C.L. Scholey - Zuri's Zargonnii Warrior (Unearthly World # 2) (7 page)

Zuri spouted off a string of words including the dumb—ass—moron, so it didn’t take long for Kobe to realize she was pissed. Her eyes might not change to match her mood, but her tone certainly did. The scowl on her face was cute. When Citun reached for her she smacked his hands away and Kobe stepped forward with some concern.

“What are you doing?” Kobe asked.

“Putting her somewhere safe.”

“You’re taking her from me? But I captured her,” Kobe spluttered. “This isn’t protocol.”

Citun looked condescending. “We were all looking, and since she can’t belong to us all, and I am leader, and this is my ship, she is my responsibility. Castians are very interested in human females because they lost all their women to poisoned water. Tonans want females to trade with the Castians or others, perhaps even the Gorgano if the price is right.

“There must be some value to this human female to cause such a fuss. Although, looking at this little slip of flesh I’m not so sure. But since we did go out of our way to capture the humans they are still my responsibility.”

“Citun, she understands you,” Kobe said, as Zuri was staring daggers at Citun.

Citun only looked amused. “I have to admit the small female is a novelty.”

“Her name is Zuri.”

“Well, Zuri, Castian warriors covet human females because they wish to breed with you. The Gorgano want you dead. Tonans are heinous creatures. You are better off with us. But know this; we have females on our planet, you are not paramount to our existence or survival. Our world is untamed and dangerous. It would be better if you behave.”

“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” Kobe asked feeling annoyed. There was no doubt in his mind as to why Citun was baiting Zuri. Citun was one of the few warriors who could dominate a Zargonnii female during the Holiday. No doubt with Zuri’s tiny size, his leader was feeling even more full of himself and his power. Zuri looked none too happy for a moment then her eyes brightened. Kobe frowned, if he had to admit it, she looked like a pintsized sinister creature. That her mouth had stopped its motion voluntarily meant she was plotting.

Citun moved closer to Zuri to take her arm, no doubt assuming he had frightened her—Kobe wasn’t so certain he had. For a second, Citun placed a hand to his chest and Zuri slumped a little. Citun looked confused. Kobe guessed she was attacking him; he hoped she wouldn’t spew again. Kobe had to admit he was impressed as Citun looked a little like he was dancing. It took a lot to catch his leader by surprise. His hand rubbed now at his throat, then belly. Citun coughed.

“What the hell?” Citun demanded as he repeatedly cleared his throat.

“What do you mean? What’s wrong?” Kobe said and, turning slightly he chuckled.

Once more Citun placed a hand to his chest. “I feel funny.”

“You must be allergic to her.”

“Allergic? Nonsense.”

“It’s possible. You’re allergic to pet toffs.”

“You are immune?”

Kobe went close to Zuri and sniffed her. “Nothing,” he said smiling. “And as you know, I own a toff.”

Citun belched. “This is nauseating, damned allergies. I guess she’ll have to stay with you for now; I can’t have her in my quarters. Make sure she’s kept secure. Females aren’t too intelligent, so she shouldn’t be a problem.”

Zuri bristled and blasted him again, her eyes opened and closed with her effort. The little lines of hair on her eyelids fluttered. Her face was a mask of concentration. Citun belched loudly then rubbed at his ass. He spun around marching for the door, a hand to his chest. When Citun left, Zuri collapsed onto the floor. Her breath came in heaving gasps; mind battling had taken its toll. She was obviously exhausted, her limbs looked limp. Kobe knelt beside her as she held a hand to her head.

“Now will you eat something? You need to regain your strength.” he said. He was impressed, she did have guts.

Zuri nodded. “Water?” she said, panting.

Kobe smiled; she had said the word in his language. She lacked the guttural capability but her word was clear enough. He guessed because she understood the Zargonnii language it wouldn’t take long for her to be communicating. He rose and returned to hand her a hard cup filled to the brim. She sipped it cautiously then chugged the rest.

Zuri turned the cup in her hands when it was empty. She knocked her knuckles against it. She waved it at him.

“Metal?”

