The Tracker's Quest: (Forced To Serve #6) (18 page)

He was inside her before the last word left her mouth and then wondered if he was being too rough. Her joyful bark of laughter made him want to cry again. “You are my life and my breath. I will never take your surrender for granted. I swear it, Seta.”

“I know. I will never let you do so. Now make me yours again. I think I am becoming addicted to you.”

“Unavoidable side effect. I hear it fades a bit with time,” Ji promised.

“Good to know,” Seta hissed, her body lifting as his vibrations sent her flying. She was panting when she realized he was still as hard as ever inside her. This would not do.

“Please, Ji. Don’t hold back from me. I need you—all of you. I am your mate. You have to do as I ask.”

“Males don’t concede in my culture. Females concede,” Ji warned.

Growling, Seta rolled him over, never separating their bodies. “Since I’m not a female Siren, things are going to work a little differently for us.”

She rose and fell on him while his body bowed beneath hers. She sought his pleasure and growled again when he called her name in release. As he panted hard, she bent to kiss his mouth, gathering up his braid and wrapping it around her wrist.

“Say you are mine,” she taunted, throwing his words back at him.

Ji laughed at her demand, but felt a sharp tug on his braid. Another sharp tug had him lifting his head to avoid the pain it caused.

“Did you lie to me? You said we were going to be equals,” Seta declared.

“I did? When did I say that—ouch, Seta. You’re pulling hard.”

Seta snorted. “Be grateful I woke up in a good mood this morning. Enough teasing.”

Ji felt something inside him calming. Taming the fierceness in her was a challenge he would relish, as soon as he properly recuperated.

“I am yours,” he whispered.

His braid was immediately released. Seta surprised him by stretching out on his body. She had not severed their connection. He could feel she wanted to stay close.

“I regret our mating is to be interrupted with business. Do you think Captain Synar would let us lock ourselves into your cabin when we return?”

Ji nodded as he rubbed her back. “I would think he might allow it given our circumstances. Perhaps you might want to let me do the asking. You’re having a very interesting reaction to my Siren pheromones. You’re rather aggressive.”

Seta raised up and stared down into his face. “Anything else you want to comment on this morning? I’d really rather you got it all out before I have to go face Garmon and the others. It’s going to bad enough not flushing under their speculative stares about what I let you do to me last night. Males are so. . .nosy.”

Ji chuckled. “Well, there is one other thing. Why did you change your hair color again? Did you just wake up this morning and decide you wanted to get rid of the streaks? I mean, I like it. That shade of golden bronze is quite alluring. But if last night proved anything, I would think you’d believe me when I say your hair color doesn’t affect how I feel about you. Are you the kind of female who tries out every decision on her hair before applying it to the rest of her life?”

He yelped when Seta dismounted hastily. Fortunately, the libido dampening effect had begun or it would have hurt far worse. He heard her laughing as she threw open the clothes chest and stared at herself in a full-length mirror while lifting her hair.

When he was feeling braver, he might even ask what she found so funny in his compliments.

Chapter 18

Garmon was helping load their all terrain vehicle. The existence of such a machine was yet another fact Seta had shaken her head over never knowing before. Apparently there were vehicles which could adapt themselves to levitating above any terrain. A hand on her arm had her swinging her gaze to his.

“I asked if you were happy with your choice,” Garmon repeated.

Seta sighed. “You were asking me about Ji and I was thinking this vehicle was yet another secret my father kept me from knowing existed. When I come back again, I’m going to explore Ethos for myself. Now you see what kind of female I am. Ji does not live in my every thought.”

Garmon sighed.

Seta relented and put a hand on his arm. “To answer your question more reasonably—no, I do not regret my decision. I am for him. He is for me. Someone else will one be for you one day. I just know it.”

“Be grateful Lira’s medicine is working so well or Garmon would have already lost that arm you’re rubbing.”

Seta huffed and patted Garmon’s arm reassuringly before letting go. “The medicine only fixed one problem, but nothing can slow his mouth today. His power to anger me with his possessiveness defies everything.”

