“You—”
“Time to eat,” Zehn interrupted and shot a glare at Lore.
Lore rose to his feet and gave a sharp nod. “Good. I’m hungry.”
The food Zehn brought inside looked nothing like the carcasses he’d taken out with him. She stared at a hunk of cooked meat on a stick. It smelled amazing and familiar. “Is this ham?”
“Ham?” Zehn frowned. “The flehik is tasty and provides nourishment. It will make you strong.”
“So I’ll get big, like you two?” she teased, trying not to feel so out of sorts. One minute she wanted to be closer to Lore, and the next she wanted to smack him for being possessive. Then Zehn came in with food that made her salivate. He fed her before seeing to Lore, his mate. She held the stick, letting the meat cool. “So you guys are married. Mated.”
“Yes.” Zehn didn’t say anything, but she saw Lore flush and glance down, as if chastised. The small burst of heat between the pair took her aback. Were they communicating? She felt the connection between them, and she hadn’t sensed it so clearly before.
She probed carefully. “Lore told me you were looking for a third.”
“Lore said a lot in the short time I was gone,” Zehn said, his expression flat. Lore continued to look at the ground between his feet. “But yes, we are looking for a female to complete us. We are warriors who can provide for our mate. And we will make her very, very happy.” He stared into her eyes as he said that, and she swore she felt a mental caress from her head to her toes. “But we are in no rush to procreate.”
Lore refused to look up.
“When it is right, the Maker will bless us with a child.” Zehn smiled at her, warmth in his gaze. “Do you wish for children?”
“No.” Her immediate response seemed to shock him. “I’ve had a crappy life up to my time on Ussed. Maybe when I’m settled in a place I think of as home, with someone I love, then I’d have a child. But not until then.”
Lore finally glanced up at her. “You have the right of it, Mandy. You should know safety and peace before bringing a young one into the world.”
“Right.”
Zehn studied her a little too closely for comfort. The he smiled. “As it should be. Yes, Mandy. That is so. Now, we should eat.”
“Yes.” Why did agreeing with him feel as if she’d agreed to something else?
After the meal, Zehn and Lore led her to a nearby stream. The hour grew darker as the suns set. But Zehn wanted them to continue through the night.
Feeling a need to move, to put even more distance between herself and the Franciscos, she ran with the warriors. She knew they slowed down for her, but she didn’t mind. Fortunately they’d brought along her undergarments in her satchel, the ones that flattened her breasts and allowed her to run without flopping all over the place.
The shoes they’d given her were fantastic. They felt like silk on her feet and protected her soles from everything. She tired not long into the run, not used to such physical exercise. But her exhaustion seemed to please the men.
“My turn.” Zehn tossed Lore Mandy’s pack, then scooped her into his arms. Cradled against his chest and held tightly to muscles that bunched and strained as he ran, she should have felt cumbersome. But Zehn couldmove.She felt as if taking a ride on a jetpack in an amusement park.
“Wow. You’re fast.”
He grinned down at her, gave her a peck on the forehead, and followed Lore.
They moved for what felt like hours, and Mandy fell into a fitful doze. She woke when Lore signaled for them to stop.
“Raiders ahead.”
Zehn lifted Mandy toward a tree. “Climb and wait for us. We’ll be back. No noise.”
She nodded, glad she had no problem with heights. She accepted her backpack and put it on, then climbed the many-limbed tree. Thankfully, Zehn had put her on a tree she scaled with ease.
Once high enough to be protected from view by the blanket of leaves below her, she looked out and saw movement in the clearing ahead. The tree still camouflaged her from view, but the moonlight spilling down over the area gave her a front row seat to the battle taking place.
And oh my God, could her barbariansfight.
