by S. E. Smith
Or maybe not, he thought with amusement as he touched the spot between his eyes.
13
Gril woke the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed. He touched the spot between his eyes and was amazed when he didn’t feel any blood or tenderness. His hand moved to his temple. The knot was gone.
He sat up and looked down at his arm. Curious, he loosened the bandage and pulled it free. The deep cuts on his arm were now merely thin, pale lines. He ran his fingers over the wounds in amazement, then looked over at where Madas had been and frowned. She and L’eon were gone, but—they had left him something.
He put the cloth he’d used as a bandage in his pocket, stepped over to the log, and picked up the metal box. Opening it, he saw the circuit board to his ship tucked inside. He snapped it shut.
His stomach tightened and the muscle in his jaw pulsed as he clenched his teeth. He turned in a tight circle, scanning the area before he looked down and saw her tracks—and an arrow pointing back the way he had come, showing him the direction he needed to go along with a crudely drawn map in the dirt showing him another way to get off the plateau.
“I can’t believe she just left! No goodbye. No ‘I hope you don’t get yourself killed’. Nothing more than an arrow and a barely decipherable map drawn in the dirt to say ‘This is the direction you go to get back to your ship!’ She just—left!” he growled in aggravation.
Gripping the part to his ship, he began following Madas’s tracks. He increased his speed as the sun rose higher. An hour later, he spotted her standing near the edge of a vast ravine.
“Madas!” he called.
She slowly turned and looked back at him. He saw her lift her hand and wipe it across her cheek. She looked surprised to see him.
He slowed to a walk and took deep, calming breaths as he approached her. She must have seen the determination in his eyes because her expression became defiant and she lifted her chin. He felt his body tighten in response.
This female is going to be my mate.
He knew it as surely as he was breathing. She was made for him—and he was the male for her. Now all he had to do was convince her of that.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
He shook his head. “You give me an arrow in the dirt as a goodbye? What type of manners is that?” he retorted.
She frowned. “I gave you a map, as well. You have the part to your ship now. You should be on your way back to it. What more did you want—an escort?” she scoffed with a wave of her hand.
“That would have been nice—and probably safer,” he teased.
Her mouth opened, but then she closed it as if unsure of whether he was serious or not. She had a very expressive face. She also had a very dirty one. He lifted his hand to wipe a smudge of dirt from her chin. She jerked back and looked at him with a suspicious glare.
“You have dirt on your chin,” he said.
She automatically rubbed her chin at his comment. In the light of the early morning sun, he could see the red spots on her face grow darker. Lowering his hand, he held up the metal box.
“Thank you,” he said.
She shrugged and looked away. “It was yours. Besides, if your ship doesn’t work, it would be of no use to me,” she added.
“Do you even know how to fly a Tearnat fighter?” he asked.
If the expression of uncertainty that flashed across her face wasn’t enough of an answer, L’eon’s head moving vigorously back and forth from where he sat perched on her shoulder told him what he needed to know. The mutinous flare in her eyes and the pursing of her lips proved he hadn’t done a very good job of hiding his own thoughts. She reached up and patted L’eon on his head.
“I’ve flown—in my brother’s simulator,” she defended.
“A.... Have you ever been on a ship before?” he curiously inquired.
She looked away from him again and shook her head. He studied her for several seconds before he stepped closer. She turned her head and gazed back at him with a wary expression.
“I overheard you last night when you said you would rather die trying to escape than live mated to a male who abused you,” he said.
“What is it to you what happens to me?” she replied.
“It matters. I’ve decided that you will be my mate,” he informed her with a bit more arrogance than he had intended.
Her mouth dropped open before her eyes crinkled at the corners and she began to laugh. Gril uncomfortably shifted from one foot to the other. Her laughter slowly receded and she looked at him with amusement.
“You decided… without asking me. Of course you did. What makes you think I would want someone like you as my mate?” she retorted with a raised eyebrow.
He frowned. “Do you know who I am?” he shot back.
She nodded. “Yes. You are a pale-skinned Tearnat who has worse luck than I do.” She pointed behind him. “Your ship is that way. If you hurry, you might be able to make it before nightfall. Stay out of the red ferns, look out for the night crawlers if you don’t make it back before the sun sets, and I hope you have better luck. Now, I have places to go and things to do,” she said, turning away from the ravine and the rope bridge.
His hand shot out and he wrapped it around her forearm. “What things?” he demanded.
She looked down at his hand before her gaze slowly moved up to his. Her mouth was pursed and her eyes narrowed in warning. He didn’t miss that her hand had tightened around the staff of her spear either.
“Not that it is any of your concern, but now that I know that pale-Tearnats are not vicious flesh eaters, I plan to return to my village, collect my belongings, and travel to the desert outpost a week’s journey to the north. Once I am there, I will seek passage aboard a transport off world,” she stated.
He stared at her in disbelief. That was her plan? To pick the first available ship off the planet with no idea of who she is traveling with or what she might encounter?
“Do you ever think before you do things?” he murmured angrily without thinking.
