WarlordUnarmed (3 page)

The escape pod leveled, drifting, its temperature lowering
to normal, and Murad gazed out the top of the far viewscreen, searching for the
cause of the disruption. He saw utter blackness, empty space, and his stomach
clenched. Nothing remained of his mate’s ship, her beloved home.

“What was that?” Gale gazed up at him, her body stiff and
her arms crossed, as though she braced for bad news.

Berke’s not here. Khan’s not here. I have to tell her,
hurt her with this truth.
“It’s gone.” His voice broke, his emotion too raw
to be contained, too intense to be managed with humor. He felt his mate’s loss
as keenly as he would his own.

Gale blinked, her expression dazed. “Gone?” she repeated.
“My ship? No, it can’t be.” She clutched his arm, looking to him for guidance.
“That’s my home. Tell me there’s something left.” Her fingernails dug into his
skin, punishing him for his failure.

He’d bear the pain. He’d bear any pain to erase the loss
reflecting in her eyes. But he wouldn’t lie to her. He couldn’t. She was his
gerel
,
his everything. “There’s nothing left.”

A whimper escaped Gale’s lips, the sound tearing at his
heart, and tremors flowed over her body. Murad slid closer to his distraught
mate and stroked her back, yearning to comfort her, realizing nothing he could
say or do would help.

They sat without speaking as the escape pod gained speed,
hurtling toward Chamele 3, the stars blurring in the viewscreens. The small
vessel fell so quickly objects floated, their sharp edges banging into Murad’s
shoulders.

“Turn your face toward me,” he ordered, constructing a cage
around Gale’s smaller form with his body. “I’ll protect you.”

She obeyed him without protest, without fear, without any
emotion, as though the loss of her home had numbed her. “Who will protect you?”
She pressed her lips against his bare skin, her breath hot, the intimate touch
sending sweet sensations to his unruly cock.

“I’m tougher than I look,” Murad joked, Gale’s concern for
him warming his chest.

“You look very tough.” She huddled against him, the body
armor forming a frustrating barrier between her curves and his muscle. “Except
when you smile.”

“And I smile often.” The escape pod shook violently, the
objects around them bumping against Murad. He gritted his teeth and held on to
Gale tighter.
Will we survive this descent?
“Too often according to my
brothers. They claim I’m never serious.”

“But that’s an act, isn’t it?” she whispered.

“It started as an act,” Murad confessed, laughter being his
way to gain attention in a family dominated by Berke, the leader, and Khan, the
warrior. “Now it’s a habit, a way to cope.”
With loss, with loneliness, with
life.

“I wish I had mastered that habit.” Gale placed one of her
hands on his chest. “Everyone wants a smiling, perfect child.” She splayed her
fingers wider, as if she were staking a claim on his pounding heart. “The girls
who figured that out were adopted right away.” She sighed. “And not returned.”

Murad stiffened, their descent, his family and everything
else forgotten. “Did someone return you?” He gazed down at Gale’s blonde head,
unable to believe someone would be so cruel to the generous, loyal female in
his arms.

She buried her cold nose deeper into his chest. “I’m not
perfect and I don’t always smile.”

I’ll kill the being who dared to return her.
Murad’s
claws pricked at his skin, wishing to extend, his soul seeking payment for the
hurt caused to his little human mate. “I’ll never return you,” he vowed,
needing to reassure her.

“The parents said that also.”

Parents. More than one set.
Murad growled, his rage
compounding.

“And I’m not yours to return.” Gale straightened, squaring
her shoulders. “Once we land, I’ll send a transmission to Zeta and I’ll no
longer be your responsibility.”

“You’ll always be my responsibility. You’re my
gerel
.
I—” The pod shook so hard his teeth clattered together, preventing him from
forming words. Murad pushed closer to Gale, covering as much of her body as
possible.

The pod spun and metal edges of broken devices sliced his
skin. The replicator thumped against his arm. A shattered communicator whizzed
by his ear, scratching a stinging trail across his cheek. Murad ducked down,
resting his chin on the top of Gale’s golden head, her soft curls tickling his
nose.

He breathed in and breathed out, savoring her scent, her
curves, her closeness, wishing he could have had longer with her, could have
better protected her. The escape pod whirled round and round, the objects
tumbling, slamming against him, his body throbbing with pain.

