Veral stepped forward again.
Anak cocked his head at him. “What are you going to do? Attack your own and bring dishonor upon yourself and your mother’s house?”
“Of course not,” Veral snapped, and Terri’s heart sank.
Anak chuffed, “As I thought.” He turned away to fasten the band around Terri’s neck. She stared at her feet in disappointment. She didn’t know what made her look up, but when she did, it was to see Veral soar through the air with his claws extended.
The male shouted as he attempted to shrug Veral off, but her mate climbed his way up until he was able to reach over Anak’s shoulders, his claws digging in and rending through the scales and flesh over his neck and chest. Unlike a human, the warrior didn’t go down right away. He twisted himself repeatedly as he choked on his blood. It was just enough of a distraction, however, that Veral’s hand was able to slip down unnoticed to the blaster held tightly in Anak’s hands.
The males fought and twisted, blood smearing between them as they battled each other over the blaster, fangs and claws flashing as they struck at each other. Terri heard a scream, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the struggle in front of her. She willed Veral to win. She watched as her mate pulled back his clawed hand and swiped it in punishing blows over and over across Anak’s face. The male spat out blood as he glared up at him.
“You are willingly dishonoring your mother’s house. You truly are malfunctioning,” Anak choked out.
“I am not. I honor my mother by honoring my mate. She is mine to protect!”
Finally, he twisted the weapon out of Anak’s hand, his body lifting away from the male as he leveled the blaster at the male’s exposed face and fired.
The blast sounded just as loud as before and made Terri’s eyes water. She rushed over to her male with a shout, throwing herself against him. His arms caught her easily and pulled her tightly against his body, his mandibles purring to soothe them both. “Thank the gods,” she whispered.
“Fuck. Umm, guys, where did the other baddie go with the dumbass chick?” Becky asked.
Veral snapped to attention, a snarl ripping out of him as he swung around, barely in time to evade the blaster shot. Pushing Terri to the ground, he rounded on the male, bringing his own blaster up. He fired twice, the lasers hitting the male in a vulnerable point in his armor between his chest plate and abdominal plates at point-blank range. Zarn stumbled back, blood pouring over his armor. Despite how grave his wound looked, Terri knew that his nanos were working to fix him.
She watched as her mate stalked right up to him, refusing to give his opponent even the slightest chance to mend. His tall, muscular body seemed almost a part of the shadows, his vibrissae trailing and snapping behind as he lifted his hand and swiped his blade, cutting through the tissue of his neck to saw right through his spinal cord. With a wet pop, the head separated from the body and Veral spat on the corpse before turning and repeating the process on the other. His task done, he kicked the heads away.
“These are not worthy trophies,” he growled.
Without another word needing to be said, he turned and drew Terri into his arms. She leaned into him gratefully as his embrace tightened around her.
“Wow, that was something else.” Becky whistled. “I guess this is a bad time to tell you I’m on the verge of passing out.”
Terri immediately wiggled away, with only a marginal protest from her mate, and ran to the other woman’s side. “Shit! You should have said something if you felt so bad,” she chastised gently. Becky grinned up at her weakly.
“Like that was going to do me much good. Don’t worry about me. I’m too damn mean and stubborn to die.”
“You will not die, female,” Veral broke in harshly. He looked at the blaster and turned a small dial on it. “I am changing the setting to one that will be efficient for cauterizing your wound.” He hesitated and looked over at her. “It will hurt.”
“I can handle it,” she croaked.
“A lot,” he clarified, with a trace of what appeared to be compassion on his face.
“She gets it, Veral,” Terri hissed. “Don’t freak her out.”
He nodded his head quickly as he finished resetting the weapon. “Unwrap her leg, anastha.” Terri complied and he held it out in front of him. He glanced at Becky once more. “Brace yourself.”
Becky gripped the sides of the collector cart and gritted her teeth. The red ray of the blaster shot out, searing the end of the stump. A terrible smell of burning flesh filled the air. When Becky began to scream, Terri dove in to hold the woman in place until Veral finally turned off the beam. He frowned at his work.
“It is not surgically precise, but you will live without risk of infection.”
Copious tears streamed down Becky’s face, but she looked up at him with gratitude. “Thank you. Now—let’s get the fuck out of this awful place. I’ve had more than enough of this screwed up desert.”
“Man, that was crazy intense,” a boy’s voice said.
Terri turned her head in disbelief to see seven boys standing awkwardly off to the side. His eyes widened as he pointed to Veral.
“We’re with him.”
Turning to her mate, Terri lifted her eyebrows. “You brought those boys with you?’
His vibrissae snapped uncomfortably as his mandibles clicked. “They were being forcibly conscripted. I gave them the opportunity to escape, nothing more.”
Another boy stepped forward, twisting the hem of his shirt nervously. “We swear we won’t cause a problem…”
A loud shriek cut him off as a woman came barreling forward. “George Matthews! Is that you?”
“Oh, hi, Mom,” he said with a sheepish smile. “I know you said not to come looking for you if you went missing, but… well, here I am.”
