Claimed by the Warrior Read online

  Daan murmured his agreement but she ignored him.

  She snorted in response since she wasn’t mated. She’d been looking after herself for a very long time and didn’t need a mate—or mates. Not that she wasn’t sometimes envious of her two best friends and the happiness they’d found, but…she wasn’t certain she was wired to be with two males anyway. Her friend Saroya was mated to one male but that wasn’t the norm.

  At the glass doors, Brandt stripped off his tunic, revealing a ripped physique that almost had her mouth falling open. The only time she’d seen half-naked Luminet warriors was on the ship ride here and that was only during a sparring session she’d stumbled on. The male was pure muscle. It took a moment for her to realize that he was holding the tunic out for her to take.

  “Wrap it around yourself. It will be thicker that way.”

  The tunic was heavy in her hands. Heavier than it looked. They must use a thicker fabric in the mountains. She didn’t want to freeze, but…she glanced out the door and winced. “Are you certain you won’t be too cold?”

  He looked surprised by her question, but nodded. “I’m a warrior.”

  Apparently that was supposed to be answer enough. Instead of putting it over her head, she did as he said and wrapped it around her shoulders like a cloak. She was instantly warmed. “Thank you,” she said, smiling at him.

  He made a grunting sound in response and scooped her up into his arms before she realized his intent. She yelped and grabbed his shoulders as he stepped closer to the doors. A blast of frigid air rolled over them as the doors slid open.

  She tucked in closer to him, not caring that she was practically burrowing against him as he stepped out onto the walkway. She barely had time to glance around the overpass and actually look at the snow before he sprinted to the other side. Drifts of fluffy white snow teased her cheeks and nose before the opposite doors slid open just as soundlessly as the first.

  “You weren’t kidding about it being cold.” She laughed lightly as he put her down, holding his tunic around her just a little longer. Her exposed feet tingled from that blast of winter. She might as well not even be wearing sandals. If she ever visited here again at least she knew how to dress now. Not wanting him to be cold any longer, she slipped the tunic off her shoulders and went to hand it to him, but neither he nor his brother were looking at her.

  Turning around, she discovered what had their attention. A dozen males all stood in what looked like a common area used for social gatherings. The cubed-style, cushioned seating area was big enough to fit a warriors’ frame. None of them sat though. They all stood staring at her as if she was a rare, exotic animal.

  The look in some of their eyes was more than unnerving. Because of the high male to female ratio, she’d gotten so used to fending off males’ advances where she lived down on the mainland that she didn’t think about it anymore.

  Now, however, she was suddenly aware that she was in a new place with males she didn’t know and there were no other females in sight. For the first time since arriving, a frisson of fear slid down her spine.

  Chapter 2

  Leilani smoothed a hand down her shift as another male entered the presentation room. There were about twenty-five males crammed into here. Pretty soon there wouldn’t be enough room for all of them.

  “That’s it,” Brandt snapped. He stood beside her like a sentry on duty. “Daan, you stand by the door, no one else is allowed to enter.”

  “Who put you in charge?” a male from the front grumbled.

  “I’ll kick you all out and Leilani won’t answer any more questions,” Brandt threatened.

  The male popped up and at first she thought he meant to challenge Brandt, but he headed for the back. “I’ll help Daan stand guard.”

  She barely stifled a laugh. When Brandt and Daan had first escorted her into the presentation room she was supposed to meet their leader in, he’d informed her that Con was running late. Since males had started gathering outside the glass walls of the room, clearly curious, she’d agreed to answer questions about humans. Especially since it was obvious she was the first one they’d seen. It did make sense, she supposed. There weren’t many humans on the planet, though she knew that the warriors had sent another ship back to her former planet in search of more survivors.

  A male from the back raised his hand and when Brandt nodded at him, he stood. “Is it true that some human females will only mate with one male?” he asked her.

