Page 8 of Champion (The Outlander Book Club… in Space! #6)
I was not amused.
Granted, Adtovar’s plan had merit, but that I knew he’d come up with it simply to tease, and that pissed me off.
We’d lingered in the dining hall until the cook came out and screeched at us to leave so he could clean up. After that, we’d meandered toward the gladiator’s quarters at a snail’s pace, thinking the guard might take advantage of the nightly shadows in order to speak to us. He didn’t.
He followed us, though, staying in the well-lit areas, making his movements seem like any other night on sentry duty.
Which brought us to this.
Ugh.
It probably wouldn’t have bothered me so much if Adtovar hadn’t been so downright smutty when he suggested Charick and I take a walk along the escarpment.
His voice seemed to echo through the alleyway as he claimed a newly mated couple needed alone time, and he didn’t want us keeping him awake all night.
Granted, I knew Adtovar kept his voice loud so the guard might overhear our plans. But I suffered no misconception… the old turd was definitely enjoying this.
Charick and I left Adtovar at the alley leading toward the small stone building that served as my quarters and continued on, skirting the edge of the arena.
The escarpment stood several hundred feet tall, acting as a barricade between the pit and the desert beyond.
The large dark pink moon was halfway full, its light turning the night into a hue of dark red and the sand at my feet into shimmering rose gold.
The air grew colder, holding a scent of dampness that paled against the spice and leather scent coming from the male at my side.
“Is he following us?” I hissed at Charick. I heard nothing but my own footsteps and the hammering of my heart.
“Yes.” His voice was low and gruff, traveling over my skin like warm honey. “He is still too far away to hear us should we speak.”
“So, what do we do? Just walk around until the dude decides he’s brave enough to approach.” My idea had been to lure him out to the shadows, then pounce, but both Adtovar and Charick thought that action might not be conducive to getting the guy to trust us.
“Yes.” Charick grinned, his teeth startling white against a pelt turned a deep burnished gold by the moon. “As Adtovar suggested, we stroll and pretend to be newly mated.”
“Newly mated.” The term made the blood roar in my ears. “What would a newly mated pair be doing on your planet?” I asked, simply to make conversation.
“We would look for a quiet, comfortable place to fuck.”
He said it without a lick of emotion. A simple statement of fact. Yet I felt my face flush, and the blood chased through my veins like lava, pooling in a hot throb right at my core.
Dammit!
“Yeah, well, that’s not going to happen,” I snorted, casting him a gimlet eye to find him grinning at me. Damn, he was handsome when he smiled.
“What would a newly mated pair be doing on Earth?” Charick murmured, stepping closer.
I didn’t move away. During the daytime, the planet reminded me of the Mojave Desert, hot and dry.
But at night, the temperature dropped considerably, chilly like late fall in the north Georgia mountains.
Walking beside Charick felt like having my own personal travel heater.
“Talking. Getting to know each other.” I stepped around a dead ringer for a pine tree, save for the black trunk and deep blue needles.
The escarpment loomed in front of me, a monolith of stone holding dozens of caves and tunnels.
Rumor had it many got lost and died exploring the caverns while trying to find a way out of the pit.
“I would like to get to know you, Willa.”
I tripped.
If anybody ever asked, I’d claim it was because of the deepening shadows, even though I possessed fairly decent night vision. I’d never admit it was the way Charick’s voice sounded deep and completely male, uttering my name with a sexy purr that made my knees weak.
Pitching forward, I slung my arms out to make sure I didn’t completely face plant.
A bar of iron curved around my waist, pulling me off my feet and holding me close to a warm muscular chest, but only for a moment before setting me gently to my feet.
“Th… thanks,” I mumbled, glad for the darkness so he couldn’t see the way my cheeks flamed. I went to move away, but his hand closed over mine, warm and gentle.
“It will only get darker the closer we get to the rocks. Please let me guide you.”
Please, he said. I wonder what Charick would think if he knew the way flames licked up my arm from where our flesh intertwined, traveling with the speed of an erupting volcano through my body before settling with an aching throb between my thighs.
Or maybe he did. He’d caught the scent of my arousal this afternoon.
It had to be worse now, like a whorehouse on payday.
“Sure.” The word fell awkwardly off my tongue. I felt like a horny schoolgirl faced with her high school crush.
In answer, he gave a soft grunt, fingers tightening around mine.
