The Bridal Hunt (22 page)

Bia shouted, gripping my hips to thrust up one final time as my tight sheath milked his pulsing shaft.

Kirch pulled away, panting harshly.

"Meanie, no sex!" he yelled adamantly.

"Yes, Meanie sex!"

"NO!" he bellowed angrily.

"Fine! If you won't give it to me, then damn you, I'll find it from someone else! I'm pregnant, not dead! If we're careful, there's no reason why we can't have sex right now! There's nothing going on with me that would indicate we shouldn't!" I shouted at him.

Veck pushed Kirch out of the way and plucked me up off of Bia.

He shoved my dress over my head and helped me into my boots, then wrapped his mating fur around me.

Veck picked me up and cuddled me close.

"Meanie mad. Bad for babies." He glared at Kirch and marched off with me.

"He's an asshole," I pouted as Veck trekked out into the waning light.

"Kirch loves Meanie," he said quietly, heavily, hands running over me soothingly.

I huffed and tried to squirm out of his arms.

He grunted, but shifted me higher, holding me tighter to cease my struggles.

"Of course you'd take
his
side," I muttered.

Veck snorted and kissed my forehead.

“Veck loves Meanie. Meanie be…”

There was a loud commotion coming from a few huts over. Veck set me down and put himself in front of me protectively, walking slowly forward to check it out.

“Stay back, Meanie.”

Tarnk stumbled out into view, his hand clutching his shoulder as he tried to keep himself upright.

He was weaving around drunkenly, bumping into everything.

He collapsed and hit the ground hard, his hand falling away to reveal a large spot of blood that bloomed over his left shoulder.

"Veck!" I shouted, rushing past him to help Tarnk.

"Meanie, wait!" Veck barked.

I looked at the clean hole that had pierced Tarnk's upper left shoulder. He moaned and moved around a little to his side, revealing an exit wound.

"Oh, my god!" I panicked, using my hand to staunch the bleeding, "He looks like he's been shot!"

I looked over at Veck.

"Help! Help me!"

Veck knelt down and tried to rouse Tarnk.

"Tarnk! Tarnk wake up! Wake!" Veck switched to his
own language and Tarnk opened his eyes.

He looked at Veck through glassy eyes, then looked straight at me and sighed, reaching a bloodied hand forward to touch my cheek
, smiling weakly.

He murmured something I didn't understand and then his hand dropped into my lap and his head lolled back, thumping on the ground.

"Is he dead? Oh! Oh! Don't die! Veck, help him!" I babbled hysterically, keeping my palm pressed to his shoulder, hands shaking uncontrollably.

I don't know how much time passed, or how long Veck had been trying to pry me off of Tarnk, before I felt a soft hand on top of mine.

I glanced up.

Familiar blue eyes, welling with understanding, set in a feminine face with mousy brown hair, gave me a small reassuring smile.

It was Dorothy.

"He just passed out, honey. He's still breathing. You can let go now. I'm going to have some of the fellas take him to his house to clean him up and then I can get a good look at his wound."

Dorothy swiped a hand across my face and I just now realized I'd been crying.

"He's not dead?" I asked sniffling, the adrenaline from earlier rushing out of me, leaving me feeling completely exhausted as my shoulders slumped in relief.

She smiled at me and gave me a hug.

"He's going to be just fine, sweetie. Those Lo denaii males are even tougher than they look."

I released Tarnk and scooted back out of the way. I tried to wipe my face with my hands, but they came away smeared with blood when I pulled them back.

I sat down hard on my rump and stared at my blood stained hands.

Two strong arms lifted me and cuddled me close.

I sniffled a little and let my head rest against Veck's chest as he took us straight home.

When we got there, Veck set me gently on my feet and kissed me on the head.

Kinda hard to find a place to kiss my face when it's smeared with blood,
so I didn't really take offense.

Bia and Kirch came in the door bickering with each other. They both froze when they saw me standing there covered in blood.

Kirch was the first to react, rushing over to me, crushing me to him.

"Meanie!" He ran his hands all over me, searching out the source of all the blood.

"I'm okay," I said shakily, "It's not
my
blood."

"Tarnk's," Veck said as he walked in with the large wooden tub we used for bathing over his shoulder.

He set it down in the middle of the room and grabbed one of the large pots, adding water to it to heat up for a bath.

"What happened?" Bia asked
, addressing Veck as he came up behind me and hugged me close, resting his chin on top of my head.

Kirch went to get more water and I stood there absorbing Bia's warmth, still a little in shock about what had just happened.

Kirch came back in just as Veck finished giving Bia the short version and Veck poured the warmed up water into the tub.

The men discussed what we'd seen and I ignored them in favor of washing up when the rest of the water was dumped in.

I closed my eyes and tried to get the image of Tarnk staggering about bloody from my mind.

I must have drifted off, rousing enough to figure out I was being lifted from the tub, but too tired to care as I was dried and wrapped up in warm furs.

****

"Meanie?" A soft, quiet whisper near my ear.

"Hmmm," I murmured sleepily.

A hand came around and rubbed my belly, fingers soothing over where our babies would soon grow.

"Meanie still mad at Kirch?"

"No," I whispered back, rolling over to caress his face in the dark, "and I'm sorry."

"Meanie really okay? Babies okay?"

