Warlord's Mercy: 4 (Barbarian Claims) (3 page)

“I’m leaving you temporarily,” Tolui clarified. “You’re
mine, Lea. If you try to escape me, I’ll hunt you down to the ends of the universe
and bring you back.”

“You’d bring me back here?” Her face softened. “To our
home?”

“Chamele 4 is
not
our home.” Frustrated, he swept his
hands over his hair, brushing the strands back.

“It’s
my
home,” Lea muttered. She bent over to pick
up her clothing, sticking her bare ass in the air. “You’re leaving me here
at
home
and then you’re returning
home
.” She straightened.

She makes no sense.
Tolui yanked his tight leather
leg coverings over his wet skin. “You told me you wanted to leave the planet.”

“I wanted to leave because I didn’t feel safe.” Lea laced
her chest covering, concealing her beautiful breasts. “I feel safe with you
here.” She pulled her leg coverings up. “So there’s no need to leave.” She
stuck her small feet into her oversized boots. “Ever.”

Tolui gritted his teeth, his female aggravatingly stubborn.
“We’ll have our choice of planets.” He fastened his own snug-fitting boots. She
opened her mouth, her eyes flashing. “And don’t say you’re choosing Chamele 4,”
he cautioned. “There are more hospitable planets in the system, planets where
we can live on the surface and not in tunnels.”

“I like the tunnels.” Lea tossed back her head and strolled
into the main living space, her hips swaying and her boot heels ringing on the
stone.

He followed her, wanting, needing to watch her, to be with
her. Lea opened her pack, revealing a small power converter, and a smile
brightened her face, her mood changing as swiftly as the winds.

“
This
is what you risked your life for, foolish
female?” Tolui helped her lift the device, placing it on top of a flat boulder.
“Why do you need a power converter?”

“If you forget about me and don’t return, I’ll use it to
leave Chamele 4.” She fiddled with one of the severed cables.

“I’ll return to you.” Tolui ground his teeth. “And this
little power converter is useless. You’ll need over a hundred of them simply to
achieve escape velocity and overcome the planet’s gravitational pull. You’ll
also need a ship.”

Lea slid her gaze away from his.

“You have a ship?” Tolui cupped her chin, forcing her to
look at him. He saw the verification in her eyes.
She has a ship.
Excitement filled him. “I need access to it.”

“And I need a proper power converter.” She turned away from
him, the slashes in her chest covering reminding him how he’d almost lost his
gerel
.

“I don’t need a proper power converter.” He skimmed his
fingers over the tears in the leather, his mood darkening. “This smaller device
will give the ship enough energy to operate its communications system. I can
contact my warriors and arrange for them to meet me here.”

“And then you’ll leave me,” she muttered.

“Not yet,” Tolui assured her, needing to spend more time
with his female, binding her as tightly to him as he was bound to her. “I have
tasks to complete before I contact my warriors.” He stroked her back, tracing
her proud spine. “You can take me to your ship in three planet rotations.”

“You might not leave after those three planet rotations.”
Lea leaned against him, her form fitting perfectly into his. “I plan to do my
best to make certain you stay.”

She wishes for me to stay with her.
Tolui wrapped his
arms around her, his chest heating.
She wants me, a clone discarded by his
source.

Lea had fallen asleep at sunset with Tolui’s warm hard body
pressed against hers, lying safe and protected in his arms. She’d woken at
sunrise to an empty chamber.

He left me.
She brushed her hands over his discarded
leg coverings.

He said he’d leave me.
Lea smothered the ache in her
heart and focused on repairing the garment, piercing through the two pieces of
leather with one of her hoarded fastening tools, her stitches small and neat.
She’d sell the leg coverings if…no,
when
he didn’t return.

Lea tied the sinew into a knot and cut the homemade thread
in two with her dagger, the light reflecting off the sharp blade. She set the
primitive fastening tool and the dagger aside and she shook the leg coverings.
Two matching bands of brown rock vulture hide broke up the black leather, the
design pleasing to her eyes.

