Defender (New World Book 7) (7 page)

“Finally,” Taz muttered.

A man was crouched on the ground. Taz wanted to skewer him. He grabbed the man by the arm, spinning him into a confrontation and smiled his most menacing look. Tears cascaded down the human’s face. In a heap on her side not far was a dead female. Near her were two small children, alive. The menace and smile died on Taz’s lips.

“Can you help my wife?” the man asked.

Taz lowered him to the ground. The man pleaded with him to help the deceased female. The little ones were weeping. Taz was a warrior. Killing a defenseless man who lost his mate left a bad taste in his mouth. Killing the father of two innocents didn’t need to happen. Earth was shattered in this area. Taz had to leave before he lost his identity. He was hard, cold, mean. He was a despicable Tonan, a feared creature. The mere mention of Tonans struck terror into the hearts of many. There was no reason he should feel pity for a human male and his offspring—but he did. The man’s oldest was a girl, in her teens. Thick, long black ebony hair, sky blue eyes, long thick lashes. She reeked of innocence. Tonans would eat her alive.

I’m a fucking Tonan.

“Your wife is dead,” Taz said, his words calm. “Find a safe place for you and the little ones. You can’t do anything for your mate.”

“Where is safe?” His tone was small and pitiful. The teen girl was beautiful and so tiny and vulnerable. Her eyes were mesmerized and fastened on Taz, while her little brother used his hands to cover his face.

“I don’t know,” Taz said. The man sobbed, looking defeated and turned. Taz grabbed his arm and spun him to face him. “Do not go with the aliens. Hide from the shuttles. In fact
just hide.”
His words were brutal, and he shook the man. Taz’s shield came up and the man’s eyes widened in terror, the girl screamed. “If you leave with my kind you will die. Your daughter will wish she was dead. Your boy will be left behind—alone. Go.”

He released the man and watched as he ran to his children and grabbed a hand of each, all three stumbling away. Taz shook his head. He had no idea why he did what he did.

Yeah Krish, I fucked up, boo hoo.

Shielded in the safety of the brutal storm that returned, Taz ran. He could cover hundreds of miles in a short time. He needed to find sunlight. Or he would have to return to his ship to regenerate. Darkness was an enemy as the coat of black settled. He would have liked to run farther but a warning went off in his shield. He needed to find a place to spend the night. A quiet out of the way area was where he stopped. The forested area looked to have been spared so far from assault, but a storm now raged. The storm wasn’t near the intensity as some he’d seen. A meteor shower lit the sky. A small box big enough to stand in caught his attention. Taz ducked inside as the storm grew. Hail fell, pinging off the roof. Taz liked hail; he had never seen any before he came to Earth. The storms were fascinating.

The small shed rocked and shuddered. It didn’t matter to Taz. His shield monitored his vitals. He crouched half hidden behind a row of shelves. There hadn’t been much in the way of sunlight and Taz thought it best to sit back and relax until morning. Part of him was annoyed, he wanted to go out in the storm and watch the action. Humans and their helpless bodies would be screaming in terror. During his run, his emotions settled. Taz put his priorities in order. The females Taz would corral if necessary, to a safe place during another storm; the males were pathetic. Taz held all male humans in contempt. They couldn’t keep their females safe, they couldn’t protect their children. Females and their vulnerability was understandable. He wondered how the race had survived for so long.

The sounds of thunder and lightning were soothing and his body was shifting into a sleep mode. It was a state in which his shield kept watch while Taz could visit anywhere in the universe. The door to the shed crashed open and to Taz’s surprise a small, grown female raced inside and used her back to shove the door closed, fighting against the wind. Under no circumstances were humans to see him shielded, it was vital to the Tonan plan. Taz had broken the rule once. If he kept breaking it Krish was bound to hear, then there would be hell to pay. Taz was told humans were amazing at spreading words.

Fuck, why didn’t I think of that sooner?

He was hundreds of miles from where he saw the male and his offspring, no doubt if the man talked—and he would—a story of an eighteen-foot-high purple gargoyle would surface. Taz could have snorted—humans and their imaginations. It was one of the reasons they could be manipulated so easily. Taz doubted a hysterical male and young girl would be believed. Still, another female was too close. Grumbling at the interference, Taz dropped his shield.