  “Yes. My best friend is mated to one warrior.” That happened because Saroya’s mate’s brother had died. She didn’t want to get into that, however. “Now it’s my turn to ask questions.” She’d answered almost thirty, some incredibly ridiculous, so turnabout was fair play. “Why aren’t there as many, or any, females here?” Because she hadn’t seen any.

  Silence stretched for a long moment until Brandt cleared his throat. “Some of our males have mates, but Luminet females prefer to live where it’s warmer. There is no climate change up here.”

  That wasn’t exactly an answer but she let it slide. “Okay… Is it strange for females to touch males, even on the arm or something equally innocuous?”

  “If a Luminet female touches a male it is usually during the mating dance,” one of the males in the front said. He had red hair, a sweet smile and broad shoulders.

  A frown pulled at her brow. She’d heard a lot of terms but never that one. “Mating dance?”

  “Like…courting,” Daan said from the back. “I know this human word.”

  The word was outdated, but she understood it.

  “Why did your mates let you come here unaccompanied? Have things changed down the mountain?” the same redhead asked. She thought his name was Ruari, but it was impossible to remember everyone.

  The question rankled her. “Are Luminet females accompanied everywhere they go?”

  “They are to the mountain sectors,” Brandt answered quietly.

  “Why? Can someone explain it to me?” She looked around, truly curious.

  Brandt lifted a broad shoulder. “Because females are to be looked after.”

  Oh, this was like one of those barbaric ideas she was still getting used to. Maybe she hadn’t broken any rules. Still, they all seemed to think it odd that she was here alone and it wasn’t the first comment someone had made about her mates. Maybe she should have waited to speak to her supervisor before coming here. She’d just left a message that she was making the last minute trip for Brianna because of her friend’s cramping. “Look, I’m not mated so that’s the only reason I’m not accompanied,” she said quietly to Brandt. “Is this going to cause a problem with your leader?”

  His entire body went still as he looked down at her. He started to respond when the door swooshed open and Aeron strode in.

  She blinked to see him in full-on warrior mode. What the heck was he doing here? He had a blade in one hand and a pulse gun in another. He looked around the room, his green eyes flashing.

  The others jumped up, all of them going for their weapons. Their huge bodies blocked her view.

  Oh, goddess, something must have happened for him to show up. “Is Brianna okay? Is it the baby?” Her voice was drowned out by the growing rumble of male voices. She surged forward but Brandt stepped in front of her in a completely protective gesture.

  “Identify yourself, warrior,” he demanded of Aeron. She belatedly realized Brandt had two short swords in his hands.

  Whoa, he moved fast. Despite the apparently no-touching rule, she grabbed onto his forearm. “He’s mated to my friend.” She squeezed tight, but Brandt didn’t move or look at her.

  “My name is Aeron. Leilani, are you okay?” he shouted.

  She could hear him, but not see him. “Please tell your warriors to move so I can speak to my friend.”

  Brandt uttered a few harsh growls and like magic, the males parted to the side and the voices died down. Aeron glared at all of them before striding forward, his weapons still out. “Are you unharmed?”

>   She tried to move past Brandt but the male held out an arm. Okay, seriously? She ducked under it. “I’m fine. Why are you here? Is the baby—”

  “I’m here for you. You shouldn’t have come here alone. Unmated females cannot travel to the mountain regions without an escort.” At his words every warrior grew silent until she could hear blood rushing in her ears.

  That couldn’t be good.

  Two males that looked as if they were brothers stepped forward in her direction, but almost immediately two more tried to move past them. Then someone took a swing at someone until it was an all-out brawl.

  Brandt and Aeron moved in front of her, backing up until all she could hear were shouts and the thud of flesh against flesh. She winced at the cries of pain she heard, but no way was she going to try to move from her spot.

  “Everyone out!” a male voice roared.

  Just like that, the fighting noises stopped. She peeked out from behind Aeron to find some males bleeding on the ground, others on top of them, all in fighting positions. It was pure insanity.

  To her surprise everyone, including Brandt, filed out like a cohesive unit. Whoever this male was, he clearly commanded respect. Or at least fear. Aeron immediately holstered both his weapons. If he was doing that, he must trust whoever… Her eyes widened as she took in the male.

