She didn’t seem all that comforted by the information.
Terri smiled reassuringly and tried again. “Dorashnals are good animals and very smart. He won’t hurt them. I believe Veral once told me that he’s had Krono from the time he was very young.”
“Well, if you’re sure,” the other woman murmured uncertainly. Plastering an uneasy smile on her face, she reluctantly let go of her daughter’s arm. “Go ahead, Mandy. The lady says it’s okay.”
The little girl eyed her mother doubtfully as if uncertain the nervous woman would change her mind. Her mother’s smile wavered before becoming firmer as she waved encouragingly. “Go ahead, baby.”
Mandy’s face lit up and she turned to race over to where the other children were playing. Krono turned just as the little girl arrived, his nostrils flaring to sniff at her before his long tongue swiped over her in a friendly manner before laying his massive head on his front paws.
Mandy’s mother let out the breath she was holding and smiled her first genuine smile. “Okay, this is good. Mandy needed this.”
“All the little ones need it,” Josie agreed, her own face cracked wide with a grin. She hooted with laughter when one of the kids went tumbling down Krono’s long back. Terri laughed as well at the antics of the children until she wept tears of mirth. The laughter felt good. She couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed so much. She had laughed with Veral from time to time over the last several days, but not the gut-busting laughter she was enjoying now.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Veral exit from the hallway, his eyes searching for her. His posture relaxed when he saw that she was merely having a good time. Then he stilled when he caught sight of Krono. Shaking his head, he chuffed and crouched in one corner to finish packing their bags with some of the supplies that had been brought out earlier to tend to the women.
Terri dismissed any of her worries from earlier when it came to the other women and enjoyed watching the children play throughout the late afternoon while she chatted with Josie. Until Lacey approached her with a nervous smile. Josie frowned from where she sat but Terri sighed. If she made a show of not being approachable, then the other girls would be afraid to come to her if they needed anything. All the social niceties were wearing thin.
Planting a stiff smile on her face, Terri addressed her politely. “Yes, Lacey? What can I do for you?”
The girl smiled cautiously, looking at her with an apparent sweetness from beneath her lashes. “Actually, you can. I need to go out and relieve myself, but it’s starting to get dark, and I was wondering if I could borrow Veral to stand guard. It won’t take long.”
Terri’s eyebrows shot up at the request, her eyes sliding over to Josie who gave her a distinct “I told you so” look. Clearing her throat, she attempted to deal with Lacey reasonably. “You want… Veral… to accompany you? Why don’t you ask some of the other girls to go with you?”
Lacey shook her head, a petulant pout forming on her face. “No one else needs to go. I need Veral with me.”
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea…” Terri attempted to explain but before she could even get the words out, Lacey went from sweet to arrogant. Terri risked a glance at Veral and sighed with relief. He hadn’t noticed. There was little doubt in her mind that if he’d caught Lacey making any sort of threatening expression toward her that he would have hauled her out into the street and left her there. If he didn’t kick her ass the entire way.
“Whatever,” Lacey cut her off with a scornful, quiet hiss. Terri was just glad she was keeping her voice low so they weren’t attracting attention. “You just don’t want him to be alone with me because you’re scared and jealous. Well, you should be. Unlike you, I’m the sort of real woman that a powerful man… uhm… male… would desire. He may have been stuck with you, but now that there are other women to choose from, he has options. You know that any man would prefer this over that.”
Terri’s mouth dropped open at her sheer gall. Even Josie beside her sputtered in disbelief. If Lacey truly believed that, she was going to be in for a huge disappointment. Terri wasn’t above letting the woman learn some humility the hard way.
Rocking back a little, Terri’s lips twisted and parted in a sharkish grin. “I’ll tell you what. Just to prove to you how unthreatened I am, you go right ahead and ask him to accompany you with my blessing.”
Lacey’s dark eyes blinked in surprise, but it was fleeting.
“I’ll do that,” she challenged.