Kobe could see she struggled with the terminology but had done well. “No,” he replied. “Metal is a term for too many hard surfaces and flimsy. This is called nitride-eel. Any other type of component would shatter in a Zargonnii’s hands. Male Zargonnii are boisterous when we eat, and when we battle. What do humans use?”

“A variety of things, but for eating utensils we have pottery, plastic, ceramic, glass, tin, copper, china, Styrofoam, even paper. Anything we can shape. Hmm, I’m guessing you would be the proverbial bull in a china shop.”

“I don’t understand many of those words. Items on my planet are all nitride-eel. Made tough, hard, they last a lifetime and can be passed down for generations. Some is see-through. Your puny shuttle wouldn’t have kept us out, the material is too fragile. I see no need for a variety of useless things that break and need to be replaced. Doesn’t that cause a lot of unnecessary garbage?”

“I suppose. Humans have different tastes.”

“Male Zargonnii have one taste—tough. Durable is a good thing.”

Kobe brought over the food platter he had retrieved from the Gathering Hall. All Zargonnii ate their meals in the Hall, but their rooms had running water for drinking and bathing. Kobe thought the Hall would be too intimidating for Zuri. Zargonnii males wouldn’t hurt her, but they might crowd around for a glimpse. She was a novelty to their world, even if she did stink when scared. Kobe had never seen food come up once it went down. The smell was potent, her defense mechanism, though she claimed it wasn’t. She was different. The warriors might want to touch her breasts, they were an oddity. Males knew what breasts were, they belonged to a babe. But if no babe was present, they were fair game. He knew for certain Zuri wouldn’t like that, even if it was just done out of curiosity.

The Zargonnii knew of many odd species, but this female’s looks were so different; their Earth had to be millions of planets away. How odd it must be for humans, sequestered away, all alone in their small area of the universe. A spoiled only child. A lonely existence. Poor creatures. Kobe’s world was so diverse. He had met at least a hundred different beings in the first ten years of his life. To his knowledge, Zuri had met four—two wanted her dead or enslaved as a bargaining tool. No doubt the Tonan would have sold her to the Gorgano if the deal was lucrative enough. Filthy bastards, neither race had any compassion.

Zuri was studying the food before her on the nitride-eel plate. She touched a few things and set them down. There was a decided frown to her features. Kobe picked up a baya fruit. It was round, a decent size fitting nicely between his hands, dark purple, a sweet treat. Zuri looked at it like it was warm death on a platter.

“That’s a baya fruit,” Kobe explained. “Don’t you like the purple color?” Perhaps purple was a new color for her.

Zuri shook her head no. She took the fruit which looked outrageously big between her small fingers and banged it with her knuckles. She rolled it within her hands looking confused. Kobe reached for the fruit. He studied it and her curious look thoughtfully.

“You have no idea what to do with this do you?”

“No. Too hard. Not eat, break teeth.”

Her broken words were all in Zargonnii but soft-spoken, dainty. She didn’t bother to try to master the guttural sounds. Her throat was so delicate Kobe wondered if she would ever speak his language without the accent. Easily Kobe ripped the fruit in half exposing the moist insides. He handed half to Zuri and told her to scoop out the flesh. Kobe could eat the food whole; obviously, her blunt teeth would never manage that. She tried to scoop out the flesh; her fingernails were blunt. Even opened, the food was giving her a hard time. Kobe frowned when he noted all the food on the plate would give her the same problem. He had foolishly chosen his favorites, thinking she would be pleased. He hadn’t taken into account her lack of strength, blunt teeth and size. This wasn’t a Zargonnii female; he couldn’t treat her like one. Having her here with him was going to prove difficult.

The hand-sized piece of faya meat was poked by a small finger, then left untouched. Distressed, he realized she would starve if he didn’t figure out what to do. After a mouthful of the baya, which she chewed and chewed…and chewed then tried to swallow, Zuri dropped the fruit and looked miserable. Her legs curled tighter under her, her arms wrapped around her body. She looked like a frightened male babe after being abandoned. Kobe hated the feeling it provoked in his guts.

