ARMOR [New World Book 2] (6 page)

Talsk also sensed the woman’s
hesitation and smiled at her.

Grumpily Dasks watched first
as Talsk hefted the slight weight of the female child, Maddy, to his chest.
Talsk’s armor enclosed over the child for a few brief seconds—like a pro. When
released, he declared the little female free of parasites and a small broken
finger on her left hand was repaired.

Talsk was sympathetic when
Craig snuffled and swiped at a runny nose and declared if he could, he would
encase the male. His shield wouldn’t allow it. The idea was far too unfamiliar.
Hopefully the healing water would help him even though he was male. The water
had not been tested on a male before; Castian warriors had not needed it.

For now, Amy needed to trust
Dasks and Talsk and take them at their word.

Amy acted amazed while she
checked the little female over. Her grateful look shined onto Dasks’ warrior
mate when he gave her his word yet again the male child wouldn’t be caused any
harm.

Only a cruel being would hurt
something so small and defenseless. Dasks was angry he hadn’t thought to check
the female child over. Dasks was already furious Cobra had touched
his
female. Dasks had felt her distress when Cobra had approached and would have
soothed her himself but he was holding the limp woman in his arms.

Dasks could sense the female,
Leah, would be fine. Dasks’ armor couldn’t heal her—she wasn’t his mate or
blood relative and she wasn’t a female child. The healing waters would cure
her. Cobra would allow the boy to stay. But in doing so, the little male would
be Cobra’s responsibility. Dasks wondered what he would do with him. Cobra
hadn’t lied—the war with the Tonans was volatile. No one knew when they would
strike next. Because both Tonan and Castian warriors were armored, the battle
between the two races was almost impossible to end. Both sides were almost
indestructible. It had been this way for thousands of years. Each side needed
to develop a unique fighting stance to get the upper hand.

Frustrated with his simmering
emotions, Dasks’ armor came up; he tossed Amy over his shoulder and scaled the
walls to level five with her howling in fear the entire way. Apparently his
little female had an aversion to heights. His scowl deepened when he realized
she actually thought he might drop her. Talsk followed with Meg who remained
silent. Their rooms were adjacent and Talsk disappeared into his with his
female.

“These are my rooms, and now
yours,” Dasks said as he marched Amy into his cabin. His armor dropped when he
set Amy onto her feet.

Amy glared at him. “Don’t you
have elevators?”

“What are elevators?”

“Never mind,” she snapped.

Amy walked over to a huge
window that ran the length of this room. They were still on Earth. The ship
would remain on Earth until they reached their quota of females if possible.
Their vessel’s shield was growing weaker by the moment with very little to no
sun to regenerate it. They had at most seven Earth days. Many warriors went out
in search of prizes but very few were successful. On Earth, female humans were
few and far between. So far any female found had some type of injury. Dasks
sensed no injury on his little female—but there was something…

The sky had darkened. Meteors
were once again bombarding the surface. They zapped against the ship’s shield
and exploded harmlessly. One exploded against the window and Amy jumped back.
She wrapped her arms around her chest. She looked forlorn. Once more she moved
forward, her fingers splaying against the window as she gazed at the mass
devastation. Amy’s breathing increased and she grew more fearful as the meteors
continued to fall and explode before her. From their height, they had a clear
line of vision of the ravaged Earth. Lights from the ship lit up the area for
miles. It looked like a fiery gray wasteland. Billowing dull clouds hung low in
the air. Rolling, smoky fog expanded to the skies like mountains riding massive
tidal waves.

Dasks had seen images of
Earth in its glory. Colorful greens and reds and purples had littered the
ground in lush multitudes. Clear clean water gave refuge to sleek water
creatures. Beautiful birds had soared under a bright sun. Snow, something Dasks
had never seen, was an amazing white. It looked magnificent when spread out
covering tree and ground. It was gone. Everything bright and brilliant. The
snow was gray—icy death. It was a sad desecration of what once was and would
never be again.

Dasks went to stand close to
Amy. Her face was an open book of raw emotion reflecting back against the glassy
surface. Dasks wasn’t sure of the foreign scent he caught from her. He knew he
didn’t like it. He went to stand even closer and inhaled deeply.

Amy frowned at him.

“I’m not dinner,” she
snapped.

He narrowed his eyes onto
her. “I know that scent; it’s in the recesses of my mind, but I have never
smelled it before now. It’s the scent of deceit.”

Amy paled and shifted
uncomfortably.

Dasks now smelt fear. He
smelt her aloneness, her sadness and wondered at it. She was afraid of him…no,
not of him physically. Just afraid. Unbidden his hand lifted to her face and he
stroked her cheek. Droplets of moisture from his skin seeped into her. It
absorbed before his very eyes. Amy calmed immediately. With surprise he found
her pressed against his chest. Slim arms settled around his waist. Her cheek
was warm against his skin. Something in his secretions must have drawn her to
him to seek shelter.

Interesting
.

Dasks liked how she nestled
close to him. And though conflicted, her emotions settled during their touch.
She was so warm and so small. Dasks felt the urge to mate with her grow strong.
His hand lifted and touched her hair. It was matted and coarse, with the
strands clumped together and Dasks’ nose wrinkled. Her belly made a strange
sound. His little female needed to wash and eat. It was up to him to see to her
needs.

“Come with me,” Dasks said
and took her hand.

Amy was led to a small room.

Dasks asked for light knowing
she couldn’t see when the room was in darkness. He smiled when she gasped at
the sight before her. The room was where he cleansed. The hologram was of a
distant, clear bluish green pond on his planet surrounded by a multitude of
brilliant foliage. Amy moved on slow feet, her hand touching one of the red
ferns and he saw a small smile. She bent low to inhale the Effie flower. The
water steamed and Dasks began to undress. When Amy turned around and saw him
nude, she squealed and covered her hands over her eyes.

