Thunde

by Arcadia Shield

  Jessie staggered to her feet and gingerly touched the collar around her neck. She grimaced as the flesh protested. There was no way she could treat the injuries the shock had caused. But her fear ran deeper than concern for her own injuries. She was worried about Thunde. If the Fraken had captured him, they could have done far worse than just shock him.

  Taking a few deep shuddering breaths, she righted herself and began walking in the direction she had last seen Thunde. She wanted him by her side. She needed to make sure he was safe, and she’d feel safer herself when she had him in her sights.

  Jessie didn’t believe what the Fraken had told her, that Thunde had lost his mind. She clenched her fists, hating herself for the fact that she’d even considered the possibility. Thunde had been truthful with her from the start of this game, had helped her when she needed it most, and she knew he wouldn’t let her down now. And she wouldn’t let him down either.

  Swallowing the terror creeping up her throat, Jessie increased her stride. She needed to find her Vorten warrior.

  ***

  “Jessie!” The word flew out of Thunde’s mouth as he regained consciousness, his senses focusing and his gaze darting.

  The darkness around him showed he’d been knocked out for some time. His shoulders tensed as he realized he could smell Jessie close by, smell her fear and pain. What had happened to her in the time he’d been unconscious? He rolled to his feet and shook off the agony that bit into the flesh around his throat.

  “Jessie,” he roared into the darkness, again and again, not caring who heard him. Thunde stilled as he detected movement ahead of him, and his nostrils expanded as he smelled the air for signs of an enemy.

  “Thunde!” Jessie’s voice was faint but heading towards him.

  Thunde sprinted forward, ripping aside branches as he did so, desperate to reach Jessie.

  She broke through the tree line in front of him, and a sob fell from her lips as her gaze met his. “I thought you were dead.” She ran and threw herself into his arms.

  As Thunde wrapped himself around her, he could smell fresh blood and burned flesh. “Who injured you?”

  “Two Fraken found me,” said Jessie, her voice muffled against his chest.

  Thunde’s fists clenched handfuls of Jessie’s clothes as he pulled her even closer. “Did they... hurt you?”

  “One of them wanted to,” said Jessie. She pulled back from Thunde’s embrace, tears on her cheeks. “But they put this on me.” She pointed to the collar around her neck.

  Thunde’s eyes narrowed as he hissed out a curse. “Only warriors should wear those. They are dangerous to humans.”

  “They want to make sure I behave in the game,” said Jessie. “They’ve already used it once.”

  Thunde’s fingers grazed over the metal, and he could see damaged, puckered skin underneath it. A growl rumbled through his chest. It was a twisted thing for the Fraken to do, and there was no way to treat Jessie’s injury without removing the collar. Her wound could become infected if it wasn’t treated soon. Anger clouded his vision, and he grabbed at the collar around Jessie’s throat and tugged it.

  “Thunde, no!” Jessie gasped as her damaged skin protested. “There’s nothing you can do. It’s the same as yours. It’s not coming off.”

  Thunde dropped his hold on Jessie’s neck, tilted his head back, and roared into the night sky. “I will avenge you against those who have done this.”

  “I already have my own plans for them,” said Jessie. She gently took hold of one of Thunde’s hands. “But we can do it together if you want to.”

  Her touch calmed him, and he tilted his head to meet her gaze. “They were wrong to hurt you.”

  “All of this is wrong,” said Jessie. “But I know you have a plan to make it right.”

  “We do,” said Thunde. “And the Fraken know this game will not go as they wish it to. It must be why they’ve come in to try to prevent us escaping.”

  “But we’re still going to escape, aren’t we?”

  Thunde pulled Jessie close, his gaze hardening as he saw the slash mark on her cheek. “I will get you out of this game, no matter what I have to do.”

  “We’re going together,” said Jessie. “I hate to think of you taking part in any more games.”

  “I do want change.” Thunde wiped tears from Jessie’s cheeks. “And it will happen.”

