Taken: Blue Barbarian Series (Blue Barbarians Book 3) Read online

  Ash pushes her as she climbs, his hands on the bottom of her ass as he shoves. Then he turns and slices Jillian’s sandals.

  Another great worm breaks free, and I scream at him.

  “Ash!”

  But my scream isn’t even finished when the knife he’d just used to slice Jillian’s sandals is flung at the worm, buried to the hilt. He’s managed to avoid the slit that opens like a mouth, and instead hits somewhere above it. The creature is still.

  In a split second, he has Jillian crawling up the log, pushing her ass up the way I’d seen him do with Tessa.

  He doesn’t even wait for another vine to be thrown before he grabs me and tosses me onto his back, then races up the log. I wrap my arms and legs around him and hold on for dear life. He runs so fast he’s on the heels of Jillian, at the same time another worm has broken free from the wall. It can’t climb though, and shrieks in fury as we have climbed too high for it to reach.

  Someone grabs Jillian now, pulling her from the log. With her weight gone, the log shifts slightly and I scream, terrified we’re going to slip and plunge off.

  Aschero digs his hands and feet around the stumps, stabilizing us, and continues scrambling up. We’re in the sunlight now, and other arms reach for him, taking his hands and pulling him the rest of the way up. Once we’re on level ground, I slide from his back but he turns and hauls me up against him again, this time facing him. I wrap my legs around his waist and cry into his neck.

  Tessa’s doing the same thing with both Jeroc and Tijar, and Jillian is wrapped up in Kalki’s embrace.

  I’m barely aware of Rayhaan kicking the log down the abyss, and barking orders. Ash is murmuring soft words into my ear, and I’m still clutching him in a death grip. Eventually I’m aware that we’re all moving, heading back to the cave where we’ll camp. The sun is just a soft glow, we have less than a half hour before daylight disappears.

  My sobbing has stopped, and I cling to Ash weakly now. He sets me down, still pressing me up against his body. I smell the sulphur of the pool. He flings off his arm and thigh straps that usually contain his knives. I shiver when I remember one is still in the worm’s head. Then he drops his loincloth and kicks off his moccasins.

  I look down. One of my sandals is missing and the other one has a chunk gone. He bends down and slices the broken one from my foot, and then stands. He’s graceful as he comes up, and in one fell swoop he lifts my alien hospital gown over my head. He picks me up and heads into the pool.

  I hear crying from down the hall, and Kalki arrives next. Jillian’s tears are slowing, and then the rest of the hunters and humans file in. Everyone is oddly quiet.

  Soon I hear Lucie talking in Blaedonian to Rayhaan. Niki isn’t here. Exhausted, she’s been sleeping ever since she transferred the gift of languages to Valencia. Drakar has disappeared after the rescue, apparently he now tends to her. He’s been at her side ever since she fell unconscious.

  “Those were a few of the night predators,” Lucie says softly. “That area where the ground caved in was a nest. Apparently the worms breed in there, digging out a nest so close to the surface so that animals will fall through and nourish the tiny infants.”

  I turn, incredulous. “Those were the infants?”

  She nods. “’Fraid so. Rayhaan says tomorrow we will rush through to get home. Drakar is worried about Niki not being able to wake up. As we tire, the barbarians will carry us.”

  I lean back against Aschero, grateful for his strength, and his arms wrap around me. Jillian is still draped facing Kalki, and Tessa is leaning on Tijar’s lap, with her legs extended onto Jeroc. One arm reaches out, clutching Jeroc’s hand. Until now, she sort of traded off between guys. Now, I guess the trauma is so great that no one notices she can’t choose between them. They don’t seem to mind right now anyway.

  “Lucie,” I whisper. “Please tell Ash thanks. If it hadn’t been for him watching us…”

  She nods, and says something in Blaedonian.

  His arms tighten, and he murmurs something, then presses kisses to the top of my head.

  “He says you never need to thank him. He will always be there for you.”

  Chapter Four

  ASCHERO:

  “Miranda,” I call to my beautiful sleeping mate. She lies perfectly still. Her tiny nose is straight and delicate, her lips full like they beg to be kissed. Her skin is the color of the snow outside. “Wake up. Time for more nutrition.”

  A week later, it is getting a bit easier to rouse her, but she seems to struggle against it. Reverent mother says she is fighting her demons and to simply love her.

  That I do. I have always loved Miranda.

  She stirs sleepily. “Doont wanta,” she mumbles.

  Her words are English, not Blaedonian. She continually tries to separate herself from me. I won’t let her.

  “Say again?”

  “Drimming. Leaf me iloone.”

  “I can’t understand you.”

  She wakes up fully, and sees me. Automatically, she switches back to my language. “I’m tired. And I’m having a good dream. Go away.”

  “No. You’ve been living in dreamland long enough. Now it’s time to feed your body,” I say cheerfully, and prop the pillows behind her back to sit her up. She grumbles, but her eyes stay open.

  I spoon broth into her. This time it has soft chunks of vegetables. I must get her back to the land of the living.

  “I’m not even hungry,” she says.

  “No, but you’re tired. For that, you need fuel.”

