And now they were groping Rafe.
Every insecurity ever known to non-supermodel women rose up inside her. It was bad enough Jenna felt like a walking Mrs. Claus minus the bonnet, but the two supermodels looked like science fiction Roman gladiators in barbaric bikinis. Behind them stood three very beautiful men, also fantasy gladiator types, also perfectly muscled.
Out of the crowd gathering on the rooftop, she really didn’t look like she belonged. Jenna wrapped her arms across her waist. She didn’t need to speak Syog in order to understand what the women were saying. If their hands roaming Rafe’s chest and their sultry expressions were to be believed, they had been lovers in the past and wished to rekindle the relationship.
Rafe took their hands and pressed them away from him. He turned to motion to her in introduction. She understood “Lady Jenna” but nothing else. The women stared at her until Jenna glanced away first, whispered to each other, and then laughed.
“You look like you have catching up to do,” Jenna said to Rafe. “I’m going to let you,” she glanced over the women. “Well, I know how eager you are to negotiate.”
Rafe stiffened. The women smiled. The Syog men stepped forward.
Jenna didn’t wait around to watch more groping.
* * *
Rafe had to stop himself from chasing after Jenna. If he left now the Syog would take it as a sign of disrespect and interpret it as a challenge. They were not the most intelligent species, but what they lacked in wit, the more than made up in brute force and sexual conquests. In the past, Rafe had enjoyed the rough games Takka and Kakka played. Now he wondered what he’d ever seen in them. They were vapid, hollow shells when compared to the great beauty and brains of his Jenna.
“We wish you to allow one of our warriors to learn from yours.” Kommo was the leader and Takka’s brother. At least, that’s what Rafe had always assumed from the broken conversations of Syog and Var that they managed to have.
“If I agree there is no need to negotiate,” Rafe said, already flinching at the idea.
Kommo lifted a semi-protective metal plate and extended it to Rafe. “Then I wish to leave two warriors.”
Rafe knew from experience there was no way of getting around negotiations. They would keep making demands until Rafe had no choice but to refuse their request and gave in. He took the plate and secured it over his hips like a codpiece. “Let’s get this over with.”
Chapter 20
Jenna paced her room, thinking of Rafe being touched by those women. Jealousy surged through her. Damn him for making her jealous. Damn those women for touching him. Damn her for the impulse to go and stake claim to Rafe. Her heart physically ached.
What had happened to her? She was never this insecure. She was happy with the way she looked, confident in her intellect.
She pulled the green headband off her head before unlatching the low belt. She threw them on the bed. Restless, she continued to pace. Her hand ran over the remote cat. The television turned on. As if to mock her, a black and white starlet danced on stage, wiggling her feathered butt. Jenna promptly turned it off.
Where was Rafe? What was he doing?
The image of the two Syogs caressing him fueled her annoyed thoughts. She should never have left him alone. She should have grabbed him and staked some sort of claim. She should have punched those grabby bitches in their pretty faces.
She paced faster. Hearing a squish beneath her toes, she froze and looked down. She’d stepped on the edge of the queen’s gray rug monster, Tog-tog. Jenna hopped back. “Dammit, why are you on the floor again?”
The flat fur began to shake violently. It made a strange, angry grumble, like an earthquake about to erupt.
“What are you doing? Tog-tog?” Jenna slowly backed away toward the door. “Easy, carpet. It was an accident. I didn’t mean to…”
The shaking creature started to expand. The noise became louder, and she swore she felt the vibrations running up her legs from the stone floor. Once it was inflated, instead of running on its six short legs, it rolled toward her like an oversized bowling ball, pushing off its legs with every rotation to gain speed.
Jenna leaped out of the way. The creature crashed into the side of the couch and re-angled to try again. She didn’t wait around to see what would happen when it managed to knock her over. The door swung open, and she ran through it, right into Hector. The guard tried to steady her, but Jenna pushed him back and slammed the suite door shut behind her. Tog-tog slammed against the wood so hard she worried it might crack. Breathing deeply, she eyed Hector as they waited and listen. Another crash sounded on the far side of the room.