“Do humans wash clothed?” he
asked.

“We wash alone,” she
muttered.

Amy spread her fingers ever
so slightly and her eyes roamed over his body from head to toe, pausing for a
long moment on his maleness. Dasks smiled. He could smell her tingle of
attraction. She liked what she saw and this time he knew it was him that caused
the scent to waft to his nostrils. It was very pleasant and arousing to inhale.

“Not right now,” he said. “I
want to see if you have any hurts. The healing water will cure your ailments.
Don’t drink it though; it will make you sick from the chemicals. We discovered
this on Dargon when Slocks kept getting into our washing pools and tried to
bite our toes. It healed the human females after mating with a Castian.”

“Will it cure anything?”

Dasks assessed her. She looked
so hopeful his heart ached for her. “Almost any ailment. Our women were poisoned
by the Tonans almost four hundred years ago. We have determined the healing
water wouldn’t have saved them.”

Amy’s look clouded.

Dasks moved into the water.
She stood there obviously undecided. Something warred within his female. There
was such hope and yet so much fear of being disappointed. What was it she
battled? Her shoulders set with determination. The smell of courage wafted from
her—it was a very pleasing scent. Ever so slowly the rags of clothing she wore
began dropping to the ground. Each item gave off a fine layer of dust as it hit
the floor. To say her body was grimy would be polite. Most of her was as gray
as Earth. Dirt was marred between her toes when the wrapping came off her small
feet. A fine layer of blond hair covered her lower legs and around her sex was
darker coarse hair. Interesting—Dasks was almost hairless.
Is the hair some
kind of female shield?

The perfect female body
before him was incredible. Dirty she might be, but beautiful she was. Curves
enhanced her perfection. Her legs were long and slender as were her arms. Tiny
hands fluttered near her sex to cover it. Dasks smiled. There was nothing to
cover; he knew her sex was up inside waiting for him.
She’s so thin.
He
would need to make certain she was never hungry again. The feeling of great
protectiveness flowed yet again.

With trepidation she came
forward, her arms across her luscious rounded bumps Dasks had learned were
breasts. They bounced a bit as she moved forward and looked large for her
slight frame. They were as white as the pictures of the snow Dasks had seen and
would shame an Effie flower by far in comparison. He had seen her dusty rose-colored
nipples and his mouth felt a sudden yearning to suckle one and tongue the bud.

Amy lowered herself into the
steamy water. She groaned and Dasks knew it was a delighted sound. Lower she
sank until she was covered to her neck. The water began to fizzle around her
and swirled while it cleansed her. Round and round it swept over her body
making her giggle then gasp. She looked surprised and swatted at the bubbles as
they circled her creamy thighs.

“Hey. What’s happening?” she
cried out as the intensity of the swirling motion increased dramatically and swirled
higher under her chin.

Dasks pulled her against him
immediately sensing her concern. For some reason the water was frightening her.
“It’s all right. You’re being washed.” She felt so frail in his arms.

“The water washes me on its
own?”

She was incredulous and Dasks
felt her rise to her tiptoes trying to escape the intrusion.

“Of course. What else would
you use?”

Amy gasped suddenly, a small
“eep” escaped her lips and she held very still, her eyes widened. “I’ve been
violated by water; it went in my…it went up my
¼
Oh my
God!”

Dasks chuckled when her legs
clamped together. “Lucky water. Now under you go so the water can finish and
you can eat. Take a breath.”

Amy took a shallow breath and
Dasks thrust her under. Amy flailed about but Dasks kept her still as the water
attacked her matted hair. The strands came to life as they whizzed around her
head. He could feel her annoyance with him, but it wasn’t overwhelming and he
wasn’t concerned. This was in her best interest after all. Right before she
needed to breathe he released her.

She came up and gasped in a
huge gulp of air. Her hands pawed at her nose and she sneezed a few times. She
then tugged at her ears.

Perhaps he should have warned
her that the water would clean everywhere. Dasks pushed her down again. She
stopped struggling and soon enough the water calmed and swirled no more. Dasks
released her. When she came up, her eyes were open and she had the oddest
expression on her face.

“Dasks?”

“Yes.”

“The water, um, shaved me.
Um, all over.”

“I’m afraid Castian males
have no hair except on their heads. It would tug or get caught on the armor.
The water must have seen it as dirt.”

Quickly Amy reached up to
feel her head. Her hair was longer when not matted and much darker. She
breathed a sigh of relief. “Why do you have hair on your head, but not on your
body?”

“Something from before olden
days,” he said, shrugging. “I believe it’s the equivalent of humans having
wisdom teeth. At one time they were necessary, but nature just can’t give up
its hold on them. I hope you weren’t too attached to having hair in those
places. It won’t grow back.”

“Ever?”

“No.”

“How do you know?”

“There are a few human
females on Dargon. Cobra’s son, Rask, mated with one and he explained a few
things to other warriors before we left. Once our healing waters cure you, you
will never have the same ailment again.”

“You mean Lisa will never
have a cold again? Like a vaccine?”

Dasks knew the word and
nodded. “Yes, nor will Leah ever suffer from the same sickness. Although,
healed bones can be broken but are fixed easily enough by a mate or grown
warrior aiding a child. You will never grow hair on places human females might
normally again.”

Thankfully she didn’t appear
concerned, just interested.

Amy seemed to asses herself
as she stood still. Dasks felt her hands move under the water near her left
breast. For a moment she smiled, hope soared—then dashed. The smile was
replaced by sadness. He saw and sensed it at the same time.

“Amy?”

She took a deep breath and
seemed to brighten although he knew it was forced.

“Well I certainly am clean.”