Page 27 of Guardian's Heart

"You shouldn't roost that close to the ground anyway," I yelled uselessly after it. Damn bird.

I walked without direction through the dense, dark forest, kicking a root or rock here and there and sometimes slamming my fist into a root tree to vent some of my frustration. Frustration I didn't even understand in the first place.

I was well on my way to successfully finishing another mission. I should be glad to be rid of that troublesome female. Instead, I was ranting and raving like a lunatic through the forest.

My comm vibrated, distracting me and reminding me that now that I was back to myself, I could even call for a ship to come pick us up. I would have gladly battled a few pirates trying to take Nova from me. Or any criminal, for that matter. Any kind of physical brawl would have done right then.

The problem was I didn't want to cut the time we were about to spend together. I didn't want to take her to Astrionis or Pandrax. I didn't even want to take her to the tavern where the other humans and Nock were waiting for us. I wanted to be alone with her.

The sooner you drop them off, the sooner you can be alone again.

That was just the crux of it, though. I didn't want to be alone again. I wanted to be withher. And I didn't understand why. I had never wanted to spend any amount of time with others. Never. Even sexual encounters I cut as short as possible. Now and then, it was inevitable that I ran into another Space Guardian. We talked about our jobs, got drunk, got in a fight with others, and that pretty much summed up my social life. I had never needed more than that until now. Until suddenly, I craved this human female with an urgency that confused me to the core.

I kicked another root so hard it broke. I had liked my life the way it was. Uncomplicated. Black and white. My minder assigned me a mission, and I completed it and received another one. Now, the very idea of not being withhermade my chest ache in the strangest way, as if someone had put a vise around it, tightening it with every step that took me away from her.

Not only that, but my markings also began to burn.

Frygg! I cursed.

What the frygg was happening to me? My mind? My body?

It didn't matter because my steps slowed, my body betraying me, not wanting to be apart from her, just as my markings hurt more with every step. Not like before, but strong enough to bring the message home that they were very unhappy.

"Fine!" I yelled into the sky. I turned around and immediately increased my pace and noticed the burning ease.

Suddenly, the urge to get back to my spaceship and find answers became as strong as the urge to return toher. I pulled out my comm, hoping it would be pirates picking us up. I had never been more fired up for a good battle than I was now.Screw being alone with her, I cursed,I want answers.

A more superstitious male would have contemplated her being a witch, but I wasn't superstitious. I had seen enough of the worst parts of civilization in the universe to believe in the concept of a Netherworld, whether good or bad. Too many species believed in too many gods; not all of them could be wrong, but not all of them could be right. Anyway, no god, in my opinion, would allow the atrocities committed I had witnessed. Maybe the Shellocks were right in believing that we lived in some sort of hell and had to be better to enter the Netherworld of peace. Or maybe the Fran-Icks were right, and criminals were some sort of demons testing our willpower. Or maybe the Hgh'Das had it right, and the victim would be reborn in the next life to punish the one who had victimized them.

I had no clue and I didn't care to try and figure it out. For me, there had only been darkness until I was born, and there would only be darkness when I died. End of story.

I stopped in midstride…have you always wanted to be a Space Guardian since you were a kid? Or did you do something else before?Her voice echoed inside my head.Kid? Childhood? I swallowed. Why did I have no memories of being a child?Frygg, my head was hurting again.

The fire was burning low when I returned to camp. I panicked at first when I didn’t see her, but after a moment, I found her slumbering inside a small underground cave. The burning in my marks had lessened with every step that brought me closer to her, and now it stopped completely as I stood right next to her.

"Curses of all dark matter upon her," I grumbled, not meaning a word, because the relief of seeing her there wasn't only in the ease of my burning marks, but my chest loosened as well as the tension in my back. Neither of which I had been aware of until now.

"Get ready. We're going to be picked up soon," I threw in her direction, refusing to look at her.

She made a show of scrambling out of the cave even though we both knew she hadn't been asleep. The way she rubbed her marked arm gave her away. She, too, had felt our separation.Curses on whatever this is, I fumed, staring into the dying flames before I killed them by pouring the water she had treated over them.

"Hey, that was my purified water," she cried.

"You won't need it. We'll be picked up soon, and then you can drink all the water you like," I retorted, too aware of the flames igniting in her eyes.

"What if I'm thirsty now?" she challenged.

"Are you?" I countered.

She glared at me.

"I didn't think so." I couldn't help but smirk.

"You're insufferable. I can't wait to get to Pandrax and be away from you."

"Well, that makes two of us," I yelled exasperatedly, returning her glare. Both of us were aware of and ignored the fact that we hadn't even been able to stand being a few paces away from each other in the same forest, on the same planet.

We took a step toward each other; I imagined she experienced the same pull I did, as if we were magnets drawn to each other. I couldn't stand this another tick. I was my own male. I didn't want to be bound by invisible shackles to this female, no matter how desirable she was or how incredible the sex between us had been. Neither of us moved another step until a small transporter ship arrived, hovering well above the tree line. The pilot sent a carrier box down, and I mock bowed to allow her to get in first.

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