“Where do I fall in these stages?”

She stiffened again, her words coming haltingly.

“Um, well, I definitely would say that... I like you a whole lot.”

Satisfaction snapped in me like a cord pulled taut. Pride surged, and I held my weapon a little higher with my free hand.

“This is good,” I grunted. “For you I am only one step away from in love, then. I am very close.”

“Well, it’s not that simple,” she said, sputtering. I ignored her words, grinning as I looked out over her head. She could not take away the fire of hope blazing in my chest, now. Zeezee liked me a whole lot.

Zeezee grew quiet, and I took the opportunity to ask some of the questions that had lived inside me these past days.

“Where is the human tribe? I saw you come down with the fallen thing with some of your people. Where are the rest?”

“Ah. It’s a bit difficult to explain.” Her hand rose, pointing up at the night sky. “That fallen thing is something we call space ship. It helps us travel, but it’s not alive. It’s not like your irkdu. We come from up there. From another planet. We flew here in the space ship.”

“What is a planet?”

“Like... another world. Out there. Beyond the stars.”

It could not be. How was such a thing possible?

“So you do not come from Zaphrinax?” I had never heard of such a thing. I did not know anything existed beyond our lands.

“Is Zaphrinax the name of this planet? Or, this world, this place? No, my people live on another world called Earth. Way out there.” She pointed up again then paused, and I heard the smile in her voice when she spoke next. “But I think there are some humans here. On Zaphrinax. I didn’t see the bodies of my friends at the wreckage. I think they may be alive.”

Confusion nipped at me. Did Zeezee not know her people were with Gahn Fallo? Perhaps in the chaos she had not seen. Her hair had been flying everywhere and blocking even my own vision, after all.

“Yes. I believe they are still alive. They were taken by Gahn Fallo.”

She jerked around in her saddle, her eyes wide and her gaze hard.

“Wait. You know what happened to them? You know where they are?”

“Yes. I saw Gahn Fallo’s men kill the zeelk and collect the other women.”

Her smile was like sunlight.

“That’s amazing! Well, we have to go get them!”

She turned around to face forward again, squinting over the desert lands, as if she could find them that way. I bent, and spoke against her hair.

“We will. Gahn Irokai is bringing his men to ally with us. We will do battle with Gahn Fallo and retrieve your people.”

For some reason Zeezee did not seem happy with this.

“Battle... I’m not so sure I like the sound of that. Can’t we just go talk to them?”

I grunted.

“That is not the way of the Sea Sands. And Gahn Fallo is a vicious warrior.”

Zeezee sighed. The tents of our tribe were coming into view.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to accept that, for now. I definitely don’t want the other women with a bad guy, so we’ll have to do what we have to do. So he’s a Gahn, like you? A leader?”

My mouth tensed as I thought of Gahn Fallo. He was a strong warrior, and brave, but he was treacherous. He was the only current Gahn of the Sea Sands who had taken his position by killing his own tribe’s previous Gahn.

“Yes. There are five mighty Gahns of the Sea Sands, leading the five tribes. Gahn Fallo’s territory is closest.”

We passed the boulders, and I jumped down from the irkdu, turning to help Zeezee to the ground.

“Fighting it is, then. But no getting stabbed this time, alright?”

I lowered my lips to the top of her sweet head.

“I will do my best. For you.”

She turned her face up towards me, her soft lips parted.

“Thank you, Buroudei. Really. For everything. For looking out for me, for taking me back to get my stuff, and for agreeing to help get my friends back. I can’t wait to see them.”

I wanted to tell her it was all for her, that I’d do anything for her, but even though that was true it was not the whole truth. I stroked my knuckles across her cheek, and watched with interest as a flush moved under her skin.

“I am happy to do it. And it is good for the tribe, too. We do not have many women, now. My men are eager to fight for your friends.”

Her gaze narrowed with suspicion and she jerked back, knocking my hand away.

“Hold on. You don’t have a bunch of other guys in your tribe thinking my friends are their mates, do you? This needs to be a no-strings-attached rescue! I don’t want them thinking that by helping bring my friends back they get some wife out of the deal.”

“Only the Lavrika can show a man his mate. And so far, it has not come to any other men in this tribe.” This, too, was not exactly the whole truth. But I decided not to tell her about Taliok. Not yet.

“Hmm. Alright. I guess that’s good enough.”

I helped Zeezee untie some of her belongings, carrying them to my tent. Some of the larger things were left with the irkdu as it grazed. We would get them tomorrow. For now, all I wanted was to be among my hides with my mate. To touch her. To taste her. To see what being liked a whole lot truly meant.

OceanofPDF.com

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Cece

I tossed the backpack I’d salvaged from the ship to the ground beside the bed of hides, sinking down with a groan. It had been one hell of a long night. It felt like we’d left on this journey days ago. I was feeling stiff from the long ride back here, and I rubbed my thighs absentmindedly, thinking back over everything Buroudei had said. Being able to talk to him was kind of mind-blowing. After all the frustration and miming, I could finally just ask him what I wanted to know. And there was still so much I wanted to know.

Buroudei came into the tent after me and dropped the clothes and items he held before lighting a valok candle. When he saw me rubbing my legs his face grew dark. He stalked towards me, ripping my hands away and probing at my legs.

“Hey, cut it out!”

His strong touch was a ticklish torture along my stiff muscles. My body jerked in response. But he ignored me, quickly pulling the pants right off me.

“Buroudei, come on! Hey, now that you can understand me, I can tell you to knock it off!”

I had no underwear, and I pulled my tunic down, trying to cover my crotch and legs. But Buroudei was stronger. He wrenched my legs apart with hands that were impossibly firm and gentle at the same time. But he did not move after that. He knelt between my legs, studying my skin closely, before running a single knuckle from the inside of my left knee up to my groin. His touch sent electric sparks zinging under my skin and heat flooding into my cheeks. Then his tail twitched, and he sat back on his heels, looking satisfied. I eyed him warily.

“What? What were you looking at?”

He cocked his head, as if the answer should have been obvious.

“The leg coverings worked.”

I blinked, then glanced at my pants, the pants that Buroudei had reinforced with strong leather.

“Oh, yeah,” I said, almost disappointed that that was all he was looking for. “I thought you were going to... you know... mate me.”

Buroudei’s nostrils flared, and his fists clenched on his knees.

“It is all I long for in this world. But I needed to make sure you were not injured from the long journey.” His brow contracted moodily. “And, I could understand you saying, ‘no.’”

I was kind of regretting telling him to knock it off now. It had been a bit of a reflex to say no, but as he squatted, watching me with an intensity I’d literally never seen in another man’s eyes, his loincloth straining, I couldn’t deny that I wanted him. I had started wanting him even before tonight. But then again, that was before I knew all about this sacred-mate, make-babies-with-me stuff.