Gale clung to him, sobbing into his chest, the
heart-wrenching noise reassuring Murad.
She’s alive. She’ll stay alive. She—

A heavy object crashed against his forehead. Pain shot
through his skull. Blood scented the air. Lights flashed in front of his eyes
and his world went dark, his grip on Gale intensifying.

Gale woke with a groan, her entire body aching, throbbing. A
buzz hummed in her ear, and an animalistic shriek echoed in the distance. The
scent of engine lubricant and male musk filled her nostrils. She opened her
eyes. Tanned skin blocked her view.

Threat.
She wiggled out of Murad’s tight grip and
lunged forward, the torn seat straps flapping around her shoulders. She grabbed
a jagged wedge of metal, closing her fingers around the sharp edge, and she
turned to face the big Warlord, holding her makeshift weapon before her.

Murad had slumped in the seat. Rich, red blood streamed down
his cheek from a deep gash on his forehead and he was still, very still, his
eyes closed and his mouth partially open.

“Murad.” She nudged him with her booted foot.

He didn’t answer. He didn’t laugh that foolish laugh of his.
He didn’t move.

Fear skittered down her spine, fear not for herself but for
him, the male who’d protected her during the crash, the male she shouldn’t care
for, the male destined to reject her as everyone else had.

“Murad, wake up.” She tossed the wedge of metal away,
gripped his shoulders and shook him, frantic to rouse him. The Warlord sank
deeper into the seat. “No. No. No.” She brushed back his long black hair, the
strands soft and fine. “You have to be alive.” She cupped his handsome face,
his skin reassuringly warm.

“You have to live. You kept…keep me safe. You can’t die.”
Gale brought her lips closer to his. Air wafted on her skin in an intimate
caress. “You’re breathing…aren’t you?”

She laid her hand on his chest, seeking more confirmation.
His heart beat under her palm, its rhythm strong. “Yes, you
are
breathing. You’re alive. Thank the stars.” Gale leaned back and laughed, giddy
with relief.

“You gave me a fright, Murad.” She shrugged the broken
straps off her shoulders, the dangling ends rubbing against her arms,
irritating her. “I didn’t know what I’d do without you,” she confessed freely
as there was no need to guard her words, the laughing warrior unconscious.

“Let’s see how badly hurt you are.” She quickly ran her
hands over his legs, torso, arms, neck, exploring his massive body, searching
for injuries. Other than the minor cuts already pulling closed, the many
bruises coloring his skin, and the head wound, he appeared unharmed.

“You’ll regain consciousness soon.” She patted his chest,
relishing the contact, the big male now as harmless as the objects she
collected. “Until then, I’ll take care of you.”

Gale slid open the compartment under the seat and extracted
one of the containers of water, part of the escape pod’s emergency supplies.
“Good thing I didn’t sell these.” She beamed, having stripped and sold almost
everything else of worth in the tiny vessel.

She wetted her right sleeve and dabbed the soft pink leather
over the gash on his forehead, sacrificing her sole garment without a second
thought, Murad’s care being her first priority. The bleeding had stemmed and a
thin layer of skin already sealed the wound, the Chamele Warlord healing faster
than any human would.

As Gale slowly, carefully worked toward the center of the
cut, Murad twitched and his booted feet kicked. She stilled, the fear
returning. He quieted.

She returned to cleaning his wound and a shudder rolled over
his unconscious body. “I know this hurts, hon,” she cooed, seeking to soothe
him. “But it has to be cleaned. I can’t risk your wound becoming infected.”

She impulsively pressed a quick kiss by his wound, a loving
action she’d seen mothers take with their children’s injuries. “To make you
heal faster.” Her face heated.

“I don’t know if that works,” she shared, pouring more of
their precious water on her clean left sleeve. “But I’m not taking any chances.
I need you to survive.”

Gale swiped the blood off Murad’s cheek. A thin red line
stretched from his ear to his top lip, its source unknown. “I always wanted to
have someone kiss my wounds better and I owe you that much and more.” She
smacked her lips against his, his breath reassuringly warm. “You saved my life,
Warlord.”

Gale bathed and kissed every cut, learning his body with her
fingers and lips. She examined the dip at the base of his neck, the defined
ridges of muscle stretching across his abdomen, the trail of fine black hair
running from his navel to the waistband of his leg coverings.

