WarlordUnarmed (4 page)

She tilted her head back. A flying creature circled high in
the sky, its great wings extended, a warning of the potential dangers.

“Get your ass in gear, Gale. Murad is alone and
defenseless.”She hurried down the rocky slope, bewildered as to why she
cared about a male destined to return her. Pebbles tumbled before her dusty
boots, the sound shockingly loud.

“I care because he risked his life for me,” Gale
rationalized. “And because I find him attractive.” She headed toward the
stream, swinging the water container, attempting to appear as large and
menacing as possible. “I’m feeling gratitude and lust and that’s all.”

* * * * *

“Gale.” Murad jerked awake, his head pounding painfully and
his arms empty. Moonlight shone through a crack in the structure, Murad
recognizing the dual moons of his home planet. That’s all he recognized, most
of the space around him shrouded in darkness.
Where on Chamele 3 am I? And,
more importantly, where is my
gerel
?

“Gale,” he repeated, his voice hoarse and weak, as though
he’d been ill. He breathed in, smelling her sweet scent, and some of his panic
eased.
Why isn’t she answering?
Murad stretched out his fingers,
searching for her, his vision adjusting to the low light.

“Gale,” he called louder, his throat raw and his lips dry.

“You’re awake.” Gale moved to his side and grasped his left
hand, her skin warm and soft. “Thank the stars.” Moisture glistened on her
cheeks, her blonde hair a beacon in the darkness, his guiding light. “It has
been three sunsets and I thought…I thought you might never waken.”

Three sunsets.
Murad pulled her to him, her breasts
smacking against his chest. She gasped, but didn’t protest, folding into him as
though she had been made for him.

“Where are we?” He slid his palms down her back, feeling
more bare skin and a flimsy strap of fabric tied under her shoulders. His body
hardened, his cock unhampered by leg coverings. “Why am I naked?”

Gale wiggled. He gripped her tighter, holding her to him,
and she stilled, huffing her aggravation. “I had to care for you, hon. I didn’t
do anything else.”

Ahhh…but she wanted to.
Murad grinned, hearing the
defensiveness in her voice. “
You
had to care for me. We didn’t land at
the base.”

“We landed in the middle of nowhere.” Gale tipped a
container to his lips and he drank thirstily, the water sliding down his
burning throat, the liquid crisp and cool and pure, sourced from his planet.

“The land is flat,” she elaborated. “There’s grass and a
river and big flying creatures with sharp teeth that kill even larger yellow
beasts.” Gale shivered as she lowered the empty container. Her skin vibrated
against his, arousing his refreshed body.

“Dust vultures feast upon the
unee
.” Murad tensed,
both beasts having the ability to kill his small human mate. “You should have
waited for me to wake, foolish female.”

“We needed water.” She touched his forehead and he winced,
pain shooting down his spine. “You were safe. I built a wall around our camp.”

“I wasn’t worried about me.” Murad held her beautiful face
between his big palms. The moonlight lit her hair, and the stars reflected in
her eyes, her beauty dazzling him, making him bold, hungry.

He tangled his fingers in her curls and captured her plump
lips with his, branding his ownership upon her, claiming her for his
gerel
.
Gale froze, her spine straightening. He pressed forward, flicking the seam of
her mouth with his tongue, seeking entrance.

She sighed her surrender, her warm breath caressing his skin
and she opened to him, her act of trust humbling Murad. He surged inside,
tasting grains and sweetness, their tongues sliding, stroking, seducing, his
head spinning.

Gale straddled his lap, her legs bare, her fabric-covered
mons pressing snugly against his hard cock, her wetness exciting him, her musk
filling his nostrils. He lowered his palms and kneaded her generous ass,
savoring her curves, rocking her toward him.

She slid her hands up his arms and around his neck,
threading her fingertips through his long hair. Darkness edged Murad’s vision,
his limbs weak. He growled his frustration, unable to rut with Gale properly,
to give her the satisfaction she deserved.

He tore his mouth from hers. “I can’t do more,” he admitted,
inwardly cringing at his failure, feeling less than a warrior.

Her face fell. “Because you don’t want to?” She wiggled
backward, away from him.

