Shield [New World Book 1] Read online

  “There is no need to ever mark you again,” he promised.

  “You won’t bite me?” she asked with trepidation.

  “I’m afraid I will, but it won’t be like last time.”

  “You can’t keep on biting me. I’ll eventually bleed to death.”

  Rask let the water from the pool drip over her back. “This chemical in here will also heal you.”

  “How do you know?” she asked skeptically.

  “When we entered the pool, your back was bloody. Nothing remains of the open wound. It’s healed already. Perhaps this is a woman’s doctor. All that’s left is my tattoo.”

  Grace shifted her head as far to the side as she could. Rask knew she couldn’t see it. He determined to show her when they returned to his room.

  “Why do you need to bite me at all?”

  “As my seed spills, a small nip will release the hormone and your body will relax. Your skin is very soft and my teeth are very sharp. It won’t hurt. Because you were face down the first time, you didn’t see my cock after I released you.”

  Grace looked concerned. “What happened to it?” she asked warily.

  “I’ll show you.”

  Rask pulled her against him. His cock began to slide inside her, but she pushed him back. She wasn’t fighting him; she wanted something from him first.

  “Can you kiss me without biting me?” she asked. “You need to learn about foreplay and what a woman needs to be aroused. Our first time, I was tight because I wasn’t really ready. A woman needs to feel wet up inside to enjoy it more. You need to stimulate a woman’s body to arouse her. All men need is a hard-on and they’re ready.”

  Grace stood on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth against his. To Rask’s surprise his razor-sharp fangs receded on their own. Her lips wiggled against his tickling him. Is she tasting me? It was an odd sensation and she was persistent. He felt her teeth graze against his bottom lip before she sucked it into her mouth. Rask opened his mouth. He felt Grace’s tongue enter it. It was soft and warm and slid up and down his. Grace had her eyes closed, so Rask closed his, too. Tiny shallow puffs of air were expelled into his mouth. He was breathing and tasting her air. She flowed through him. Her scent, her taste, her touch was everywhere. This was beyond pleasant.

  Grace’s hand took his and settled it against her breast. These were much better than bombs…and much less dangerous, but more thrilling. The tiny pebble she called a nipple hardened under his fingers. He pulled against it until she muttered a protest. When they broke the kiss, she guided his head lower and soon he was suckling her. It was strange and very pleasant to suckle female flesh—he grew a bit envious of babes.

  How soft her breasts are. Before he had been so absorbed in what he was doing with his cock, he never realized he was missing out on other things. Her skin was firm and sweeter than fruit. His tongue played with her bud. It hardened and he heard Grace moan. He wanted to hear those sounds from her. Each little gasp of pleasure he brought her aroused him further.

  Rask rose up and parted her thighs feeling himself throbbing to be inside her. Again Grace was instructing him. Her face was blissful and she said she needed more. She wanted to feel his fingers inside her first. Carefully he probed her with one, then two. In and out he plunged feeling her warmth. She tightened and squeezed around him. A slender leg lifted and wrapped around his waist. While he did this, his other hand cupped the back of her neck and they joined mouths once more. She tasted so sweet. When her tongue touched his, he jumped. So much of him was inside her, their connection grew stronger. Her little tongue was warm and sleek. On his own his thumb found her cute tiny bud near her lower opening. She squirmed and he could feel her tension building. She whimpered into his mouth. Rask felt a warm wetness cover his fingers. Her smell was intoxicating and he could taste her arousal in his mouth. She was ready for him.

  His fangs protruded with his first thrust. Grace gripped his shoulders and he pressed her back against the pool edge. She was so soft inside. Her wet heat closed around him in welcome. This slippery sensation on his cock felt incredible. His maleness absorbed her juices, examined them and released a few drops of seed as though in answer to a call. It was fascinating. The first time he had her, he knew human males were quicker to come and he guessed instinctively they wouldn’t do what he was about to do. Rask moved faster, his eyes never leaving her face.

