WarlordUnarmed (6 page)

“I wore you out.” Murad hooked an arm around her as she sat
upright, supporting her comforting weight. “And I plan to wear you out again
tonight,” he declared smugly. Color streaked across her cheeks. “I found this
for our collection.” He pressed a small stone into her palm.

Her lips curled into a smile, her reaction pleasing him, his
gerel
adorably easy to make happy. “It’s as blue as the sky.” She held
the stone up to the light, examining it as though it were a precious jewel.

“It’s as blue as your eyes.” Murad leaned forward and
brushed his lips over hers, possessively reaffirming his claim on her, wanting
all of her attention.

“Hmmm…” Gale draped her hands over his shoulders, the cool
stone pressing against his skin. “You bring me gifts, kisses, dead dust
vultures.” She laughed at her own joke, her eyes sparkling, her emotions refreshingly
unfettered. “A female could become accustomed to this.”

“I plan to smother you with gifts and kisses.” Murad rubbed
their noses together. “Don’t become accustomed to the dead dust vultures
though. There aren’t many in the city, thankfully.” He chuckled. His
technology-filled home was situated in the largest city on Chamele 3, half a
planet away from this desolate place.

Her lips flattened. “If we stayed here.” Her gaze dropped to
his chin. “We could feast on dust vultures every night.” She tapped the stone
on his shoulder, the beat fast and steady.

“Not even the
unee
stay here.” He played with her
hair, her curls soft and golden. “During the upcoming dry season, the stream
slows to a trickle and the grass turns to dust. The
unee
migrate in
search of better pastures.”

“Oh.” Her lips drooped and the tapping on his shoulder
intensified.

“But we could return here once an orbit, at this time,”
Murad offered, taking the small stone from her fingers. “I’ll hunt dust
vultures and you’ll prepare them and we’ll rut in the moonlight, acting as
though we were the first two beings on Chamele 3.”

He placed his gift next to the feather, the dried ground
berries and the
unee
horn he’d found. “Though we’ll need another ship to
carry all of the objects I’ll have given you.” He chuckled, happily prepared to
replace every possession she’d lost.

“You say we’ll return,” his doubting female replied.

“I know we’ll return,” Murad corrected, giving Gale the
reassurance he knew she needed. “And we can start on that rutting right now.”
He dove in for a kiss.

“No.” She lifted her hand, blocking him. “Not now.” Her face
turned a vivid shade of pink. “I need to bathe in the stream first.” She
reached for her wonderfully thin undergarments.

“And I need to assist you with bathing.” Murad straightened
Gale’s breast covering. His female’s pink nipples showed through the fabric,
that attempt at modesty endearingly unsuccessful. “Come.” He pulled her to her
feet and walked with her, his fingers linked with hers, and her hips swaying
against his body with every step. “I spotted a newborn
unee
this
morning.”

“Ohhh…” Gale’s lips rounded, her eyes lit with wonder. “I’d
like to see her. Will the herd still be grazing nearby?” She hugged his arm to
her breasts, her sinfully soft skin hardening his cock even more. “Will you
show me where they were?”

“Do I have a choice?” He laughed, unable to deny her
anything.

“No, you don’t.” She smiled up at him and he sucked in his
breath, her beauty without parallel anywhere in the universes. “I want to see
the baby.” She skipped along the path, her feet light on the flat ground, his
female as graceful as the tall grass bending around them. “Are her legs wobbly?
Can she stand?”

“
He
was standing, feeding from his mother.” Murad
swung his arm, feeling confident and capable and happy, his
gerel
relying
on him for knowledge and expertise. “Soon he’ll have the ability to run from
predators.”

“From the dust vultures.” Her smile faded, her expression
turning fierce. “We should—”

An artificial rumble rolled through the air. “Get down.”
Murad pulled Gale to the ground and covered her with his body. He extended his
claws, wishing he had a gun, a sword, anything he could shoot or throw at the
threat.

A large black ship flew low, blocking the sun, casting a
shadow over them. Hot air rushed along Murad’s back, the grass beating his arms
and legs.

“Is that ship one of yours?” Gale trembled under him.

“I can’t be certain.” He scanned the underbelly of the
vessel, the panels as familiar as his own fingers. “It was my ship four days
ago. Whom it belongs to now, I don’t know.”
Did my warriors win the battle
against Tolui?
Murad remained still, hidden, not taking any risks with his
gerel
.

