Chapter 25
I woke up on fire.
A whimper escaped me as I rolled onto my side and the side of my face scraped against a rough blanket, it felt like sandpaper on an open wound.
There was a loud rustling and a warm breeze washed over me as I tried to peel my dry eyes open.
“You are safe, female,” a velvety male voice assured me, the sound of heavy steps warning me of a stranger’s approach. An alien stranger judging by him calling me ‘female’.
“Where are Carn and Gigi?” I rasped, finally getting my hands under me. It took way too much effort to sit up and I bit back a cry at the stinging on my face and arms.
“Why do I hurt?”
“The males you were with are safe, and far from here.”
My eyes opened a slit and I blinked as I took in the roughly made tent over me and a hulking red shape crouched a few feet away. The red blur moved slowly and I realized he was offering me a plastic cup.
“Water?” Every cell in my body cried out for the precious liquid and I shakily reached for the cup.
“As much as you need,” he assured.
The first gulp felt like heaven and I had to force myself not to chug it all.
“You were in the sun for too long, your skin has burned.”
I laughed into the cup, spluttering water everywhere. Burned, I felt roasted, like a hot dog left on the grill until the skin charred and split.
“I feel like I’m on fire,” I croaked. “Why isn’t Carn here, too?”
The red blur slowly came into focus, enough for me to see the stiff set of his massive shoulders and the uncomfortable expression on his handsome face.
This was the first turoch I would have called pretty by human standards.
He was still red and scary, but his features were smoother, more refined than the other’s I’d seen.
His nose was straight, his lips almost pouty and he had eyelashes so long it was criminal.
He was the complete opposite of Carn and it made me miss my giant monster with a passion. He should be here, he’d never leave me with strangers.
“The Butcher is not welcome in our camp. He has slaughtered many of our people.”
My heart sank. I knew Carn was a gladiator, and I knew he’d killed turochs but for some reason I hadn’t connected the dots that he wouldn’t be allowed around his own people.
“He’s-” I cleared my throat, my voice scratchy as I finished my statement. “He’s not a bad person.”
The turoch crouched across from me didn’t look convinced and I couldn’t blame him.
“He’s violent and murderous. Even if we could trust him, there are too many males who have lost friends and brothers to him. He’d be attacked as soon as he walked past the sentries.”
“I need to go to him.” I don’t like hearing about that version of my sweet, slightly confused mate.
I’d seen him in a blood rage, I knew exactly how deadly he could be.
But most of my memories were of cuddles and being fed while he went hungry or the totally wrecked look on his face just as he orgasmed.
That Carn wasn’t the one all the turochs hate, and he was somewhere out there probably freaking out that I was gone.
The male stood and held out a hand.
“He has been given food and water, even the syto has been provided for. Stay, rest a night and heal, and I will take you back to him if you truly wish it.”
Despite the sick feeling at being apart from him, I couldn’t deny how weak and shaky I felt. The thought of walking out into the harsh sunlight made me dizzy and all I wanted was shade, sleep and gatorade.
“Just one night,” I conceded, letting my body lower back to the rough bedding. “Please don’t hurt him, he’s... really trying to be good.”
I didn’t know if my visitor heard me because I was asleep before I saw him leave.
***
THE SOUND OF A STAMPEDE woke me in a panic and I was out of bed and standing before I even registered what I was hearing. Banging metal, stomps, grunts, angry bellows and loud male laughter filtered into the tent.
The camp, I was in the turoch camp.
The canvas of the tent was lit up with sunlight and the sides flapped lightly against the tall poles.
My skin was still hot and tight but I felt steadier and less like I’d puke up my guts if I moved around. Moving slowly, I hopped outside, wondering where my new crutches were.
I couldn’t remember how I got here. My last memory was of feeling like the world was spinning and then nothing. I must have passed out at some point. Had we found the camp or had the turochs found us?
“The female is awake!” someone called.
I squinted against the bright light and gaped as I took in the camp.
It was huge. Dozens of tents like the one I’d just left and what looked like hundreds of turochs.
A huge fire roared nearby, several large carcasses were spitted around its edges, males tended to them, turning the spits easily despite the massive amount of meat on each wooden spike.
The smell made my stomach cramp and I started moving toward the food on instinct.
The turoch who’d brought me water emerged from a large group of males and hurried toward me.
