Guardian [New World Book 6] Read online

  Jinx finished unloading her supplies. She marched over to Roam and stuck out her hand. “I’m Jinx, not to be confused with a jinx. My mom was a little young to be a hippy, but she sure acted like one. Personally, I think it’s because she loved the comic book L’il Jinx. I only know what people tell me. I never got to ask her, she died when I was three.”

  “I’m Roam,” the super god replied. His large hand enveloped hers. His touch was warm; after a second, she felt moistness. It wasn’t a repellant nasty sweat. Like a jolt of sorts, she could feel a connection. His touch reminded her strangely of Taz when she was upset and he attempted to soothe her. “My mother saw my grandfather in me. He loved to wander, hence the name. She passed away four hundr…I mean some time ago.”

  “When you were a child?”

  “No, I was already grown.”

  “Your father?” Jinx asked.

  “They died together.”

  “They were lucky. You were a grown man when they passed. They got to watch you grow up. My daddy died four years ago. A filthy Tonan killed him while a heinous Castian stole my sister. I don’t know what happened to her. I hope for the best, but I imagine the hideous thing murdered her. I wish all of them, Tonans, Castians would just die.” Jinx didn’t bother to control the venomous contempt in her voice. Roam took a step back, if Jinx didn’t know better she would swear he was wounded. “Did the Tonans kill your parents?”

  “Yes.” His word was choked.

  Jinx nodded in understanding. Normally, she didn’t like to talk about what had happened but for some reason, when he touched her she felt this overwhelming trust. His fingers were curled around her hand. Stunning blue eyes were ocean depths she’d like to swim in. Rosy red pouting lips begged to be tasted. There would be safety in those wonderful large arms of his. If he would just wrap her up and pull her to his massive chest. His lips parted ever so slightly to reveal even white teeth with a tongue made for duet dancing. If only he would lower his head, she could rise on tip toes to…

  Jinx yanked her hand from his as her chest heaved and the heat of a blush climbed up her face to make her feel fiery hot. What the hell just happened? She was acting like some smitten school girl. Haven had better control. Thankfully, Taz returned holding little Ally’s hand.

  “Hey, your owie is gone,” Haven said to the child.

  Taz chuckled. “Nothing a little water and love couldn’t remove.”

  Jinx smiled at the little girl whose adoring gaze was centered on her father. For a second, tears threatened. Jinx used to look at her dad in the same way, he had been her hero. Taz was a close second. She blinked a few times. A hand settled over her arm and she noticed Roam watching her reaction. Again the weird sensation of bonding with him in some way occurred. Jinx shrugged it off. There were just some men who had a natural ability to calm someone with a touch. Taz was one, now Roam appeared to be another.

  “Well, let’s see what you brought us home, girl.” Greta muscled her way past Jinx to study the canned goods and jars placed on the shelf. “Well isn’t this wonderful. We can have a canned ham and peas tonight. I see you found some wild edibles as well. Good girl. Oh and look, canned chocolate pudding. My, it’s been ages since we’ve had treats. It’s a good thing you had the insight to carry around the can opener you found, child. You’re one smart little cookie.”

  “Do not encourage her, Aunt Greta,” Taz said. “She gets into enough mischief. That old can opener has to be the most dilapidated piece of junk we have.”

  “Well with the help of this strapping young man you’ll have more time to yourself. Junk or no, the can opener squeals but it works. So quit complaining.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Taz winked at Macey. He then cast a glance at Jinx. “You need to wash up and put some clean clothes on.”

  “I’m not three, Taz.”

  Although he did have a point, it was irritating the way he treated her like she was a child or little sister. Jinx grabbed her spare jeans and started out the door. Taz stopped her with a hand wrapped around her arm and a hard stare.

  “I’ll get the water.”

  “Fine.” Jinx knew that look. When Taz was feeling overprotective there was no arguing with the man.

  He turned her loose and gave her ass a soft pat, the kind normally reserved for Ally or Haven, sending her toward the back of the cave.

  “You got any supplies?” Taz asked Roam.

  “A few.”

