Karac: Kaldar Warriors #1 (21 page)

Ashley

I woke up the next morning, sprawled on top of Karac.  My head rose with each breath he took and I enjoyed the feeling of his arm wrapped around my back and our legs entwined.  Smiling, I had flashbacks of the night before.  Karac was very gentle, taking his time to make sure I was ready and wanting him.  He was even more magnificent with all his clothes off, not just his shirt.  Afterwards, I felt a tingling on the side of my neck and knew the mating mark was appearing.  I was too content to check it out then, but now?  I really wanted to see what it looked like.  Kelly had mentioned that each one was a little different.  I slowly slid out of bed, careful not to wake Karac.  I stepped lightly into the bathroom, craning my neck to see the mark.

It looked a little faded, like it had been there a while, but I could see a distinct mark there.  It looked like a small tattoo of two crossed swords pointing down with a crown encircling them.  I knew I’d seen that design somewhere but I couldn’t remember exactly where.  I turned a bit more to get a better look when an arm suddenly snaked around my middle and pulled me up against a hard chest.  I gasped in surprise before I looked up into Karac’s eyes. 

“What are you doing in here?  You’re supposed to be in bed.”  He leaned down and kissed the mark which shot pure pleasure all the way down to my toes.

“I wanted to see the mark.”  I craned my neck to the side to get a better look, but Karac dipped his lips to my neck and messed with my view.  Not that I minded what followed. 

“Hmm…my mark.”  Kiss.  “My female.”  Kiss again.  “My truemate.”  He kissed the mark one more time.  I turned in the circle of his arms and wrapped mine around his neck, pulled his head close to mine.

“Don’t forget that works both ways.” 

“I don’t recall you marking me last night.”  He teased.

“No, but that reminds me.”  I pulled out of his arms and walked out of the bathroom to my dresser.  I pulled out a box from the top drawer and turned around to find Karac right behind me.  He looked down at the box before taking it.

“What’s this?”

“My mark for you.”  He opened it and pulled out a necklace made of a delicate leather cord with a silver ring on it.  “On Earth, we wear rings to symbolize our bond.  I figured you wouldn’t want a ring on your finger so I had them put it on a piece of leather to wear under your shirt.”  I watched him examine it and I started to worry.  “Do you like it?”

He looked up at me before answering.  “I love it.”  He placed the box back on the dresser and looped the necklace over his head.  The leather was long enough that he could easily take it on and off without messing with tying it.  The ring settled right next to his heart.  He rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger before looking back at me.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”  He pulled me close and his lips met mine in a gentle caress.  He drew back before it could go any further. 

“What does the mark mean?”  I asked, bringing my hand to my mark and rubbing my neck lightly.  It didn’t hurt, but I knew it was there. 

“It means you’re my mate.”  Karac replied simply.  I almost rolled my eyes. 

“No, I mean, the crown with two swords.  And it’s really faint.”

“It will darken when we ascend the throne.”  He commented, as his hand pulled away mine so he could look at the symbol again.  I saw pride and happiness in his eyes. 

“So does your mother have the same mark?”

“Yes, only hers is darker.  It tells anyone that she is the ruling female and if they were to look at you, that you were the second in line.” 

“What if you had a sister?  Would she have a mark?”

“No, only mated females are marked.”

“Oh.”  I paused before asking, “So if you had brothers with mates, they would bear the same mark?”

“Yes, all in different shades.  The darkest meaning the closer they were to the throne.  If I had a mated sister, she would bear the family crest of her mate.” 

“So can females ascend the throne, or whatever, if they bear a different family crest than you?”  I was curious as this was now my life.  If I had children, especially girls, I wanted to know where they stood in this new society.  Karac considered my question for a minute before answering.

“Males are the first in line to ascend the throne.  If no males are born, then the female can ascend creating a new family crest in power.”

“So in the thousand years that your family has ruled, there has always been a male to take over?”

“Yes.”

“Huh.”  I thought about that for a minute before adding, “Were there any females born?”

“A few.  The majority of my line has been males.”

“So the chances of me having a girl are slim?”  I asked a little disappointed but then I caught the gleam in Karac’s eye.  I knew that look.

“I would be more than happy to try for a female as much as you like.”  He purred as he grinned and looked at me heatedly.  Before I could respond, he wrapped me up in a kiss that lasted several seconds.  Finally, he backed off but left me in a daze.  It took me a few seconds to gather my wits and focus on him.  Of course, he had a cocky smirk going.  I rolled my eyes and he laughed. 

He glanced around and said, “We should shower and get dressed.  There is a lot to be done now that our mating is complete.”

“Right.”  I took a deep breath, knowing that today was going to be a big day.  I walked around him and headed towards the shower before I realized Karac was hot on my heels.  “What are you doing?”

“It will be faster if we shower together.”

“You think so?”  I asked sarcastically.

“It will at least be more fun.”  He grinned and before I could guess what he was going to do, he scooped me up and headed into the bathroom.  We both laughed all the way.

Needless to say, neither of us really discussed the plan for today in the shower, so when we finally finished showering, I walked over to the dresser and closet in my towel to gather my clothes.  “What’s on the agenda first?”  Karac followed me out of the bathroom in his own towel.  I had to make myself focus on my current task, but I couldn’t help my wandering eyes. 

“I know the shuttles aren’t set to run until next week,” Karac replied, “but I think we should take a small fighter and return sooner.  The situation at home needs immediate attention.”

“How soon?”  I asked, trying to gauge his timeframe.  I stood next to the closet, half dressed as he crossed over to the closet and hurried through throwing on some clothes of his own before answering. 

