by S. E. Smith
“Thank you,” he said.
She shrugged and looked away. “It was yours. Besides, if your ship doesn’t work, it would be of no use to me,” she added.
“Do you even know how to fly a Tearnat fighter?” he asked.
If the expression of uncertainty that flashed across her face wasn’t enough of an answer, L’eon’s head moving vigorously back and forth from where he sat perched on her shoulder told him what he needed to know. The mutinous flare in her eyes and the pursing of her lips proved he hadn’t done a very good job of hiding his own thoughts. She reached up and patted L’eon on his head.
“I’ve flown—in my brother’s simulator,” she defended.
“A.... Have you ever been on a ship before?” he curiously inquired.
She looked away from him again and shook her head. He studied her for several seconds before he stepped closer. She turned her head and gazed back at him with a wary expression.
“I overheard you last night when you said you would rather die trying to escape than live mated to a male who abused you,” he said.
“What is it to you what happens to me?” she replied.
“It matters. I’ve decided that you will be my mate,” he informed her with a bit more arrogance than he had intended.
Her mouth dropped open before her eyes crinkled at the corners and she began to laugh. Gril uncomfortably shifted from one foot to the other. Her laughter slowly receded and she looked at him with amusement.
“You decided… without asking me. Of course you did. What makes you think I would want someone like you as my mate?” she retorted with a raised eyebrow.
He frowned. “Do you know who I am?” he shot back.
She nodded. “Yes. You are a pale-skinned Tearnat who has worse luck than I do.” She pointed behind him. “Your ship is that way. If you hurry, you might be able to make it before nightfall. Stay out of the red ferns, look out for the night crawlers if you don’t make it back before the sun sets, and I hope you have better luck. Now, I have places to go and things to do,” she said, turning away from the ravine and the rope bridge.
His hand shot out and he wrapped it around her forearm. “What things?” he demanded.
She looked down at his hand before her gaze slowly moved up to his. Her mouth was pursed and her eyes narrowed in warning. He didn’t miss that her hand had tightened around the staff of her spear either.
“Not that it is any of your concern, but now that I know that pale-Tearnats are not vicious flesh eaters, I plan to return to my village, collect my belongings, and travel to the desert outpost a week’s journey to the north. Once I am there, I will seek passage aboard a transport off world,” she stated.
He stared at her in disbelief. That was her plan? To pick the first available ship off the planet with no idea of who she is traveling with or what she might encounter?
“Do you ever think before you do things?” he murmured angrily without thinking.
A flash of anger swept through her eyes. “Do you ever think before you open your mouth and stick your big feet into it?” she snapped.
Gril grinned. “Obviously not when I am around you,” he replied.
She stared at him for several seconds before she shook her head and turned away. “You are impossible,” she said.
Gril slipped his hand down to her wrist, and he pulled her back against him. He grabbed the wrist of her spear hand with his other hand and applied enough pressure on the nerve for her hand to open. The spear fell to the ground. Ignoring her outraged hiss, he wound the cloth he’d used as a bandage around her wrists and tied them together in front of her.
“L’eon, help me,” she demanded, struggling to break free.
L’eon had turned on her shoulder and was looking at Gril with a speculative expression. Gril eyed the little lizard with an odd combination of warning and amusement.
“Do you want her to return to that awful male—or find a different, more horrible male on the first spaceship she approaches?” Gril asked.
L’eon shook his head. He curled one front foot and smacked it into the other to show his feelings about these other males. L’eon jumped onto his shoulder when Madas hissed her displeasure and turned her head to glare at her friend.
“Males! You are all the same,” she growled.
Gril winced when she snapped her tail and the tip struck him in the ass. He barely moved to the side in time to prevent it from happening again. Unfortunately, that opened him to her elbow, which connected with his stomach. His arms tightened around her when she tried to hit him again.
“Not all males are the same, Madas,” he remarked.
She froze when she felt his warm breath against her ear. He pressed a gentle kiss below it. She stiffened and turned her head toward him.
“I didn’t give you permission to kiss me,” she snapped.
“May I give you a kiss?” he asked.
She opened her mouth, speechless for a moment. At least she had stopped squirming against him. The feel of her body pressing back against his was driving him crazy. He couldn’t remember if he had ever felt this kind of intense response to a female before. That realization solidified his feelings that Madas would be his perfect mate.
“Where?” she cautiously asked.
A rumble of laughter slipped from him. “I could give you a dozen answers to that one word question. I imagine more than half of them would earn me another bruise,” he confessed.
Her lips twitched and she looked over her shoulder at him. He could feel himself being pulled into the teasing light of her eyes. Leaning forward, he paused near the corner of her mouth.
“Here—for now,” he murmured.
Emotion flickered through her eyes before she hesitantly nodded. He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, wishing he had turned her to face him. Her mouth was soft, warm, and made him want more.
His arms tightened around her waist, unconsciously moving higher. It was only when she stiffened that he realized he was cupping her breasts. A tinge of unexpected heat and color swept up his neck and into his cheeks. He pulled back, clearing his throat, and gave her a rueful, apologetic grin.
