MINE! [New World Book 8] (14 page)

“Huck won’t hurt me either.”

“I doubt he would. Any warrior who would give his child a piece of his shield has honor, or a mission. It’s not altogether unheard of for a bastard Tonan to give his shield begrudgingly to a son to aid in some takeover.”

Huck stiffened. He hadn’t even thought of that. No wonder Cobra didn’t trust him. Worse was the fact Becky was staring up at him. Huck placed his hands on her shoulders relieved he wasn’t tossed backward.

“That was never my intent. I swear on my life I only wanted to be accepted. I want my son. I won’t use him. I would never want my son to be on a losing side.”

Becky took a deep breath and smiled. She turned to Cobra. “I’d like Huck to take me wandering. Your planet is beautiful, at least from what I can see. Whether or not we’re allowed to stay, I’ve been cooped up too long. I need some air and feel safer with Huck.”

For a moment, Huck felt a sensation fill his guts. Pride, he felt pride. The emotion was overwhelming. The sensation crept through his hands from her shoulders into his veins and he shuddered. She wasn’t lying; she did feel safer with him. Becky trusted him more than she trusted Cobra. Cobra, leader of the noble Castian warriors, and she wanted to stay with Huck—where she felt safe.

“Of course you can wander,” Cobra said, but his eyes were on Huck. Huck wanted to writhe in excitement. “I think you’ll like this planet and after, Huck can settle you for a nap. I’ve found many of the expectant mothers succumb to sleep for a few hours in the afternoon. You’ll be safe.”

Becky didn’t object when Huck wrapped a possessive arm around her shoulders and headed for the huge trees in the distance.

Huge flying flowers in the air caught Becky’s attention. Sensational colors floated in wild abandon, rising, soaring, dipping between massive trees stretching toward the blue heavens. Hovering gently spinning, some of the flowers were the size of inflated dinghy’s they once used in her backyard pool. Others were significantly larger. The aroma was ecstasy and bursts of sweetness drifted as the flowers spun in lazy loops.

Spinning in a tight circle, Becky could feel the tug of a smile on her lips. The impulse was too hard to resist. When a floating flower came close, she hopped on. The petals were satin as her fingers danced over the deep purple color. Her breath caught as she rose upward fast. For a second, she felt concern when she parted the petals and gazed over the edge at the ground far below until she caught movement to her right. Huck was close, hanging high in a tree upside down, shielded.

“Come here often?” Becky quipped.

There was no way to see what he was thinking when the grey covered his face and only black tattoos pulsed on his cheeks. He jumped toward her and before he landed, he dropped his shield. As it was, the flower dipped substantially. Huck flopped beside her.

“Do these flowers go anywhere?” Becky asked.

“Dunno, don’t care. As long as you’re on one, wherever it goes, I go.”

“Are you done with me now that I carry your son?”

“Done how?”

“We’re with Cobra, I’m expecting your baby. You have everything you wanted.”

“I have only bonded with you. Until we’re mated, I don’t have what really matters.”

“I admit I care for you,” Becky said. “I’d be, well I’d be, uh. Scared, okay. I’d be scared if you weren’t here.”

Huck traced her jaw with a single finger. “I know you’re worried. Cobra is intense, but he’s protecting everyone on the planet.”

“Why? The planet is full of warriors.”

“When females died, Cobra was responsible for a lot of four-year-old warriors. All missed their parents, all were vulnerable. I never cared about him before, but looking back I remember my stepfather saying before he died the degree of responsibility was astronomical. Cobra sequestered those children away and fed them and taught them to fight.”

“How many children?”

“Hundreds perhaps, more or less.”

Becky was floored. She allowed Huck to gather her close and rested her head against his chest while he stroked her hair.

“That
is
a lot of responsibility.”

“The entire time, the Tonans plotted to kill him, his few remaining older warriors and the children.”

“My God, that’s sick.”

Becky stiffened when Huck pulled her closer. She controlled her heartbeat, not wanting the baby to send him falling to the ground.

“Becky, I would never kill a child,” Huck said. “My father would have, but I have more of my mother and my stepfather’s shield in me. I had no interest in raids in the early years. As you say, battling babies is sick. As the Castian warriors grew of age I battled. They were young, in their early hundreds, but a warrior can fight at the age of twelve, and you better believe Cobra had them warrior mated to their partners in battle as soon as possible.”

