Hannah's Warrior: Cosmos' Gateway Book 2 (8 page)

Hannah’s horror at what Cosmos was saying was
growing beyond anything thing she had ever felt before. This alien
guy thought she was his mate because a bunch of circles had
appeared on her hand? The circles were a get straight to the baby
making stage? Is this what happened to Tink? She was kidnapped so
she could become a breeding mare? He expected her to be caged in
some ‘house’ all the time and just be there whenever he…whenever
he…Hannah’s mind revolted at the next step.

“
Hannah, are you okay?” Cosmos was
saying.

Cosmos saw Hannah pull back away from him and
sway slightly as if she had just received a huge shock. He was
concerned as the color slowly faded from her face leaving her very
pale and shaken. He quickly pulled the tray off the bed and set in
on the floor before turning back to gather Hannah tightly in his
arms.

“
I can’t do it.” Hannah was saying
softly under her breath over and over. “Get it off me, Cosmos. I
can’t have it on me.”

Cosmos was concerned as Hannah’s voice
started to get louder and sounded more than a little hysterical.
“Get it off of me, Cosmos. NOW! Get it off of me!”

“
Hannah…I’ll try.” Cosmos said quietly
realizing Hannah was on the verge of a total meltdown.

Hannah turned her blank stare to him. “You
have to do it, Cosmos. I won’t be his or anyone else’s. It would
kill me to be locked up. I…I don’t want anyone touching me like
that…like they did those other women…I…I can’t do it. You have to
help me, Cosmos.” Hannah whispered faintly.

It took Cosmos another ten minutes to get
Hannah to believe his promise to try to undo the mating mark. He
walked down the steps slowly. Hannah had finally gone into the
bathroom to get cleaned up. He hoped she would be in a better mood
when she was done. Cosmos hadn’t been there when Hannah had been
kidnapped but he knew it had been bad…very bad. From what Tink told
him, Hannah didn’t talk much after the incident. Tink told him
Hannah would just sit and stare out the window for hours, not
moving from the seat as they rode down the road, not talking, not
doing anything. When they would stop, she would often go off alone.
Tink really didn’t know what happened just that Hannah had escaped
the kidnappers and spent ten days in the jungle. Her parents never
talked about it with her or Tansy. They said it was at Hannah’s
request that they didn’t.

“
She is awake?” Borj asked looking up
from the magazine he was looking through.

Cosmos couldn’t help the small grin that
curved his lips. In order to get a few minutes alone with Hannah,
Cosmos had dug out his teenage collection of Penthouse, Playboy,
and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition magazines. He may have been
shy around the girls but that didn’t mean he didn’t like to look at
them. Borj had never seen anything like them and Cosmos couldn’t
help but laugh as he eyes got bigger and bigger with each edition.
Borj didn’t even realize Cosmos was gone until he came back
down.

Borj was frowning as he looked at one
centerfold. “My Hannah is not in any of these, is she? I would have
to kill you and every male who looked at her otherwise.” Borj said
holding the picture of Miss November up.

Cosmos bit back a laugh. “No, I really don’t
think you will find Hannah in any of those types of magazines. I do
have a few magazines that you will find her in, though.” Cosmos
added mischievously.

Borj’s head jerked up and his face darkened
threateningly. “Show me!” He gritted out between his teeth.

Cosmos opened a cabinet that contained Tink’s
collection of her sister’s work. Wildlife, Times, National
Geographic, WWW, and others contained pictures and articles about
Hannah from the time she was six until her most recent interview
last year after she was wounded when one of the countries she was
in exploded with violence. She won international recognition with
her depiction of the damage done to humans, wildlife, and the
environment.

Cosmos set the magazines down in front of
Borj and watched him carefully as he opened each magazine. He
wanted to see Borj’s reaction to Hannah’s work. It was obvious her
love of the outdoors and her compassion for the things she
photographed.

