Casey's Warriors (Bondmates) (37 page)

“
Kichi
eggs. They are very good.”

Her stomach clenched and she worked off a tiny piece before placing it in her mouth, ready to swallow it as quickly as possible, but to her surprise she found it was delicious, a savory flavor that made her hungry for more. Cint smiled and took a seat in the chair across from her, whistling for Bofus who obediently hopped onto his lap. He stroked the animal and watched her as she finished her meal then settled back into the chair with a sigh, feeling very relaxed.

Too relaxed.

Way too relaxed.

Her eyelids became heavy and she fought the lassitude that tried to take her over. “What did you do to me?”

“It’s for your own good, Matriarch.”

She tried to shove herself up from the chair, intent on running, but she did no more than slump forward the slightest bit before falling back again. “Killing me, why?”

Shock filled his weathered face. “No, just something to help you calm.”

Forcing the words around her numb lips was difficult but she managed, trying with all her might to fight off the sleepiness. “Why?”

“Master Lorn Adar, sorry Master Lorn Westfall and Master Nast Enn are good men. They deserve to at least give you an explanation.” He must have seen her confused expression because he smiled. “I saw you arriving with them today, Matriarch. I owe Master Lorn and Master Nast for all the years that I’ve been safely able to raise my family here, and like I said, they are good men who love you, no matter what else you were led to believe. It’s a miracle you weren’t killed by one of the predators who roam the river at night. When it was discovered you were missing, your bondmate and his blood brother contacted me and asked me to aid in the search. I was given a piece of your clothing holding your scent so Bofus and his pack could find you.”

“No.” Tears spilled down her cheeks and he made a pained noise.

“Please don’t cry.” His face hardened. “You are very lucky we found you when we did. If one of the nocturnal river predators had reached you first…” He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath while Bofus gave a mournful whistle. “Thank the Lord of Life we found you first.”

A choked sob managed to make it past her numb lips and Cint gave her a pained look.

“You are mistaken in your belief about the Masters betraying you. Those men couldn’t deceive you even if they wanted. You are their
alyah
and I know you don’t understand it, but I’ve been around Kadothian men for most of my adult life and they would never knowingly harm their bondmate. Your pain
is
their pain. If you leave them they will die of broken hearts or kill themselves rather than face a life without you.” His expression firmed and he blew out a harsh breath. “Master Lorn and Master Nast have protected our village for hundreds of cycles. They gave me a safe place to live with my family and have worked hard to make our home an oasis of peace in our very violent galaxy. I’ve seen the Hive, watched it slowly devour my home world and I know the danger Master Lorn and Master Nast face every time they’ve gone to battle. They are good men and you must give them a chance to explain themselves. Running off like that was not only foolish, it was childish as well. Begging your pardon for any offense, Matriarch.”

Darkness began to dance around the edges of her vision and she gave up fighting, gave up everything. Her shields fell and as soon as they did Lorn and Nast’s terror roared through her, making her jerk before their fear turned to a relief so profound she whimpered. Her last thought was that she had to get away before they broke her so badly she never recovered.

Chapter Seventeen

Lorn stared at the still-sleeping form of his wife, tied to their marriage bed by long and sturdy velvet ropes ending with fur lined cuffs. She looked so fragile as she slumbered with her pink lips slightly parted and her dark hair spread around her pale face. A burst of dread moved through him again at the thought of how easily she could have been killed and how well she’d completely closed the bond between them. If not for the faintest trace of her presence he would have thought her dead.

After her initial surge of intense emotional pain, and her subsequent closing of the bond between them, both he and Nast had been frantic to get to her, only to find out that Casey had somehow vanished. When their guards found indications that someone had managed to slip into the manor he’d been filled with alarm they’d kidnapped his wife. Though it was considered taboo to harm a Matriarch, there were those who were willing to do anything in the name of money and power. Thankfully they’d found a faint trace of Casey’s scent trail that went into the orchards while the unfamiliar scents branched off towards the village. The fruit of the orchard provided a natural cover for her scent and only a fool would run for the river at night. It was probably her ignorance of the dangers of the river that saved her, though his stomach threatened to empty every time he thought of all the terrible things that could have happened to her. No one went near the river without being heavily armed at night.

On the other side of the bed Nast had an equally brooding expression and even though wariness tried to drag them both into sleep they continued to watch over her. When Cint contacted them and said he’d found their Matriarch, Lorn had almost passed out with relief. Then when he and Nast learned why Casey had fled them he wanted to spank her creamy ass until it was bright red. He probably still would and give Nast the opportunity to get in a few spanks of his own. While a Kadothian male would never abuse his wife, he was allowed to dispense some domestic discipline when his Matriarch put herself in danger for foolish reasons.

