Page 341 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Meena

It was a steep, difficult climb, even for Jakar, to reach the higher parts of the giant tree.

A fine sheen of sweat coated his shiny red skin, making it sparkle prettily in the Rakex sunlight.

Despite the sweat, he still smelled good too, which seemed insanely unfair to human males.

Or maybe I was just especially attracted to all things Jakar.

Who knew? I was starting to think that might be the case.

I didn’t feel nearly as bothered by the heights we were climbing at, either; my faith in his skills was pretty huge at this point.

The guy seemed to be loving what he was doing, not in the least fatigued yet.

He’d explained to me how his lower set of hands actually gripped when they were relaxed, the opposite of what human hands did.

That meant it cost him no energy at all when he was hanging from that set of hands, allowing him to rest his muscles. Very clever design, if you asked me.

The branches higher up were wide enough that even Jakar needed two steps to cross them, and he finally stopped on one such branch, letting me down to stand next to him.

I was a little shaky, since my muscles were definitely fatigued from clinging to him like a baby monkey.

Of course, the gentleman that he was, he kept one arm around me, making sure I was steady and couldn’t fatally plunge off the edge.

“There, I’m pretty sure that’s Rakex City.

Do you see it?” he asked, pointing eagerly at the horizon.

Vaguely, I thought I could tell what he was pointing at, a shimmer of something white far in the distance.

If it was a city, I couldn’t say, but it was the only thing of interest in any direction.

The tree we were in was probably the only recognizable landmark for miles and miles.

I didn’t see anything noteworthy sticking out of the green carpet that covered this planet as far as the eye could see.

“Yeah, I guess that’s our best bet. It looks so far away…

” I hadn’t seen any vehicle with my kidnappers.

Had they carried me on foot all the way from there?

Somehow, I doubted that; they hadn’t seemed like the type.

Jakar, yes, he had definitely traveled that far on foot, probably climbing through the trees the entire way.

I was getting exhausted just thinking about how long it would take to walk back to the city from here.

Jakar’s body brushed against my side, his arm around my waist pressing me a little closer.

Another arm settled around my shoulders, reminding me that this guy had four of them.

I honestly kind of liked how enveloped I felt, standing at his side like this, and he still had a hand free to gesture out over the landscape as he talked.

“If my stupid com still worked, we would have called Kitan, and he’d have flown the shuttle right up to this branch.

” I tried to envision that, getting chills thinking about having to step off something solid high up in the air and onto a floating thing handled by a pilot.

What if he crashed that thing into the tree?

We had a good view all around us, but there were still a lot of trees with branches and leaves sticking out all around.

Maybe walking all that way wasn’t such a hardship.

I’d be alone with Jakar in a forest that didn’t seem nearly so bad with him at my side.

He had tons of supplies with him, including clean clothes for me, for which I’d be eternally grateful.

I was starting to realize that I had no clue what I wanted.

I just knew that I didn’t like the idea of staying on Rakex.

The aliens on this planet were all complete strangers, and I didn’t really get along with any of the other human rescues.

None of them had to fight for survival, not even Katja and her brother.

Previously, I hadn’t liked staying on the Vagabond either.

I’d felt a little threatened by witnessing all those cute half-alien, half-human couples.

Thinking the silly goof standing at my side was a creep who just chased anything in a skirt didn’t help either.

That had made me hurt more, made me want to escape.

Hearing him say that he’d only been interested in me eased something painful inside of me.

It was exactly what a player, a flirt, might say just to get their way; I knew the type only too well.

With Jakar, it was hard not to believe that he was sincere.

There was just something so open and earnest about him.

It should have shocked me more that I felt that way, that I, Meena the pragmatic, had been jealous.

The rules were different out here, though.

The girls talked about their men as if they were simply meant to be, sounding besotted, utterly in love.

They called them their mates as if that was somehow different, more than being married.

Even Abigail, who was much more like me in temperament than any of the others—pragmatic, no-nonsense—had also been “mated” the longest, going on nearly a year, she said.

She didn’t appear to be out of the honeymoon phase yet. None of them did.

Tilting my chin, I looked up at Jakar to study the contours of his face.

Yeah, maybe I should just stay on the Vagabond, with my misunderstanding with this dude cleared up…

maybe I should try to make that work. Hah, if my mother could hear my thoughts right now, she’d tell me to get on with it and make her pretty, four-armed grandbabies.

No doubt about it. The thought made me happier than I expected, mostly because I was thinking of my mom without feeling that overwhelming sense of grief this time. I wasn’t drowning anymore.

His stubble had grown a little thicker, and he was definitely starting to look like a rakish pirate.

