by Mina Carter
Not the best match.
Nope not the best match at all, even when her heart was saying the complete opposite.
8
His little female was worn out and mentally exhausted, Ranaar realized, not questioning quite when she’d become his female. He didn’t need a bossy, stubborn female of any description in his life, especially one so soft and delicate as this one. Physically, she had no armor, no way to defend herself… unless she turned her sharp tongue on her enemies. If that were the case, she could take on an entire Altraxion legion.
“Shhhh,” he murmured, a rumble in the back of his throat as he gathered her up in his arms and started back for their camp.
In his arms she relaxed completely until he could feel her steady, even breaths against his chest. She had quickly fallen asleep. He somehow missed her words, even if he had no idea what she was saying half the time.
Holding her closely and carefully as he walked, he found he liked the sound of her soft breathing. Such an animated little thing.
Human.
He didn’t know much about humans. Just that they’d recently reached the level of technology that allowed them to join the intergalactic community they’d never realized was just beyond their area of space. Because they were a fledgling society, their territories were protected by intergalactic law. That didn’t mean much other than if any species invaded, a couple of other, bigger bullies would wade in and drive the first aggressors out. Not much of a protection, but better than nothing.
She shifted slightly. Her soft snore and then murmured words made him smile. Yes, his human maybe fragile, but she was a treasure. And what did the myths say about dragons and treasure? They guarded it fiercely. He grinned, but without mercy. If anyone messed with his little treasure, they’d have him to deal with.
It didn’t take him long to get them back to the camp and settle her down in his bed, setting the fan up so she would be cool when the temperature rose. She looked so beautiful there, he mused as he stroked her hair back from her face. Like she belonged. In his arms and in his bed.
He watched while she twisted on the bed, sweat beading on her forehead as the heat level once again rose. Not wanting her to be uncomfortable, he reached out and pulled her close, pressing her nearly naked form to his own.
She settled against him with a sigh of relief, and he felt her strange, scaleless skin start to cool where it pressed against his. Unable to resist, he reached out and stroked a finger down her soft arm. So delicate. So pretty. Unbidden, he felt the rattle in the back of his throat and blinked in surprise.
It was his purnasis, the mating call of his people. But, he couldn’t… not for a human, surely?
He looked down at his small treasure only to see her nuzzling against his chest, her cheek rubbing up and down like a contented Torloff. Her voice, although quiet, was clear enough for him to hear.
“Mmmm lickable…so yummy.” Her snores, delicate and sweet, cut through the chatter. “Big…want to lick…like a huge, scaly lollipop.”
What was a lollipop? He mused, hardly able to think with her arms still wrapped around his neck. He wanted to put her back on the bed but her grip told him she didn’t want to let go even in her sleep.
“Mine…not yours mine. Fight you for him,” her talking continued. Did she ever stop?
Shaking his head, he laid them both down. She immediately curled up around him. The talking stopped, even though he was intrigued as to what she’d say next.
Then she started to snore again.
He smiled and closed his eyes. They were kind of cute snores.
If Jenna closed her eyes, tilted her head back and just relaxed under the sun’s rays, she could have fooled herself that she was on a beach on the pleasure planet of Arunias Five about to partake in her ninth cocktail while a cute cabana boy fanned her down.
But she couldn’t.
She couldn’t close her eyes because technically she was on watch for Ranaar, who was now demonstrating his snorkeling skills…without the snorkel. She also couldn’t lift her face to the sun and absorb the rays because unlike Arunias Five, the sun here was hotter than hell and then some. Her face would get an instant lift…like lift then slide off after melting. So here she sat, four feet off the damn ground on a boulder the size of a pack horse, waiting for Ranaar to finishing fishing.
Back on Earth, from the history books, fishing looked like a chilled relaxing pastime. You sat there with your rod and waited for the little buggers to bite.
Nope, not Ranaar. He dived straight in and had not come up for… Jenna looked at her the small timepiece integrated into her flight suit.
“Fuck me! He’s been down there ten minutes,” she breathed out and finished on a whistle. She peered into the murky depths looking for any sign of her rescuer. She also kept a beady eye out for things of the slithery kind. Ranaar had told her there would be few predators out at this time, including the snakes, but she didn’t quite believe him. Everything on the planet seemed like it had been created to eat them.
Jenna was grateful to Ranaar for what he had done. He’d rescued her, protected her and kept her cool. She shivered, remembering how she had woken up, draped across his huge chest with her fingers of one hand wrapped in his hair and the other gripping his bicep like her life depended on it.
Embarrassment had flooded her, and as their eyes had met, all he had done was smile. She was a strong woman. She had dealt with a decent amount of crap in her life, and she realized one thing.
If anything could break her, it was his damn smile.
The moment, though, had been lost. Jenna had panicked and untangled herself quickly. She felt herself blush, and as she perched on the end of the fur-bed, she hoped her tendency to sleep talk had gone unnoticed.
* * *
Water splashing pulled Jenna away from the memories of watching Ranaar get ready for his little fishing excursion, all the while making sure she was comfortable. Jenna had also noticed he touched her skin whenever possible. A touch of her hand, a touch to the cheek. With any other man she would have told him to remove the hand or lose it.