  Jinx stood and watched their exchange from just inside a small blanketed area, she peeked around the draping. Taz was looking at Roam in a strange way, as though he wasn’t certain he trusted him. Roam was grinning back, looking like he hadn’t a care in the world. Taz narrowed his eyes onto him.

  “You best get them. You can have that area over there.” Taz waved his hand at the farthest darkest area of the cave.

  Something was definitely going on between them. Macey touched Taz’s arm. Taz seemed to relax. When he dipped his head and kissed Macey in the fiery way he had, it made Jinx’s toes tingle. Oh to be kissed like that by a man. Taz left with Roam following closely behind.

  Shaking her head, Jinx let the blanket curtain fall into place. She stripped off her bloodied pants behind the hanging blanket. Before long Macey came in with warmed water and a cloth. She inspected the bites. Jinx went red when Macey washed at a spot on her ass.

  “Ouch. Damn those rats were nasty.”

  “Rats? Ick. Sorry, Jinx. That must have been some rat pack,” Macey said.

  “You have no idea,” Jinx muttered and refused to elaborate. “So where did you guys find Roam?”

  “Wandering around. He and Taz actually bumped into one another.” Macey chuckled when she said this.

  “It’s nice to meet someone new after all this time, but frankly I’m surprised Taz let him come home with him.” It was on the tip of Jinx’s tongue to say ‘let him live,’ she had a sneaking suspicion she kept to herself about a few of the dead men she had come across in the jungle.

  “Taz is a very good judge of character. He has to be,” Macey said.

  “I suppose. He didn’t look like he completely trusted Roam.”

  “I think he’s a little overcautious at times.”

  “I think he’s a little overprotective of his harem.”

  Macey smacked Jinx on the ass, Jinx yelped. “There, you’re all fixed up. Let’s just hope none of those things were rabid.”

  “Taz already thinks I am,” Jinx mumbled.

  “No, not rabid, my sweet. He thinks you take too many chances. Sometimes I think he’s right. Now, no more rats. Understood?”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  “Good girl.”

  Jinx laughed. Macey was thirty and didn’t look any older than the first day she had met her four years ago. The woman was a mother hen but most of the time Jinx didn’t mind, she loved her. The pair walked back out to join the others. Taz and Roam had already returned. Jinx saw Taz’s worried glance at Macey; his wife smiled at him and his ram-rod straight stance relaxed. Jinx felt a little guilty, she knew Taz worried about her. In his way, he loved her.

  “It’ll be dark soon. Taz, will you and Roam set up the partitions on the cave opening? I’ll stoke the fire. Aunt Greta, Skylar, Haven, can you help with dinner? Jinx why don’t you sit…um…I mean relax,” Macey said.

  The women went to work. Jinx watched as Taz and Roam hauled the heavy door frames across the cave entrance. This was done every night to offer security from the animals that wandered. Normally Taz did it alone, not one woman in the cave could even budge the heavy wooden doors. After they were secure, Roam placed a small, strange-looking pack down on the area now deemed his. Each person in the cave had their own special place. They could put up mini partitions for privacy from sight, if not hearing.

  They all sat around a roaring fire when dinner came. As usual, Taz ate sparingly, so too did Roam. Jinx always found that interesting of Taz. Most of what he found was consumed by the girls and women in the small family. A man of his s
ize should need the lion’s share. Jinx never commented on it, there was always enough to eat. Taz was an amazing hunter. Tonight was one of the first nights they didn’t have fresh meat.

  It was endearing to watch Ally eat chocolate for the first time. Within moments, she was covered in the sweet substance from head to toe with Macey fussing over her and Taz laughing. Roam tried to be unobtrusive; he smiled at the child wistfully. Jinx wondered if he’d had a family and lost them.

  When Roam caught her gazing at him, he glanced about the room trying to appear interested in their home. Jinx had learned long ago four walls wasn’t a home, it was the loved ones within that made it that.

  “So Roam, where are you from?” Jinx asked. She and the others crowded a little closer to the man. They were looking forward to an interesting story. He was, after all, their first visitor—ever.