  Jessie entwined their fingers together. “I believe you. The Fraken tried to convince me you’d lost your mind, and being in too many games had sent you over the edge into madness. You’d gotten into your head you were some kind of avenging Vorten, going to bring down the Fraken and take me away.”

  “I am completely sane.” Thunde stared into Jessie’s eyes, worried about what she thought of him. “You do believe me?”

  “Of course.” Jessie looked at the ground. “It’s just that, well, I wish I knew more about your plans.”

  Thunde rubbed his fingers across his forehead. “It’s not long now. We’ll be out of here soon. After that, our first mission together will be to find the Fraken who hurt you and make him pay.”

  “Actually, my first mission will be to have a long hot bath and something decent to eat.”

  Thunde smiled down at Jessie and his gaze drifted to her lips. He longed to kiss her and tell her everything would be okay. But he wasn’t sure how she’d react to his touch. She’d been happy to see him when they’d discovered each other, but maybe that was more to do with feeling relief at no longer being alone.

  “You know, it’s okay,” said Jessie.

  “What’s okay?” Thunde realized he’d been staring at Jessie’s mouth for too long and shifted his gaze.

  “I, well, I like you.”

  Thunde pressed his lips together, a thousand unspoken words urging to come through and tell her how incredible she was. “That’s good to know. I like you too.” He repressed a growl, feeling like an uncertain adolescent on a first date. The growing hardness in his trousers only made things worse.

  “And I know that, if we weren’t in this game, you wouldn’t look at me twice—”

  Thunde pressed a finger to Jessie’s lips, feeling the soft skin give beneath his touch. He took a deep breath and forced the words out. “If I had met you outside of this game, you would be all I’d want to look at.”

  Jessie’s chin dipped. “I know that’s not true.”

  “It is,” said Thunde. “I have been around Vorten women most of my life, and although I enjoy their company, there’s something about you that’s different.”

  “Human women are different to Vorten women,” said Jessie. “And there are plenty of women on Earth more exotic than me. They have golden skin and big blue eyes and huge, well, huge assets that most men like.”

  “I don’t like exotic,” said Thunde. “I like you. I like your cleverness and your passion for knowledge. I like the way you investigate things and work through puzzles. And, whenever you’re around me, I feel calm. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this calm.”

  “That’s not a good thing,” said Jessie. “If you’re going into battle, you don’t want to be too relaxed.”

  Thunde lifted Jessie’s chin with a finger until her gaze met his. “What I’m trying to say, Jessie Keenan, is that I like being around you. And when we get out of these games, I want you to stick around. You’re good for me, and you’ll be great for the rest of the squad.”

  “Are you sure they’d welcome me?”

  “Without a doubt,” said Thunde. He leaned down and pressed his lips gently to Jessie’s, watching her reaction as he did so. He would stop the second she showed any fear.

  Her eyes widened for a second before they closed and she leaned into his embrace, her lips parting and her tongue meeting his.

  Thunde ran a hand over Jessie’s hair. The back was matted with blood, and his fingers came away sticky. A growl rumbled through him as he pulled back from their kiss. “These Fraken are going to pay for every bruise, burn, and cut on your beaut
iful body.”

  “They will,” said Jessie. “With you by my side, I know we’ll be able to get them.”

  “I’m never going to let anybody hurt you again,” said Thunde. “And I promise you the biggest most luxurious bath I can find when we get out of here. You can scrub away every last bit of this disgusting game as you fill yourself with your favorite food. I don’t want you to have any memories of this.”

  “I want to keep a few.” Jessie gave him a small smile. “The ones with you in them. I don’t want to forget those.”

  He pulled her towards him. “But only those. No nightmares from this. This is a tiny part of the rest of your life. Focus on us getting out of here, of me taking you on your first trip to Vorten. You’re going to love space travel.”

  Jessie smiled up at Thunde. “I will enjoy you showing me everything.”

