Hannah's Warrior: Cosmos' Gateway Book 2 (20 page)

Borj pulled back and looked into Hannah's
eyes intensely. "I too am sorry. I made a promise as well to never
cage you. It is difficult for me to not want to protect you. I have
much to learn." Borj replied heavily.

Hannah let her legs slip
down from Borj's waist as he looked fiercely over her shoulder. She
slipped her hand into his and turned to follow where he was
looking. A blush stole over her face when she realized how quiet
everyone was and how they were staring in awe at her and
Borj.

“
What’s their problem?” Hannah asked
under her breath.

Borj glanced down in amusement when he saw
how red Hannah’s face was. “They have never seen a female be so
responsive before.”

Hannah frowned as she looked at Nadu. “Nadu
seems affectionate.” Hannah said puzzled.

Borj shook his head. “She shows affection,
not passion. Prime females are not as passionate as your species.
They do not seem to care much for the physical side of a
relationship.” Borj said softly as he began walking toward Merrick
and Core.

Hannah frowned again. That was just plain
weird. Maybe it was because she grew up with two parents who
couldn’t keep their hands off each other. What about Tresa and
Teriff? They seem to like to be all over each other. Now that
Hannah thought about it, bits and pieces of different conversations
began to filter through her mind. She remembered Tink telling her
and their mom about the men’s reactions on the spaceship she was on
and how they were amazed at how she reacted to J’kar. She also
remembered Tresa asking her mom a ton of questions about how to
please a man and how he could please her. Maybe it wasn’t that they
didn’t like it so much as they were never really given a
chance.

Hannah jerked back to what was going on
around her when she heard Borj growl threateningly. He was looking
at the red marks around her wrist. He stopped suddenly and pulled
her around to face him and lifted her other wrist up to inspect it.
His eyes darkened and flames appeared as he raised first one wrist
then the other to his mouth running his tongue along the welts.

“
Oh god, that feels good.” Hannah
whispered huskily. “You can do that anytime you like.”

Borj paused and looked at Hannah’s
half-closed eyes. “I am trying to heal you. I promised if you had
one mark on you that I would kill Merrick. I warned him you
belonged to me. He will pay for harming you.” Borj growled out.

Hannah laughed softly. “They didn’t do this,
I did. Well, they tied my hands but that was only to protect
themselves. I was the one who worked them free. They didn’t tie
them tight at all. I think they were just afraid I would inflict
more damage.” Hannah leaned forward so she was sure Borj was the
only one to hear her. “Besides, if this is what happens when I get
wrist rash I’ll have to let you tie me up too.”

Borj inhaled sharply as he caught the vivid
picture in Hannah’s mind of her tied to their bed. He felt his cock
swell at the thought of her enjoying his restraining her. This was
what J’kar was talking about when he told them about having to
restrain Tink and her enjoying it. Borj felt his canines beginning
to extend and knew if he didn’t do something quickly he would take
Hannah right there.

“
You are dangerous.” Borj groaned
out.

“
That is exactly what I told her.”
Merrick said coming up behind them.

Hannah flushed a deep red and an expression
of irritation flashed across Borj’s face at the interruption. That
was the second time they both forgot where they were. Borj looked
at his brother and father. Both of them had knowing expressions on
their faces. Borj snarled out a curse before turning to confront
Merrick. He fist connected with Merrick’s jaw sending the huge
warrior to the ground on his ass.

“
That is for taking my mate after I
told you she was mine.” Borj said fiercely. He then extended his
hand and helped Merrick to stand up. “And this is for understanding
why.” He finished softly.

Merrick rubbed his jaw and spit out some
blood. He grinned down at Hannah who stood biting her lip. “I
deserved that although I have to tell you your mate did a good job
on me already. She said she knocked you out three times?” Merrick
said as more of an amused statement than a question.

“
Twice.” Borj corrected. “I was still
conscious the third time but wished I hadn’t been. She has very
good reflexes.” He said rubbing his groin area.

