Page 31 of Beauty and the Alien Beast
Gladiators lived simply, but we weren’t stupid. Any technology that directly improved our ability to do our duty and survive was encouraged, and we were allowed a few other luxuries as well. My sector was not like one of the tall, sharp-pointed cities where the Omers and nobles lived, with their technological miracles fueling endless excesses. But those who lived in my pack had access to military-grade healing and repair technologies. Without repair abilities, my warriors and I would be sunk in the field. The jungle chewed up gear and spat it out in pieces—and often did the same to its owners.
I did my best to focus on repairing my armor rather than the gorgeous sight I kept glimpsing in the corner of my eye. She was like a goddess as her body moved sensually while she cleaned herself.
I resolved not to succumb to her seductive scent and body. But I couldn’t trust myself. I focused on directing the little spiders to patch my armor, seamlessly sewing shut the tough polymer-reinforced hide with tiny sutures. Normally, watching them fascinated me—how they could erase the signs of a battle with their tireless tending, just as the nanites were now doing to my flesh.
I was exhausted. The rain was really starting to pound outside the cave mouth, which delighted me in a few ways. It would cover any potential tracks, and it would make for a terrible time for those trying to find us. Maybe it would even trickle into some of that cyborg’s fancy mods and give him trouble.
But the hiss of the rain and the blast of warm, wet air it brought with it left me even more spent than my day and my wounds. I couldn’t bring myself to do much more than shove some rations in my face and put together a portion to bring to Ella once she was… dressed.
When I finally turned back around, she was done and had pulled on my tunic. She was just curling up against the padded wall of the nest, the side slit of the tunic revealing the whole smooth curve of her hip and part of one buttock. I stopped at the nest entrance and swallowed, my mouth feeling very dry.
She looked up at me sleepily and smiled, saying something I didn’t understand at all in a husky voice. Looking away quickly, I bent down to take off my boots, ignoring the way my cock pushed obstinately against my belly.
Be strong,I told myself, but inside, I wondered if I could.
She asked me that same question she had before, seeming puzzled by my lack of reaction to her pretty obvious invitation. I settled in beside her, facing her, not quite at arm’s length. I offered her the food and drink instead of answering, and she ate and drank with a gleam in her eye that told me she had been wanting for both.
I had to explain to her—as best I could—why I could not bed her. But my grasp of her language was so lacking, and I was so tired. So instead, I acted, letting that speak for me. I laid my head against the ring and felt the material reshape to conform to and support it. My body ached with need for her, but it also ached with fatigue.
She reached over, brushing her fingertips against my cheek where one of the clusters of nanites was hard at work.
“Sleep?” she managed in my language, and I nodded and yawned.
The last thing I felt before dropping unconscious was the sudden warm, soft weight of her body curled against my back.
* * *
My dreams werea muddled mix of sensual treats—memories of Ella’s desperate and drugged kisses, the sight of her nude body behind the veil wall of the nest.
I gasped awake, the soft blue glow and the rattle of the rain a fresh shock to my tattered nerves. For a few seconds, all I could feel was the throbbing ache in my groin and the deep frustration I couldn’t shake. Then I felt Ella curled up against my chest, and I froze.
All four of my arms had wrapped around her in sleep, and my face was buried in her hair. She breathed softly, head pillowed against me, and didn’t stir as I lifted my head to look around.
Brax had wandered into the nest as well and had flopped down on the other side, snoozing. Judging by the fair amount of light coming in, it was late morning. I had much more sleeping to do before I would be truly well, but old habits dragged me up to check on things.
Pulling away from Ella took a lot of self-control, but I knew if I didn’t, the inner restraint would melt away like ice in my fists. I stood and walked past Brax. He twitched an ear but didn’t wake.
I went to the cave mouth and looked out over the jungle. The far-off spires of the slavers’ complex gleamed dully in the rain. Now and again, I saw hover vehicles of various sizes flying above the jungle, but there were fewer than I expected. Either that or they were having trouble flying in the rain.
A muffled boom caught my attention. My head snapped around, and I saw one of the hoverbikes was now missing from the sky and a thin thread of smoke was drifting up from the canopy.
I let out a laugh. “Well! Serves you filth right.” Too bad we were in no shape to travel in this mess ourselves. Brax didn’t mind the rain and neither did I, but I didn’t know about Ella.
I emptied my bladder over the edge and spat in the direction of the crash. I hoped it was the cyborg, overtaxing his vehicle with the weight of all his fancy mods.
The cyborg thought he would fetch Ella back like a piece of property.
Not my sheleki. I will die first—and he will die well before that.
A drink from the purifier later and I plodded back to check on the mate in question. The one who kept insisting she wasn’t one. I’d sensed her confusion and doubt when I called her my sheleki.And for the first time in my life, my heart actually felt laden with an invisible weight.
Ella didn’t understand the importance of a Gladiator finding his one true mate or the fact that he’d die before ever harming his sheleki. It was instilled from the moment of birth, buried deeply within each male, an instinct to protect and defend, to nurture and cherish his female.
I had to be patient with my mate. And when we were back safely in my pack, I would show her what it was like to be claimed by her Gladiator.
When I settled down next to her, her eyes opened. She smiled softly and rolled over, sitting up a little, her eyes hooded and drowsy, as if she weren’t quite awake enough to be fully aware.
“Hey, Teken,” she murmured and then leaned up to kiss me.
