Guardian [New World Book 6]

by C. L. Scholey

  Jinx continued to ramble on. Apparently this particular female had no inborn sense of survival. No wonder Taz looked exhausted when they came across each other. As the gator lunged for Jinx, Roam’s fist enclosed in his shield and he punched the reptile in the snout. The gator stopped cold, staggered and, stumbling from side to side, backed up and took off weaving back and forth. The gator’s feet slipped into the water when Jinx turned her head to look up at him.

  “There, that should be enough.” Jinx stood up and smiled at Roam. She then frowned as she looked over his shoulder. “Well, that’s odd.”

  “What?”

  “Do you suppose fruit is fermenting somewhere? That alligator looks drunk.”

  “I have no idea; I suppose somewhere out there fruit could possibly be fermenting.” Again not a lie, but Roam was getting good at becoming evasive.

  “Come on there’s a spot not too far where another plant grows, like this one, which can be pounded into flour and mixed with water and wrapped around a clean stick. You hold it over a fire to cook. It doesn’t make half bad flatbread. The flatbread is pretty good during the rainy season. You just stick chunks of meat in it, no plates required. We’ve had to start making dishes out of large pieces of bone or wood.”

  As the sun rose higher Jinx went to a swamp and grabbed long brown things sitting on the tops of green stalks. She called them bulrush or cattails. She kept up a consistent chatter of their uses. She could use the stalks in salad, the fluffy insides of the brown piece for pillows. Apparently she thought they were very useful. Roam kept a close eye out.

  “It’s kinda nice to have some company out here.”

  “Doesn’t Skylar or Haven help?” Roam asked.

  “Not unless Taz makes it a root hunting party, we kinda scavenge anything useful, when we all go out together. Those are the times we collect a lot of edible plants and roots. Sometimes there’s fruit or nuts depending on the season. This area may seem unscathed, but that would be a misconception. A lot of dangerous animals migrated here. Strange animals you wouldn’t expect to see.

  “Taz takes care of all of us, but he’s known Haven and Skylar longer. He’s more of a father figure to them, and they do what he says. He doesn’t threaten or intimidate, he honestly cares for them and they love him enough not to cause him worry. I need some time alone occasionally. Taz tries to respect that—sometimes. But he’s right about strange animals wandering the area. The white fur rug on the cave floor is from a polar bear Taz killed. He wouldn’t say how he killed it, but the meat was sure welcome. He killed a kangaroo which is so odd. They taste okay, but really, to be eating kangaroo one day and polar bear the next is beyond weird.”

  “So you store food away?” Roam asked.

  “Oh yes, we have to. When the rainy season comes which will be soon, we could be trapped in the cave for days, or weeks.”

  “Must be hard to be trapped. Where I come from you can wander free.”

  Jinx stopped. “So just where is it you come from?”

  “Far. But it would be worth the travel to get there.”

  “Have you mentioned this to Taz?”

  “He’s going to think about it.”

  “That’s strange. He knows the rainy season will be here soon. We can’t travel until it’s over. With you here, we need to gather more supplies. No doubt Taz will take you hunting. He always gets something.”

  “You trust Taz, don’t you?” It was more a rhetorical question but Roam was anxious about her answer.

  “Of course.”

  “If he decides to come with me, will you come?”

  “It would be more of a group decision, but yes, if we agreed your place would be safer, I would go. Now come on. I have work to do before breakfast.”

  Jinx headed back toward the cave. Roam followed; he stayed a few paces behind, not wanting to answer any questions. Being trapped inside a cave for weeks wasn’t very appealing. Besides, he was unsure as to when Cobra was coming. There was no exact timing to the must cycle. Roam needed to make every moment count with Jinx and the others. Cobra wouldn’t leave them behind. A disturbing thought of his and Taz’s conversation entered his mind. Would Cobra kidnap these humans if he felt he had no choice?

  Roam already knew the answer before he thought the question. Cobra would do anything for his warriors.

