“Rask?” she whimpered, taking a hesitant step forward. “Rask, please.”
Grace stopped, frozen in fear not knowing which way to turn. Two more blasts sounded and Grace was trapped on all sides with fire all around her. Smoke rose overhead and she could no longer see the sky. It was a cage of death. She screamed in terror. An apparition was moving toward her through the flames. It was Rask with his shield up. It was only then Grace realized she would be dead if Rask had died. Grace fled to him. The fire crept closer. Hot flames made her sweat.
“Rask, there’s no way out,” she whimpered.
His shield dropped and he pulled her into his arms. Grace could feel his sweat mix with hers, calming her. Rask pressed his forehead to hers. His hands slipped over her hair. He murmured soothing words and gentle sounds.
For a moment she let him calm her until reality took over. “You have to go, Rask,” Grace sobbed as she looked at the wall of fire. “You don’t have to die this way.” She gazed up into his dark eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
His stare was intense. He studied the height of the flames but Grace knew he couldn’t jump them or he would have already.
“Please, Rask.” She clutched at his bare arms feeling his heat. “I can’t bear to know you’ll watch me burn. You can’t hold me in your arms while I char into blackness and melt. I’ve seen it happen; oh God, Rask, it’s a horrible way to die. Put your shield up. Please. Or for God’s sake, kill me now.”
Rask cupped her chin; she could see him battle his panic for her with the thought. “A mated Castian can never kill his mate. He would die. We are too connected. My shield will go up when the fire reaches us,” he said. “It has a built-in sense of self-preservation. The only way for me to die if you die, is if my shield comes down.”
Grace filled with hope—he could live, his shield would protect him. “Then never let your shield down.” She wept. “Is it even possible for you to connect with another so strongly to save your life?”
“I don’t know.”
Grace could feel the flames, it was growing unbearable. They were creeping toward them as though taunting them, stalking them in a sinister fashion. “Find out, Rask. For me, please. Don’t die.”
“I can’t live without you. I love you.”
“I don’t want to die knowing you will die too, because of me. I love you too, Rask,” Grace whimpered. “I love you.”
Rask cupped her face in his palms. His eyes reflected his deep emotions.
He already knows.
Of course he would know, he would have felt it the moment she did. He was just waiting for her to say it first. Rask didn’t want to take her emotion. He wanted her to understand it and reveal it to him on her own. Grace’s cheek settled against his chest. She could feel his heart pound. Rask tossed his head back and roared his agony. His arms crushed her to him.
“It’s too hot, Rask,” Grace cried out as the fire licked at them. It was a few feet away encasing them. Grace began coughing and gasping as the smoke thickened. Her lungs began to burn.
Rask pulled at her clothing, tossing it onto the flames trying to give them a few more seconds.
“Flesh-to-flesh until my shield goes up. I swear you will feel no pain.”
Rask yanked their clothing off. They fell to the ground and Rask pushed himself inside her. His fingers tangled within her hair thrusting her face into his throat. His entire body covered her. Sweat dripped from his body onto her, over her, into her. Rask bit her, then again and again. Blood dripped from her neck and dribbled down. Grace was growing numb but the flaming wall of fire came steadily closer. Grace wrapped her legs around him. Rask tightened his arms around her. Grace saw the fire close in until it washed over them in a wave of victory. There was no pain. Grace wept knowing she was burning and was so grateful to Rask for sparing her the unbearable agony. Fire struck from the other side and danced over Rask’s back. She closed her eyes knowing his shield would go up.
Grace could still feel Rask moving inside her, but his thrusting was slight. At a small sound from him, Grace’s eyes snapped open. When she looked up at him, his eyes were shining in stunned disbelief. Grace could no longer feel his secretions; his body was warm and dry. The flames completely engulfed them. Grace could see them lapping at her knees, at Rask’s hair. Nothing touched them. Where there should have been unbearable heat torching her flesh from her bones, there was coolness. The air she breathed should have been saturated in smoke, but it was clear and sweet. Grace looked up at Rask. His body was rocking the way it did when he was about to come. She could feel his hard length fill her until no more could possibly fit.
“Rask?”
The heated wall of death moved away from them. Everything around them was charred and smoldering. Grace lifted her hands from Rask’s shoulders, at least she tried. She couldn’t move. It was as if she was stuck to him. Then she realized the ground underneath her was smooth and soft. Not the spongy ground but different. Rask was smiling.
“It’s my shield, Grace. My shield saved us both.”
“How?” she asked, incredulous.
“My body tried so hard to take your fear away. My wetness didn’t work, neither did my bite. I was about to go crazy with the pain you would suffer. I fought to keep my shield down to keep trying to comfort you and I felt the shield go up. I felt it stretch. I can feel it molded to us both. This is how I know you will be safe. I didn’t understand before but I do now.”
Rask looked at her so happily, she smiled. “Your love saved me,” she whispered.
“My love is your shield.”
Chapter 5
“Why the hell would they attack?” Rask boomed into the dome.
When they had returned, Rask was grateful to see Tosk and his little mate. The poor thing had been clinging to Tosk with tears streaming down her face. Tosk had been beside himself with worry. Rask had never in his life seen Tosk afraid, but he had been. He had yanked Stacie over to Rask and declared her to be leaking; it was apparent this was the first time Tosk had seen her cry. Terrified, Tosk told him if she didn’t stop she would wither and die, because she was already too tiny. Stacie stopped crying when Grace went to her. It seemed the women had their own bond and Stacie had been in tears over not finding Grace.
