by Lynnea Lee
It was enough, and soon she got a decent sized fire going. They were safe, or at least safer.
Sarah unclipped the comm unit from Kean’s belt and cursed at the fact that she was never taught to use one. Luckily, unlike their written language, Tallean devices were usually quite intuitive and user friendly, and Sarah had already gotten comfortable using a PPC. After a few false starts, Zharor, the last person Kean had contacted, showed up on the screen.
“Kean hit his head hard and is passed out on the ground, and there’s a dead stalker next to us, and smaller predators are attacking, and I built a fire to keep them away, and Kean’s still breathing, but he won’t wake up, and I’m scared because I wasn’t able to carry much fuel from the cave because I had to cross the river, and you have to come and get us,” she managed in one long run-on sentence.
“Slow down, Sarah. Are you okay?”
“Yes. But you need to come to get us. I don’t know if the fire will keep the predators away. There’s blood everywhere, and I already had to shoot at a pack of weasel-like things. If another stalker comes, we’re screwed.”
“I will track the comm unit’s locations and get to you soon. Stay close to the fire and don’t let it go out. If Kean wakes up, keep him stationary. I’ll be there.”
Zharor hung up, and Sarah was alone with Kean again. Something in the forest cackled. Okay, so not completely alone.
Chapter 21
Kean watched the most beautiful female he had ever seen. He’d never seen one of her species before, and she intrigued him. He couldn’t look away, not even if he tried. This female was all he’d ever wanted. He reached for her, but a fierce pounding in his head stopped him.
“Kean! You are awake. Don’t move too much. You hit your head.”
The female knew him. Strange.
He laid on the ground in an even stranger forest, and the scent of the blood of many beasts filled his nostrils. He also smelled his own blood. Not only did his head hurt, but his leg did as well. On one side of them, a fire burnt brightly.
“What happened?”
“You fought a stalker to save me. You killed it, but you hit your head when you fell.”
Kean looked at where she pointed and saw a beast with a blaster wound through its head. He frowned.
“I shot it with my blaster?” he asked, disappointed. “That’s unsporting.”
“Was that why you didn’t just shoot it to begin with?” The pretty female looked at him incredulously. “Because it wasn’t sportsmanlike?” The look she gave him bordered on disgust.
“Wild beasts should be fought with claws and teeth.” Had he been trying to impress this female? If he had, then he had certainly failed. Not only had he resorted to shooting the creature like a coward, but he had also hit his head and passed out. No wonder she scowled at him. How embarrassing!
“You saved me. That’s all I care about.” The female leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Maybe he hadn’t failed so badly after all.
Kean inhaled. She smelled exquisite and strangely familiar.
“Who are you? And,” he added as he looked around the forest, “where am I?”
The female froze, the color draining from her face. “What do you mean, who am I? It’s me, Sarah.”
“I have never seen you before. But I would love to get to know you.” Since the female seemed to have been impressed and glad to be saved, despite his piss poor performance, Kean planned on pouring on the charm. He reached out to caress her pretty face. She didn’t move away, but her face paled.
“Oh no!” she fretted, still not moving away. “I think you hit your head too hard. You’ve lost your memory.”
“I’m sure I would remember meeting a female as beautiful as you.”
The female swallowed hard, and her eyebrows furrowed. She was genuinely worried. Perhaps he did hit his head too hard. But he was fine now, and if he had forgotten about meeting her, then he could meet her again.
“We can meet again, little Sarah. I would have the pleasure twice.” He stressed the word pleasure and grinned.
She didn’t calm. “Kean, I’m your mate.”
It took a moment for the words to register. His mate? This exotic beauty, with the most addictive scent, was his mate? That wasn’t possible. He couldn’t be so lucky. And he’d never met her before. He tried to recall their first meeting but the pain in his head stabbed sharply in his skull. He winced and grabbed his head.
No that was impossible. This must be one of Kanon’s little tricks. He’d have to thank his brother for sending such a delectable female to him.
“Where’s Kanon? He probably put you up to this, didn’t he?”
But one look at the female’s face, and he knew he was wrong. This female truly believed she was his mate. Lucky him! He wouldn’t even need to try to impress her—no wonder she hadn’t been disgusted at him for shooting a wild beast.
A rustling sounded next to them on the side away from the fire. The female stood, braced her legs, and pointed a weapon at whatever made the noise.
“Oh no. Not you guys again, you bunch of overgrown weasels. Go away!” She toggled the safety and shot at the small beasts that skittered towards them.
Kean had never seen those creatures before either. And the large beast she’d claimed he killed was also strange to him. So was the weapon in the female’s hands. He had never seen that weapon before, but somehow, he knew it was his.
Stars! He had hit his head hard. And this brave, fascinating female protecting him, this total stranger was his mate. She sat back down next to him.
“Are you thirsty? I stole your flask to carry water back from the river. I hope you don’t mind.” She held up a flask that he also did not recognize but knew was his.
He was thirsty, and he reached for it. But she brought it to his lips instead. Cool, clean water filled his mouth. They were not on Tal. No river water there would be so clean and sweet. Maybe this was her planet.