“It’s stopping.”

Son of a
Gechii
. It is.
The ship hovered to
their right.“The life-form scanners must have detected us.” Murad
pushed his body off the ground and rocked backward, crouching in a defensive
stance. “Stay down.” He waved his claws, preparing to protect her, to die for
her if he had to.

“I’m fighting with you.” Gale sat up, her face pale and her
eyes wide, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “Shouldn’t you turn
invisible?”

“It won’t help.” Murad’s nose twitched, the scent of Gale’s
fear tormenting him. “Tolui, our enemy, is a Chamele. We can sense each other
even when invisible, as you call it.” The ship lowered and he tensed, coiling
his muscles. “Remain behind me.”

“I’ll fight beside you.” Gale stripped off her breast
covering, fastened it adeptly into a sling, and loaded it with dirt.

“You’re a clever female.” Murad gazed with her in admiration,
the ship’s descent blowing his hair back. “I’m proud you’re mine.”

“I
am
a bounty hunter.” She beamed. “I’ve survived
some bad situations before.” Her smile faltered. “Though I’ve never defeated a
warship with merely a sling.”

“You don’t merely have a sling. You have me.” Murad pulled
his
gerel
into a fervent embrace, needing to feel her curves press
against his muscle one more time, gathering strength from her lush form to face
the enemy and his possible death. “And you’ll survive this.” He released her.

The ground shook as the ship landed. Gale swayed on her
feet, hanging on to Murad’s arm, the contact arousing, a connection humming
between them.

My female.
Murad glared as the ship’s ramp lowered.
I
will protect her.
He squinted, peering into the entrance’s darkness. A
shape formed, separating from the shadows, the silhouette broad and tall and
familiar.

“Your holiday is over, my lord.” Sartaq swaggered down the
incline, his boot heels ringing on the metal, and Murad exhaled, relieved. “We
have a clone lover to—”

Dirt splattered across Sartaq’s grinning face. Laughter
barked behind him, the other warriors lining the ramp. Murad’s first in command
sputtered, spitting bits of grass out of his mouth.

“That’s Sartaq,
gerel
.” Murad grinned at his mate.
Gale stood with her feet planted firmly on the ground, her lush body braced for
war, her eyes glittering with an awe-inspiring ferocity. “He’s one of our
warriors.”

“Oh.” Her shoulders sagged and her mouth twisted, her
expression turning sheepish. “Sorry!”

Sartaq wiped his face with the back of one hand. “I have
eaten worse, my lady.” His gaze dropped and his smile returned. “And I now see
why our lord was in no haste to be found.”

Gale squeaked and Murad roared, a red-hot fury rising in
him. “Do
not
look at my
gerel
.” He stepped in front of his mate,
utilizing his big body to shield her nudity. “You’ll show her proper respect.”
He spread his claws, prepared to fight his best warrior.

Sartaq backed away from them, his palms raised in surrender.
“I meant our lady no disrespect, my lord.”

Murad narrowed his eyes, his rage too intense to be reasoned
with.

Gale wrapped her arms around Murad’s waist and splayed her
fingers over his stomach, her touch soothing him. “I wasn’t offended, hon.” She
rested her cheek on his right shoulder blade, her bare breasts pressed against
his back, her skin warm and soft. “Don’t be angry with your friend.”

“He looked at you,” Murad grumbled, clinging to his anger.

“Briefly, and that’s all he did.” Gale stroked his abdominal
muscles. “Because he knows I belong to you. Everyone knows that…now.” Her voice
lilted with humor.

Everyone knows she’s mine.
Some of Murad’s good humor
returned.

“All of you turn around,” he instructed. His warriors
obeyed, grins on their foolish faces. “Come,
gerel
.” Murad took Gale’s
hand and walked with her toward their camp, the path they followed etched into
the golden fields. “We’ll dress quickly before the rest of them arrive.”

“The rest of them?” Her gaze met his, her eyebrows raised.

“More ships are coming.” Murad nodded glumly, regretting the
return to his Warlord responsibilities, longing for one more day spent alone
with Gale. “My brothers will be here soon.”

