Defender (New World Book 7) (9 page)

Macey wrapped the blanket tighter to her shoulders as she woke; her actions groggy and her thoughts in a fog. She was cold but she was dry and clothed. The creature was scary and male; she felt a sense of relief she hadn’t been touched. She forced herself into a sitting position. The cot was sturdy and high and her legs dangled over the edge. Gazing out the window she saw the stars amidst the blackness. She was in a shuttle in space with a beast. She was as good as dead. Or worse. If the beast had a cage, it wanted a pet. Movement caught her attention. Macey scooted back as Taz approached. He held a glass filled with a clear liquid.

“It’s water, human female.” He paused. “There is no poison in this drink.”

“I want to go home.”

He was as big as she remembered, and it was light in the shuttle. His massive chest was broad and bare. His short light hair was spiked. His eyes were a dark brown. The grey tight-fitting pants showed off every muscle of his tree trunk thighs and massive cock at rest. He was the most handsome male Macey had ever seen—yet she knew what it was underneath. Looks were deceiving. The beast he became was terrifying when he changed. It was the beast within that caused her to tremble. So much had happened over a short period of time. Macey braved the weather and the turbulent emotions because she had hope of survival. Now hope had been physically snatched away as had she.

“Not yet. The shuttle isn’t equipped with a shower. My shield keeps me clean when necessary. You wear my scent; I need to get it off. I suppose this is no consolation, but I can’t go home either.”

“You look human, but I know what you are. If you’re from a different planet why do I understand you?”

Taz placed the glass on the floor when she refused to take it.

“Earth got language from somewhere, so did my planet. Would it surprise you to know Spanish is spoken on three planets I know of? In different universes English as you call it thrives under a different name. It’s not called English. Earthlings are presumptuous. Earthlings don’t hold a monopoly on language, human female. Just because you give the language a name doesn’t make it yours.”

“If you won’t take me home, and you can’t go home, where are you taking me?”

“A planet in its infancy. You can breathe the air. Only plant life exists. I must get rid of your scent.”

“Then will you take me home?”

“As long as I can remove my scent from you.”

“If you can’t?”

“You better hope we can, human female.”

Ominous. Macey knew he meant death. “My name is Macey.”

“I don’t care.”

“Human female is redundant.”

“So is your simple tactic of having the jailor understand the victim is a someone. Giving you a name, I acknowledge your right to life. I’m a warrior, little one. I eat tactical maneuvers for breakfast.”

“I’m not a warrior and I need something solid for breakfast; I never had dinner. Or do you plan on starving me, Taz?”

Taz growled and dropped beside her, he gripped her shirt pulling her inches from his face. “You have no idea how close to death you are, female.”

His tone was fierce, his look dangerous, yet his flesh touched hers and Macey filled with confusion. She settled and breathed easier. The warmth of his skin was soothing. How could he say one thing and make her feel calmer with a touch? His features softened the longer he held her gaze. The backs of his fingers grazed her bare skin and his hand shook. Her heart beat calmed. She should be terrified, but she wasn’t.

“Are you filled with a drug?” she asked in a soft whisper. “Is that why I’m calm? I should be terrified of you, but I’m not anymore.”

Taz released her and she fell back. “
I’m a fucking war machine,”
he bellowed and jumped up.

Something told Macey the outburst wasn’t intended for her. He talked to himself as though he was waiting a response. Maybe Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde knew of each other. He strode to a panel on the wall and spoke into it. A door slid open and Macey could smell food. Her tummy rumbled.

Growling, Taz set the plate of food on the end of the bed. “Eat it or don’t. If you starve yourself to death, my problem is solved.”

“You promise if you get your scent off me I can go home?”

“Yes.”

Macey picked up the plate and put it in her lap. She gazed at the fare with curiosity. The dark thin slices of meat steamed, and were hot; the strange looking fruit was cold to the touch. Bright colored pieces of what looked to be vegetables were a different temperature. Everything came out of the odd panel at the same time.

“Why don’t you have nipples?” Macey asked.

“Will you fucking stop with the nipples, human? Not all beings look alike. Why would an alien look like another alien? Even humans are different colors, with different colored eyes and different shapes and sizes and birthmarks. Why don’t you have claws and talons like me, human female? Why can’t your males shield?”