One side of her lips quirked up with amusement. “Not bad,” she commented, turning her head away from him. “Now, you can release me.”
“Not bad…,” Gril repeated.
She glanced over her shoulder before turning away. “That’s what I said.”
“Yes, I heard you—and no, I’m not going to release you. At least, not yet,” he replied.
She twisted around and glared at him. “How do you expect me to travel with my hands tied?” she demanded.
He grinned back at her. “Very carefully and with my supportive touch,” he replied.
Her eyes glittered with humor and a touch of exasperation. “I should have let you suffer longer from the red ferns,” she growled.
Gril grimaced at the memory of his burning flesh. He flicked his tail, catching the staff of her spear and tossing it into the air. He grabbed it, holding it in his left hand while he wrapped his right hand around her arm.
“I am very grateful that you didn’t. It was giving a new meaning to a fiery shaft, if you know what I mean,” he said with a wink.
Madas’s cheeks turned a bright red at the mental image. She released a frustrated growl and turned her ire on L’eon who was sitting on Gril’s shoulder. The little lizard was glancing back and forth between them as they sniped at each other, and grinning from ear to ear. Gril was about to start walking when he realized that he didn’t know which direction he should go. He hadn’t really paid any attention to the map she had drawn. His focus had been on finding Madas, not his ship. He turned to her with a wry grin.
“Which way do we go?” he sheepishly asked.
“I don’t believe this,” she muttered before nodding her head to the west. “We go that way! There is a safer way down from the plateau.”
Gril sighed. “Thank Goddess for that!” he quietly cheered.
Chapter Fourteen
Outside the village of the Forest Clan:
Cardin walked along the path leading back to the village. He had been part of a small group searching for Madas for the past two days. All of the paths on this side of the mountain had been thoroughly searched to no avail. No one wanted to go beyond the immediate surrounding area. The path over the mountain was treacherous enough, but the beasts were worse.
He had fallen behind Madas’s brothers. Two of them had reluctantly volunteered to help look for their younger sister. He had listened to them for the past two days complain about having to leave the comfort of their home. They both insisted that Madas would eventually come home—she always did. For all they knew, she could have been watching them the entire time and laughing at their inexperience.
“She’ll show up, Cardin. Then, you can chain her to your bed,” Goroff laughed as he strode down the path.
“More likely Madas will chain him and leave him in the woods for the night crawlers,” Orden replied.
Cardin ignored the other men. They had done nothing but make snide jokes about what Madas would do to him once they were mated. He fingered the wrist cuffs hanging from the clip at his waist. Once again, he would be the butt of jokes in the village.
He scowled when a cloaked figure emerged from the trees and stepped onto the path in front of him. He sneered and ran a mocking glare over the tall, slender form. It was probably another one of Madas’s siblings trying to make him look like an idiot.
“What do you want?” he demanded.
“Who do you search for, Tearnat?” the hooded stranger demanded.
Cardin frowned. “Who are you?” he asked in a suspicious voice.
“I search for a pale-skinned Tearnat male. He was following—a female.”
Cardin rotated with the figure as the Tearnat circled him. The cloak hid the newcomer’s features. He frowned when Madas was mentioned. She had to be the female the Tearnat was talking about.
“Where?” he hissed, twisting again to follow the Tearnat.
“On the other side of the mountain,” the Tearnat replied.
Cardin cringed. “Only Madas would go over the mountains. I should have guessed,” he muttered.
“Do you know the area?” the Tearnat questioned.
Cardin nodded. “Enough to not get killed,” he lied.
“Then you will take me,” the Tearnat ordered.
Cardin frowned. “Why would I take you? What’s in it for me?” he shrewdly asked.
“Credits—and the female,” the Tearnat stated.
Cardin’s hand jerked to his side when the Tearnat held up his own wrist cuffs. They were now dangling from the tip of a laser pistol. He started to reach out for them, but the Tearnat held them out of his reach. He looked at the pistol pointed at him.
“What’s in it for you?” he suddenly demanded.
“Revenge.”
The west side of the Goddess’s Stronghold wasn’t quite as wide—or as easy to navigate—as Madas remembered. Of course, it had been a few years since she had been down it, and she’d been younger and smaller. Ten minutes into their descent, Gril stopped and untied her hands.
“This is supposed to be easier?” he warily questioned.
“I remember it being wider. It has been a few years since I was last here, and there has been a lot of rain this past year,” she defended.
He gave her a skeptical look before peering down the side. It was obvious there had been a few rock slides and part of the cliff below had given way, leaving a very narrow section. She rubbed her hands along the sides of her pants.
“We could always try going back the way we came,” she suggested.
“Trust me, it wasn’t any better,” he grumbled. “Let me go ahead. I can help you get over some of the taller boulders.”
She shook her head and shot him an amused look. “And how many cliffs and boulders do you have where you live?” she inquired.
He scowled at her. “More than you realize. There are actually a large number of cliffs and ravines very similar to this throughout the desert,” he retorted.