When Gale and Murad returned to the clearing, more ships had
landed, Murad’s prediction coming true. Tall, huge, severe-looking warriors
stood in packs, swords strapped to their broad backs, daggers and guns attached
to their muscular bodies.

“Are they all friendly?” Gale tightened her grip on Murad’s
hand, wishing she had a gun, her now loose-fitting pink leather suit devoid of
any weapons.

“I wouldn’t call them friendly.” Murad chuckled, squeezing
her fingers. “But they are all our warriors.”

A massive male loomed by Sartaq, his face scarred and stern,
his hair as long and black as Murad’s. His dark gaze shifted to them as they
approached and lines of disapproval appeared between his thick eyebrows.

Gale hid behind Murad’s big body, having seen that
expression on the countenances of countless parents.
He’ll return me.
She took a shaky breath.
Please let that not be—

“Brother.” The stern male stalked toward them, his arms
outstretched, his biceps bulging.

No.
Gale gazed with fascinated horror as the two
males embraced, their chests colliding, hands slapping backs with a
bone-jarring force, their affection for each other agonizingly clear.
I
can’t compete with one of Murad’s beloved brothers.

She took a step backward, wanting to run, to hide, to avoid
the upcoming confrontation. Her stomach knotted and her palms moistened.

“Berke.” Murad caught her wrist and pulled her forward,
preventing her escape. “This is Gale, my
gerel
,” he declared, an emotion
resembling pride underlying his tone.

That pride won’t last. It never does.
Gale tilted her
chin upward, bracing for the humiliation, the heartache, the loneliness.
“Berke.” She nodded slightly, struggling to maintain her dignity, bracing for
Murad’s goodbye.

“Gale.” Berke frowned, his forehead furrowing, his gaze
penetrating. “You’re one of Ellie’s bounty hunters.”

Ellie?
Gale blinked, having never met anyone brave
enough to call Elle, her tough-as-a-
Vladium
-hammer boss, by a pet name.
“Yes.”

“She won’t believe two of her bounty hunters found
Chamele
mates. She’ll travel here to investigate.” Stark emotion flashed across the
elder Warlord’s face. “Gale has to go back.” He turned to Murad, his fingers
folding into giant fists. “She can’t stay in our system.”

I’m to be returned.
Gale backed away, the
announcement harsher than any slap.

“She’s my
gerel
.” Murad placed his big form
protectively between her and his brother. “She’s not leaving my side.”

He’s fighting for me.
Gale took another step away
from them. Some of the mothers had fought for her also.
He’ll lose. They
always lose.

“It’s not yet safe,” Berke boomed, leaning forward.

“Do you doubt I can protect her?” Murad bumped his brother
back, their chests connecting, their skin slapping as though they were two male
unee
battling for dominance. “Do you? Say it, Berke. You think I’m an
incompetent fool who can’t protect his own
gerel
.” He extended his
deadly claws.

They’ll kill each other because of me.
Fear coursed
through Gale’s body, fear not for herself, but for the male she loved.
Stars.
I love him.

“You’re not incompetent,” Berke growled, leaning forward.
“But you
are
a fool.” He shoved Murad away from him.

He dares to touch my male.
“Stop it!” Gale yelled at
the top of her lungs. She curled her fingers into tight fists.

Murad swiped his claws at Berke. Berke bobbed and the tips
skimmed over his stomach. He hissed and punched Murad in the jaw. Murad
staggered backward.

“You hurt him.” A surge of burning rage swept over Gale,
years of disappointment, of accepting punishment and rejection without a word
of protest, frothing to the surface. “And now you’ll pay.”

Gale stomped up to the closest warrior, pulled a gun out of
his thigh holster and slid the lever to stun. “Because no one hurts my male.”
She aimed the gun at Berke and pressed the trigger.

The blue ray hit him square in the chest and the eldest
Warlord howled, dropping to his knees, his arms and legs shaking, his teeth
chattering. An eerie silence fell upon the clearing, the murmurs of
conversation abruptly ceasing. Heads turned and warriors stared at her, their
mouths open and their eyebrows raised.

“You
shot
my brother?” Murad pivoted on his boot
heels.

I won’t allow him to return me, not now, not ever.
“I’m not leaving Chamele 3, Murad.” She aimed her gun at his chest. “If you try
to remove me, I’ll shoot you also.”