A flash of anger swept through her eyes. “Do you ever think before you open your mouth and stick your big feet into it?” she snapped.
Gril grinned. “Obviously not when I am around you,” he replied.
She stared at him for several seconds before she shook her head and turned away. “You are impossible,” she said.
Gril slipped his hand down to her wrist, and he pulled her back against him. He grabbed the wrist of her spear hand with his other hand and applied enough pressure on the nerve for her hand to open. The spear fell to the ground. Ignoring her outraged hiss, he wound the cloth he’d used as a bandage around her wrists and tied them together in front of her.
“L’eon, help me,” she demanded, struggling to break free.
L’eon had turned on her shoulder and was looking at Gril with a speculative expression. Gril eyed the little lizard with an odd combination of warning and amusement.
“Do you want her to return to that awful male—or find a different, more horrible male on the first spaceship she approaches?” Gril asked.
L’eon shook his head. He curled one front foot and smacked it into the other to show his feelings about these other males. L’eon jumped onto his shoulder when Madas hissed her displeasure and turned her head to glare at her friend.
“Males! You are all the same,” she growled.
Gril winced when she snapped her tail and the tip struck him in the ass. He barely moved to the side in time to prevent it from happening again. Unfortunately, that opened him to her elbow, which connected with his stomach. His arms tightened around her when she tried to hit him again.
“Not all males are the same, Madas,” he remarked.
She froze when she felt his warm breath against her ear. He pressed a gentle kiss below it. She stiffened and turned her head toward him.
“I didn’t give you permission to kiss me,” she snapped.
“May I give you a kiss?” he asked.
&nbs
p; She opened her mouth, speechless for a moment. At least she had stopped squirming against him. The feel of her body pressing back against his was driving him crazy. He couldn’t remember if he had ever felt this kind of intense response to a female before. That realization solidified his feelings that Madas would be his perfect mate.
“Where?” she cautiously asked.
A rumble of laughter slipped from him. “I could give you a dozen answers to that one word question. I imagine more than half of them would earn me another bruise,” he confessed.
Her lips twitched and she looked over her shoulder at him. He could feel himself being pulled into the teasing light of her eyes. Leaning forward, he paused near the corner of her mouth.
“Here—for now,” he murmured.
Emotion flickered through her eyes before she hesitantly nodded. He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, wishing he had turned her to face him. Her mouth was soft, warm, and made him want more.
His arms tightened around her waist, unconsciously moving higher. It was only when she stiffened that he realized he was cupping her breasts. A tinge of unexpected heat and color swept up his neck and into his cheeks. He pulled back, clearing his throat, and gave her a rueful, apologetic grin.
One side of her lips quirked up with amusement. “Not bad,” she commented, turning her head away from him. “Now, you can release me.”
“Not bad…,” Gril repeated.
She glanced over her shoulder before turning away. “That’s what I said.”
“Yes, I heard you—and no, I’m not going to release you. At least, not yet,” he replied.
She twisted around and glared at him. “How do you expect me to travel with my hands tied?” she demanded.
He grinned back at her. “Very carefully and with my supportive touch,” he replied.
Her eyes glittered with humor and a touch of exasperation. “I should have let you suffer longer from the red ferns,” she growled.
Gril grimaced at the memory of his burning flesh. He flicked his tail, catching the staff of her spear and tossing it into the air. He grabbed it, holding it in his left hand while he wrapped his right hand around her arm.
“I am very grateful that you didn’t. It was giving a new meaning to a fiery shaft, if you know what I mean,” he said with a wink.
Madas’s cheeks turned a bright red at the mental image. She released a frustrated growl and turned her ire on L’eon who was sitting on Gril’s shoulder. The little lizard was glancing back and forth between them as they sniped at each other, and grinning from ear to ear. Gril was about to start walking when he realized that he didn’t know which direction he should go. He hadn’t really paid any attention to the map she had drawn. His focus had been on finding Madas, not his ship. He turned to her with a wry grin.
“Which way do we go?” he sheepishly asked.
“I don’t believe this,” she muttered before nodding her head to the west. “We go that way! There is a safer way down from the plateau.”
Gril sighed. “Thank Goddess for that!” he quietly cheered.
14
Outside the village of the Forest Clan:
* * *
Cardin walked along the path leading back to the village. He had been part of a small group searching for Madas for the past two days. All of the paths on this side of the mountain had been thoroughly searched to no avail. No one wanted to go beyond the immediate surrounding area. The path over the mountain was treacherous enough, but the beasts were worse.
He had fallen behind Madas’s brothers. Two of them had reluctantly volunteered to help look for their younger sister. He had listened to them for the past two days complain about having to leave the comfort of their home. They both insisted that Madas would eventually come home—she always did. For all they knew, she could have been watching them the entire time and laughing at their inexperience.
“She’ll show up, Cardin. Then, you can chain her to your bed,” Goroff laughed as he strode down the path.
“More likely Madas will chain him and leave him in the woods for the night crawlers,” Orden replied.
