Page 9 of Guardian’s Heart (Space Guardian’s Mate #1)

ZAAREK

My entire body hurt when I woke the next morning from sleeping on the hard ground. The finger the little starbane had broken throbbed despite the makeshift splint. I suspected that I had set it crookedly and that I was in need of a healing wand.

Strange dreams kept waking me throughout the night, but with the breaking of dawn, I couldn't remember anything aside from a longing residing deep inside me. For what? I didn't know. But it was strong enough to make my heart heavy.

Unbidden, part of the dream came back to me. I saw myself running through a forest similar to this, feeling free and alive.

I shook my head to clear it, washed with the cold creek water, and then wasted part of the day following the stream, as it turned out, in the wrong direction. I didn't realize that until suddenly her tracks stopped and I had to backtrack until I found them again. Once I was on the right track though, there was no stopping me. I even found the spot where she had exited the stream. I hoped to catch her soon enough to make good headway returning to the city. I followed her steps and spent valuable time looking for more when I lost them—again. The realization that she had tricked me struck me like a jolt. I wasted another hour figuring out how she had done this until I came upon broken leaves from a bush. From there, it was harder, but eventually, I made it back to the stream.

I had no idea where my tracking skills came from because it was nothing I had been trained for. I had been trained in shooting any weapon ever invented, hand-to-hand combat, digging through data to find my prey, and moving through the most deprived places imaginable, but never out in open nature.

For some reason, however, I felt more alive than I had in… I stopped and cocked my head. Ever?

I settled on a long time.

And all that because of the little starbane. Still, I was going to wring her puny little neck the moment I found her. Swearing, I kept going. Again I came upon tracks leading away from the stream. Another trick? Who by the seven abysses was this female? She should have been scared and whimpering, cowering by a tree, praying I would find her. Instead, she was sending me on a chase I hadn't had in a long time.

I grinned. Challenge accepted !

A few hours later and a branching off-stream, I had to concede that I was lost. Not lost as in I couldn't find my way back out of here, but lost as in where in the seven suns is she ? My pride wouldn't allow me to admit it, but finding her was like trying to locate a star in a nebula. There was no way I would give up now!

Dawning darkness made it painfully clear that I would spend another night in this forsaken alien forest. Venting my frustration, I cursed out loud while I set up another fire and found another little critter to kill and eat—wondering when I had acquired the skill to find their hiding spots and how to clean and prepare them. As far as I was concerned, food was delivered to me on a plate. No matter where I was.

I mulled this over for a bit, but then a slight headache distracted me. Cold water from the creek quenched my thirst and relieved the headache. Even if it was contaminated, it wouldn't make me sick. The Ohrurs ensured that our bodies were immune to any kind of poison imaginable, including natural contaminants.

When I laid my head down on one of the many roots and wiggled around to dislodge a small rock poking into my side, I stared at the night sky. Trillions of twinkling stars seemed to make fun of me. Laugh at me. One of the three moons rose; its subdued greenish light illuminated the forest somewhat and dimmed the stars.

"You know where she is, don't you?" I accused it.

Was she looking at it right now, too? For all I knew, she could be only a few paces from me, or already up all the way in the mountains. I hated to admit it, but I would have to give up on this if I didn't find a trace of her in the morning. Damn her.

For some unfathomable reason, not finding her bothered my pride less than my mind. Black hair and the bluest eyes I had ever seen appeared in front of my view. Giving up was not in my nature, but this was more than that. I felt a deep magnetic pull toward her.

The fire crackled, and with a jolt, an idea hit me. As impossible as it should be, I couldn't overlook this possibility.

I climbed the nearest tree. Turning my head, I surveyed the forest in a full circle. There! My heart hammered harder in my chest. Damn that female .

A chuckle escaped me as she had managed to impress me once again. I had no idea how, but she made a fire—a beacon leading me right to her.

"You're mine now." I chuckled softly, climbing down and killing my fire. With my prey so near, energy surged through me.

I should have been more cautious. I really should have, but the thrill of being so close to her excited me. I could already picture the expression on her face when I emerged from the shadows. Maybe she’d take off running again. That thought exhilarated me and sent a rush through my veins. The idea of chasing her through the forest was intoxicating.

So much so that my cock hardened. Especially when I remembered that underneath my cape, she was naked and, if memory served, well-formed. I wouldn't mind a quick romp with her in the woods. It had been a while since I sought the pleasure of a female's body. Too long. Unfortunately, judging by her running from me, I doubted she would be a willing partner, and that was a line I would never cross.

With those thoughts running through my mind I was amazed that I still had the whereabouts to locate her tracks again. Unfortunately, the find made me too giddy to even consider her laying a trap for me.

One moment, I was walking, filled with glee; the next, my foot was pulled out from under me, and I was hanging upside down from a tree.

"What the frygg?"

My ankle hurt where it had been roped, supporting my full weight, several paces off the ground. Too high to simply cut the rope. I would land head-first on the ground or impale myself with my knife. No, thank you.

Had she done this?

No, that couldn't be.

That thought sobered me even more.

If it hadn't been her, that meant someone else was out here. Someone intelligent enough to lay a trap. Maybe even the same someone whose fire I had seen. Yes, that had to be it. I would have slapped my forehead for having assumed it was her and not someone else. That made a lot more sense now to me.

It was painful, folding myself in half and twisting my free leg around the one I was hanging from, but I managed. I was angry enough at myself to take the pain as punishment. Using my caught leg for leverage, I pulled myself up high enough to wrap my fingers around the rope. From there, it was easier to make it up the twine and onto the very branch it was tied up to. I unsheathed my knife and was about to cut through the rope. My head filled with all kinds of possible scenarios when I froze at the sound of footsteps.

I held still, tilting my head to listen.

A pale arm pushed bushes aside. No, that couldn't be.

But it was.

It was really her.

Anger surged through me, and before I could think better of it, I cut the rope and sailed through the air straight for her.