“You won’t leave the tunnels without me,” Tolui rumbled.

Lea jerked, surprised by his voice, having not heard him
return.
He’s here.
Her heart leapt and her fingers trembled.

“Do you always sneak up on beings?” She scowled at him,
hiding her relief under a concealing layer of anger.

“Yes,” Tolui replied bluntly, unapologetic and dominant and
vibrantly male. He stood before her, naked, his muscles flexed and his golden
skin broken by silver scars. “There’s a shortage of females on this planet. The
males search for you.” He spread his claws. “And I haven’t yet killed all of
them.” Blood dripped from the tips.

But he did kill some of them.
Lea gazed at her
dangerous male, that knowledge both thrilling and frightening her. “Did they
follow you back here?”

Tolui sniffed the air and his eyes flashed. “No, I’d never
be that careless.” He retracted his claws and approached her, his cock
flatteringly hard. They’d rutted three times during the sundown and still he
wanted her. “I would never risk you.”

Lea stood, holding the leg coverings between them. “If they
saw you—”

“No one saw me.” Tolui’s body faded from view, disappearing
into nothing.

Fear filled Lea. “Where are you?” She reached out with her
hand. Her fingertips brushed warm skin.
His skin?
“Tolui?”

“I’m here.” Tolui flattened her palm against his chest as he
reappeared, the contact solid and real and reassuring.

He’s here. He returned.
“You can turn invisible.” Lea
stared at him, awed by his ability. “Is that why Daisun thought he was only
tracking me?”

“Yes. I also tread lightly, leaving no footprints on the
sand.” Her warrior lifted his chin proudly, his long black hair rippling behind
him. “All Chameles, even clones, have this skill.”

He sees himself as merely one of many clones,
interchangeable and replaceable.
Lea worried her bottom lip with her teeth.
Am I as replaceable to him?

That depressing thought dampened her lust. She couldn’t rut
with Tolui when she knew it meant nothing to him. “We should hunt rock vultures
while the sun is high in the sky.” Lea held up his leg coverings. “I repaired
these for you.”

“You repaired my leg coverings?” Tolui eyed the garment with
open suspicion. “Why would you do such a thing?”

He doesn’t like the design.
Lea sighed. “They had a
hole in them.” She draped the leg coverings over a boulder and she moved to the
hide hanging on the nearest stone wall. Her collection of daggers was displayed
on the dried rock vulture skin.

“Only one leg had a hole.” Tolui touched the band of brown
leather on his leg coverings.

“I didn’t have black leather.” She filled the empty sheaths
on her thighs and waist with weapons. “A brown patch on one leg tells other
beings the garment had been repaired. A brown patch on both legs could be a
decorative statement, an added touch no other leg coverings have.”

“No other leg coverings would have this.” Tolui held the leg
coverings up to his big body. “It’s one of a kind, not a replication.” He met
her gaze. “I will be unique.”

Lea struggled to contain her emotion. “You
are
unique.”

His lips flattened. “I’m a clone.” Tolui tugged the garment
over his legs.

“You’re Tolui, the being I gave my body to.”
The being I
care for.
She slung six empty packs over her shoulders. Her big, strong
male could carry the packs once they were filled. “You’re the only being I want
to touch me.”

“You haven’t met the other clones yet.” He fastened his
boots, his movements jerky. “They resemble me. You could have the same feelings
toward them.” Tolui straightened. “But if you touch them, I’ll kill
them…slowly.”

“Yes, yes.” Lea rolled her eyes, her male extremely
bloodthirsty and even more delusional. “Will you kill them before or after you
kill me?” She stomped out of the chamber.

“I
will
kill them.” Tolui followed her.

“Only if they touch me.” Lea brushed her palms over her
plants, savoring the contact with living things, a rarity before Tolui’s
arrival. “And that won’t happen. You insult me by implying I’ll spread my
thighs for your clone warriors.”

