Shield [New World Book 1] (10 page)

Rask pulled her from the water and led her to a soft mound of ferns. They lay down together. Her head rested on his shoulder.

“Close your eyes and rest,” he said. “While I am here I am resting, but I sense how weary you are. You are safe in my dream.”

“Will I stay in your dream?”

“Yes. I’ll make certain you do.”

For the second time that night, Grace closed her eyes with a smile on her face.

* * * *

The next morning Grace sat in the eating room with Rask. Stacie and Tosk joined them. Grace was happy when Stacie flashed her a grin. Stacie settled herself close to Tosk. The males in the room eyed the two women openly. Grace could see the confusion on their faces. They knew she and Stacie were female, they knew females mated and it had something to do with their manhood, yet none of them knew how. Rask and Tosk had no intension of telling them. The problem was the males could go into must on the drop of a dime. All had reached their prime. With Stacie and Grace so close and giving off female pheromones things became volatile. Grace had been ready to run when a few men who got a whiff of her came unexpectedly in their pants with yelps of confusion. It would have been comical seeing the discovery of their growing penises for the first time if she hadn’t felt bad for them and worried for herself.

What Grace didn’t understand was why Rask said the men would know better than to touch her. She hoped he was right. She had no shield and she couldn’t fight off a full-grown Castian in must. Even if he didn’t know what went where, she might still be hurt; Castian males were exceedingly heavy. Grace wondered if it had to with their armor. Rask insisted she would be fine. When she asked him what would happen, he just shrugged. Rask had no idea, he said, he just knew.

“What is this?” Stacie asked, eyeing a bright red fruit warily.

“I have no idea, but it tastes fantastic,” Grace said and bit into one.

“I see and smell you have mated successfully,” Rask said to Tosk.

“Polite men don’t talk about their sexual prowess when a woman is with them,” Grace said in her best prim and proper voice imitating her mother. The thought of her mother made her smile and feel sad at the same time. Her mother would have loved Rask.

“Ya, they do what women do and wait until you have left the room,” Stacie said and winked at Grace.

Grace laughed. Her mother would have adored Stacie, too.

“I have to admit mating is the most amazing feeling,” Tosk said.

“Except for the dreaming part,” Stacie said then laughed openly when Tosk blushed.

“What?” Grace asked curiously.

“Guess who went on his first roller coaster ride last night?” Stacie said.

Grace laughed.

“Roller coaster?” Rask asked.

“Just a little ride,” Tosk said as though tossing off the experience with a shrug.

“His shield went up the moment the coaster started down the hill,” Stacie said.

“Very funny,” Tosk said dryly.

“He got me back though,” Stacie said and rolled her eyes. “He introduced to me to his pet, Glosh.”

“Glosh?” Grace asked.

“Picture an Ewok with fangs and claws that walks on all fours.”

“Yikes,” Grace said.

“I think it’s time to take our mates outside,” Rask said.

Grace looked around and noticed a few of the males were coming closer. Her eyes widened as another male came in his pants, staining the front. The male groaned and then growled in disgust. Stacie giggled. Rask gripped Grace’s hand and pulled her behind him. They were soon out in the brilliant sunshine followed by Tosk and Stacie.

“You have so much knowledge; why not build your own shuttle?” Grace asked.

“Our adversaries chose this planet because it’s in its infancy. They were able to manipulate the genetic codes of the trees to suit our talons. No type of material can be found here to make a vessel,” Rask informed her. “Our replicators make food and clothing and basic necessities but nothing else.”

“So you can never go home?” Stacie asked.

“Not anymore,” Tosk said.

Grace looked at Rask quizzically.

“We can’t take you to our planet,” Rask explained. “The water is poisoned; one drop and you and I would be dead.”

“After all these years you can’t fix it?” Stacie asked.

“It was the least of our worries with the Tonans attacking,” Tosk said.

“Tonans?” Stacie asked.

“Our enemies,” Rask explained.

“Why do they fight with you?” Grace asked.

“Perhaps because we are too much alike,” Rask said. “At one time we all lived on the same planet, way before my father’s birth. Something happened. A number of them were convicted of genetically mutating shields. They crave power and submission. Their armor is different from ours now. They were banished to a fledgling planet with no females to stop them from reproducing mutants. Over time, they used their ability to modify metals to create ships. They created cloaking devices. The new mutant shield that covers them made them not only immune to warring, but to emotion.

“They have no empathy when their shields go up, no mercy, no sense of right from wrong. Tonans learned to lie. To kill without remorse or pity. It’s been our job to keep unsuspecting races safe from the devils they’ve become. Castians feel responsible. If Tonans had ever made it to Earth, humans would have been slaughtered for sport.”

“So they killed your females?” Stacie said. “What a bunch of creeps.”

“Yes,” Tosk agreed. “They have survived so long because we can’t find an area of vulnerability.”

“Nothing can stop them?” Grace asked.

“Nothing. My father had tried for centuries to find something, so the warring continues. Aanon seems to think Castians and Tonans can work together. It’s been thousands of years. He is very foolish,” Rask said grimly.

“Will you show me your planet?” Grace asked. She was tired of politics. She felt connected to Rask and wanted to explore just how connected they were. All this talk of war and death was depressing. Grace knew death; she had seen it every day on Earth. Today she felt alive and wanted to live.