“Today.”  He looked over at me and gave me his full attention.  “I know that’s sudden but I really need to be home.  We need to be home.  I promise we will return to see your family.”  I nodded, knowing that was going to be as good as I could get at that point. 

“Do I have time to say goodbye over the com device?”  I asked, trying to hide the panic that was threatening to consume me. 

He caught the hesitancy in my voice and walked over to me.  “Of course.”  He rubbed my arms up and down before continuing.  “I’ll get things set for us to leave.  You take as much time as you need.” 

“Ok, but there has to be something you need me to do.”

“Pack some clothes for both of us.  I’ll inform Merrik and the guards we are leaving today.”  He turned to leave, his mind already on the list of things he had to do. 

“Wait!  Aren’t they looking for their truemates too?”  I didn’t think it was right to pull them away from their chance at finding their truemate.  Karac paused, looking back at me. 

“None have received a hit on the database.  They can review new registrants from our home planet.  If one of them identifies a female as his, we will send him back here and find a new guard for you.”

“Ok.”  Things seemed to be moving at warp speed now.  Karac was soon out the door with both Calzen and Darrok on his heels.

I grabbed a few bites of breakfast before turning to the com device.  Who to call first?  Probably my parents.  They would be up and should be the first ones to know that I was now married, or mated, whatever.  I shook my head.  Taking a deep breath, I made the call.  I only had to wait about ten seconds before Dad was turning the link on from the other end.

“Hey Ashley.  You’re calling early.  Everything all right?”  I could see the concern in his eyes. 

“Yeah.  Fine.  I was just hoping to talk to both you and Mom.”  Dad turned and yelled over his shoulder. 

“Carol!  Ashley’s on the line.”  I could hear Mom approaching and soon she was seated beside Dad.

“Hi sweetie.  You’re up early.”

“Yeah I know.  There’s been some changes around here and I needed to clue you in.”  Both of them waited so I forged on.  “Karac and I completed our bond.  We are officially mated.”

“Oh honey congratulations!”  Mom exclaimed, clapping her hands.  “Where’s Karac?  I have to congratulate him too.”  She looked around behind me as if wishing Karac into the view screen. 

“He won’t be back until later.  He’s setting things up so we can leave.”

“Leave?  Are you coming down here?”  Mom asked excitedly.

“No.  Not yet.”  I paused and looked at the focused look on Dad’s face.

“What’s going on, Ashley?”  Dad asked.

“Some things have been happening back on his home planet that he needs to go take care of ASAP.  And I’ll be going with him.”

“What kind of things?  Dangerous?”  Dad asked, his concern and disapproval evident. 

“No, not on his planet.”  At least I didn’t think it reached there yet.  “He just needs to go home to sort it out, then we can come back for a visit.”

“I thought they said their planet was galaxies away.”  Dad pointed out. 

“They did and it is.  But they have awesome technology that changes all that.”  I hated being vague with my parents but since Karac worked with me on giving the other women a chance to talk to their families, I was going to go and screw it up by talking about things I shouldn’t.  A need to know basis. 

“So it won’t be long before you’re back?”  Mom asked.

“I don’t know for sure how long this will take.  It could be weeks, could be months.  I’m hoping I’ll still be able to communicate with you but if I can’t, I’ll send messages and someone will contact you.”  The details were still unknown to me, which made me shudder internally.  How my trust in Karac has grown to not demand answers before agreeing to leave immediately. 

“Well, try not to be too long sweetie.  I haven’t seen you in forever.”  Mom said with a sad smile, then winked. 

Laughing, I motioned between us.  “What do you call this?”

“Not the same at all.  I can’t hug you through these images.”

“True.”  I paused before adding.  “I hope to be back as soon as possible.  I have to call Kat and Anne too.”

“You’re leaving that quick?”  Mom asked. 

“Yes, later today.  But don’t worry.  Karac will take care of me.”

“I know he will.”  Dad said solemnly.  “That warrior has loved you for some time.  I’m glad you found your match, Ashley.”

“Thanks Dad.”

“We love you, and say hi to Karac for us!”  Mom said with a smile.

“I will and love you both too.”  We all smiled before clicking the image off.  Taking a deep breath, I moved on to my sisters.  The conversation went much like the one with Dad and Mom.  They were excited I was “married”, for all intent and purposes, but sad I was leaving without visiting.  They both could tell I wasn’t telling the whole truth but Karac didn’t want Earth knowing of their troubles with the Degrens.  Not that I could blame him.  The female population was just coming around and this would set them back immensely.  After my calls with my sisters, I went in search of Kelly.  Of course, Merrik and another guard came with me. 

Kelly was just as excited to hear that I was finally mated but sad to know I was leaving so soon.  I told her that if she was on the first shuttle to Kaldar that she could look me up.  She laughed saying it wouldn’t be too hard to find me now that I was mated to the future heir.  I had to agree.  I had a feeling my very private life was about to become very public information…soon. 

Finally, just after midday, I made it back to the room.  I pulled out two bags and started throwing clothes for both of us inside.  I wasn’t sure how much to pack, but I figured a week’s worth would be enough for now.  Surely Karac had a way of obtaining more clothes quickly on the planet. 
Who was I kidding?  He probably had a whole room full of clothes back home. 
With the bags packed and setting beside the door, I finally had time to eat.  I stuck my head out into the hallway and saw Merrik alone.

“Hey Merrik, have you ate yet?”

“No, I have not.”

“If I order enough for both of us, you want to join me?”

“I would be honored.”  He bowed and I chuckled.  Merrik still had his quirks where he was a little formal with me.  I was slowly wearing him down though. 

“Any requests?”

“Anything you order will be fine.”

“K.”  I walked back into the room and typed my request into the hand computer.  I had to hand it to the Kaldarhns, their technology was awesome.