He clasped her hips, stopping her, unwilling to release her,
needing her more than he’d ever needed another being. “I want to. The moons
above, I want to.” Murad leaned his forehead against hers. Pain shot from his
wound, sharpening his thinking. “I have the desire, but no energy.” He brushed
his nose against hers and their breaths mingled, mixed, became one.

“Oh.” Gale pulled away and studied his face, looking for
something. He didn’t know what. “Does it hurt when I touch you?” She caressed
his chest, swirling the heels of her palms over his flat male nipples, sending
cascades of ecstasy over him.

“It feels wonderful.” Murad partially lowered his eyelids,
selfishly savoring his female’s light touch, unable to return her caresses, his
energy levels too low. “You have healing hands.”

“I want to heal you.” Gale massaged his chest. “All over.”
She rubbed her fingers into his skin, slowly lowering her hands, inflaming his
body with her stroking.

“Yes, all over.” Murad’s cock bobbed as though seeking her
attention.

Gale’s cheeks flushed pink. “Tell me if this is too much.”
She drifted her fingertips over his cock head, down his shaft, around the ridge
at his base, and Murad gritted his teeth, stifling his groan. “If you need to
rest, I’ll stop.”

“Don’t.” He circled her wrist with his fingers, holding her
to him. “Don’t ever stop.” Her pulse beat wildly against his skin.

Gale’s lips lifted into a pleased smile. “I won’t.” She
wrapped her fingers around him, claiming his cock as hers. She pumped him with
sure, slow strokes and Murad breathed heavily, wishing to rock his hips into
her touch, unable to, forced to remain still.

Gale cupped his aching balls, lifting them, rolling them,
and a rumble of appreciation vibrated in Murad’s chest, a bead of pre-cum
forming on his tip. She swiped her thumb over him, spreading his scent and his
seed.

“Is this enough?” She nibbled on her bottom lip as she
pumped him, abusing her sweet flesh with her blunt, white teeth. “Because if
you lie back.” Her gaze dropped to his chin. Murad found his female’s shyness
adorable. “I could…” She wiggled on his thighs, her musk growing tantalizingly
stronger.

She could mount me.
Murad’s cock hardened even more,
his body approving heartily of her sexy solution. “I can’t move,
gerel
,”
he warned her.
“
I can’t please you.”

“I can take my own pleasure.” Gale quickened her pace, her
hands moving up and down his shaft, pushing Murad closer to a fulfillment he didn’t
want to reach alone. “When you were unconscious, I wanted to ride you.” He
stared at her, stunned, aroused, enraptured by her confession. “I didn’t!” Gale
lifted her palms, releasing him. “That would have been wrong.”

“It isn’t wrong now.” Murad swung his legs around, Gale
remaining perched on his thighs and he reclined slowly on the multi-person
high-backed seat, gazing up at her. “Be gentle with me.” He grinned. Her form
zoomed in and out of focus.

She licked her bottom lip, leaving a glistening trail on her
lush flesh. “I don’t want to cause you more pain.” Her body trembled with
sexual excitement, her nipples taut against the thin fabric barrier.

“Then mount me,
gerel
.” Murad stroked his cock, up
and down, up and down and Gale’s gaze followed his hand. “Give me release.” His
balls lifted, hugging his shaft, his being primed for her, for this moment. “I
ache for you.”

“I want you too,” she whispered. “So much.” She untied her
ass covering and discarded the makeshift garment, revealing a neatly trimmed
triangle of golden curls and her pink pussy lips.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured, possessively covering her
mons with one of his palms, pressing the heel of his hand against her clit.
“And mine.” He folded his fingers into a fist and dragging his scarred knuckles
over her. She shuddered, her curves undulating sensuously in the moonlight, her
juices wetting his skin.

“When I’m rested, I’ll lick you here.” He swirled a knuckle
over her clit, winding her body tighter and tighter and tighter, energized by her
erotic moans. “And suck your pussy dry.” He slid a finger into her hot
entrance.

“No more touching.” Gale brushed his hand away and Murad was
unable to offer resistance, his strength negligible. “I want to come around
you.” She raised her hips, curled her fingers around his shaft and positioned
him, her sure grasp fracturing his control.

