as he wiped down her other hand. Squeezing the thick digits, she refused to let go until he looked at her.
“I doubt I could wipe any further,” he said with a shrug, turning his hand in hers to hold it. “You’re much too tempting.”
“Am I sick?”
“No,” he said with a shake of his head before running one hand back through the hair that had fallen over his brow at the movement. He looked down at her with a worried expression, his brows low. “You’re not sick. Well…I guess you are having symptoms that would make you feel like you were sick, but that’s simply because you’re human.”
Lucy puzzled at his non-answers but found herself distracted by the way his fingertips stroked the back of her hand. Compared to her own hands, his were ginormous. Much like the rest of him, she thought as she eyed the entire package that was the gorgeous warlord presented before her. Sitting next to her, his thick thighs seemed as solid as tree trunks, urging her to try to climb.
“I won’t run a fever because I’m Djaromir. Since you’re human, it’s affecting you differently,” he said, pulling her attention back to his struggled attempt to explain the situation. “Does that make sense?”
Sparx lifted her hand and kissed the back of it, the action surprising her, yet also…not. Not only did she crave his touch and attention, she felt she was owed it on some level. As if were not only natural but expected.
Which was weird. Right?
“No,” Lucy said aloud, answering both his question and the internal ones with which she struggled. He’d said something about her being human… “I have a fever because I’m human? But you don’t because you’re… you.”
“Yes,” Sparx said with a nod, his face relieved. “Everything should be fine from now on, as long as we stay together. No more fever, I promise.”
Miners of Djaromir: Sparx Page 9
