Camron

Camron Page 11

by Veronica Scott

  “Always. I will always come for you. I’d die to save your life.” The words poured from him, coming straight from his heart.

  “I know.” Her smile was tremulous but her expression was warm and, unable to stop himself, he leaned over to kiss her sweetly on the lips, with only caring, not passion. “I feel the same,” she said when the kiss ended, “But, of course, if you’re needing me to save your life, you’re in big trouble since my best skills are medical and you heal yourself so efficiently.”

  “And then for you to be kidnapped by the pirates and given to the Khagrish—how have you stayed so level headed and high functioning?” he asked, ignoring her gentle teasing.

  “I had all kinds of therapy for a year after I was rescued, paid for by the NGO. I even had a few treatments by a Mellurean Mind—they’re a secretive, powerful alien race who are allies to the Sectors. She helped the most in assisting me to come to terms with how the experience shaped me into a new person and where the elements of my old self still remained. I had to rebuild or create rather a new Gemma out of the shards of the old one.”

  “I find this Gemma to be all things wonderful,” he said, anxious to reassure her if she needed support. “I never met anyone as special as you.”

  She acknowledged his compliment with a tiny nod. “Might as well finish my sad story—I was on my way to my home planet when our ship was intercepted by the pirates. Even so, even being a prisoner again, I was doing pretty well until this incident today set me off. I was positive I was going to die a horrible death in the cave.” Her voice trembled ever so slightly.

  Camron was at a loss for what to say. He was no mystical alien with mind powers to help heal her. “All I can offer is to be here for you, like I am now.” He hugged her.

  “And that means so much to me.” Gemma smiled. “I wish we had something I could take to help me go back to sleep. I’m not usually much for sleeping meds but tonight—”

  “Don’t think too much about it. Sit with me and watch the stars and the three moons,” he said, knowing it wouldn’t do her any good to obsess about the nightmare, the experiences of the past or being unable to sleep. “You’ll drift off again inevitably. We don’t have to leave at dawn, you know, I can let you sleep in, compensate for the downtime you’ve missed.”

  “You’re too kind to me,” she said.

  She settled in at his side, curled close to him, which Camron discovered he found reassuring, given how worried about her he was. He told her the few tales from the ancestral memory he could remember regarding moons and warriors out hunting and the pitfalls of challenging the moon spirits. As he talked, she grew less tense and eventually she fell asleep. Thanking the goddess, he sat patiently with his arm around her for the rest of the night and watched over her, which soothed the aching places in his heart, bruised for her after hearing her story.

  Camron weighed the emotions Gemma aroused in his heart versus any of the other human women he knew in the valley. If one of them had been taken by the spiders, of course he’d have made the same effort to rescue them, but it would have been like one of his military missions—a task to be accomplished, an assignment, nothing more. With Gemma in danger he’d had a hard time concentrating because he was so worried about losing her. His heart had pounded nearly out of his chest. He regarded the woman curled up next to him tenderly and smoothed her hair, removing a fallen leaf. Life without Gemma wouldn’t be worth living.

  Now I understand the difference, now I see why the mate bond is such a precious thing to those who have found it.

  She was his mate—there could be no doubt. He hoped she would come to the same welcoming acceptance of what was between them, but this wasn’t the right moment to broach the topic. Weeks of hiking remained before reaching the valley, so he had time to woo her.

  The woman had to choose the Badari of her own free will and, if she never did, there was no appeal.

  He thanked the goddess for putting him in Gemma’s path. His initial capture, which had been so galling to him and disastrous to his mission at the time, was obviously a part of the Great Mother’s plan to give him a chance to find his mate.

  Leaning his head against the tree, Camron allowed himself to slip into the restorative state, although keeping his senses sharp. They would rest here until Gemma was ready to go on.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The next five days were the best in Camron’s entire life, even better than standing guard duty on an isolated island had been. He and Gemma took their trek home seriously, but there were standout memories, like the morning they happened on a sunny meadow where the large furry rodents known as furbana had built a den. He and Gemma spent half an hour watching the young of the den tumble and mock fight each other, supervised by two elderly females. Camron was careful to stay upwind of the den so as not to alarm them. He wouldn’t hurt them, but the creatures would perceive him as a major predator, and the entire den would rally to protect themselves. As it was, most of the adults were working on enlarging the den, bringing sticks and mud.

  Gemma was fascinated by the entire process and oohed and aahed over the babies, which she declared to be adorable. He enjoyed watching her and making her happy.

