Page 339 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Meena

That tiny tent seemed far too fragile to be safe to sleep in.

I didn’t think I’d manage much sleep at all, knowing that I was suspended over a huge drop down to the forest floor.

But as soon as I’d curled up under the blankets, dressed in fresh clothes, and with my belly filled with food and water, I was out like a light.

I spared a brief thought for Jakar, wondering what it would be like if I invited him in with me.

If I asked him to keep me warm throughout the night.

It shocked me that I didn’t hate the thought, not at all.

Now that I’d spoken more than two words to him, it was hard to put him back in that nice little box labeled “alien creep.” He wasn’t.

He was just eager, and he seemed to actually like me.

I mean, those compliments had been completely over the top, but they were so freaking sincere.

That wasn’t just being a charming flirt; that was deeper, and I couldn’t deny that.

When I woke up that morning, he was the first thing I thought of.

Had he managed to sleep out there, balanced on a tree branch?

Somehow, that didn’t seem so impossible for him.

He was such an amazing climber that I had to believe his species had adapted for it.

He still would have been more comfortable in the tent with me.

The thought niggled at my mind for several minutes before I managed to shove it away.

The tent’s fabric was sheer enough that I could see the shadows of leaves and branches dapple its surface, sunlight filtering down through the forest canopy.

High up as we were, there was much more light than there would be down on the forest floor.

It was kind of pretty and peaceful. I honestly kind of liked it, lying here in a comfy hammock with warm blankets.

Maybe it was the first time since my abduction that I had felt a sense of peace like that.

“Are you awake, Meena?” Jakar asked in a low-pitched voice that wasn’t meant to carry far.

He must have heard me move, but he wasn’t sure if I was actually awake.

I was touched, because he didn’t want to wake me if I was still asleep.

Very thoughtful. Since I was starting to feel the need to pee, I guessed I had to admit to being awake.

I was suddenly very concerned about how we’d accomplish that, given that we were fifty feet up in the air.

“I’m awake,” I mumbled, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

I clumsily freshened up a little with my tiny amount of supplies, which, thankfully, included the high-tech alien mouth cleaner.

Just a little rinse with the fresh-tasting liquid, and I was all done, one of the few things so far that I’d thoroughly appreciated about my leap into the future.

Pulling open the tabs of the tent, I was greeted by Jakar’s eagerly smiling face on the other side.

He was casually balanced on his feet on the branch in front of me, not holding on to anything, just chilling, like he wasn’t a powerful gust of air away from falling to his death.

He clearly had no fear of heights and, on top of that, complete faith in his abilities as a climber.

“Hungry?” he asked, offering me a flat, wide leaf with a selection of odd-looking nuts and berries on it.

Okay, maybe they weren’t all that odd. I just couldn’t recognize them, but they still had that general nut-or-berry look about them.

Wasn’t Hina a xeno-botanist? I should ask her if that was normal, for alien plants to have so many similarities with our own.

“Are these safe to eat?” I asked dubiously, not wanting to throw this back in his face, but not about to eat something that might be poison.

He nodded eagerly, the spots on his face still a bright yellow, which meant I hadn’t offended him.

His springy curls were flying every which way, and I itched to comb them back over his head.

“I know each of these. They are safe to eat. They grow on many of the planets in the Kertinal Empire,” he assured me.

I picked a juicy-looking red berry and popped it into my mouth, surprised when it was more like eating an orange than a blueberry.

They were tasty, and the nuts were like most nuts but with a hint of something spicy. I liked all of this.

Without thinking, I’d eaten nearly all of what he was holding out to me on the leaf before I realized I should maybe share.

He started grinning as soon as I made the suggestion, his spots turning a yellow so intense they were practically glowing like little stars in his dark red face.

It was pretty, and it meant I’d made him happy by asking.

I was suddenly extremely grateful that Hina had given me a crash course on Jakar’s moods.

It was insanely pleasant not to have to second-guess what he was feeling.