“M’lady?” Hector asked, looking her over before staring at the suite door.
“Lesson learned.” She gave a nervous laugh. “Don’t accidently step on the Tog-tog.”
Another crash sounded. The television turned on, the volume loud. And there went the remote control cat statue.
“I should probably not go back in there,” she said. Then, patting Hector lightly on the arm. “Thanks for the rescue.”
Hector looked at where she touched him and then around the hall. It wasn’t a secret she was Prince Rafe’s lover. No wonder her touch made the man uncomfortable. Jenna turned to leave.
“Wait,” Hector ordered. “You are not to be unescorted.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” she said. “Prince Rafe is negotiating with aliens and I’m going to join him.” She again made a move to go to the stairwell leading up.
“Prince Rafe is in the forest. If you insist on seeing him, I will take you. I cannot let you out of my sight, or I will be punished.”
“Very well,” Jenna nodded. “I wouldn’t want you punished.”
“M’lady is very kind,” Hector answered. When Jenna tried to move toward the stairwell that would lead her down to the front entrance, he stopped her by saying, “Follow me.”
They moved in the other direction.
“The palace is quiet,” she observed as they neared the balcony. A cool breeze swept along the walkway, fluttering the gauze sunblocks inward. Their feet echoed as they walked.
“Everyone is watching the negotiations,” Hector said.
“Watching?” Jenna stopped walking. Unbidden the image of Rafe with two Syog beauties came to mind, and she scowled. “What exactly is there to watch?”
“M’lady…” Hector gestured for her to walk, and she obeyed. “The Syog are known to be very aggressive negotiators. I’m surprised Prince Rafe mentioned the word to them.”
“The Syog are very pretty. I’m sure they’re popular with the locals,” Jenna allowed, hating the words even as she said them. Jealousy again filled her until she could barely focus on Hector’s back.
“Some seem to think so.” He led her to the tower and pressed a stone. A hidden entryway opened, and he stepped inside. Jenna hesitated before going into the darkened stairwell. It wound downward.
“I have never been in the towers,” Jenna said as she moved to follow him. The stone entry closed as they walked away, sealing them in.
“Not many aliens have,” he said. “They are used for castle defense and communication.”
“I thought the king and queen lived in them.” She placed her hand on the wall and followed the sound of his feet.
“Only in one.”
“Are we almost there?” Jenna quickened her pace to keep up with him. “I know it’s several stories, but it seems like we’re going down too far.”
“Yes, almost, can’t you see the markings?”
“It’s too dark. I can’t see anything,” Jenna said.
“…inferior,” Hector mumbled.
“I’m sorry?”
“Human eyesight is inferior,” he said louder.
Jenna stopped walking. She took a hesitant step back up the way they’d come.
“Come on,” he ordered.
“I think I’m going to go back up. I’m sure Tog-tog has calmed down by now.”
“Come,” he said again.
“There is nothing to fear in the dark.”
“He likes it when I play with him,” she lied. Jenna backed away faster.
“Accursed humans,” Hector growled. Jenna tripped, flailing her arms when she felt him grab for her. He managed to capture her wrist and used it to drag her down the stairwell behind him. Her feet trip but he didn’t seem to care if she walked or if she slid her way down. “Bad senses. Bad instincts. Can’t even see in the dark. And they think Earth women are the answer to saving the shifter bloodlines? All you’ll do is weaken us.”
“Hector, please. I haven’t done anything to you, or to the Nutef. That’s what you are, isn’t it? A Nutef?” Her body slammed into the wall at his hard tug and then she fell forward, hitting his back. He growled, pushing her off him while still jerking her arm. She bounced and stumbled.
Finally, he stopped, and the stone opened into a small cave. The exit was shaded by vines that fluttered into the forest. When she turned, all that was left of the tower entryway was foundation stones covered in yellowish-green moss.