“I guess because I don’t, and they can’t.”

“
There,
see?”

Touchy.

Macey studied the plate of food. Her first taste was tentative. A tiny nibble. Her mouth exploded with flavor. The food was good, it was amazing. The meat was different, aromatic, filling and light, juicy and slightly sweet. The fruit was the sweetest she’d ever tasted and ten times better because Earth was finding it difficult to get grocery trucks in from across the countries. Vegetables were cooked to perfection. The water was cool and refreshing and cleaner than anything she was used to. Taz took her plate and glass when she finished and put them back into the strange compartment.

Taz went and stood at a console at the front of the shuttle. She figured it was where he controlled the shuttle. Out the window in front of him was endless space. Macey crept up behind him. He was so big, so broad. She felt insignificant. She stood quietly watching while his hands called up images, planets, places. There was an image of a small planet covered in overgrown foliage he settled on.

“Yes, that’s where we’re headed, female,” Taz startled her by saying.

“I didn’t think you noticed me.”

“In case you get any more ideas about cracking me over the head, my shield can sense you. Since you carry my scent, I can track you across universes. No running from me.”

“I don’t want to be killed on a strange planet,” Macey said. “If you decide to kill me please don’t be cruel about it and please take me home where my aunt can find my body and have peace.”

“You ask a great deal for a prisoner.”

“A final request. Do warriors give final requests?”

“Some.”

“Will you?”

Taz turned. For a second, he lifted his hands as though he would touch her; his fingers stilled inches from her shoulders.

“If I can’t remove my scent you will die on this planet. I will be swift. I’ll take no pleasure in killing a being that wears my scent, especially a female. If at all possible, I’ll return your body to where I found it. Killing you would probably be a bigger favor than returning you alive.”

“Are your kind collecting women to kill?”

“No.”

“Then why would my scent on you bother anyone?”

“It’s more than that and complicated. I think my shield has claimed you.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t understand either. There haven’t been females on my planet in hundreds of years. They died. I’ve spent a week surrounded by creatures I never knew existed. I wish humans didn’t exist. I wish females didn’t exist. What my shield does it does from memory, not even
my
memory. I’m confused. If I can’t get rid of you one way it will have to be another. If you’re dead, my shield will no longer pursue any scent of you.”

“What if your shield won’t let you get rid of my scent?”

“It will, it must. I need to go home. It’s time I was with my own kind. I can’t be shunned again.
I won’t
.” He turned back to the console.

Macey was feeling confused. She should be more afraid than she was. Images of her aunt, Skylar and Haven popped into her thoughts. They must be so worried. Macey needed to go back to them. There had to be a gentle side to Taz if he hadn’t simply killed her and was opting for a different solution. If he could see her as a living being and not an alien it would help. His back was ram rod straight. Macey lifted her hand to touch his skin. He was scary and an alien, but in her heart Macey was too kind of a person to ignore instinct to aid. He sounded tortured when he spoke to her. She wondered if it was true all females on his planet were dead. Earth would be a culture shock.

Taz howled when flesh met flesh. His skin seared her, weakening her knees. Taz spun and grabbed her shoulders. His mouth closed over hers in a hungry kiss. Macey knew she should pull away. He was huge and powerful and confused. She wanted to push him away and placed her palms on his bare chest. Her skin tingled, becoming damp with his sweat. She moved into his arms feeling his pull. Taz broke the kiss and glared into her eyes.

“I will leave you on that planet alone to die, damn you,” he raged.

Macey didn’t understand. She wasn’t doing anything. He was the one drugging her into acceptance. He was going to leave her alone, away from everyone and everything? She would die of loneliness. How could she have thought he was capable of compassion? It must be his drug fooling her. A sense of betrayal washed over her. He kissed her, then threatened her. Why? Her chin quivered. She wanted to hit him; she wanted to hate him. Instead, she buried her face against his bare broad chest. She couldn’t stop the lone tear from spilling from her eye.

What’s happening to me?

Taz shuddered. “You will kill me.”

Macey thought his words odd. He was the one threatening death. Soft warm large hands rubbed her back, pressing her closer. His solid chest cradled her.

