Guardian [New World Book 6] (10 page)

“Holy shit,” she cried out, her face now a pale white. “What the hell was that?” Her gaze went left to right. Roam looked away from the lion who was still sailing through the air, no doubt gaining a breath before squealing again.

“Sounded like a lion.”

“I wonder what the hell happened to it. Sounds like someone lit his ass on fire.”

“Or squeezed his balls,” Roam muttered.

“We better go back to the cave. The animals get a little cranky this time of year. They get even more volatile. I have enough food.”

Jinx slid her arm around Roam’s. Roam’s mind was on the kiss. He had to have another. Before they slipped into full view of the cave Roam grabbed Jinx by the arm and pulled her close. His mouth covered over hers and he heard her sigh. Her essence claimed him as he lapped at the insides of her cheeks. Roam felt the sweetness of her swim through his veins until he near burst with her.

The soft touch of her hands wandering across his chest made him wish it was skin on skin contact. Her hair smelled of the succulent flowers she rolled between her hands to make slippery soap. Roam imagined his hands filled with the suds squeezing her breasts. Gripping her harder Roam was filled with the need to have her. Jinx was ready for him, he sensed it. She would forgive him as soon as she knew how safe she would be if she was his mate.

Deeper into the jungle he took her, their mouths never breaking contact. Roam was going to do this, make her his. The idea of mating her filled his thoughts, nothing else mattered. There would be no more battling his must cycle. His need to mate blocked any other senses the urge was too strong.

The sudden agony on his butt had his eyes wide. Roam groaned. He pulled Jinx to his chest, crushing her face into his throat, and looked back. He slung an armored fist behind him, cracking it into the lion’s jaw. The beast dropped like a stone, his armor reabsorbed into his skin. The animal was motionless, and alive. Roam swore it had a smug look on its face.

Jinx stepped back and smiled into his face. Her expression changed to that of confusion. “Are you alright?”

“Sure.” He sounded like someone had shoved a boulder up his ass.

Fuck that’s agonizing.

Jinx tugged on his hands. “Let’s go in.” She released him, oblivious of the lion unmoving in the brush. She turned and began walking back through the jungle toward the cave.

“Give me a second,” he squeaked then looked down at the unconscious big cat. “You dirty bastard.”

Taz came out of the cave. He strolled past Jinx and headed into the jungle within Roam’s sight. “I think we should get together with Macey now.”

“Give me a second.” Roam groaned.

Shit.

His ass was still on fire. Taz stared quizzically at Roam.

“Aren’t you coming in?” Jinx yelled when she reached the cave. Roam could just make her out between the bush.

“In a minute,” Roam practically squeaked.

Jinx strode off and Roam stood with his ass to the jungle. Taz sauntered up; he cast a glance at Roam’s behind and noted the lion and the patch of shield covering his ass.

“Oh, shut up,” Roam said with a growl.

Taz smacked him on the shoulder. “Welcome to my world.”

* * * *

Later in the afternoon, Macey, Taz and a disgruntled Roam found themselves in the jungle far from the others, trying to persuade a very stubborn little Tonan warrior not to turn Roam into gator lunchmeat.

Roam got up off his ass. He kept his shield down and once more approached Macey. “It’s all right, little one. I won’t hurt your mother.”

Roam could sense the child; he knew the child could sense him. When pregnant, a female had the most delicious aroma, especially to a warrior in must. The females were virtually irresistible, and Roam admitted controlling his lust was difficult. The baby shield served a useful purpose. The force field was invisible to the eye but Roam knew it was down. It was warrior instinct to know just how close to come to a pregnant female before the internal danger sensors were triggered. Closer he crept, arms splayed, closer, then
wham,
Roam went flying again.

“
Damn it,”
he howled as he sailed through the air. Naturally he connected to the ground ass first. He bounced, skid and flopped onto his back, groaning.

“Hey, he let you get closer that time,” Taz exclaimed, obviously delighted.