“Hector,” Jenna said, trying to sound calm. “It’s not too late. We can go back.”
“Do you think I like having to leave my post? Do you think I like having to disobey the orders of my king? I have been a loyal guard for centuries. I love my people. That is why I do this. It is too late to stop this. You should never have come to where you don’t belong.” Hector pulled her toward the cave exit. “I don’t want to kill you, Lady Jenna. You are kind for a human, but you are still human. We cannot let a human become princess. You cannot taint the most sacred of our bloodlines.”
“Our fathers should not have given the portal to the dragon. Our fathers should have stopped it when King Ainmire took the alien Lassairfhina as his bride and made her queen. They told themselves the king knew best. They told themselves she was beautiful and from a noble alien people. They told themselves lies, and they opened the door for human women.” The words came from outside the cave, rising with loud conviction. “We know what must be done. If we stay vigilant, sooner or later they will stop bringing humans through the portals. If enough humans are sacrificed, they will see the will of the gods. They will know the people do not want tainted blood. My son, Myrddin, will know many Var wives, as my father, Lord Myrddin claimed my Var mother. As too will your sons and daughters be Var. Let my family be an example. We are the oldest. We are Old House Nobles. We are Var.”
Hector pushed Jenna outside, and she fell to the ground. Almost instantly, she was on her feet. Her heart pounded in fear as cheering sounded. Over a dozen men stood in the clearing in brown robes. Hoods covered their heads affixed to flat wooden masks over their face. The bottoms of the masks were sharpened points tipped with metal, symbolic of the top row of a cat’s fangs. Eye holes had been cut but were so deep the color of the eyes beneath were shaded in darkness.
“You bring honor, Hector,” the speaker declared. Clearly the leader, he stood before the others on an outcropping of stone. Long black hair showed from beneath his hood to stand against his chest.
“Thank you, Lord Myrddin,” Hector said.
Clawed hands poked out from the long sleeves of the robes. They were shifted into cat-men underneath. Orange fur. White fur. Striped hands. Golden fur. Black…
Jenna’s eyes swept up to the man with black fur on his hands. Was he the one who tried to harm her in the shower?
Jenna tried to follow Hector. “Hector, please, don’t do this.”
“I am sorry, m’lady. This is about more than you or I.” Hector disappeared back into the cave. She heard stone move to let him pass into the tower’s base.
“I’ll leave,” she said. “Just tell me how to get to the portal and I’ll go.”
Low growls sounded as an answer. Myrddin spoke to them in their native language, passionately growling and pointing at her.
“I don’t understand,” Jenna protested. She made a move to run, but a follower blocked her path. “I didn’t do anything to you.”
“You spread your legs for the prince,” the leader said. “There can only be one way to ensure you do not taint the blood.”
“But I’m not pregnant,” Jenna insisted. “We have doctors that give us medicine to prevent pregnancy. There is no tainted blood here. We’re all good.”
“Good?” The leader laughed at her. He turned to his followers. “We made a mistake when we tried to take Princess Eve through the portal to kill her. The gods were angry at our shame in our actions. They want all to know our conviction. This time the sacrifice will be seen. We will not wait. We will stand strong and proud. We will show them our actions. All will know. The sacrifice will be now.”
Low growls sounded only to rise and fall, repeating in a rhythmic pattern, crescendoing and subsiding in waves of sound. Their chant ended all conversation. The leader reached behind to the stone and tossed long coils of rope down to his followers. Four of the men came toward her. Jenna scurried out of the way, ready to run. Within seconds, two others had her captured between them. She screamed, and they stuck a robed arm into her mouth to shut her up. She bit down. Another arm wrapped her neck, choking her. Jenna clawed at the arms to be free, but became dizzy when the hold tightened against her neck.
Blackness threatened, and she lost some of her ability to fight. She felt a tug on her wrists, then on her ankles. They bared her feet. Her arms were drawn to the side by rope shackles.
“The gods will know our loyalty,” the leader yelled.
