Fantasy Warrior (7 page)

Thoren crept closer and chose a seat in the same row next to the aisle. Kord noticed the male take a scenting breath. Protective anger surged within him at the idea of another warrior taking in his mate’s scent. The four empty seats that separated them helped to settle Kord’s anxiety, but he couldn’t contain the warning growl that escaped him.

His partner winced and shot him a guilty look. “Instinct,” Thoren offered as an apology.

“Don’t repeat it,” Kord warned. All unmated warriors displayed the same reaction to an unknown female. They simply couldn’t help themselves.

“Understood.”

Deshak sidled down the far side of the aisle and slipped a small container to Thoren before scurrying back to the safety of the forward section. The Tauran males entering the shuttle shot wary looks his way before taking their seats. No one tried to speak to him. A good thing since Kord was in no mood to hear any of their vulgar comments or derogatory jokes. Verbal taunts between spacers, soldiers and warriors were usually the norm at the end of most missions.

Thoren cleared his throat to gain Kord’s attention before speaking quietly. “We’re leaving the harbor. Soon we’ll submerge and travel well beneath the surface to avoid detection by the Krell sensors. Once we’re far away from shore, it’ll be safe to leave the planet and start our journey to the
Defiance
.”

He held up the object Deshak had passed him. Kord recognized it—tranq dust. Kord shook his head, uncertain about the safety of using it on his female. “She’s quiet now.” She rested against him, no longer sobbing, but her tears still splashed on his chest at regular intervals.

“Think, Kord. You know the reasons. She’s upset, and will probably struggle when I attempt to place the translator. You don’t want her hearing damaged, do you?”

Kord suppressed a growl as he shook his head.

Thoren leaned closer and held out the drug dispenser. “Do you want to do this part?”

“No. I’ll turn her toward you and hold her.”

At Thoren’s nod, he cupped her chin in his palm and tilted her face upward. She tensed, but Kord pressed his lips to hers before she could react. The beginnings of a scream turned into a soft gasp as her mouth opened to accept his tongue. Unable to help himself, he deepened the kiss for several blissful seconds, enjoying the delectable taste of his mate as her fear gave way to passion. She trembled in response. Not letting up, he stroked a hand through her hair, grabbing just enough to gently turn her head to the side so she’d face Thoren. He begged the gods of his ancestors to make her forgive him for what he had to do next.

With a quick jerk, he slanted his mouth away from hers and held his breath while Thoren shoved the atomizer in front of her face. He pressed the top button on the small container, and a wispy cloud of medication particles spayed out. As expected, she gasped, taking a deep breath. Her expression changed in the next instant. The look of desire turned to shock, then she leveled accusing looks at him and Thoren. Her eyelids fluttered briefly before closing and she relaxed, becoming a dead weight in his embrace.

“Expose the area behind her left ear and hold her head still,” Thoren ordered, wasting no time.

Although he knew exactly what was required, Kord followed his partner’s instructions without complaint. He hoped his mate would forgive him for sedating her. Without being able to explain about the translator or the procedure, she would have resisted and risked injury. He couldn’t allow her to be harmed.

Thoren placed the glowing tip of the implanter against her skin directly over the mastoid bone behind her ear. He triggered the activation switch. After a very brief moment, the light turned off. Thoren removed the device and then quickly backed away. His partner gave him a swift grin before standing and hurrying forward to join the other males. It was done. Kord relaxed his hold. She’d regain consciousness after a few minutes, although the drug would keep her calm for the rest of the flight to the ship.

If he could just stay in control and not let the primal urges overcome him before reaching the ship, maybe Morshant and Thoren would be able to help him. A quick glance toward the front of the cabin let him know the two Tauran males spoke in hushed tones, plotting something. He hoped for a solution. He had maybe an hour at the most to convince her to trust him again before they arrived. He had no idea how many hours remained before he’d claim her as his mate.

The shuttle might be slightly crowded with males, but the
Defiance
would be different. Tauran males would be everywhere. Females weren’t allowed on Tauran battleships. Kord would require private quarters with his mate. Such berthing was rare to nonexistent. At the moment, he shared a room with three of his fellow warriors, four large bunks and one cleansing unit, a typical arrangement. It wouldn’t work for him now. Just the thought of her being so close to other unmated males threatened to send him over the limit and into a protective rage.

