A stoic sigh escaped his lips. He bent and gathered her furs tight around her and scooped her off the bed, lifting her as if she were a small child.
“What do you think you’re doing? Don’t touch me.” She wriggled to get down.
“Be still,” he snapped. “I’m hardly going to molest you. Invalids and simpletons do not arouse me.”
“I am not a simpleton.” She tugged her left arm free of the pelts and wrapped it around his neck.
“Then stop acting the part. We have a long way to walk, and you cannot travel the distance on your own.”
She glowered at him but remained still. Where the hell was he taking her? Why couldn’t he just tell her what was going on? She fisted her fingers in the furs. Anger simmered through her at one more thing slipping away from her control. She hated that he was right. She couldn’t get far by herself, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of admitting it.
He chuckled. “Stubborn little bear.”
“I’m not a bear. I’m full human.”
With each of his strides, her left breast brushed against his chest. Though she wasn’t cold, goose bumps shivered over her skin. The friction of each brush of her naked shoulder against his smooth chest seemed exaggerated. Excitement twisted through her, heating her blood until her heart pounded. Her nipples peaked and she was grateful for the camouflage of the thick furs. She tried to control her breathing, but his scent filtered in with every breath. She fought the urge to bury her nose against his neck and breathe deeply. Yeah, that would go over well. Actually, it might and that in itself could be a problem. He rolled his shoulder, and her arm slid across his skin. Oh, God. Just that small movement was enough to make her hyperaware of every inch of her body pressed against his hard muscles.
“Never think for a moment that I don’t remember you are unique. You are nothing like my people.”
Whispering erupted up and down the cave corridor as they walked through an intricate system of tunnels until she had no idea how far they’d gone. Pale-featured people with dark eyes stared at her from wide rooms and stone hallways. She shrank into Kesuk’s chest, avoiding eye contact, feeling their gazes on her as they passed. Shafts of light pierced the gloom from small openings overhead no wider than her fist. Glass capped the holes and made the light reflect and spread.
A bend in the corridor showed an opening so narrow Kesuk had to turn sideways to get through it. The cold slammed into her like a wall of ice once they cleared the protection of the cave. She quickly pulled her arm back inside the pelts, snuggling up against him for warmth. How did he manage to go shirtless? He didn’t even seem to notice the frigid wind buffeting them. A guard stood on either side of the entrance. They nodded to Kesuk but stared at her until he grunted at them; then they snapped to attention and resumed scanning the landscape.
“What are they looking for?”
“Predators and enemies.” They crested a rise, and Kesuk spun them in a slow circle. “Look around you.”
“Predators?” she squeaked. “What kind of predators?” This place got worse? She swiveled her head around, trying to see anything dangerous. Jagged mountain peaks covered in snow and a type of tree she’d never seen before soared toward the brilliant blue sky. These trees weren’t firs or spruce or any other kind of evergreen she knew of, but they were a rich leafy green against the pure white snow. How was that even possible? It looked like something from an Amazonian rainforest. In the middle of Antarctica.
Nothing but a light breeze seemed to be moving, so she started to relax. They were safe. Then Kesuk’s whole body tensed, and his nostrils flared as he raised his nose to sniff the air. A quick glance back at the guards had them standing at alert on either side of Kesuk, spears in their hands.
“What’s happening?” She turned back to look at Kesuk.
“An enemy.”
“Who—”
“Shh.”
She scanned the tree line in vain, searching for the enemy he spoke of. Straining her eyes, she still couldn’t see anything but trees, rocks, and snow. Unease fluttered in her belly.
Suddenly, a large black figure broke through the underbrush. “It’s a black bear!” she cried.
“Yes, it’s a Black.” Kesuk’s lips pulled back in a small snarl.
“Is it dangerous?” She flicked her gaze between Kesuk and the enormous bear lumbering toward them through the thick snowbanks.
When the bear reared up on its hind legs and roared, she squeaked and tried to climb Kesuk. Her arm slid back around his neck in a stranglehold.