“Yippee for me,” Roam grumbled.

“Maybe he’s getting tired,” Macey said.

“Even if he was asleep it wouldn’t matter, the shield doesn’t work like that. It’s like breathing, it just happens,” Roam said. He rolled over and stood up.

“Your planet must be very entertaining when the women are pregnant,” Macey said then laughed. “I’ve never seen a man so large fly so far. I never realized how powerful a baby shield could be. I don’t think I ever needed it while carrying Ally.”

Roam stood with his hands on his hips. “I have a clear mental image of me alone in a cave waiting out the rainy season.”

“What did you say about your warrior mate and you? How come you could go near his mate while she was pregnant?” Taz asked.

“Slay and I became warrior mates at twelve. A ritual of biting took place. Castians fight back to back, we feel incomplete without our warrior mates. It’s also added protection when we take female mates. Slay and I exchanged blood to form a bond which connects us. I feel him, even now as we speak I feel how happy he is, and he can feel how annoyed I am. I hear him occasionally. He knows I’m doing something I need to but he can’t figure it out.”

Roam let his armor enclose over him. Macey gasped. Roam didn’t need to sense the babe’s worry to understand the baby shield was at full force. It was easier this way to connect with Slay. Roam searched for his warrior mate in his thoughts. He sensed it was night on Bagron. Slay was with his mate in her dreams. Roam found them in a pond. The two stopped frolicking, and giggling, Tia hid her naked body from Roam’s gaze.

Roam? Nice timing buddy.

I need your advice.

Roam heard Slay chuckle as he searched Roam’s thoughts.
Baby shield eh? Tough little warrior that one.

A little help?

Do you trust the Tonan?

Yes. He needs my help to protect other females until Cobra returns. Which may take a while.

Bite him.

Slay broke the connection, no doubt returning to his luscious mate. Roam was shocked, his shield came down.

“Well?” Taz asked.

“If we exchange blood the baby will sense you in me.”

Taz stared at him openmouthed for a few seconds. “You mean like a warrior mate? Or family member?”

“I don’t know.” Roam felt uncomfortable. He had a warrior mate; he didn’t need a filthy Tonan for one. His idea made him wince. Taz was a good Tonan, he was honorable. Roam had all but forgotten he was a Tonan. But to blood bond with him was not something to do lightly, it would indeed make them family. They would share a connection if they exchanged blood. They would share—everything.

Taz would be privy to all Castian knowledge and vice versa. Roam didn’t want the memories of a murdering breed. Back in his memories, he was aware of the Castian history. They were all Castians at one point until for some reason a Castian went rogue. He then called himself a Tonan and broke all ties. Thus the Tonan cousins were born.

“Does your warrior mate understand I’m a Tonan?” Taz said quietly.

“Yes.” Slay was more forgiving toward Tonans. His was of an accepting nature, but he could afford to be open. Slay had a mate and a child, while Roam still had nothing—not even his planet.

With his shield down, Taz was an open book of emotion. Roam felt his frustration and his hurt. No doubt he had felt Roam’s loathing. But the emotion wasn’t for Taz, it was for Tonans in general. Taz lost his mother, but Roam was an adult when both of his parents died. Roam’s father’s shield had been up when his mother died.

Even after four hundred years, the raw wound wouldn’t heal. The sight of his father holding his dead mother. No amount of trying from his shield could ease his father’s pain. The bond between warrior and shield was a strange thing. The shield cared for its host; it did whatever it needed too to keep a warrior safe. For Roam, his shield was part of him, part of his father, his father’s love. The shield was a gift of protection, the greatest gift a father could give of himself to his son. A son he couldn’t shield within his own armor, and so he gave his son a piece of his armor as a gesture of self-sacrificing love.

