A Civilized Mating (9 page)

Dreams that didn’t revolve around stubborn barbarians.

She left the grotto and sought out Xav. “Hey, beta.”

He turned with a smile. Too handsome for words. His body glistened with sweat as he left the training ring. “Yes,
tonan
?”

He still hadn’t told her what that meant, but since she’d heard a few other guys call their females that, she figured it to be a term of endearment. That or the clan referred to each other as “asshole” in dulcet tones.

“I need to get back.”

His smile faded. “Get back where?”

“To Welcome. I need to tell them Lisa won’t be returning.”

“Zhen and Lore can go.”

“No. I need to let Lisa’s friend Mandy know in person. She’ll be able to handle things. I don’t want Lisa’s family to worry. And with her pregnant and the Nasuhl making trouble, she needs to stay here.”

“On that I agree.” He paused, took her by the chin and tilted her face to better look into her eyes. “You are coming back?”

“I don’t know. Sex with you is great.”
Phenomenal, and I want more, stat.
“But I have a life to lead. I’ve been doing nothing here for days. Now that I know Lisa is fine, I should get back to reality.”

“This can be your reality if you let it,” he said in a low voice. “Talzec is unsure of you, so he’s acting like an ass.”

“He can act however he wants. I barely know him. Hell, I barely know you, except in the sack. Xav, we come from different worlds. I can’t live my life for great sex.”

“I know many things about you, Skye. And you know many things about me.”

Well, they had talked, and she did know a lot of his likes and dislikes. He loved the evening but hated waking up in the morning. He favored
blesta
over
flehik
, liked berries for their sweet taste, and had claimed he’d lay his life down for her without question. She felt him inside her at the oddest times and kept telling herself the sensation had to be fanciful thinking. It was one thing to sense his feelings when they were intimate, quite another to know about him no matter where he was.

Of Talzec she sensed little, just bursts of desire and confusion that mirrored her own.

“What do you know of me, Skye?” Xav asked, stroking her chin.

“Well, you’re a warm blanket in the evening.”

“See? I fit you.” He gave her a kiss. “I would never imprison you in a place you wanted to leave. Zhen and Lore can accompany you to the resort to alert your friend. You, of course, are always free to go.” He pulled her in for a hug and about broke her heart when he added, “But if you leave, I will never be the same. I don’t need more time to know I love you. I won’t demand you return, but if you would, I will claim you as my own.”

“And Talzec?” she had to ask. “What about him?”

“He and I need to have a long talk. It’s way past time he faced old hurts.”

“Don’t do it on my account.”
Yeah, knock that bastard around, force him to realize how great we could all be together.
Skye had a hard time believing it, but she trusted that inner sense of hers. Ussed had helped her psychic skills to grow, and she knew without a doubt Talzec completed her. Completed
them
, she corrected as she looked into Xav’s golden eyes.

“I will do it for us all,” Xav declared.

“Right. Um, well, before I go, what’s with the moving tattoos?” She pointed to his chest, now streaked with bright blue markings. Every time she asked him about them, he changed the subject, and she was dying to know.

He winked. “I’ll tell you when you come back.”

“No pressure or anything.” She snorted.

“Of course not. You can only follow the instinct. That love buried deep inside. I would ask nothing more from you.”

She felt weepy, which was stupid. Heading back to Welcome, away from this la-la land of sexy men and friendly women, made sense. She’d see how she felt about the idea of sticking around after some time away from Xav. Her barbarian.

She sniffed and wiped an eye. “Sorry. Allergies.”

“Uh-huh.” He took a stray tear to his lips and smiled. “I will wait for you,
tonan
.” He walked away.

Skye forced herself to say goodbye to Lisa and wished her well.

“Come back. I’ll miss you.” Lisa started bawling.

Maht sighed and hugged his mate. “Yes, come back. Our females wish to watch you fight some more.”

She smiled. Some of the barbarian females had been intrigued at the idea of a woman warrior. Who knew? Maybe sticking around the Vyctore clan would be good for them all.

And there she went again, making excuses so she could stay when she really needed distance to figure out her life.

Later, when she started to leave camp with Zhen and Lore, she felt a burning heat in the center of her back.