"Yes."

I smiled at the worry in his voice.

"Kirch..." I said tentatively.

"Yes, Meanie?"

"I love you."

That deep purr started up in his chest and I giggled, hugging him close.

"Kirch loves Meanie too."

"Oh, and Kirch?"

"Yes?"

"I won't force you to have sex with me anymore..." I said heavily, letting out a large sigh, acting like I was really put out by the fact. "I'll miss you and your
little
friend, but I suppose I'll live."

"Little?" Kirch grumbled.

"Well... it has been a very trying time for me... I seemed to have forgotten... what
it
looks like. Don't you worry though, before you know it I'll be as big as a house and sex will be the last thing on my mind."

Kirch cleared his throat awkwardly and I continued.

"Yeah, I really have to admire a guy who's willing to give up sex for nine months. It shows how strong willed and committed you are."

"What?!" he barked out into the darkness.

I stifled my laugh and cupped his face, kissing him passionately before I pulled back.

"Nine months... didn't anyone ever tell you that's about how long it takes? Of course it's harder towards the end of the pregnancy.
That's
when you usually put a hold on the sex. But I envy your cautious and caring take on fatherhood. It's sweet really."

Veck chuckled and I reached over to elbow him, effectively shutting him up.

"Uh... Kirch not..."

"No, really," I insisted, "You don't have to say another word." I put my fingers to his lips. "I get it now. Totally understand."

I rolled over and snuggled up with Veck, a small smile playing at my mouth as I swiftly fell asleep.

Chapter 17

A warm mouth attached its self to my breast
and my eyes popped open.

Veck pulled back enough to grin at me and I smiled at him. I tugged on his scalp until he came up and kissed me on the mouth.

"Good morning, husband," I said sweetly, giving him a peck on the lips before I rolled out from under him and hopped out of bed.

"Meanie? Come back..."

I slipped a fresh dress over my head and stuck my legs through my pants.

"Meanie?" Veck asked confused, his raging hard on standing up like a flagpole.

"It wouldn't be fair to have sex with
you
and not Kirch, now would it?" I kept my expression innocent, but I could tell the wheels where already turning in Veck's mind.

"Did someone say sex?" Bia asked as he opened his eyes and watched me interestedly from the small make shift bed they'd brought in here the other day.

"Meanie?" Veck asked again, the tiniest hint of a whine in his voice.

I put on my boots and laced them up, trying to wipe the smirk off my face before I looked up to face them.

"Where are
you
going?" Bia asked blinking awake.

"I want to check on Tarnk and see if Dorothy needs any help," I explained.

Veck grumbled and pushed Kirch, shoving him off the bed.

Kirch thumped to the ground and popped up, instantly alert, looking around for any danger.

"Meanie leaving?" Kirch mumbled, disconcerted when he saw me.

"I'm checking on Tarnk. Don't get up. I can go by myself. Go back to sleep. Enjoy it while you can. Once the babies get here it'll be hard to squeeze in any 'me' time," I winked at them, "if you know what I mean."

I hurried out the door and waited until I got closer to the other huts to bust up laughing.

No sex, huh?

Yeeeeaaaahhh...
we'll just see about
that!

****

I knocked tentatively at the hut that I was almost positive was Tarnk's.

Someone replied, but I have no idea what they said. I don't speak the Lo denaii
grrrr
talk.

"Uhm... it's me," I said a little awkwardly, "Mina."

The door flew open and I was yanked inside.

I stumbled a bit, surprised, and tried to right myself.

"Meanie?" Tarnk asked, staring at me wide eyed.

He looked pale, even for a beastie, but his wound seemed much better.

"Where's Dorothy?" I asked looking around for her.

"Home."

"Oh," I said quietly, taking a step back, putting some space between us, fidgeting when he just stared at me intently.

I wonder if he knows he's doing that.

Talk about awkward... feel like I'm under a damn microscope.

"Soooo... what happened?" I asked, getting down to what I'd really wanted to come by here for in the first place.

I mean... I really
did
want to make sure he's okay too.

I'm not heartless.

But someone with a gun, running around willy nilly shooting people...
that
worry is foremost in my mind.

Tarnk frowned and tried to remember.

"Tarnk look for Candy. Candy yell 'help'. Tarnk run, rock hit Tarnk hard."

"A rock?" I asked already knowing where this was going.

"Mmmm, hmm. Fast rock."

He nodded his head.

"It wasn't a rock. It was a bullet. Unless you have someone out there with the ability to shoot a rock fast enough to pierce you through and through and look like
that..."
I trailed off, nodding my head at his wound, trying to wrack my brain for any other plausible answer.

"Or really awesome arrows or something... in the movies they usually get lodged into the person though... can't exactly go by that though, now can I...?" I asked thinking aloud.

"Movies? Arrows?"

Tarnk blinked at me in confusion.

"You know, arrows..." I made my hands like I was doing archery and mimed shooting an arrow from a bow.

Tarnk got excited and said something in Lo denaii.

"Uh... I don't speak..."

He repeated it again and grabbed something out of his closet.

"Here!" Tarnk said showing me a bow and quiver of arrows.

They were very similar to what I'm used to seeing, but Lo denaii sized, with a sleeker design.

I plucked up an arrow and showed it to him.