Rask offered her a smile in understanding. Grace liked the way he knew how she was feeling. It saved her from a lot of humdrum pretending to be interested in something without hurting his feelings. Grace was interested, she was just interested in something else now. She wasn’t tired of being with him or hearing him talk, she just wanted to hear more about him and them together. Politics could wait. Technically, they were on their honeymoon. Discreetly Tosk and Stacie moved off in a different direction but stayed within sight.

The planet was beautiful. Trees taller than Grace had ever seen went heavenwards. The massive birds with orange and black rested in them at night. By day they floated in the blue lake below. Rask claimed them to be harmless. They ate giant bugs. Rask put up his armor and tossed Grace over his shoulder and scaled to the top of one of the trees. Grace clung to him. Her eyes widened as the ground slipped farther away. It was like scaling a high-rise. He settled in a huge branch with his arms wrapped protectively around her and his shield down. Grace’s mouth hung open at the sheer wonder around her. Soaring birds flew low and scooped mouthfuls of water to carry back to plants.

“Why?” Grace asked.

“They water the fruit so the bugs will come and they can feed,” Rask explained.

“Are all these bugs and things four hundred years old, too?”

“No. There had been no animals on the planet before we were sent here. All of these creatures are male as well.”

“How can they reproduce with no females?” Grace asked.

Rask pulled her closer. “They’re holograms. Small devices from around this planet send images from our homeland here. It’s a small comfort. Everything on our planet died out a long time ago, except for us. But we have kept the holograms so as not to feel our loss so deeply. When we were young we had no idea they were even holograms. As the male animals died off slowly they were replaced, until finally there were no more.”

“The Tonans didn’t just kill women, they killed everything. How horrible,” Grace murmured. “But if it’s not real, how can a Slock eat at your toes?”

“It’s complicated,” he said with amusement.

Grace was baffled. Everything was so real and yet not. “Nothing is really real then?” she asked, feeling sad.

“I’m real.”

Rask tipped her head up and kissed her. Grace knew he was real. She turned in his arms and hugged him tightly. Gently, she trailed her fingers down his bare chest, exploring. He felt like an armored knight encased in silk. Like the trees and the ground, if she pressed into him the softness stopped and was replaced by a substance harder than steel. He was so heavy when he turned her beneath him. He was careful not to press his weight onto her. Without a doubt, Grace figured him to weigh hundreds of pounds. Perhaps even a thousand. Yet he moved over her with delicacy. It was like being covered by a blanket of silk steel.

Rask trailed his finger down her face and neck. He breathed in her scent. “You smell better than anything I’ve ever smelt.”

“What does it feel like when you do that? When you inhale my scent?” she asked. “What is it that makes your face flush and your eyes grow darker?”

“It feels like a beautiful summer day, the taste of the sweetest fruit and the warmth of a caress. It feels like home, Grace. Thank you for being my home.”

Grace couldn’t help the soft smile that curled her lips. Her arms went around him and she pulled his head down for a kiss. They were miles above the ground. The sky was brilliant, the view breathtaking. His lips were like the finest champagne. The suns beat down on them feeling heavenly warm. She was bathed in brilliance. It was a perfect setting for a honeymoon. Grace could almost feel Rask’s powers surge as his body soaked up the rays making him strong. She had never before made love in the treetops, she wanted to now.

* * * *

Days later, Grace, Rask, Stacie and Tosk strolled through the lush vegetation of the planet. Grace was blissful. She could get used to a life of serenity. Everything she wanted she had. She knew Rask missed his father, but their love for one another was building. Grace loved him. She knew it days ago when they joined, but every day brought them closer. Rask could tell what she was feeling by simply inhaling her scent. To be so absolutely connected with another was amazing, wonderful…simply beautiful.

Grace and Stacie raced ahead after a creature that looked like an overgrown butterfly. Because the fruit was so lush, the insects grew very large. Fortunately for them, the insect-eating creatures kept their numbers low. Rask had explained even a hologram could be temperamental. The idea was amusing. Grace loved the overgrown brilliantly colored bugs. A few had landed on her shoulders and she had welcomed them much to Rask’s amusement. Stacie giggled when Grace stood stock still with the creature on her head. Its antennae tickled her cheeks. Its little feelers were soft and fuzzy. Rask and Tosk laughed when its fluttering wings ruffled her hair. Grace glanced up at it sideways and smiled. She then frowned when a dark shadow passed over them. A large spaceship materialized.

“Rask?”

The creature soared away, chirping.

A flash lit the sky to their left and Grace jumped, as Stacie howled in fear. Both Rask’s and Tosk’s shields went up. Grace screamed when a fireball landed too close for comfort. The blast sent a wash of hot air her way. Grace froze. A tall tree caught fire and the flames licked their way up the trunk.

“Tonans!” Rask shouted.

Rask tossed Grace over his shoulder and began racing from tree to tree. His arm across her behind kept her secured. The ground moved beneath her in a blur. Tree to ground to tree was Rask’s pattern in a zigzag fashion. Grace knew it was defensive tactical maneuvers. She tried to cling to him, but his muscles bulged and flexed with different motions and it was impossible to maintain any kind of grip.

An explosion in front of him knocked Rask to the ground as the tree he jumped to was severed. The only way to protect Grace was to yank her under him and Grace went tumbling and rolling. Because of the soft ground she was unhurt, but she landed with an expelled breath of air. She jumped up, spinning abruptly, and could no longer see Tosk or Stacie through the flames ahead of them and behind them. Rask was racing toward her when another blast stopped him. Grace was knocked to her ass. She flipped over and jumped back up. To Grace it looked as though the blast had landed on top of him. Everything exploded, sizzled and scorched. No one could have survived such an awful thing.