Chapter 19

Kara smiled happily as they headed back to the farm, as pleased to be going home as she had been to arrive. They had stayed to have lunch and were joined by several other warriors and their mates. One of them was a red-skinned male with horns and a tail who clearly had a prickly relationship with H'zim.

"Why don't you get along with Borgaz?" she asked curiously.

"It's complicated. I would - and did - trust him with my life in battle, but we tend to rub each other the wrong way everywhere else. It didn't help that he is very loyal to Temel and I was… difficult."

"You? Difficult?" she teased gently, pleased when he smiled. "I liked his wife Mary so the two of you may just have to learn to get along."

He groaned, but he didn't raise any objections and she patted his knee approvingly.

They had also been joined by the golden-skinned alien who she'd glimpsed once before. She did her best not to blush as she remembered what she had almost seen. The next time H'zim chased her through the woods, she'd have to make sure no one was watching - although it had been the last thing on her mind at the time. She'd been too busy enjoying herself. Perhaps after their current situation was resolved…

Her hand was still on his knee and she went from pats to teasingly little circles, loving the feel of those strong muscles quivering beneath her touch.

The third warrior was a reptilian male with golden scales and a tail. He had a cynical attitude and a slightly reserved expression and she hadn't been surprised to find out that he wasn't part of the original squad. She was surprised to find that he had originally taken a contract job working for Marshall. The fact that everyone seemed willing to accept him helped further ease her fears about their own welcome.

It had been the kind of big, chaotic family gathering she'd always wanted to be part of and she'd been shocked to realize that she actually missed the peace of their small house. She was quite sure that H'zim did as well, agreeing immediately when she quietly suggested it was time to go.

"I enjoyed lunch, but I'm glad we're alone again," she whispered, her fingers moving lightly up his inner thigh.

He put his hand firmly over hers, but he didn't move it away.

"So am I, but I'd prefer to make it home in one piece. You're distracting me."

"Good."

He laughed as they turned off on the road leading to their farm. She was telling him some of her plans for the fall harvest when he suddenly tensed.

"What is it?"

"We have company," he said grimly.

Two men were waiting in front of their house, hard-faced cynical men. One of them leered at her in a way that made her skin crawl, but the other one was focused on H'zim. H'zim scowled at both of them.

"I said I would meet you tomorrow."

"And we told you to keep your mouth shut. Why did you go up to the big house?"

"His brother's wife is pregnant," she said quickly. "We were having lunch to celebrate."

The leader frowned at her while the other male sneered and spat on the ground.

"Fucking aliens taking our women."

She stared at him, her stomach churning. His thoughts were written on his face. If he had his way, she'd be raped and probably killed and left to rot. The other one's face was more unreadable, but his hand rested casually on a blaster.

"I'll get you what you want," H'zim growled. "Tomorrow."

"I think you might need a little… incentive," the leader said smoothly, the threat implicit in his words. "She comes with us."

She gave a choked sob as H'zim snarled.

"You're never going to lay a finger on her."

Both of the men had their guns out now, pointed directly at the two of them. Her heart was thudding so hard that she felt sick. She was sure that H'zim was a match for either of them alone, but both?

"Get down."

His whisper was barely audible as he shoved her down in front of him. She landed awkwardly behind the metal panel in front of the seat as he leaped out of the wagon. Terror streaked through her at the sound of gunshots, along with a muffled cry.

Oh God. H'zim!

She peered around the edge of the wagon to see H'zim staggering, blood pouring from a wound in his upper arm, as he kicked a blaster to one side. The second man was lying on the ground, his head bent at an unnatural angle. The first man snarled and lunged towards H'zim, knife raised. H'zim grabbed his knife arm and the two of them grappled for control. She jumped to the ground, then darted out and snatched up the fallen blaster, waiting desperately for an opening.

They parted enough for her to fire, aiming for the man's leg, but missing. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and when H'zim yanked the man back she fired again. This time she didn't miss, catching the man in the stomach. Her stomach churned as blood gushed from the wound, but H'zim took advantage of the man's shock, twisting his neck until a sharp crack echoed across the yard and the man's body slid to the ground.

She dropped the weapon and ran to him, worried about the pallor of his face and the bloodstain spreading down his arm.

"Let's get you inside," she said urgently. "I have to stop that bleeding."

"I'm fine," he insisted, but he didn't protest as she took him in the house and helped him off with his shirt, revealing the ugly red gash.

"It looks like the bullet just grazed you. I'm more concerned about the blood loss."

She kept her tone brisk, but her hands were shaking as she searched for the medical supplies he'd brought from town. She almost dropped the bottle of antiseptic when he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm all right, Kara," he said softly. "You saved me."

"No, you saved me," she said fiercely, and then burst into tears.

He pulled her close and held her until the tears passed, murmuring soft comforting words into her hair. Finally she drew in a shuddering breath and wiped away the tears.

"I think I better clean and dress your wounds before I lose my nerve," she said.

He smiled at her, even though his face was tight with pain.

"I'm fine, love."

She eyed the hole in his arm.

"Really?"

Urging him into a chair, she grabbed the medical supplies again.

"I'll survive. Now tell me how you learned to shoot so well."

"One of my foster homes was pretty isolated and my foster dad used to hunt. That's where I learned to fish too, and set a snare."

"What happened?"

He hissed out a breath as she wiped antiseptic over the wound.

"My foster parents already had three boys, but my foster mom wanted a girl as well. It was great at first. Different, but I liked being outside so much."

"What happened?" he asked gently as she began to bandage the wound.

"I started to grow up. One day I had three older brothers. The next day I had three boys fighting over me. I had to leave." The memory still ached a little, but she hadn't tried to argue. She didn't want to come between the three brothers. "I'm not sure which is worse. Being moved around as a kid when you don't understand why. Or being moved as a teenager when you know why but you can't do anything about it."

He waited until she finished tying off the bandage, then pulled her onto his lap.

"Your arm-"

"Is just fine. And I heal very quickly." He nuzzled affectionately at her throat and her traitorous body reacted, even though she knew he was injured. He smiled and brushed his thumb across a stiff nipple. "You don't have to move any more, love. You have a home."

More tears threatened but she forced them back and managed a smile.

"I know. Now let's get you to bed."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to wait to have your wicked way with me. Can you get the com out of my pocket?"

Despite his injury, his cock responded when she fumbled in his pocket, making it even harder to retrieve the small device.

"Unfortunately I'm going to have to wait too," he sighed before he opened a channel. "S'kal, I need some help getting rid of a couple of bodies." He shook his head at the response. "No it's not like old times."

"H'zim was shot in the arm," she said quickly into the com before he could end the call and heard an outraged exclamation from the other end.

He frowned at her as he moved the device out of reach.

"It's just a scratch. I'm fine." He listened for a moment, then sighed again. "Fine."

"You shouldn't have said anything," he said as soon as he ended the call. "Now he's going to fuss over me."

"Don't you think he would have noticed when he got here?"

"Maybe not."

She smiled at his disgruntled tone, then rose.

"I think I'm going to make some cookies. I want to try out Ida's recipe and I suspect that moving bodies makes you hungry. Will you at least lie down until S'kal gets here?"

He refused, but eventually compromised on the big chair in the living room, and when she checked on him a little later he was asleep. She smiled at his peaceful face, and then she went to make cookies.