“Yes.” She lowered, sinking down on his cock, her pussy hot,
wet and almost unbearably tight.

Murad rolled his eyes back in his head as he grabbled for
restraint, wishing to make this first rutting last. “You’re made for me.” He
gripped her hips, assisting with her descent. “My
gerel
. My everything.”

Gale took more and more of him, the slide exquisitely slow,
the strain reflecting on her face, her eyelids lowering and her lips
flattening.

“
This
is how I knew it’d be,” she shared, her voice
husky.

Her pussy enveloped the ridge at his base and she stilled,
having taken all of him, her body snug, so incredibly snug around his hard
cock. Murad breathed in, breathed out, breathed in, breathed out, the urge to
thrust upward, to spill his seed, tremendous.

“I’ve never felt so full, so connected.” Gale gazed down at
him, seated securely upon him, her back straight and her chin raised proudly.
She radiated strength and confidence, all snippets of fear and caution banished
from her expression.

She trusts me.
A warmth spread across Murad’s chest.
“Only I can give this to you.” He caressed her hips, his desire for her
building, his pounding head forgotten. All he knew in this heart-stopping
moment was the glorious female astride him, his
gerel
, his light in the
darkness, the being he was meant to spend his lifetime with.

“You’re not giving.” Her lips lifted in a mischievous smile.
“I’m taking, hon.” She squeezed him with her pussy muscles and he groaned,
unable to tolerate her teasing, his body ready, his control fractured.

“Need to move.” Murad pushed his ass off the seat. A wave of
exhaustion swept over him and he collapsed, disgusted by his weakness. “Can’t.”

“And you shouldn’t.” Gale leaned forward and bit his bottom
lip, punishing him for his attempt, the pain sharp and sexy.

“Gale,” Murad growled, shaking with desire. “Stop tormenting
me.”

“Or what?” She raised one fine blonde eyebrow. “You can’t do
anything, Warlord.”

“Don’t be so certain, bounty hunter.” Murad released her
hips and cupped her mons. She gasped. He grinned, rubbing her clit in small
circles, watching her eyes darken and her mouth open, her passion rising faster
than the winds on Chamele 1.

“Stars.” Gale rocked, the shallow slide of cock in pussy
exquisite, appeasing his need for movement. “That feels good.” She rested her
hands on his shoulders, pinning him to the seat, her breasts breaking their
flimsy bonds, her taut pink nipples dangling above his chest, her curves fuller
than ripened
tapbac
.

“Too good.” Murad gritted his teeth, darkness framing his
vision, efforts to impede his release scorching already drained energy levels.
He escalated his assault on Gale’s clit, wishing to please her first.

“Murad.” She panted, rutting on him faster and faster, her
thighs quivering and her nipples brushing against his chest, sending ripples of
pleasure over his torso.

“Can’t…last,” he confessed, his chest heaving as though he
had raced across the plains, chasing her, chasing fulfillment. Her features
blurred and his fingers twitched, bumping against her clit.

“Yes,” she cried, flinging herself backward, her pussy
clenching down on his shaft. Murad’s base swelled, prying her open, providing
physical confirmation of what he’d already known. She was his
gerel
, his
only.

Her hold on him relaxed, temporarily freeing him, that
reprieve being all he needed. “Gale!” He exploded, driving upward with the
energy he had left, his seed jetting out of his cock with a mind-numbing force.

His release pulled a scream from Gale’s lips and another
orgasm from her lush body, her uninhibited response completing the bonding
ritual, tying the two of them together for their eternity.

“My
gerel
.” Murad sagged, contented, sated, weak and
weary. Colors spun around him faster and faster as she milked every drop of
essence from his cock, the connection between them palpable and reassuring.

“Hold…” Words failed him. He hadn’t anything left in his
body, in his mind, in his heart. He’d given it all to her.

Gale draped her soft curves over his muscle, as though she
sensed what he needed, her scent covering him. “That was unlike anything I’ve
ever experienced.”

“Yes.” He tried to lift his hands, to cup her ass, but his
limbs were too heavy.

“Now rest,” she murmured, snuggling deeper into his chest.

