by Rayna Tyler
Zaedon’s Kiss
Ketaurran Warriors: Book 3
Rayna Tyler
Zaedon’s Kiss
Copyright © 2019 by Rayna Tyler
http://raynatyler.com/
Published by Rayna Tyler, 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN-13: 978-1-7341022-0-8
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
A Special Note
Books by Rayna Tyler
About the Author
Chapter One
Cara
Three weeks. That was all it had taken for Zaedon, the sexy ketaurran with a gorgeous smile and teasing personality, to get under my skin, to like him more than I should.
He made me want to punch him one minute and wrestle his clothes off the next. He was an elite warrior, a protector to the drezdarr—the planet’s version of a ruler—and if ever there was a male I could fall for permanently, it would be him.
Too bad allowing myself to get close to any male wasn’t something I could afford to do, not with the dangerous missions I undertook for Burke, the leader of the rebels who’d done his best to protect the humans during the Ketaurran War, and continued to work toward our survival afterward.
I liked my independence and volunteered because I’d seen too much death, suffered loss, and wanted to do my part to help, even if it meant putting my own life at risk.
My first encounter with Zaedon during the escape from the Quaddrien, a desolate area surrounded by rocky ledges the humans had nicknamed the wastelands, hadn’t gone well, and since then, he’d gone out of his way to annoy me every chance he got.
The only reason he’d accompanied me to my grandparents’ home in the farming community was because Khyron, the current drezdarr who’d brought an end to the war, had ordered him to be my personal bodyguard. Khyron, so unlike his uncle Sarus, the greedy, power-hungry male who’d caused the devastation in the first place, was intent on healing our world by uniting the humans and ketaurrans. It wasn’t going to be an easy endeavor, not when a lot of the surviving humans had a strong dislike for his people.
To be fair, Khyron hadn’t actually ordered Zaedon to come with me. He’d suggested with mild insistence, which amounted to the same thing. It hadn’t helped that I now had a bounty on my head or that my friends Laria, Celeste, and Sloane enthusiastically agreed with Khyron’s idea.
The bounty was courtesy of Doyle, a nasty mercenary whose sanity was highly questionable. I wasn’t sure what had angered him more, the fact that I’d managed to infiltrate his compound disguised as a boy for nearly a month without detection, or that I’d destroyed his lab so he couldn’t create any more of the deadly toxin he planned to use on the ketaurrans. Personally, I didn’t think either action was a good enough reason to want me dead.
I refused to spend the rest of my life hiding or worrying that Doyle’s males might eventually track me down to my grandparents’ place. Finding a way to get rid of the bounty and keeping the remaining members of my family safe, hopefully without dying, was my main priority once the harvest I’d come home to help with was over. The last thing I needed was another complication, and Zaedon definitely qualified.
I heard the familiar sound of Zaedon’s footsteps and knew he’d returned to the large building Josh used to house vehicles being repaired. “Ellie is a good cook,” he said, not bothering with a greeting. “This pyteinna is quite delicious.”
I could hear him chewing the flat cakes my grandmother had made from meat and a combination of plants. From my position underneath the harvester, all I could see were his boots and the lower end of his tail and knew he’d gone back to leaning against the vehicle’s exterior. “You’re not going to go away and stop hovering, are you?” I stared up at the metal underbelly, realizing I’d been so distracted by his presence earlier that I’d forgotten to grab the tool I needed to remove the metal plate covering the compartment housing the solars. It was a good thing, since I’d also forgotten to disconnect the power to the connectors inside the control panel.
Of the three harvesters, this machine had the most issues and broke down at least once during each of the four annual harvests. The plants my grandparents were in charge of growing fed everyone in the farming community as well as the nearby settlement where Burke and my friends lived. Since the plants would be ready to pick in a day or two, I’d decided to test the solar engine ahead of time to make sure we didn’t have any problems.
Josh, one of a handful of engineers who’d been part of the Starward Bounty’s exploration team before the ship had crashed on Ketaurrios and stranded all of us here, was responsible for building the machines. In his midtwenties, he was bright for his age and always trying to devise ways to make life for the community residents easier.
Even though the planet’s inhabitants didn’t have the technology required to create a state-of-the-art harvester like the ones back on Earth, Josh had done a decent job with whatever he could find to build them. Normally, he’d be doing the maintenance, but he’d been working on one of his many projects and broken two fingers on one hand. Besides being good at covert missions, I was also a darned good mechanic and had offered him my help.
“You do not expect me to disobey the drezdarr’s order, do you?” I heard the smugness in Zaedon’s voice and imagined the grin on his face.
“You know he didn’t exactly order you to come with me.”
“Maybe not, but I made a promise to Laria, Celeste, and Sloane that I would assist with your safety, and I am honor-bound to comply with their wishes.”
