by Mary Auclair
“Just tending the mushberrie bushes.” Arlia extended her open hand, in which some pale green orbs were glowing. “Once harvest season has started, I can’t stop, or I’ll lose them.”
Rose picked up the green berries and popped one in her mouth, crunching the juicy fruit between her teeth. A sweet, intoxicating taste with undertones of cinnamon invaded her mouth.
“They’re delicious!” She put the rest of the berries in her mouth and ate with gusto.
“I agree.” Arlia returned to her task of picking the mushberries and continued to fill her large basket. “It’s a pity they don’t keep. I have to turn them into jelly, jams or pie every day, but it’s worth it.”
Rose agreed and silently went to work beside Arlia, filling the basket. The other female turned her face to Rose, surprise brushing her features, then smiled and returned to her work.
Rose spent the rest of the day following Arlia and helping her with her daily tasks. Arlia had an extensive garden, and Rose was amazed at how much food she produced in such arid conditions. She was a good farmer, and Rose had lots to learn from her.
“This is enough for today,” Arlia said as she stuffed the last long purple vegetable from the vines growing on the trunk of a fruit tree into her woven basket. “Vegetables like ivak taste better fresh, and we have enough for tonight’s dinner. Let’s get back inside.”
“You’re a wonderful gardener,” Rose said, grabbing her end of the heavy basket and walking alongside her to the house. “Are all Eoks’ mates this skilled at farming the land?”
“Hardly!” Arlia scoffed. “I’m Relany. Our females are as strong as our males, and we all work the land. It’s in our blood to provide food for our families using the resources of the planet. Most females wait for their mates to bring back a kill from their hunt, and buy the rest from traveling merchants coming from the town.”
“Where is this town? I didn’t see any sign of it when we came here.”
“It’s mostly underground.” Arlia smiled at Rose. “Soon, we’ll go there to buy fabric. Those clothes aren’t fit for a beauty such as you!”
Arlia and Rose gathered the basket and brought it into the kitchen. Rose followed Arlia’s lead in preparing the meal. After a while, Arlia put her knife down and stared at Rose.
“Thank you for helping me.”
“It’s only normal,” Rose answered truthfully. “You can’t be the only one preparing meals for five people every day.”
“That’s what I usually do,” Arlia answered, going back to cutting her vegetables. As she leaned on the counter, a sparkle attracted Rose’s attention.
“That’s a nice necklace.”
Rose looked as Arlia picked up the crystal, star-shaped pendant and flicked it between her fingers.
“Enlon gave it to me on the day of our mating.” Arlia smiled, her eyes lost in a faraway memory. “Nobody could have predicted ours would be the only bloodmating of our generation. Still, we were so perfect for each other, I wasn’t even surprised when it happened. Of course, everybody else freaked out, especially Enlon’s family.”
“Why is that?” Rose reached and grabbed Arlia’s hand. “What’s so special about the bloodmating? Karian hasn’t said anything.”
“Yes. It doesn’t surprise me.” Arlia pursed her lips, like she was trying to prevent the words from coming out. “Don’t worry. Karian will tell you in his own time.”
Rose didn’t answer, but got back to work. In a little over an hour, the kitchen was clean again, and a delicious meal was cooking in the large ovens.
“Well, I’m going to freshen up before Enlon arrives.”
Arlia hugged Rose before going away. Rose watched as she left, her powerful body moving in long strides. She was a good person, a person Rose was fast learning to love. There was a lot of her in Karian, in his calm strength and his generosity. Her throat tightened and she turned her gaze away.
She didn’t belong in this place, in this family. She was an outsider, she always would be. She was only there by an incredible error of fate, not because of true love. She was nothing like Arlia.
CHAPTER 22
KARIAN
I knew it would happen, sooner or later. It’s only a matter of luck they haven’t located the house yet.