Garmon laughed. “I hope my heart heals fast and that you survive the rest of your quest. I am riding in the opposite direction to send the message Ji asked me to send. It isn’t every day I get to hail a Peace Alliance starship for assistance.”

Ji shook his head, reminding himself the male was mostly helpful and sought to be kind. “Forgive me for snapping at you, Garmon. I am not completely myself this morning. My mate has a right to be scathing about my tongue today.”

Laughing off his apology, the Ethosian slapped his arm before walking off. Ji wasn’t sure if it meant he forgave him or not. After Garmon walked away, Ji turned his attention to Seta. “I suppose I should apologize to you as well. You may touch whom you wish. . .within reason.”

Seta snorted. “How very Ethosian of you to think I require your permission either way.”

Before he could stop himself, Ji reached and yanked Seta forward by her shirt. His mouth hot on hers brought a little relief, but it was fleeting. He eased her away without breaking eye contact. “I suggest you accept my apology before I drag you back to our quarters and demand a proper concession. Just because I’m playing nice, it doesn’t mean I don’t know how to get what I want from you.”

Seta glared into his gaze. “I can see this day is going to go about as well as I feared. Perhaps you should remain here while I go alone, Ji. In this condition you will be more of a hindrance than a help.”

Ji let Seta go and stepped back. He took some calming breaths. “I don’t care if you have a legion of demons coming to your aid—you are not going to see your father alone.”

Seta nodded and fisted hands on her hips. “Fine. You can drive. Maybe it will keep you too busy to think of anything else. I think I am grateful there will be only the two of us for those hours across the desert.”

Ji nodded tightly. “For that I am grateful as well.”

He didn’t even tell her how he’d taken a second dose of the damper Lira had sent. Seta didn’t need to know the edge he walked. She had enough to worry about.

***

Even with their emotions entwined far more than was comfortable for her, the silence between them was companionable enough to allow her to relax. She stared out at the desert sands, seeing them as if for the first time. It was strange to find beauty in a land which had been so hostile to her. Knowing the mining canton existed had changed the way she viewed everything.

Her mind ceaselessly pondered the mining canton’s social structure. Was it just their extreme need of each other which necessitated their relationship dynamics? Or was it just her father’s canton where life was so cruel? She dreaded what she had to do, but then she couldn’t see leaving without at least freeing Ineid. Perhaps her sense of duty was foolish. But the whole planet held her people, didn’t it? Serving in the Peace Alliance had taught her that.

She closed her eyes as she sought the one within her.
Zorinda, can you render my father’s guards as powerless as Malachi does Synar’s foes?

A few. Not as many. My power is not as great. I can shield you while you pass through the area undetected.

It was the most succinct and complete communication she had ever had from her demon. Though it wouldn’t amuse most people, it highly amused her to finally be freely communicating.

That would be good. Perhaps we can constrain our efforts to my father’s main guards and him.

Are you going to let me kill Suzerain Trax this time?

Seta snorted at the question.
If he doesn’t concede, perhaps I will. The male certainly deserves to die, but I fear another worse enemy will rise in his place. Better I leverage what I can, I think.

I will do what I can to help. Remember my first obligation is to protect you. The Siren is not my charge—though I would miss him as much as you would. His vibrations are very satisfying to my energy. He changes you into a better host.

Snorting again, Seta turned her gaze to Ji. Maybe being with a Siren did make her better. Mostly Ji made her mad and frustrated, but at times he did make her happier than she had ever been in her life. Rena had often called her contrary. She understood now how well the descriptor fit her. She was always of two minds where Ji was concerned.

When did I come to need him this much? If he dies, I think I would die as well. Or at the very least, I would never again allow a male to get so close to me. You know that, don’t you? What I told Ji last night was nothing but the profound truth.

Seta felt a fluttering, then a wave of anxiety over her statements. She rubbed her stomach trying to calm the being within her. She was only being honest. Apparently the demon had no more tolerance for her truth than Ji did.