  “This…land is real? We’re mated…here, right?”

  She still carries a lot of confusion as to where her mind resides.

  “Yes. You and I are mates now.”

  “When I’m dreaming, it feels real. So real. Like I live there, instead.”

  “You did. Technically the dreams are memories. So you re-live them. But it’s important not to get the two confused. This here is your actual life.”

  I give her more to eat, and then have her drink some water.

  “Would you like to share them with me?” I ask.

  “If they’re memories, you already know what they are. Our times together. The rescue from the ship. The stream. The hike to the village. The time we headed for the Stargazer ship.”

  I nod. “Yes, I have those memories. But in sharing them with me, you may give me your inflection of them.”

  She chews more vegetables.

  “I seem to have a bad dream, and then a happier dream. They’re kind of balanced, you know?”

  “What are the bad dreams?”

  “The alien abduction. The way I was tricked by an ex-boyfriend to be picked up by the ship. The worm nest.”

  “And the good dreams?” I prod.

  She hesitates a moment. Then, like sudden realization hits her, she says, “You and me. Meeting each other. Exploring each other.” Her small hand reaches up to touch my cheek. “Learning to love.”

  I feel guilty. I do not want to admit to Miranda that she has never admitted to love me. Instead, she flirted with many others, as if she wished to fight her feelings. Even now, she thinks we are a normal mated couple. She has no idea that we have not even had sex yet. Not since we’ve mated, anyway.

  “I will always love you,” I reiterate. She needs to know this.

  “The next dream was going to be one of you and me.” She grumbles. “That’s why I wanted more sleep.”

  My eyes gleam. “You’re right. Of what value is food when you have that to look forward to?”

  She giggles.

  “I will bathe you after you eat and you can fall back to sleep for your wet dreams, my love. I will simply suffer and watch you. Perhaps I will peek at your body while I stroke myself.”

  “Ash,” she exclaims, laughingly scandalized.

  I have missed the pet name she calls me.

  “What else is a man to do?” I tease. “Eat up. If you can stay awake a little longer, I will take you to the pool to bathe. Then you
can sleep deeply again.”

  She nods. “What time is it?”

  I shrug. The humans are obsessed with time, as if they always must be somewhere. “Most of the villagers still sleep.”

  “I should have known. It’s dark,” she says, noticing the glow rock lights the room. There is also heat from the flickering fire, but it dies down now. I have a warmer body temperature, and she has been snuggled in many furs.

  I snort. “Being dark does not tell you much, mate. It is the winter season. There is only six hours of daylight right now.”

  Her eyes widen. “There is?”

  It makes me sad. Miranda is the only human who has not yet experienced the shorter daylight hours. Winter had just begun when she took the sleeping tea.

  “The days continue to shorten. It will soon be completely dark, and we must stay indoors for a week. It is a cold, bitter time, with the only heat being from the core of the planet. But then the sun shows again, and the hours lengthen once more.”

  “Adretta? What will she do?”

  My mouth tightens. “This is why exiling her would have been a death sentence. She will have to barricade herself in the cave with only food that is able to be stored. Dried meats and trail mixes. She will not know when the days lengthen, because you lose track of time inside. She could roll back the boulder one day to discover a night creature ready to pounce. There is one that is most dangerous. It slithers like a shadow, and gets in before you realize it. A full grown hunter may be able to take it down, but a female? It would take quite a bit of luck.”

  “The poor thing.”

  “Even now, the hunters bring her meat to dry as they bring us a week’s cache to store in the…” I search for the human word. “Freezers. When the world lightens again, with enough hours to travel by, a hunter will be dispatched to her to let her know. He will bring her fresh meat and allow her out of the cave for a reprieve. Things will slowly get back to normal. After the wet season hits again, she will be allowed to return to the village.”

  “Is that why your village built the giant wall? When winter has no light at all, we can at least go outside with the creatures being kept on the other side?”

  “Exactly. We do not starve for the week of darkness. If we run out of meat, we at least have vegetables to pick.”

  The humans still have a hard time believing the vegetables grow in the cold. We assure them this is the case, and has been for many, many years.

  I toss back the furs, and grab a small one to cover her naked, pink form with. She has lost all of the glorious brown color from summer. She is still beautiful, but delicate with the change of skin tone. I lift her, small blanket and all, and stride quickly to the bathing pool. It is as late as I suspected, there is no one about the main areas of the cave. I set her on her feet carefully, and she looks tired and weak. But it is only so I may strip my loincloth, and then I toss her small fur aside and pick her up again.

  “My legs are trembling, they’re so weak,” she says.

  “But you are awake longer than you have been. That is an excellent sign.”

  I refuse to acknowledge the fact that she prefers to sleep in the dream state. Miranda hides from something, and I am not sure what it is.

  I grab a soapcake, and begin to lather her body. Her last dream was a violent one, and her body had sweated profusely. I had changed the soft skins we place under the furs, and yesterday Tessa came by to do our laundry.

  We are blessed to have the humans. They have fit into our community well. We are surprised to find the humans didn’t even know each other before they came to our planet. They are a close-knit bunch, like sisters of the same family would be.

  “That feels so good,” Miranda says.

