Harden My Heart (Club Release 3) Science Fiction Abduction Romance (11 page)

“I wonder what it’s saying,” Skyla says.

“I’d love to know that,” I answer.

“It’s amazing how the camleons respond to you,” Hallie says over the loudly chirping bird.

The camleon flies around Hallie and Skyla before flying away. A splat of water hits my arm. I look up and laugh. “Rain.”

“So far, it hasn’t lost its appeal,” Skyla says.

Hallie nods as she moves out into the open. “Since we came from Earth, I don’t think it will ever get old.”

“I hope not,” I say as I hold my arms out to let more drops hit me.

“Skyla, go inside,” Din Ryk calls from the patio.

She growls but heads inside. We follow and I worry about her attitude. With a baby on the way, Skyla can’t afford to piss her man off. Not to the point that he’d leave her.

“Hallie do you have some towels we can use to dry off?” I glance at Skyla’s little baby bump.

“Yes, follow me.”

As we follow Hallie deeper into the house, I notice that the guys are entering. A quick glance at the wall of glass reveals a downpour. My heart longs to run out in it, but I know Skyla needs to be inside, even if she doesn’t want to be.

We quickly dry off and then head to the kitchen at Hallie’s suggestion. With a tray of snacks on the counter, we nibble as we talk.

“The food supply here is so much better than on Earth.” I pick up a berry and plop it in my mouth. Sweet bursts over my tongue.

Hallie shivers. “And safer. Here you don’t have to worry about falling into a trap every time you see a plot of food producing trees.”

Damn, what happened to her? I would ask but when the haunted look in her eyes leaves, I decide not to. No since in bringing up painful memories. I glance at them and know we all have bad memories. Memories best put away in a dark corner of our minds and maybe someday totally forgotten. Fat chance, that. But it sounds good.

Hallie looks over at Skyla. “You still working at Midday & More?”

Skyla’s eyes brighten. “Yes.” She looks at me. “I work at Ryk’s brother’s restaurant. You guys will have to come by sometime.”

My jaw drops and a berry falls from my mouth. “Sorry about that.” As they laugh, I quickly pick the berry up off the counter and eat it. “You’re allowed to work in public? I didn’t know that was possible.”

“I need to work. I don’t do well at home.” Her gaze drifts over to Din Ryk’s and love shines through her eyes. “Ryk understands.” Her gaze swings back to mine. “He didn’t like it at first, but now he’s good with it.”

“Are there many restaurants on the planet?” I’ve been too busy acclimating to his home and friends to even realize what other wonders are here on Zaphin. I should have thought of this sooner.

Hallie swallows a bite of muffin and then says, “There are several. And malls and museums too.”

“Really?” I’ve been missing out.

“Yes, we have lots to explore. Skyla even has a vehicle. She can drive us around,” Hallie says excitedly.

I look over at Skyla. “You have a vehicle?”

“Yes, I needed one to get to work. But I do take it out to other places at times. Like here or to the mall. We will have to go out. It’ll be fun.”

Excitement rushes through me. “How can we plan a trip?” That thought is daunting. We can’t yell through the jungle at each other. A load of disappointment dumps heavily onto my chest.

“Don’t look so disappointed. I’ve got this.” Hallie grins and waves for us to follow her. She goes over to a black and silver device. I realize we have one in our living room.

“This communication device is all we need. You both have one in your homes, don’t you?” Hallie asks.

“Yes,” we both answer at the same time.

“I thought so. Here’s how it works.” I watch in wonder as Hallie shows us how to use the device to contact each other. We can use just voice or a holoimage depending on the device model. I’m loving this planet more by the second.

Hope swells in my chest. I could have friends, food, technology, and…my gaze moves over to Din Tairin who is at the far side of the living room talking to his friends. A fresh pang of longing moves through me. Could we grow to love each other? Oh yes, he is deep under my skin. For better or worse.

Gold and purple eyes lock with mine. Din Tairin inhales deeply and I swear I see approval flash through his pretty eyes. I don’t know what that look is for but it moves me. I’m doomed.

“You two think you’ve got it?” Hallie asks drawing my attention back to her.

“Yes, thank you.” My nerves tingle with excitement. “I look forward to talking to you two.”

“Yeah, I wish we’d thought of this sooner,” Hallie says.

Beeps fill the air.

I look over at the guys. They are all checking their wrist coms. The growl that comes from them has the hairs on the back of my neck standing up and goosebumps racing down my arms.

“Those prelling grounfos are gathering recruits,” Din Ash spits out.

“This can’t be good,” Din Hauk says.

“No, it can’t,” Din Von agrees in a gruff voice.

All three of our males stand and stalk over to us. A shiver of fear slithers up my spine.

“You three are to stay alert all the time,” Din Tairin says. The serious look in his eyes has me shivering again.

Din Ryk looks us over. “No going out without our approval.”

Skyla stiffens. “I don’t think coming to a friend’s house will hurt anything.”

