Page 161 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Fierce

My wound was already healing, mostly because I had gorged myself on bones and meat earlier that day.

The injury itched at this point, and I wanted to rub at it, remove the bandage, and wash off the blood.

But Hina was curled up asleep at my side, and Fluffy was in my lap, curled up into a tiny little circle.

If there was one thing I knew, it was that you just didn’t get up when there was an adorable creature sleeping on you.

In this case, I had two on me, so the rule had to count twice.

“Feeling better, Fierce Hunter?” Snarl asked me.

He was sprawled on his side in the opening of the small hunter’s cave.

I could just make out the tilt of his head and one big red eye as he looked at me.

“Right as rain,” I offered. If not for my bond with the Ferai beast, I wouldn’t have been able to rest as soundly as I had.

I was incredibly grateful that I’d managed to heal the ragged edges of Snarl’s mind-broken soul.

The animal dropped his head back down on his paws with a huff.

“Your female needs a better den. The Vagabond would be a good place for pups.” I nearly choked on a laugh, den?

Pups? I hadn’t realized how much Snarl was trying to matchmake Hina and me.

Even if Hina was accepting my claim on her now, I doubted she would be when she realized what a dumb, tech-illiterate idiot I was.

She’d already come to some conclusion about it, but maybe if I could convince her I could at least protect her, she wouldn’t consider it as much of a flaw.

Light was starting to fall into the cave opening.

Soon, we’d have to get moving again. We had to find a place to climb out of this hole, or we’d never reach the Vagabond.

How long had we been gone at this point?

Several days, at the very least. What if they’d flown off?

No, my brothers would not do that. We did not abandon Kitan when he was captured with his female; they wouldn’t just give up on me either.

A nagging voice in the back of my mind tried to point out that Kitan was our pilot, he was a valuable addition aboard the ship.

Me? I couldn’t do anything. Well, Thorin had asked me to find Fluffy for him when he discovered she was loose on the ship, and I’d hidden her instead.

I wasn’t even sure why my instincts had made me hide the small Riho, fear that they’d take her from me?

When Hina stirred in my lap, I focused on her lovely features, watching her dark eyes open and blink into awareness.

Almost immediately, she started to straighten up.

“Fierce! How’s your shoulder? Are you in any pain?

” With some satisfaction, I reached up and yanked the bandage off, grinning toothily at her huge eyes when she discovered that the wound had already closed to little more than a jagged pale blue line.

“Oh. Well, that’s good,” she murmured, her hands coming up to stroke my shoulder. It was still a little sore, but I knew that in another day I would be fine. Climbing the steep canyon wall was going to be out of the question for now, but we hadn’t found a safe spot to try yet anyway.

The two of us remained curled together while we shared some of the naga jerky and a ration bar.

I was sure it was safe enough to eat, even if it was dry and tough, but Hina was very careful about nibbling on her strip.

It was such a tempting sight that I leaned down to nibble on her lips instead, eagerly sipping her unique taste.

Her hands clutched at my shoulders. “Fierce, are you sure?”

But any further protests were lost when I stretched her out on the floor and curled over her, letting my body press against the softness that was all Hina.

I loved her shape, her smallness, the soft curves of her breasts, the flare of her hips.

I even loved the pale, unchanging color of her flesh, so different from my own.

She exhaled on a shaky moan, her body undulating beneath me in what was clearly an invitation.

She no longer smelled of my seed; I had pretended not to notice that she’d washed herself afterward with a bit of water.

Now, I meant to rectify that situation and make it clear that she was my mate the only way I knew how; with this damn language barrier precluding me from explaining it.

Maybe humans didn’t stake claims like that—I wasn’t certain—because both Abby and Camila aboard the Vagabond always smelled of their male, just like Ziame and Thorin smelled like them.

Regardless, the thought of painting my skin with her musk, of smelling her arousal on my lips for the rest of the day, seemed like a great idea.

