Guardian [New World Book 6] (8 page)

“What?”

“Do you suppose fruit is fermenting somewhere? That alligator looks drunk.”

“I have no idea; I suppose somewhere out there fruit could possibly be fermenting.” Again not a lie, but Roam was getting good at becoming evasive.

“Come on there’s a spot not too far where another plant grows, like this one, which can be pounded into flour and mixed with water and wrapped around a clean stick. You hold it over a fire to cook. It doesn’t make half bad flatbread. The flatbread is pretty good during the rainy season. You just stick chunks of meat in it, no plates required. We’ve had to start making dishes out of large pieces of bone or wood.”

As the sun rose higher Jinx went to a swamp and grabbed long brown things sitting on the tops of green stalks. She called them bulrush or cattails. She kept up a consistent chatter of their uses. She could use the stalks in salad, the fluffy insides of the brown piece for pillows. Apparently she thought they were very useful. Roam kept a close eye out.

“It’s kinda nice to have some company out here.”

“Doesn’t Skylar or Haven help?” Roam asked.

“Not unless Taz makes it a root hunting party, we kinda scavenge anything useful, when we all go out together. Those are the times we collect a lot of edible plants and roots. Sometimes there’s fruit or nuts depending on the season. This area may seem unscathed, but that would be a misconception. A lot of dangerous animals migrated here. Strange animals you wouldn’t expect to see.

“Taz takes care of all of us, but he’s known Haven and Skylar longer. He’s more of a father figure to them, and they do what he says. He doesn’t threaten or intimidate, he honestly cares for them and they love him enough not to cause him worry. I need some time alone occasionally. Taz tries to respect that—sometimes. But he’s right about strange animals wandering the area. The white fur rug on the cave floor is from a polar bear Taz killed. He wouldn’t say how he killed it, but the meat was sure welcome. He killed a kangaroo which is so odd. They taste okay, but really, to be eating kangaroo one day and polar bear the next is beyond weird.”

“So you store food away?” Roam asked.

“Oh yes, we have to. When the rainy season comes which will be soon, we could be trapped in the cave for days, or weeks.”

“Must be hard to be trapped. Where I come from you can wander free.”

Jinx stopped. “So just where is it you come from?”

“Far. But it would be worth the travel to get there.”

“Have you mentioned this to Taz?”

“He’s going to think about it.”

“That’s strange. He knows the rainy season will be here soon. We can’t travel until it’s over. With you here, we need to gather more supplies. No doubt Taz will take you hunting. He always gets something.”

“You trust Taz, don’t you?” It was more a rhetorical question but Roam was anxious about her answer.

“Of course.”

“If he decides to come with me, will you come?”

“It would be more of a group decision, but yes, if we agreed your place would be safer, I would go. Now come on. I have work to do before breakfast.”

Jinx headed back toward the cave. Roam followed; he stayed a few paces behind, not wanting to answer any questions. Being trapped inside a cave for weeks wasn’t very appealing. Besides, he was unsure as to when Cobra was coming. There was no exact timing to the must cycle. Roam needed to make every moment count with Jinx and the others. Cobra wouldn’t leave them behind. A disturbing thought of his and Taz’s conversation entered his mind. Would Cobra kidnap these humans if he felt he had no choice?

Roam already knew the answer before he thought the question. Cobra would do anything for his warriors.

Chapter 4

During the next week, the cave dwellers were kept occupied, bustling for helpful items before the rainy season hit. Roam would leave the cave for a night only to return with items he deemed necessary. He relieved a great burden from Taz who was hesitant to travel too far. Jinx was delighted when Roam returned, bringing gems to aid in their survival. She marveled at a wood stove the two men set up in a corner, crude piping was stuffed through an opening Taz made with a pickaxe. Even with the fire going it was still cold during the rainy season and the smoke from the fire pit burnt their eyes. The stove was perfect. How Roam had struggled with it through the jungle was phenomenal.