Instead of dwelling on what might happen, Kord focused his entire attention on the female resting comfortably in his arms. He was grateful to Thoren for providing a covering for her. The white garment hid most of her painted body. Kord slid his gaze up and down her lovely form. The fact she’d seemed uncomfortable about her nudity when she caught him admiring her breasts pleased him to no end. Her naked body was meant for his eyes alone, no one else’s.

She was tall, taller than any Tauran female he’d ever seen, and lithely built. He had no doubt their bodies would fit perfectly together. Kord groaned softly, impatient for a swift end to his latent time. In a way, he considered himself lucky. How did his mated brothers survive three days of impotency in the time before the Phase or the suppressor drug? The wait was pure torment. All he could think about was pleasuring her, night and day, for the rest of his life. However, his cock remained limp, unresponsive to his desires.

He felt like an unbladed male once again. Except Kord knew what it felt like to take pleasure in a female, to bring her to orgasm over and over before giving in to his own desire to climax. Ever since he’d left the citadel on Pella after his training, he’d never been with another Tauran female, but he’d had sex with more than his fair share of females. All were alien, and most of them worked on the pleasure planets scattered along the Tauran/Free Space border near the Alliance Territory.

In battle, warriors fought hard, most often to the death. If they were severely injured, a short time spent on one of the pleasure planets helped them recover. The sexual distraction kept them from returning to the Border War before their injuries were healed.

Their bodies were enhanced in many ways. Not only were they larger than the Tauran males, they healed in a matter of days, usually no more than two weeks unless they sustained a near-fatal injury. Kord had suffered many wounds during the war, but not one single scar marred his skin. He wondered if his mate would like that or if she was like some of the females he’d met from other species. Many of them preferred males who sported battle scars, as proof of their masculine prowess. Would she think him unworthy?

Kord’s moment of self-doubt stunned him. He’d never experienced such a feeling. Come to think of it, fear was unknown to him, until now. A new unwelcome sensation swelled within him…panic.

He stared at his female’s lovely face, focusing his attention on her delicate features. Her long hair tumbled over his arm and hung down against his thigh. A brown tendril trailed over her cheek, hiding half her face. He brushed it aside and frowned. A bruise marred the right side of her jaw where the Krell male had struck her. The area was slightly swollen. Angered by the sight, Kord let out a fierce growl.

At the front of the shuttle all talking stopped.

Silence reigned for several heartbeats. He heard one set of cautious heavy footsteps on the center walkway and knew Thoren approached. The warrior pulled up short the second Kord raised his head and glared at him.

“Calm, brother. Are you in control?”

“Yes,” Kord snapped, irritated further by his partner’s question. He looked down at his injured mate.

“Why are you angry?”

“The Krell struck her before I could kill him. She’s bruised.”

“Do you want the medic to treat—”

“I want the medic to jump out of the shuttle and take his tech junk with him.” Kord ripped the circular disk off his chest and threw it toward the front of the craft.

Thoren immediately relaxed and leaned against one of the seats. He chuckled. “Your control is truly amazing. You hit him.”

Kord snarled. “I was aiming for Morshant.”

“Hey! I’m trying to help you,” Morshant shouted back, sounding highly insulted.

Thoren lifted one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “We need to talk.” He pointed to a seat down the row from Kord’s position. “May I sit?”

At first, Kord wanted to refuse, but better judgment overruled his instincts. He gave his partner a stiff nod.

After he settled into the chair, Thoren glanced toward the front of the shuttle briefly before he spoke in a hushed voice.

“Morshant contacted the captain and explained what happened to you. He was reluctant to allow your female to come aboard, but we convinced him to let her stay with you as long as she remains in our quarters, isolated from the rest of the crew.”

Kord growled again. “Our quarters? Impossible. I’ll kill you and the other warriors.” At Thoren’s raised brows, he amended, “Or die trying.”