“Warrior mated?”

“Castians find a warrior mate at around the age of twelve. Another male who watches the other’s back for the rest of their lives. Tonans don’t trust anyone, so it isn’t possible to warrior mate.”

“You mean even if we mate, you will never trust me?”

Huck lay back, his eyes clouded with confusion. “I don’t know. My mother trusted my father and was lied to. She trusted my stepfather, I guess.”

“If I mated you, I’d need to trust you.”

“I loved my mother and respected my stepfather. Is that trust, Becky?”

Becky looked at him. She sat up. “This is trust, Huck.”

Before Huck could say a word Becky jumped over the side of the flower. She heard Huck bellow—freak out. The air rushed across her skin as she fell. Her eyes closed. A swoosh of wind and Becky was captured into a powerful embrace. She opened her eyes and curled in Huck’s arms as he crashed into a massive tree trunk.

“
Holy fuck, Becky,”
he bellowed. “Your shield doesn’t fly.”

“When we joined, bonded as you call it, I trusted you. I trust you not to hurt me. I trust you to take care of me because this was your idea. And I need to trust you to take care of our child.”

The shield covering Huck’s face dropped, but his talons and claws remained embedded in the tree. Becky could see she hadn’t fallen far. Her arm was draped casually around his neck.

“I swear you can trust me,” Huck said. “I swear our child can trust me. I get it, Becky. If you had landed without my help, you would have been fine with the baby shield, but I get it. My heart hurt at the thought of you falling, my heart has never hurt. Please don’t do that again.”

Becky smiled and traced her fingers down the side of his face. “I won’t ever need to.”

“Do you want to go back to our domicile?”

“No, I like the flower. Show me I can trust you in the flower.”

“Huh?”

Becky chuckled. She leaned up to kiss him and watched as his eyes widened in understanding. His shield was up to cover all of him and with a giant leap he jumped to a floating flower, changing last moment to land, falling to his knees with her in his arms. The petals spun crazily for a few moments until Becky felt breathless. She lay back, eyes closed and laughed. When the flower was in motion, the fragrance was intoxicating. When her eyes opened, the pure blue of the sky was overshadowed by Huck’s intense stare. He ran a soft finger from her forehead to her nose over her lips and down her chin until she captured his hand knowing he would tickle her chin.

“Will you mate me now?” Huck asked.

“No. Not yet. I get it, too, Huck. You want a mate. But I want you to want
me
.”
I deserve at
least that.

“That doesn’t make sense. Of course I want you as a mate.”

“Exactly.”

“You talk in riddles.”

“I think we’ll both know the second you get my riddle.”

Becky could sense his frustration. Huck wanted a mate in word only. Becky gave him everything, a chance on this planet, a son. She didn’t think it was too much to ask to want him to want her for just her. Everything she knew was gone. Huck promised her a home, but didn’t realize her father and she wandered dying Earth for years. Home wasn’t a place. Home was a someone. Things didn’t matter. A structure was empty, even filled with items, it was empty. Emotion took up so much space and thankfully, there was always room for more. Didn’t
their
son deserve more?

The sides of the petals were high and unless someone was above them, they couldn’t be seen. A quick glance and Becky could see no one. Want, eagerness and frustration all shone from Huck’s eyes. Becky knew he liked being intimate with her. He was male after all. She took his hand and trailed his fingers over her exposed belly. The gentle tug of a smile from her lips brought a grin to his face. The crystal blue of his eyes were what dreams were made of, void of clouds and overcast turbulence. The deep ebony of his hair was a charcoal diamond in the rough. His touch was tender, sweet, until he turned demanding. Their lips crashed together in a heated dance. Her breasts were bared when he gripped her shirt to pull it down to her hips.

Everything in Becky’s life had changed long ago. Her mother’s death seemed to be the tragedy to get the ball rolling. Endless destruction came next, followed by her father’s death and the loss of her planet, then friend. Now she was on a strange planet tucked in a flower no less, with an alien who got her pregnant and claimed they should mate but never spoke of their desire to.