Borj felt a wave of fury flood him when
Cosmos first told him Hannah was in a ‘magazine’. Since the
documents Cosmos gave him first were his only experience with human
media, he thought they would all be the same. But, the images he
was looking at now took his breath away. He looked at the pictures
Cosmos explained Hannah took. There was a family of huge, black
hair creatures grouped together in what looked like a dense jungle.
One creature had a blaze of silver across its back and was studying
the smaller group. Another showed large herds of another creature
jumping through water while huge predators grabbed for them. Each
was more spectacular than the next. When Cosmos handed him another
article, he saw Hannah and a dark-skinned male standing next to
each other smiling.

“
That’s Abasi. He works with Hannah
when she does her African shoots.” Cosmos was saying.

Borj nodded not feeling threatened as he
could see the love in the male’s eyes but nothing stating he was
possessive of Hannah. Borj made a choked sound when he came to the
pictures of some of the atrocities Hannah photographed. The next
few photographs on the opposite page were not Hannah’s but of
Hannah. The male, Abasi, had his arms around her and she was
covered in blood.

“
Tell me what this says.” Borj choked
out as he ran his finger over the photograph of Hannah’s face lined
in pain. He let his finger run down to the image of her shirt, torn
with blood coating the front.

Cosmos cleared his throat as he read the
caption under the photograph.

Internationally Renowned Wildlife
Photographer Wounded

Hannah Bell, an internationally award
winning wildlife photographer was wounded during a recent
revolution in Chad. Bell, known more for her photographs of
endangered species, brought world-wide attention to the atrocities
of certain rebel groups. The photograph above shows Bell, with her
guide, being helped after rebel groups wounded her.

Borj looked at the photograph but his mind
was elsewhere. This was a very dangerous world for females. How
could the males let the females do anything so dangerous? Why did
her family not prevent her from going to these places
unprotected?

“
Females are different here, Borj. You
can’t cage a girl like Hannah up. If you do, it would kill her.”
Cosmos said responding to the questions Borj muttered under his
breath. He knew he had to get Borj to understand this or it could
have devastating effects on both of them. “She is like the wild
creatures she photographs. They need the freedom to roam.
Hannah…Hannah’s been through more than any girl should ever go
through. When she was fifteen something really bad happened to her
that changed her life. She…” Cosmos’ voice faded when Borj suddenly
jerked up off the couch heading for the stairs.

Borj felt a shiver of apprehension go through
him. He was listening intently to what Cosmos was saying when a
sudden shaft of pain flashed through his left palm. Borj drew in a
deep breath and clenched his fist against the pain as it spread up
his arm. He focused inward briefly and Hannah’s image rose before
him.

Borj jerked off the couch and moved rapidly
up the stairs taking them three at a time. He burst into the upper
living area and continued through until he was in front of the
bathroom. Borj didn’t pause as he hit the door with his hand,
breaking the latch. He stood breathing heavily through his nose in
an effort to push the pain radiating up through his left arm away.
He stared in horror at Hannah who was leaning over the edge of the
bathroom sink, a sharp cutting tool in her hand. His gaze followed
the tiny flow of blood down the sink from where her left hand lay
against the edge.

Hannah stood under the flow of the hot water
as long as she could letting all the things Cosmos told her run
through her mind over and over. It wasn’t until she was shaving her
legs that she got the idea that maybe she could scrape the circles
off of her hand. After all, it didn’t look like it was that deep.
It was worth a try. It was ridiculous to think a bunch of circles
popping up on someone’s hand meant you were mated to them. Yes, she
had seen some of the mating rituals of different tribes around the
world that used unusual ways to bind a couple but she personally
didn’t believe in it. Hell, even wedding rings were a ritual but
you could still take them off. There had to be a way to remove
them. The first thing she tried was scrubbing it with a fingernail
brush and soap. All that did was cause it to become more
sensitive.

Hannah turned off the shower
and quickly dried and dressed in a pair of loose fitting cargo
pants and a forest green t-shirt. She didn’t bother with putting on
any shoes. She flipped her head over and brushed the long length
out before she divided it into three sections and braided it.
Looking in the mirror, she could still see the dark shadows under
her eyes from not getting enough rest. Hannah shrugged.
Rest could come later. Right now, get rid of the
circles then find Tink.

