16. Chapter 16

Our walk back to camp was mostly silent. Now and then, we played the word game, pointing at different things and repeating the other's words in their language. But my mind kept returning to the events at the pond. I had seen many males fight, and I was myself an experienced warrior, but her moves had surprised me. They were elegant, quick, and efficient—as I supposed they had to be, given her smaller stature.

I had noticed before that she was taller than the other gallies. The human male warriors—I imagined having been chosen for being the largest and strongest—were, of course, taller than her, but never in a hundred years had I imagined she would be able to hold her own against one of them, let alone three, or that quickly without taking a hit.

Were there more gallies like her ?

It was hard to imagine that there could be anybody like her. She was an enigma, full of surprises and contradictions. Taking into account what I had learned about her so far, now I had more questions than answers. A fight , she had told me. But a male didn't send three assassins after one gallies over a fight . Never mind sending one. Gallis were revered in my culture even before they went nearly extinct.

There was more between Willis and her, making me curse our language barrier once again. I would need to keep an even closer eye on Willis because a leader capable of sending others out to do his dirty work was an adversary of the evilest kind.

My mind returned to Amber's battle skills. It had all happened so quickly that I hadn't even had a chance to interfere. Nevertheless, the image of her naked body dishing out blows and kicks was seared into my brain. Her willingness to employ every trick in her book to distract during a fight especially impressed me. My cock was still hard, turning even harder at the thought of wrestling with her. I would never hurt her or do anything against her will, but from what I had found out so far, I was certain she would appreciate a good sparring as foreplay.

By the time we reached camp, sweat had trickled down my back from images of Amber on the ground and me on top of her. Me pinning her arms down, her squirming, while her eyes turned even deeper with lust. Not here, not now . I ground my jaw and willed my cock down. For what I was planning with her, we would need privacy and time. Waiting would make this conquest all the sweeter .

Automatically, my eyes darted to Willis as Amber and I entered the camp. Only his eyes betrayed his surprise at seeing her, but then they turned to me, and a sneer formed around his lips. He was undoubtedly calculating that it had been me who had rid Vandruk of his scum warriors. I flexed my muscles and nodded at him with a contemptuous turn of my lips, letting him think it had been me; the longer he underestimated Amber, the better.

Amber's thoughts seemed to go in the same direction because she grabbed my arm and rose on her tiptoes to give me a chaste kiss on the cheek. "My hero! Thank you!"

I couldn't resist. I pulled her around and pressed my lips to hers. She resisted only for a moment before returning the kiss fully and melting into my arms—the picture of a grateful gallis for the protection of a strong warrior. The message we were sending was loud and clear. Even thickheaded Willis should understand that she was under my protection.

"My tent tonight," I ordered when our lips parted, and we stared into each other's eyes. Just like I had imagined, hers were pools of darkness, filled with desire, just like I assumed mine looked to her.

"…. dangerous…" she said something in English from which I only understood one word, but her tilted head and a barely-there nod acknowledged my demand. Even her stubborn head understood that she would be safer in my tent than sleeping out in the open again.

I didn't know why she had shunned the other gallies' tent last night, but that was the least of her secrets I wanted to unravel .

She held up a finger, and I took it as a sign for one moment. I nodded. But then my breath stuck in my throat as I watched her march straight over to Willis. I would have given half my demesne to understand what she was saying to him. I readied myself to interfere should Willis make one move against her.

"Khadahr Dzur-Khan," Dhor-Van approached me.

I didn't take my eyes off Amber and actually chortled at Willis's stunned expression when she closed in on him.

"Dhor-Van," I acknowledged my warrior, keeping my attention on Amber and Willis.

"Shan-Tal and I would go hunting if it pleases you to replenish our food," he offered.

"Are we running low?"

Willis was raising his hands, probably proclaiming his innocence as Amber talked to him.

"We have enough for tonight and tomorrow morning. The humans eat quite a lot," Dhor-Van explained.

Amber pushed a strand of hair that had fallen into her face back, then pointed her arm far to the left from where we had left the three males, eliciting a small chuckle from me. She was a sly little creature. She was sending any rescue party Willis might organize the wrong way.

"That would be good. I'll keep an eye on things here. Have they eaten?" I was still talking to Dhor-Van without looking at him, and I felt his curious eyes on me. A slight shift in his body told me he was now staring at the same thing as I was.

"She's very beautiful, Khadahr, a worthy khadahrshi. "

His praise did something to my stomach. He was right. Amber was indeed a worthy khadahrshi, or would be, as soon as I figured out her loyalties and alliances.

Dhor-Van turned to leave.

"One more thing." Still not looking at him, I ordered, "You might run into three human males out there."

He stilled, awaiting more orders.

"See that they don't return to the camp," I pressed out between clenched lips.

If my order surprised him, he didn't even blink. "Sa, Khadahr."