Chapter 7

7

Loris followed behind Vengeance and did her best to keep up. The small part of her mind not busy on keeping her footing as they marched through the night-soaked woods ran through a litany of questions she couldn't answer.

What in the nine hells was she doing?

Would Maddison be okay?

Was Vengeance insane, or did he really intend to claim her as his female?

Round and round she went, her mind whirling while her body kept reacting to Venge's in ways that made her blush.

More than once her hands slid from the soft fur of his back to the band that held his kilt in place. What would he look like naked? Did he have fur everywhere ? He seemed confident that whatever his equipment was, they were biologically compatible. However, given the size of the rest of him, she had concerns. She couldn't seem to hold on to them for very long, though. The more time she spent with him, the harder it was to think about anything else. Even her worries about Maddi faded. The only thought that lingered was how Vengeance made her feel. He was maddeningly stubborn, but his desire for her was obvious. He wanted her, and he wasn't being subtle about it.

Hells, he probably didn't know the meaning of the word. Everything about him was brash, bold, and far sexier than he had any right to be. Damn him.

An hour ago, she hadn't known he existed. Now he was all she could think about. When they stopped for the night, would he really do what he'd said? She knew the answer to that. Of course he would. The real question was, would she let him? She laughed at herself. She was too far gone to stop now.

If this was her last night of living, why not enjoy herself? Death might come for her either way. A few seconds of pleasure wouldn't change that.

The moons rose eventually, and they provided enough light for her to make her own way. They descended steadily. Vengeance moved like a phantom, barely making a sound. She did her best, but it had been far too long since she'd done something like this. She was out of practice and out of shape compared to the soldier she'd once been.

After what might have been an hour, they took a break. She unclipped a water bottle from her bag and drank from it. As tempted as she was to lean against a nearby tree, she stayed standing. She had no idea what might be lurking in the branches. Hells, for all she knew the tree's sap was poisonous or acid or something equally deadly.

"You move well," Vengeance said. "What military did you fight for?"

She smiled at the directness of the query. He really didn't have much in the way of filters. "Humans don't have a military. It's not permitted. But we have mercenary forces that do more or less the same thing. We did whatever we were paid to do. Mostly planetary defense, but we took other jobs, too. Eliminating raiders. Reacquiring lost assets. The usual things."

"Ah. I didn't know that." He took a drink from his waterskin, the leather and simple stopper so different from her own plas-steel container.

"But you are not a mercenary anymore. You said you protect Maddison."

"I was hired as her bodyguard ten years or so ago. It's a prestige thing for the rich and powerful. Most of the time it was easy work." That was true enough. The only person who posed a real threat to Maddi's safety was her bastard husband. When he summoned his wife, Loris was never allowed to accompany her. She'd wait nearby and do what she could to help her friend in the aftermath.

"Havoc won't let anything happen to her. Will he? He won't hurt her? She's been through a lot. Her former husband was a mean bastard."

"If her male abused her, why didn't she leave?" He moved close enough she could see his face now.

"She couldn't. Their marriage contract was written so only he could break it, and he liked having her under his control. Once the contract expired, she left, and I went with her.

"So she was a prisoner?"

"She was. A bird caught in a golden cage. Wealth, luxury, everything she could ask for, but she couldn't leave. Not even when…" Loris didn't finish the statement.

"Havoc will take care of her. The fa'rel understand too well what it's like to live in captivity."

His reassurances helped. "Good. If he does anything to her, though, I will gut him and leave him to whatever scavengers live on this planet."

"You won't have to do that. If he harms your friend, I will beat him for you."

"I fight my own battles, thank you."

"Not anymore." He thumped his chest. "I have sworn to protect you."

Arguing with him was a waste of breath, and now wasn't the time to explain the concept of consent. She changed the subject.

"You mentioned the fa'rel. Is that what you call yourselves?"

"It's what the scrawnies called us."

"And you kept the name?"

"Only that one. We chose our own names when we were still young. I am Vengeance because one day I will take revenge on the scrawnies for what they did to us." He grinned. "And I didn't like being called Research Subject Nine."

"I bet you didn't."

She offered up more information about herself in exchange. "I kind of named myself, too. Loris was the name of a character in a story I read when I was growing up. My parents had lifetime contracts with an asteroid mining consortium. They were only supposed to have two kids who would take over their contracts when they got too old to work. I was their third child."

"They hid my existence for a few years and then sold me to another family. I don't remember them or the name they gave me. I was sold or passed along to several other families after that. Sometimes I was given a new name. Sometimes they didn't bother and called me by the last one I'd been given."

"They passed you from family to family like a possession?" The last word Vengeance spoke came out as more of a growl.

"Technically, I was a possession. Bought and sold based on what care I needed versus my value as a future worker."

"You mean slave." It wasn't a question.

"They had prettier words for it, but yes." She had a flash of pride as she remembered the day she'd found a way to escape. "But I wasn't under contract yet. I was an investment of sorts. Only by then, no one thought I'd be worth much. Too stubborn." She grinned.

He laughed, and the sound rolled through the night. It made her feel good.

"Anyway, I ended up getting sold to a mercenary group. They trained me and gave me a job I actually liked. I stayed with them until my contract ended more than twenty years later."

She spread out her hands and took a small bow. "And that's my story."

"Thank you for sharing it. I want to know all your stories, Loris. But for now, we need to get moving." He pointed ahead. "We'll be back in the forest in another hour. Then we can stop for the night."

"What do you mean, back in the forest?" She gestured around them. "Isn't this a fucking forest?"