  He wore simple black trousers, dark boots—and no tunic. His chest was broad and muscular. Though that seemed too tame a description. It was as if he’d been carved right out of the mountain itself. His breathing was slightly labored, his chest rising and falling more rapidly than was normal. The movement drew her gaze downward even as she tried to tell herself not to stare at the sexy stranger. He was covered in nicks and scars, too many to count. For some reason, all those scars added to his appeal. His skin wasn’t as bronzed as hers, but his closely shorn hair was a midnight black. Everything about him was rough and raw and as she met his bright blue gaze she felt the connection like a punch to her solar plexus. His cheekbones were just as carved as the rest of him, the sharp angles giving him a deadly edge she doubted he needed.

  Taking her completely off guard, heat pooled between her legs as their gazes locked. She’d never reacted to a male like this. Ever. She swallowed hard and tried to force her throat to work. She needed to say something, not just stare.

  “Do not be afraid.” He held up his palms. “I’m Conlaoch—Con. We’ve been communicating about the project.”

  Afraid? Oh, thank the goddess he read her emotions wrong. She cleared her throat and stepped out from behind Aeron, who was watching her with concern. “I’m not afraid, just confused about what’s going on.”

  “Has anyone harmed you?” her friend demanded.

  “No. I’ve just been answering questions about human females since none of them have ever seen any. The Q and A has been harmless.” She stole another glance at Con, the male she’d been emailing with the past moon cycle. She’d had no idea he looked like that. He still watched her, his face like stone. Not unfriendly, but unreadable. It knocked her off kilter.

  “We need to leave right now,” Aeron murmured, drawing her attention back to him.

  Before she could respond, Daan and Brandt strode back in, their expressions a mirror of determination. “We declare you enact the Ducereco law.”

  Aeron cursed as Con scrubbed a hand over his face. “Get out, now.”

  Brandt’s jaw tightened mutinously. “No. You know the law.”

  “Now is not the time for that. She’s a guest—and human—and we will treat her as such.” There was a deadly edge to Con’s voice. The deep quality of it sent a shiver of awareness down her spine and to other places.

  “What does Ducereco mean?” she asked Aeron since the other males were having a staring contest.

  Something flickered in his eyes. “Unmated females don’t travel to this region or the other mountain regions for a reason. Their laws are…slightly different.”

  All her muscles pulled taut as she picked up on her friend’s stress. This couldn’t be good. “Different how?”

  “Basically, if I’d gotten you out before they’d declared Ducereco, you would have been fine, but now you must remain here for one moon cycle. The males will use that moon cycle to convince you to mate with two of them.” His expression was as grim as his voice.

  She raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me?” A moon cycle was roughly thirty days. “I’m going home after my presentation this evening and no one is stopping me.” She turned to glare at both Daan and Brandt.

  Neither backed down, but stood there with their arms crossed over their chest. Con simply watched her with a neutral expression. He shook his head. “You cannot leave. It is the law.”

  Knowing she’d have only one chance at this, she moved lightning fast, ripping Aeron’s pulse gun from his belt. She held it up, waving it at them as they stared at her in shock. She actually had no clue how to work the weapon, or even if it would work for her. Now that she thought about it, she was certain these things had to be programmed by DNA or fingerprint or…something. Damn it. Maybe not though, because the males stood there staring at her as if she’d grown a tail. Aeron just grinned at the other three males and thankfully didn’t attempt to stop her.

  “If you think you’re going to kidnap and…assault me, you’re out of your mind! You can’t keep me here.” She wouldn’t just give up without a fight.

  “Assault you?” Daan had the gall to sound insulted after he’d just made it clear he had no problem keeping her hostage.

  Now Aeron stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the other males. She tilted the weapon away from him. “No one will harm you in that way if that’s what you mean. They have one moon cycle to court you, which generally means they bring you gifts and act like barbaric children trying to win your affection. No one will touch you against your will.” When he reached for the gun, she let him take it.