The low warning growl Din Ryk releases has my heart pounding.

Din Tairin inhales and his vents flutter. He looks at the other girls and then me. “You should be afraid. A group of rebels is planning something so you three need to follow our orders.”

How did he know I was afraid?

Skyla growls and Din Ryk growls back at her. His vents flutter as his gaze stares hard into Skyla’s. After a long moment, she looks away. My heart races even faster. She shouldn’t be challenging him. He could get rid of her. I don’t want her to be left in the jungle.

Tairin inhales again and so do the other males. He pulls me into a hug and breaths deeply. “Everything’s going to be fine as long as you three follow orders.”

The beeping of their com units has me jumping. He blows out a breath and releases me. I watch him frown as he reads the newest message.

“Remember what we said,” he says before walking over to the others. I watch as all the guys gather.

They are snapping and growling as they talk about rebel groups that are starting to work together. What is happening? My stomach sours. It’s just my luck to find all of these good people and then have the planet consumed with problems.

Hallie urges us to follow her down a corridor and into a lush bedroom. Looks like all of the warriors like nice big bedrooms. My mind switches to all of the big people on Zaphin. I hope nothing bad happens. Like home invasions. Another shiver runs through me.

“Is this common? Trouble from that group?” Maybe it’s nothing much. I could be overreacting. Fear of losing a good thing can do that to a person.

Hallie plops down on the bed. “No, not on this level that is. The grounfos seem to be stirring up more trouble than usual. Have you noticed anything strange at the restaurant, Skyla?”

“No, but then everyone knows my bosses don’t put up with any shit in their restaurant.”

“What are the grounfos? Are they from here or another planet?” I ask.

“They are zaphinians who believe in taking what they want. They usually run in small groups,” Skyla says. The tremble in her voice makes me wonder if she’s had a run in with them before.

“They are bad. They believe that mean and sneaky people should be rulers. Only the vicious matter,” Hallie says.

Another shiver moves through me. “Maybe we should do as the guys say. I don’t want any trouble.”

“We do need to be watchful,” Skyla says.

“Yeah, but we can still have some fun,” Hallie adds in. “The grounfos can’t be everywhere at the same time.”

Skyla nods. “True.”

Hallie looks at Skyla. “You really need to stop pissing Din Ryk off. You know he can punish you.”

Skyla’s shoulders sag. “I know, but lately I just can’t help myself.” She rubs her baby bump and then snorts. “It’s not like I can hide my feelings from him.”

“Yeah, that’s fucked up. I hate the way they can smell emotions,” Hallie says.

My jaw drops. “What?”

They stare at me in disbelief and then look at each other.

Hallie looks at me and shakes her head sadly. “You are in for a shock, missy. You know how the vents along their noses flutter?”

“Yes.”

Hallie looks toward the door and then back at me. “Well those vents allow them to scent your emotions. They always know how we are feeling.”

“Flipping fuck. I had no idea.”

Skyla rubs my shoulder. “It’s not always a bad thing.”

Hallie nods her agreement. “You get used to it. At least they can’t read our minds.”

As they start talking about the guys, my thoughts go wild. How much have I given away? I don’t want Tairin to know I’m falling for him. Desperate people always get left behind.

No, he shouldn’t know. I’m pretty good at burying my feelings. He can’t know. Well fuck, the way they have us address them makes more sense. Their stare evokes emotions. Emotions they can read. I’ll have to be more careful. Show no weakness.

Some gruff growling from the guys travels all the way into the bedroom. Skyla and Hallie look at each other. Worry fills their eyes.

Hallie bites her lip and then says, “I don’t like the sound of that. I hope the guys don’t start acting ugly and gruff all the time. I like Zar when he’s more laidback.”

Skyla is quick to agree. “Me too. But you know, Ryk has seemed more distracted lately.”

“Yeah, so has Zar. I hope things go back to normal soon.”

More growling voices float into the room.

“I don’t like how mean and scary they sound,” Skyla admits.

“Yeah, their easygoing version is much better,” Hallie says. Her eyes glaze over. “Not that I could stop loving him anyway.”

Skyla’s eyes turn dreamy. “Me too. I love Ryk so much it hurts sometimes.”

I long for a love like that. Is my warrior capable of loving me that deeply? Was Tairin more laidback before? He has been distracted since I came here. I’d love to see him smile more. These rebel groups could be the reason he’s so serious. What will happen if the grounfos don’t stop causing trouble?

“I’m sure things will go back to normal real soon. Our guys are good at what they do.” The confidence in Hallie’s tone eases some of my worries.

They know the warriors better than I do. When they start talking about food, I relax even more. Things will be fine.

More snarls float over to us. A spear of pain shoots through my heart. Nothing bad is going to happen. People fight all the time. This planet is still better than Earth.

Plus, Din Tairin is here. I remember how he hugged me to him just a bit ago. Even if he doesn’t say he likes me, his actions say he does. At least for now.