Murad’s eyes softened. “Gale, I wouldn’t—”

“No.” She waved her gun and the warriors around them hastily
moved out of range, panicked expressions on their fierce faces. “I’m tired of
others determining where I belong and to whom I belong. This is
my
planet and you are
my
male. I’m staying here.”

Gale raised her chin, meeting Murad’s gaze squarely, her
hands steady, her decision feeling right. She breathed in, breathed out,
breathed in, breathed out, her heart beating loudly as she waited for his next
move.

A sexy grin spread slowly across Murad’s handsome face.
“I’ve disarmed you before, my curvaceous little bounty hunter.” He flippantly
flung the challenge at her as though her words had meant nothing to him.

I’ll make them mean something.
Gale glared at the
male she loved.

“And I’ve shot you before.” She pressed the trigger.

* * * * *

“Will you be retrieving your
gerel
before she stuns
some other hapless male or are you planning to rest here all day?” Berke asked,
looming over Murad.

“I’m admiring your knobby knees, brother.” Murad grinned,
the tear tracks on his cheeks cracking. His fingers continued to twitch, the
pain dissipating.

Berke rolled his eyes. “That’s the sort of flippant comment
that will get you shot again.” He extended his calloused hand, his palm lined
with scars.

Murad gripped it, allowing his elder brother to pull him to
his feet. “She has shot me before,” he announced proudly, his cautious female
having faced both of them to claim him, the foolish youngest brother. “But this
is unusual behavior for her. Gale is normally gentle and sweet.” His legs
shook, his knees threatening to buckle under him.

“Yes, gentle and sweet.” Berke’s grim mouth twisted. “That’s
what I thought of your bounty hunter when I was down on my knees, my stomach
heaving, my torso racked by pain.”

“I should go to her.” Murad took one unsteady step forward.

“Murad, wait,” Berke ordered. Murad, needing to gather his
strength, complied. “Before you face your Gale, think, for once in your life,
about what is best.” The normally stoic Warlord appeared intriguingly ill at
ease. “If Tolui truly is building a clone army, as we suspect, your
gerel
won’t be safe in the Chamele system.”

This again.
Murad’s lips flattened and the urge to
beat some respect out of his older brother intensified. “I can protect Gale.
I’m not as useless in battle as you believe.”

Berke frowned. “I don’t doubt your warrior skills. I’ve
never doubted them, Murad.” Sincerity rang in his voice. “However, she’s your
weakness and, if he can, our enemy will hurt her to punish you.” His brother
stared into the distance, a tic of emotion pulsing in his cheek. “It’s best to
send her where she’ll be safe.”

“Only to hurt her more with that action.” Murad dusted off
his knees. Dirt clung to the black leather. “For Gale, the emotional pain of
our separation will cut deeper than any physical wound Tolui could deliver.”

Berke opened his big mouth.

“We’re one, Berke,” Murad quickly continued, seeking to stem
more of his brother’s unhelpful advice, as Berke clearly knew nothing about
human females. “If Gale leaves, I leave,” he stated bluntly, fully prepared to
walk away from everything he knew to be with the female he loved.

Berke raised his eyebrows. “You’re serious?”

“Deadly serious.” Murad met Berke’s gaze and held it. “I
vowed to never return her and I won’t break that vow.”

“I hope your
gerel
is as honorable.” Berke gazed up
at the blue sky, his expression weary. “Leaving won’t be necessary.” He waved
his hand dismissively. “Go, retrieve your little bounty hunter and protect her
well, brother.”

“I intend to.” Murad grinned, relieved to have peace between
them once more. His brothers were important to him, almost as important as his
gerel
.
He stalked in the direction Gale had fled, determined to soothe his irate
female.

“Do you wish to wear body armor, my lord?” Sartaq jogged
beside him, a chest covering draped over his arm, his dark eyes gleaming with
mischief. “Or to carry a gun, perhaps?” His best warrior held out a weapon, sun
rays reflecting off the polished barrel. “Your opponent is fierce, my lord. You
don’t wish to be caught by surprise as your brother was.”

“He
was
surprised.” Murad chuckled, wishing Khan
could have seen the stunned look on Berke’s face. His missing brother was
investigating the unauthorized landings half a planet away.