“They resemble me,” he repeated, sounding as though he
sincerely believed the nonsense he was sprouting.

“They aren’t you.” She hopped over the stones, avoiding the
activation of her crude alarm system. “Did they survive a crash? No. Did they
capture me? No. Did they save me from the rock vulture? No. Did they fill me
with their seed again and again? No.”

Lea raced through the dimly lit tunnels, heading for the
most southern exit in her domain. Only rock vultures visited the southern
wastelands, Daisun and his brutes preferring more populated terrain.

Tolui trailed her soundlessly, easily matching her pace, his
breathing level. The air dried, the temperature rising. Lea panted, her muscles
burning, her lungs aching.

She turned a corner too abruptly, stumbled and Tolui caught
her, lifting her off the stone floor. “Easy,” he murmured, holding her against
his body, his heat comforting her.

“Is stopping my fall what a clone would do?” Lea taunted.
His eyes flashed and she sprinted away before he could reply.

In three heartbeats, Tolui was beside her again. He
transferred the packs from her back to his, lightening her load. They turned
right two more times and arrived at the opening in the rock, the sun’s rays
illuminating the cavern.

Lea pressed her right index finger to her lips and then
pointed to the sand she’d spread on the stone. It was smooth, reassuring her no
one had yet found the entrance. Tolui nodded, indicating he understood.

She slipped through the opening and squinted, the brightness
blinding. Reddish-brown sand swirled around her boots, boulders dotted the
horizon, the land devoid of life. The intense heat sucked her breath and dried
her lips.

Lea beckoned for Tolui to join her, feeling safer with him
by her side. He loomed over her, offering partial shade from the merciless sun,
and they trudged away from the entrance. The wind pelted sand against their leg
coverings.

Lea climbed upon a big flat boulder she’d used in the past
and reclined, staring up at the clear sky. She extracted two daggers from the
sheaths and waited for the rock vultures to arrive, her heart pounding, beads
of sweat drying instantly on her skin.

Tolui set down the packs and lay beside her, pressing one of
his shoulders against hers. “We need bait.”

“We
are
the bait.” She snuggled closer to him and he
put his arm around her. “I usually slay the scout and leave before the others
arrive. Are you certain we can slay an entire flock?”

“
I’ll
slay the entire flock.” Tolui squeezed her arm.
“You process the rock vultures.” She opened her mouth. “I’ll avoid the torso,”
he reassured her. “You’ll have your perfect hides.”

A rock vulture circled above them, signaling their position
to its flock members. Its brown wings stretched wide, bare of fur or hair or
feathers. “They’re fierce, Tolui.” Fear filled her, fear for him, her warrior
male.

“Chameles have evolved to fight rock vultures and similar
creatures.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, his breath hot. “And clones
are even more equipped.”

Lea frowned. “You’re not all Chameles and you’re not all
clones. You’re Tolui.” She waved her daggers in the air, agitated by his lack
of a real response. “How many rock vultures have
you
slayed?”

His chest expanded. “I slayed one when we first met.”

“That was a lucky kill and the rock vulture hadn’t been
targeting you,” she huffed. “I’m fighting by your side.”

“
Gerel
—”

“Out here, I’m not your slave,” she snapped. “I’m your equal
and I
will
protect you. I—”

The rock vulture dove, its wings folded close to its body,
its deadly talons outstretched, its mouth open, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

“Move.” Lea jumped off the rock, her boots sinking into the
sand. Tolui remained where he was, lying directly in the creature’s path.
“Tolui, move!” She wound her arm back and snapped her wrist, releasing one of
her daggers. The valuable weapon soared straight and true.

The rock vulture screeched as the blade embedded in its
stomach. The creature’s course didn’t change. It headed directly toward Tolui,
her idiot male not moving.

He’ll die.
Fear surged down Lea’s spine. “Move,
Tolui!” She flung the second dagger. The weapon whistled through the air and
landed with a thud in the rock vulture’s chest.