She capped the flask and tucked it into his belt.
“You should move your soft little hands a little lower. Maybe if you touch me, it’ll bring back memories of our mating.” He waggled his brows lewdly at her. If she was really his mate, she would be close enough with him not to take offense.
She didn’t. Sarah laughed instead, and it was the most heart-stopping sound. It warmed his chest, and the warmth threatened to take over his body. He wanted to hear her laughter often for the rest of his life. A small hand slapped him on the belly.
“Oof. I guess not. Can’t blame me for trying.”
Then she sobered and turned away from him. A small sob escaped her lips, and her body shook.
He fought the pain in his head and reached to turn her body. Tear filled brown eyes met his. Then she reached for him, laid down with her upper body on his, and clung onto his shoulders with desperate fingers. He wrapped his arms around the little female, unsure what to do.
“You are really my mate, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she whispered in his chest. “I love you.”
She loved him. “I am the luckiest male in the universe.” A part of him knew he loved her too, but nothing came to him when he tried to remember.
Tears fell from her eyes in earnest now, and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. “C-could a head injury s-sever a mating bond?”
Was this why she cried? Kean had never heard of it happening before. And he would never allow this to be the first case.
“Impossible. When I woke, my first thought was that I must impress you. I didn’t recognize you, but I knew you were important to me.” A scuffling noise reminded him of where they were. “We should get back to safety. If another one of those,” he gestured to the thing with the hole in its head, “comes, I will not be able to fight.”
“I’ve called for help already, Zharor is on his way. He told us to sit still.”
The name didn’t sound familiar either. “Is this your planet?”
> “No. Vosthea is yours. It’s all yours.”
Vosthea. He remembered hearing about the wild, untamed planet at the outer edge of Dominion space. It was filled with crooks and criminals. Why were they here? Kean leaned back and closed his eyes, unsure what to make of her response. How could the entire planet be his? The last thing he felt as sleep took him were soft little hands on his face.
Sarah wiped the last of the tears from her cheeks. Kean didn’t remember her. He’d asked for his brother and didn’t recognize the planet at all; how many years had he lost? From what she’d learned, Kean had been on Vosthea for a little over a decade. Vosthean years were a little longer than the years on Tal, so he’d lost at least ten years of his memories,
He had passed out again, and nothing she did could wake him. She'd rather take a Kean that did not remember her over a non-responsive one. He’d been flirty and claimed that he knew she was important to him when he woke, so at least they still had a connection. But with him unconscious, Sarah only felt desolation and despair.
She ran her fingers through his tangled hair, smoothing the strands back into place. His thick, dark hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, but a few strands had fallen free from all the fighting and rolling around on the forest floor.
An unnatural rumbling broke through the sounds of the forest, and Sarah perked up, looking toward the noise. Zharor arrived on a utility all-terrain vehicle with a padded open back. Next to him sat an older male Sarah did not recognize. Thank goodness! Help was here.
“Zharor, I’m so glad you’re here.” Sarah stood to greet the two males. “Kean woke up earlier, but he passed out again.”
“Get into the vehicle. Ulkin and I will get him into the back and strap him down for the trip.”
Zharor guided her by the arms to the vehicle and lifted her up by the waist to help her up onto the seat.
“Take your hands off my mate,” Kean’s lowly growled words sounded menacing.
Sarah turned and saw Kean pointing his blaster at Zharor.
“No!” She leaned over the vehicle’s platform to cover Zharor’s body. “Don’t shoot. Zharor’s your friend, Kean.” Then to Zharor, “He lost his memory. He asked for Kanon when he woke.”
The older male whom Sarah didn’t recognize walked to stand directly in front of Kean, blocking Zharor and Sarah from the blaster. “Put that away, Kean. Once you are yourself again, you’ll regret pointing a weapon at Zharor. Let me help you up and get you back. You need a med bed.”
“Ulkin?” Kean recognized the older Tallean male.
“Still getting into trouble, I see. I’m going to be patching you up on my death bed.”
Ulkin reached down to help Kean up, and Zharor went to help him now that the blaster had been put away. The two helped him up into the back of the vehicle, rolled up the blanket for him to use as a support, and tightened two belts across his body. Not wanting to be separated from her mate, Sarah climbed over the railing separating the front and back to be with him.
Kean loosened one of the belts and reached for her immediately.
“Keep down, Kean. It’s a bumpy ride back, and we don’t want to jostle loose any more of that brain of yours.” Zahror said from the front. “And Sarah, you might want to lie down as well; bumpy ride is being generous.”
Sarah settled next to Kean, and they started the ride home. Zharor had not been kidding about a rough ride. It was like a rollercoaster, but not a fun one, more like one of those annoying wooden ones that rattled your bones apart. She worried that the rattling would exacerbate Kean’s injury.
She tried to hold the blanket pillow still until a bigger bump sent her sprawling over Kean’s body. Strong arms wrapped around her and arranged her into a more comfortable position.
“Do not worry about the blanket. I’ll be fine. Stay on me, little female. I like it.” Kean gripped her ass and pulled her hips hard against his rising erection.
