Savage Seed by Ivy Sparks

17

Leslie

“All right,everyone. Let’s show Leslie what we’ve been practicing, hm?”

Ria picked up a series of wooden sticks that looked like spears without the sharp ends, and, one by one, tossed them in the air. The children who had gathered for the lessons calmly and expertly snatched them out of the air, then began to spar with each other. The crack of wood on wood made me jump until the sound turned into a steady rhythm, almost like a heartbeat. Ria was nodding along and circling through the children’s couplets, correcting postures and grips as she went.

“Good!” she called, clapping her hands. The children continued to spar. “Remember to keep your feet moving. A still target is an easy target.”

It was like watching a mother teach her children to bake a cake or tie their shoelaces. Some of the Xeki women trickled into the lesson space, nodding and smiling before moving on. I asked Ria if they were the children’s mothers, but she said not all of them were. It was the duty of the entire tribe to care for its children, especially when some were orphaned at a young age.

“What happened to their families?” I asked, noticing Ria tap her fingertips on her crossed forearm.

She shrugged, her eyes never leaving the sparring children. “The desert provides, and the desert takes. Such is life.”

It was interesting to see the serious side of Ria. She’d been silly and playful with Kade a few days ago, and had since been good company for me while he was out trying to trade for a radio. But here, in this setting, she was all business.

And I supposed she had a good reason to be. If she failed to teach these children the basics of defense, they wouldn’t survive this harsh desert.

A few men approached the group now, gesturing toward some of the children. Those children placed down their poles and quickly fell in line with the men.

“Where are they going?” I asked, curious enough to be tempted to follow them. There were so many things about the tribe that I didn’t understand, and without the distractions of technology or the mine, I found myself insatiably curious about the tribe’s customs.

I watched them, focusing on one boy in particular. One of the men placed his hand across the boy’s shoulder and handed him a spear. The boy nodded, showing little to no emotion, and the pair jogged off toward the village perimeter.

“The best way to learn to defend themselves and our people,” Ria told me, “is by being a part of our defenses. Right now they’re heading to help fortify the perimeter.”

“But they’re children!”

Ria tilted her head and arched a curious brow at me. Then I noticed other eyes turning in our direction. I fought the blush forcing its way to my cheeks and cleared my throat. “I just mean that they’re… children. Not soldiers. Shouldn’t they be doing kid things, like catching bugs and playing games?”

“Of course they play games,” Ria responded, uncrossing her arms to place her hands on her hips. “How else would they learn to hunt?”

The entire concept was hard for me to wrap my head around. Here she was, clearly teaching them important lessons on how to survive a hard life in the desert. But at the same time, they were being thrown right into the fire, taking up the positions most likely to be the first confronted should an enemy tribe attack.

I decided it was best to let it go for now, considering I was still very much an outsider. There was still so much I needed to understand.

Eventually Ria was done with this morning’s lesson, and after the children dispersed, she asked me if I wanted to join her and another woman in the ocean for a bath. A very public bath, it turned out. I shook my head and offered a polite “no thank you.” No way was I going to take a bath in broad daylight with everyone around.

Ria shrugged. “You know where to find me then, if you change your mind. You’ll be safe in Kade’s tent while I’m away.” I watched them leave and fidgeted with my skirt. The breeze wasn’t uncomfortable, and if I was being honest, kind of refreshing. But I still felt so vulnerable most of the time that I couldn’t enjoy it. Not really.

Sighing, I turned back toward the village and headed toward the tent Kade and I had been sharing.

Ever since we had our first night together, I hadn’t seen much of him. A few days had passed, and the only times I got ahold of him were at night, and our brief moments in the morning. He’d been true to his word, traveling out to see if he could trade for a radio so that I could contact my father. But he also had tribal duties—princely ones, at that—that he couldn’t just stop doing in order to keep me company.

And then there was the sand tiger. That ever present, ever silent threat Kade seemed to be quietly obsessed with. I could sense it every time we’d talk about it. That brief glimmer in his eyes told me he couldn’t wait to take up the hunt full time again.