The woman fell on her son, slapping the back of his head before grabbing him against her and holding him tight. “You foolish, crazy boy!”
Veral watched them with a peculiar look on his face—something like longing if Terri wasn’t mistaken. Gently, she nudged him.
“We’d better get going. I’m sure everyone would like to reunite with their loved ones.”
Nodding, he turned reluctantly, his grip not once breaking from Terri’s hand, and headed out into the city, the small band of women and children following after them. No one was more surprised than Terri when Christie limped toward them from wherever the Argurma had dropped her and followed sedately at a distance behind them. She still couldn’t believe the woman sold her up the river. She shot her a glare over her shoulder as she leaned into her mate.
23
Veral scowled at the young males as they lingered a short distance from the safety of his shelter. He did not trust them in his place of rest or being so close to Terri. At least not without what Terri called ground rules. He liked the term. They followed the rules, or he would personally flatten them into the ground. They were mature, no longer small offspring, and would be accountable for their actions.
He stalked around them and the youths shrank away, though they wore brave smiles of expectation. He narrowed his eyes at them, wondering how seriously they were taking him. “Make no mistake, you are here only at my indulgence. You will not threaten any females while in my territory. You will not touch the one called Terri on the threat of great pain and possible dismemberment of your favorite appendage. Indicate that you understand these instructions.”
All the males hastily jerked their heads in the affirmative, their eyes wide. Veral grunted approvingly.
“You will conduct yourselves as honorable warriors in training. You will hunt and gather food and learn to spar to protect your clan… familial unit. I shall not tolerate any complaints. As honorable warriors, you will not coddle the females. You will respect them, but you are not there to serve at their bidding. Courting of any kind is on your time as long as it doesn’t cause any disruptions until the time that I deposit you on the coast. I shall squash disruption without hesitation. Does
this compute?”
The males rushed to nod at his words.
Veral turned away, his mandibles clicking as he made his way through the alleys toward his abode, leaving them to follow. He was well aware of their presence just behind him as they followed a short distance away. He did not care if they feared him, though he doubted that they feared him as much as they should. He was satisfied as long as there was some measure of fear. A healthy fear of him was wise on their part and would keep them from acting inappropriately.
Krono rushed to greet Veral as he returned to the domicile. He could hear the inventive human cursing behind him as those following him got a good look at his dorashnal. He patted Krono’s neck and glanced up as Terri came into view from the doorway.
“You males! Go inside and mind what I said. Krono will protect the females if you threaten them in any way!”
One by one, they filed past him into the dilapidated building, each of them eyeing the dorashnal with trepidation. Krono’s tails were held out stiff from his body as he watched them before turning to lope after them into the building. Terri watched after them, the corners of her lips quirking, before she turned her gaze to him, her eyes softening in a way that she seemed to reserve for him, much to his pleasure. “Did you scare them too much?”
Veral chuffed. “Only marginally for behavioral correction.”
Her teeth flashed, and she laughed. “That’s okay. I think it’ll be a good offset from all your admirers in there. The women we rescued have been asking after you for the last hour.”
He made a sound of disgust, his vibrissae fluttering around him anxiously. “I do not care for their attention.”
“I couldn’t tell,” she said, a playful edge to her tone. Sarcasm, she called it. She ran a hand through her yellow hair thoughtfully. “The caravan was heading west to the coast, but the other women are of a mind to go as well. Do you have enough room in your ship to carry everyone? They’ll have to wait until we’re done salvaging, but I’m sure they’d appreciate the shorter, safer trip.”
He inclined his head in agreement. “It would be logical. There is plenty of space with the cargo hold empty. It will not be comfortable, but it will be a short flight.” He hesitated, his eyes flicking over her. “However, we do not need to wait for the salvage to end. I confess that I recognize their needs outweigh my own. I have decided to cease salvage on this planet for the time being… It is not optimal, at least not until something can be arranged with the Council for their protection as per intergalactic law for salvaging planets occupied by sentient species. There are other targets in this system that may have a better yield.”
Terri’s brows winged up as she leaned in. “Oh yeah? Sounds like it might be an adventure.”
Veral trilled in the affirmative, his mandibles purring with pleasure as her breasts brushed against him as she fitted herself closely against him.
“So how many rooms does this exploration vessel have on it?”
He frowned thoughtfully. “One dining hall, the main command, the armory, and five cabins. What is your purpose for inquiry, my mate?”
“Well, according to that asshole Anak, your seed has taken hold with an embryo. I mean, we have time—three years from what you say,” she laughed, “but I figure that gives me plenty of time to decorate a nursery for our little one.”
Veral turned her in his arms, his hands skimming her belly. “We will have plenty of time for safe adventures before our offspring comes.”
His mate scowled at him and punched him in the shoulder just below the horn. She cursed and shook her hand out from the force of the impact. “Fuck, you’re built like a tank. Look, mister, you need to take a page out of your own rule book—I won’t be coddled.”
“I said nothing of coddling,” he stated mildly. “Our adventures will just be scheduled to prevent any risk to you or our offspring.”