  Another afternoon they fished in a placid pond. She fashioned a fishing pole for herself, and he dug up grubs to use as bait, employing his dagger like talons for the purpose. Once she was seated in a shady spot, casting her line, he rolled up his trousers and waded into the pond to catch his part of dinner by hand. Even fish were no match for Badari speed.

  There was no sign of Khagrish pursuit, which seemed too good to be true, but the enemy rarely if ever explored areas of the planet outside the immediate vicinity of their labs. The Khagrish weren’t a race of explorers by nature. Even though Parryfilmunn was most likely fuming with rage over losing them, the commander couldn’t devote precious resources to scouring the entire planet to find them. Although he didn’t allow himself to become overconfident, Camron enjoyed a sense of calm and relaxation because he was well on his way home, and bringing Gemma with him.

  He wasn’t traveling in a direct route to the valley but neither was he overly worried about leading the Khagrish to the Badari stronghold. The pack had an ancient alien Artificial Intelligence guarding their sanctuary, with the proven ability to keep the enemy from intruding there.

  The evenings were spent companionably by the fire, playing cards with the deck he’d found in the Wanderer’s cache or talking, until one or the other would initiate lovemaking after which they’d sleep in each other’s arms and start the next day’s journey content and well rested. Camron defended their somewhat leisurely pace in his mind as allowing Gemma to build her stamina, and it was true most days they covered more miles than the day before. Geographic obstacles made them backtrack on occasion but overall he was happy with their progress.

  His mental test was if he had to defend the trek to his Alpha, would he be able to do so and look Aydarr in the eye?

  A resounding yes.

  The sixth day, Camron woke up unusually tense, senses on high alert. He was sniffing the air when Gemma joined him, putting her arm around his waist, under his shirt, skin to skin as she preferred to touch. He relished her fondness for casual physical contact between them.

  “What is it? The Khagrish?” She scanned the horizon anxiously.

  “I scent a storm coming in,” he said, on edge and with a sense of urgency prodding him. “It’s late in the season for bad weather but not unheard of. We need to get as far down the hills as we can and find a good shelter early. The winds will be intense.”

  Staring at the sky, Gemma raised her eyebrows. “There are hardly any clouds.”

  “I smell the moisture on the air.” He shrugged. Badari just knew some things.

  “All right, I’ll take your word for it. No scenic detours today, I guess.” She bustled to pack up the campsite, munching distractedly on a ration bar as she did so.

  With his help, they were on their way a few minutes later and he set

a fast pace.

  “You’re really worried about this, aren’t you?” she asked at one of their infrequent rest stops. “We’ve sheltered from rain before and been okay.”

  “This is going to be a major storm, high winds, maybe snow flurries. We’re not equipped to survive in the open.” Watching the clouds accumulate all day and the winds begin gusting, he was growing more and more concerned. He could survive anything, being Badari, even if he had to dig a burrow in the damn mountain and huddle there for a day, but Gemma was much more fragile. Humans needed shelter and warmth. She had the right tough attitude and was quite physically toned but not enough for what they were facing.

  Now he was berating himself. If he’d enjoyed his time with Gemma less and pushed harder, they’d have been in the lowlands by now, well away from the force of this weather front. There was nothing to be done but push onward and grab the next possible place he saw for constructing what he could manage for a refuge.

  As he topped the next ridge, Gemma on his heels, he dove into the brush, pulling her with him, although careful to ensure she didn’t land in brambles. “A Khagrish building,” he said, speaking in her ear.

  “What the seven hells are they doing here in the mountains?” Her voice shook.

  “Remember I told you they built labs in all kinds of odd locations. Keep your fingers crossed this place is abandoned.” He shucked the backpack and gave it to Gemma. “I’m going to reconnoiter. You stay concealed here, no matter what.”

  “What if you don’t come back in a reasonable amount of time? I’m not going to abandon you.” Her jaw was set and she had her hand on his arm as if to keep him next to her.

  He squeezed her hand as he gently removed it from his sleeve. This had to be done, even if he was going to pass the place by. “I’ll be quick. Promise me you’ll wait.”

  Gemma shivered and ducked her head as a sudden quick rain shower pattered across the space. “Hurry and please be careful.”

  He grinned as he worked his way around the installation at a safe distance, approaching from a different angle. He wasn’t used to anyone telling him to be careful when he was on a mission, but he liked it coming from Gemma. She knew he could take care of himself in any situation, yet she worried over his well-being. He found he rather liked being fussed over.

  The lab structure was unusually small, a utilitarian two modules, and he was immediately sure it was long abandoned, if indeed it had ever been used. A huge tree had been hit by lightning and fallen at some point many years ago, bisecting the larger modular wing, crumpling the roof, partially burning some of the structure and opening the rooms to the elements. Half of the lab was falling down, ruined. The intact portion might solve his problem of finding shelter if he was lucky.