  It is the touching she craves. Skin contact is important for healing. Humans do not seem to realize this. “I will rub lotion into your body when we get back. You can fall asleep to the soothing touch of my hands.”

  “You are such a good man. A wonderful mate. I’m so lucky.”

  I smile at her. “It is simply convenient that you fell ill during the dark moons. I do not have a lot of hunting to do. During those few hours, one of the others sits with you while you dream. Let’s dunk your hair.”

  She slips under the water, wetting it thoroughly, and I lather it, rubbing her scalp. I would like to massage her head thoroughly, but I am afraid she will slip into sleep while in the pool. I see her eyes growing heavier, even while sitting in the wetness of the water.

  I continue to talk, trying to distract her.

  “Though, maybe it was not as convenient now that I think more about it. The other mated couples look forward to breeding during these months,” I say slyly. I wish to know how my Miranda feels about babies. Perhaps next year we will be healthy enough to breed.

  “So everyone else will have babies around the same season?” she says with a laugh.

  “Dunk,” I instruct. When she emerges, I reach for the bottle of hair-softening lotion we keep near the baskets of soapcakes. I slather it into her thick locks.

  “Yes, everyone has babies at the same time. Although, we are not sure when humans will give birth, if it will be the Blaedonian gestation or the human one. Niki will be our first.”

  “How is it you don’t have a bunch of soap and gunk in the bathing pool?” she asks.

  I laugh. “It continuously runs, feeding back into the mother planet. Clean water fills from the mountain and it drains as it lowers out. Besides, everything returns to the planet. The soapcakes we make. The food that we eat. Our bodies when we cease life.”

  “Our planet is different,” she yawns. “Polluted. We have to clean our water.”

  “How do you clean your water?” I ask. The concept seems incongruous to me.

  “With chemicals,” she says.

  I do not know this word. “Chemicals are like soap?”

  “Well, technically soap is made out of chemicals.”

  I wait, more confused than ever. “Then how do you get the chemicals out of the water?”

  “We don’t. We drink it.”

  “Does that not make you sick?”

  “Well, sometimes,” she says, and her eyes have a faraway look to them. She remembers her planet, and I do not want her to go there. She is about to fall asleep again and I do not want to rob her of the “wet” dream she is entitled to.

  “Dunk,” I instruct.

  When the conditioner is rinsed, I squeeze the water from her hair, and then use a drying leaf to wring out the rest of the moisture. I wrap up her hair the way I see the other humans do, and then get her out of the water. I set her on her feet long enough to wrap the blanket around her and grab my loincloth, then carry her quickly back to our cave.

  It matters not to me that I am naked and chilled. As long as my Miranda is taken care of, that is what is important.

  I finish drying her off, and she shivers. I stoke the fire, and adjust my own body temperature higher, then crawl into our nest, my tiny mate cuddled to my lap. I use the leaf from the Hettria tree to rub through her hair. It will leave her smelling fresh and lemony. Already her hair glistens with the oils of the leaf, and shines beautifully. I comb through it to keep it from tangling and she burrows into me.

  “You’re so warm,” she says.

  I groan. Her soft bottom presses to my groin.

  This was perhaps not a good idea.

  “Your hair is almost dry,” I tell her. “Then you can sleep.”

  “How can it be dry without a blow-dryer?” she asks, reaching up to touch. I do not know this word.

  “Sure as shit,” she mumbles. We’ve gotten used to the strange phrases the humans use.

  “The leaf sucks up a lot of moisture,” I remind her. “Remember in the summer we wrap them around the base of a tree to give it a drink? In the winter that is not necessary, as there is more moisture already on the ground. But we do store the leaves for use. We can use the same leaf at least three times before it is recycled to the planet.”

  He
r hair is dry now, and I lean her back against me. There is no hiding the erection that prods her in the back. She is soft, clean, and smells like flower soap. But she tires.

  “Now it is time to dream,” I tell her, and cover her soft macciacas with my palms. She inhales sharply at my touch.

  “Sleep, mate. I will ensure you have good dreams.” I whisper into her ear. “As you sleep, I will touch you. I will caress your sweet poosy with the softest touch. I will stroke you here, and I may take your nipples into the heat of my mouth. Sleep, my love.”

  I feel the exact moment when Miranda is out. Her body becomes dead weight.

  But while my mate tires, my cock does not. It is hard as the rock walls.

  * * * * *

  MIRANDA’S DREAM:

  I make the choice to remain on Blaedonia. How could I not? I have a sexy barbarian to cater to me, and a few more waiting in the wings. As far as they are concerned, humans are fair game.

  “Meeranda,” Aschero says, pulling me off the trail where others walk. He is gesturing and speaking slowly, as if I’ll understand his language if he talks slower. I grin.

  “He wants to take you back to the village via the scenic route,” Valencia says, walking by us. “Pretty sure he wants some hanky-panky.”

  “Not sure I like you since Niki gave you English,” I call out to her retreating back.

  She snickers.

  In a minute, Atareek comes running behind her, trying to stake his claim. I snicker, too. Sounds like someone else wants hanky-panky. Either that or she’s put out already, and he’s ensnared in her web.