She turned and saw Talzec staring at her. She frowned back at him. “Good riddance.” Then she walked away, determined not to like him.

It took a lot of effort to pretend she hadn’t seen Talzec do any number of admirable things over the last few days. He offered comfort to a little girl who’d fallen off a horse-like creature. She’d seen him instruct his men at offensive skills, displaying a patience she wouldn’t have credited him from their own interactions. She’d heard him mediate between rivals fighting over a female’s affection, using common sense and factoring in the woman’s opinion in making his decision. What a bummer that such an amazing man and leader, and one hell of a lover, seemed to dislike her.

“Story of my life,” she muttered and walked faster.

“What’s that?” Lore asked.

“Nothing.” She sighed. Nothing at all.

***

Talzec was in no mood to deal with Xaveht. Watching his—
the
—female leave camp bothered him deep inside, and he had no idea how to handle his uncertainty. On the one hand, she was a distraction. He wanted her gone, that way he’d stop training until he reached exhaustion so as not to think about her. Then he’d stop spying on her and watching her fit in all too well with his clan.

The women loved her uniqueness. The men coveted her beauty and wild energy. The children thought her perfect. Xav, that bastard, continued to sing her praises. Hell, Skye even liked watching him and Xav in bed together. He had to admit having her eyes on him while he dominated his beta made his orgasms even better.

They shared energy despite him not wanting to. She was his mate. He knew it. Xav knew it. Yet he couldn’t get past the guilt that he was betraying Nalla in some way by accepting a new woman into his life.

“You.” Xav glared at him, noticed a few warriors lingering in the training ring, and stiffened. “Alpha, I need a word when you have the time.”

“Fine.” Talzec motioned for Xav to follow him to the grotto. Once there, he faced his mate and sighed. “Go ahead.”

“She’s our mate.
Our mate
. Not just yours to disregard. I love her. You do too, if you’d look past your worries about Nalla.”

“Watch your tone.”

But Xav wouldn’t be swayed. “Your argument that you barely know her would hold more sway…if you hadn’t already mated her. You giant ass.”

Talzec shoved Xav back. “Enough.”

“No. She left and might not come back.”

“I saw.” And the idea of her leaving bothered the hell out of him.

“I intend to formally claim her when she returns.”

“
When?
More like
if
she returns. You said she was leaving.”

“She’ll be back. She loves us.”

Talzec’s heart raced. “Us? She hates me.”

“She’s confused. You’d know how she really feels if you’d just open up inside. She balances you. She’s perfect, the counterpoint to your stubbornness. I feel her inside me all the time. We’re mated, just as you mated us both the other day. It only takes once for the energies to properly align. Why can’t you admit how you feel?”

“She’s an offworlder.”

“The same excuse she used to leave, that we barely know each other. But we
do
know each other. The knowing is there, inside you. She’s our magic, our mate. A gift from the Maker, if only you’ll accept her.”

Talzec sighed. “I don’t know how. Xav, I can’t make another mistake. Nalla crushed me. But you and Skye make me feel again. Really feel. I need time to figure out what this means.”

“We both know, but you’re too stubborn to admit it. Fine. Bring her back and convince her to stay, so that we have time to work her into our lives. I want her, you want her. But more, we
need
her. She’s more than amazing sex.” Xav paused. “I know you’ve felt us when we’re together. But do you look deeper? Can you feel her inside you?”

“Yes, damn it. I can.” Talzec clenched his fists by his side. “Okay. She can come back. But when you get her, she—”

“No.
You
have to bring her back. Not me or Zhen or Lore. You. She needs to know you’re not rejecting her. You only rejected
your feelings
for her.”

“Xav, stop.”

“Talzec, enough. Go after her. Maybe when she’s back, you’ll find that you’re not as compatible as you thought.”

“That’s a lie. She fits me perfectly.”

Xav smirked. Then his smile faded, and he shook his head. Talzec felt uneasy as well. Something was wrong.

“It’s her. Skye.” Talzec
knew
, and Xav nodded. “She’s not okay.” Talzec paused, sensing her danger as if she stood next to him. Then he caught a psychic scent that chilled him to his bones. “The Nasuhl have her.”

