Chapter 2 #3
“I want to go home,” she lamented and began crying again.
“I hate it here.” The combination of raw emotions and the icy wind forced her to curl into the heat of his body.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his chest. His warm, woodsy scent filled her nose and soothed her senses.
He smelled like the mountains surrounding them, like fresh air, moist earth, and pine trees.
“By ‘here’ do you mean Eagle Village, or Rydaria?”
His voice held a hint of amusement, and she lifted her head to glare at him. “Don’t mock me.”
“I wasn’t,” he insisted, though one corner of his mouth tipped up. “Do you hate the entire planet or just my village?”
He turned down one of the rows of cabins and Claire tensed. “Where are you taking me?”
“We need to talk, and I suspect that you’ll communicate more honestly without an audience. All I intend is a conversation. You have my word as a gentleman.”
“You expect me to believe you’re a gentleman?” Why was he still carrying her? And why hadn’t she insisted that he put her down? No, it was worse than that. His arms felt strong and supportive. She wanted to snuggle closer and lose herself in the warmth of his embrace.
He looked into her eyes, all playfulness falling away. “No harm will come to you as long as you’re under my protection, and anyone within this village is under my protection.”
She nodded and he carried her up onto the railed porch that ran the length of his cabin. Without releasing her legs, he pressed his hand against a small panel beside the door. A biometric scanner unlocked the handle and Claire’s jaw dropped.
“How much technology did you scavenge off those ships?”
He set her down inside the cabin and closed the door.
“Each group of hybrids was designed for a different purpose. The wolves are savage enforcers. They kill without question or regret. The lions are well-trained soldiers. They work best in units, and they’re obsessed with structure and discipline.
We’re a network of scientists and engineers.
It stands to reason that we have access to technology the others do not.
We knew what to strip from the ships, and what we could not scavenge, we fabricate. ”
“I see.” She didn’t want to give a damn, but it had been obvious from the start that each hybrid class was different from the others.
She’d thought it was just the varying animals that had been engineered into their DNA, but Raphael’s answer made more sense.
The animals had been chosen to produce a specific result.
She shuddered. Every new fact she learned about Nuevo Biotech revolted her further.
He crossed the room and made some sort of adjustment using a touch screen panel on the wall. “I just bumped up the heat. We’ll get you warmed back up in no time.”
His attentiveness surprised her, as did the fact that he’d cared enough to run after her.
He didn’t seem angry, just confused by her behavior.
She felt foolish standing there wrapped in his coat, so she took it off and held it out toward him.
“Thank you for coming after me.” A fresh wave of embarrassment washed over her as she realized how reckless she must seem.
“Keep it until you stop shaking.” When she didn’t lower her arm, he took the coat from her and draped it around her shoulders. “Would you like me to build a fire?”
She shook her head, feeling awkward and embarrassed.
“It’s not that cold in here. I’m just… rattled.
” It took her a few seconds to find the right word.
He was being nice now, and she wasn’t sure how to react to the change in his demeanor.
She couldn’t deny finding him attractive, but which was the real Raphael, the autocratic leader or the compassionate protector?
He motioned toward the living room on her left as he moved farther into the cabin. “Have a seat. I’ll print something warm to drink. Is Rydarian coffee okay?”
“That would be great. Thanks.” She walked to the living room and sat in one of the chairs.
She took a moment to look around while he worked in the kitchen.
The cabin was larger than the ones she’d seen in the feline village, but then Raphael and his brother ran this place.
It made sense that their homes would be nicer than the others.
Leadership always came with privileges. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom along one wall.
The kitchen was tucked away in the opposite corner.
An office area occupied the same wall as the kitchen, and there was a railed loft above the bedrooms. “Your cabin is nice. Do you have roommates, or do you live here all by yourself?”
Raphael walked out of the kitchen a short time later carrying two steaming mugs.
His sun-streaked hair was tousled, and the softer light made his eyes look red rather than orange.
“Victor and I share this cabin.” He handed her one of the mugs and then sat in the chair directly across from her.