Huck broke their kiss. “You’re sad. Why? Am I hurting you somehow?”

“No,” her breath was a short whisper.

“In a way I understand what you want. You need me to want you for you. But Becky, Cobra is right in a sense. Part of me is an evil Tonan. My mother’s half and my shield control so much of my emotions, but there is part of me who likes to kill. I don’t know if that part decides if I can love. Can’t it be enough I want you?”

“Can’t it be enough we bonded so maybe one day there will be someone who loves me?”

Huck looked angry. “No.”

Becky sighed; he didn’t realize she meant him. “Never mind.”

Her hands traced his shoulders as his muscles bunched beneath her. She clung to a bicep rippling with his weight. His power was safe; he didn’t love her but she knew he wanted to. Maybe he was trying too hard. Becky wondered if he was frustrated searching for an emotion that came willingly, not in a wanting fashion. He
could
be trying too hard. Trying to make yourself love someone never worked. Either the emotion was there or it wasn’t.

Becky gasped at her revelation. Huck had never loved a woman the way he was trying to. He had to stop trying or he would give up, he would fail. She would have to compromise. An idea formed.

“Huck?”

He was frowning while poised overtop of her. His hands had stopped roaming; he appeared lost in thought, obviously trying to make himself love her.

“Hmm?”

“Give me two weeks. After two weeks, I will mate you.”

“Two weeks?”

“Yes. In two weeks, we can impress the hell out of Cobra; I can feel more comfortable knowing this will be my home and I have a baby on the way. No pressure of mating, because you know we will.”

Huck was grinning. “Really? Two weeks and you promise to mate me?”

“Yes.”

Huck gripped her to him until she squealed at the pressure. “Huck, your son may send you flying if you try and break me.”

His tight grasp loosened and he hugged her. “I’ll have a mate. I’ll have a son and a home.”

Relief oozed from him and Becky’s sensations swarmed as he released his secretions of happiness into her. There was no love, but overwhelming satisfaction and excitement would have to do. For now.

* * * *

Huck’s excitement bubbled in his veins as he pulled Becky closer. She would mate him. Cobra would see he was trustworthy enough to keep on as a warrior, and his son would be accepted. Yes, part of his son—a very miniscule part would belong to Huck’s bio father, but with Huck’s and Cobra’s help, he would never be cast out. His son would be trustworthy and honorable. He wouldn’t struggle like Huck did for those emotions; they would come naturally to his son.

Becky was gazing up at him. She lay motionless beneath him. A slight quiver washed over him as he pressed more of his weight against her. Dipping his head he nuzzled his nose into her soft neck. Her smooth skin was warm, awash with the sun’s rays, bathed in the sweetest scent. There was an emotion he searched for, something elusive. Want, need, sadness? Resolve. She was resolved. For a moment, he was worried. She resolved to mate him, as though she had no choice. Huck was the only one she knew on this planet. He was aware Cobra scared her. Huck was safe. He
was
safe.

She’s mine, and she will be safe.

Once mated, she would see how caring he could be. Even after he killed the enemy, he would come home to her and she would feel no fear. There was no fear now. Tenderly, he cupped her chin and made a trail of kisses across her throat to her cheek, to her lips. Her breath was sweet when she whispered his name.

He wondered why she would call to him quietly when he was already there. No female ever called to him when having sex…no not sex, they joined. They became one with one another. There was never another female he meant to spend eternity with. She whispered his name again and it was ingrained in his shield; wherever she was he would be able to hear her. They were closer to mating each time they joined; each time his memories found more information needed with a mate.

He lowered his hand to glide his fingertips across her breast. Her back arched in a slight gesture, a welcome to his touch. The pad of his thumb skimmed her nipple until it hardened and he wondered why it did. Was it him or would any touch do? The idea made him narrow his eyes.

When he gazed at her, she sucked in her breath. He lowered until his lips pressed against the taught nipple. He was so close when his breath spilled from his lungs to dance across her flesh it was washed back toward his cheeks. His breath and only his should glide over her. A nagging from his shield told him possession wasn’t love. Huck knew that, because he knew what possession was. Possession in Huck’s world could mean life or death if ownership of a human was involved. He didn’t own Becky. It was love that was the elusive element.