I pursed my lips and rubbed salt off my skin. The ocean air was heavy, and I constantly felt sticky compared to my time in the open desert. I longed for a bath, but the idea of joining Ria and the others when I was just so… so soft compared to their strong, toned bodies…

As Kade’s tent came into view, a sudden shiver ran down my spine, and I had an odd feeling that someone was leering at me from a distance. I raised my head to look around, but what I saw was really no surprise. It was Trag creeping beside a nearby tent, doing nothing to hide his stare. Smiling about it, in fact.

I didn’t think he’d try anything, but most of my time in the village I had Kade or Ria by my side. I suddenly realized how alone and exposed I was, and picked up my pace toward Kade’s tent. But I couldn’t help taking one more look at Trag, and that disgusting look on his disgusting face.

The same hunger I’d seen in Kade’s eyes time and time again swirled in Trag’s. But while the hunger might have been the same, the men couldn’t have been any more different. While Kade was kind and gentle and made me unravel with the barest of touches, Trag’s stare—his very presence—turned my blood cold.

He smiled, flashing his yellow teeth at me in a way that suggested he hadn’t given up on whatever sick fantasies were coursing through his gross, awful head.

I rolled my eyes, but still hurried to the tent. Once I reached it, I pulled the flap closed behind me and breathed a sigh of relief. Kade’s tent felt safe, like a sanctuary, and I doubted even Trag would have the balls to follow me here.

I’d been getting to know Ria pretty well, along with some of the other women of the tribe. But the men were still mostly strangers, behaving in ways that were still mysterious to me. They seemed to move in small pods and keep to themselves. While some would offer Ria and me the occasional moderate greeting, most remained quiet and stoic.

And almost all of them stared at me.

I didn’t like it. They were greedy and lascivious looks, ones I’d never really been the victim of before. And none were worse than Trag.

“Hi.”

Kade’s voice caught me off guard, and I jumped. He chuckled, and my heartbeat quickened. I turned toward him, ready to teasingly scold him for startling me. But then I got a good look at him and my heart froze in my chest.

“Kade!” I yelled, running to him. “What the hell happened to you?” I stopped short of touching him, though—a rarity, considering how much I always wanted to have my hands all over him.

His body was covered in what by now I easily recognized as sand beast blood. He had a towel and had already started wiping away the spots that weren’t dried up. He grinned at me, a mixture of amusement at my concern and pride at what had clearly been another sand beast slaying.

“Don’t worry, Leslie,” he said, rubbing a clean finger across my cheek. “The beast I slayed looks a lot worse than I do.”

“Is this gonna happen a lot? You just gonna show up with blood all over you?”

He shrugged. “You’ll get used to it. But if you’re worried…” he trailed off, leaning down to pull something out of the rucksack at his feet. “Maybe this will cheer you up.”

He handed me a big chunk of some piece of technology, the smile on his face showing me he was very pleased with himself. I turned it over in my hands. Something about it looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

“What is it?” I asked, still studying it.

“What else could it be? It’s a radio. I traded for it just this morning.”

I squinted and frowned, still focused on the thing in my hand. When it hit me, when I finally recognized what Kade had handed me, I couldn’t help but start laughing.

“Leslie?” Kade asked, one eyebrow arched in curiosity. “What’s so funny?”

I held the thing up to him. “Oh, Kade. I recognize this from the mines. It’s a piece to a control board, the part used to control machinery remotely. It’s—I’m sorry to say—not a communication device.”

Kade’s expression went from pleased to outright enraged. “Tek-Nier!” he roared, a curse that must have been too much for the translator to handle. “I will kill them! Arms must be taken up, and the mighty forces of the Resh Xeki—”

“Kade,” I whispered. I found a spot on his chest clear enough of sand beast blood to put my hand on. “Hey. Easy there, big guy. It’s not a big deal, okay? People get ripped off in trades all the time.”

His eyes still raged, but I could see that anger was meant for someone else, and not me. “Leslie, I cannot simply allow—”

“Any chance they just didn’t know what they had? Maybe they actually thought they were selling you what they claimed. Maybe it was just an honest mistake.”

“Hmph,” he said, his muscles relaxing a bit. “Perhaps. The Xeki-Stin are clever traders… but not the most intelligent of the sand tribes.”

I nodded. “See? Nothing to start a war over.”