“Easy, little bear,” he soothed, his gaze never leaving the bear.
A horrific sucking noise sounded as the bear seemed to shrink, his bones snapping and retracting, the hair disappearing from his legs until a huge, dark-skinned man stood before them. A very nude man. She choked, still squeezing the life out of Kesuk, unable to believe what she’d just seen. A shape-shifting bear! There were only supposed to be fish-shifters on Aquatilis. No experiments had ever been conducted with large predators.
The stranger’s black eyes gleamed with avarice as they swept over her, lingering on her bare arm and the upper curve of her breast. She retracted her limb into the pelts, trying to cover as much skin as possible. This man was dangerous, that much she knew, and Kesuk didn’t seem to like him. He swaggered forward, his gaze never leaving her.
“That’s far enough. What news from Meadow Den?” Kesuk’s deep growl sounded even lower than usual.
“So the rumor is true, then? A real human.”
“She crashed on my land.”
“Does she have a name?”
“Mine.” Kesuk’s voice was flat and brooked no argument.
The dark man grinned, his teeth flashing in an ugly yellow line as he took another step forward. His penis twitched and rose into a huge erection as he leered at her. “I’d offer an exchange. Three of yours for her.”
An exchange? The man was trying to buy her? Three of Kesuk’s what? What did they barter with here? Oh, God, he wouldn’t give her to the disgusting man, would he? Her stomach executed a slow pitch and roll. After all, what did she know about her rescuer? Feeling light-headed, she started to gag a little, horrified by what the black bear might do to her. Rape at the very least. After he was done with her, would he pass her off to his men? She swallowed hard. If he had even half as many followers as she’d seen in the caves—she cut herself off, ruthlessly suppressing her panic. She couldn’t even let herself think it.
Kesuk’s arms tightened around her, and she turned into his shoulder, pressing her forehead against his collarbone, struggling to pull air into her dry throat. She was going to vomit, she just knew it.
“She is not for barter.” Kesuk growled low, his chest vibrating with the sound. She looked up in time to see enormous fangs begin to slide out of his mouth. Kesuk was a bear, too? Realization hit her right between the eyes.
He was the polar bear in her dream.
Whipping her head around, she saw that the bear had come even closer. She froze, refusing to cower because she had nowhere to go.
“Five of your people for the little tasty.”
An inhuman roar exploded from Kesuk, his fangs fully emerging, long, curved, and deadly. Clenching her teeth, she fisted her hands in the pelts to keep from screaming.
“Get off my land, Black. I have no more use for you.”
Kesuk’s guards raised their spears and began circling the man. He snorted at them but backed away, folding over onto all fours and shifting into his bear form as he ran. She shivered at the sickening noise the change made.
After the black bear left, Kesuk shifted her in his arms. “Believe me now, Jain Roberts? Is this the planet you knew? Is this the water world you intended to land on? Are we the advanced people you lived among all your life?” His questions hammered at her disbelief. She’d used his physical presence as a distraction before, but this…this she couldn’t deny. This wasn’t Earth. This wasn’t Aquatilis, and she’d seen nothing so far t
o indicate the type of technology she was used to. And the black bear she’d just witnessed change shouldn’t even exist. At least not yet, not in her time.
“Take me back to my room,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the bright snowy-white day, so at odds with the black empty void yawning inside of her.
She held herself together during the interminable walk back to her round chamber, focusing on not thinking about what had happened to everyone she knew. How terrified they all must have been when the sun died too soon, the horrible deaths they’d faced. Kesuk deposited her in the wide bed, tucking the soft pelts around her. Everything that had happened since the crash hit her in one relentless wave after another. She couldn’t take it all in, and the truth overwhelmed her. She twisted away from him. Jesus, she hated losing control in front of people. Burying her face in the furs, she tried to stifle the sobs she couldn’t stop.
“I’m sorry.” His hand cupped the back of her head, stroking her hair gently.