“A word of warning,” Terri offered magnanimously. “Whatever you do, do not touch him. He won’t be pleased if you do.”
Lacey smiled smugly as she tossed her mass of tangled brown hair over her shoulder and strode over to Veral. Terri smirked as she watched but hoped that she wouldn’t disregard her warning.
“What in the world are you thinking?” Josie whispered from where she was now perched behind Terri’s shoulder. “You’re really going to allow him to go off with her?” Terri’s smirk widened into a fierce grin.
“Oh, I’m not worried about that. Just watch. She’s about to have a rude awakening.”
Terri’s grin widened as Lacey sidled up to Veral. He was bent over the packs that they would be taking in when they raided the Reaper encampment. Terri had no doubt that he knew that the woman was behind from the way his back stiffened, but he was studiously ignoring her. Lacey, clearly not one to be snubbed, leaned forward and said something that Terri couldn’t make out. Veral didn’t even glance up, but a forbidding look crossed his face and his lips thinned before forming the shape of the simple response that Terri knew was coming. “No.” His vibrissae snapped in emphasis before he dismissed Lacey altogether.
Lacey stared at him, her mouth gaping open and Josie chuckled. “Hopefully that will teach the girl something.”
Terri nodded in agreement, but her smile slipped off her face as she watched Lacey scowl in their direction and step closer to Veral. She smirked and leaned forward, her breast brushing him suggestively as she touched his arm with one hand. Veral froze, his vibrissae lifting off his neck, rattling.
“Oh, shit!” Terri barked as she bolted to her feet and into the crowd of women. “I didn’t think she would be that stupid.”
“That twit,” Josie huffed as she crossed her arms. “I wouldn’t rescue her!” she shouted after her.
“Yeah, not an option!” she yelled back as she scooted between women, attempting to get to Lacey.
She knew that she was too late to intervene when Veral’s vibrissae whipped fiercely. He spun around angrily on the woman intruding into his space. Gradually rising to his full height, easily three hundred and fifty pounds of pissed off alien turned on the human, his mandibles clicking in agitation. He stepped forward then, his vibrissae whipping through the air, daring anyone to get too close. Terri watched as his chest puffed out and a rattling growl rose into the air as his mandibles widened and snapped shut several times. Lacey paled as she scrambled backward. He loomed over her, his hands fisting tightly at his side.
“Do not seek such familiarity with me,” he snarled just before his mandibles spread wide accompanied by a hellish roar. She screamed as a stream of urine trickled down her leg, soaking the floor. He gave her a disgusted look and turned away.
With a contemptuous growl, he attempted to step away from her, but Lacey, in her panic, moved in the same direction and in consequence threw herself into the range of his maddened vibrissae. Terri snagged the girl by the collar and pulled her to safety just in time, the vibrissae harmlessly snapping in the air while Veral backed away, still growling as he put distance between them.
Despite the fact that she hadn’t been harmed, Lacey screamed uncontrollably as if she were being murdered. Terri rolled her eyes at the other woman’s melodramatics. From how tightly he’d been clenching his fists, Veral obviously held back his instinctive impulse to maim the source of an uninvited touch until he managed to get away from her. Though he’d held back and refrained from h
arming the idiot, Terri knew that the entire episode was likely to impact the way the others saw him. They were already afraid of him and were only just starting to relax around his shadowy presence.
Lacey made matters worse as she continued to scream and stumbled away like a wounded animal with every eye in the room on her. Everyone fell silent until all that could be heard was her hysterical cries. A few of the girls bolted for cover, while several of the young women she’d been sitting near ran to her side, fussing over her dramatically.
The rest of the women didn’t so much as move except to raise their eyebrows and turn away while they continued their quiet discussions. She could feel the weight of Josie’s gaze on her and knew that she needed to explain a few things so that the woman could do damage control. She put it on her mental checklist as she followed her mate’s continuous growl as he retreated rapidly from the women into the night. It didn’t take long for the blubbering whimpers to die, but Terri wasn’t paying attention. She ignored the hysterics as she approached Veral. His blazing eyes pierced her, his blue and silver gaze roaming over her face as his body continued to tremble with pent up aggression. The silver cybernetics stamped into his skin flared in the dark.