Core choked out a nervous laugh while looking
at Hannah. “I found that out the hard way.” He said.

Hannah threw her hands up in the air. “That’s
right. Give a girl a hard time for defending herself. Might I
remind you I was the one who was kidnapped?”

Core rubbed the cut on his neck while cupping
his balls. “I might have kidnapped you but it was not without its
difficulties.”

Laughter spread throughout the large group of
men. Soon, Nadu called to the other women to join in and a feast
was prepared. Tells of Hannah’s daring escape through the trees and
her ability to take down an Eastern Mountain clan warrior grew
until even Hannah had to laugh at the outrageous tale. It was well
after dark when Teriff called the head table to order. Teriff
looked at the men gathered around. Te’mar sat next to Merrick and
Core while J’kar, Borj, Hannah, and Teriff occupied the other side.
Borj refused to let Hannah out of his sight or away from his side.
They were going to stay the night as guest of the Eastern Mountain
Clan as it was so late.

Hannah was enjoying sitting next to Borj. She
loved being outside and the night air seemed especially fragrant.
Her eyes drifted around the small village. Lights gleamed from the
homes high in the trees while small campfires burned with small
groups of men sitting around them sharing stories. The feeling of
camaraderie and peace in the air relaxed her as much as the wine
she was sipping.

“
Merrick.” Teriff said calmly as they
sat around sipping a potent wine the clan made. “Where is the human
male? He has a debt to pay for killing two of our
warriors.”

Merrick leaned forward with a nod. “Yes.
After meeting the female I find many of the things he said hard to
believe.” Merrick looked at Hannah.

The human female was beautiful in the glowing
light. He could easily understand how Borj was able to complete a
mating rite with her. She was beautiful, strong, and courageous for
all her smaller size. She was also passionate. The men of his clan
deserved to be able to find a mate such as her. They offspring
would be strong and fierce. Merrick felt a ping of jealousy and
envy that surprised him as he had never felt such a thing before.
He knew what it felt like to long for a bond mate. Every warrior
wanted one to warm his nights and plant his seed. But, to have a
bond mate who was also his partner was never something he even
thought of.

Borj felt the growl rumble deep in his chest
as Merrick stared at Hannah. “Down boy.” Hannah said softly. “He is
just lost in thought. Not thinking of kidnapping me again.”

Merrick cleared his throat as he turned his
gaze to Teriff. “He is under guard in one of our homes. I will have
him brought to you in the morning. He has been treated as a guest
until we discovered if he spoke the truth. Now that we know he does
not, you may have him to do with as you please.”

Core reached out and put a hand on Merrick’s
arm. He leaned in to him and spoke quietly. Merrick looked at
Hannah, then Borj before turning with a heavy sigh to Teriff. He
nodded once to Core.

“
The problem of not having any females
of age for mating remains. We ask for the right to know where the
female’s planet is so we may search for our bond mates.” Merrick
said heavily.

Before anyone could say anything Hannah spoke
up. “You cannot get to it using a spaceship. It is too far.” Hannah
said quietly. She looked at Teriff who frowned at her before
turning to Borj. “They deserve to know something. I’ve been
observing their village all afternoon. There are only a handful of
women here and they are all mated. I’ve also only seen four young
girls while there are several hundred men. Even on my planet
history shows when the population of males exceeds the number of
available females there is war.” Hannah said looking at each of the
men.

“
Are there not enough females on your
planet?” Core asked tensely.

Hannah laughed and shook her head. “No, most
parts of the world the women far exceed the men. There are always
exceptions to the rule but that is mostly in more rural areas or in
areas where it is difficult to live but even that is changing. In
the country where I live there is about a fifty/fifty ratio. Of
course, that is for all ages but females usually outnumber the
guys.”

Hannah fought back a laugh as Merrick, Core,
and Te’mar let out a sigh of relief. “Then we can bring some here.”
Merrick said with a smile.