Cardin ignored the other men. They had done nothing but make snide jokes about what Madas would do to him once they were mated. He fingered the wrist cuffs hanging from the clip at his waist. Once again, he would be the butt of jokes in the village.
He scowled when a cloaked figure emerged from the trees and stepped onto the path in front of him. He sneered and ran a mocking glare over the tall, slender form. It was probably another one of Madas’s siblings trying to make him look like an idiot.
“What do you want?” he demanded.
“Who do you search for, Tearnat?” the hooded stranger demanded.
Cardin frowned. “Who are you?” he asked in a suspicious voice.
“I search for a pale-skinned Tearnat male. He was following—a female.”
Cardin rotated with the figure as the Tearnat circled him. The cloak hid the newcomer’s features. He frowned when Madas was mentioned. She had to be the female the Tearnat was talking about.
“Where?” he hissed, twisting again to follow the Tearnat.
“On the other side of the mountain,” the Tearnat replied.
Cardin cringed. “Only Madas would go over the mountains. I should have guessed,” he muttered.
“Do you know the area?” the Tearnat questioned.
Cardin nodded. “Enough to not get killed,” he lied.
“Then you will take me,” the Tearnat ordered.
Cardin frowned. “Why would I take you? What’s in it for me?” he shrewdly asked.
“Credits—and the female,” the Tearnat stated.
Cardin’s hand jerked to his side when the Tearnat held up his own wrist cuffs. They were now dangling from the tip of a laser pistol. He started to reach out for them, but the Tearnat held them out of his reach. He looked at the pistol pointed at him.
“What’s in it for you?” he suddenly demanded.
“Revenge.”
The west side of the Goddess’s Stronghold wasn’t quite as wide—or as easy to navigate—as Madas remembered. Of course, it had been a few years since she had been down it, and she’d been younger and smaller. Ten minutes into their descent, Gril stopped and untied her hands.
“This is supposed to be easier?” he warily questioned.
“I remember it being wider. It has been a few years since I was last here, and there has been a lot of rain this past year,” she defended.
He gave her a skeptical look before peering down the side. It was obvious there had been a few rock slides and part of the cliff below had given way, leaving a very narrow section. She rubbed her hands along the sides of her pants.
“We could always try going back the way we came,” she suggested.
“Trust me, it wasn’t any better,” he grumbled. “Let me go ahead. I can help you get over some of the taller boulders.”
She shook her head and shot him an amused look. “And how many cliffs and boulders do you have where you live?” she inquired.
He scowled at her. “More than you realize. There are actually a large number of cliffs and ravines very similar to this throughout the desert,” he retorted.
Madas wasn’t sure if she believed him, but she decided it was possible, as the Goddess’s Stronghold and the plateau were more desert than forest. Standing to the side, she motioned for him to go ahead of her. Her lips pursed when L’eon jumped onto her shoulder as Gril passed her.
“Traitor,” she half-heartedly accused.
L’eon nuzzled her cheek before winding his front feet in her hair. It was hard to stay mad at her strange little friend. He must have seen something worthwhile in Gril, otherwise the Tearnat—no matter how large and strong he was—would have been in a puddle on the ground.
Madas silently followed Gril down the path, suddenly realizing she was admiring the way he moved over the rocks. While she didn’t need his help climbing over the boulders, it was rather sweet the way he turned a
nd held his hand out to her.
She only hesitated the first time. Her breath swooshed from her lungs when he pulled her up and into his arms. He winked at her before he slowly descended, helping her each step of the way.
When the path narrowed, he tested the way to make sure that both their hand and foot grips were sturdy. They were a hundred and fifty feet from the bottom when they came to a particularly hazardous section.
She reached out and grabbed Gril’s arm when he started to take a step forward. He looked over his shoulder at her. Her gaze moved from the tall pile of rubble in front of them to the cliff-face. Small pebbles dropped, sounding unusually loud around them.
“What is it?” he quietly asked.
“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right,” she whispered.
Her gaze moved along the shelf of rock. Thin, wet lines darkened the surface. She half twisted and looked further down along the section. The darkness was spreading.
“Flash flood. We have to hurry,” she urgently hissed.
Gril’s face darkened with concern, but he turned back to the rubble ahead. She watched his muscles bunch before he suddenly leaped on top of the rubble blocking the way. Once he landed on top of the loose rock, he quickly propelled himself to the narrow ledge on the other side.
Madas started to follow him when a low rumble shook the ground and the pile began to slide down the cliff. She watched in horror as a twenty foot wide gap opened up, separating her from Gril.
She studied the tumbling rocks below and the cliff above her. Water was beginning to stream over the side. She winced when several sharp stones rained down on her. She lifted her left arm to protect her head. Pulling L’eon off her shoulder, she gauged the distance.
“Catch him,” she yelled.
Gril leaned her spear up against the rock wall and extended his arms. Madas pressed a brief kiss to L’eon’s head before she tossed him high into the air. Her eyes widened when the little lizard spread his feet, gliding across the space using the small flap of skin under each leg, and landed in Gril’s outstretched hands.