A deep cauldron was brought back from Roam’s next outing, filled with canned foods. Jinx had tried to move the pot once but couldn’t budge it. Roam lifted it up onto four sturdy blocks with ease, settling it over a fire pit, and grinned at her. She could only shake her head in amazement at his prowess. Each day Roam returned successful, Jinx’s admiration grew and Taz seemed less tense. The two men, who at first circled each other as would vultures, loosened up until they could joke together. Their tentative friendship became stronger. Until one day something very odd occurred.

Macey, delighted with Roam’s finding of a number of sleepers that would fit Ally, went to throw her arms around him. Roam stumbled back, as though pushed, and would have landed ass first into the cauldron if Taz hadn’t caught him. Both Roam, Macey and Taz were stunned. The rest of the cave dwellers looked at Roam quizzically.

Roam’s mouth flapped like a beached fish until he smiled sheepishly and muttered: “Wow Macey, you seem to have an effect on me.”

Taz took an openmouthed, stunned Macey out of the cave while whispering quietly to her. Roam’s look was that of a cross between happy and worried. Jinx understood none of it. What happened after Macey returned was even stranger. Roam went nowhere near her, and she did her best to keep her distance from him as if he had suddenly developed the plague. Taz once again seemed anxious, not with Roam, but for Roam.

When Roam went out Jinx made it her mission to try and spend time with him. He wasn’t opposed to the company but seemed a bit uncomfortable around her. He was always attentive and respectful but there were times when he looked at her as though he wanted to pounce on her. Jinx was positive he’d never hurt her, but when he touched her she had the strangest feeling of wanting to throw herself into his embrace.

“Where do you go when you’re gone overnight?” Jinx asked Roam.

The two were collecting branches and sticks for the never ending need for firewood. Evening hours were closing in. Most of the day’s work was done. The skies looked threatening, but surprisingly enough, Jinx was looking forward to having Roam unable to take off at will when she questioned him. There wouldn’t be anywhere he could hide. The man was a master at tactical outmaneuvering.

“I’ve been heading out in different directions. Looking for others as well as items.”

“Have you seen anyone?”

“No and yes. The bodies are thankfully few and far between, most are bones. Most of the bones are scattered.” Roam’s blue eyes clouded as he said this. Jinx had come across bodies, it was never easy.

“Do you think Earth will ever be a safe place, free of all the natural disasters?” she asked.

“I think after the rainy season you should come home with me.”

“Why do you think your part of the world is safer than here?”

Roam stopped. He took her hands into his own; Jinx felt her belly dance with butterflies. His warm moist hands were so powerful, his touch so gentle. The blue of his eyes were mesmerizing.

“I think it’s time you saw something.”

“What?” she whispered.

Jinx couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was so handsome. For a moment she forgot what she had asked him. Roam put an arm around her shoulder and led her farther into the jungle. Deeper and deeper until Jinx stopped. The ground began to grow moist under her feet.

“Where did the swamp come from?” she asked, startled; it hadn’t been here a few days ago. The farther she looked, the more water she saw.

“It’s not swamp, Jinx.”

Bewildered Jinx looked up at him. “I don’t understand.”

“The water is rising. Your cave will be under water within a month.”

Horrified, she opened her mouth to ask how he knew, but she knew he wasn’t lying. She was deluding herself into false security, had been for months. Places she once roamed were suddenly swamps.

“What will we do?” she whispered.

Roam cupped her face in his palm. Jinx was terrified, yet his touch was soothing. Soon her pounding heart settled.

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Roam promised.

Without knowing how, she was in his arms, pressed against his chest. Even with the soft squishy ground beneath her feet, soaking into her shoes, she wasn’t afraid anymore. Roam had to know of a safe route, he was so sure of himself.

“I need to get you back,” Roam said.

“Uh huh,” she mumbled. Jinx didn’t want to move.

With an arm slung around her shoulder Roam turned her. The cave was farther than she thought which gave her some comfort, putting miles between her home and the rising water. A month was a long time.

Taz was waiting outside for them. He looked relieved when they strolled up to him. Jinx had been lost in thought. How easy it had been to go from needing Taz for protection to wanting Roam’s reassurance.

