Chapter 24
When I agreed to Dargo teaching me to fight, I wasn't prepared to be woken at the break of dawn. We’d slept side by side last night and the only action I’d gotten was a kiss that ended before it got to the good stuff.
It had been nice to sleep next to him, his slow breathing a reminder that for the first time in my life I wasn’t alone. Though his insistance on taking things slow was starting to fuck with me. I’d been reluctant about this mating but now that I’d committed, I wanted him fully onboard, too.
My friends were swanning around, secure in their relationships and apparently loving it, and I felt like the odd one out. The only one who’s mate was dragging his damn feet about this mythical ‘gentling.’
I followed Dargo out of camp, the sky just starting to turn a rosy pink as we walked past the last line of tents. He picked a spot not far from where my truck was, and I was glad he hadn’t taken us past it. I wasn’t ready to look at the destruction the percer had caused at my little camp site.
He picked up a heavy branch and handed it to me.
"How would you defend yourself if I was attacking you?" he asked.
I tested the weight of the branch as I eyed him. Despite the rocky start to our relationship, I wasn't afraid of Dargo. He loomed a good foot and a half above me, his shoulders were wide enough to block out the rising sun and yet I felt strangely safe despite all that.
"I assume it's the same as a human. Go for the face and the nuts.
" This wouldn't be the first time I'd been forced to defend myself.
In the past I'd found a quick crack to the nose was the quickest way to put a guy, or girl, on the defensive.
Of course, I'd been facing humans not giant, horned aliens. But still, no one liked a broken nose.
"Nuts?"
I gestured at his groin.
"You know, a man's most prized possessions."
He chuckled. "That would give any male with external genitals pause."
External genitals? Did I want to ask?
The answer was yes, I desperately wanted to ask, but I wasn't here to learn which aliens had dangly bits and which didn't.
"But I don't recommend aiming for a turoch's head. And not just because you're far too short to reach."
I reached up with my stick and tapped his forehead.
"I can reach with a weapon. And hitting you with that car battery worked pretty well."
Dargo grabbed my stick and held it hostage.
"You had the high ground and I was already suffering from a head injury when you ambushed me.
On even terrain, going for the face is a bad strategy against a turoch.
" He rapped his knuckles between his horns.
"We battle each other head to head as soon as we get our horns, our skulls are heavily reinforced.
Otherwise most young males would be walking around with their brains rattled. "
"What if I broke your nose?"
He let go of my stick and leaned down until we were eye to eye.
"Hit me as hard as you can."
"I'm not giving you brain damage so you can prove how tough you are."
Dargo smirked and braced his hands on his knees.
"I want you to understand why it won't work. If you panic and go for the head on instinct, you're going to waste precious seconds and piss off your attacker."
I frowned at him, tightening my hold on the branch. It was sturdy and heavy enough to do some real damage, but if he was this confident I wanted to know what I was up against.
"Okay, but if I hurt you, it's your fault." Already feeling a little guilty, I lifted the stick over my head and brought it down between his horns.
It hit with an echoing crack, and the reverberations of the blow made my hand ache. Dargo's smile didn't waver. I don't think he even blinked. I shook out my hand and glared at him.
"Give me one more try."
"Go ahead," he said cheerfully.
I wound up again and put my whole body into the next blow, bringing it down with every ounce of strength I possesed. The stick smacked into his mohawk and broke in half over his head.
"Shit!" I dropped the branch and held my stinging hand.
"Are you hurt?" He straightened up and grabbed my hand, inspecting it as I gaped at him.
"You're not?"
He shrugged and dropped my hand once he was satisfied I was okay.
"I told you, thick skull."
"That would have put a human in the hospital," I insisted, staring at my ruined stick. "That's insane."
"You're small, so I don't recommend intentionally getting into a fight with one of us. But if you don't have a choice, there are better places to aim for."
"I thought you said turochs prized females. If your people are so 'honorable' will this even be an issue?"
"We do prize females, but every turoch on this planet is a former slave. Even the best male can become bitter when his freedom is stolen. I can't guarantee you can trust every turoch you meet."
