Page 51 of Warrior
“Apparently, you were right about Kerzak olfactory senses.” Her eyes rolled dramatically amid pinkening cheeks.“He told me this morning he could smell you on me and asked if we mated.”
A deep chuckled barked from lips at the pleasure someone—even a nosy youngling—recognized our closeness. “What did he tell you?”
“He said the ritual causes your heart to stop and that species other than the Vaktaire often die from it.”
I knelt by her side, halting the fling of her hands as she sorted the garments by wrapping her fingers with mine. Her eyes flickered upward, the gold specks warring with green for dominance.
“Ewok is right, sweetling. The valakana, when a Vaktaire formally claims a mate and receives the blessing of the goddess Valana, is very dangerous and can be deadly.”
Daisy swallowed hard, and I caught the shimmer of wetness growing between her lashes.
“What does that mean... for us?”
My hand slipped around her waist, pulling her across my thighs, pressing a kiss to her forehead as I cradled her. “It means I can never say the words aloud to claim you. To do so would put your very life in danger.” I stiffened, waiting for tears or perhaps anger. I had claimed her body while knowing she could never truly be mine. I deserved her ire.
Daisy laughed.
I blinked down at her, which made her amusement deepen, her soft fingers stroking my jawline.
“I learned a long time ago that talk is cheap. Actions speak much louder than words.”
“What does that mean?” Hope blossomed in my chest.
“It means I don’t care what you can or cannot call me,” Daisy pressed a soft kiss at the base of my throat. “What matters most is how you treat me.”
I leaned my forehead against her, drawing in the floral sunshine scent, now tinged with the musk of her pleasure. “I vow to treat you like the most precious object in the universe.”
“Then you can be my boyfriend,” Daisy giggled, turning her head toward the rush of noise heralding the youngling’s entrance into the common area.
“Boyfriend,” I muttered, standing, and lifting Daisy to her feet. I would need to learn more about this Earth term and be the bestboyfriendin the universe.
After a few more sniffs, Daisy declared only one pile of laundry as clean. We stuffed the garments into a large duffel that I flung over my shoulder. Daisy stepped close as we meandered toward the common area, slipping her hand into mine. My heart surged with the outward expression of our closeness. Of course, there was no way to keep it secret giving Ewok’s nose.
The younglings milled around the tool pile, laying off the work of the day. Ewok’s small head whipped about, eyes widening the minute they lit on Daisy.
“Kida!” He ran to our side as quickly as the short, chubby legs could carry him.
“What’s the matter?” I felt a pang of loss as Daisy’s hand pulled from my grasp as she knelt, holding her arms out for Ewok.
The tiny Kerzak opened his mouth, nostrils flaring. The worry left his face in an instant as the dark eyes darted from Daisy to me and back. His black lips curved upward, the gaze at her full of affection. When he cut his eyes to me again, the message in his expression was nearly audible.Hurt daisy and I will hurt you.I gave a slow, deep nod of agreement and the little furball relaxed.
“Tell her Ewok.” George ambled up behind him, oblivious to what passed between the three of us. His mind was elsewhereand the crease in his brow set off an alarm pinging over my nerves. A warrior’s sixth sense of looming dread.
“What’s wrong?” I laid a hand on George’s shoulder.
“The guards are going to destroy the mine.” Ewok blurted.
“What?” Daisy’s worried gaze bounced between the four of us.
“Why do you say that?” I pressed. A few feet behind George, the rest of the young ones milled, standing in a tight circle. Until that moment, I thought the smell of a battlefield—the scent of blood and battle and death—ranked as the worst scent. I was wrong. The scent of fear emanating off the younglings curdled my stomach.
“Cuietsu overhead some of the guards talking.” George motioned for the smaller boy to step forward.
I’d seen fear in Cuietsu’s eyes the night he told us of Ewok’s attack. The expression on his small face now was one of pure terror. He shuffled forward, wringing his hands so viciously I feared he might yank off a finger. I stepped forward, laying a hand on his shoulder. Tremors ran through him like a small earthquake, making his tail twitch back and forth uncontrollably.
“What did you hear, young one?”
Verdesian eyes are solid black with white pupils that appear as slits surrounded by irises colored to denote their tribe. Cuietsu’s irises were a pale clear green around a wide white pupil as they trained on my face.