  Grace tossed her head back and cried out her release. Rask could smell her sweet scent. It triggered his reaction. Her body was ready for his seed. Rask moved quicker. Water sloshed up over the sides of the pool. He heard Grace gasp. It had started. The last time his hormone had kicked in too late and she had been caused pain from his teeth. He had grown inside her after she had settled. This time she was feeling what she hadn’t before.

  “Oh,” she groaned.

  “Am I hurting you?”

  “Rask, it feels bigger.”

  “That’s because it is. My seed is flowing, expanding it.” He could feel her walls stretching to accommodate him. Her eyes squeezed tightly closed and she was biting her lower lip. He was very gentle as his seed filled him further and he continued to expand. Grace began gasping and panting. She whimpered and her eyes flew open.

  “I can’t take anymore,” she cried out.

  That’s when Rask bit her. His teeth very carefully sank into her throat and released his drug. Grace went limp in his arms. She melded against him and accepted all of him. Rask pumped slowly. His hands cradled her body against him. His hand cupped her bottom closer. It was his turn to toss his head back and howl his release. As he pulled himself free, Grace was looking down. Her eyes flashed amazement up at him.

  “I can’t believe you got that into me. I can’t believe it doesn’t hurt but feels so good.”

  Rask slipped back inside her. “Gotta love hormones,” he said and winked.

  Grace gasped and groaned as he rocked against her. Her body was still accepting, but after he released his seed, his hardened cock returned to normal size. The thought made him smile. He had never seen another man grow hard, but he still felt his manhood was very impressive. Apparently, Grace thought so, too, by the amount of moaning and whimpering she was doing. Her once limp arms reached to clasp around his neck. Her fingers buried into his hair and dragged his mouth down for a kiss. She tasted so sweet.

  A shrill scream interrupted them and both were surprised when a woman followed closely by Tosk raced into the dome structure. Grace opened her eyes wide. Tosk grabbed the female and grinned at Rask when he threw her over his shoulder. Rask had thought Grace was small, this female was tiny. And furious.

  “Put me down, you freak!” the female yelled.

  “Stacie?” Grace muttered.

  “Grace! Run, these things are freakin’ huge!” Stacie bellowed.

  To Rask’s surprise, the woman began beating at Tosk’s back. Tosk’s shield stayed down and Rask knew she wasn’t hurting him. It was strange to see a being so small pummel his warrior mate without fear. Rask jumped from the pool when Grace did. Grace was pulling at Tosk’s arms.

  “Leave her alone!” Grace yelled. She too began beating at Tosk while still nude and dripping wet.

  “This is my female,” Tosk said.

  Rask was relieved he was still grinning.

  Tosk leaned close to Grace and inhaled deeply. “Rask, this little female smells of you. You have mated. I’m pleased for you.”

  “You have not mated with this one.” It was a statement. Rask couldn’t smell Tosk on her. The woman was still beating at Tosk’s back, but she was tiring.

  Rask wrapped his arms around Grace and pulled her to his side. Her warmth radiated and a feeling of deep protectiveness flared when he felt her tremble. An odd sense of not only wanting to comfort but the need to comfort her was overwhelming, engulfing every fiber of his being. Never before had he felt so strong a sensation. His body began sweating. He could feel Grace settle immediately. Though she was still exhibiting a scent of distress, it lessened. R
ask knew immediately there were hormones in his secretions that transferred to Grace to calm her. Interesting. It appeared his body reacted to her emotions. There was great deal to this mating it would seem.

  “No we haven’t mated yet, but I’m going to,” Tosk said and smiled brightly. “This little fighter is worthy of my protection.”

  “Worthy?” Stacie shrieked. “Worthy?”

  Rask chuckled. The way the woman was again beating at him perhaps Tosk would need protection from his female.

  “Rask, tell him,” Grace was pleading. Her face was upturned to him.

  “Tosk, you must mate carefully with human females,” Rask said at Grace’s distress. “There is a hormone in your fangs you will remember when her scent reaches your nostrils. You will mark her.”

