Defender (New World Book 7) (10 page)

By late evening they would reach the planet, depending on the accuracy of the worm hole he discovered. Taz could simply open the shuttle door and toss her out. He could find another planet to stay until her scent wore off. But he promised to take her home; she would be covered in his scent again if she boarded the shuttle again. She would be impossible not to touch. Taz wanted to howl.

If he landed in the dark, she wouldn’t be able to see to make a shelter. Nothing on the planet was harmful, but she would be scared all alone. He could wait until the sun came up then help her build a shelter, and find food.

What if there is nothing for her to eat?

He would have to stay and replicate food for her. Every scenario that played out in his mind involved him needing to be close to her.
Damn, why do I care?
If he stayed close, he would mate her. If he mated her he could never go home. Krish would come to Earth looking for him. Taz felt his heart begin to pound. A terrible thought washed over him. Krish would find them; he would take them back to the other Tonans. He wouldn’t kill Macey if she was Taz’s mate. He would imprison Taz and have her impregnated with no baby shield. Macey and the child would always be at risk.

Deep in his heart Taz knew Krish was that evil. No, he didn’t hate Taz; Taz was his to torment. If Macey was constantly tormented, Taz would feel it. His entire being would be crushed. What had he gotten them into? A new anger burned. Taz wondered if Krish knew this would happen. He mentioned one day Taz would get too big for his britches and Krish would know how to control him.

I was set up.

The only Tonans allowed to be sent to Earth were Krish’s kind. Evil walked Macey’s planet. Taz was meant to come crawling back with a female to Krish. Taz pulled Macey closer. Because Krish was evil he could never understand the lengths a male would go to protect a mate. Four hundred years of being alive while not living or feeling was what Taz would go back to. Going back to Krish was a loathsome thought. Earth was his first experience of freedom. All Taz missed was his planet, not a single Tonan cared about him. Taz was alone when he was surrounded by other Tonans. Taz made up his mind.

“I’m going to mate you, little female. We have no choice. I hope you like this tiny planet. We’re going to be there a
long
time.”

When the shuttle door opened, Macey didn’t know what to expect. They reached the planet sooner than she expected and Taz hadn’t said a single word to her after she woke on the cot alone. Macey glanced back at Taz. His expression was unreadable. She wouldn’t beg him to take her home. He would have already if he had been serious. Taking a breath, she left the shuttle. For a second, her eyes squeezed shut when she heard the shuttle door close. Dusk was falling on a strange planet. He would abandon her. She would be alone forever. Maybe she would survive the night. She jumped when Taz placed his hand on her shoulder. She didn’t look at him.

“I thought you were leaving,” she said. The pad of his thumb ran across her neck making her shiver.

“My shield won’t release your scent.”

“Then you’re going to kill me?”

Taz turned her. He hooked his finger under her chin forcing her to meet his gaze. “I think I understand how Krish’s kind of Tonan was formed.”

“I don’t understand what you mean. Who is Krish?”

“My mentor slash tormentor. He’s been beating me down my entire life with two purposes in mind. I understand that now. Either way, no matter what I chose, he will think he’s won. If I mate you, I can’t go home. If he finds us…well, let’s hope he doesn’t. But I’m certain the real reason Krish sent me to Earth was to find a female, fill with her scent, and denounce her by killing her. I would be exactly like Krish. It’s what he wants. I’m the closest he has to a son and wouldn’t father be proud if his son were a mindless killer. If I kill you, that’s what I’ll become.”

“What are you going to do with me? Take me home as a trophy?” Macey couldn’t stop the bitterness.

“I am my father’s son.”

Macey waited for him to change into a beast and slide his talons into her flesh. He did nothing. Her confusion grew. Taz placed both hands on her shoulders and breathed in a deep breath.

“My father, my real father, loved me and my mother. I’m going to mate you. I won’t allow Krish to harm you or use you to harm me. I’m a cruel being, I won’t lie about that. In fact you will know when I lie, because my tail will grow.” Macey was skeptical. Taz chuckled. “You don’t believe me?” Taz released her and stepped back. “I bet you would look stunning purple with green hair and warts covering your skin.”

Macey watched as his grey shield slammed over him, or out of him she wasn’t certain which he changed so fast. His tail twitched and before her eyes it grew longer. Taz changed back and winked at her.