My female, my
gerel
.
A sense of contentment,
of rightness, settled upon Murad.
My everything.
He closed his eyes and
allowed the darkness to take him.

The next morning, Gale rested her head on Murad’s shoulder
and waited for him to wake. She savored these last moments of happiness, of
companionship, knowing they wouldn’t last.

The sun’s rays trickled through the gap in their makeshift
fortifications, lighting the small space. Murad’s leg coverings were folded neatly
in a corner, having been cleaned in the stream and dried in the heat. His
boots, polished as best as she could manage using blades of grass, were lined
up next to hers.

Her gaze rested on the fastening tool, the metal reflecting
the light.
None of my hard work will make up for what I’ve done.
She
sighed, history having taught her what would happen next.
I’ll be punished
and returned.

Murad stirred under her, mumbling words in a language she
didn’t understand, and panic swept through Gale.
I could hide the tool,
pretend it was lost in the explosion. He’d never know.
She hesitated,
unwilling to lie to him, as lies had never solved any problems in the past. The
substitute parents had always found out the truth.

“
Gerel
,” Murad murmured. He gently grazed her cheek
with his scarred knuckles, his coarse touch sending tremors down her neck.

Gale pulled away from him, unable to tolerate his tenderness
knowing what she’d done. “I took a fastening tool out of your pack,” she
blurted. “That one.” She flung one of her hands toward the device. “While you
weren’t looking.” She folded her arms under her bare breasts and braced for her
punishment, fixing her gaze on his square chin, not wanting to see the fury in
his black eyes.

“I see.” Murad raised his right hand and she flinched,
anticipating the blow. It never came. He curled a tendril of her hair around
his calloused index finger, the fine golden blonde strand contrasting vividly
with his tanned skin.

“That’s good. I’ll need it to repair my communicator.” He
nodded toward the shattered device. “Or the homing device in this pod.” Her
handsome Warlord frowned, his forehead furrowing with grooves. “My warriors
should have located us by now.”

“Didn’t you hear me?” Gale narrowed her eyes at him, certain
that he didn’t understand the significance of what she’d done. “I took
something of yours without asking first. Some might call that stealing.”

Murad shrugged his broad shoulders. “You’re my
gerel
.
What is mine is yours.” He pushed himself upward, the muscles in his chest rippling.
“My mouth feels as though it is filled with sand.” He puckered his lips.

Gale jumped out of the seat and strode across the space.
“You don’t understand.” She hurled the water container at his head, exasperated
by the miscommunication.

He caught it in one hand, his reflexes impressively fast.
“My bounty hunter mate is also a thief. What is there to understand?” He stood,
weaved unsteadily on his feet, unfastened the container and drank. Water
dripped down his neck and between his pectorals.

Gale licked her lips.She backed away from him,
putting both emotional and physical distance between them. “I’m not a thief. I
take…mementoes. And I don’t take them from everyone.”

“But you took one from me.” Murad stalked forward, his dark
eyes glittering and a big smile lighting his face. “Me.” He dropped the empty
container, reached out, grabbed Gale’s waist and pulled her toward him,
smacking their bodies together.

“You chose me, the male every other being views as the
never-serious younger brother.” He laughed, hugging her close to him, his chest
rising and falling against her.

Gale’s world spun, his reaction not making any sense to her.
Nothing made sense.

“Why did you choose me?” He nuzzled her neck, his lips warm
and firm. “Was it my good looks? My charm? My big hands and even bigger—”

“Murad.” Gale broke into his flippant deluge of words. “Why
aren’t you angry?” She tilted her head to one side, giving him more access to
her skin, confusion dulling her arousal. “You’re to punish me and then return
me. That’s how it works,” she explained. “Because taking a memento from you was
wrong. I know that.”

“Someone punished you for taking a memento?” Murad stilled
and Gale swallowed a whimper, knowing his rejection was coming. “
Now
I’m
angry.” Fury edged his voice, his laughter evaporating under the force of what
she’d done.

“Who dared to touch you, Gale?” Murad released her. “Tell
me.” Long sharp claws extended from his scarred knuckles.

He has claws.
Gale blinked, having never seen a
humanoid with claws before. The fugitives she’d chased had been harmless petty
thieves and other nonviolent criminals.