Running her hands over his arms and chest, she whispered to him as he struggled to regain control. Bit by bit, he slowly de-escalated, though the fury didn’t completely drain out of his eyes and his body showed signs of continuing stress and aggression in the way he moved and held himself. The ceaseless rattle of his growl further emphasized his duress. Despite everything, he was unfailingly gentle with her as he gathered her into his arms, his body quivering against hers with unspoken need.
Tenderly, he dropped his forehead against hers and rumbled, “Anastha.”
Terri tugged at the horn on his wrist. He needed to get outside and away from the other women so he could cool down. “Come on, big guy. Let’s go outside and walk off some of that aggression.”
He rumbled again and fell into step with her as they eased around the broken edge of a wall and into the street. They didn’t make it far before his mood shifted as they neared the gaping wall of a house next door. He broke free of her hold, his hands banding around her waist as he pulled her against him and ducked around the corner into the strange building. Terri’s breath left her in a rush of surprise.
“Veral?” she whispered.
He growled deep in his chest as his luminous eyes found her in the dark. “Trust me,” he purred through his mandibles. “I need you.”
“All right,” she whispered. “I’m right here. You have me—all of me.”
Dropping his head, Veral dragged in deep, shaky breaths as if he was still just barely keeping his rage under control. “I have never hurt a female in anger but, for the first time, I wanted to. I couldn’t bear her touch on me. I was clear that I had no interest in accompanying her or being in her company, yet she persisted… she dared to touch me.” He sounded so sickened by the entire thing that Terri’s heart lurched in sympathy, her arms coming around him.
“It’s over now,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. I sent her to teach her a lesson because she was being rude when I didn’t give her what she wanted. I warned her not to touch you, though. I shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe it never would have occurred to her if she hadn’t felt like she had something to prove to me. She desired your protection.”
Veral snarled and clicked his mandibles irritably. “Many of those females, the weepy ones, are too weak to survive outside of the protection of their males. They are dependent on those bonds not only for fulfillment but also for safety. They would be better served to arrive at the coast quickly and surrender themselves into the care of whatever city they find there. They are not strong enough to be the mate of a trader, a salvager, a warrior, or any Argurma at all. I am fortunate that I found you. If we were separated, you would survive without me if necessary,” he murmured, running his nose through her hair. “You would curse me in your human way, but you would remain strong until we were reunited. You are a most worthy mate.”
Terri stifled a silly smile and held him for several minutes. She didn’t argue with him, though she wasn’t so sure that she wouldn’t have at least some hysterics if she got separated from him in a dangerous situation. But she liked the image that he painted of her. She liked how he saw her. When his breath huffed evenly against her neck, she pulled back and looked up at him with amusement. “Better now?”
“No,” he bit out, pushing his pelvis against her belly. “The aggression won’t just go away in my species. It needs to be worked out of my system by giving it a method of releasing energy. I can go hunt to take my anger out on prey… or…”
“Or?” she breathed, her pulse racing with the first flush of excitement.
“I will not deny that more pleasure and expediency can be found expending my passions in the arms of my mate,” he rumbled. “We have much that needs to be done tonight. I would much rather satisfy it this way.” He paused, his gaze searching her as his mandibles expanded and his nostrils flared. “You desire it too. My systems detect your increased heart rate, your body temperature climbing with your arousal. Your pupils are marginally dilated. Will you accept my rage?”
“Oh, fuck yes,” she whispered, excitement churning within her as her mate held her despite the power in his cybernetic parts and system.
He sank down into the sand with her, stripping off their armor with inhuman speed as they went. Dipping his arms behind her legs, he lifted her bottom up into his lap as his extruded cock searched for her. It slipped across her damp sex only once before plunging deep within her.