The chanting stopped as the men cheered. The hold on her head released, but before she could find enough breath to scream a rope gag replaced the arm. The course material dug into her sensitive lips and chafed her delicate skin.
They jerked her arms violently, and she was hoisted several feet off the ground to hang. Someone pulled at the rope tied around her head, and she was forced to look up at the sky. Her legs were stretched wide until she hung like an X from the tree limbs. Instantly her arms ached from the position, feeling as if they might rip from her body.
Hot tears streamed down her face. Someone grabbed her foot, and she tried to wiggle free. White heat tore into the sole of her foot as they sliced her open. Anticipating what was to come, she kicked harder when they grabbed her other foot. She screamed into the rope gag before coughing for breath. Blood ran down the soles of her feet to her toes.
The men circled around her, chanting once more. The sound washed over her, a demonic reality she could not escape.
Rafe, dammit, you promised to keep me safe, she thought, willing someone to come and save her and knowing they would not know where to find her.
Chapter 21
Rafe limped down the stairs, cupping his sore manhood. The sensitive flesh of his inner thighs felt bruised, but that was nothing to the gut-wrenching ache in his testicles. Had he not seen Kommo doubled over in pain after Rafe planted his foot between the Syog’s legs, Rafe would have thought the aliens lacked humanoid equipment.
Ivar chuckled to see his brother. “Ball racking negotiations over already? I thought you would have lasted at least three kicks this time.”
“I hate you,” Rafe said. “You knew they wanted something from us, didn’t you? You sent me on purpose. You told Jenna to say the word negotiation. I don’t know how or when, but you did.”
“I thought Jenna would enjoy the show. I’m sure you’ve done something to her at some point to deserve it,” Ivar said. Then, looking behind Rafe, he asked, “Where is Lady Jenna?”
“I’m going to find her now. She left before the negotiation started. I sent a few of the guards to look for her and bring her back to her suite until I could talk to her.” Rafe limped his way toward the stairwell. Ivar took pity on him and offered an arm to help him down. As they neared the suite, a loud crash caught their attention.
Rafe ignored his pain as he ran toward her room. Ivar was faster and thrust open the door first. Seconds later, Ivar came flying out with a round gray fur ball in his gut. He slammed into the hallway wall and crumple
d to the floor. Tog-tog instantly relaxed and deflated a little so that he could scurry away down the hall.
Ivar clutched at his manhood, groaning. Rafe laughed, even though the jiggling hurt. “Serves you right.”
“What the hell angered him?” Ivar asked, taking measured breaths as he came to his feet. He leaned over.
Rafe hurried into the room. “Jenna? Are you in here? Jenna?”
She wasn’t there.
Rafe came out of the room. “Something is off. I feel it.”
“She is probably hiding from Tog-tog. Come, we’ll find her in the dining hall,” Ivar said.
“No, I’m telling you. I feel she is in danger,” Rafe forgot his own pain as he trusted his emotions to guide him. He raced through the hall.
“Rafe?” the queen demanded. “What did you do to Tog-t—”
“Jenna’s in trouble,” he yelled, sprinting past his mother. Rafe’s fur sprouted over his features as he ran. Fangs elongated in his mouth and sharpened claws stretched from his fingertips.
“Jenna?” the queen repeated. She raced after her sons.
Rafe caught Jenna’s scent and chased it. Hector emerged from the tower door. The scent led Rafe to the guard. He grabbed him and tossed him up against a wall, holding him off the ground. Hector half-shifted with golden fur and slashed a hand to defend himself. He hit Rafe’s arm and drew blood.
Rafe slid him from the wall and slammed him into the floor. “Where is she?”
“Rafe!” Ivar commanded.
“I smell her on him,” Rafe said. Anger rippled over him.
Hector lifted his hands over his face. “This is about more than you or I, my prince.”
“Rafe, down here,” Ivar ordered.
Rafe punched Hector so hard he knocked the catshifter out. To his mother, he said, “Don’t let him go.” He ran after his brother. “Do you hear her?”
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