Yet with Ranaar, each fleeting caress seemed to fire her up and make her want more. She had spent a good ten minutes earlier imagining what it would be like to kiss him.
The splashing continued and Jenna grinned as she watched Ranaar wade out carrying the ugliest fish she had ever seen in her life. Their faces had multiple eyes and their mouths housed sets of teeth that would make piranhas envious.
He dropped them at her feet and grinned, proud of his catch, and she couldn’t help but grin back. His hand reached out and again touched her cheek, his finger sliding down and around her jaw. Jenna found herself leaning in. Wanting the caress.
“I won’t be but a moment.” His deep voice was so soothing, just as much as his touch.
“You’re going in again? Isn’t that enough fish?” Jenna eyed the monsters at the foot of the boulder.
“I’m not going in for fish,” he admitted and grinned before he released the gentle hold on her face and turned back toward the river.
Jenna let out a sigh before she could stop herself. She was becoming one of those swooning women from the old movies.
As Ranaar’s massive form moved under the water with a grace that should have belonged only on a dolphin, she first heard it.
A steady thumping and a whir grew louder and louder until a shadow passed over the clearing, making Jenna’s heart leap.
“Is that? Oh you little fucking beauty.” Jenna jumped up until she was standing on the boulder. Although in the shade, it could be seen clearly. Waving her hands in the air, she shouted in an attempt to get its attention.
“Hey! Over here!” she shouted and waved her arms. A rescue! Her body shook with the excitement of possibly getting off the planet. She paused for a second. What about Ranaar?
“Fuck it. He can come with,” she said to herself and continued waving her arms and shouting as loudly as she could.
“Hey! Ove
r here!” she yelled, clambering up to the top of the rocks and waving her arms like a loon. Most ships had motion detectors, so even though they were flying away, they should be able to detect her.
But they were still flying away.
“Here, you morons!” she practically screamed herself hoarse.
It worked. The three ships heading toward the horizon banked and turned.
“Yes!” she caroled in triumph. “We are so getting off this rock!”
She kept waving as the ships sped toward them. They were fast, heading toward them at speed and dropping low. Unease rolled along her spine. Perhaps they just wanted to get a good look at her. She began to back up as the front of the ships began to glow. What the fuck was that?
“GET DOWN!” Ranaar’s roar filled her ears a moment before he hit her broadside, taking her off the top of the rock and into the undergrowth below it. He twisted so she landed on top of him and then yanked her beneath him as the top of the rock exploded.
Jenna struggled to breathe as smoke and rock debris covered them. Ranaar’s hard body pressed her into the ground, covering her entirely until she couldn’t see anything beyond him.
Why the hell had they fired on them? The bastards.
She could hear the ships as they circled again, the whir of the engines filling the air.
“Come on. We need to move,” Ranaar growled as he rolled off her and pulled her with him. She had only seconds to look at the damaged rock she been standing on before she was picked up and thrown onto Ranaar’s back…again.
“What the fuck, Ranaar? I have legs, you know. I can bloody walk!” she shouted.
“I don’t need you to walk. I need you to run and you are too slow,” he replied as he smacked her arse to stop her from wiggling.
“Now be still.”
She gasped as they set off. It didn’t help that he was right. Even when carrying her, he ran at a dizzying speed, changing directions as the ships fired on them again. How he did it, she had no idea. But one thing was for sure. No human could run that fast. Ever.
Her heart in her throat, every moment she expected that to be it, for one of the ships to get a lucky hit and they’d be toast.
But, amazingly, they didn’t. Ranaar’s madcap dash here and there, the rapid changes of direction that made her feel sick and curl up in as little a ball as she could, worked. They reached the edge of the thick forest and he plunged well into the undergrowth before stopping, sliding her down the front of his body to nestle between his thighs as he crouched. His expression was grim and determined as he watched the ships buzz overhead.
“Okay, their sensors can’t penetrate the leaf canopy. We’re safe from them for a few minutes.”
All Jenna could do was nod as she tried to catch her own breath. Being jostled about on someone’s back was harder work than it might seem. Without looking she knew she would have bruises across her ribcage. The frailty of her body in comparison to his was a stark reminder that they were from different worlds. He was built to survive anything whereas she was built for sweetness and sarcasm.
What good was sarcasm when it came to dodging a plasma cannon?
Worry for Ranaar filled her, and she placed her palms on his bare chest, feeling his heartbeat.
“Did they hit you?”
He shook his head, looking down at her. “No. We wouldn’t have survived a direct hit. Those weapons are designed to take apart a ship’s hull.”
His hands were on her again, but not in the sensual way she’d been craving. Instead, they were as impassionate as a doctor’s as they swept over her. Checking, she realized.
“Did anything hit you?” he asked. “Shrapnel from the blasts? Anything like that?”
Jenna shook her head. “No, nothing hit me.” She watched him as he checked her, the way his eyes changed color. She watched the way his brow furrowed. Jenna didn’t check herself as she lifted her hand to touch his scarred cheek. She didn’t let her rational mind stop her as she lifted up slightly and pressed her lips to it.