A thought struck her. “What do you mean, mate me?”

“If I don’t mate you and you die, I will change into something I loathe. I’m an ass, but I like me the way I am.”

“So I’m supposed to mate you to save you?”

“Pretty much.”

“You’re right. You are an ass. You scare the shit out of me, kidnap me, threaten me, and then propose all in a few days. I thought I changed my mind fast. You’re nuts. You’re like a drunken tornado, all over the place.”

Macey turned and began taking in her surroundings. Vivid color filled her gaze. Lush greens of all shades dotted the horizon. Brilliant plant life sported colorful rainbows of objects of all shapes and sizes. The red bloody hue as the sun set was breathtaking. Soon Taz was standing beside her.

“The shuttle will be our home, unless we find something better. For now, we need the replicator. We should mate now. There’s no sense putting it off.”

“I’m not mating you. I need to go home. I have obligations.”

Her thoughts were on a mission. She was going home, minus his scent. Macey struck out in a direction while there was some daylight. Taz followed her. Long blades of grass rose to her hip as she waded through. A small pond came into view. Macey didn’t hesitate, she tossed her shoes onto the bank and she dove into the water. When she emerged Taz was leaning against a huge green mound.

The planet air was warm, the water tepid. There was something strange about the water; it was lifeless in an odd way.

“This water is weird,” she said.

“I’ve been in a lake on Earth. My shield hated the sensation. What you’re sensing is nothingness. You’re used to microscopic contaminants. Right now you’re the most contaminated being on this planet. I told you, only plant life exists.”

“No bugs or animals of any kind?”

Macey settled her hands onto a bank and pulled into a sitting position near his feet. Her hands rung out the length of her hair. She reached for her shoes and struggled her wet sock-covered feet into them.

“No bugs. Only plant life has been created.” Taz seemed positive.

“By who?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. As long as we’re not found we’ll be fine.”

Macey rose and stood before him. “Well, take a whiff do I stink like you or is it gone?”

“I don’t stink. It’s scent. You have no clue what I mean and you won’t until we mate. Most of my scent is within you.”

“I want to go home. You promised, or did you lie?”

“I wasn’t lying at the time. I thought things through and there are so many problems with returning you or me home. Krish being the snake’s head.”

“Well, you know what they say about the snake’s head. Cut it off.”

“You’re asking me to kill?”

“I’m telling you I need to go home. My aunt and two little girls are depending on me for survival.”

“If I take you to Earth and Krish finds you, he will scent me on you. A mere gust of wind would be your downfall.”

“Earth is huge. He’ll never find me; I’d be like a needle in a haystack.”

“A Tonan sense of scent is acute. Krish has been close to me my entire life. We don’t wear each other’s scent, we’re male, but he can and will track you if he scents you on me. He will either kill you or expose you to the most heinous crime human females can endure—some don’t endure.”

“What would it matter to you?” Macey asked.

“We’re linked. Run, go. I’ll give you an Earth hour. I promise nothing will happen to you. I also promise I will find you within minutes after the hour is up.”

He turned his back to her. Macey ran, needing to get away. She was certain, tail or no tail, he was lying. Macey was a pro at hide and seek. Mother Nature had taught her well with the storms. The foliage was lush and everywhere. Unless he put a tracking device on her, he would never find her. The thought gave her pause. He bit her into unconsciousness, he admitted to being cruel. It was possible he was playing with her. Sporting to pass the time.

Her pace slowed as her lungs began to pain. She was leaving a trail in her haste. She stopped and parted the bushes in front of her. Beauty was everywhere. Earth was so dismal with the dark clouds rolling in the sky on many days. She hoped once Taz’s people got what they wanted they would leave. Unless they were cultivating humans. Macey wondered if human males would be slave labor. It would serve the fat cats right, buying their way to another world, thinking themselves better because they had money.

It was the women and children Macey’s heart hurt for. All the little orphans. With determination Macey decided she would get to the shuttle. She was smart, there was a chance she could fly the craft home.

“Seriously. You doubled back?”

Macey cried out when she slammed into Taz’s bare chest. He held her to him. “It hasn’t been an hour,” she yelled.