She picked up one of his large hands and grazed her
fingertips over the peculiar round, silver scars on his knuckles, the shapes
too perfect to be random. “Were you punished as a child also, Murad?” She
frowned fiercely, angered by that thought. “What could you have possibly done
to deserve this torture?” She kissed each scar, licking the salt off his skin,
laving the marks with her tongue in a whimsical attempt to erase them, to erase
his pain.

“Whatever you did, I doubt your actions warranted that
punishment.” She shook her head. “I, however, deserve whatever reprimand you
deem to deliver, no matter how harsh.” Gale removed the fastening tool from her
pocket and she ran her fingers over the warmed metal, the handle rubbed smooth
by Murad’s touch. The device was an extension of him, her beautiful stranger,
her deadly Warlord.

“I knew I shouldn’t take this, yet I did.” She had to force
herself to set the fastening tool on the ripped seat beside Murad, as she
didn’t want to part with the device. “I couldn’t help myself. It belonged to
you and…” She shrugged, unable to articulate why she needed to have a piece of
him.

“And now I’ll pay the price. You said you wouldn’t return
me.” She gazed at Murad’s handsome face, his expression peaceful, serene,
almost loving. “But once you hear of my…ummm…imperfection, you will. They all
return me.” Gale winced, dreading that confrontation, seeing the betrayal,
disgust, anger in her Warlord’s eyes.

“Let’s not think of that right now.” She rubbed her
throbbing right thigh, her injury concealed by her pink leather leg-coverings.
Concealed.

“If I ache.” She scanned Murad’s larger thighs, recalling
how he’d protected her with his bigger body. “You must be in even more pain.”
Alarm filled her.

“You might have damage I can’t see.” Gale skimmed her
fingers over the waistband of his leg coverings. “I should.” She swallowed
hard, her hands trembling. “I should remove these to ensure you don’t have any
hidden wounds.”

She studied his face, yearning for any indication he agreed.
He remained still, his eyes closed.
I have to do this.
“Forgive me.”

Gale removed the shattered communicator from the strap
around his waist. “You fixed my ship. You might be able to fix this.” She set
the device beside the fastening tool she’d taken from him.

“Next.” Gale drew a deep breath and unfastened his leg
coverings. She peeled back the tight leather, revealing more tanned skin and
black hair, the short curls growing denser. “Stars. You’re a well-built male.”

Murad’s hips were narrow and powerful, perfectly suited to
pump relentlessly into a very appreciative female. She bent over and kissed the
bruise on his right hipbone, the musk of his body stronger, more appealing.

“I shouldn’t look at you like this, feel this desire.” Guilt
edged Gale’s arousal. Murad was unaware of her perusal, her touching. “I should
examine you as a medic would, quickly, efficiently.”

She tugged the leg coverings down and inhaled sharply, her
intentions blown to bits by what she saw. Even flaccid, his cock was
impressive, his shaft long and thick with an interesting ridge of flesh near
his base.

“You’re
very
well-built.” Gale licked her lips,
staring at him, yearning to stroke him into hardness, to thread her fingers
through his black private curls, to cup his balls, to take that huge cock
inside her. He wouldn’t be able to hurt her, reject her, return her. She’d be
in complete control.

That would be wrong.
Gale closed her eyes and counted
to ten, fighting her desire.

“I want you, Murad,” she admitted, the savagery of her
feelings scaring her. “I want you so much.” Gale yanked the leg coverings to
his ankles. “But I won’t take advantage of you.”

She ran her hands quickly over his firm ass, his powerful
thighs, his scarred knees and muscular calves, all of him hard, fit and
overwhelmingly male. The leg coverings had protected Murad, his skin bruised,
but not torn.

“Before you return me, we’ll have that rutting you promised
me,” Gale warned him, her pussy wet and her nipples tight. “And that one
rutting will have to be enough.” She stroked her fingers over his bruised
hipbone, back and forth, back and forth. “So make it good. I want to feel your
big cock for days afterward.” She pulled the tight leather garment up and
grappled with the flaps, unable to refasten them, the Warlord’s damaged body
too swollen.

“You’ll know I saw you naked.” Gale sighed. “And this will
be one more thing you’ll punish me for.” She glanced at the fastening tool
she’d taken from him and then at Murad’s partially covered groin, her fate sealed
with those two actions.