  She wrapped her arms around herself. “They can’t just keep me here,” she whispered, though in her gut she knew she couldn’t fight this. The laws on Lumineta were so strange sometimes, and she’d learned some were unbreakable. And if even Aeron wasn’t able to change things, then she had no choice but to stay.

  Aeron’s dark look confirmed her fear. “I’m sorry, Leilani. I tried to get here before it happened. I called Con and he came as quick as he could as well. He assumed you were coming with a mate or had a mate or he would have arrived sooner.”

  Fury ballooned inside her as she digested what was happening. She sidestepped Aeron to look fully at the three males. “You’re all barbaric!”

  They all nodded in agreement, as if what she’d said was completely true. As if they didn’t care that they were complete barbarians. Which just pissed her off even more. “Fine. If I have to stay for a moon cycle…” She grabbed her carrycase and pulled out the presentation cube she’d planned to show Con with all the updates for the most recent renovations. There were copies on her office drive, but she wasn’t going to give it to them. She dropped the shiny cube to the floor and stomped on it. With her sandals and apparent lack of force, it didn’t do much damage so she looked at Aeron.

  Shrugging, he slammed a booted foot down on it until it cracked, then crumbled into pieces.

  Feeling a little better, she pinned her gaze on Con. He was the leader, he should be able to make them let her leave. Since he wasn’t helping her, she wasn’t going to help him at all. “That contained the updates you requested for the project. I think you should prepare for a delay of one moon cycle.”

  Next to her Aeron smothered a laugh as Con stared at her in horror.

  “You cannot do that.” His speech was as formal as many of the warriors she’d met.

  Normally she found their speech patterns adorable. Now, not so much. “Pretty sure I just did.”

  His eyes widened.

  “I knew human females were not rational,” Daan muttered.

  Leilani’s gaze snapped to his. “Maybe we’re not, but just fyi, whatever y
ou planned to do to court me, don’t bother. I wouldn’t mate with you or your brother in a million solar cycles. And I’m going to make sure all my human female friends know you think we’re irrational and stupid. I’ll make sure your name is synonymous with herpes.” Belatedly she realized they wouldn’t know what that was because they didn’t have many diseases here, but her point was clear enough. “You will never mate with a human!” Okay, was she being a bitch? Yes. Did she feel bad? No. If these maniacs thought they could keep her captive for a moon cycle like she was some caged animal, she was going to make them want to send her home a lot sooner.

  Daan’s face paled and a twinge of guilt wormed its way into her conscience. “You will tell all human females I’m undesirable?”

  It wasn’t like she knew all humans females here, though she knew all the ones from her transport. It was on the tip of her tongue to say yes, but he looked so forlorn she found that maybe she wasn’t as bitchy as she thought. She sighed. “No. But don’t bother trying to court me. You’ll be wasting your time.” That was at least the truth.

  He looked almost hurt by that, which was ridiculous. It was his and Brandt’s fault that she was being held captive for a moon cycle. How was that even going to work? Her head hurt thinking about it. She turned to Aeron. “Can you make them leave so we can talk?”

  Before he could respond, Con pointed at the door. The two males looked as if they wanted to protest, but they left. She’d expected Con to leave as well, but he stepped closer to her and Aeron. When he did, a subtle masculine scent teased her nose. It did strange things to her insides. Though she was certain it wasn’t just the way he smelled, but the whole package. Seriously, how was it possible that this huge, sexy male even existed? He had to be mated. Not that it mattered. She wanted nothing to do with any of these crazy warriors.

  “I am sorry that our first meeting was like this. And I apologize for my lateness. We had an issue at one of the construction sites, but I came as soon as Aeron contacted me.” Now he actually looked apologetic. “I have enjoyed our email interactions and while I know this is not your wish, I will make sure you are comfortable during your stay here. My brother and I have an extra room and we will make sure you are protected—though none of my males would ever try to harm you.”