The female was drenched, panting. She turned to lay her forehead against the hard wood door. At least he had a toy he could play with for the evening. It would be interesting to discover what the fuss was about. She was small but clearly not a child. The blond wet hair cascaded down her back. She was beautiful; no doubt he would scare her with his ugliness. When Taz stepped into view, the shock on the female’s face when she turned to face him was indication he had goofed. Unshielded, Taz wore only tight grey form fitting pants, he discarded his apparel for flexibility, no socks, no shoes, no shirt, and most importantly, no nipples on his solid chest.

That’s why the female child was mesmerized, damn, fucked up again.

“What the hell?” she whispered as she eyed him from head to toe and back up again.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Taz said. He was hoping he wasn’t going to have to kill her. She was the most beautiful human female he had seen so far.

He approached smiling, arms splayed. She was gawking at him as though he had two heads. Her gaze fled repeatedly to his bare chest. He was hopeful he could talk his way out of the situation.

“You don’t have any…”

“A birth defect,” Taz said.

Taz tensed. The reaction, he should have realized, would be immediate. Lying was a way of life to a Tonan, but it came with a price. His shield went up and his tail grew. The woman’s eyes were round as saucers. She took in a quick breath of air as her mouth formed a perfect O.

“You’re an alien. Oh my God. A fucking monster. The rumors are true.”

Rumors? Shit.

He quickly lowered his shield, the transformation complete. The female hadn’t moved; she looked scared shitless, he scented her terror. This one would talk, and she might be believed. Taz heard his brain screaming; now he would have to kill her. If a description of him matched another’s hundreds of miles away it would be believed. It would only take a second to snap her delicate throat. But she was female and of child bearing years. Her beautiful blue eyes were filled with shock. For a moment, Taz cringed. The only thing he liked about humans was many had brown eyes, like his. Most Tonans had blue or grey eyes. Krish told Taz his eyes were shit colored because he was shit. Blue was the color of the free sky. No one shit blue.

What to do with you my pretty…

Blue eyes suited her, but he could capture her and her free blue eyes and cage her. Her long blond hair hung low with wild curls begging to be tamed. Taz marveled how small human females were again. Every one of them he encountered was small. It was a laugh to him when he heard humans chuckle and point at a ‘fat’ female. No matter their size, Taz was always heavier, taller, and more powerful. Humans were stupid when it came to judging size. If they closed their eyes and only scented they would better understand what was good and what was not. Size meant nothing. The sweetness of an individual was an aroma Taz used to differentiate. If the human before him were fifty times her size she would still smell of caring, compassion, determination and beyond her fear was courage. The scent was intoxicating.

There was no need to kill such a beautiful creature. He could hide her away until he left and take her with him. She’d make a nice companion for the way home. Or as a gift. All he needed was to get the prize. After that thought, the female moved—fast. A sledge hammer was swung at his head. Last second his shield went up.

The resounding ping of the blow was enough to startle him.
Holy shit.
Taz gave his head a shake. The female was struggling to open the door, trying to escape. Taz lunged for her, dropping his shield, his talons would slice her in half. He grabbed her, but she was a bundle of wild motion. She struggled insanely. He needed both his hands to try and still her thrashing. Her scream was short lived when Taz yanked her to his chest tilting her face up and he planted his mouth over hers to silence her. It was a mistake. His shield went crazy. Castians weren’t the only beings approaching must. Her taste filled him, devoured him. His senses went wild with the feel of her in his arms.

This was Taz’s first kiss. Her mouth was soft, her tongue was velvet, her aroma flowed through him instead of only around him. Her moist lips quivered beneath his. She was afraid at first until Taz felt his shield reconfigure and their saliva flowed sweetly together. Taz knew he should pull away, but she was intoxicating. Her emotions fed his shield until he sensed euphoria. Her struggling ceased, and she collapsed into his arms, pressing against his chest. Her high firm breasts were crushed into him.

When he released her lips, she was wide-eyed. There was no fear. She blinked in rapid succession. Taz knew the acceptance wouldn’t last long; his secretions gave a female enough to calm her.