  Thunde rested his chin on top of Jessie’s head and simply enjoyed holding her. There was so much more he wanted from her, but this was enough, for now. And to know she was fond of him made his heart swell. He wanted that fondness to grow, to become a heat and a lust that would knock him off his feet. But he wasn’t going to hurry Jessie. She was special, and he wanted her to be ready for him, to want him as much as he desired her.

  Thunde blinked his eyes as his vision blurred. The last blast from the Fraken shock collar had been the most intense he’d ever felt. And as well as his vision not being perfect, there was something more, something that made his stomach churn with uneasiness. He’d lost some of his memories. But most worryingly, the code Axen had given him to memorize and input into the comms link was missing. He’d lost the only way he knew to signal Axen to get them out of the game.

  Chapter 15

  Jessie awoke the next morning and discovered a pair of warm, strong arms wrapped around her. She smiled to herself and snuggled closer to Thunde. They were in the middle of the most dangerous thing she’d ever experienced, but having Thunde by her side removed Jessie’s concerns, and she’d never felt safer. She knew they’d be able to get out of this game now. They just had to stay safe for a little longer and it would all be over.

  After they’d been reunited following the attack by the Fraken, Thunde had found a small cave for them to sleep in. He’d banked up a fire and then insisted on treating her wounds. Now, the slashes from the Fraken’s talons no longer ached, thanks to the Healing Stick. But as hard as Jessie tried, she still couldn’t push away the memory of Balet’s foul breath on her face as he assaulted her. But Thunde was right; she mustn’t dwell on the bad memories this game produced. They’d be getting out of here soon, and that’s what she had to focus upon.

  She felt Thunde’s arms tighten around her and pressed herself against him. “You’re awake?”

  “As are you,” said Thunde. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Best night’s sleep in ages,” said Jessie. “This beats trying to keep warm on the floor of a cold Fraken cell. You’re my personal hot water bottle.”

  Thunde grumbled a laugh. “Not entirely sure what that is, but it sounds like a good thing.”

  “It is,” said Jessie. “I suppose we need to get moving before the Fraken find where we slept.”

  “We can eat first,” said Thunde. “The darkness will have hidden us from the Fraken. But now we’re wearing these collars, they’ll know our approximate location. They’ll send in beasts to entertain their audience soon, so be on your guard when we leave the cave.”

  “But we’ll be out of here by then,” said Jessie. “Before the beasts get to us.”

  “I hope so.” Thunde unwrapped his arms from around Jessie and sat up.

  Jessie noticed the lines of worry tracing across Thunde’s forehead. “Is something wrong?”

  “Nothing that a knock on the head won’t cure.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s nothing.” Thunde rolled his shoulders a few times.

  “Is it something the Fraken did to you yesterday?”

  Thunde looked towards the cave entrance. “It’s a temporary glitch.”

  Jessie couldn’t get Thunde to meet her gaze. “So, something is wrong?”

  Thunde stood and pulled two ration packs from his bag, before handing one to Jessie. “Eat this, then we need to get going.”

  Jessie frowned as she took the ration pack. “You need to tell me what’s going on. We’re supposed to be partners in this.”

  Thunde downed half his ration pack. “You won’t be able to help.”

  “I definitely won’t if you don’t tell me what’s going on.” Jessie placed the ration pack down and glared up at Thunde.

  “We need to get to a certain place.” Thunde gave a loud sigh.

  “So we can get out of the game?”

  “That’s right.”

  “What’s the problem with that? Is it heavily guarded?”

  “The problem is, well, it’s the shock collars.”

  “The collars?” Jessie’s fingers moved to her throat, and she winced as her flesh stung.

  Thunde finished his food and crushed the pack in his hands. “The Fraken have adjusted them. The last shock they gave me knocked me out. That has never happened before.”

  Jessie felt a roll of unease in her stomach. “If a shock knocks you out, it will kill me.”

  “I know,” said Thunde. “That is why we must end this game swiftly.”

  “And there’s no way of getting these off?” Jessie’s fingers brushed over the cold metal again.

  “Not that we’ve been able to discover,” said Thunde.