  Chapter 4

  During the next week, the cave dwellers were kept occupied, bustling for helpful items before the rainy season hit. Roam would leave the cave for a night only to return with items he deemed necessary. He relieved a great burden from Taz who was hesitant to travel too far. Jinx was delighted when Roam returned, bringing gems to aid in their survival. She marveled at a wood stove the two men set up in a corner, crude piping was stuffed through an opening Taz made with a pickaxe. Even with the fire going it was still cold during the rainy season and the smoke from the fire pit burnt their eyes. The stove was perfect. How Roam had struggled with it through the jungle was phenomenal.

  A deep cauldron was brought back from Roam’s next outing, filled with canned foods. Jinx had tried to move the pot once but couldn’t budge it. Roam lifted it up onto four sturdy blocks with ease, settling it over a fire pit, and grinned at her. She could only shake her head in amazement at his prowess. Each day Roam returned successful, Jinx’s admiration grew and Taz seemed less tense. The two men, who at first circled each other as would vultures, loosened up until they could joke together. Their tentative friendship became stronger. Until one day something very odd occurred.

  Macey, delighted with Roam’s finding of a number of sleepers that would fit Ally, went to throw her arms around him. Roam stumbled back, as though pushed, and would have landed ass first into the cauldron if Taz hadn’t caught him. Both Roam, Macey and Taz were stunned. The rest of the cave dwellers looked at Roam quizzically.

  Roam’s mouth flapped like a beached fish until he smiled sheepishly and muttered: “Wow Macey, you seem to have an effect on me.”

  Taz took an openmouthed, stunned Macey out of the cave while whispering quietly to her. Roam’s look was that of a cross between happy and worried. Jinx understood none of it. What happened after Macey returned was even stranger. Roam went nowhere near her, and she did her best to keep her distance from him as if he had suddenly developed the plague. Taz once again seemed anxious, not with Roam, but for Roam.

  When Roam went out Jinx made it her mission to try and spend time with him. He wasn’t opposed to the company but seemed a bit uncomfortable around her. He was always attentive and respectful but there were times when he looked at her as though he wanted to pounce on her. Jinx was positive he’d never hurt her, but when he touched her she had the strangest feeling of wanting to throw herself into his embrace.

  “Where do you go when you’re gone overnight?” Jinx asked Roam.

  The two were collecting branches and sticks for the never ending need for firewood. Evening hours were closing in. Most of the day’s work was done. The skies looked threatening, but surprisingly enough, Jinx was looking forward to having Roam unable to take off at will when she questioned him. There wouldn’t be anywhere he could hide. The man was a master at tactical outmaneuvering.

  “I’ve been heading out in different directions. Looking for others as well as items.”

  “Have you seen anyone?”

  “No and yes. The bodies are thankfully few and far between, most are bones. Most of the bones are scattered.” Roam’s blue eyes clouded as he said this. Jinx had come across bodies, it was never easy.

  “Do you think Earth will ever be a safe place, free of all the natural disasters?” she asked.

  “I think after the rainy season you should come home with me.”

  “Why do you think your part of the world is safer than here?”

  Roam stopped. He took her hands into his own; Jinx felt her belly dance with butterflies. His warm moist hands were so powerful, his touch so gentle. The blue of his eyes were mesmerizing.

  “I think it’s time
you saw something.”

  “What?” she whispered.

  Jinx couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was so handsome. For a moment she forgot what she had asked him. Roam put an arm around her shoulder and led her farther into the jungle. Deeper and deeper until Jinx stopped. The ground began to grow moist under her feet.

  “Where did the swamp come from?” she asked, startled; it hadn’t been here a few days ago. The farther she looked, the more water she saw.

  “It’s not swamp, Jinx.”

  Bewildered Jinx looked up at him. “I don’t understand.”

  “The water is rising. Your cave will be under water within a month.”

  Horrified, she opened her mouth to ask how he knew, but she knew he wasn’t lying. She was deluding herself into false security, had been for months. Places she once roamed were suddenly swamps.

  “What will we do?” she whispered.

  Roam cupped her face in his palm. Jinx was terrified, yet his touch was soothing. Soon her pounding heart settled.

  “I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Roam promised.