“Female,” he bellowed, his voice drew every eye my way and I cringed at the assessing way they watched me. No one was acting aggressive, but the last time I was confronted with a group of turochs hadn’t gone well. I just hoped these males had better manners.
“You are recovered?” he asked, an open smile on his face.
I rubbed my itchy face and sucked in a breath at the raw pain the motion caused. I must have a bitch of a sunburn.
“I feel alive, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said cautiously. The smell of food was taunting me but having the whole camp’s attention on me made me nervous, and I still needed to find Carn.
“Alive is good,” he agreed. “We have some medpacks for the sun’s burns on your skin.”
I needed some aloe but I’d take anything that helped the itchy pain.
“Please. And some food if that’s okay.”
The male shrugged and gestured for me to follow him.
“Anything you need. Adak and his mate will return soon with the other mated females, they will know better what you’d want.”
“Human females?” I asked. If this was the band we were looking for, at least one of these males had hooked up with a human woman. The thought of talking to someone else in a human/alien relationship made my heart pound with excitement.
I’d been surrounded by turochs and sytos for weeks, I loved Carn and I liked Gigi but nothing could replace human companionship.
“Three human females,” he replied, leading me into a huge tent. The massive space was crowded with even more turochs and there was an actual feast laid out on giant metal platters on the ground.
“Sit,” he pointed at a mat of thick grey fibers beside the food. “I will bring the medpacks, you can eat as much as you like.”
“Thanks.” I dropped like a stone and crossed my legs, eyeing the strange mix of roasted mystery meat and human snack foods laid out in front of me. “I’m Naomi, by the way.”
“Kalhu.” He patted his muscle-bound chest. “I will return quickly, you are safe here, Naomi. These are honorable males.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just nodded and watched as Kalhu disappeared outside. No one approached me, but it didn’t keep them from staring and I blocked it all out as I grabbed a handful of pretzels and what I hoped was some Earth animal’s rib.
The meat tasted like straight heaven and I ripped it off the bone like a savage.
A few minutes later I’d stuffed myself to the gills and Kalhu was back with a blue case like the one I’d ruined in the officer’s lounge.
He crouched beside me and poured some water into the packet he pulled out of the case.
The rest of the water he handed to me as the packet started to steam and bubble.
I chugged it and watched as he carefully swished the soupy mess in the packet.
“The poultice should heal your burns in a few days,” he assured me.
“That sounds nice,” I said cautiously. He dipped two fingers into the pulpy mess and moved to smear it on my face. I leaned back and held up a hand.
“I can do it.”
“Ah.” A wry smile crossed his handsome face. He handed me the hot pouch and watched as I carefully dabbed the warm, mushy flowers on my arms and face.
“You are mated to the Butcher?” he asked.
“Carn’s my mate,” I confirmed, wondering if he’d been hitting on me. “You said you’d take me back to him?”
“When Adak and Penny return-”
“Can we go now? I really need to see him.”
Kalhu’s tail flicked lazily behind him. He didn’t seem offended by my interruption but he inspected my face like he was looking for the answer to a question he hadn’t asked.
“You are mated willingly? We can protect you if you do not wish to return to him.”
I plopped the empty med pack onto the ground and tried not to freak out about how reluctant he seemed to take me to Carn.
“No one needs to protect me from Carn.” It came out harsher than I meant, but I didn’t want to be separated from Carn any longer, and I didn’t like the way everyone acted like he was this evil villain.
He’d done terrible things, and he regretted all of them. Terrible things had been done to him, too, and he’d been just as much a slave as any other turoch. If they couldn’t accept that, fine. But I did, and I wanted my mate back.
Kalhu nodded and shifted to give me more space.
“If you feel up to travel, I can get a patrol together and take you.”
“I’m up for it.” I scrambled up and paused as my too-full stomach cramped. Wherever Carn and Gigi were, I hoped they had decent food and water.
***
THE MALES GUARDING Carn eyed me like I was an idiot when I threw myself into his arms but I ignored it. I got why they didn’t trust him, and I wasn’t going to argue about who was right on that topic. But I liked Carn, and I freaking missed him.
It had taken nearly four hours to walk from camp to where’d they’d left Carn. Without my crutches I was back to hopping and my leg was shaking with the strain. Kalhu had maintained his relaxed, friendly demeanor and helpfully filled me in on how I’d gotten separated from my mate.