“Berke worries, as we all should,” Murad added and his grin
temporarily vanished. “Tolui will target my
gerel
, Sartaq. I’ll require
your expertise and skill to keep hersafe.”

“I would trade my life for hers, my lord.” Sartaq inclined
his head, the brusque male’s declaration surprisingly fervent. “And your warriors
would follow her into battle.”

“That’s a wise plan,” Murad quipped, his heart lightening.
“She’s less likely to shoot you if you’re behind her.”

“You would do well to follow that plan.” Sartaq laughed,
stopping at the edge of the clearing. Fields of tall grass stretched before
them. “Bring our lady back to us, my lord.”

“I will.”
I’ll try.
Murad followed Gale’s distinctive
scent, tracking her along the banks of the winding stream and through the
fields of tall grass, passing sites where they’d spent happy moments together,
the two of them alone and at peace, with no worries about clone armies or
overprotective older brothers.

A dust vulture shrieked, interrupting his reveries. The
creature circled in the blue sky above him, its dark silhouette warning of
death, and terror gripped Murad.

Gale.
He rushed forward, seeking to safeguard the
female he loved from harm.
I can’t lose her. I can’t.
Murad ran at full
speed, his boots pounding against the ground, his muscles straining, his chest
heaving and his lungs burning, the midday sun heating his back.

He climbed the steep incline to a rock ledge they often sat
upon and he breathed a sigh of relief. Gale sat, perched on the edge, her
shoulders slumped and her blonde curls cascading down her back. “Gale.”

“Go…away.” Her voice was muffled. She brushed her cheeks
with the back of her hands, the gun set on the rock beside her.

A tightness gripped Murad’s chest, squeezing his heart.
She’s
been crying.
He approached Gale slowly, cautiously, uncertain of what to
do, having never seen his strong female cry before.

He searched for something to say, something light and
meaningless to diffuse the tension between them. “Did you see the baby
unee
?”

“No.”

Murad moved the gun out of her reach and plunked his ass
down next to her. The plains were devoid of life, the
unee
absent.
“Ahhh…the ships must have scared them away.” He dangled his feet over the edge.
“They’ll come back, love.” Murad rested his hand lightly on her hip, needing to
touch her.

Gale shrugged and hunched over, her face turned away from
him, her arms wrapped protectively around her torso.

Murad leaned into her. “My brother thinks I should send you
away.” Gale stiffened and he rushed to explain. “He’s worried Tolui will seek
you out and try to harm you. I worry about that also. Tolui will know that by
killing you, he’d kill me.”

“Is that how bonding works?” Her gaze met his, her eyes red
and puffy, and a bone-deep regret filled Murad, his anger at Berke having
prevented him from seeing her pain. “If I die, you die?”

“No.” He captured her hand, stilling her trembling fingers.
“That’s how my heart works.” Murad placed her palm on his bare chest. “I
couldn’t live without you. I’d go mad, charge into battle, and I can’t be
assured my enemy will have his gun on stun.”

“You’re not serious.” Gale tugged on her hand. He wouldn’t
release her, clasping her to him, forcing her to touch him.

“I’ve never been more serious about anything,
gerel
.”
Murad met Gale’s gaze and held it, allowing all his emotions to show. “I love
you.” She inhaled sharply. “Sartaq has vowed to guard you with his life, and my
warriors would follow you into battle. But the responsibility, the honor of
protecting you is mine and
that
is a task I’d never joke about.”

“You want to return me.” Pain edged her voice.

“Never,” Murad denied, that alternative having never been a
consideration. “I can’t return you. As I told my brother, we’re one, you and I,
connected.

“One,” Gale repeated, lifting her eyebrows, his cautious
female openly skeptical.

“Yes, one.” He nodded, willing to repeat it a thousand times
if that would convince her. “We can’t be separated, so if you leave, I leave,
and Chamele 3 will have to find a new Warlord.”

“Oh.” Gale blinked slowly. “You’d do that?”

Murad shrugged. “I wouldn’t have a choice. We’re one.”

“Hmmm…” She hummed, the sexy noise making his cock twitch.
“I’m not leaving.” Gale gazed at the rolling plains. The grass was cropped
short where the
unee
had grazed, the new shoots a vivid green. “I love
it here.”