“Give me his name and I’ll kill him.” Murad waved his
natural weapons. “I’ll slice him into tiny pieces.”

All of this anger is for me?
Gale stared at her
Warlord, awed by the force of his emotion. “It was a long time ago.”

“A long time ago?” He pivoted on his bare heels, turning
toward her, light reflecting off the tips of his claws. She didn’t feel any
fear, trusting Murad not to physically hurt her. “You were a
child
when you
were punished?”

Gale gulped and nodded.

“A child!” Murad tossed his head back and roared, the
expression on his face stark and raw, his long black hair flowing over his
shoulders.

“Murad?” She twisted her hands, not knowing how to ease his
rage.

“I have to hunt, kill, do something.” He removed pieces of
her crude wall, tossing the heavy objects aside as though they weighed nothing,
the muscles in his back flexing. “We need food.”

“We have some rations left,” Gale argued, hastily dressing.
She donned only her undergarments, her leather outer garments ill-suited to the
planet’s hot climate. “You’re not well enough to leave the camp.”

“I’m fit.” He fixed his gaze on her, his eyes glittering
with a hardness she’d never before seen. “And I have to do something.”

Gale gathered the empty water containers. “I’m joining you.”
He opened his mouth. “No arguments.” She held up one of her hands. “You’ve been
ill, hon.” The endearment slipped from her lips and her face heated. “I’m not
allowing you out of my sight.”

“Is that so?” His lips twitched, his constant grin
threatening to make a reappearance.

“That’s so.” She slapped an empty water container against
his chest.

His chest disappeared. All of him disappeared. He was gone.
“Murad.” A cold wave washed down her body, and her knees collapsed. Invisible
hands caught her before she hit the ground.

“I’m sorry,
gerel
.” Murad linked his fingers under
her breasts and pressed his lips against her right earlobe, his form solid and
visible and unharmed. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He placed one of his palms
over her pounding heart, his claws retracted. “I’m a Chamele. We have the
ability to blend into our surroundings.”

“I thought I’d lost you.” Gale turned in his arms. “And I
couldn’t handle that. I’ve already lost so much.”

Murad’s eyes softened. “You lost your home.” He pressed his
lips to her forehead.

I’ve lost everything.
Pain shot through her, a pain
she couldn’t deal with, not right now. “We have more urgent issues than my
home.” She wiggled free and pushed past the big naked male. “We need water.”

“And food.” Murad caught up to her easily, his stride longer
than hers. “
Unee
are delicious roasted over an open fire.” His arm
brushed against hers, his casual touch tightening her nipples.

“I thought you said they were dangerous.” Gale sank her toes
into the soft dirt, savoring the connection to the planet, also feeling a
connection to the big male prowling beside her, their bond strengthening with
each passing moment.

“Not for Chamelewarriors,” he scoffed. “I hunted my
first
unee
when I was twelve, and at that night’s fire, my father gave
me my warrior sword. It was…”

She glanced up at him. He stared at the horizon, his jaw
jutting, a tic pulsing on his cheek. “It was?”

“It was a special celebration,” Murad said softly, his smile
forced, the mirth not reaching his eyes. “He was proud of me.”

Gale swallowed her envy, no one having ever been proud of
her. “Now, whenever you wield your sword, you think of that day and how proud
he was. Your sword.”

She stopped, remembering how he’d disarmed before meeting
her, sliding a sword along the ship’s floor. “Oh stars, Murad, your beautiful
sword.”

Murad strode forward, his back straight and his shoulders
squared. The long grass waved around him, and the sun shone over his dark head,
the sky an endless blue.

Gale hurried to rejoin him, fearing if he left her field of
vision, she might never see him again. “You lost your sword because of me.” She
gripped the water container tightly, her knuckles whitening around the handle.
“And it was a connection to your father.”

“I lost my sword because of Tolui, the clone lover, our
people’s enemy,” Murad muttered. “And I have other connections to my father.
Although both my sword and my father are now gone, I won’t ever forget him or
how proud he was of me.” His lips quirked upward. “My mother won’t allow my
memories to fade. She tells the story of that hunt at every family gathering.”