He nodded, a little reluctantly, and sat back down on the bed. His momentary warrior rage was subsiding, and I could see he was a little more tired than I’d noticed before. His eyes flicked toward the spot on the bed next to him—all the invitation I needed to plop down next to him.

We hadn’t gotten intimate since the claiming ritual. Maybe he thought I didn’t want it, and maybe I was scared too—scared of falling even deeper for him when I’d have to one day leave. But the last few nights spent together had still been nice.

“How are you?” he asked, changing the subject as he tossed the worthless technology into the corner. “How has your day with Ria been?”

I tried to hide my frown, but must have failed because Kade called me out on it immediately.

“What?” he asked, putting a warm hand on my thigh. “What is it?”

I licked my lips and shook my head. “It’s nothing.” His eyes narrowed, and I swallowed. “Well, fine. If you must know, it’s old, big, and ugly.”

Kade’s arms tensed, and my mind went almost blank as I watched his muscles bulge. I longed for him to wrap me up in them, almost so much that I completely forgot what we were talking about.

“Trag displeases you,” Kade stated. “He displeases me as well. What has he done?”

“Nothing, really,” I admitted, brushing a strand of hair from my eyes. “It’s just that he watches me, you know?”

“Men will watch you, Leslie, as I do.”

I bit my lip, and his eyes lingered there for a moment. “But it’s different when you look at me, Kade. There’s kindness in you. You actually care and want to help me, despite how little I’ve been able to do for you in return.”

Kade shook his head and squeezed my hand. “I’m bound to you, Leslie. You do not have to do anything to deserve my help.”

He had been telling me this every time I brought up the idea of finding a job or task around the village. I wasn’t sure why, and generally preferred to carry my weight. But as a stranger in a strange land, I hadn’t fought him on it. At least not yet.

“I know, I know,” I said. I sighed, feeling a bit exasperated.

Kade’s expression fell, and I faltered, feeling a tinge of guilt for seemingly hurting his feelings. “I’m sorry,” I quickly started. “I just don’t think you understand. He looks at me, Kade. Like I’m… Like I’m just some shiny trophy he wants to polish. They all do, but him especially.”

Kade’s free hand lifted my chin as he pulled me closer toward him, making sure our eye contact was solid and intense. “Their looks don’t mean what you think they do, Leslie. Our ways are different. Think of it as admiration, if you can. As for Trag… He cannot have you, Leslie. Not now, not ever. You are mine.”

Whoa. If any other dude at any other stage of my life had proclaimed me as “his,” I would have socked him a good one upside his head. But with Kade… My God, how it turned me on. How I wished that somehow that was the only thing I had to be: His. His, and nothing more.

My body hummed at Kade’s words and his touch, and a wave of heat rushed between my legs. I bit my lip again, and Kade’s thumb brushed against it lightly. As much as I wanted to lean into him and press a kiss to his lips, I couldn’t forget the image of Trag, standing just outside the tent, that gross grin on his face, leaning and listening and hoping to overhear us being intimate.

Sicko.

Kade continued, his eyes dark, “I’ve told you before, and I mean it more than anything: Nobody will dare harm you, because you’re—” He stopped himself short.

“I’m what?”

“My claim.”

I wanted him to say something different, something that confirmed my own suspicions. But maybe I was being foolish. Maybe it wasn’t like how things were with my mother and her alien mate. I might not have been Kade’s fated mate at all.

But then why did we both seem to feel so intensely about each other?

Kade saw my distress and moved quickly, wrapping his arms around my waist while moving to lie back on the bed. He gracefully pulled me on top of him, with my head resting on top of his chest, and held me tight, our size difference almost comical in the moment. But his muscles—the ones that were powerful enough to crush an armored sand beast—enveloped me in warmth and comfort. I breathed in his earthy scent greedily. It was grounding, and exactly what I needed.

He said nothing more, and I didn’t want to break the silence either. Speaking, I feared, would ruin the quiet peacefulness that surrounded us and made me feel safe. We were in our own little world, far away from our problems.

I never wanted to resurface.

Without thinking, I tucked my face into the crook of his neck and pressed my mouth to his skin, my lips parting just enough to taste him. It was the lightest of touches, barely enough to even make a sound, but a shudder rippled through his body and immediately, his hands were in my hair.

