It was time to pantomime, just like some stupid Tarzan role play. Only instead of role play, this was my real life.

I placed my hand to my chest.

“I’m Celia. Cece. Cece.”

I pounded my chest each time to emphasize my point. I was worried I’d have to do this dance a few times, but he seemed to catch my drift pretty quickly. OK, he’s definitely a pretty sharp guy. Or, er, alien.

He imitated my gesture, placing his own clawed hand against his chest.

“Gahn Buroudei.” He, paused, then said a bunch more, the syllables going in one ear and out the other.

“Sorry, I didn’t get all that. Got a nickname? I’m Celia, but people call me Cece.” I gestured to myself again as I said, “Cece.”

He paused, the bright parts of his eyes pulsing, then placed his hand on his chest again.

“Buroudei.”

Then he did something strange. His tail curled around the front of his body, the black tip reaching up to cover his eyes for a moment. It was just for a second, and then his tail swished back into place. Not sure what to make of that, I focused on what he’d said.

“Buroudei... OK, yeah, I can handle that. I hope that’s actually your name, and you didn’t just try to tell me your word for chest or heart or something. Do you even have a heart? Nevermind.”

My sentence fizzled. Still he watched me, something dark and deep and unnameable in his alien eyes.

Then he opened his mouth, his voice somewhere between a growl and a purr, and said,

“Zeezee.”

My name in his mouth was terrible and gratifying. Bizarre and enticing. It sent heat down my spine and goosebumps over my skin. It felt like he was recognizing something deep inside me. As if he knew something about me that even I didn’t.

And, frankly, I didn’t like it one fucking bit.

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER SIX Buroudei

Not for the first time, I began to wonder if the Lavrika was playing some cruel trick. It had ignited the sacred mate bond inside me, but, it appeared, not inside my mate, my Zeezee. Such a thing was unheard of among my people. People had rejected their mates before, and rejected their bonds, but it was at least there to be rejected. My strange little mate didn’t seem to feel anything at all. At least, she didn’t seem to feel anything besides fear and anger and the need to run. This was puzzling. She was puzzling. And not only was this confusing and complicated, but it was also heart-rending. The men who’d told me of this bond’s power, who’d warned me of this lovesickness, had not exaggerated. My entire body, my very existence, was for her, now. How could she not see that? And how could she not feel the same?

And so, when she’d spoken to me so firmly, so angrily, I’d let her go. For the moment, anyway. I did not intend to let her go far. I would observe her, learn her ways, and teach her what it meant to be the mate of a mighty Gahn. Soon she would see. She had to.

I did not like to think of what would happen if she didn’t.

She was talking to me, her words coming quick and lovely from her soft mouth. It amazed me that she could speak so swiftly with only one tongue segment. The wide, pink thing was more agile than I would have guessed. I followed her as she continued to walk, back out from the cliffs and onto the sand. She scanned the horizon with her gleaming eyes, then pointed, turning back to me.

I followed her arm, my eyes settling on the wreckage of the fallen beast in the distance.

Ah. So she wanted to return to that thing. To the scene of the almost-slaughter. I growled, and her brows contracted in what appeared to be irritation.

“I will not take you back there. It is not safe, my Zeezee.”

More mysterious sounds trilled from her pretty mouth, but I was resolute. None of her charms would sway me on this matter. Although, she did not seem intent on using any of her charms. She spat some of her words at me, harshly, then turned and started walking. I waited for a moment, to see what she would do, but she did not turn back, simply continuing in a straight line onto the sand. A muscle jumped in my jaw. She will not stop. She will not turn back.

I ignored the painful lurch in my chest at the thought that she could walk away, leaving me without looking back. I couldn’t think about what that meant now. What I did have to think about was her safety. Safety that was being risked with every step she took.

With a few sprinting steps, I caught up with her, grabbing onto her hand. She stopped short, whirling on me. I tried to imitate a gesture she’d done earlier, when she’d been expressing her displeasure at my actions. Her head had swung back and forth, quickly. I did the same, the feeling a strange one. She paused, her expression softening as I did so, and a thrill ran through me. The thrill turned to concern, though, when I noticed that the places on her face that I had wiped the war paint from had become very red.

That... cannot be good.

I cast my eyes over her clothing, noting the hood at the back of her strange cloak. Maybe it was some sort of facial protection. Though what could be hurting her face, I did not know. And not knowing filled me with brooding worry. I grabbed the funny, stiff fabric in my hands, pulling the hood up over her head, settling it firmly and carefully. She watched me closely as I did so, worrying at her pink bottom lip with her unimpressive teeth.

Strange. I peered closer. Her skin looked even more red now, and her eyes were wide.

She gave a choked, spluttering kind of sound and turned rapidly, marching away. My mouth flattened as I realized grimly she was going to continue on into danger unless I stopped her. Resigned, I strode forward, picking her up and slinging her easily over my shoulder.

Suffice to say, she was not pleased.

More kicking and screaming ensued, with angry words I could make out but not understand. Ahh-sole. Tie-rent.

I gave a low whistle, calling my irkdu to us, and mounted the thing easily, even with Zeezee on my shoulder.

“You can ride upright, as you did before, or stay tossed over my shoulder like a misbehaving cub. The choice is yours.”

She paused, listening, then strung together a long, fiery sentence before her kicking finally ceased. Satisfied, I slid her down and around, so that she was nestled between my thighs once more. My cock pulsed insistently, but I ignored it, cursing whatever black luck had left me with me with a mate whom I could not understand and who did not seem to want me. But as I tucked my arm protectively around her slim waist, pulling her to me and feeling the rise and fall of her breath against my chest, I didn’t really feel unlucky. Fate had bestowed something scared and strange upon me. It was up to me to make it all make sense. My cock throbbed once more and I sighed, urging my irkdu forward.

This was going to be a very long ride.

WE HAD A LOT OF GROUND to cover before we reached the tents of my people. Some of the journey was made in the shadow of the cliffs, but much of it had to take place over the open sands. I kept my axe at the ready, keenly aware of my surroundings. I lamented the loss of my spear. It had been a brutal weapon. But, I consoled myself, once I had gathered some of my men, we could take a safer trip back to the scene of the zeelk killings and get many more spear tips. Assuming Gahn Fallo’s men hadn’t stripped everything bare after taking the women.

The women. That was an issue I would have to return to. In the midst of the battle, I’d been happy to let Gahn Fallo’s men take them as long as it meant no more foul zeelk were nipping at my mate’s slender heels. But I was growing more and more convinced that the reason Zeezee wanted to go back the way we’d come was to find her fellow tribeswomen. I remembered the way she’d tried to help the other fallen woman, trying to pull her up and to safety. Yes, she would not be happy until we had recovered the other women. But that would take time to prepare for, and a coordinated effort. I would do it for her. Of course I would. But we needed men. And a plan.