“Nothing is going to happen to us. If my father doesn’t cooperate, we’ll just render him and his guards helpless, go steal Ineid, and be on our way. I’d give up trying to save the rest of my siblings rather than bring our deaths on us. May Rena’s Creators forgive me, but this is the only plan I have.”

“What you suggest is sensible. When so many odds are against you, you must pick your battles carefully, Seta. Like Garmon could only save Endara, perhaps you can only save Ineid. The rest may have to save themselves like you did. Perhaps it is their destiny to rebel and fight for their own freedom. Losing your life would not change their captive situation. Kill your father, have your revenge, and let’s get back to the ship where all we have to worry about is corruption among our peers,” Ji declared.

Seta had been talking to Zorinda and hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud until Ji responded to her comments. She sighed at his advice. It was sound. She knew it was. Why did she persist in hoping she’d find a way to persuade her father to change?

“Do you think we should just break Ineid out and flee with her?”

Ji shrugged. “We are not on my quest. We are on my mate’s. When I have a quest I’ll make those sorts of decisions. Whatever my mate decides, we’ll do those things because I don’t want her to spend the remainder of her days asking herself what might have happened if she had made a different decision. But I do want the rest of my mating week when this is over and done. And one way or the other—I will have it, Seta Trax Warro.”

“If we live through this, you will have the rest of your mating week. I will be only for you, Ji. I will be only for you,” Seta said softly, telling him what she knew he wanted to hear.

Ji reached out a hand and clasped her fingers tightly with his as the vehicle surged over the sand.

***

They stopped just outside the walls of her father’s desert fortress. Seta showed Ji a hidden grove of trees just over the wall of the main building. She sighed as she looked at the steep incline. She didn’t relish climbing the canton’s wall, but it beat fighting the guards at the front entrance. Zorinda had warned that her power was not infinite. She preferred to keep Zorinda’s power in reserve for those moments when she would really need it.

“I think it is best to wait for nightfall when most are asleep. We will retrieve Ineid first. In the morning her disappearance will be discovered, but they will have no idea how she left. If we stay that long, her absence should pull most of the guards to the medical house to investigate. I want to go in and have a word or two with my father, but I hope we can get it done tonight. Regardless of his decisions about my demands, Zorinda can cloak us while we walk out the front gates.”

Ji nodded. “I guess that’s as good a plan as any. What do we do while we wait for the cloak of Ethosian darkness?”

Seta crouched down in her seat. “We are hidden well enough. I plan to sleep. I didn’t get much last night.”

“Are you complaining?” Ji asked, studying his hands. She had never really said much about his. . .extreme enthusiasm for her.

Seta rolled her face to his. “No. I am not complaining at all. But I do need some sleep.”

Ji slouched down beside his mate, struggling to get comfortable. The terrain glider was not made for a male as tall as he was, so his knees nearly touched the front controls.

“Ji—last night was the most amazing night of my life, even more than the first time we were together, which I will never forget. I am glad to be your mate, for however long our relationship lasts. There truly is no other male I would be willing to commit myself to in such a manner. I need to hear that you believe me.”

Ji held out his hand, pleased when Seta instantly linked her fingers with his. “This is what we are,” he said, squeezing tightly. “Last night was our celebration of this bond. Our time together is just beginning, Seta Trax Warro.”

Seta giggled at hearing her name linked to his. “Is that yet another concession I must make? Taking your Siren house name?”

Ji shook his head. “No. I think you should keep the name you were born with so those with the name Trax may one day be looked on more honorably on your planet.”

“Suzerain Trax has no honor. If I know honor, it is because you modeled it for me all the years I have known you. I regret now I did not come to you when you first asked. We could have had more than just a few blissful nights together.”

“Your journey brought you to me. That’s all I care about. Now let’s sleep now while we can. Night falls soon and I don’t want to fight your planet’s predators as well as your father’s guards. The animals would probably push me past my sensible limits. Unleashing my own inner beast would not aid our cause.”