Karian stared at the three Cattelans lined up against the wall of the Erynian tribe Hall. Blood was still seeping out of their ears due to the shock of the ionic grenades that had been used on them. Their black clothes were standard military issue, without emblems or any other identifiable signs as to their employer. Their yellow eyes stared steadily at the setting suns, unblinking.
Rage coursed through Karian’s veins in a steady flow, making his thoughts as clear as ice.
“Why haven’t they been kept alive for questioning?”
“They fired on my team with ionic charges,” Erlock answered, his eyes cast down, his mouth closed in a tight line. “There was no choice but to use lethal force. I will not have my men put their lives at risk just to capture those criminals alive.”
“An Eok warrior always puts the good of his mission before his own life,” Karian answered, not caring to spare the other male’s feelings. His disgust for his cousin Erlock had always been hard to disguise, but never so much as it was now. Erlock was a coward, one of the few who were unable to complete the Eok warriors’ training and who lived a life of safety and comfort on Eokim without ever risking their lives for their fellow Eoks. Karian knew Erlock had ordered the security forces of the Tribe Hall to use deadly force as soon as the first ionic charge had zipped by.
“I apologize for my error in judgement,” Erlock answered, his brows creased with resentment. “There was no identification on the bodies. There was no way of knowing where they came from, or why.”
“We know why they came,” Karian said sharply, unable to contain his contempt for Erlock. “Trade Minister Knut sent them to abduct or kill my bloodmate. Because of your incompetence, we can’t prove it, but it doesn’t change the fact.”
Erlock bent his head, silent. Karian knew his cousin would not forget this insult. Whatever he lacked in moral and physical strength, Erlock made up for in his capacity to scheme. And he never forgot a slight, holding a grudge for years until he found the perfect opportunity to lash back at his opponent.
Karian was about to ask more about the details of the Cattelans’ attack when a transport hovered over the wall and a familiar figure jumped out, then walked hurriedly toward him.
“There is news from Earth.” Arlen didn’t bother with niceties. “Kamal has found a human female.”
“The village was located?” Karian nodded his approval. Eok efficiency was legendary, but the mission wasn’t an easy one. “Rose will be relieved. She’s been so worried about them.”
“I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that.” Arlen frowned and shook his head. “The human is a female named Aliena. She was gravely ill, but even so, she’s refusing to provide any information regarding the village. She insists she will only speak to Rose.”
Karian took a few seconds to digest the information. Aliena was a familiar name, and in a flash, he remembered.
“She is Rose’s cousin.” Karian cursed under his breath. Would those human females’ stubbornness know no bounds? “They grew up together. If she’s half as stubborn as Rose, she won’t talk to any of us, no matter what we say.”
“Then you’ll need to bring Rose to the Erynian Township.” Arlen didn’t look pleased, and for good reason. He glanced at the Cattelan corpses with disgust. “It’s going to be practically impossible to ensure her safety. Not with only one week remaining before the Council. Those three are not the last ones who are going to try to take Rose away—or worse.”
Karian nodded grimly. The Erynian Township had the only receptor strong enough to receive a transmission from Earth. But the town was a constant bustle of activity, with strangers and Eoks alike mixing and engaging in various trades. It was an almost impossible location to secure. It was the pe
rfect place for an ambush.
He couldn’t let Rose expose herself by going there. He had to find a way to convince Aliena to reveal the location of the village without endangering Rose.
“Go back to the township,” Karian ordered Arlen. “I’ll talk with Rose and find a way to convince her cousin to talk to us.”
“Those humans are impossible, you know that?” Arlen shook his head in disbelief.
“Yes, I know.” Karian couldn’t help the smirk that pulled on his lips.
Arlen nodded, then walked briskly away and jumped back in his transport. Karian turned toward his cousin, who had stayed silent during the conversation.
“Call me immediately if there is anything else,” Karian addressed Erlock. “Raise the threat level to red and triple the patrols. No one lands on this side of the Long Lake without my knowledge. And no more errors.”
Erlock didn’t answer, and Karian didn’t wait for him to. He jumped into his transport and sped away.