“No, it hasn’t. But look at the clouds. A storm is coming. It will take torrential rain to sustain this kind of foliage. I need to return you to the shuttle.”

Taz changed into a beast and Macey was thrown over a hard shoulder. The rain began in the distance, falling in sheets, bending the lush vegetation. Her mouth was wide when thundering waves of water poured from the sky a foot behind them. Half a foot behind them, inches from them. Taz leapt and the first spatter of wetness hit Macey’s cheeks as the shuttle door slammed closed. Taz set her down.

“Food?” he casually asked.

The pounding rain on the shuttle was horrific. Taz went to the replicator and spoke to the machine. In seconds there was a plate filled with an array of steaming foods.

“How did you know the rain would be so bad?” she asked, her body tingled.

“I can somewhat sense any danger to you. I’m going to have to watch the rain, it could drown you. You’re not a blade of grass that can spring back up.”

Taz picked up a piece of meat from the plate and stuffed the entire morsel into his mouth.

“Your kind mate when there’s no love?” Macey asked.

“I have no clue.”

“If I mate you, will you take me home?” she couldn’t keep the quiver from her tone. She didn’t understand what he meant by mating except maybe if she had sex with him he would either kill her or get rid of her after getting what he wanted.

“There are parts of mating I have no understanding of. If we mate, we join for life. Tonans are basically immortal except for one thing. If you die, I would die. Earth is volatile. I’d have to keep watch over you every single second. That would be tedious. Also, my shield needs to regenerate, without it, I’m vulnerable. I prefer not to be.

“My planet is gearing up for the battle of its life. I see that now. Kidnapping human females will have repercussions. Castian warriors will give up no information. I think introducing them to females will sway a few. There is a leader of a race of Castian warriors named Cobra who will regroup. They were devastated by the loss of their females. Many warriors fell. Many young warriors of four and five were left with little protection. Tonans began a new war. It’s been long and hard and still we battle. A Tonan and Castian can battle as warriors by the age of twelve. Castians have warrior mates by twelve; they pair up and fight as a team.

“If Cobra finds us on Earth I don’t know what he’d do. He would try and kill me. If he discovered you were my mate, he would imprison us for eternity. A Castian will not harm a female. It’s what makes them weak and vulnerable.”

“You haven’t hurt me,” Macey was compelled to say.

He stiffened. “Then I suppose Krish was right all along. I am pathetic.”

“Compassion and pity don’t make you pathetic. Merciless is cowardly.”

Taz’s shoulders relaxed. He picked up a purple item Macey decided was a fruit. He popped it into his mouth and chewed while gazing at her. Everything he said was incomprehensible to her. She didn’t know what a Castian was.

“Would a Castian kill you?”

“Yep.”

“Sounds like if I mate you, I’ll have a bunch of new enemies.”

“The universe fears Tonans for a reason. We conquer, we kill. We destroy without mercy.”

“Gee, you’re looking hotter by the second.”

Taz put the plate into the replicator. He prowled around her. “There’s more.”

“I can hardly wait.”

“I’m approaching my must cycle. It’s my first and incredibly powerful. Soon I will find it too hard to resist you. My insides battle for control. When I have none there’s going to be a problem.”

“What will you do?” Macey whispered.

Taz strolled forward. His stalk predatory, she couldn’t move. He lifted his hand to cup her cheek. Macey gasped and she saw Taz tremble. He was inside of her, his drug. Macey wanted to melt into his arms, but she stayed glued to the floor.

“You will make me want you,” she said. “Your drugs will seduce me.”

“It’s more than that.
You
are making me want you. You are making you want me. Some part of you must have been attracted to me even for a second. It’s all my shield needed—a yes. An invitation, acceptance when I’ve not had any in hundreds of years is an aphrodisiac to my shield. My shield takes care of me in ways only it understands. My only drug is in my fangs. My kind conquers and yes, I’m a warrior but with you it’s different. My secretions don’t battle with you to control you. I don’t want to own you. I want to give you half of me. That means you will hold my life in your hands, and I will hold yours. Mate me, Macey. I can scent your compassion. When my parents died, compassion died too. My body remembers the emotion. My being remembers every time I touch you what love was like. Give it back to me. Give it back, and I swear no one will ever hurt you.”