If he wore a white blouse with those puffy sleeves, he’d be like the alien version of one of those historic romance heroes my sister devoured.

I grinned just imagining it. Yeah, a bit of a breeze like this set his black curls gently swaying in the wind. Perfect.

Yellow eyes crinkled at the corners, and I just knew that he was smiling at me without actually turning to face me. He probably liked that I was staring, and I should look away before he got any more outrageous ideas.

“Hey, there’s a hollow in the tree up there.

Why don’t I scout it out? We could probably make a comfortable nest in there and rest up for the day.

” He pointed with a hand as he spoke, and my stomach clenched with desire.

I was instantly imagining a nest of blankets in a cozy little nook, Jakar spread out on them, completely naked.

Whoa, maybe it was my brain that was getting the outrageous ideas.

To cover for that, I pointed back at the city, or at least the vague white shimmer we thought was the city. “Shouldn’t we climb down and start heading that way? Aren’t your friends anxiously waiting for your safe return?”

He grinned and flexed an arm to display some of his bulging muscles, laughter painting his face and his spots a bright yellow.

“They know I am fine. I am in my element in the trees here, haven’t you noticed?

” I had noticed that, duh. It was a little hard to miss, especially after that Tarzan stunt with the vine.

Just thinking back on it made my stomach drop all over again.

That had been terrifying, and he’d laughed like a maniac the entire time.

I poked his side. “Fine, we stay and rest. But I want to do at least a little walking on the way back, okay? I happen to like walking from time to time.” I wasn’t sure if my leg muscles would make it if I had to cling to him all freaking day.

That was something I’d rather find out while not vertical.

Oh boy, my mind was totally in the gutter all of a sudden. What was happening? I thought that after what I’d been through, it wouldn’t be for a long while yet before I was ready for that kind of thing. My body seemed to be on board, though. Was I really ready? Was I that attracted to this weirdo?

“Sure,” he said with a grin, and a dimple popped in one of his cheeks that just about made me melt. Yeah, I guess I was. Crazy—absolutely crazy—but maybe it was time to just roll with this. I couldn’t keep on fighting everything that would grind me down, and I didn’t want that.

“You can walk a little,” he added, and then he had me up in his arms, the lower set, bridal style.

I couldn’t help it: I laughed. I felt light as a feather and, miraculously, unafraid that he’d drop me.

He waggled his dark eyebrows at me, emphasizing the joke, his pretty eyes sparkling with unfettered joy.

It was easy to lift along on that feeling, to join him in being happy, and I basked in it, letting it carry away some of the baggage I’d been holding.

“Okay, Tarzan, take me to that nest. I’m ready,” I said, smiling so widely that my cheeks ached.

Jakar was probably a little younger than me, and his positive, always cheerful attitude would make you think he’d never seen any hardship.

I hated it, and it made me feel more accepted to know that he’d gone through stuff too, even if he hadn’t talked about it.

The fine little scars that circled his neck said it all.

Jakar would understand my wounds, and maybe—maybe—I could understand his.

For now, I was happy to put all that bad stuff, all the nightmares locked in my head, aside, so that I could enjoy this moment with him.

It didn’t take him long to make sure the hollow up in the tree he’d seen was empty and safe.

It took him even less time to gather our supplies so he could make us the “nest” he’d promised.

Then I was whisked away, safely tucked against his chest until I could crawl through the narrow opening and inside.

I was immensely happy to have something like walls around me again.

“This is gorgeous,” I gasped as I sat up on my knees in the center of the hollow.

The tree was so big that this was probably just a small portion carved out of its side.

Yet the space was large enough for the two of us to stretch out in, even if it was only tall enough for us to sit, not stand.

Jakar had covered the bottom of the semi-flat interior with all the soft blankets he had with him, and then he’d hung several small lanterns to light up the space, making it a cozy little hideaway.

It was actually really romantic, and as my hand stroked the blankets next to my hip, I knew what we were going to be doing soon.

My stomach heated in anticipation, and my heart rate began to speed up.

Jakar hadn’t entered yet, letting me admire his handiwork first while he clung like a squirrel to the outside of the tree.

Sharp, clawed fingers dug into the thick bark outside, allowing him to hang there without any obvious handholds.

“You like it?” he asked eagerly. When I nodded, he beamed a huge smile, but it faltered a moment later, his eyes dropping from my face.

“My friends say I am too pushy and that I should give you space…” His eyes met mine, then darted away, while my heart started to feel heavy again.

“So, this is your space, and when you feel like it, you can invite me in. If not, I’ll sleep out on the branch.

That’s fine, I’d happily do that for you.

First, though, I’ll gather us something nice to eat. I’ll be right back.”