His rage had turned into a burning need to hold Rose close to his body, to feel her safe and unharmed in his arms.
ROSE
“I forbid it!” Karian paced up and down the bedroom in the dimming light of the second sun’s fast demise. “I can’t guarantee the town’s safety. Just today, there were three Cattelan assassins at the Tribe Hall.”
He turned to face Rose, then resumed his pacing. It was obvious he was furious with the outcome of his brother’s mission on Earth. He was so focused on his anger that he wasn’t hearing one word she was saying. Rose was beginning to have enough of his high-handed attitude. She wasn’t some delicate flower. She had no desire to be put in a vase and left on a windowsill to look pretty until she faded. She wasn’t going to let him push her away when she was the obvious solution to a problem, even if it meant putting her at risk.
“I’m the only one who can help,” she answered, angered by the stubborn frown on his brow. “Your trackers aren’t going to find my people, they’re way too clever to leave a trail. Your blue hunks won’t find them.”
“Kamal found one pretty easily,” Karian snapped, the words going out with a bite hard enough to break skin. He stopped his pacing and turned to face Rose. His skin was shimmering under the fading light and his shirtless torso looked like a sculpture. He looked good enough to lick. Rose stifled her desire to get up from the bed and trace the lines of his hard chest with her fingertips. “She’s recovered from her injuries and she’ll talk soon.”
“You’re putting your fingers in your eyes up to your elbows if you think Aliena will give you anything,” Rose scoffed. “And don’t fool yourself into thinking that your brother found her, either.”
“What do you mean?” Karian blinked, clearly confused.
Rose inhaled sharply. She couldn’t believe his male arrogance.
“She was already sick when I left.” Tears welled up in her eyes at the memory of Aliena’s body, skin and bones under a cover of cold sweat, fever eating away at her, one minute at a time. “I was so afraid she was going to die—had died. Someone must have decided your people were her only chance.”
“And it wasn’t a moment too soon.” Karian shook his head in consternation. “Kamal said she spent the last three days in the medical pod, hanging between life and death. He’s never seen a female so mistreated before. He wants to choke the life out of whoever did this to her.”
“Well, then he can close his big, chunky hands around Minister Knut’s throat, and when he’s finished with him, he can do Arrik.” Rose lifted her hands in irritation. “Pushing Aliena won’t help. Whatever her condition, she won’t talk. She’s never going to give up the location of the village. You have to let me talk to her.”
“Humans!” Karian made a pinched face. “No, not humans. Females! So stubborn.”
“Yes, we’re stubborn.” She crossed her arms and lifted her chin in challenge. “You’d better spend your energy on what matters instead of things you can’t change.”
He cast her an irritated look. Rose narrowed her eyes, meeting his glare without flinching. From the way his jaw was clenched, she could tell he knew she was right. The only way to get Aliena to reveal the location of the human village—and Rose’s family—was to let Rose talk to her cousin. For that, they needed a receptor strong enough to receive and send communication from Earth, and the only receptor powerful enough for a live transmission was in the Erynian Township, in the communication room of the Tribe’s Council Hall.
Karian cast her another smoldering look, then resumed his pacing.
“You have no choice. You need to bring me with you to the town tomorrow.” Rose stood. She knew her next argument was going to destabilize him. “Plus, Arlia wants to buy fabric for some clothes. I can’t stay in Khal’s old youngling tunics, and my synthetic cotton clothes are already worn out.”
Karian’s head snapped back to her and he pressed his lips together in an upside-down smirk. It obviously took him by surprise to hear her talk about female concerns. He gave her body a slow assessing look, his eyelids heavy with desire.
“You look good in any clothes.” His face changed and his irises darkened to the color of the sky after midnight. “But Mother is right. You should buy whatever clothes you want. As soon as it’s safe.”