“Not much of an adventure without some risk,” she muttered. “You said yourself that our baby won’t even grow noticeably until the third year. That means we have time for a real adventure.”
He growled, his mandibles clicking. His mate sighed and rolled her eyes. To his surprise, she reached up, grabbed some of the lower trailing vibrissae that always seemed to seek her out, and dragged his head down to her. Veral was caught off-guard as she pulled him down to press her mouth against his. The sensation was completely alien. Argurma didn’t do any such thing, but it was so pleasurable he couldn’t imagine why not except for the disadvantages of both members of a mated pair possessing mandibles.
Sweeping her up in his arms, Veral carried her through the domicile, ignoring the eyes of those watching them as he made his way to their room. Depositing her on the nest of fabrics, he smiled down at her, his fingers touching his lips.
“I am curious to see what else these can do.”
Leisurely he stripped her of her armor as he made his way down her body, caressing her exposed, delicate skin with his lips and tongue. His mate sighed as he explored, the sounds and scents of her arousal growing as he played along her flesh. When he reached her sex and brushed against it with both of his tongues, her body quivered and arched into him as she shouted his name, her voice raw with demand.
Curious, he spent much time between her thighs, sliding his tongues around the little bead of flesh that gave her so much pleasure before dipping into the sweet cavern that flooded his mouth with so many unique flavors that he couldn’t get enough of feasting on it. He lost count of how many times she cried out when he tasted and sucked at her flesh. He had no idea how many more times she screamed out his name when in a fit of desperation, his civix straining madly, Veral had slipped out of his own armor to join their bodies together, his sex buried deep within her own, seeking bliss.
The next morning was the dawn of a new life together as they led the humans into the desert to his starship. The very people who had seemed so broken and exhausted yesterday seemed to find strength on that day. They smiled and spoke to each other of the things they looked forward to as they faced another future and left the desert behind them. Some of the newer additions were still nervous around Krono but anxiety seemed to be low and there was a certain calm expectancy. All except for Becky, who, with the prosthetic he fashioned for her with the replicator, was striding through his ship to “get a good look at everything while she could,” by her own admission.
Although it taxed his patience, he allowed it because it made his mate smile. Besides, even though Becky was far too inquisitive, she was not disruptive in her explorations, which earned her some favor with him. Still, he was eager to deposit all the females in their new home so that he could be alone with his mate for a while. His ship was crowded and the noise made his ears and head hurt.
He watched eagerly through the viewscreen as the ship moved quickly over the desert until barren land started turning green and the sea rose up, crashing against the shore. He glanced at his mate seated at his side wearing one of the beautiful loose robes he’d fabricated for her. He liked seeing her there. The command center of his ship seemed empty before when he thought back on it. She turned her head and smiled patiently at him as he adjusted his receivers until he found a signal that he expected was coming from the sanctuary that the females had spoken of. Following it up the coast, he flew for some time at an easy pace so that Terri could enjoy the view.
When they finally arrived at the source of the signal, Veral’s heart dropped with dread. Amid a green valley, a white city rose up from where it was tucked behind a small mountain that, according to his calculations, protected it from the storms that brewed over the seas. Everywhere around it, green things grew. It seemed to be the most ideal place for humans to thrive—clean with plentiful food and water.
As they approached, he was able to see a number of humans spilling out into the courtyard as they watched his ship descend with expressions of awe and fear on their faces. Once, he might have enjoyed that, but now he just wanted to be on his way. As he looked at the beauty of the area, par
t of him feared that his mate would abandon him to remain.
He set his ship down and opened the portals wide, releasing the females from the hold.
24
Terri paced in the gardens, a flower in her hand. Everything was so beautiful, as she’d once imagined it might be, but she felt restless. The people were perfectly welcoming… to every human who arrived, anyway.
They were reserved around Veral, making it abundantly clear that they did not care for his presence. She knew they were afraid of him, but they also claimed that his very presence disturbed the peace and tranquility of their city. In true Veral fashion, her mate had scoffed at the claim, earning him few favors. He had been absent more often, leaving her to explore the city alone. That disturbed her not only because she missed his company terribly, but because many of the men took every occasion to court her despite her vehement insistence that she was already mated.
Thank goodness for Becky. If she ever thought Josie was a force of nature, the woman had nothing on her daughter. Becky had run off all of Terri’s suitors when her own tactics didn’t work. After having to endure it for the fourth time that day, Terri was annoyed with them and her absent mate.
Snarling a curse under her breath, Terri threw the flower down and stomped out of the garden, heading directly for the ship, where she knew Veral was holed up. Dreaming up every insult she could fling at her male, she entered the ship and headed straight for the command station. Krono looked up at her from where he lay as she peeled through the doorway. She glanced down at him in passing only to collide with the person she was seeking in a rain of flowers.
Falling on her ass, she coughed and sneezed as pollen scattered over her. Brushing flower petals off her, she looked over and met the eyes of her mate. His vibrissae were flattened to his head as he stared down at the tempest of flowers, not meeting her eyes.
What was going on with him?
Broken Earth Page 19