Was he turned on at a time like this? “This is your reaction to scrambling your brain and being shaken to death in the back of a utility vehicle?”
He laughed. “I can’t help it; I have the sexiest female ever on top of me.” He squeezed her ass again. “I have a mate I don’t remember enjoying. Can you blame me?”
This Kean sounded different, more playful. Was this the way he was before the burden of working for the Dominion and running his compound weighed him down?
“When you are better, you can enjoy me all you like. I promise.”
“That’s the best incentive to heal I’ve ever heard. Kanon is going to be so jealous.”
Sarah stayed silent but remained on top of him. Kean would have to grieve his lost brother again when he found out about his death. It broke her heart just thinking about it. She clung to her mate for the rest of the ride home.
Chapter 22
The beeping of the med bed woke Kean from the best dream ever. He was sharing a picnic with all the important people in his life in a wild, savage forest, with giant old-growth trees and rivers of fresh clean water. Zharor shared stories of all the crazy beasts they had slain while traveling the galaxy with Kanon. And Sarah sat in his lap as he laughed at Zharor’s exaggerations.
He opened his eyes, and the scene was replaced with the sterile white of his compound's medical wing. The bed had turned itself off after finishing his healing. Beside the med bed, Sarah looked over him eagerly. She had bags under her eyes as if she hadn’t rested a wink since their ordeal.
He pulled her into the med bed with him, and she landed on him with a squeak.
“If I remember correctly, you promised I could enjoy you all I liked once I was healed, little one,” he growled into her ears.
“You’re awake.” Small hands caressed both sides of his face. “I love you, Kean. I’m not sure if you would remember. But I want to tell you I love you.” She planted little kisses all over his face.
“I remember. I remember everything.”
“You do?” She looked back at him with wide eyes.
“Yes, little one.” He held her to his chest to calm the fierce pounding that started there whenever he thought of her. “And Sarah? I love you too.”
“You do?”
“Yes, my mate, I do. Before you came along, I chased the next business opportunity thinking I could drown my past with the future, thinking it would make me happier. It never did. I kept telling myself it was time to retire, that nothing good could ever come out of my work. But then the next opportunity to expand my empire would come, and I would jump on it, hoping it would finally fill in the missing piece.
“Then you came along, and now, I would trade all my fame and credits to keep you happy. Now that I have you, I realize you were the thing missing all along. You are my future, Sarah. You are my Stars.”
His little female, who was now straddling him on the med bed, squealed happily and planted little kisses all over his face. He laughed at her enthusiasm.
“I’m not going to have any face left if you keep this up.”
She giggled. “Too bad! I’m your mate, and if I want to kiss your face off, no one can stop me!” She resumed her attack of a million tiny kisses.
A grunt and a chuckle at the door interrupted them and saved him from certain death. Ulkin stood at the entrance. Ulkin was the physician who had treated Kean and his brother as children. He had planted the seed in Kean’s mind that the prevailing belief that the origin of Kanon’s “genetic” disease was wrong. Since then, he’d patched Kean up from every fight and every battle.
When Kean started his compound here on Vosthea, Ulkin had joined him. Kean’s father had been angry and disappointed that their only remaining son had chosen the life of a criminal. But Ulkin had stood up for him, telling his father that all the profits from the Euphora sales were going on to fund research for a cure to the disease that had taken Kanon’s life. It had been a lie, but one that had appeased his family.
Behind him, Zharor stood with his arms across h
is chest, looking sterner and older than his usual self.
Fuck! He had pointed a blaster at his closest friend and second in command.
Kean stood, bringing Sarah up with him. He was still naked from being in the med bed, but he didn’t care. “Zharor. I’m sorry.” He put his fist to his chest, pinky side out, in a sign of respect.
With a slight nod, the male who Kean had built an empire with and whom he had treated as a brother returned the gesture in acceptance. “You were not yourself.” Then he corrected, “At least not yourself now.”
Zharor pulled up a chair and updated him on the compound's developments while Ulkin ran through the reports from the med bed.
“Our barkeep friend from yesterday isn’t very tight-lipped. It was almost too easy to get him to talk. Your good friend Jotah seems to be behind this latest attack.”
Kean growled. Jotah. That bastard had invited Kean and Ulrek to a party a while back, but it had been a ruse to capture the two for the Dominion. Kean only managed to escape Jotah’s stately estate with the help of a mercenary couple from the Defiant and Ulrek’s crew of misfits.
“And why would Yris risk his life for Jotah? Attacking me as he did was suicide unless he was delusional enough to believe he could take both of us out and all my guards after.” Kean doubted Yris was that stupid.
“Jotah promised Yris a large piece of land once he takes over Vosthea. He was told that right after the explosion, back up would crash through the door to aid him. And we did an analysis on the weapon. The knife was tipped with a paralyzing agent. Yris thought he could at least get a nick on both of us. He’d thought wrong.
“We looked around. There was no backup. Jotah was sending Yris to his death. We have two more males locked up in connection with the attack. They are newer hires from the past year and are being questioned as we speak. But I believe they were our only traitors unless we count the two who died in the tunnel.”