"Like the band that attacked Hope and Aeko." I still couldn't believe that Hope had rammed them with a car. I was supposed to be the crazy one. Then again, Hope was sucking face with her alien every chance she got, so maybe she was the crazy one.
"Tumec's band." He frowned. "They'll need to be dealt with eventually."
"I think Hope running them over with a car might have done that."
"Don't assume the problem is gone, Taz. Your world has irreversibly changed, there will be challenges you've never encountered before."
He could say that again. In the last week and a half I'd seen and done things I could never have imagined.
If I was going to survive this, I'd need all the training I could get.
Hope and Penny might be happy to let their mates protect them but I was more comfortable knowing I could handle things myself.
I rolled my shoulders.
"Okay, don't go for the face. Where do I hit you to make you hurt?"
He burst out laughing, and I watched as every muscle from his neck to his loincloth tightened into a mouthwatering display.
Holy fuck, he was fine. I really didn't want to be drooling over him when I was still holding out hope that the girls would decide to blow this popsicle stand, but couldn't deny my attraction to him.
"Only you, little Firebrand, could make my cock hard by threatening to hurt me."
I bit back a smile.
"You're a little kinky, you know that?"
"I'm hard as stone, but that's not important right now," he admitted.
The casual confidence in his voice made me squirm as I remembered being under him, his cock grinding against me right before he'd 'licked' me into next week.
I was getting wet during sparring practice and I wasn't even embarrassed.
Dargo was worming his way past my defenses faster than anyone ever had and it was scaring me a little.
"The groin is a good target, but it can be hard to hit when you're being charged. I recommend aiming for the ankles."
I glanced at his thick legs, and the huge cloven hooves he had braced shoulder width apart. Nothing about his ankles looked vulnerable, I couldn't even stomp on his instep like I would a human.
"The ankles? Really?"
He lifted one leg and pointed to the narrowest part, right above his hoof.
"Our center of gravity is higher than yours. This is the weakest part of our body, and the closer to the ground you hit me, the more likely you are to knock me off balance. In a fight, a broken ankle can be a death sentence. And if I'm limping, it's harder for me to chase you down."
The thought of running with Dargo hot on my heels made my stomach drop. I liked facing danger, having a threat behind me while I tried to get away made me panic.
"Ankles and groin, got it. Any big finishing moves you can teach me?"
Dargo sobered up and met my eyes, his expression serious.
"Taz, if there is a turoch trying to hurt you, running and hiding is your best option. Don't try and finish a fight you can't win."
I set my jaw, not liking that he thought I didn't stand a chance against him.
"Maybe I could win, if you taught me."
"Female, don't get yourself killed trying to prove a point." He wasn't going to let this go, so I changed tactics.
"I'm getting another stick."
It took longer than I liked to find a branch that didn't fall apart when I smacked it into the ground, and by the time I had my new weapon, I was determined to take Dargo down.
Yeah he was bigger than me, and his skull was thicker than brick, but I knew I could hold my own if I had the right strategy.
He waited patiently while I tested out the weight of my stick and then put several yards between us.
"I'm going to charge you. All you have to do is get one good hit in to throw me off."
Seemed simple enough. He was far enough away I'd have plenty of time to get ready. Bracing my feet, I wrapped both hands around my branch and nodded at him.
Dargo sprinted at me, so fast I blinked and he'd tossed me over his shoulder and spun me in a dizzying circle.
"Too slow, little Firebrand."
"Put me down, do it again." I couldn't believe how fast he was. Nothing as big as Dargo should move at the speed of light.
He plopped me on my feet and retreated to his position. The strut in his step showed off his magnificent ass and pissed me all the way off.
This time I started swinging as soon as I saw him tense. My stick smacked into his thigh right before he grabbed me again. He gave me a teasing slap to the butt before setting me down and swaggering back into position. I glared at his inhuman legs, painting a mental target on his right ankle.
If I missed this time, I was stabbing him right in the dick, just to prove I could.
He charged. I swung.
And missed again. This time I didn't even hit him before I was upside down and spinning in another dizzying circle.
"Is this really necessary?" I shouted, blood pounding my ears from my position and my growing frustration.
"Consequences, female. Every loss has consequences." He chuckled.