  Roam looked at her, startled. “Um…I…well…here and there.”

  “Well, where here and there? Why not start from where you were last?”

  “Last?” Roam appeared to choke on a bite of food. His gaze flew to Taz, who oddly enough appeared panic stricken as well.

  “Miami, didn’t you say? He’s been wandering around Florida for a while now,” Taz said. His body jerked suddenly. His eyes widened. He started coughing and, jumping up, took off out of the cave, almost smashing through the doors. Macey was on her feet but Roam stopped her.

  “I’ll make sure he’s okay.”

  “Well that was weird,” Haven said.

  “Never you mind. Just eat your dinner,” Greta said.

  For a moment Jinx sat frowning. Why did she just get the feeling life was about to go from weird to crazy?

  Chapter 3

  Roam’s black shield came up the second he was out of sight of the cave and had stashed his clothing with Taz’s in a cache. Moving rapidly, he ate up the ground moving tree to ground to tree. Within moments he came across Taz, five miles later, who was also enveloped in his grey armor. He was swearing and stomping around, howling at the top of his lungs about the indignities of life and the crap thrown at him over the years. Roam lowered his shield.

  “Five years, damn you. Not one lie in five fucking years. And who do I lie for? A damned Castian…Fuck.”

  Taz was swinging around reaching behind him. Roam would have felt sorry for him if he hadn’t looked so comical.

  “Here let me do it.”

  Roam grabbed the tail stump and yanked hard. The stump snapped off.

  “Ssshhhiiitttt.” Taz bent over gasping.

  “Hurts eh?”

  Taz’s armor came down and he settled a foul look at Roam. Roam’s eyebrows rose. “Now you listen,” Taz’s words came out with a growling snarl. “You are going to say you are from Florida.”

  “I can’t lie. I’m not capable. You know that as well as I do.”

  “Dammmn youu.”

  “I’ll think of something.”

  “You better or you can leave now. I knew this was a bad idea.”

  “I know you can scent I’m honorable, I also know it confuses you. You’re at war with yourself. Use your scent emotions—just scent me, not your memories. Focus on your instincts, it’s what I’m doing. It will be better for the others to get to know me first, you too. When Cobra shows up, he’ll take all of them aboard his ship kicking and screaming if he has to. Earth is dead. You may think this area is safe but it’s not. As we speak the ocean is moving closer.”

  “I know,” Taz bellowed. “I know. I’ve seen it, we’re trapped. It’s the only reason I allowed you to stay with us. Never did I think we would be saved by a Castian.”

  “Well, who then? Your Tonan buddies, after five years? Yeah, hey, how’s that workin’ out for you? Listen, it’s time for the females to sleep. I’ll have a plan by morning. Even if it means leaving first thing and returning each night. I’m on a mission to locate humans, survivors, that won’t be a lie.”

  “I don’t want you bringing back any human males.” Taz was still snarling. “I’ve come across a few who think they can do whatever the hell they want when they want. That cave is full of vulnerable females and two are children, one female is my mate. Haven was only eight when I came across her and her sister Skylar, alone five years ago when the Earth went to shit. Macey was trying to keep everyone together. It had been years since I had seen a child, let alone a female child. Even though Skylar is older, she and Haven are like my own. I’ve watched them grow up. Skylar was barely sixteen, trying to keep her and her sister alive before they met Macey. Skylar had been trying to be so grown up and tough she was completely vulnerable. Thankfully Macey found them. I watched this planet fall apart and I put my own pieces back together by saving my family.”

  “I’m told it takes a special kind of female to tame a Tonan,” Roam said, curious as to how Taz and Macey got together.

  “The circumstances were like nothing you could dream.” Taz stared at a far off place for a moment before returning to the present. “Aunt Greta treats me like her son, a very loved son. I will allow nothing to happen to any of them. Jinx is a pain in my ass but my responsibility. She became my responsibility when I saved her life and healed her. I’ll be watching you.”