“Please, leave me alone for a while.”
“I will return soon. We have much to discuss.”
He moved away from the bed, leaving her cold and bereft. She didn’t know what to do, what to think. Never intending to return to Earth, she’d left everything behind to join her brother on the Aquatilis colony. Pressure built in her chest, choking her. Tears leaked from her eyes, and she let herself sob into the blankets. Her brother, her only family, gone. All the people on board her ship, including her brother’s colleague Sera Gibbons. She hadn’t known any of them well, but they would have at least been with her now. And Sera, well, they might have become friends. A million possibilities spun away into nothingness. Everything and everyone she knew was dead, killed by nature and time. She was five hundred years from where she started. Loss and grief tore at her. She could cry forever and never be rid of it.
“Imnek.” Kesuk nodded a greeting to the guard outside Jain’s door as he passed, his stride eating the distance between him and the mouth of Sea Den.
The woman was a distraction he didn’t need right now. Or ever. She attracted him too much. He’d come close to ripping the Black’s throat out for daring to want her. She belonged to him, and no Black was going to take her from him. He shook his head. No. No, she was only here temporarily, so he couldn’t get attached to her. She couldn’t matter enough to make him lose control. He had his people to care for and protect. Losing control in front of an enemy was not a luxury he could afford.
He was master of himself and everything within Sea Den. She’d know that soon enough. She was a temporary distraction. Nothing more. A feral grin pulled at his lips. Perhaps she could serve as a very pleasurable temporary distraction. When she recovered her strength, he could think of many things to do with that pretty little body of hers. He had to keep in mind that she would only be here until he could hand the last Earthan over to the next trading vessel.
A real Earthan. Unaltered, unable to morph between human and animal form. Such a thing was unheard of on any of the four inhabited planets. Humans were extinct. He shook his head in astonishment, struggling to bend his mind around the explanation. Earth itself had faded almost into myth among his people. It wasn’t until the weretigers’ spaceship landed three Turns ago that they’d known settlements on other planets still existed. In fact, the weretiger king, Amir Varad, was scheduled to return before Thaw to exchange trade goods on his way to Aquatilis. That was only three weeks away. He respected Varad—perhaps the weretiger could offer some insight on how the woman could have been floating in space for centuries and be perfectly functioning after a crash landing.
A million questions raced through his mind as he calculated possibilities and probabilities. What had happened to make her ship go off course? Why had they never made it to Aquatilis? What was the likelihood that she’d land on the one planet in this solar system besides the fish world able to sustain life?
“Papa!”
Miki’s small voice echoed along the corridor as she scurried after him, unable to keep up with his longer stride. An Arctic bear cub, Nukilik, trotted alongside her. Affection and pride squeezed his heart when he saw them. Miki puffed up beside him and collapsed against his legs with dramatic exhaustion.
Kesuk grinned down at her. “Yes?”
“Are you going sea swimming? Can we come? Please, Papa?” Miki’s dark eyes widened, and she folded her hands together to plead with him. Nukilik nodded in agreement, bumping his shoulder up against Kesuk’s other leg.
Please, Papa?
The cub’s shaky telepathy was improving daily. Another fierce wave of pride hit Kesuk’s chest, followed by an endless need to protect his young against all threats. He would not lose them to predators as he had lost their mother. Lingering pain echoed in his heart at the thought of Maruska. Their daughter looked so much like her. She would have loved to see their cubs grow.
“You can come, but stay near me at all times. Nukilik, go get four more guards to accompany us while Miki and I change.”
Yes, my lord. The cub gave an exaggerated bow of his long neck before scurrying off.
“Scamp.”
“Ready, Papa?” Miki tugged on his boot lacings.
He scooped her up and flipped her into the air, catching her over his shoulder while she squealed in delight. “Ready.”
