Chapter Nine
SKEHL FELT THE absence of Arghet even as he poured into Raia’s willing warmth. After she clenched him to her, then eased past her own orgasm, she tensed.
“He’s in trouble.” She stared up at him with worry, her dark eyes glowing with the fiery need to protect Arghet.
Skehl pulled out of her, still not sure if she could really control her reproductive cycle. With as much seed as he’d given her over the past three days, he thought it a wonder she wasn’t carrying already. Or that she could still walk.
The only thing marring the beauty of his joining was Arghet not being there. He made everything better. Skehl had connected with the male warrior right away and now understood he’d been meant to be Arghet’s partner. Arghet had always looked out for him, from the first. A protector. Not a cruel man, but a strong warrior who would never let another abuse him.
Even when some of the Vyctore warriors had given Skehl a hard time, Arghet had put a stop to it, sensing Skehl’s confusion at how warriors should be treated. And he’d never made fun of Skehl for being near the children or females, when the other warriors would tease him for shirking a male’s rightful place with a sword in hand.
“Do you think he’s leaving us?” he asked Raia as he straightened his loincloth and put on his boots and bracers.
“No. I think he’s thinking about leaving us, but he won’t.” She didn’t sound as sure as he wished.
Arghet’s duty was to his clan. And he took it seriously. Skehl knew that Arghet was tempted to release the bond, but only to help their people. Skehl himself had pondered the notion of sacrificing his happiness to allow Arghet and Raia to be together. They were so much better than him, honorable and—
A slap on his ass distracted him. And damn, ithurt.
“Stop it.” Raia glared, and the marking on her face turned a deep black. “You are mine, that makes you worthy.” She no longer dressed in barbarian garb, but wore what she called her uniform, a pair of black trousers covering her from ankle to hip. Her black shirt exposed her arms and came to a V between her breasts, which she bound in some odd clingy material. She’d pulled her hair back into a tail, then braided the hair within, and the thick lustrous strands were hidden among knots of hair that intrigued him, made him want to explore.
She was so beautiful, this clever female. She’d managed him for days, giving him her body and spirit to bask in while he finally learned the pleasures in sex. Fucking, pairing. Raia liked to call it making love, and he agreed. Because with each sexual encounter with the woman, he fell deeper in love with her.
She flushed, feeling what he’d sent, and smiled back at him. But the worry in her expression remained.
“We will get him back,” he promised. Because though Skehl might not be as strong when it came to emotions, he could defeat anyone and anything on the battlefield.Thathe believed whole-heartedly.
Raia’s eyes sparkled. “Yes, we will. And warrior, I love your confidence. That is who you are, you know.” She would have said more when one of the caerrn cats who’d taken to following them appeared. One of them followed Raia, while the smaller of the two felines preferred Skehl. The female, he knew it was female from her scent, oddly enough, liked for him to pet her when the other cat wasn’t present.
But the one that came to them now was twice the size of the other two. It also looked different, its markings like…Arghet’s.
It growled at the female, who stepped out of the tree line near Skehl. She cocked her head, then meowed at Raia’s cat, which also appeared. The trio looked at them, then looked to the forest.
“Let’s go.” Raia started after them, but Skehl stopped her.,
“No. We are a clan. We take the others.”
She would have protested, he saw, but something stopped her. She gave a slow nod. “Yes, let’s get them.”
They hurried through the crowds, barbarians still competing in all manner of contests. Not many warriors had seen Skehl since his transformation to a male without scars, and they hadn’t seen Raia either, because she preferred the shadows. But followed by caerrn cats who acted tame, he and Raia caused a stir.
Barbarians stared in shock, moving out of his way as he hurried to find Talzec, following the connecting strands of the male’s energy. To Skehl’s pleased surprise, his alpha truly considered Skehl a part of the clan. It was there in his energy, in his tie to Ussed and to Skehl.
Talzec blinked.
Skye gaped. “Oh wow. You guys have pets now? And what happened to your face? Mother moons, but Skehl. You’re freakin’ hot.”
He flushed but focused on the matter at hand. “Arghet is in trouble.”
At his words, all the Vyctore around, those not involved in the challenges in the arenas, gathered.
“Where?” Talzec asked.
Raia started off in the direction Skehl felt Arghet’s energy, this time following the felines. He trailed her, along with Talzec and the clan.
“What happened?” Talzec asked.
“We do not know. He won’t answer.”
