The Chalice (15 page)

“Don’t get too close,” Vaux growled aside. “They could bite. Nasty little

creatures!”

He choked back a laugh. That luscious mouth on his body didn’t seem  like such

a bad thing. And if she found biting him  pleasurable, he’d endure the torment.

She tensed up, eyes flashing. The full lips pressed together.

Perhaps she’d perceived his silent am usem ent or perhaps these females were

em pathic like those beings existing in the outer rim s. No matter. Causing offense wasn’t what he’d hoped for in this meeting. The unwitting affront demanded im mediate appeasement. But what to do?

The nobility of a thousand revolutions of aristocratic forebears salvaged hisbase inadequacy. He bowed, hand resting on his treasured Tar, acknowledging heras he would have done in the before time. Holding the pose, he afforded her thedignity of her station in the only way he knew. Time slowed to a standstill.

“Chiagan-Se,” she murmured, the husky voice both sensual and innocent.

“Chiagan-Se. Greetings.”

Astonished, his gaze flew to her face. She’d greeted him  in Chiagan-Se! Hestraightened, searching her expressive eyes. Humor lurked in the twinklingdepths.

He licked his lips, the newly acquired word forming on his tongue. It has to be

right.

“Be.u.ti.ful,” he whispered.

The full lips spread, small indentations danced in the creamy cheeks. She

nodded, understanding.

“Be.u.ti.ful,” he said again. He reached out, intending to touch the silken drape. A finger brushed against her nourishm ent gland. Her eyes rounded and red lips parted.

Screeching gibberish, the dark handmaiden lunged forward, knocking his handaway. Behind him , Mordaq roared, striding forward as he drew his Tar, theflashing red tip coming to rest at the base of the dark one’s throat. Thehandmaiden froze, m uttering in terror.

****

“It’s a fuckin’ light saber,” Dread gasped, horrified. “He’s got a fuckin’ light

saber.”

“Don’t move,” Kara hissed, terrified. “For God’s sake, don’t m ove.”

Raging, the huge Warrior gripped the handle of the weapon, teeth bared in afurious snarl. Muscles bulged in the m assive chest and forearms. Lethal andincensed, his intent was obvious. Dread was in some serious trouble.

I’m  going to piss my thongs! Dark spots careened across Kara’s vision. Make

that faint!

“Do something,” she babbled. “Som ebody do som ething.”

A staying hand dropped on the Warrior’s wrist. A long-fingered feminine hand.

Shock turning to hysteria, Kara’s eyes slid sideways.

A determined Hanna stared into the huge breeder’s face. The tawny locks

floated as she shook her head ‘no.’

The Warrior’s eyes narrowed, gleam ing silver.

Slow and deliberate, Hanna forced the glowing sword back. Tendons in her armsprang to life as she dueled a silent battle with the breeder. He resisted, but shepersevered, pressing down on the saber.

The face of the Warrior changed, softened. Confused yearning spread across

his features as he gazed at the big Swede.

Holy shit, Kara thought. He’s hot for Hanna!

The big leader guy snapped out a string of alien words, sounding angry. Thehuge Warrior stilled, easing up as the gigantic arms lowered. The weapon in hishands changed color, flashing blue lights.

“Fuck my life,” Dread wheezed, clutching her neck.

“Punish her,” Anne hissed with a gentle nudge.

“W ha…?” Punish Dread! How? W hy?

“Punish her,” Anne hissed again. “They m ight kill her if you don’t. Now!”

Crap! Without second-guessing the outcome, she landed a full swing slap on

the unsuspecting Dread. The shock of the stinging im pact jolted up her arm .

“Fall down,” she screamed, endeavoring to appear angry. “Act like you’re

sorry!”

Cupping the bruising cheek, Dread dropped, rolled into a cringing ball and

wailed. “That hurt— bitch!”

“Supposed to. Better’n being dead,” she snapped, slanting a look over her

shoulder. “Get her out of here.”

Leah and Moira sprang forward and dragged the still howling Dread into thesleeping chamber, hiding her from  the view of the breeders. Once inside, thecaterwauling abruptly ceased.