  Without knowing how, she was in his arms, pressed against his chest. Even with the soft squishy ground beneath her feet, soaking into her shoes, she wasn’t afraid anymore. Roam had to know of a safe route, he was so sure of himself.

  “I need to get you back,” Roam said.

  “Uh huh,” she mumbled. Jinx didn’t want to move.

  With an arm slung around her shoulder Roam turned her. The cave was farther than she thought which gave her some comfort, putting miles between her home and the rising water. A month was a long time.

  Taz was waiting outside for them. He looked relieved when they strolled up to him. Jinx had been lost in thought. How easy it had been to go from needing Taz for protection to wanting Roam’s reassurance.

  “The water is rising,” Jinx said. “Roam says the cave will be underwater soon.”

  “I know,” Taz replied. From his look Jinx knew he already guessed what was happening. He obviously didn’t want to frighten them. Now he had no choice.

  “Roam says his home is safer.”

  “It is. We’re going to have to trust him.” Taz stared hard at Roam when he said this. Roam nodded. Something passed between both men. They shared a secret. Jinx wasn’t certain if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but she trusted them both with her life.

  After dinner, Jinx lay in her bed made up off the floor. The structure was sturdy if narrow. Taz had made it by shoving two poles teepee-like into the ground at either end then tying them at the middle. Two long poles, a shade taller than her length, were attached to either side with smaller strong sticks placed a few inches apart and tied vertically to the poles on either side with rawhide. Furs lined the base where she lay with an old blanket for warmth covering her.

  The ceiling was a mixture of colored rock. Jinx could hear Taz’s muttered words in the darkness as he spoke quietly to Macey. Macey giggled then muttered back. Skylar and Haven shared a small space and bed off to her left. Their whispers and giggles drifted to her ears as well. Aunt Greta was snoring; she shared a room with Ally. Jinx was alone behind her partition. She rolled over and placed a bent elbow under her head. As always, her thoughts took her mind to Roam.

  Jinx wondered what it would be like curled in Roam’s arms, whispering, giggling, loving. Instead of lying in her bed with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Ignorance really was bliss. Normally at this time, she already had Roam naked in her thoughts, fantasizing. She felt her face flame, but it didn’t stop the direction of her thoughts. He had been so quick to come to her rescue; he hadn’t hesitated the day the snake attacked. There was no denying he was her hero from then on. The man had no fear. Roam also never mentioned a word of the occurrence to Taz. That alone was an endearing quality.

  Jinx imagined his body curled against hers. His thick erection pressed against her teasingly. Warm breath fluttering wispy tendrils of her hair as he spoke naughty words, making her hot. A nip at her neck making her shudder. The wetness of his tongue laving every inch of her. Powerful fingers tracing her from shoulder to hip to squeeze deliciously at her ass. Large hands inching their way up her body to her breasts. His huge body settling over top of hers, pinning her. Wanting her to do anything he asked. Jinx wanted to groan with sexual frustration.

  When Jinx closed her eyes, she drifted to sleep with him in her thoughts. A small smile curled her lips and she muttered his name. There was no harm, he couldn’t possibly hear her.

  * * * *

  “She was calling to you in her sleep again.”

  Roam glanced at Taz; they were shielded, hunting. For now, they walked side by side. Roam had been lost in thought; he too had heard Jinx whisper his name. He wondered if it was his imagination to scent lust coming from her. It had to be his must; at night, it was worse when he fantasized and his shield couldn’t come up to control his emotions.

  Images of her naked body popped into his head making his cock harden. He wanted to be on top of her, in her, surrounding her. He wanted his mouth crushed to hers, his hands on her beautiful breasts. Roam controlled a sexually frustrated groan.

  Damn she makes me hot.

  “I’m hoping she comes to trust me as she does you,” Roam said which was true, except it went further than that. “I don’t want her to be afraid to return to Bagron with us. I’m also hoping she can be reunited with her sister.”

  “Cobra will really welcome my family?”

  “Yes. We all will. He will be watching the situation on the planet, I have no worry the ship will come before the water reaches the cave. Others such as me have warrior mates still on Bagron. We are emotionally connected, I’m certain Slay has relayed my concern to Cobra already. I doubt Cobra will wait until must is over. He would never risk his warriors’ lives.