“Who are you? What are you?” she whispered.

Taz dipped his head when she started to pull away. Her sharp intake of breath when he claimed her lips made him shudder. His shield adjusted inside centering on each different secretion she needed. The tiny female lifted her hand to run over his arm, an action she did on her own.
Acceptance,
his shield went into hyper claim. Taz had no idea what the emotion meant. Each touch drove him to strive harder to create the hormones she needed to feel safe in his arms. Taz wanted her to feel safe. The sensations inside made no sense. She would be a gift all right.

His.

Taz lifted his head breaking contact. “It appears my mission is over. I’m headed home little human female. With you.”

“Home?”

She sounded dazed. Her breathing grew rapid. Taz sensed her fear grow and he wanted her to be afraid, he wanted her to be fine. The warring inside him grew to such an extreme his shield came up. This close to the beast he turned into was too much for her. The female tried to kick him, tried to battle a warrior. Warnings in his shield went off. Half wanting her dead, the other half battling to keep her safe. Each hit to his person injured her and she cried out as she tried to battle him. Red marks dotted her hand. She drew her own blood. Taz’s insides screamed with the smell.

She was injured, she should be injured.

Damn, she shouldn’t be injured.

Taz did the only thing he could until he would be able to figure out what he should do. Two long fangs on either side of his mouth began to drip saliva. Dipping his head Taz sunk the fangs into her throat a short way, not wanting to rip her skin apart. The reaction was instantaneous. The female went limp, the potent drug worked fast. She wasn’t unconscious, her body was placid. He swung her into his arms and pressed her safely to his chest and took off into the night. Once she was aboard his ship he could cage her. The tiny thing he held was the closest Taz had ever come to real danger. Nothing before her taste and the scent of her blood made his body and shield war.

* * * *

Cold wet rain slipped down Macey’s cheeks. Her hair was plastered to her head. The beast carrying her moved so fast her surroundings were a blur. Macey was in no pain, her limbs were lethargic, dangling. A single powerful arm kept her pressed to his hard chest. Her cheek brushed against the cold, hard, terrifying alien. The only thought keeping her from succumbing to terror was the beast was moving and not anywhere near her aunt and the girls. Macey couldn’t let it near the others. The little ones were already family, she loved them. She promised to keep them safe. Haven would be heartbroken. She’d promised to return. A surge went through her. Macey had protected those children for over a week, she had saved them from only God knew what. She was going to have to find something stronger than a sledge hammer to stop this beast and return to her family.

The beast stopped dead in his tracks when she wiggled for a moment. It wasn’t more than a twitch, but she filled with relief. To be alert and totally vulnerable was horrifying. She wondered all sorts of terrifying scenarios. Would the alien do an autopsy on her while she couldn’t move but could feel everything? She would go insane. He was halfway up a massive tree. His arms held her, his clawed feet buried in the bark. A tail at his behind wrapped around her ankles pulling them together. His head was tilted but where his eyes were supposed to be were grey bulbs. Black tattoos on his cheeks glowed against the darkness. Two-inch, pure snow-white fangs dripped with a clear substance. He was hideous to look at, when he had been so incredibly handsome. She knew when she saw he had no nipples he was an alien, but he was the most perfect man—male she had ever seen. Her heart almost exploded with attraction, until he changed.

What happened to the male I kissed?

Why had she been so complacent? Why had she wanted this thing to kiss her? He wasn’t this thing at the time. Why couldn’t he change back? This creature was too scary. The creature dipped his head and each fang slid into her throat. He wasn’t cruel or hurried. It didn’t hurt. Droplets from his fangs dripped onto her skin first, and she wondered if it was a numbing agent. He could have ripped her throat out. The effect was instantaneous. Her body was incapable of motion, no twitch, not the wiggle of a baby finger, nothing. Except her eyes. Macey felt the trail of a single tear slide its way to mingle in her wet hair.

I wish I was home.

“I scent your fear, female human,” his voice was deep and void of emotion. “The drug won’t hurt you, little female.”

Macey could say nothing. Another tear slipped free. She promised the children she would return; her aunt would be so worried. Aunt Greta would blame herself if Macey didn’t return.