Star's Storm: Lords of Kassis Book 2 (18 page)

“I won’t leave you,” he promised softly,
holding her tightly against him. “I felt you there, with me,” he
whispered in awe.

“I felt you too,” she sighed. “I dreamed I
was touching you and when I woke there was blood on my fingers.
Jazin,” she paused taking a deep breath and pulling back so she
could stare into his eyes.

Jazin smiled gently and threaded his fingers
through a long length of her hair before resting his palm against
her cheek. “What, my love?” He asked distractedly.

Star bit her swollen bottom lip and winced.
She ran her the tip of her tongue over it instead. She was sore in
quite a few places if she admitted it but it was a good kind of
sore.

“I saw us…. in another lifetime,” she
admitted. “It was so real. There were these strange creatures. They
were destroying everything. I saw you battling them on a hill.
There was blood everywhere. You were dressed differently but it was
you. Then, I saw huge ships appearing over where you were fighting
and thousands of fighters appeared in the sky. They helped you
fight against the creatures. After it was over….,” she paused again
to take a deep breath as the vivid memory of the blood soak fields
filled her mind. “After it was over a fighter landed and a woman
got out. It was me but it wasn’t me,” she whispered in confusion.
“It was like I was seeing us but it wasn’t us at the same
time.”

Jazin drew in a deep, shuddering breath. She
was describing the first meeting between his ancestor and the
Goddess he would claim as his mate. He had read the account a
million times in his youth wondering if he would ever find a mate
like the first Jazin had. He had sworn if he ever did he would
claim her and never let her go, just as his predecessor did.

“It was us,” he replied in a husky voice.
“In another lifetime but it was us.”

Star leaned up on one elbow and looked
deeply into his eyes. Her fingers came up and traced his brow
before sliding down over his cheekbones to tenderly touch his lips.
A smile played on her red, swollen lips drawing his eyes to them
greedily. He tried to force his body not to respond knowing she had
to be too sore considering how many times, not to mention ways, he
had taken her. He forced his eyes back to hers and moaned softly
when he saw the responding desire in them.

“I’m glad we are getting another chance,”
she declared. “One lifetime would never be enough to show you how
much I love you.”

Jazin’s moan turned to a passionate groan as
she replaced her fingers with her lips. He rolled her over onto her
back, caging her beneath him as he took possession of her once
again. He closed his eyes as he felt her closing tightly around
him.

“You are right,” he said hoarsely as he
began rocking faster. “I am not even sure two lifetimes will be
enough.”

*.*.*

“You look fine,” Jazin said as he watched
Star dress in the clothes he finally had to request for her.

She was so short and tiny that none of the
pants on board the starship would fit. They swallowed her petite
frame. She was going to just wear one of Jarmen’s shirts that had
been left on board. It covered her all the way to her knees but she
looked so damn sexy in it that Jazin refused to let her off the
starship. It was probably a good thing when she thought about how
he had proved his point. She had to step back into the cleansing
unit for another shower when she found herself bent over the table
with the tail of the shirt twisted around her waist and him buried
balls deep inside her again. She was lucky she was even able to
walk after all the love making they had done.

Jazin had started to apologize for his rough
behavior while he was under the influence of the Fast Patch. Star
had nipped that in the bud. She threatened to put another one on
him if he said one more word! She had absolutely no complaints, not
even if she was deliciously sore. The sparkle of mischief and
sincerity must have made him believe her because he grinned
wickedly as he promised he didn’t need the drug to take her like he
had before.

“Do you know how Madas is?” Star asked as
she slid her feet into the soft leather boots she had bought. “Oh,
by the way, you are going to have a bill delivered for some revenge
shopping that River and I did while you were gone.”

“Revenge shopping?” Jazin growled. “Who took
you shopping? You were not supposed to leave the West House.”

Star straightened up and put her hands on
her hips. “Oh no you don't, big boy. We are so not going there
again. River and I snuck out and went to town. We had a marvelous
time shopping and spending your credits so just suck it up and
accept it. I will not be placed on a damn pedestal. I will come and
go as I please. If you don't like it....” Her voice faded when
Jazin strode forward quickly and captured her lips with his
own.