“This is all for you, but thank you,” he said, grinning at me in a boyish way. “I see you are wearing the knife I made you. Good. Keep it close out here.” His eyes were like those of a great big cat, golden and yellow, with pupils shaped slightly differently. Did he see colors the same way I did?

I touched the knife strapped to my hip, with its pretty leather holster and matching belt.

In the morning light, I’d noticed that the leather had been hand-tooled; intricate patterns decorated both the belt and sheath.

One symbol showed a fist over a heart, and now that it was bright out, I could see that same pattern on more of Jakar’s belongings: as a patch on the front of his shirt, repeated around the leather cuffs on each of his wrists.

He even had a patch with it on his backpack. It clearly meant something to him.

When I asked, he grinned again. I was starting to think that Jakar’s default setting was just plain happy; a bit like a golden retriever.

I suspected that if I were to drop something, he actually would happily retrieve it for me from the forest floor.

I hoped nobody ever took advantage of that eagerness to please.

He was growing on me, and I didn’t want anyone to crush that eager spirit.

“It’s a symbol my brothers and I made to represent our clan.

We made it for Thorin so he could have it on his Caratan chain.

I put it on all my things to remind me that I have a family,” he explained, stroking a thumb over the symbol carved into one of the bands on his wrist. His eyes were directed over my shoulder, a faraway look in them.

He clearly remembered something, and it wasn’t good, because I saw how his spots turned a deep blue, which represented sadness, if I recalled correctly.

I reached out instinctively, pressing my hand to his chin, my thumb rubbing over the beginning stubble along his jaw.

“Hey, come back to me. You’re safe here.

You’re not alone.” I felt odd saying the kind of words that people had been saying to me over and over the past couple of days.

I hadn’t believed them then, but now—saying them to Jakar—it was like it cemented a little more in my own mind.

Yeah, I’d been kidnapped again, but Jakar hadn’t hesitated to come and rescue me. I really wasn’t alone. What incredible luck, to be rescued so quickly. I couldn’t imagine what my life would have been like if I’d been stuck with that horrible gray asshole for more than just a single day.

Jakar jolted at my touch, his eyes flying to my face, and then his spots started to fade from blue into what was definitely pink.

If I hadn’t known what that really meant, I might have thought he was blushing, but I knew the truth.

My skin prickled with awareness, my heart started to race, and my mouth went dry.

He was turned on, just from that little touch, and for some reason I didn’t pull my hand away.

“Thanks,” he said, one hand reaching over to pat my knee. He shook himself, which made me wince with worry that he’d tumble from the branch he was on. The moment was over, just like that, leaving me a confused, slightly bothered mess. Jakar had turned away, busy putting our supplies back in order.

Then he helped me down the tree for a quick bathroom trip, which was a little awkward because he didn’t want to go far to give me a semblance of privacy.

The whole time, I could hear him pacing back and forth on the other side of the tree, clearly anxious about leaving me for a moment.

As soon as I announced that I was done, he snatched me back up in his arms and rushed up the tree.

He did murmur a warning that he was going to, and I almost had to laugh at how well he’d heeded my angrily snapped “warn a girl.” Clearly, he wasn’t about to forget that one.

I wasn’t exactly happy about having to sit on my own against the tree while he dismantled the tent. Unlike him, I was definitely not confident about my tree-climbing abilities. I was pretty sure that the last tree I’d climbed had been when I was about seven years old.

A memorable event, since I’d managed to stain and tear up my wedding finery in the process, and I’d received a pretty hefty scolding for it.

Even now, that still annoyed me, it wasn’t like I didn’t have a million cousins who got married all the time.

Who cared that little me had made one such event a tiny bit less perfect?

Said cousin had laughed at my appearance.

She hadn’t minded, so why was my mom upset about it?

Once he’d packed up everything and somehow fit it back into that backpack, I eyed him with a little trepidation.

How could he possibly climb down this tree again with me and that giant weight on his back?

Then I recalled that he’d done it last night, except he hadn’t climbed down.

He’d somehow traveled through the canopy of trees with me—and that thing—to carry.