“Thank you…again,” she whispered before she let go and settled back between his thighs.
He stilled for a second, looking at her. A small smile curved his lips and it was like the rest of the world didn’t exist. “You’re welcome.”
A blast somewhere on the edge of the tree line broke the spell and he snapped his head up. “We have to move,” he growled and urged her to her feet.
Jenna gripped Ranaar’s shoulders as he stood, cradling her in the protection of his arms. She watched as he tilted his head slightly, listening before he shot off. His feet were almost silent as they hit the ground.
Fear of who and what was hunting them should have taken over Jenna. Yes, she had been in dodgy positions before, yet somehow this was different in the sense she for once was not alone.
She felt protected, safe.
9
Ranaar ran, his little female cradled in his arms, keeping under the cover of the trees to foil the sensors of the hunter-killer group in the skies above them. He had no idea why they’d been sent after him, especially after so long. But they knew what he was, otherwise they wouldn’t be going to such lengths to eradicate him.
“We need to get to the safety of the mountains,” he told her, nodding at them through a gap in the trees. “There’s a cave network up there we can hide in.”
Jenna nodded, her small hands still gripping his arms. He found he enjoyed her touch, even like this. Any contact and he found himself content.
Right now she was his priority, and regardless of what the hunters were after, he would protect her first and foremost.
“Who are they?” her quiet voice asked as he moved through the trees, his speed never changing.
“Hunters.” He tilted his head, listening for the sound of the flyers. They seemed to be in a search pattern over the forest a few clicks away. “Your ship crashing must have tripped some alarm and reminded them that I’m down here.”
“Oh.” Her brow furrowed and her lips pursed. Gods, if they were anywhere else and under different circumstances, he would have liked to stop and sample her lips.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered and then growled. The sound was cute as hell. “Fucking arborian rat.”
“Don’t be.” His own growl concealed his need and he pulled her closer. “If you hadn’t crashed we wouldn’t have met.”
She tilted her head and smiled, making his heart race. “Yeah, you’re right there.”
She didn’t say anything else but settled back into his arms as he jumped and dodged the planet’s more exotic and deadly foliage. It began to thin out as they reached the foothills. He turned to look back the way they’d come. The hunters were still in the area they’d entered the forest. Blasts and array fire filled the air as they destroyed the forest edge. He shook his head. Like he’d have stayed in the area.
“Idiots,” he murmured, sliding her down his body to her feet so she could walk ahead of him. “I have a cache in a cave up ahead.”
She nodded but didn’t walk off like he expected her to do. Instead she surprised him by sticking close, her hand gripping his as she nervously looked around.
“Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “No snakes or man-eating plants here.” He swept his thumb over the soft skin of her hand, fighting the need to pull her back into his arms.
Where had this intense need for this female come from? And why was he not fighting it? He hid his smile as he wrapped an arm around her waist and started up the path to the hidden cave.
It didn’t take them long to reach it and he felt her tension ease as soon as they stepped inside. Cool and dark, the air held a hint of dampness that made him shiver inside. But it made her catch her breath, a tiny, sexy little sound he instantly wanted to hear more of.
She stepped out of his arms and he reluctantly let her go, his fingers twitching with the need to pull her back. Wonder filled her gaze as looked around the cave, which to him just looked like every other cave he had explored.
; “So sparkly,” she breathed out, her small hand reaching out to touch the crystals that made up one of the walls. In response they pulsed with light, making her gasp again. Reactive to only organic touch, the crystals’ light danced as she swept her hands across the surface—blues, reds and purples lighting up the small space.
He smiled at her delight as she wandered further into the cave, making patterns on the walls. It hadn’t escaped his notice that she had instantly trusted him that there were no predators in the darkness, and a pleased rumble started in the center of his chest as he followed her.
“This is amazing.” She laughed, both her hands pressing against the crystals, making a surge of color flow from her hands.
“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered with awe in her voice
“Yes,” he answered, but Ranaar wasn’t looking at the crystals. “Yes, beautiful.” His gaze was on Jenna’s face.
He leaned back against the wall, content to watch her. They weren’t in danger at the moment. The hunter ships were still in the air and couldn’t find them in here, even if they were looking in the right place. They’d need to be on foot to track them, and once they put a boot on the ground, they were all his. There was a reason most hunters stayed in the air when trying to bag the bounty still on his head.
A full grin crossed his lips as he watched Jenna move into the main cavern. The full squeal she emitted would have hurt his ears if he hadn’t been expecting it. He might be a dragon, a primal beast, but he still had some idea what women liked. Not one in all his life would turn down the prospect of a hot bath.
Steam filled part of the cavern from a small pool in the corner, fed by an underground stream. Jenna had bolted straight to it but instead of putting a hand in, she warily watched the water.
“There are no predators in here, little one,” he called out as he lifted off the wall and moved toward her.
There was a small area on a ledge nearby the hot springs, set up as a secondary camp he used in the colder months. The hot springs eased his bones during the bitter winters. Busying himself setting out the packed furs as a bed, he gave her privacy to undress and slip into the hot water.