  The passion with which he spoke amazed Roam. Taz meant every word. “You know I have the ability to scent deception. I will allow no male to come near your females. If by chance we come across one, I will take appropriate action. Cobra wouldn’t allow anyone on Bagron who would cause harm.” Roam could also feel Taz’s apprehension. “Right now, it’s time we returned. They’ll be wondering about you and I can’t wait to hear you explain about your tale of a tail.”

  “Oh, shut up.”

  Taz stormed away and Roam laughed. When they reentered the cave, all but Macey had gone to sleep. She went to Taz immediately. He took her into his arms and the two disappeared behind a partition. Roam went and sat near the fire to think. His sudden appearance was going to be tricky to explain, especially since everyone was terrified of Castians as well as Tonans. The idea was hard to wrap his head around. He’d never been hated by a female.

  Lost in thought his shield warned him he wasn’t alone. It was a flicker, no more, he wasn’t in any danger. Before long Jinx stepped around her sheltered area and approached him. She settled herself across from him. Long fingers swept locks of jet black hair behind her ears.

  “You’re not from Florida are you?” she asked.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Taz doesn’t lie very well.”

  “I’m from a very far distance. I’ve traveled a long way to look for survivors. I think Taz just doesn’t want you to be afraid of how far I’ve come and the destruction I’ve seen.” Roam tried to keep to the truth with tactical explanations.

  “Do you have any family left?”

  “I have a very close friend who is like family. I’ve known Slay all my life. He and the woman he loves have a beautiful daughter together. They are trying for a son.”

  “Why would anyone want to bring children into this world?”

  “Taz and Macey have Ally. Has she not enriched your lives?”

  “Very much so. Where are your friends, why didn’t they come with you?”

  “If there was any chance of Slay and Tia conceiving, she needed to avoid stress. Slay would need to stay with her.”

  “Does that mean you’ll be leaving us soon?”

  “I won’t leave you. I’m hoping you will all come with me.”

  “This place is safe.”

  “There is a much safer place.”

  Jinx leaned toward him waiting for Roam to elaborate. If he allowed her to, she would drill him all night. Slay’s mate was the same in that respect, so Roam was used to dealing with human females. It would be nice to sit and chat with her. He wanted her to get to know him. Jinx was beautiful, her scent was compelling; her dark green eyes were a jungle of mystery. When he had touched her and their essences had mingled, his body surprised him with its reaction. He wanted this female. S
he was vulnerable, in danger, and yet she was strong willed. Her beauty radiated from within. Roam could feel his must build.

  She was so close. His essence would calm her with a simple touch, but if his body absorbed too much of her, he would need to mate with her. Closer she moved until her bare knee rested against his thigh. The strange clothing Taz called denim became saturated with the need to reach her. Roam could feel the groan within his blood as it struggled to pull any fluids it triggered inside him, to flow through him. Jinx looked dazed as more of his essence took her. Roam could feel his heart pounding.

  Damn this is harder to control than I thought it would be.

  If he didn’t move, if he didn’t stop he might just snap. Reluctantly, Roam stood up and, physically shaking with his determination, he yawned, excusing himself and claiming it had been a long day, which was by no means a lie. He went to the area he had set up his things and lay down. He didn’t want to answer any more questions. He also had to get his body under control.

  Roam could see Jinx, he was able to see in the dark; he also knew she could no longer see him. Taz had obviously planned it that way—just in case. Roam stopped a groan as he scented Jinx’s disappointment and her attraction to him. She wanted to get closer, he knew it. He shifted uncomfortably, damning the strange material that didn’t compensate for his erection.

  Damn, my balls are squished and my cock feels jailed.

  Roam would have to be careful; he wanted her to like him. He would be devastated if she found out what he was before he could explain and she ended up hating him. After a few moments, Jinx went back to her own area.

  Roam laced his fingers under his head after he undid his pants to let his cock breathe. Taking a few calming breaths he stared at the fifteen foot high ceiling. Parts were scorched black from smoke. With the partitions the cool night air was kept at bay. The cave itself was about the size of his home on Bagron. This home was filled with small inventions to aid with survival.