Chapter 27
Taz worked her way around the main fire and sat down next to me. Our argument from earlier had left a sour taste in my mouth and I looped an arm around her shoulders, eager to reclaim some of the closeness I'd worked so hard to build.
She gave me a surprised look but didn't pull away.
For a few minutes, I enjoyed the mesmerizing dance of the flames and the comforting familiarity of being surrounded by other males. Taz leaned back against my shoulder and took a drink from her cup.
"This stuff is nasty," she choked out, wiping her mouth on her arm.
I chuckled. "No one said you had to drink it."
"I needed a buzz tonight."
I flicked my ear as my translator struggled to translate her words. Syto tech was powerful but they didn't give slaves the best translators and a good number of words she used just turned to gibberish in my ears.
"Can we call a truce?" I asked. "I don't want to fight with you, and I believe we both have good intentions."
She sighed and took another drink.
"Good intentions or not, I'm not sure how either of us can ignore the situation."
I fought to keep my shoulders from tensing at the tone of her voice.
"Then we won't speak of it tonight." I needed time to think and the last thing I wanted was to drive her farther away.
Her slim body pressed against my side was filling me with a hunger that gentling had only stoked. I’d been so sure we’d be closer after consummating our mating, but if anything, Taz was putting up more barriers between us.
Maybe I'd done a poor job of pleasuring her yesterday. Nothing in my life had compared to the sensation of sinking into her tight heat. But gentling was not about the male, and if Taz felt that I'd cheated her out of her rightful pleasure, it would explain her bitterness today.
The roaring fire in the center of camp cast wide shadows and none of the others were sitting close enough to see us. My cock twitched at the thought of touching my mate again and I pulled her closer, letting my hand slide down until I was cupping her breast.
Taz jolted at my touch, and the noxious brew in her cup spilled out onto my lap.
"What are you doing?" she hissed. A glance at her face revealed that her pupils had darkened and I smirked. I may not have gentled her properly yesterday, but she still responded to me.
"Touching my mate," I answered, cupping her jaw with my other hand.
"Dargo," her tone was warning but she arched up into me when I kissed her and I pressed my luck. Slipping my tongue into her mouth, I groaned as she opened to me.
The smell of smoke and Taz filled my head, her scent had already changed to echo my own, a marking no male here could deny. The thought of my brothers' envy over my mate only stoked the embers of my desire and I shifted until we were laying on our sides, our legs tangled as we kissed.
The camp seemed to disappear around us as I reveled in her touch. The hesitant slide of her hands over my chest, the way her cool fingers traced the scars that I wore with pride, every sensation arrowing straight to my throbbing cock.
The taste of her mouth taunted me and I let my hands wander down her body, headed for the place I craved the most. My fingers breached her waistband and she pulled back with a gasp.
"Not here," she ordered, her eyes glassy and her face flushed.
"No one can see," I murmured, running my thumb from hip bone to hip bone, loving the way her belly shivered at the touch.
"But they can smell," she shot back.
I couldn't help but grin at that.
"Isn't that half the fun?"
"I'm serious, we're not having sex out in the open."
"That's not how you felt yest-"
Taz slapped a hand over my mouth. "Not. Here."
I rolled to my feet and pulled her up after me. She yelped in surprise when I hauled her into my arms and started toward our tent.
The feel of her small body filled me with a warmth I’d never experienced before. In a few short days, Taz had become the most precious thing in my life. I loved her fire and her indomitable will, and though I knew she’d never be an easy female, I wouldn’t have her any other way.
Ducking into our small tent, I made a mental note to ask her if she wanted a better home. The cramped shelter was decent enough, but it didn’t compare to the tent I’d been raised in, and if we were ever blessed with young, we’d need more space.
Adak’s tent was closer to what I expected for a mated pair, enough room to keep the living space separate from the bed, and places to store a hoard of offerings for my mate. I felt a bittersweet pang that I had nothing to offer her in the way of gifts.
Before my capture, I’d accumulated quite a collection of trophies for my future mate.
Perfectly tanned furs, polished eksine horns I’d spent days etching with designs, I’d even started working on an elaborate fiivas.
A complicated decoration of colored twine, shimmering panes of glass and rare feathers to hang over our bed and add to as our family grew.
No doubt my entire hoard had been looted as soon as I was captured. I couldn’t mourn the loss too much. If I was still on my home planet, I’d have my gifts but no Taz. I could rebuild my hoard, but I wouldn’t have found my fiery mate if I’d never been enslaved.
I set Taz on her feet and lowered myself to our bed. She crooked a brow at me and slowly lifted her shirt over her head, baring her pale skin, so different in color to mine.
“Are you expecting a strip tease?” she asked, a small smile teasing at her mouth as I stared at her exposed breasts. Her nipples were already beaded, nearly taunting me from across the tent.
“Strip tease?” I asked, struggling to pay attention to her strange human words as she turned in a slow circle and hooked her thumbs in her waistband.
“Are there no turoch strippers?”
I cocked my head to the side, hoping she’d continue to disrobe, but enjoying the suspense as she slowly unbuttoned her unnaturally colored shorts.
“I don’t understand,” I admitted, wishing I had a better translator. Not understanding her human phrases made me feel slow, and I didn’t like the idea of my mate thinking me unintelligent. I was far from the most brilliant turoch, but my brain worked well enough.