“No one needs to die. I volunteered to share the corridor outside our room with Draven and Flyn.”

Kord snorted in derision. “I’m sure they’ll be pleased with that arrangement.” His female shifted in his arms, temporarily drawing his focus away from his partner. She yawned sleepily and squirmed in his embrace, but her eyes remained closed. Consciousness was returning faster than he’d hoped.

Thoren chuckled. “It beats a slimy mud hole on some border world, sheltering from an Alliance bombardment. I’ll encourage them to be happy about volunteering to sleep in the hall with me.” He smacked the knuckles of one beefy hand against the palm of his other hand, regaining Kord’s full attention. “We need to stay nearby. The general won’t be as welcoming as the captain. He’ll want your head removed from your neck. Someone should stand guard at all times until you’re over the claiming lust. We’ll manage. It’s only for a day or so. Afterward, you won’t be a threat to the ship or the crew. You’ll be a mated warrior, calmer and freed from the rage. The general will have no grounds for ordering your execution.”

“And after? What will happen?”

Thoren shook his head and shrugged. “We’re still working on that. Maybe the ship’s engineer can section off a portion of our quarters to give you and your female privacy. No matter what, we must continue with our mission, especially now.”

Especially now?
Kord gave him a puzzled look.

“The Earth government won’t be able to hide what happened here tonight. Our presence made no difference one way or the other. The Krell were seen and filmed by many of the natives. Morshant believes the Alliance ambassadors will take advantage of this opportunity to push forward. It’s only a matter of time. As soon as Earth joins the Alliance, we can present our petition. Our brothers on Pella chose you, me, Draven and Flyn for this mission because they trust us to behave in a proper manner. We’re representatives for all the surviving Tauran warriors born during the Phase, royal blood or not.”

Kord groaned. “And I’ve let them down.”

“No. You’re proof of what we know to be true. The human females are our only hope. Without them, the empire will destroy us or banish us to some uninhabited planet where we’ll all eventually die, alone and forgotten.”

“We’ve been promised one of the continents on Pella.”

“True, but only if we have mates.”

Kord shuddered. In a matter of hours, he’d be the first male of his generation to claim a mate. They couldn’t colonize an entire continent all by themselves. Their mission had to succeed. If the females of Earth were as responsive to a warrior’s kiss as his mate, then his clan brothers would be saved from extermination. Surely there were females on the planet who were willing to brave the journey to Pella to find mates. He had to believe in the possibility. The reality rested quietly in his arms, so very fragile and so very much his.
Mine…never leave her…keep her safe.
The mantra repeated over and over in his mind, making rational thought near impossible.

“How does it feel?”

Thoren’s question derailed his train of thought. At first, Kord leveled an angered scowl at him, but he recognized the sincerity in his partner’s expression. The question wasn’t out of line. Phase-born warriors simply had no idea about what to expect once they found their mates. Kord was blindsided by the sensations running through his body and mind. He refocused his attention on his female while trying to think of an answer.

He shook his head. “There are no words to describe how it feels. I know she’s mine. There’s calmness within me. The beast inside is content as long as she’s safe. Right now, I don’t sense her fear or any threat so it’s easier to control the rage, but if she were in danger, I’d fight to the death to protect her.”
I’d kill my brothers
. He kept the revelation to himself.

“So the rumors are true? A mate can ease the struggle?”

Kord answered with a sharp grunt.

“Then I hope our mission is successful and over with soon. I’d like to experience the feeling,” Thoren muttered.

“I just want this shuttle ride to be over. My latent time is nearing an end. I can sense it.” He jerked, as if hit by an enemy blaster.

“Stay calm. I detect no claiming scent yet. If I did, you know I wouldn’t be sitting this close to you.” Thoren huffed out a confident chuckle. “We’ll arrive soon. Our brothers are waiting for us in the landing bay. They’re anxious to see you with your female. Try not to take their heads off if they stare too long. The three of us will escort you to our…your quarters. We’ll make sure no one interferes.”

Kord simply nodded and sucked in deep, calming breaths. The enticing aroma of his mate washed over him and swamped his senses. He’d maintain control…for her. He had no other option.