He has a mother, two brothers, a planet and warriors. I
have no one and nothing, only him and a field filled with debris, both to be
left behind when we’re rescued.
“Is it a fascinating story?” she asked.

“Mother thinks so.” Murad placed his palm on her lower back,
the possessive gesture curling Gale’s toes. “I returned to the camp covered
with blood, a wide grin on my face. She took one look at me and screeched
louder than a dust vulture.”

Gale laughed, collecting the story as she’d normally collect
objects, holding it close to her heart. “What did your father say?”

* * * * *

“We have some rations left.” His
gerel
smiled, appearing
not at all apologetic about scaring away the herd of
unee
. She sat in
the shallow stream, her damp hair accentuating her large blue eyes.

“I was hunting the old
unee
as we agreed.” Murad bent
over and filled another container. The cool, clear water rushed over his feet,
and the sun rays warmed his back.

“The baby was watching. I didn’t want him to see her die.”
Gale wiggled her small toes. “She could have been his grandmother.” She
shivered, her pink nipples visible through the thin band of fabric.

He trudged through the water toward her, his cock hardening.
“Next time I’ll separate her from the herd.”

“Then next time I won’t wave my hands and yell for them to
run.” Gale lay back in the water. A multicolored mosaic of flattened stones
framed her face. “If there
is
a next time.” Her smile faltered. “Your
family must know you’re missing. Will they be worried about you? Will Berke
organize all of the other warriors to find you?”

“He always has them organized.” Murad lowered himself,
bracing his weight over her. “My eldest brother worries about the entire
system, not trusting me to run my own planet.”

“Because he cares about you.” She drifted her fingertips
over his cheek, her eyes glowing. “And Khan? Will he leave Zeta to search for
you?”

“Zeta will join him. She’ll want you found.” He brushed his
lips over Gale’s, tasting the tartness of the ground berries he’d picked for
her.

“Do you think so, hon?” She gazed up at him, an emotion
resembling hope lighting her eyes. “I care for her, but I don’t know if she
cares for me in the same way. She sent you instead of coming for me herself.”
Hurt edged her voice.

Murad’s heart twisted. “Zeta would have rescued you had Khan
not physically restrained her. She warned me she’d shoot my invisible ass if
you were harmed in any way.”

Gale laughed, the light, joyous sound captivating him. “That
sounds like her.”

Murad rested his forehead against hers. “I don’t think she’d
have the gun on the stun setting.” He chuckled, his
gerel
was as fierce
as her friend.

Gale touched his lips. “If Khan ever hurts Zeta, my gun
won’t be set on the stun setting either.”

“He’d never hurt her,” Murad assured her. “She’s his
gerel
.
He’d die before harming her.” He sucked on Gale’s pouty bottom lip. “As I’d die
before harming you.”

Her gaze dropped to his chin, her long golden eyelashes
fluttering. “You say that now.”

“I’ll say that always.” He nudged against her, his cock
hard. “We’re bonded. There will never be another female for me and there will
never be another male for you.” His claws pricked his skin, the thought of any
male touching her darkening his mood.

“Rut on me, Gale.” Murad rolled onto his back, taking her
with him. Water splashed, cooling his heated skin. A dislodged stone jabbed
into his ass.

A shadow fell over his face and Murad glanced upward. A dust
vulture dove toward them, its feathered wings folded close to its big body, its
beak open, displaying rows of sharp teeth. Murad’s eyes widened, alarm gripping
his warrior soul.

“Son of a
Gechii
.” Murad flung Gale off him and
sprang to his feet, extending his claws. “Stay down,” he commanded, standing
protectively in front of his small human mate, painfully aware of how fragile
she was.

“Not another dust vulture,” Gale muttered behind him, her
comment making him smile, his
gerel
adorably feisty. “
Them
you
can hunt and I wouldn’t stop you.”

Murad coiled his body lower and lower and lower, his body
vibrating with the excitement of the hunt. As the creature neared, Murad
sprang, grabbed the dust vulture’s bald neck and swung onto its back. The
creature flapped its huge wings, their combined weight grounding it.

Gale rolled out of the reach of its talons, pelting its
exposed stomach with stones as she moved. One stone bounced off Murad’s shin,
the sharp pain racing up his leg.