  “But what have these collars got to do with us getting out?”

  “It’s not safe here.” Thunde tensed as his gaze shifted around the inside of the cave.

  “It’s not safe anywhere.” Jessie struggled to suppress her irritation at Thunde’s evasiveness.

  “I mean, this cave is not a safe place for us to talk freely.” Thunde pointed to the far corner. “Those bore holes make ideal places to locate game cameras.”

  “The Fraken could have heard us talking about our—” Jessie’s final word was cut off as Thunde grabbed her from the ground and kissed her.

  She dangled in the air, her toes just brushing the ground, as Thunde’s warm lips melted against hers, and her mouth opened, meeting his tongue with her own.

  Thunde pulled away and moved his lips to Jessie’s ear. “There are eyes and ears everywhere.”

  “I didn’t mean for anyone to overhear us.” Jessie looked up at Thunde. “But they must know we’re working together by now.”

  Thunde grinned as he lowered her to the ground. “I also wanted an excuse to do that.” He leaned down, wrapped her in his arms, and kissed her again.

  Jessie was taken aback by the passion behind Thunde’s touch. He’d always been so gentle with her, treating her like a fragile doll he didn’t want to damage. But as their tongues crashed together, she realized he wasn’t holding back anymore, and he did want her. She moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Thunde growled and scooped Jessie off the ground once more, holding her thighs as she wrapped her legs around him.

  She felt Thunde respond as she clung to him, her breasts crushed against his chest and her hands pulling him in even closer. His kiss was mind-blowing, and she wanted more. Jessie had never felt anything like this when she’d been with previous boyfriends. They’d always been so cautious and held back on their feelings.

  But Thunde was different. His firm touch made her dizzy. She worked her fingers inside Thunde’s shirt, and a groan escaped her as her hands ran across hard muscle.

  Thunde groaned in response. “I wish we had time for this.”

  Jessie pulled back, feeling dazed. “So do I.”

  He tucked a strand of her hair behind one ear. “We really should go.”

  Jessie wanted one more kiss. “We will. Soon.”

  ***

  Thunde’s blood rushed through his veins as he held Jessie to him, enjoying her warm softness press
ed against him, and the feel of her nipples as they hardened against his chest. He’d been surprised by her passion but was delighted she’d responded to his touch.

  But they couldn’t go on enjoying each other. The Fraken would be out there, and they’d be watching, waiting for them to come into the open and make their next move.

  Thunde reluctantly pulled away from Jessie, placed her on the ground, and moved his mouth back to her ear. “The Fraken know this game isn’t going their way.”

  “Of course they do,” said Jessie, her words sounding breathless.

  “When I spoke to one of them over the comms channel, they mentioned Axen and Lazet’s escape.”

  “Your warrior brothers who were in the games before you?” whispered Jessie.

  Thunde pressed a kiss against Jessie’s neck, unable to resist her completely. “They are, and they’re both free.”

  Jessie took a step back and stared at Thunde. “They both got out of their games alive?”

  Thunde scooped her into his arms again, grabbed their bags, and strode out of the cave. “We need to move.”

  Jessie wrapped her arms around his neck. “Didn’t mean to say that so loudly. Are you being serious?”

  Thunde scouted around for any signs of Fraken, before striding towards the trees. “I am. And they took their prey with them.” He watched with surprise as a huge smile spread across Jessie’s face.

  “Wait! Put me down.” Jessie jumped from Thunde’s arms and turned to face him. “Were they in the game with humans? Was the prey human?”

  “Two women,” said Thunde.

  A gasp shot out of Jessie. “Do you know their names?”

  “Axen’s mate is called Eloise,” said Thunde. “The other is a red headed human.”

  “Melody!” said Jessie. “You must mean Melody Marlin.”

  “It might be her.” Thunde scratched his chin. “You know them?”

  Jessie continued as if she hadn’t heard his question. “Hold on, you said mate. Eloise is Axen’s mate?”

  “That’s right,” said Thunde. “They joined together after leaving the game.”