“Females that take their clothes off for money,” she prompted, inching her shorts down a little. My mouth watered as she revealed a little more of her hips and I sucked in a deep breath, loving that I could smell her arousal stronger in the enclosed quarters.
“Money?” I asked, struggling to keep my mind on our stilted conversation.
“Nevermind,” she chuckled. Her final piece of clothing finally dropped, revealing every inch of her glorious body.
I sat up as she moved toward me, the glow from the coals in the brazier casting tantalizing shadows over her skin.
“You’re beautiful,” I murmured. She stepped between my legs, her breasts at the perfect level for my mouth. I settled my hands on her ribs, rubbing my thumbs over her smooth skin as I leaned forward and planted a kiss on one of her small nipples.
Taz let out a purr of approval and I smiled at the feminine sound.
Sometimes she was as prickly as one of the strange needle covered plants on this planet, and sometimes she was as soft as the finest pelt.
I craved her no matter her mood, and I hoped eventually she’d trust me enough to shed those needles more often.
Her hands came up and she stroked her fingers over my scalp. I closed my eyes at the sensation, wishing circumstances had allowed us to disappear together as soon as I’d gentled her. Our first mating had been glorious, powerful, but rushed.
I’d planned to take my time pleasing her, make the moment last for hours and spend several days reveling in the newfound intimacy. But spotting the syto ship had taken that from us, and now I wanted to make up for it.
Pressing my face between her breasts, I took a deep breath, soaking in her touch and feeling a weight of tension falling off my shoulders. It was a male’s place to protect his female, guard her body, and tend to her spirit, but in this moment I felt strangely safe, as well.
Her palms smoothed down the back of my neck, her gentle touch sending comforting tingles over my skin and I swore the last decade of suffering and enslavement faded away like it had never happened.
If I’d known Taz was waiting for me at the end of everything I’d endured, I would have volunteered for it a dozen times over.
“You okay?” she asked.
I looked up at her, taking in the worried crease in her brow and the flush on her cheeks.
“I love you, Taz.” The words came easily. A sentiment I’d never felt for anyone before. This female was perfect for me in so many ways, and I looked forward to our future together in a way I couldn’t explain.
“What?” She stiffened, and I swore I felt her heart stutter under my hands.
“I love you, little Firebrand.” Saying it again only made me more sure of my feelings. I knew she might not feel the same so soon, but I was content to wait until she did.
“No, you don’t,” she said, leaning back. I tightened my hold on her waist, keeping her from retreating.
“Yes,” I countered, my heart sinking as a flash of fear crossed her face. “I know my own mind, mate. I don’t need the words from you, but I do love you.”
She pulled her hands back, as if repulsed by my touch.
“You barely know me, Dargo. Maybe you like me, I know you’re attracted to me. But whatever you’re feeling, it’s not love. Not yet.”
I forced my face not to betray the frustration I felt at her denial. I’d known Taz was guarded. That fact was clear as day, every time we reached a new level of intimacy she retreated from me. Her natural reaction was to snap and snarl at me, often I enjoyed her sarcasm and baiting.
But that didn’t mean I was willing to lie to either of us about how I felt.
“What do you think love is, Taz?” I demanded. “What do I have to do to prove my dedication to you?”
She covered her breasts with her arms and stepped away from me. I let my hands drop, not willing to keep her trapped when she was so eager to put space between us.
“I don’t know,” she said, looking everywhere but my face. “I don’t even know if I believe in love. But I know for sure you can’t love somebody this fast.”
I rubbed my forehead as I tried to force my brain to come up with an argument she’d accept.
“I enjoy your company, I enjoy your temper. I love the way you fight me, I love the way you protect your friends. I even love your foolish lack of fear, even if it terrifies me that you refuse to back down from fights you can’t possibly win.
I’m willing to die to keep you safe. I want you in my bed until one of us dies.
” The more I talked, the more frustrated I became.
It was one thing for Taz to shy away from her feelings, but to have her deny mine was a step too far. I’d never expected to feel this way about anyone, and having my mate throw my feelings back at me, like the thought of my love repulsed her, hurt.
“Tell me, Taz. What is the sum of that, if not love?”
She glared at me, chest heaving as her face turned a dull shade of red.
“It’s not love,” she ground out. “It’s not. I don’t know what to call it. But I can’t believe you really feel all that for me. Not this soon.”
I scraped a hand over my hair, needing the painful tug of my fingers through my mane to center myself.
I’d fought to the death more times than I could count, I’d killed percers bare handed, but I couldn’t conquer Taz’s stubbornness.
I didn’t understand her near-violent refusal to believe me.
I wasn’t asking anything of her, if anything, I was offering her my heart, freely and without any expectation of her doing the same.
“Then when? In a month, in a year? When am I allowed to feel those things for you? Will you ever accept it, or will you always deny the truth?” I knew the moment the words left my mouth I’d misstepped.
Taz set her jaw and grabbed her clothes, her movements jerky as she yanked her shirt on.
“I’m sorry,” I swallowed a dozen other words I wanted to say but it was too late. She turned her back on me and slapped the tent flap open, disappearing into the dark in a few furious strides.
I stared at the place she’d been standing and wished I could undo everything about the last few minutes.