It was the same excuse he’d used the last two times I suggested he return to the settlement. I’d been around the vryndarr long enough to know honor and integrity were highly valued. There was no way I could argue with his excuse, not without insulting him.
Before Zaedon and I left the settlement, I didn’t get a chance to ask my friends why they’d thought having him accompany me was such a good idea. Having a lengthy discussion with them was at the top of my list of things to do the next time I saw them.
Trying to keep my mind focused on the task and not filled with images of Zaedon’s broad chest covered with blue scales, his piercing turquoise eyes, and a tail that begged to be caressed got harder with each passing day. Especially when the tail I was trying to ignore kept finding its way under the vehicle and was currently rubbing against my leg.
I grabbed the tip, the scales a lot smoother than I’d expected. “Lose something?” When I shook his tail, he moaned. My grip wasn’t tight, so I didn’t think I’d really caused him any pain.
“Cara.” His voice came out raspy and deeper than usual. “You should not…” He jerked his tail out of my hand.
“I shouldn’t what?” I scooted the roll
er, a long rectangular sheet of wood with small wheels on each side, out from under the harvester.
“Nothing.” He turned, giving me his back, suddenly taking an interest in the tools spread out on a nearby bench.
I frowned when he wouldn’t look at me. “If I hurt your tail, I’m sorry.”
“You did not.” He blew out a sigh, then turned to face me, offering a hand and pulling me to my feet.
“A male’s tail is sensitive, but it is extremely responsive to a female’s touch.” He moved closer, the space between us mere inches. “And when you…”
It took me only a second to realize that grabbing his tail had caused pleasure, not pain. “Oh.”
He grinned wickedly. “I did not mind, nor would I be opposed if you wished to touch it again.” He curled his tail around the backs of my legs.
This was the first time he’d openly made it known the attraction I’d been experiencing wasn’t one-sided. Not that it mattered, I wasn’t going to change my mind about getting involved with him. I’d been down that path before, gotten close to Graham, and he’d ended up dead, killed during one of our missions.
His death had nearly destroyed me, and I’d vowed I’d never let another male get that close to me again. “No, I’m good.” Unwilling to touch his tail again, I let my gaze drift downward, signaling him to remove it from my legs.
With a disappointed sigh, he dropped his tail to the floor. “If you should decide otherwise…” The rest of his insinuation remained unsaid. He studied me for several more uncomfortable seconds, then asked, “Have you completed your maintenance already?”
I was thankful for the subject change. “No, I need to undo the connectors first.” He’d also been semi-assisting me with repairs, knew that I always disconnected the power supply before starting any work. I didn’t want him questioning me about the reason I hadn’t done it before getting underneath the harvester. I pointed at the tools spread out on the bench behind him. “Would you mind handing me that screwdriver?”
Luckily, I was one of the few people Josh entrusted to use the handful of tools he’d salvaged from the crash.
“It is the one with the red handle, correct?”
Zaedon might hide his intelligence behind a charming smile, but he’d been paying attention to everything I did during the few weeks he’d spent shadowing me. I hid my grin. “Yes, that’s the one.” I removed the side panel covering the main controls.
He stood behind me and leaned closer, his taller, broader frame a comfortable fit, not a suffocating invasion of my personal boundaries.
“This connection looks different from the ones on the other vehicles.” His breath gently caressed my neck, his body warming my back and distracting me further.
I forced my attention back to the unit, noting the slight change in the configuration. “I wonder if Josh made another modification without telling me.”
“It will still need to be disconnected for you to work on the solars, correct?” Zaedon asked.
“Yes, but I need…” I reacted too slowly to stop him from touching the connector with the screwdriver’s tip.
I saw the spark, knew the current had jumped between the two metals. With a grunt, Zaedon dropped the tool and stepped backward. His foot caught the edge of the roller, the wheels spun, the board moved forward, and he lost his footing. The flailing aerial display he made might have been humorous if he hadn’t hit the ground hard, then lain there with his eyes closed, unmoving.
My heart lurched, and I rushed to his side, gripping his cheeks as I knelt over him. “Zaedon, please tell me you’re okay?”
His body was so still, I couldn’t tell if he was breathing. Ketaurrans resembled humans in many ways, but I had no idea how to test one for a pulse. Fortunately, I’d learned CPR before I left Earth. I hadn’t used the skill in a long time, but remembered the basics. As soon as I reached the part where I placed my mouth over his, Zaedon’s strong arms wrapped around my waist. My attempt at saving his life turned into a breath-stealing kiss, which ended with me sprawled on top of him and my arms braced on either side of his head.
He grinned, his turquoise eyes sparkling with amusement. “Were you worried about me, Cara?”
I was relieved and irritated at the same time. “Of all the arrogant… You’re not hurt, are you?” I smacked his chest, then tried to roll away and ended up on my back with him straddling me. I’d learned plenty of combat maneuvers from Burke’s guys and could have easily removed Zaedon, but chose to see what he planned to do next.