The last thing Roam’s father had done was lay his wife onto a bed; he held Roam close to his chest for a long time. Roam had pleaded with his father to keep his shield up, to live, but he knew it was hopeless. His parents had been together for three thousand years. Roam was their only child. Roam’s father had lain on the bed beside his mate, he gathered her into his arms and his shield dropped.

“Roam?” Macey asked.

Feeling wounded, Roam glanced at Taz. His heart hurt and he felt his armor slam over him, cocooning him in a hug.

“I need some time,” Roam said.

His need to be away, far away, consumed him. Roam took off into the jungle. His body ate up the ground beneath him as though death were at his heels. Farther he went, not certain he wanted to ever go back. How dare a Tonan infant judge him a threat? How dare a Tonan ever come into the Castians’ lives.

Blinding rage engulfed him. Anger seared his soul. The bitter taste of fury was on his tongue. Tonans had murdered his family; Cobra had no right to accept them back into the fold unless every warrior was in agreement. Because of human females, the Tonans were accepted back; because of human females, he was stuck on this hateful planet.

Roam stopped dead in his tracks. He never realized the real root of his anger. No wonder the babe wouldn’t let him near his mother. The babe sensed his anger toward human females when even Roam had been oblivious.

Roam went to sit on a high branch which bowed with his weight. Did he hate human females? Or did he hate Tonans? Did he hate the planet he was on and why? Roam loved Tia; he would give his life to save her. Why would he? Was it because if she died Slay would die? If Slay died he would be alone, there would be no one left for him. Slay was vulnerable because he mated with a human female.

Pondering his thoughts, Roam looked for his anger. His mother had died, then his father. Tonans had killed his parents. His father didn’t have to die, he chose to leave him. Roam’s chin fell to his chest. He was angry at his parents. His mother died, she had no desire to leave Roam, but she had killed his father with love. But she wasn’t human, she had been Castian.

The reasoning was irrational. His mother was poisoned. She died. His father dropped his shield to be with her, not away from his son. Taz was only a child; he had nothing to do with Roam’s parents’ deaths. Roam couldn’t imagine losing his parents at such a young age. Taz must have been devastated, then to be raised by a cruel Tonan, it was a wonder he could have a heart at all.

If anyone would understand Roam’s loss, Taz would. Slay understood, but had been away when his parents died. He hadn’t come across his dead mother; he hadn’t witnessed his father’s demise. He hadn’t been there to plead with his father to live. Roam had never begged for anything in his life until the second he realized his father would go away. He had felt like a helpless child.

Life had drained from his father as Roam watched. His father’s shield had hovered, squealing the loss of its host. The shield had been a gift, after all, from his own father. Roam felt his shield falter as he witnessed his father’s shield turn to dust and roll lazily on the ground. Roam thought his heart would explode, not only from his pain, but his anger. His father left him. Who else would leave him?

Chapter 5

“Roam where have you been?”

When Roam walked into the cave three days later Jinx was tempted to fling herself into his arms. Her fear kept her immobile. He had kissed her—then left her. She was so afraid he was gone for good, back to his friends without even giving her a choice as to whether or not she would join him. Who else would leave her? Now he was back. He looked a little worn but healthy.

“I needed time to think about things,” he replied.

“What things?” Taz asked.

Jinx had watched Taz go from anger to hurt to anger since Roam had left. Their entire group had walked on egg shells for days while around him. He looked wary now, as though protecting his emotions from hurt. For the hundredth time, Jinx wondered what had happened in the jungle when Taz, Macey and Roam went for a walk. When only Taz and Macey returned, Jinx had a horrible suspicion Taz might have done something to Roam. She knew the idea was shameful, but she knew how protective Taz was.

Roam was staring straight at Taz. “I needed to think about how was the best way to help Taz protect all of you.”

“By disappearing?” Jinx was incredulous. “You take off without a word and stroll on back and claim it was all to protect us?”

“I thought my choice was a sacrifice, but then realized it was a boon. Jinx, I’ve lost a lot of people in my life too. Letting someone in can be scary even for a big strong person.”