  Using every bit of cover, Camron worked his way in close. There was no scent of Khagrish and no sign of occupancy. The scientists had built labs they never used at all and apparently this one fell into the category. Checking each area carefully, he didn’t see any rooms or cells which could have been used to hold Badari for experiments so, after his kind became the primary subject of research, this small lab might not have been needed.

  He slunk through the tall grasses, using the huge fallen tree’s branches for cover, and observed the intact module for ten more minutes before rising to his feet and approaching the portal. One half of the door was broken so he stepped through, his boots crunching on broken glass. There were six rooms—the entrance, which would be open to the weather and useless, a lab, to which he had a strong aversion on general principles, and an office. The latter chamber held a desk, no chair, and the walls bristled with bare wires and conduits where equipment might have been installed. On the other side was a kitchen with an eating nook and two bedrooms opening out from there. The chambers had sleeping platforms built in and he grinned. A real bed might be pretty cozy tonight. Of course, there weren’t any sheets or blankets, much less pillows, but the sleeping surface of the larger bed retained a bit of give to it.

  In the lab stood a haphazard stack of unopened crates, which must have been delivered before the decision was made not to use the installation. He wondered what might be inside and vowed to find out later. The bedrooms had well-sealed, intact portals which gave access to the woods. It was reasonable to assume the Khagrish might have planned to set up force fields to cordon off enclosures for outside experiments or maybe even leisure space for the techs and scientists. He didn’t care. The point was, he and Gemma wouldn’t be trapped if the unthinkable happened and the modern day Khagrish surprised him here.

  They’re not likely to arrive in the teeth of a blizzard.

  There was little to no sign the building had been used by animals as a den, aside from a few bones in one corner of the foyer. Probably smelled too much like the Khagrish to be enticing to wildlife.

  He rushed to get Gemma, as the wind was rising ominously, and he led her inside the intact portion of the building. “I think we’ll be safe here for the duration of the storm and then we’ll move on.”

  “Semi civilized for a change—what an unexpected luxury. No power obviously.” She chewed her lip, her forehead furrowed as she pondered next steps. “We’d better gather wood while we can still go outside to collect branches and kindling. We need to make a fire.”

  Applauding her practicality, he said, “I’ll take care of it. You stay safe inside.” Camron expected her to argue, but she only murmured agreement.

  Making multiple trips, he brought in enough wood to build a bonfire, although he planned to ration it over the next twenty-four hours. By the time Camron stepped inside on his last foray, the wind was so strong he had to fight to stay on his feet and snow was beginning to fall, driven by the gusts. Gemma had gotten the fire going in the kitchen area, using the nonfunctional sink as a fire pit. The smoke was sucked toward the broken portal at the entrance and, in this gale, Camron had no fear anyone would see it.

  “All the comforts of home,” she said as he dropped his last haul of wood onto the pile. “More or less. Who would think we’d be happy to find a Khagrish lab?”

  “I certainly never expected to utter those words.” He approved of Gemma’s efforts to make the area habitable. She’d dragged two stools in from the lab area and somehow swept the accumulated windblown debris into a stack in the far corner of the room.

  “I can’t wait to treasure hunt in those boxes I saw. Do you think we’ll find weapons?” Her wide grin was evidence of how hopeful she was.

  Much as he hated to quash any part of her good mood, he had to be truthful. “Doubtful. The Khagrish security forces keep those under tight control.”

  “The beds in the other room are a wonderful feature of this shelter you found for us. It’ll be lovely to sleep on a surface meant for sleeping. Well, and other activities.” She winked at him, and his body tightened in response to the mental picture of the two of them in bed together. There were few moments where he didn’t have physical awareness of Gemma on his mind. He craved her touch. Most of the time his desire hummed along at a subliminal level but then she’d say or do something teasing or deliberately provocative and his cock would respond and his body would be on fire. It didn’t matter how many times they made love, his desire for her only grew.

  “Did you get out the dried fish?” he asked, attempting to divert himself.

  “And the ration bars too.” She pointed at the counter. “Did you want to eat before we check out our mysterious boxes?”

  He could tell she wanted to dig into the items the Khagrish had seen fit to leave behind sooner than later. “We might find an entire banquet of rations in there.” Deciding to go along with her desire, and because he was curious too, he got a large branch to use as a torch and led the way into the lab space. After he’d wedged the branch securely into a piece of lab equipment where it could burn safely, he eyed the stack. “Which one do you want me to open first?”

  She considered the options. “Might as well take the one at the top and work our way down.”