“Vryndarr do not wound easily.” He smirked.
“So why did you let me think you were… And why did you kiss me?”
He leaned closer, his cheek close to mine, then inhaled a deep breath. “I assumed it was your wish since you placed your mouth on mine.”
“I was giving you mouth-to-mouth.”
“Exactly, which is why I complied.”
I smacked his shoulder. “No, you don’t understand. Mouth-to-mouth is what humans do to help someone who has stopped breathing.”
“My breathing is fine, but if you think I require more assistance”—Zaedon lowered his mouth closer to mine—“I would be happy to oblige you.”
Thinking about the kiss we’d just shared, and the possibility of doing it again, had my body heating all over. The temptation was interrupted by the sound of a creak as someone opened the wooden door on the opposite side of the building.
“Derrick, I’m pretty sure Cara’s in here somewhere. She told me she planned to spend the day working on the harvester.”
The jolt of embarrassment I got from hearing my grandmother’s voice, then realizing she wasn’t alone, was enough to chill the moment and make me squirm.
Ellie had been after me for quite some time to move on and find another male. She’d be thrilled to find Zaedon and me tangled together on the floor. Somehow, the irritating male had charmed her to the point of adoration. She went out of her way to make Zaedon feel welcome and had insisted he use one of the spare rooms in our house instead of staying in the visitor building.
Derrick was another matter. His resentment toward the ketaurrans had gotten worse during the war, and he didn’t have a problem sharing his negative views with anyone who’d listen. He’d been Graham’s friend, and though he’d never given me a reason to personally dislike him, there was something about him that triggered my distrust.
Not long after Graham’s death, he’d started hanging around more often, showing more than a friendly interest. An interest I discouraged, almost to the point of avoiding him. After the few times I’d noticed him giving Zaedon disapproving glares when he thought I wasn’t looking, I figured it was best not to give Derrick a reason to go after him.
I pushed against Zaedon’s chest. “You need to get off.”
He didn’t budge. “But why?” He feigned ignorance with a quirk of his brow, but his tone held a note of mischief. In all the time he’d been here, I’d never seen Zaedon act disrespectful or unpleasant to anyone living in the community. Only someone who’d been paying close attention, like me, would have noticed that the animosity between Derrick and Zaedon was mutual.
I grabbed the tip of his tail, and instead of playfully shaking it, I squeezed hard.
Zaedon snarled and rolled to the side, pulling his tail out of my reach. “You do not play fair.” He held out his hand, helping me to my feet seconds before Derrick and Ellie appeared around the corner of the harvester.
“Everything okay out here?” Ellie noticed Zaedon holding my hand and smiled.
I slipped my hand from his and moved to lean against the bench. “Everything is fine. Why?” My grandparents weren’t what anyone would call typical and had never been big on following social standards, even when we lived on Earth. They believed they were a lot younger than they were and insisted I call them by their first names.
Ellie answered by running her hand along the side of my head and smoothing some of my short wild curls. Curls I’d inherited from her side of the fami
ly. Only her long brown strands were a few shades lighter, sprinkled with silver, and were kept pulled back in a tie during the day while she worked. “I still don’t understand why you cut your hair. It was so beautiful when it was long.”
My grandmother knew I worked with Burke but assumed all I did was acquire supplies. She spent enough time worrying about me and didn’t need to know how dangerous my job could be, or that I’d cut my hair to look like a boy so I could infiltrate a mercenary’s compound.
I hated the shorter length. It was hard to manage, and I couldn’t wait for it to get longer. “Thought I’d try something different.” I shrugged, glancing at the container she was carrying. “What’s in there?”
“I had some pyteinna left over and thought you might like them.” Ellie walked over to Zaedon and handed him the container she’d been carrying.
Zaedon inclined his head. “Thank you. That was very thoughtful.”
Ellie’s cheeks flushed at the compliment. I rolled my eyes, doubtful that the flat cakes Zaedon clutched like a coveted prize to his chest were left over since I’d heard him munching on one not too long ago. Ellie wouldn’t admit it, but she’d probably made a new batch especially for him.
Derrick must have come to the same conclusion, because his forced smile turned into a sneer. When he opened his mouth to say what I was sure would be a snide comment, I cut him off. “Derrick, did you need something?”
***
Zaedon
Kissing Cara had been even more intoxicating than I had imagined. Even now, my lips tingled with the aftereffects. Had we not been interrupted, I was certain I could have coaxed her into another taste of her soft, full lips. If she had not insisted I help her off the floor, I would have remained where we were so that Derrick, the human male who’d accompanied Ellie, could see us. Maybe then he’d lose interest in Cara and stop interfering with my plans to win her over, to finally tell her she was my ketiorra.