Terri bit back a startled cry, not wishing to alarm the other women so close by. She shifted one of his large hands over her mouth with a meaningful look. He stared at her in confusion before his lips quirked and he nodded in understanding.
Holding her tight, he muffled her cries as he pounded down into her canted pelvis. Though far more aggressive, Terri welcomed and loved every bit of it. The tips of his claws raked with more pressure against her hips and thighs. His cock claimed her at an almost punishing tempo and depth with every thrust. Terri met each thrust, whimpering and panting, demanding more. She dragged her own nails down his scaled sides, eliciting suppressed, throaty moans of pleasure for her efforts. This time when he spilled his seed it came abruptly, sending them both over the edge—without implantation. He hadn’t in the bath either, she realized only now.
Panting, she glanced up at him as he lowered her hips to the ground. “You didn’t implant this time or when we bathed.”
He shook his head. “As long as my seed is within you and your body is attempting to hold it, my hormone levels do not spike enough for my body to implant.”
“Can your system control your hormones enough to prevent implantation?”
Veral paused thoughtfully. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “I can program my hormones to remain at a steady level but, given that you are my mate, I do not know if they will be instinctually altered in response to the scent of your arousal, the heat of your sex surrounding mine, or any of the other variables that occur during copulation. It is something worth trying in the future.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she said as she stretched languidly. “Mind handing me my pants, my love? I need to speak to Josie and do some damage control before all the women start tip-toeing around you like they expect you to freak out. We need some ground rules, I think.”
18
“As far as I can tell from when I was here last time, they’re keeping the women in that building there,” Terri leaned in to whisper as she gestured to the lone gray-walled building. It was completely covered with graffiti, half of which was distinctly pornographic. “I do know that women aren’t allowed free run of the camp. A woman I know, Meg, willingly joined them to be kept under their protection.”
Veral froze, his head canting to the side. “Meg.” He said the name slowly. “I believe I know of this female of whom you speak. She was very frig
htened when her male—Dale—brought her to their commander.” Veral’s eyes slid away to sweep over the torch-lit camp stretched out before them. “I was curious as to what may have happened to the female.”
Terri grimaced. That had been the subject of a number of her arguments with Meg. Guiltily she wondered how her friend was fairing. She hadn’t seen her out in days, not since fleeing with Veral. She suddenly felt like a really shitty friend.
“Dale is an asshole,” she said, “but Meg won’t leave his side, no matter how much I beg her. I don’t know if he has her brainwashed or if she is just that scared of what could be done to her without his protection. She sees her submission to him as the only thing keeping her safe. Still, she’s told me a lot about how things work in the camp. That’s how I know as much as I do.”
“From what she said, those who have some sort of arrangement or an established relationship with the guys are allowed to remain within their tents rather than in the little whorehouse where the men share them. Whoreshack, really,” she observed in distaste. “The women we’re looking for will likely be confined in there. I doubt any of them will have had the opportunity to find a ‘protector’ among the guys here. Protector.” She couldn’t resist sneering in disgust. “That said, I’m sure the women inside would tell us if someone got separated from them. I hope,” she amended, thinking of the behavior of some of the women she’d been taking care of.
Crouched at her side, Veral grunted as he narrowed his glowing eyes at the building and gave a sharp nod. It was more of a dip of his square chin, but his eyes gleamed as he focused on their target from where they were perched on a nearby rise. They were high enough up that they could easily see inside the compound from above. The silver in Veral’s eyes brightened as he stared down at the building.
“My systems show several human lifeforms in that building,” he said, his vibrissae puffing out around him with the focus of his scrutiny.
She stared at them and frowned. Normally she loved his vibrissae, but when they were displayed like that it made them a much clearer target in the moonlight. She coughed. “Excellent. Umm, Veral, maybe you should bind your vibrissae so they don’t attract attention,” she suggested.
Broken Earth Page 15