“I may not like it,” he said huskily as he
pulled back from her. “But, I will learn to accept that you are my
mate. A warrior in your own right.”

He did not tell her he had talked to Jarmen
and Dakar while she was in the cleansing room this last time. They
gave him an abbreviated version of what happened back at the
fortress. The fact that he wanted to kill them for letting his mate
do such a dangerous thing was overridden by his respect of what she
had done. She had proven she was a true warrior. He found out Dakar
had taken a blade to his side. He had just been released from
medical a short time ago. Dakar joked that Jarmen wanted to stay
with him in medical just so he could avoid being around anyone
else. Ajaska and Torak had finally taken pity on the man and given
him his own cabin so he could hide. Madas had been healed but it
was Gril that needed to be sedated. He had gone nuts when he saw
the two warriors carrying his wounded mate. He had snatched Madas
out of their arms yelling at the top of his voice for the Tearnat
healer he had brought on board the warship with him. They had not
been seen since she was released from the medical unit.

“Madas is with her mate,” Jazin said sliding
his hand down to snare her fingers between his own. “She was
wounded but the Tearnat healer has already released her. Dakar has
also been released and Jarmen can heal himself.”

“I liked him,” Star said as they left the
starship. “He was just a sweetheart and if not for him and Madas,
we would never have known that you were still alive.”

Jazin's fingers tightened jealously around
Star's slender ones briefly before he let out his breath. “I can
never repay him for his help. I had been left chained to the wall
with weights attached to each arm. It was only a matter of time
before I could no longer hold them and it would have grievously
wounded me to the point that not even the Fast Patch could have
helped me.”

Star tucked her head as tears burned her
eyes. Tears of sorrow for the pain Jazin had to endure but there
were mostly tears of rage at the man who had inflicted it. If she
ever got the chance to kill Tai Tek she would do so without a
second thought. She would never, ever let him hurt Jazin again.

“I will never let him hurt you again
either,” Jazin said stopping in the middle of the landing bay and
turning her toward him. Her softly mumbled vow reminding him that
he was not the only one that Tai Tek had harmed. “He will not be
given another chance to harm my family. We will hunt him down. I
will no longer wait for him to strike next.”

“I agree,” Ajaska said harshly as he studied
his youngest son. Pride and respect for the warrior he had grown
into shone from his eyes.

“Ajaska!” Star cried out happily.

Ajaska's laughter echoed through the landing
bay causing the warriors working there to stop and smile as the
tiny female warrior flew into his open arms with an infectious
laugh. She giggled as he tossed her up into the air and caught her
again. She held onto his broad shoulders and gave him a kiss on his
cheek earning a low growl of warning from Jazin. Ajaska laughed
again at his son's show of possessive jealousy.

“If you were not so young and mated to my
own son I would claim you as my mate. As it is, I am proud to call
you my little daughter,” Ajaska chuckled as he set her back onto
her feet.

Jazin reached out pulling her back into his
arms the moment she was free. “You'll have to find your own mate,
father,” he answered with a reluctant smile.

“From what I heard, he had three of them at
one time,” Torak responded.

“Torak!” River scolded fiercely. “You
shouldn't be telling about that.”

Ajaska's face actually turned a dull red at
the reminder of his youthful indiscretion. Star would have
persisted if it hadn't been for the fact she was so happy to see
River again. “River!” Star cried out tearfully.

River broke away from Torak's possessive
arms and stepped into Star's, holding her like she never wanted to
let her go. “I know how you feel now. It was horrible when we
almost lost you but at least I was with you. I was terrified the
whole time you were gone,” River sniffed out as she embraced
Star.

Jazin fought back the desire to pull Star
back into his arms as long as he could. He finally reached a thick
arm around her waist and tugged gently to let her know he needed
her. Perhaps he wasn’t quite as normal as he thought. He could
actually feel a nervousness come over him from not touching
her.