  Rask turned Grace around and showed Tosk his mark on her shoulder blade.

  Tosk looked interested.

  “You did that?” Tosk asked.

  “My fangs marked her. Wait until she grows limp from your bite before you claim her or it will be very painful for her. Female humans cannot fight off a Castian warrior,” Rask warned. “When you’ve finished, bring her here. The water will heal her.”

  “Good, because this one is mine,” Tosk declared and strode off with Stacie over his back kicking and screaming.

  “Rask, please,” Grace whimpered.

  Rask felt sorry for her when he noticed her tears. His thumb lifted to stop one’s descent. “Tosk will be careful. Now that he has been told, he will remember the drug. Your friend will be fine.”

  “But if she doesn’t want him, it’s rape.”

  “Give him a chance to coax her. Tosk is also a virgin. Remember? He has no idea how to rape a female. He doesn’t know what goes where unless she tells him. She needs his protection on this planet…she will tell him.”

  Rask could see Grace was thinking about that. She suddenly brightened.

  “You’re right. None of the women from the shuttle can be forced. I think human women would like this planet.”

  Now there is a thought…

  * * * *

  Grace and Rask were lying together curled around one another in bed. Grace had been thinking.

  “Rask?”

  “Hmm?”

  “How is it possible that all the men here are the same age as you?”

  “Now that I do know,” he began. “I’ve told you each warrior needs a warrior mate to watch his back during battle. At one time in history, the armor on our shield wasn’t as strong on the back. It was survival. To this day, even though our shield has strengthened, we still choose a warrior mate. It’s more of a comfort now, I suppose. Our lineage goes back hundreds of thousands of years. Since our beginning, our women would go into heat at the same time.”

  “Wow. I’ve heard of women synchronizing their periods when they live together, but an entire race? That’s amazing.”

  “Just about every four hundred years our women would give birth to a boy to make certain there would be enough. Our males reach maturity at almost four hundred years then the cycle begins again with each of us mating with a female. Each warrior would find his warrior match when they begin training as a child of six. I was twelve of your earth years when Tosk and I joined.”

  “All boys? The women had all boys?”

  “Yes, all male, every four hundred years.”

  “What about females, girls?”

  Rask gazed at her thoughtfully. “I don’t know. My father didn’t think it important to talk about females since none would ever be born again. He only felt it my right to know why I needed a warrior mate. To speak of females would just be cruel.”

  “So, let me get this straight. You are basically saying that even though you are four hundred years old, you are just reaching manhood?”

  “I suppose that’s one way to look at it. Technically, I became a man at two hundred, but could not mate with a female until I reached almost four hundred,” Rask said. “I think it has to do with the hormones or the venom needed to age and strengthen. Also I’m not certain Castian females and human females are made the same way.”

  “I guess you wouldn’t since you’ve never seen a Castian female,” Grace said. “When we were at the pool and I was hitting Tosk and you touched me, I felt odd. Calm all of a sudden and it’s happened before. I was still upset, but had no more urge to hit Tosk.”

  “It appears my sweat also has a chemical that reacts to your fear. When it touches you, it penetrates your skin to calm you.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I didn’t until it happened after we mated. I’m not sure, but it could have happened when we first met. I sense your feelings. My body reacts to them. I have no control over it. I’m guessing the more fear you experience, the more secretions I will produce and the calmer you will become.”

  Grace settled back. “Why are all you men here on this planet, if it isn’t your homeworld?”

  Rask lay her head on his shoulder. “My father is, was, a very powerful leader. A young upstart, Aanon, decided to take him on. Aanon has many new ideas on how to handle the Tonans, and all of them are bad. My father has many followers, but many of our males died when their females did. With all of the younger males now coming into manhood, the younger ones wanted change. It is very difficult for Castian to fight Castian. There is no lying in our politics, but a great deal of feeling is involved. Aanon respected my father, but he was too full of himself. My age mates could feel Aanon’s passion. Our males are still young and I’m afraid passion overwhelmed the feeling of simple dedication. My father was voted out. There was no war or uprising. We were given a choice. Stay and join with Aanon on our home planet or be sent into exile until we change our minds.”