Taking a cleansing breath, counting to ten to steady flagging nerves, Karafaced the Chiagan-Se, head held high. I’m  the tyrant queen and these are mysubjugated vassals! Act the part. Good thing they couldn’t see her knees knockingor hear her teeth chattering.

“ Perfect,” Anne whispered. “I couldn’t have done better.”

She gazed at the tall breeder before her, fascinated by his air of calm  self-assurance. Her heart rate sped up, fed by his close proxim ity. He was aninteresting   specimen   for   his   kind,   controlling   those   around   him  with   anunconscious ease she found both adm irable and arousing, appearing unim pressedwith his role as leader. That the males deferred to him  was obvious, but she felt itwas a deference born of esteem , not by birthright. From  the respect accorded himby his fellow breeders, he’d earned the privilege to rule.

The big guy returned her steady gaze, one eyebrow arched, firm  lips curved ina slight sm ile, large soulful eyes glinting with humor, full of prom ise. He shookback the long strands of silver white hair. On another male, she’d have found theaction effeminate, unappealing, but nothing about this entity would ever beconsidered feminine. The hair floated back, settling around a visage both sensualand starkly m asculine. Fingers itched to trace the sculpted features. Her eyeswere drawn to the wide shoulders and rock-hard com position of muscular chestand ripped abs—and then slid lower. The loincloth thingey he wore covered little—and from  what she could tell, he had a lot going on under there. She gulped,larynx freezing in reaction to his overt maleness. If she needed to speak, shedoubted she could at the m oment.

Foregoing the attempt to touch her again, he leaned forward. “Be.u.ti.ful.”

Wake up dum bass! Say something! Act regal. Tilting her head, she forced a

sm ile. “Thank you, Chiagan-Se.”

The sm ile broadened, canines flashing. “Tegan,” he said, pointing to his chest.

So--he had a nam e. And the vam p fangs weren’t quite so unsettling this tim e.

“Kara,” she choked, touching her breastbone. “My name is Kara.”

“Ka. Ra.” A low chuckle. He pronounced her name as though tasting a favorite

food, rolling it around in his mouth before swallowing.

The room  erupted in a chattering cacophony of sound. The husky sing-songquality of the breeders’ language clashed with the females’ excited babbling. Questions flew from  the women, too fast to comprehend. She flinched. My brain’s

so on meltdown.

Raising an arm, Tegan barked a com mand. The breeders’ voices quieted.

Oh-oh. Tim e to act queenly. Kara lifted a hand and fluttered her fingers. “Shut

the hell up,” she yelled, adding a sm ile for effect.

“Stroll to a table and sit down,” Anne instructed. “Com m and the scene.”

Sheesh! This ruler stuff was a pain in the ass. Okay--I can do this.

“Do I wave as I walk? You know, like Queen Elizabeth?”

Anne snorted. “I think just a stately stroll will suffice.”

“We’ll all stroll together,” she decided. “Like you’re m y entourage or slave

labor or something.”

Hanna turned to join them , but before she could, the huge guard blocked herway, towering over the statuesque woman. Staring into her face, the breeder’ssilver blue eyes shimmered with blatant appreciation. He squatted down and rifledthrough the piles of cloth, grunting approval as he pulled one free. W ith the

courtliness of a knight in bygone days, he stood up and bowed low, presenting the aqua-hued drape to the big Swede. Hanna’s mouth dropped open. Her face flushed crim son.

“Take it,” Kara encouraged. “He’s offering homage or whatever they call it.”

“He’s staking a claim,” Ume said, her voice wry. “He wants her.”

“Excellent deduction,” Anne said, laughing. “And why not? She’s the only one

big enough to fit his size.”

W ith trembling hands, Hanna accepted the proffered gift and slipped it over herhead. The material clung to her opulent curves, stretched tight across her amplebosom  and flaring butt.

“It’s too tight,” she whimpered, hum iliated.