“I’m going to come to town with you, talk with Aliena, and then I’ll go shopping with Arlia.” Rose clacked her tongue against her teeth and made a small exasperated noise. “I can’t stay hidden in this house forever. Whatever measures you decide to ensure my safety, I’ll follow them. You can even lumber me with bodyguards to follow me around.”
Karian’s lips reduced to a thin line and he shook his head, but she saw in his eyes that she had won.
“Your feet won’t even touch the ground if I see so much as a smirk that I don’t like in the crowd,” he said.
“Understood.”
“Good.”
Karian growled, the sound so frustrated and so male it made Rose break out in a laugh. That had the effect to shake some sense into Karian, who smirked at her with humor.
“I’ll need something nice to impress people at the Ring’s motion.” She smiled slowly, feeling her attraction to Karian work itself into her body. She extended her legs on the bed and leaned back on her elbows, allowing her mane of curls to fall behind her shoulders, spreading over the covers. “I’d also like some more practical clothes, like Arlia’s.”
Karian took a step closer, his face dark and stormy, his lips hard and kissable at the same time. “You’ll have to promise me to follow security protocol at all times.”
“I promise I’ll do everything you say.” Rose pursed her lips invitingly and laid her hand on her hips. His eyes followed her every movement, his Adam’s apple bumping up and down as he swallowed. “So tell me, what do you want me to do?”
“You’re only trying to prevent me from thinking straight.” But he took a step closer and his gaze traveled down her body, tightly clad in the black fabric, hugging her curves in a lover’s embrace. “I’m assigning four elite guards to you at all times. You’re not to leave their sides, and you’re to obey them if they see any threat.”
“That’s acceptable,” Rose said, rolling on her stomach, tilting her head up tentatively. “I’ll even hold their hands if you want me to.”
Karian growled, the sound rolling out of his throat in a husky warning. “Don’t.” He reached for her hair, softly grasping a fistful of curls between his long fingers. “I can’t think straight with you looking at me like that, and I can’t think straight with the thought of you putting your hands on any other male.”
“Better lay your hands on me, then.”
Karian’s lips lifted in his sexy, gruff smile. His hand on Rose’s hair lowered to her neck in a gesture that might be considered threatening coming from any other male. It sent electric shocks of arousal down her body, sparking a more carnal craving.
“You’re the only thing I’ve been able to think about all day,” he said in a husky voice. Sl
owly, with his shining blue eyes fixed on her, he lowered his head and closed his mouth on hers. The kiss had a hunger in it that spoke of long held passion, and as he massaged her lips with his, her own hunger rose. She was surprised how much she wanted him, how much she craved his touch, his body. His contact was like a drug.
“Those Cattelans you found at the Tribe Hall,” she said, pulling away from the kiss. “How come they didn’t come directly to the house?”
“The location of the family house is a well-kept secret.” Karian slid his hand lower down her shoulder, then grasped one of her breasts. “Only Eoks know the location of the chief’s house, and no warrior would ever betray the Erynian tribe. They were blind in the grassland, probably waiting to follow a transport to the house.”
“More will come.”
“Knut will try many things to get his way,” Karian said, obviously absorbed by the sight of her breasts under the light fabric. “They will wait for any opportunity, but the Eok nation is not undefended. Only one more week, and the Council will hear us.”
Rose reached out, her hands closing on Karian’s arms, feeling the firm, raw muscles underneath the skin. She pulled him in and he answered her call. As she turned around to face him, he lay on top of her as she welcomed him. Their kiss deepened as their bodies touched and merged.
His hands slid over her hips, and Karian pressed his erection between her legs. At the sensation of his hard, hot length against her belly, her walls clenched and squeezed, demanding, screaming for the thrust of his hard flesh inside hers. She reached up and cupped the throbbing bulge in his pants, making him draw a sharp breath at the touch.
All of a sudden, desire and passion broke loose. Karian’s lips left her mouth to leave a trail of fire on her neck. Each time his lips closed on her skin, he opened them just enough that his fangs scraped her epidermis, spreading Mating Venom, making her skin burn and ache.