  “You decided to support your father?”

  “Yes, he is a good leader. Many of my friends were trained by him and support him, too. Aanon was cruel to separate families. I have no idea why he would do such a thing. We had no idea until it happened. If I could I would find a way to join with my father. He is all alone. His warrior mate died with his female almost four hundred years ago. My father has chosen not to find another warrior mate.”

  “How old is he?”

  “Three thousand years old.”

  “Why did he never mate?”

  “Even before the death of all our females, the ratio of females to males was low. Although, I don’t think that was the reason. My father has always been very political. Everyone was surprised my mother turned his head, because he was always so absorbed with other matters. He loved my mother. She felt he loved politics more and wanted more of a commitment because she too had fallen in love with him. It was the only reason she allowed him to plant his seed.”

  “But I’ve seen how big you get. Wasn’t it painful for her?”

  “I don’t know. I told you I’m not sure of the differences in human females and Castian females. The hormone isn’t supposed to drug a woman into compliance about having sex…only with mating and marking. A female has the right to choose her mate, too…normally. Remember, a Castian female can fight off a male. Perhaps they were bigger and stronger, or had their own defenses.”

  “How did your father feel about her carrying his baby?”

  “My father was thrilled to find out she was carrying his babe, me. But she wanted to wait to see how much he would be around. My father had always had females after him, but if he couldn’t have my mother, he wanted no one else. My father apparently became very attentive and won her over. Finally, to his joy, she said she would mate with him after I was born, but by then the women were dying. My mother decided not to mate with my father. She wanted him to raise me and live.”

  “But she lived until you were four?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you don’t know why she just suddenly died?”

  “No.”

  “That’s a mystery.”

  Grace snuggled in closer to Rask. She was feeling sleepy. She yawned and Rask pulled her closer. The room had a very dul
l light that Grace was grateful for. Rask had explained even though he could see in the dark as well as daylight, the lights were necessary to keep his skin healthy and his armor charged. She supposed that’s why the planet had two suns. The contraption that collected the sun was an odd type of metal that drew energy directly from the suns orbiting the planet. The sunlight was redirected into the limbed dome shelter with the branches adding nutrients. Grace had to admit it was the freshest, purest air she had ever smelt.

  Rask was breathing steadily; he had fallen asleep and Grace took the time to really study his features. He was so incredibly handsome. His jaw was chiseled and well-defined. His hair was so thick but soft. His eyelashes were short and his eyebrows almost looked penciled on in a fine black perfect line. She snuggled against him feeling safe and warm. His body was rock-hard, but his skin was smooth as satin. She was happy their shuttle had crashed. It was hard to believe that after such a short time she was in love with him. Grace also knew the feeling was partially caused by him marking her. Rask had shown her his handiwork. The water had healed her and the symbol was stunning. It glowed green on her shoulder, pulsing darker then lighter. It was a beautiful tattoo. Rask had ripped her shirt to expose her shoulder and demanded from now on she must wear only a shirt that showed her marking to the other males. All were to know she was his.

  Grace smiled and very tenderly kissed Rask’s cheek. Her mate. Rask smiled in his sleep. Grace closed her eyes. What an amazing day she’d had.

  Chapter 4

  The dream was the same every night. Grace sat all alone on the roof of her slowly sinking house. The muddy water was rising and she would drown in filth. To her left was the bloated body of a man that floated with the gentle waves. To her right, a woman floated face up, then down, rolling. The sky was gray to match her mood and added to her misery. It had been days since the sun had shone. She was desolate, hungry, thirsty, afraid. Everyone Grace had ever loved was gone. Everything she had ever known was destroyed. Nothing was left, nothing, no one. There were no tears left to cry and so she sat and waited for death. Her life had been dealt its lowest blow.