“What would you like to talk about?” I didn’t believe in the mating shit, so other than how it affected our escape, getting to know each other wasn’t necessary.
Still, I’d rather tell a few heartfelt anecdotes and keep myself occupied than walk around in the dark acting like a blithering, horny idiot because Charick held my hand.
“Tell me about your life on Earth.”
“I was a soldier.” The words came softly, full of pride.
“Soldier?”
“A warrior.” Again, pride dripped from the words. “I belonged to a group of soldiers called the Navy, like my father and his father before him.”
“Your family were warriors.” Charick’s voice held a level of awe that made my skin tingle.
“They were. My father held the title of Rear Admiral, which is a very high rank. I made it to the rank of Lieutenant Commander before resigning to have my son.”
“You have a child… a mate?” I couldn’t see his expression clearly in the darkness, but his tone sounded hesitant, almost sad.
“Had.” I cleared the lump from my throat. “Both my husband and son are dead.” Mark had been gone over twenty years, my son over six, but saying the words made the chasm of grief yawn as wide as it had the day I saw the Casualty Notification Officer on my doorstep.
“Did they die in battle?” He spoke the words with a sense of reverence.
“Yes, both of them.” A hollow pit settled in my stomach. It always did. “The War on Terror lasted twenty years. My husband died in the early days of the war, and my son just days before his unit was to leave Afghanistan.”
Charick pulled to a stop, broad palms coming to rest on my shoulders as he turned me to face him. The moment our eyes met, he laid a fist over his heart, giving three firm taps—a salute, like the vow he had given me earlier.
“For my people, death in battle is the greatest honor a warrior can receive. I give tribute to your mate and son for their sacrifice in defending others.” The reverence I thought I’d caught in his voice was back, deeper, and reverberating with emotion.
Charick issued three more thumps against his chest and lowered his head as though in prayer.
Over the years, I’d steeled myself against the outpouring of sympathy that invariably followed anyone finding out I’d lost both my husband and son to war.
Most of the time, I accepted condolences with a gracious smile and thanks, truly grateful for the words of empathy.
I hadn’t cried in years. Here on this strange planet, watching the alien male standing with his head bowed before me brought forth such a rush of tears I couldn’t keep them blinked away.
Charick was a warrior. He recognized their sacrifice and honored it.
The gesture meant more than I’d let myself admit.
“Thank you.” I raised a hand, trembling as it touched the fist he held over his chest. I felt the beat of his heart reverberate in his flesh and realized with a start that my own heart copied the slow, steady thrum.
For a moment, it felt strange and wonderful and magical, but I wasn’t ready for that yet. I might never be.
I jerked my hand away, using the back of it to wipe the wetness from my cheeks, and turned away, pretending to search the shadows. “Is he still following us?”
“Yes.” Charick didn’t move. His eyes were like two small suns breaking through the din.
“What the hell is he waiting for?” I huffed, wrapping my arms around myself. It wasn’t the chill, but the warmth that made me tremble.
“I don’t know.” Charick sighed. “Perhaps Adtovar is right, and he wishes for confirmation of our mating before approaching.”
Well, of course, he did.
Thankfully, with my head turned, Charick couldn’t see the roll of my eyes, nor did he see the stubborn set of my jaw when I suddenly became tired of waiting around.
“Let’s give it to him.”
Charick cleared his throat, but even so, his voice held the faintest squeak when he spoke. “You wish to fuck?”
I turned to glare at him, noticing how the golden eyes had widened with surprise and… shit, was that hope?
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” I groaned. “Cool your jets, buddy.”
Charick blinked at me. “The evening air has already cooled me. I do not have a jet, and my skiff is in the guards’ custody. However, there might be a cave large enough for us to….”
I groaned in aggravation at the way my body seemed to catch fire at the idea of being wrapped up with Charick. Might as well get this over with.
I wrapped my fingers in the fabric of his tunic, trying not to register how the muscles of his pecs fluttered under my touch.
It was supposed to be like one of those movie kisses—the fake kind where it was simply a chore—a means to an end. The kind where the man and woman pressed their lips together while their other senses remained focused on the mission at hand.
Have mercy!
I’d never been so wrong in my life.
The minute my mouth grazed Charick’s, he stiffened, his golden eyes widening. It seemed like my actions shocked him. Aliens kissed, didn’t they?