He held me in place, and a sound caught in my throat at the force of his grip. But it wasn’t painful or aggressive, just insistent. If I had wanted him to let go, I know he would have. But I didn’t. Not at all.

Leaning toward him, I began licking and sucking his neck, feeling immensely satisfied when I heard him groan. This man was groaning for me. Not another woman, not another warrior from his tribe. Me.

As I scraped my teeth against his skin, his hands slid from my hair to my hips, and with one quick motion, he ripped away my skirt and pressed my heat to his abdomen. I gasped at the feel of his skin on my clit and leaned back to look at him.

His lips were parted, and his eyes were a smoldering gray. Not once did they leave mine as I pressed my hands to his chest and readjusted so that I was aligned with his hardened cock. Being shorter, I couldn’t lean up to kiss him while grinding against his length, but part of me enjoyed being able to watch him in the way he liked to watch me.

But before I could get too comfortable, he cupped my ass and moved me off his cock, seating me once again on his abdomen. I opened my mouth in protest, but before I could say anything, he sat upright and latched onto my neck with his lips.

As gravity threatened to take over and lower my body, Kade’s grip on my ass tightened. He held me over the tip of his cock, never allowing me to sink over him. He continued biting and sucking on my neck, surely leaving bruises across my skin. A flash of anxiety gripped my chest as I thought of his tribesmen witnessing the marks. Fuck ‘em, I thought, as another wave of pleasure crashed over me and settled between my thighs.

I desperately clung to his shoulders and tried to force myself down over his length, the memory of his cock thrusting inside me the other night fresh in my mind. Even just the engorged tip would do for now… but he wouldn’t allow it. Instead, the tip slipped across my wet folds and pressed tightly against my clit. I cried out sharply, and as Kade pressed me harder against his chest for support, his fingers dipped lower across my ass until he prodded at my pussy from behind, my arousal making it easy for his fingers to slip inside.

I moaned loudly as he continued to rub my clit against his tip and expertly slide his fingers in and out of me. Using his shoulders for leverage, I pressed down until two of his fingers were fully inside me. He curled them at just the right moments, moving in time with me so perfectly that it only took seconds for my orgasm to come.

My body tensed, and I clenched around his fingers. He pressed me even harder against his slick cock, and I felt him throbbing against my clit, letting me know that his own release was close.

But as I came down from my high, a voice drifted from outside the tent and Kade exhaled sharply, blowing my hair off my neck. He stood up, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down my collar bone before setting me down gently on the bed.

His eyes were molten pools of desire, and I was horrified at the thought of him leaving right now. And so I found myself spreading my legs wide apart, begging him not to leave, beckoning him closer, to enter me and fill me to the brim.

He grunted and clenched his fists, a vein in his neck protruding as he fought to control himself.

“I will be back,” he promised, tucking his raging hard cock back under his loincloth. He gave me one last longing look, his eyes touring every inch of my skin. He grunted again in frustration, then quickly turned and left the tent.

I was left breathless as I watched him walk away.

As the door flap fell to a close, I caught a glimpse of not one tribesman outside, but three, all waiting for Kade.

I felt momentarily like a high school girl again, giggling at the idea that Kade had just left the tent with a raging boner. There was no way, with the limited amount of coverings Kade and his people wore, that his three tribesmen would have missed it.

But then my smile disappeared. Was one of the men out there Trag? Had he heard everything, as I had imagined he would?

Fuck ‘em, I thought again, my old discomfort with cursing long gone, alongside so many other changes.

As much as I detested that man, part of me hoped he had heard us. And knew how well Kade could please me, in a way he’d never be able to. Kade was the heir to the throne, and even if it was temporary, we were together, so the sooner Trag and everyone else came to accept that, the better.

I wouldn’t let Trag intimidate me any longer. I had Kade to watch my back, and for the first time I was learning how to fight and defend myself.

I looked down at my hands in my lap, then tightened them into fists. I needed to focus. I needed to take in the lessons of the tribe. As long as I trusted in those who wanted to help me, I’d find a way home.

And maybe I’d even find a way to keep Kade in my life.