I couldn’t wait to hear more of her breathy moans and the way she said my name in the throes of passion.

So, I eagerly nibbled from her mouth along her jaw, down the soft curve of her throat, delighting in the little bumps that spread across her pale skin.

“Fierce,” she said, her hands digging into my hair, curling around the thick filaments.

It clung back to her in turn, sliding around her wrists.

I found her nipple with my mouth, raking the point of one sharp fang gently around the stiff peak, to the sound of her breathing stuttering and her heart racing.

Sucking the peak into my mouth, I created a wet spot on her shirt, then changed to the other one and did the same.

A pebble skittered somewhere, and my ears twitched. I didn’t want to give up on my treat, on pleasuring the female stretched out all pliant and willing beneath me. But Snarl hissed a warning next, so I raised up on both fists and tilted my head, listening. Was that the sound of someone approaching?

With a curse, I flowed to my feet, my hand already finding the handle of my ax.

Hina had frozen, her dark eyes following my every move without asking questions.

Smart girl; she knew something was up. Trusting her to remain quiet, I walked to the mouth of the small cave on the balls of my feet.

My skin slid into colors that matched the stone and shadow, turning rough to the touch.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Hina roll to her hands and knees, her fingers curling around a sharp rock as she listened intently.

Snarl was in front of her, a dark shadow protectively crouched between her and whatever was out there.

Even Fluffy was alert, perched on my female’s shoulder with her tail curled up over her body, ready for anything. Good.

Leaning out of the cave opening just enough to get a good look, I watched as one of those scaled, half-human, half–creeper-like creatures approached.

It wasn’t the same bright red as the ones that had chased us before, and it was alone.

That was the only thing that saved it from an outright attack.

Now, I just watched curiously, ready to fight should the male make any kind of threatening move.

Its green scales glittered with water, and the satchel slung around its upper body was still dripping.

Clearly, it had just come out of the river—a thought that made my skin prickle.

So they were good swimmers, were they? Maybe Hina and I had been luckier than I’d thought when we escaped through those rapids.

This male was a warrior like the others, and with his long, muscled tail, I had the brief realization that fighting one of his kind in the arena might not go as well for me as that fight earlier today had, when I’d had the element of surprise.

This one even had a long trident rising up from behind one shoulder, and a net hung, folded, from a belt at his hip.

He seemed alert, bright emerald eyes flashing left and right as if looking for something, though his attention was focused on what was behind him.

There was a satisfied hissing sound, what could only be described as a smirk curled his lips—as he pulled his bag toward his front and peeked inside.

It was enough to tell me this one’s teeth were not blackened but pale ivory white.

Even more interesting, he slithered past our small cave opening without a glance and hurried toward a draping of scraggly vines that grew from a ledge not far off.

With a furtive glance over his shoulder, he pulled those vines aside, revealing a netted backing behind them, a fake vine-and-rock curtain.

The male glided through the opening, my brief glance revealing what looked like a narrow crevice that angled upward. A way out of this damn canyon.

The curtain closed behind him, sealing the crevice so effectively that my eyes struggled to figure out exactly where the edges were.

Hina’s hand on my wrist pulled my attention from the promised exit to her presence, her dark eyes wide with worry.

“Hina safe,” I offered quietly, pushing away my frustration at being unable to explain things to her.

We needed to let that green one get a good head start on us before we tried the crevice.

I didn’t want to risk running into him; he might not look like he was of the same tribe as those red ones, but that didn’t mean I was about to risk it.

I turned a bit more, my skin losing some of its camouflage as I took in the wet spots on her shirt and the flushed pink of her cheeks.

Oh yeah, I knew just what to do to pass the time.

Curling my hand around her waist, I pulled her into my body, aligning us so I could feel all her soft curves.

I bent down my head to brush my lips against hers, a feeling of happiness rolling through me when she eagerly tilted her head to meet mine.

A purr rumbled from my chest, rattling up from the pit of my stomach.

*

Hina