Madas wasn’t sure if she believed him, but she decided it was possible, as the Goddess’s Stronghold and the plateau were more desert than forest. Standing to the side, she motioned for him to go ahead of her. Her lips pursed when L’eon jumped onto her shoulder as Gril passed her.
“Traitor,” she half-heartedly accused.
L’eon nuzzled her cheek before winding his front feet in her hair. It was hard to stay mad at her strange little friend. He must have seen something worthwhile in Gril, otherwise the Tearnat—no matter how large and strong he was—would have been in a puddle on the ground.
Madas silently followed Gril down the path, suddenly realizing she was admiring the way he moved over the rocks. While she didn’t need his help climbing over the boulders, it was rather sweet the way he turned and held his hand out to her.
She only hesitated the first time. Her breath swooshed from her lungs when he pulled her up and into his arms. He winked at her before he slowly descended, helping her each step of the way.
When the path narrowed, he tested the way to make sure that both their hand and foot grips were sturdy. They were a hundred and fifty feet from the bottom when they came to a particularly hazardous section.
She reached out and grabbed Gril’s arm when he started to take a step forward. He looked over his shoulder at her. Her gaze moved from the tall pile of rubble in front of them to the cliff-face. Small pebbles dropped, sounding unusually loud around them.
“What is it?” he quietly asked.
“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right,” she whispered.
Her gaze moved along the shelf of rock. Thin, wet lines darkened the surface. She half twisted and looked further down along the section. The darkness was spreading.
“Flash flood. We have to hurry,” she urgently hissed.
Gril’s face darkened with concern, but he turned back to the rubble ahead. She watched his muscles bunch before he suddenly leaped on top of the rubble blocking the way. Once he landed on top of the loose rock, he quickly propelled himself to the narrow ledge on the other side.
Madas started to follow him when a low rumble shook the ground and the pile began to slide down the cliff. She watched in horror as a twenty foot wide gap opened up, separating her from Gril.
She studied the tumbling rocks below and the cliff above her. Water was beginning to stream over the side. She winced when several sharp stones rained down on her. She lifted her left arm to protect her head. Pulling L’eon off her shoulder, she gauged the distance.
“Catch him,” she yelled.
Gril leaned her spear up against the rock wall and extended his arms. Madas pressed a brief kiss to L’eon’s head before she tossed him high into the air. Her eyes widened when the little lizard spread his feet, gliding across the space using the small flap of skin under each leg, and landed in Gril’s outstretched hands.
Gril twisted and set L’eon down on the ground before turning back to her. He held out his arms and motioned for her. Madas looked at the gap. The edge nearest her began to crumble under her feet, and she had to back up.
“Jump, Madas,” Gril ordered.
“It’s too far,” she said, shaking her head.
“JUMP!” Gril demanded.
She started to turn when she heard the roar of water from above and behind her. Terror gripped her. She had nowhere to go. Twisting back around, she darted forward and jumped. She knew as she leapt that she wasn’t going to make it. Her hands flailed and the scream in her throat froze when she suddenly saw the thin shaft of her spear appear in front of her. She reached and grasped it. Her palms burned as they slid down the wooden staff. She tightened her grip when she reached the thick leather wrapped around the end.
She swung through the air as the flood waters poured over the top of the cliff, and she could feel Gril pulling up the staff and her along with it. Then his powerful tail wrapped
around her waist, pulling her up and onto the ledge; keeping her steady. Her gaze barely had time to lock with Gril’s before he released her and placed his hand in the center of her back.
“Run!” he ordered.
Madas forced her shaking limbs to obey the command. She sprinted down the path, briefly bending to scoop up L’eon in her arms. She cradled L’eon against her chest with one arm while trying to protect her head from the cascade of falling water and stone.
The path widened twenty feet farther down and she could run faster, but there was too much water coursing down the path. She slipped, losing her footing and landing heavily on her back.
The flood waters swept her, L’eon, and Gril down the worn path. Madas’s eyes widened when she saw the huge boulder in front of them diverting the flow. The water banked and flowed over the side into a deep basin. Reaching behind her, she felt for Gril’s booted foot and wrapped her hand around his ankle just as they went airborne. L’eon reached up and grabbed her long hair even as she held him fast in her free hand. Madas released Gril’s ankle so she could wrap her arm around his waist as he passed her. She pulled him tight against her chest, and they hit the deep water feet first, sinking almost to the bottom before they started kicking upward.
They broke the surface, gasping for air. Madas perched L’eon on her head and began swimming toward the shore.
Gril reached it before she did. He held out his hand to her and pulled her up onto the bank. L’eon jumped down to the ground. The little lizard violently shook the water from his body starting with his head and moving down to the tip of his tail before he climbed up on a nearby log and collapsed.
Madas sank to the moss covered ground, feeling shaken and boneless. Gril collapsed beside her. They both rolled onto their backs, breathing heavily. She stared up at the sky as the clouds floated by.
“Well, that was fun,” she finally said with a strained chuckled.
She blinked when Gril’s face blocked the sky above her. He threaded his hands through her thick hair, and didn’t say anything, just lowered his head and kissed her.