“It was worth it though.” Gale leaned forward and brushed
her lips against his, tasting salt and blood and a unique flavor she suspected
was pure Murad. “And I can’t worry about the future right now.”

She glanced around her at what remained of her ship, her
home. “We made quite an entrance on your planet…if this
is
your planet.”

The escape pod had cracked open upon landing. Some of the
viewscreens were stuck in the dirt across the field, their surfaces fragmented
with cracks, and the broken items she’d collected for spare parts were
scattered over the ground, the remnants of her broken past bending the tall
yellow grass. A red rock outcropping shaded the crash site from the midday sun,
the air hot and dry.

Gale inventoried their water containers. One had broken long
ago, the interior dry. She’d emptied another container cleaning Murad’s wounds,
leaving three filled.
Not enough water.

“We need water and help.” Gale stood, wincing at the pain
shooting up her legs.

“And I can’t bring you with me to find it.” She glanced at
Murad. He sat scarily still and completely vulnerable with no defense against
any possible attack.

“I won’t leave you like this.” She unfastened her body armor
and draped it over the Warlord, covering as much of him as possible, his head
and limbs remaining exposed.

“I’ll block you in.” Gale dragged the broken replicator
toward Murad, her muscles straining, perspiration dripping down her back. She
stepped back and surveyed her work. The replicator provided a knee-high barrier
that any hungry animal, hostile humanoid or killer beast could climb over.

“It has to be higher.” Gale gripped a broken cooling
machine, bent her knees and heaved the heavy rectangular device on top of the
replicator, her back screaming a protest. “That’s better,” she huffed, her
lungs burning. “But they can still get to you.”

Gale tossed an empty water container over the cooling
machine and placed a full container within Murad’s reach. “If I don’t return,
if something kills me.” She shivered, not knowing what kind of creatures
existed on the planet. “You drink that and stay alive, understand?” She pressed
her lips to Murad’s, needing to touch him one more time.

“I’m blocking you inside.” Gale worked quickly, stacking
debris higher and wider, ignoring her aching body and her dry mouth. She
erected a solid wall of objects across the opening of the escape pod, her
height preventing her from sealing the space entirely, the gap worrying, but
unavoidable.

“That’s the best I can do, Murad.” She wiped the grime off
her pink leg coverings. “You’ll be fine,” she called to the hidden Warlord.
“And I’ll be back soon.”
I hope.

Gale scooped up the empty water container and hiked away
from the crash site, unarmed and on a strange planet, her determination to care
for Murad stronger than her fear.

“Guns might not be a help,” she told herself, feeling naked
and vulnerable without her weapons. “Murad disarmed me easily.”

Tall yellow grass bowed in the breeze, silent companions
bobbing their agreement. The thick curtain of vegetation severely limited her
view, Gale able to see only what was directly in front of her.

“He could have removed my weapons and forced me to return to
his ship at any time. Instead he tried to save my home, risking his life.” She
stomped on the blades of grass, creating a trail she could follow back to the
crash site. “He almost died.” She gulped dry, oxygen-rich air, no one having
ever put her wishes first.

A yellow-and-black insect buzzed near her face. It rubbed
its multiple legs together, the action emitting a strange humming sound. Gale
waved her hand, swatting it to the side.

“Why would a Warlord do that?” She scrunched her nose as she
climbed up a rock outcropping, seeking higher ground and better visibility.
Sweat trickled down her spine, her leather suit soaked with moisture, the sun’s
rays beating relentlessly on her shoulders. “Was it to please his brother?
Zeta? Me?” Clouds floated across a blue sky. The possible explanations for
Murad’s actions were endless. “No, not to please me. He doesn’t know me.”

She gazed at the rolling plains. No humanoid structures
jutted out of the flat soil. No ships flew overhead. Massive four-legged beasts
grazed peacefully in a herd to her far right, their horns short and curled
inward, their hides the same color as the grass. A stream wound to her left,
the sun reflecting off the water.

Gale turned, scanning more yellow grass and more blue sky.
“We’re alone.” She opened her hot, suffocating suit, revealing the thin
undergarments she wore under the tight leather. Cooler air brushed over her
body and she released a deep sigh of relief.