Kobe sat thinking; he needed to fix this situation. A revelation came to him. “Zuri, I remember looking after my friend’s son, I had left food cooking. I became busy with another task and forgot the food. When I got back to it the entire piece of meat left to boil in water was so soft it was gummy. I can boil your food until it’s soft enough for you to eat. Do you think it will work?”

She nodded. The two sat staring at each other and seemed to come to the same revelation. They were alien to one another. They would have different needs. Maybe many things would be different. Kobe frowned at the idea. Did this human female know what a Holiday was? It wouldn’t hurt to ask, the other human female on the planet was said to enjoy Holidaying with her mate. Kobe was curious if that were true of all human females. One of the reasons Citun was so interested in the female was because of the rumor of the half-human, half-Zargonnii babe and her abilities.

“Zuri do you like to Holiday?”

She shrugged, looked like she was searching for a translation, nodded, then brightened. She started talking up an unintelligible storm, until Kobe shushed her. He didn’t understand her but she looked excited—that was good.

“Fun, warm,” she said the words in his language. “Happy, smiles.”

Kobe squinted his eyes half closed.
Fun, warm, happy, smiles? Humans must have an interesting time mating during the Holiday.

“Which of your species proves dominant during the Holiday?”

She seemed to think about it. “Females.”

Kobe scratched his throat while thinking. So female humans are dominant during the Holiday. The males of her species looked bigger, but he supposed looks could be deceiving.

“So the female is normally on top?” he asked.

“Yes. Females on top, always.”

“Males fight?”

“Yes, but give in.”

Hmm.
“So how many Holidays have you had?”

She started wiggling her fingers. Even Zargonnii used fingers and toes for counting. His eyes widened as she counted on her ten fingers a number of times. When she seemed to pass twenty-five he stilled her hands.

No wonder the male Zargonnii took a human female as his mate
.
Human females are Holiday animals
.

For some odd reason the idea made his cock throb. Kobe shifted uncomfortably. This wasn’t like anything he had encountered. A female was sitting next to him discussing how welcome a Holiday was.

“Would you consider having a Holiday with me?” Kobe burst out bluntly. Well she looked so animated and excited, it couldn’t hurt to ask. With a female so close, Kobe was already beginning to feel the heat of his hormones spiking.

That seemed to surprise her. “Holiday? Kobe Holiday?”

Wow that was so easy.

“Yes, Kobe and Zuri can Holiday now if you want to.”

Zuri looked around the room curiously. Kobe’s gaze followed hers. She frowned until Kobe thought this maybe wasn’t such a good idea. They should be in the jungle; he should be in battle form. She didn’t have a battle form. This was all so confusing. There was a
female
sitting in front of him,
a female
. Males and females didn’t just sit and converse, yet she looked comfortable enough with the idea. She had Holidayed so many times she must be used to it.

Kobe thought maybe he should start, he was the dominant after all—he had never been the dominant. There would be no battling, that was confusing as well. If there was no battle, how did he go about pinning her? He couldn’t suddenly jump on her, he’d crush her. Zuri was watching him with an odd expression on her face. He wondered if she would laugh at him. The idea was annoying, he
was
the dominant. It was up to him to take charge, he couldn’t expect her to. It would be wrong.

The thought of breasts on a female all year long was fascinating and impulsively he touched one. She was warm and soft, obviously this was the perfect place to start. As the dominant, he could satisfy his curiosity, it was only right. Kobe then jumped back startled, when the tiny female went ballistic.

Holy shit female humans do have a battle mode.

Kobe’s ears rung when she belted him in the head with both fists. “Holiday this,” she bellowed. Kobe had never heard
that
tone in her voice, she howled out a string of words that sounded out of place on one so small.

Zuri pummeled him while Kobe remained seated on his ass wondering what the hell was going on. He couldn’t battle her. A female and male were supposed to battle for dominance but somewhere in the recess of his mind he understood she was pissed—not in need of a Holiday. For a little thing, she packed quite a punch. She wasn’t hurting him; she wasn’t nearly strong enough, but nonetheless her moves were impressive. He was also back to being the dumb-ass-moron.