“It will become more controllable,” Torak
murmured quietly to him. “I still have that reaction with River but
it is a little more manageable than it was.”

Jazin watched with a raised eyebrow when his
older brother pulled River closer after she moved to walk with his
father. Torak glanced sheepishly at his younger brother and
shrugged. Jazin bit back a grin. He wondered if Manota was having
the same reaction to Jo as he and Torak were having to her sisters.
If so, he could imagine Manota going nuts. His middle brother had
always been the loner out of the three of them. He liked to be left
alone so he could tinker on his toys.

“I want to see Madas,” Star said startling
him out of his reverie.

“She is resting at the moment,” Torak called
out from behind her.

Ajaska chuckled. “I seriously doubt that but
she will be once Gril gets done with her.”

“He won’t hurt her will he?” Star asked
concerned. “She was the one who told us that Jazin was still alive.
If not for her, we would never have known. If he hurts her, I’ll
roast his ass,” she said fiercely, trying to turn around.

“Rest easy, little warrior,” Ajaska said
with a chuckle. “Gril would never hurt his mate. He is merely
making sure she is well cared for and checking to make sure she
doesn’t have any injuries the healer might have missed.”

Star opened her mouth to argue but Jazin
leaned down and whispered softly in her ear. Her face turned a
bright, bright red before she let out a small ‘Oh’. Jazin chuckled
at her wide-eyed stare. Star ducked her head, letting her hair
cover her burning face. It would seem that Gril was giving Madas a
thorough checkup.

*.*.*

Later that night, Star sat in the officer’s
lounge with River and Madas while Ajaska, Torak and Gril met with
Jazin, Dakar, Armet, and Jarmen in the commander’s conference room.
Star and River were about to argue with the men but Madas had
gently taken both of their arms in her larger hands and pulled them
away. Star looked at her friend who seemed to be a little darker
green than before.

“Madas, are you okay?” Star asked as they
each sat curled up on a couch with a cup of hot tea. “You look a
little greener than before.”

Madas blushed a darker shade of green, tan,
and red and lowered her lashes. “Gril was very upset that I was
wounded,” she began hesitantly.

Star sat forward with a fierce scowl on her
face. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” She demanded.

“No, no…” Madas stammered before she looked
up with a small grin pulling on her thin lips. “He was just
concerned. He wanted to make sure I was not hurt and ….” Her voice
faded as she looked out of the viewport window. “I am expecting ….
I did not know.”

Star looked blankly at her friend for a
moment. River stood up and gave Madas a huge hug. Madas sighed
deeply, looking down at her folded hands grasping the mug of
tea.

“You could have lost your baby because of
me,” Star choked out as she thought of how close they came to
dying.

Madas shook her head. “I knew we would live.
We have too much to live for. Tai Tek could never take that away
from us.”

“Madas,” River said quietly, grasping her
friend’s hands tightly between her own. “I know this will never
replace Trolis but I am happy for you.”

Madas leaned forward and rested her smooth
cheek against River’s for a moment before she pulled back. “While I
claimed Trolis as my son, he was not from my egg. Gril had two sons
from a previous mating. His mate betrayed him for another shortly
after the eggs hatched. It was later learned Trolis was not his
true son but he raised him as if he was. His first son, Kali, is
his. They look very much alike and he is a joy. While we have been
together for many years, I have never conceived. The females in my
species have to reach a certain age before we become fertile. I was
approaching the age but didn’t realize I had reached it as
yet.”

Star giggled. “Are you telling me you were
still too young to have kids?”

Madas nodded. “I am considerably younger
than Gril. He is two hundred and thirty-five years old while I am
only seventy. Females do not normally reach breeding age until they
are almost one hundred.”

“You are seventy?” River asked in
disbelief.

“I wished I could looked that good at
seventy,” Star grumbled under her breath. “So, how old were you
when Gril captured you?”

“He captured her?” River asked stunned. She
looked at Madas with a huge grin on her face. “You have got to tell
me about it.”