“What’s wrong with us?” she asked. “Why do you keep drugging me? I hate to cry. It’s been years since I cried and I feel the tug of tears when I’m sad or hurt and this close to you. I don’t understand. You need to stop. Please.”

“I was right; my shield
has
claimed you. I don’t know how, I don’t know why. My shield connects to secretions; you’re right about that. My shield can better understand your emotions by pulling them from you in liquid form to draw your needs into my body. It’s your secretions drugging me. This can’t happen. Damn you, Macey. You’ve killed us both.”

“You brought me here. This isn’t my fault. When we land, find me a place that’s safe and leave. But come back. Don’t leave me there forever.”

“I can’t go anywhere until you don’t wear my scent and I don’t wear yours. The shuttle reeks of us.”

“I don’t understand. I don’t smell anything.”

“You wouldn’t, you’re female. Scent is everything to my people. I need to get rid of you before it’s too late.”

Macey remained pressed against him. She clung tighter. “Then kill me. Don’t do this to me and then leave. End this now before it—we—get worse.”

“I—
can’t.”

* * * *

Her skin was alight with sadness and betrayal, seeping her emotions through her into him; he couldn’t tune her out. Taz knew the emotions well, and anger surged through him. He had always hated Krish but the seething hate was intensifying. Tonans like Krish killed his parents. Realization washed over him. This was why females were killed, and it certainly wasn’t because they were useless. They were dangerous.

Krish’s kind’s side was dwindling in numbers because Taz’s kind could reproduce; Taz could feel compassion, Krish never would. Taz’s type of Tonan was gaining on Krish’s kind hundreds of years ago with the new birth of female Tonans—not Krish’s females. Taz’s kind. By killing his mother, Krish’s kind killed his father. So many years had passed, it was no wonder Krish didn’t want him near his own kind; he had so many questions. Would mating mean going against other Tonans? Or just Krish’s type of Tonan? Taz thought he already had the answer. His kind would be the ones to die out if they stopped breeding.

If and when Cobra found out what Krish was doing, he would war with all his heart. If Cobra escaped, he would gather his warriors and a full blown assault would occur. Was Cobra capable? Taz shuddered with dread. Cobra was capable. He would move planets for his warriors. When the females died, many young Castians were alone without parents, unprotected, as was the Tonan plan to kill them. Cobra became father to them all. Only the loss of so many older warriors was Cobra’s undoing in the end. If, and when, Cobra came to Earth he would take Macey, uncaring she wore Taz’s scent. Castians loathed Tonans. A Castian warrior wouldn’t care if Macey wore a Tonan scent. Another Castian warrior would take Macey and fill her with his own scent.

Macey was quiet in his arms. She was wrong, he wasn’t drugging her. His secretions
needed
to calm her. The feeling was literally in his blood, as old as time. She was a prospective mate. There was no malice, no underlying evil deed. Her being calm settled his thoughts and his emotions. Taz knew each time he touched her she would become further receptive. Each touch brought Taz closer to must. If he mated her, he could never go home.

It stopped being home when my parents died.

Taz lowered his head and buried his face into her hair. How could he mate her? He was cruel, he had killed. He couldn’t change what he was. Taz barred his fangs and slipped them into her tender flesh. She slumped in his arms. Lifting her to his chest, Taz could feel the sensation of his shield battling in his thoughts. The last piece of his shield came from his father. His father loved his mother. The pull was strong. He needed to get Macey to the other planet and leave.

Instead of placing her on the cot, Taz sat with her in his lap. He pressed her cheek to his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair. Her secretions mingled with his. From a touch, Taz could tell she was strong and brave. A warrior didn’t need a family. If he mated her, Krish would kill her, and that would mean Taz’s death. Mating involved mixing, she would become half of him while remaining a separate whole. Taz couldn’t live if he only had half of himself.

The shuttle rocked and Taz gripped her harder. They were entering the wormhole that would take them to the planet. Taz was able to map out a quicker route. He wondered if he was too late. The urge to run was growing weaker. If Taz went home Krish would scent Macey on him. He would track her down and kill her. Or worse, torment her by giving her to a Castian prisoner in must.