“Heck no,” Kara grinned. “The color’s great and it shows off all those wonderful

female attributes to perfection. He likes it.”

The huge guard fairly radiated with awed veneration. His hot gaze perused thebig wom an from  the top of her head to the tips of her toes, eyes narrowed,darkening in color, m assive hands clenching and unclenching, teeth worrying hisbottom  lip. Longing replaced the adoration, so intense Kara was struck by thepulsing waves. He was an emotional explosion waiting for the right spark to ignitethe blast.

Hanna coughed, dipping her head, tawny hair hiding her face from  his forceful

scrutiny.

Tegan m uttered something. Startled, the guard recoiled, nodded and stepped

back.

“O-kay. That was uncomfortable.” Kara signed for the troupe to follow and made her way to a nearby table, seating herself with great aplom b—she thought. Her silky rear-end slid across the metal bench like molten chocolate on rocky road. She grabbed at the table edge, missed and slipped to the floor in a graceless lum p. Mortified, warmth flooded her face. So m uch for good im pressions.

Tegan reached down, lips pressed together, sparkling eyes dancing with

twinkling golden lights.

He thinks it’s funny, she thought, miffed.

****

He bit his tongue to keep from  laughing, unwilling to cause her furtherdiscomfort. The Chalice glared at him , the delectable mouth drawn down in afierce frown.

“The female is clumsy.” Shagal sniffed. “But I daresay I’d take her over the one

Kormak picked for me.” He sounded confused. Troubled.

“W hich female?”

“The servant. The one your Chalice struck. I was to be paired with her.” He wiped his forehead. “I don’t know what Kormak was thinking. She is too— Warrior.”

Tegan settled Kara on the bench, taking care to plant her well before he

withdrew his support. Eyes downcast, she stared at the bare table, face flaming.

“You did nothing wrong,” he whispered, though he knew she couldn’t understand. She needed tenderness, understanding. A soothing balm  to salve her wounded ego. Inhaling her spicy floral scent, he caressed a velvety cheek, lingering on the delicate curve of an earlobe, fingers threading through the long silken tresses cascading over her slim  shoulder. She was so exquisite— so much more than he’d dreamed. His heart thrum med in his breast.

Stiffening at the contact, her gaze flew to his face, pupils dilating. He did theunforgiveable—he chuckled. The sharp gaze softened, the pinched lines relaxed. Lips quivered and then spread in a wide grin.

Good! She did have a sense of humor. Of that he was grateful. The harshtreatment of the unfortunate handm aiden caused him  no sm all measure of alarm . W ith no way to ascertain the strictures of her form er life, he could only imaginethe harsh training instilled in his Chalice to trigger such superfluous conduct. Heraustere behavior wouldn’t be overlooked in the future. He would disregard heractions for now, but…

He seated himself across the table. She looked nervous, uncertain. It wasunderstandable. He felt the same. Around them, cautious and edgy, the Warriorsfollowed his lead and found seating within the confines of the fem ales’ perceivedterritory. Tension permeated from  all directions, so thick he could feel itsdampening aura.

Shagal brought a tray of food and placed it in front of them . Another maleserved drinking vessels filled with green Sulian Nectar. The best to be had inthese sad times. He grim aced, conscious of the inferior quality. In the before time,it would never have been served to a high ranking visitor such as this female. Heady and potent, it was not meant to im press.

As if reading his thoughts, Shagal m urm ured, apologetic. “It is all we have.”

“No m atter.” He took a slight taste. The sour tang curled his lip. “I hope she

has the stomach for it.”

The female ignored the food and the Nectar, instead folding her hands andstaring at him , her penetrating gaze both curious and questioning. If they couldonly speak! He’d never before encountered a species untrained in the language ofthe Chiagan-Se. Even the hated Deg’Nara could respond when they saw fit. Hehimself could converse in numerous languages, but none a close fit for the

females’ cumbersome vocalizations. The silence grew awkward. He had to do—

something!

His wrist com municator beeped, flashing red. Vaux!

“Lord Tegan, your im mediate presence is required on the bridge.” A thread of