***

Daveen stared at the unconscious female, in awe that she’d taken out two of his men while her guards had done the same. He’d lost six men but in the end had wounded if not killed Vyctore warriors and stolen the woman Talzec had claimed as his own. The woman clearly wore his mark, and Daveen couldn’t have been more pleased.

He himself carried her to the Vyctore outpost, to that same spot she’d first encountered his men. There, on enemy soil, he’d take her and share his second seed. A fitting spot to begin anew. Now he just had to wait for Talzec to arrive, so his enemy could watch Daveen fuck the fight out of the female. Such a fitting revenge on the bastard who’d upended Daveen’s whole world.

“I’ll avenge you, Nalla.” He had to wipe his eyes, almost feeling his dead sister-mate encouraging him. He squeezed the offworlder tighter, running his hand over her flank. She dangled over his shoulder, unmoving.

His men circled him, a good dozen warriors keen to watch their leader defeat the hated Vyctore clan leader.

“You left the message with one of them still living?” he asked Morlo.

Morlo nodded. “It went against my better judgment to leave him alive, but he’ll send Talzec when the fuckhead arrives—alone.” Or Daveen would slaughter the female, a threat he intended to carry out should it come to that.

“Perfect.” Daveen smiled. “This is a new day for us, my friend. A brand new life that will soon be free of our enemy.”

When Skye woke, she found herself lying on a pallet that reminded her of Xav’s. A glance around showed darkness had descended, only the faint light of the moons helping her to see. The last thing she remembered, she’d been on the trail to Welcome when she’d sensed others nearby. Zhen had knocked her out of the way of an arrow and taken it in his shoulder. Lore had been battling barbarians in a silent fight that scared the crap out of her. She’d helped, then…nothing.

Had to be the Nasuhl, unless the Vyctore were warring with someone else she didn’t know about. Or did they have barbarian gangs who preyed on travelers? Her head throbbed, and she drew in a deep, even breath and let it out, calming herself. No time to freak out when the guys needed her.

She cautiously sat up, then stood. And stilled. 

An unfamiliar energy, a strong one, waited nearby. She gathered her power, absorbing an unwholesome taint from the adversary watching her. An enemy. No, not
her
enemy. Talzec’s. A sweltering buzz, then in her mind’s eye she watched a replay of an old battle. Seeing Talzec’s mastery of bare-fisted fighting floored her. As did the fact his challenge loser now faced her with a score to settle.

Shit.

“Ah, so perceptive.” The deep voice sounded oily, covered in malice.

“Who are you?”

“I am Daveen, your new master. And soon, the father of your sons and daughters. Have no fear. I will not be too
hard
on you.” He chuckled. “Until we have a proper audience, I will not take you.”

“You mean rape me.”

His dark form stepped from the shadows he’d been hiding in, and she saw him shrug. “Your perception matters little.”

“Is that what Nalla said?” Not the smartest thing she could have mentioned, especially when his eyes narrowed and his massive muscles bunched.

Like Talzec, this man had a freakishly large build. Power radiated from him, but it wasn’t a clear strength, rather a murky sense of victory and repulsion mixed together. He had stringy black hair, blood-red tattoo work on his chest and face—a series of parallel lines under his left eye to his jawline, and flat eyes. Like a handsome evil villain, with a serial-rapist vibe.

“My sister was a wholesome female. You are not to speak her name.”

“Why the hell would you kill your own sister?” From his deviant sexual energy, she could too easily imagine what Daveen might have done to the poor girl.

“She was my love. My own. Talzec stole her from me, made her question what was right.” His eyes glowed, and he leaned closer, dragging her to him with one hand engulfing her shoulder. “I will have my revenge, and you will feel the love she might have had.”

“Love? You can’t force love.”

He brought her so close, she felt sparks of his energy zapping her. The contact
hurt
. Not just weird, but bad weird. “Love is what I say it is. And you,
nueshka
, will know a love as fierce as the pain which drives Talzec mad.”

He mashed his lips to hers, and the sadistic kiss made her want to vomit. She bit his lip, and he jerked back. Then she spit his blood in his face and wrenched out of his hold, moving as far away as the walls of the hut would allow.