Hannah pulled a new razor blade out of the
cartridge container and carefully pulled it apart so she had just
one of the super sharp blades. Bending of the sink, she gently
began scrapping a small section of her left palm where the edge of
the circles began. She frowned when nothing seemed to happen. Maybe
it was a little deeper than she thought. She knew some parasites
burrowed under the skin. Hannah decided she would try to cut a
small section out.

Hannah bit her lip as she felt the first
slice break through the skin. It wasn’t like she had never needed
to cut on herself before. She was used to having to remove thorns
or lance areas where some type of critter had bitten her so she
could release the poison. The moment she sliced through the first
circle pain exploded throughout her arm and down through her body.
Hannah bit back the surprised cry at how much it hurt. Blood welded
up from the small cut and began dripping down through her fingers.
Hannah laid her palm over the edge of the sink so the blood would
drain down it. Holding her breath, she moved the razorblade in her
trembling right hand back over the circle to try again when the
door to the bathroom suddenly exploded inward.

Hannah stared in shock as an
enraged Borj looked from her bleeding palm to the razor in her
right hand. “What in the
hockta
balmas
, are you doing?” Borj asked
furiously.

“
What?” Hannah asked dazed as her palm
pulsed. “What are you doing in here?”

“
Hannah?” Cosmos asked from behind
Borj. Hannah heard his gasp as he saw what she was doing. “What the
fuck are you doing?”

“
I…I wanted to see if I could scrape
the circles off.” Hannah explained looking back and forth between
the two men. Why were they acting like she had done something
horrific? It was her stupid hand.

Borj growled out and stomped forward gripping
her right wrist hard enough to make her drop the razorblade.
Hannah’s protest died on her lips when he grabbed her left wrist
and raised her palm to his mouth. He gently ran his tongue over the
small cut. Hannah immediately noticed the pain faded and warmth
began seeping up through her arm into the rest of her body. She
moan softly as Borj continued to lap at the tiny wound.

Borj closed his eyes as the
sweet taste of Hannah flowed over his tongue.
Hockta balmas, hell’s balls but she tasted delicious.
He opened his eyes to stare down into the
beautiful dark green eyes of his mate. He pulled both of her arms
up and around his neck before he grasped her around her slim waist
lifting her until she was sitting on the edge of the counter by the
sink. He refused to release her gaze as he slowly lowered his head.
He paused for just a moment to see if she would pull away and gave
a small sigh of thanks when instead, she leaned forward touching
his lips tentatively with her own.

Chapter 6

Hannah trembled as she pressed her lips
lightly against Borj’s firm ones. It was the last thing she could
ever have imagined herself doing but it just felt right. She
remembered her mom telling her once after one of her panic attacks
that when the right guy came along her body might recognize him
before her mind did. Right now, her mind was lost in a haze of
desire. Hannah let her fingers slowly move over Borj’s broad
shoulders to skim lightly along the back of his neck before she let
her fingers bury themselves in his short hair. Hannah felt the
slight increase in pressure against her lips as Borj pressed deeper
wanting her to open for him. Her arms tightened around him and her
hands gripped the back of his head preventing him from pulling away
as she opened her mouth enough to let the tip of her tongue trace
along his.

Borj felt a wave of tenderness flood him at
the tentative touch of Hannah’s lips. She reminded him of some of
the Ta’caras, a small furry creature found deep in the forest of
their world. It was extremely rare to see one for they were very
shy and cautious. Their fur was extremely soft and warm. They were
hunted almost to extinction many generations ago. Hunting them
became unlawful after the ruling council determined there was no
longer a need for their fur. Even so, the cost of those times still
weighed on the creatures and they seldom came out in the open,
preferring the dense forests instead.

Borj wrapped his arms tighter around Hannah
as she pressed closer to him. Instinctively, he knew she needed to
be the one in control right now. He needed to let her set the pace
if she was to begin to trust him. It about killed him to not take
her, possess her like his instincts told him too. He wanted to bite
her, to seal her to him both physically and emotionally but he knew
to do so now would have devastating consequences if she did not
learn to trust him first.