"These are just trees and bushes. The true forest is below us. You'll see."

He put away his water skin and set off again. She followed after him, still wondering what the difference was. A bunch of trees were a forest. That's how it was. Maybe it was a translation error.

The difference became clear even about forty minutes later. The canopy overhead blocked all but a few stray beams of moonlight. Trees grew so thickly their roots were tangled in large knots, some of them wrapped around moss-covered boulders.

She could barely see anything unless it was right next to her, so she fell in behind Vengeance and let him guide her.

"So, this is what you meant by the true forest?"

"It is. Though this is only the beginning. It gets thicker farther in. We won't be going that way. It would take too long."

"Which way are we going?" Not that the information would do her any good. She had no idea where they were or where they were headed.

"For now, we'll stop. Tomorrow I'll work out the fastest route home. We need to reach the river, but I've never been this way before."

"What! Never? So we're lost?" she asked.

"We're not lost. I used the stars to navigate until we lost sight of them. Now we will stop until daylight so I can find some landmarks. This is how we live, little warrior. We have no maps, no compasses, or satellites to show us where we are."

Right. As advanced as the fa'rel were, they'd crashed on this world and lacked most of the technology and equipment she took for granted. "If we're not lost, can you tell me how long it will take us to get to your home?"

He thought about that for a few seconds before answering. "If things go well, we'll arrive tomorrow evening. If things are difficult, we'll spend another night out in the wilds. I'd rather not do that."

"Me either." She glanced around, but nothing in her limited range of vision looked promising in terms of shelter. "Where are we hunkering down? I've got a thermal blanket in my bag, but I don't see much dead wood we could use to build a lean-to. Is it safe to rack out under one of these big roots?"

"Stop trying to break my translator," he grumbled good-naturedly. "And to answer your question, it's not wise to sleep on the ground. Something would try to eat us, and the moss holds water like a sponge."

He pressed his hand down on a patch of the stuff and it squelched loudly.

"Lovely. So, what's your plan?"

He patted the bag resting on his hip. "We go up."

"Up. Sure. Right. Obviously." She stared into the gloom overhead. "I'm going to need more details."

"Trust me, little warrior. I do this every time I hunt." He pulled something from the bag and shook it between his hands.

While he did that, she rummaged around in her own pack and found a small light-cube. "Can we risk a little light? I'd really like to see what you're doing."

"Some. Light would be helpful for this next part."

She made a quick adjustment to the cube's settings and then activated it with a double tap to one side. An aura of amber light appeared and slowly expanded until she could see a few meters in all directions.

Vengeance held something that looked like some kind of netting in one hand and a coil of slender rope slung over his other shoulder. His bag was on the ground at his feet, and while she watched, he tucked several lengths of cord into a thong of leather tied around his biceps.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He flicked one finger skyward. "Making us a bed. Stay in the light and don't try to follow me up."

"Like that's going to happen," she muttered as he bounded to the nearest tree and leaped for one of the lower branches. He moved so fast she could barely follow him with her eyes, never mind the rest of her.

The first time he jumped from one tree to another, she almost screamed in surprise. The next time he did it, she had figured out what he was doing. The net was now suspended between several trees. It created a sort of platform high enough above the ground to be safe from predators. At least, she assumed none of the local carnivores were large enough to reach that high.

"If you fall, I am not kissing your boo-boos better." She had no idea why she'd said anything about kissing him, but the words were out before her brain caught up to her mouth.

"Again with the nonsensical words. You're welcome to kiss any part of me you like." He finished securing the last corner of the net and hopped off the branch and into the center of makeshift sleeping platform he'd made.

This time, she did scream a little. She was certain the delicate netting would break beneath the load, and he'd plummet to the ground.

It dipped a little, but that was all.

He grinned down at her. "And for future reference, I do not fall. My reflexes are too good for that."

She ignored his boast. Mostly because she suspected he was right. The verexi might have missed the mark when it came to the personality of their experiments, but Vengeance and the others were as close to physical perfection as she'd ever seen or heard about.

Instead of climbing down one of the trees, Vengeance bent over, grabbed the edge of the net in both hands, and somersaulted into open air. He seemed to unfold as he fell, his grip releasing as he straightened to land feet first on the ground beside her.

"Show-off."

He turned to look down at her, grinning from ear to ear. "Tell me you were not impressed, and I will call you a liar."

"Oh, it was impressive. Also, risky and unnecessary."

She nudged his bag with the toe of her shoe. "I see how you intend to get in and out of our mid-air mattress. My question is. How in the hells do you think I'm getting my ass up there?"

"Easy. I will carry you."

"Nope. No way. You're not lugging me up into the trees like I'm cargo."

The look he gave her made her brain turn to mush. "Say no to me again, little warrior. Please ."

She raised her chin and met his gaze. "No."

He moved faster than she thought possible. One second he stood across from her, and the next he was behind her with one arm across her waist and the other cupping her breast through her shirt. "Now we play."

She froze, her heart slamming against her ribs as he lowered his head and traced a path of open-mouthed kisses along the side of her neck. "You will do as I say."

"No, I won't." She didn't even pretend it wasn't a lie, but this was the game he wanted to play, and she was all in.

"Then I will have to show you what happens when you defy me." The arm around her waist moved until one large hand covered her mons, his fingers pressed along the seam of her pussy. "You don't get to come until you do what you're told."

She bit back a moan as sparks of desire flowed over her skin. This was happening. She wanted it to happen, but she couldn't give in to him. Not yet. Not until she knew what he wanted from her. Once he made his demand, something told her it wouldn't be long before she gave in.