He set her down and watched while she changed into Arctic bear form, her little body stooping onto all fours, pulling in as white fur spread down her arms and legs. Her nose turned black and elongated into a snouted point. She bowed her head, her neck stretching in to the long slim line characteristic of his species. Tiny curved ears popped from the top of her widened skull. Though he’d done it himself countless times, the sound of changing forms had always bothered him, the strange suction and snapping pop of bone and cartilage as the body re-formed made his skin crawl.
She shook from head to claws, wagging her tuft of a tail so vigorously it shook her whole back end. Tumbling forward in a wild display of acrobatics, she landed with a splay-legged thump in front of him. He ruffled the fur on her head.
Let’s go, Papa! Hurry, hurry.
“All right, youngling. Patience.” In a moment, he’d assumed his own bear form, flexing his claws against the cave floor. His cub pranced on her paws ahead of him down the corridor, turning back to watch his progress every few steps, her black eyes shining with excitement. At the last fork in the tunnel to the sea entrance, they met with Nukilik and the four requested guards, two in human form and two in bear.
“My lord.” The soldiers dipped their heads in salute.
He swung in next to the front guard, who glanced sideways several times before speaking.
Amir Varad comes soon.
Kesuk grunted. The weretigers will land before Thaw, yes.
The human would make an excellent bargaining chip.
Kesuk’s hackles rose, and he had to rein himself in from snapping at the other bear. What was wrong with him today? The soldier was right, was he not? Isn’t that what he should use her for? He’d saved her. She couldn’t stay here. The weretigers would want her and would pay a great sum to have her. He snarled even thinking of it, stalking down the twisting tunnels until he reached the icy wading pool that opened out into the frozen ocean.
Several hunters passed them on their way in to the warm fires of the upper caverns, their fishing lines full of the day’s catch. Miki plunged into the pool with her usual reckless enthusiasm while Nukilik preferred to wade in and test the water first. He’d worried for them since Maruska had died, but they’d adjusted well during the last two Turns. He was the one who’d struggled to move on. An unmated leader was looked upon unfavorably, a sign of instability in the clan.
A tilt of his muzzle signaled the two guards in human form to keep watch at the sea entrance while the two in bear form scouted out into the open water, wary of orcas. Shaking away his concerns, Kesuk slid in after his cubs, making sure they stayed above water, enjoying the rare time he had to devote to them.
Before he could stop himself, he wondered how the woman was faring. He licked his lips, anticipation building in his gut as he thought of seeing her again. The slim lines of her pale body were burned into his mind, and he wanted to stroke his hands over her, burying his cock inside of her again and again until they were both spent. He sighed. Unfortunately, there were a few things she needed to know before they could begin to explore the attraction between them. He doubted she would take it well when he explained the new position she had found for herself by crashing on his land.
Chapter 3
“I’m sorry I lost it earlier.” Jain blurted out an apology to Kesuk as soon as he made it through the doorway, her cheeks flushing hotly. She had blubbered all over the man, and he hadn’t even turned a hair, just tucked her in like a child. She was furious with herself for the lapse.
“What did you lose?”
Did she have to spell it out for him? Her face heated further. “I’m sorry I cried in front of you.”
He raised a brow. “Are you sorry you cried or just that you cried in front of me?”
“Both.” She glanced away, not meeting his eyes. “I’m just sorry. Can we talk about something else?”
“If you wish.”
“What was that man going to trade me for? Five of something?”
“Five of my people they’ve taken as slaves.”
“Slaves! That’s awful. Barbaric.”
He growled, his eyes narrowing. “Beware of passing judgment, little bear. Slavery is common practice here for those captured in raids or battles.”
“You have slaves?” Something in his face made her swallow hard. Damn. She’d just insulted the big, scary man who’d saved her bacon and kept her from black bear rapists.
He returned a tight smile. “We need to discuss what to do with you now. I saved you, so your life is now mine, according to the customs of the Bear Clans.”
Her eyes popped wide in shock. He thought he owned her? She bristled. No one, but no one, controlled her. “I don’t live by those laws.”
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