“The water is rising,” Jinx said. “Roam says the cave will be underwater soon.”

“I know,” Taz replied. From his look Jinx knew he already guessed what was happening. He obviously didn’t want to frighten them. Now he had no choice.

“Roam says his home is safer.”

“It is. We’re going to have to trust him.” Taz stared hard at Roam when he said this. Roam nodded. Something passed between both men. They shared a secret. Jinx wasn’t certain if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but she trusted them both with her life.

After dinner, Jinx lay in her bed made up off the floor. The structure was sturdy if narrow. Taz had made it by shoving two poles teepee-like into the ground at either end then tying them at the middle. Two long poles, a shade taller than her length, were attached to either side with smaller strong sticks placed a few inches apart and tied vertically to the poles on either side with rawhide. Furs lined the base where she lay with an old blanket for warmth covering her.

The ceiling was a mixture of colored rock. Jinx could hear Taz’s muttered words in the darkness as he spoke quietly to Macey. Macey giggled then muttered back. Skylar and Haven shared a small space and bed off to her left. Their whispers and giggles drifted to her ears as well. Aunt Greta was snoring; she shared a room with Ally. Jinx was alone behind her partition. She rolled over and placed a bent elbow under her head. As always, her thoughts took her mind to Roam.

Jinx wondered what it would be like curled in Roam’s arms, whispering, giggling, loving. Instead of lying in her bed with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Ignorance really was bliss. Normally at this time, she already had Roam naked in her thoughts, fantasizing. She felt her face flame, but it didn’t stop the direction of her thoughts. He had been so quick to come to her rescue; he hadn’t hesitated the day the snake attacked. There was no denying he was her hero from then on. The man had no fear. Roam also never mentioned a word of the occurrence to Taz. That alone was an endearing quality.

Jinx imagined his body curled against hers. His thick erection pressed against her teasingly. Warm breath fluttering wispy tendrils of her hair as he spoke naughty words, making her hot. A nip at her neck making her shudder. The wetness of his tongue laving every inch of her. Powerful fingers tracing her from shoulder to hip to squeeze deliciously at her ass. Large hands inching their way up her body to her breasts. His huge body settling over top of hers, pinning her. Wanting her to do anything he asked. Jinx wanted to groan with sexual frustration.

When Jinx closed her eyes, she drifted to sleep with him in her thoughts. A small smile curled her lips and she muttered his name. There was no harm, he couldn’t possibly hear her.

* * * *

“She was calling to you in her sleep again.”

Roam glanced at Taz; they were shielded, hunting. For now, they walked side by side. Roam had been lost in thought; he too had heard Jinx whisper his name. He wondered if it was his imagination to scent lust coming from her. It had to be his must; at night, it was worse when he fantasized and his shield couldn’t come up to control his emotions.

Images of her naked body popped into his head making his cock harden. He wanted to be on top of her, in her, surrounding her. He wanted his mouth crushed to hers, his hands on her beautiful breasts. Roam controlled a sexually frustrated groan.

Damn she makes me hot.

“I’m hoping she comes to trust me as she does you,” Roam said which was true, except it went further than that. “I don’t want her to be afraid to return to Bagron with us. I’m also hoping she can be reunited with her sister.”

“Cobra will really welcome my family?”

“Yes. We all will. He will be watching the situation on the planet, I have no worry the ship will come before the water reaches the cave. Others such as me have warrior mates still on Bagron. We are emotionally connected, I’m certain Slay has relayed my concern to Cobra already. I doubt Cobra will wait until must is over. He would never risk his warriors’ lives.

“I’ve watched you over the last week—no doubt as you’ve watched me. You’re an honorable warrior, Taz. You will be an asset to Cobra’s warriors. Macey is a strong woman, sweet. I’m happy for you both now that you’re expecting. I’m a little concerned about the weather you say is coming that will keep us confined. We both know it won’t matter to me, and I’ll share my generator with you when you need it. But Macey’s going to keep knocking me on my ass when I get close.