“Perhaps they found out about the females?” Tosk said.
“It’s impossible,” Rask said. He had sequestered both women in his room. From where he stood, he could see his door. “Something must have happened. We are defenseless against an attack, so there is no need to wage war on a planet filled with cast-offs. All we have are our shields. The fires would only destroy the planet. We can’t wage war on them; it makes no sense to attack here and not the home planet.”
“They know we haven’t got the technology to see when they are coming,” Tosk said.
“Maybe something happened,” Brack said.
Rask felt a grin creep over his face.
Of course
. “It must be my father. He must have escaped and is coming for us. If they can’t attack the home planet, then of course they will attack my father’s followers. If he has escaped, then the planet he was on is already secured. We must be their last resort.”
“If anyone can figure out how to escape, it’s Cobra,” Tosk said with a smile and then turned serious. “Rask, our mates have no shields. How can we protect them?”
Rask’s grin brightened further. “Oh they have a shield all right.”
“What? How?” Tosk asked.
“I will show you, but first we need to prepare for when my father comes for us. If the Tonans are striking a banished planet, that means war is raging in the skies.”
“We need to join with the others,” Brack said.
“Yes we do,” Rask agreed. “Off with you! Spread the word. If it’s Cobra, my father will be anxious to collect us.”
Shields went up, and the armored males went racing into the forest to join with other forces.
Tosk turned to stare at Rask.
“You’re gonna love this, my friend,” Rask said and smiled.
Tosk eyed him curiously as they went to retrieve their mates. Both women scrambled to their feet when they entered Rask’s room. Grace wrapped her arms around him and Rask felt her tremble. Moist hands cupped her face and she calmed instantly. Her beautiful blue eyes gazed up into his. He felt her overwhelming trust. It was like being gifted with a reward.
“Come with me,” Rask demanded and all four went outside.
“They have no shield,” Tosk said with deep concern. His face lifted to the sky to scan for intruders.
So far there was nothing, but that didn’t mean anything. Tonan vessels were equipped with cloaking devices.
Rask pulled Grace into his arms and lifted her legs around his waist. “Trust me?” he asked.
“With my life,” she replied.
She meant it.
Rask looked at Tosk. “Lift your mate the same way. Wrap her legs around your waist and her arms around your shoulders. Now both of you females bury your faces into our necks.”
Both women complied.
Rask inhaled Grace’s scent deeply. He physically felt the effect she had on his shield. His desire to protect her while she was harmless and in need of him rose to such an outstanding degree, his armor came up to shield them both with a vengeance.
Tosk inhaled in surprise.
“That’s amazing. I know she is with you but I can’t tell. Do you suppose it’s a hologram?” Tosk asked.
“I think so. Another defense. No one knows she is with me. I can sense you can’t even smell her. Your turn,” Rask said to his warrior mate. “If I can you can. Feel for the memory. It’s instinct. All we need is to be reminded. It’s as simple as breathing for us.”
Rask could see Tosk concentrating. Black armor began snapping into place around his feet, encasing his legs, thighs, arms. The shield molded to Stacie’s body. Rask knew neither woman could move. It was a blanket of impenetrable love. But Rask could move.
“Let’s go prepare for war,” Rask said.
Claws digging into the spongy turf Rask leaped to a tree then to the ground then to a tree. Faster and faster he moved, eating up the ground knowing even if he were hit with a meteor, his mate was safe in his arms.
* * * *
Three days later Grace looked up at a massive warship, sleek and black. She trembled and felt Rask’s comforting arms around her. His shield was still up and she was wrapped around him, her body molded to his own. It was such an odd feeling being encased in a soft unresisting material. As hard as the armor was on the outside, it was just as soft and warm on the inside. All had gathered when the ship was seen in the sky. Grace was surprised to see at least two hundred Castian males. When they had reached the spot, Grace had been surprised to see the other women from the shuttle. Rask taught the men how to shield their new mates. With her body practically glued to Rask’s, Grace knew she was safe, but she was apprehensive. Rask had declared his father was aboard this vessel. What if he didn’t like her? What would a three-thousand-year-old man be like? Or look like?
The hatch lifted in a mountain of billowing steam and Grace’s first reaction was to lift up her hands, but she couldn’t move. Rask crossed his powerful arms across his chest to her response. When a huge man wearing no shield stepped from the smoky fog, Rask strode forward. His fisted hand lifted to hit the man’s in a high five gesture but with closed hands. Rask had hit the man gently not wanting to send him flying as his father wore no armor. Rask and Tosk besides four other men were now the only ones encased; all other shields had dropped.
“You greet me in armor; have you changed sides?” Rask’s father asked.
He sounded amused and Grace swallowed hard. She had expected a smaller man for some reason, one gray and withered. This man was anything but. With her face pressed at Rask’s throat she could only peek at the man. The man before her was a seasoned warrior. He was a bit bigger than Rask, but she could tell by his commanding presence just how powerful he was. His hair was long and dark, and his eyes were brown. There was a strong family resemblance.
“I have a surprise for you,” Rask said.
Grace almost laughed at his little boy excited sound. She bet if he were able, he would be squirming like a puppy. Grace held her breath as Rask’s shield dropped, absorbing back into his skin. His father looked stunned. Grace slipped from Rask’s waist to the ground where she pressed herself to him.