The creature drove its head forward and Lea’s heart
squeezed. It widened its jaws, its deadly teeth a breath away from her beloved
warrior’s scarred face. Lea screamed.

Tolui calmly swiped his claws across the rock vulture’s neck
and batted its torso to the side. The creature flopped on the ground, gurgling,
blood spraying over the sand. Moments passed and the rock vulture stilled.

Tolui’s safe.
Lea panted, her heart racing, her chest
heaving.
He’s alive.
Her hands clenched and unclenched.

Tolui rolled off the boulder and landed on his feet. “Why
didn’t you avoid the torso?” He yanked her daggers from the creature’s torso.

“Why didn’t I avoid the torso?” Lea fumed. “Why didn’t you
move?” She stalked up to Tolui. “You brute.” She slapped his bare chest, the
sound ringing in the silence. “You big stupid brute.” She hit him again and
again, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You could have died.” He stood still,
allowing her to assault him. “The rock vulture could have killed you.”

“If I’d died, would you have cared?” He slid her daggers
into her empty sheaths. “Would you grieve for me,
gerel
?” He strapped
his arms around her, pushing her face into his chest.

“I’m not your slave,” Lea mumbled into his skin, avoiding
his question.

Tolui’s body shook. “
Gerel
doesn’t mean slave,
foolish female.” He nuzzled his chin into her hair. “
Gerel
means mate,
the direct translation being light. You’re the light to my darkness, the sun to
my moon.”

“Oh.” Some of her anger faded.

“I’ve fought fiercer creatures.” He rubbed his rough palms
over her back, his stroking lighting fires inside her. “There was no reason for
you to worry.”

Because he doesn’t worry about me.
Lea pushed away
from him. “Why should I worry about losing you?” She stomped to the dead rock
vulture. “According to you, all beings are interchangeable.”

My
gerel
cares for me.
Tolui smothered his joy
as Lea stuffed the dried meat into one of her packs. They’d filled other packs
with hides, sinew, and the remaining parts of the rock vultures. His
resourceful mate wasted nothing.

She set the pack with the others. “We’ll have meat for a
hundred planet rotations.” Lea beamed at him, her beauty taking his breath
away. “And I can craft garments to trade for other goods.”

“You’d craft garments such as mine?” Tolui swept his hands
over the brown bands on his leg coverings. The thought of Lea crafting garments
for other males didn’t please him.

“No.” She shook her head. “Your leg coverings will be one of
a kind…as you are.”

She hasn’t met my clones.
Dread coiled in Tolui’s
stomach. “There are more edible creatures on the planet.” He lifted five of the
packs, leaving the lightest pack for Lea to carry. “Why don’t you hunt them?”

She twisted her lips, her expressions easy to read. “I don’t
dare to hunt those creatures. Daisun and his males target them. If he catches
me…” She trembled.

Tolui’s mood darkened even more. During his sunrise trek,
he’d seen Daisun’s cruelty firsthand, had noted the callous way the leader of
the squatters treated every being, including precious females.

“He won’t catch you.” Tolui walked closely behind Lea. Her
footprints were clearly marked in the sand, her scent heavy and distinctive,
his
gerel
easily tracked. “While I’m off planet, you’ll remain in the
underground tunnels.”

She jutted her jaw, stubbornness written on her face. “If
beings are interchangeable, why would you return to me? You could use a more
convenient
gerel
to ease your needs. No.” She shook her head, her brown
curls cascading down her back. “You’re not coming back. I’ll have to leave the
tunnels. I—”

A rumble rolled across the sky. “A ship is coming.” Tolui
flattened his palms on Lea’s back and pushed her roughly toward the
scan-blocking tunnels. “Run!”

Her forehead wrinkled. “I don’t hear anything. I—”

“Run,” Tolui barked. Lea’s spine snapped straight. “Now,” he
urged, unwilling to take any chances with his female. She sprinted forward, her
hair streaming out behind her, her leg coverings stretching tightly across her
firm ass.