“It takes too many resources for any of us to live alone. Everyone has at least one cabin-mate.”
Trepidation tingled down Claire’s spine. The disparate ratio of women to males was the reason each feline coalition bonded with the same female. Was it the same here? “Will each female have only one mate or will cabin-mates share a female?”
He studied her for a moment before he answered.
His expression was unreadable, but his gaze began to smolder.
“You know there are nearly ten males for every female planet wide. We wouldn’t expect you to take on ten males, but why not two or three.
” He shrugged. “Such arrangements are permissible on Earth. It’s more common for a man to have multiple wives, but the practice has been acceptable for centuries. ”
It sounded like a sales pitch and understanding unfurled inside her. If Raphael was Victor’s cabin-mate then this was the beginning of a courtship. Raphael hadn’t brought her here to question her. He’d brought her here to seduce her.
She looked at the door, heart thudding in her chest. If she bolted, he’d chase her. The predatory gleam in his eyes warned her that he was hoping she’d run. The strangest ache erupted in her pussy. She felt empty and needful, yet it made no sense. She didn’t even like Raphael.
Rather than run like a coward, she lifted her chin and met his gaze. “You need to make it clear to the other women that they will be taking on more than one male. That’s not the impression you gave us last night.”
“I was distracted last night.” A lazy grin curved his lips. “Still, it was not my intention to mislead you. I will clarify our expectations.”
“Which are?” she asked. “Lions and wolves need a genetically compatible mate. They can’t produce offspring without one. Is it the same with raptor hybrids?”
“Yes, and no,” he said. “We can instinctively sense the female who will make the best mate for us. The more intense the attraction, the better the chances of babies. However, the mating bond is formed intentionally.”
“What happens if the woman doesn’t agree with your instincts? Does she get any say in this?” She was being an argumentative bitch, and she wasn’t sure why. Raphael had been nothing but polite and informative since he ran after her. Why did she keep provoking him?
He watched her silently for a moment, his gaze shimmering with orange-gold fire. “Our bodies produce a complex combination of pheromones. The female either responds to them or she doesn’t. Again, the more intense the attraction, the better the chances of babies.”
The door opened and Victor stepped inside. His gaze landed on Claire and narrowed. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine,” Raphael told him. “I wanted to speak with Claire and thought a quieter setting might benefit the conversation.”
What nonsense. He didn’t want an audience while he tried to seduce her. Another unwanted rush of heat assailed her body. Her nipples tingled and her inner muscles clenched. What the fuck? Did she want to be seduced by these two males? None of the lions had affected her at all.
Victor looked at her more closely and his expression darkened. “Why is she wearing your coat?”
The accusation in his tone made Claire want to slap him. She barely knew either of these males. They sure as hell had no claim to her. “Heather blurted out a secret that I wasn’t ready to share. I got upset and ran outside. Raphael came after me and brought me here. End of story. No big deal.”
Victor’s shoulders relaxed and his expression eased. “I’m glad you weren’t harmed.” His lips curved into a warm smile. “Any chance you’d tell me what Heather said?”
“No,” Claire said firmly then looked at Raphael. “Can I go back to the bunkhouse now?”
Raphael set his mug aside and scooted to the edge of his seat. “I have a few questions first.”
Feeling overly warm and restless, she shrugged out of his coat. “Questions about what?”
“Your life on Earth.”
Unwanted emotions extinguished her simmering arousal. She’d about calmed down and now he wanted to drag it all up again? She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about any of that.”
“Yet, you clearly need to,” Raphael countered. “Was Heather right? Are you hiding from the pain?”
“I’ll deal with Heather later. You have no right to dig around in my personal life.”
“I can help you work through—”
“You have no idea how this feels,” she snapped.
“Actually, I do,” Raphael told her. “My older brother, Charles, was murdered when I was thirteen. It didn’t happen in front of me, but I spent many years focused on his death, the senselessness and injustice of how he died.
It was only when I filled my mind with memories of his life that I was able to move beyond the pain. ”