  “I’ve watched you over the last week—no doubt as you’ve watched me. You’re an honorable warrior, Taz. You will be an asset to Cobra’s warriors. Macey is a strong woman, sweet. I’m happy for you both now that you’re expecting. I’m a little concerned about the weather you say is coming that will keep us confined. We both know it won’t matter to me, and I’ll share my generator with you when you need it. But Macey’s going to keep knocking me on my ass when I get close.

  “Someone’s bound to get suspicious when I go flying into a cave wall for say, the hundredth time. Damn, but she’s got one brutal baby shield.”

  Taz chuckled before turning serious. “Is there any way to get the baby to let you close? I’m still new to this father business. We never had this trouble with Ally; then again, all were females.”

  “I don’t know. Slay, my warrior mate has a daughter. I was allowed near his mate while she carried, but the babe sensed her father’s relationship to me. Our blood flows together.”

  “Maybe if we took Macey out into the jungle and introduced you to the baby.”

  “Trust me, your kid knows I’m around,” Roam said wryly. “He sent me flying this morning when all I tried to do was help Macey carry in some water. Damn, he’s got a good pitch. Great aim too—at least the gator thought so, I damned near ended up in its mouth. Which, by the way, isn’t so amusing when my shield isn’t up. Gators are decidedly less cuddly when exposed to flesh. It’s a good thing only Macey was around. Having part of my armor come up to shield my ass would have been a dead giveaway.”

  “Let’s try and get my little warrior to trust you. Otherwise, I foresee a very long rainy season. You might want to invest in a helmet.”

  It took the warriors very little time to catch a marsh deer. Roam watched as Taz dispatched it as mercifully as he could. Roam grimaced. He didn’t like to kill, but it was a necessary evil. The humans had to eat. If it were just Roam, he would have kept the pretty little creature to take to Bagron.

  “I can sense you are not happy with the kill,” Taz said and frowned.

  “I can scent you are.”

  “I’ve been providing my family with food for a long ti
me. They eat or they starve. In the beginning, when the storms were at their worst, it was difficult to get my shield to generate. There were times I hunted without its aid. Very primitive. Times when I needed to tap into my genetic primitive memories, from before Tonans and Castians split. My emotions were all scrambled for a while. I had to literally shrug myself out of the emotion. Poor Macey got the brunt end once.”

  Roam might have been appalled but Taz was smiling. “What did you do to her?”

  “With her is more the question.” Taz winked at him. “When you get yourself a mate you might want to explore those memories at least once. You have them, it’s in our Castian past.”

  Roam could scent Taz’s emotion. They were almost at the cave. Roam had a brief image of a couple mating wildly in a shelter. The male Castian warrior was all over the female. She didn’t seem to mind, even when the warrior grabbed her hair and thrust brutally within her.

  Roam leaned in close to Taz. “You did that?”

  Taz grinned, Roam scented he was recalling the same memory. “That and then some.” Taz was still chuckling. “It’s been strange having you here. I mean that in a good way. Your thoughts are pure, you never lie. I sense your compassion. The way you treat Haven is delicate considering she has a crush on you. Skylar senses you have eyes for Jinx and has discreetly backed off. She loves Jinx.”

  “You do too.”

  “Yes, in my own way I do. You aren’t judgmental with me. It’s still somewhat of a culture shock, having a Castian around who doesn’t loathe me or look at me like I’m pure evil.”

  “I have to admit it took a while to get past your distrust of me. I’m used to being around Tonans. The ones on Bagron were like you at first. Waiting for their senses to be bombarded with anger. I understand Tonans sense things like Castians. The first night in the cave with you, I needed to rinse my mouth out; I could taste your worry.”

  Taz had surprised Roam more than he knew. When the Tonan were reintroduced back onto Bagron, there were other Tonans, not only one. They would group together, feel out and sense how a Castian warrior was feeling toward them. There was a lot of animosity, mostly from the Castians, but because the Tonans didn’t reek of deception they were tolerated.