“
Not necessarily.” Hannah responded
firmly. “There are things you need to understand. First, no one on
my world knows that aliens exist. Second, if they found out said
aliens did exist it could be very, very bad. Not only would there
be mass hysteria worldwide but if any of you were caught they would
lock you up and probably take you apart piece by piece. On my world
we have movies, similar to your holovids. These movies normally do
not show aliens being nice guys. Third, if you just start taking
females the local authorities are not going to be very happy and
neither would the female’s families. We don’t get ‘mating marks’
when we bond. You would have to know if the female has family, is
she married, does she have children. There is a whole host of
questions before you just take off with her. Not to mention, does
she want to come and is she willing to give up everything she
knows? Fourth, as I mentioned, it is too far to travel using a
spaceship.” Hannah explained carefully.

Core’s mouth tightened into a straight line.
“How did Borj find you then? How did Borj claim you? What of your
family? How do you feel about giving up your ‘world’ and everything
you know as you just said?” Core asked determinedly.

Hannah sighed and looked at Borj. “I said it
is too far to travel in a spaceship but it is not impossible to go
to my planet. Borj came to the home where my sister was living. She
was one of the small females who was with me in the Council
Chambers. The other female was my mother. The man who came in later
wearing glasses is my father. I…” Hannah looked at Teriff who
remained silent letting Hannah decide how much information she was
willing to tell. Hannah looked at Borj who squeezed her hand in
encouragement.

“How much should I tell
them?”
Hannah asked silently looking with
concern into Borj’s eyes.

“As much as you feel
comfortable, I just ask that you not tell them where the portal
device is until we have discussed it more.”
Borj answered.

Hannah nodded. Taking a deep breath, she
looked back across the table. “What I am about to tell you must
remain between us. I need your promise that you will not try
anything stupid or act upon the information I give you without
permission from Teriff or the council.” Hannah said firmly.

Merrick nodded. “You have my promise as clan
leader we will respect the knowledge you share.”

“A friend of my family
created a portal between our two worlds. He is the only one who
knows how to do it. No one on my planet is aware of it, including
our government. There is a great possibility of danger should it
fall into the wrong hands. No one knew exactly what would happen
when it activated. My little sister did so by mistake and found
herself aboard J’kar’s spaceship, the
Prime Destiny
, by mistake.” Hannah
said looking at J’kar.

J’kar continued. “Tink saved my younger
brother, Derik’s, life. We were attacked by a group of Juangans.
They had set up a trap and we walked right into it. This portal
opened onto our warship and Tink was able to kill the beast before
it killed Derik. She treated his wounds and helped bring him to the
bridge where Borj and I were. The moment I saw her…” J’kar’s voice
broke off for a moment as he remembered the first time he saw Tink.
A small smile curved his lips. “…The moment I saw her it was unlike
anything I had ever encountered before. She seemed to glow. I tried
to catch her but she was too quick. She had never been in space
before and was fascinated by it. But, it was when she grabbed my
hand that I felt the mating rite.” J’kar lifted his left hand so
the others could see the intricate circles on the palm of his hand.
“I felt the force of it throughout my body as if I had been shot
with an electrical charge. I could not understand anything she said
but it did not matter, I knew she was mine. Not long after, the
portal doorway opened and Cosmos, the man who created the portal,
took her from me.” All the men saw the pain that flashed across
J’kar’s face at the memory. “I feared I would never find her.” He
said quietly.

“But, you did and you saved
her life.” Hannah said gently. She continued the story. “The man
you have been protecting was stalking my sister. He wanted to rape
her and kill her. He trapped her in a small room and beat her
before stabbing her repeatedly. If not for J’kar, she would have
died.” Hannah said quietly.

Borj pressed a kiss into Hannah’s palm as her
eyes filled with tears at the near lost of her sister. “Human
females are very passionate creatures. It was a surprise to us as
we are not accustomed to such behavior from our females without at
least releasing the mating chemical into their bodies. Tink shared
many things with the crew when they became curious.” Borj laughed
as he remembered his own reaction to her ‘things’.