And Casey’s reasons were about as foolish as they could get. When they’d found the women waiting for them in their bedroom he’d quickly figured out what had happened, and how Casey had been set up by someone who obviously knew the weakness of the Earth female’s jealousy. If Casey had only come to them all of this could have been avoided and they might have been able to catch the infiltrators in their home. Shame filled him that anyone had managed to breech their security, mixing with anger that anyone would dare to harm Casey. While he’d known there was a great deal of political upset at the discovery of the ability of Earth females to bond, he hadn’t thought things would get so bloody so quick.

She stirred on the bed, a slight whimper coming from her that hurt his heart before she slipped back into sleep. This could never happen again. If she ran from them whenever she felt threatened she’d be as good as dead. Her lack of trust in them hurt the most of all and he tried to keep his own wounded feelings from turning to anger. She should wake soon and when she did they had a lesson for her that she wouldn’t forget. Spread on the wall above and behind the bed, illuminated by spotlights, Casey’s bridal cloak gleamed like orange, red, and gold fire as the feathers moved in the light breeze stirring through the room. Lorn stared at that cloak, a symbol of his devotion to his wife before he even found her, and calmed himself.

Nast leaned forward, wearing only his loose grey lounging pants. His blood brother had been sure Casey had fled them because of something he did and the other man’s misplaced guilt had only added to Lorn’s determination to make Casey see the truth. The lights had been lowered to a dim glow and night still reigned outside while groups of guards patrolled the manor, searching for any more potential security breaches.

Lorn had been angry at himself for growing complacent in the peacefulness of their home. No one had really challenged them for the land he and Nast held and Lorn had to admit it never occurred to him someone would try to hurt Casey so soon. He’d been so concerned about his wife and her comforts that he’d thought more like a besotted husband than a Warrior. The household had settled down after she returned, everyone equally exhausted after searching for their missing Matriarch. She’d not only hurt Lorn and Nast, she’d wounded her people’s feelings as well, and she would have to atone for it or lose their loyalty.

“I can’t believe Cint let her carry Bofus,” Nast muttered for at least the twentieth time.

The thought of his wife carrying a
zendor
pack leader, one of the deadliest creatures on Kadothia, made Lorn slightly ill. “I want to kill Cint for endangering her as well, but Bofus accepted her as one of his pack and he would never hurt her, nor would his packmates.”

“Still,” Nast shuddered, “if that creature had deployed his spikes he could have pierced through her delicate skin and turned her into a pile of meat before she had time to scream.”

Lorn swallowed hard, memories of watching a pack of
zendors
dispatch predators like a ball of whirling razor sharp blades made his stomach cramp. “But they did not and they kept her safe. Even a river
skagalion
wouldn’t take on a pack of
zendors
, thank the Lord of Life”

Nast let out a weary sigh. “Think she’s going to want one of her own?”

“I would not be adverse to it. A pack of
zendors
would make anyone think twice about approaching our
alyah
.”

They exchanged an equally wary look and for the first time since Casey had run from them Lorn smiled. “Let us just hope she does not send them after us when she’s angry.”

On the bed Casey mumbled something and tried to roll over, but the restraints kept her on her back. After another jerk at her bonds she frowned, stretched out her legs and yawned. They’d kept her in her gown for the time being, not wanting her to mistake their intentions for tying her to the bed. Oh, they anticipated taking full advantage of her restrained state later, but right now they would explain to her how wrong she’d been and she’d be forced to listen to them.

Yawning again she opened her eyes with a frown and pulled at her arms, finding she had enough slack to touch herself but not enough to move more than a few inches on either side. Both he and Nast were quiet while they watched as she opened her eyes and stared at the high ceiling with its massive skylight showing the night sky above. She blinked once, twice, and the confusion left her expression, quickly replaced by anger.

“What the fuck…” she said in a harsh voice.

Lorn immediately picked up the bottle of water next to him and went to Casey, bracing her head so she could drink.

“Get your fucking hands off…”

He rudely shoved the straw in her mouth. “Drink or choke.”

She took two long pulls before jerking her head away. “I’m going to choke you unless you untie me right now!”

After setting the bottle on the table next to the bed he stood at the edge and looked down at her, all too aware of her rage burning through their bond, but behind it her anguish. “Enough, Casey. You will listen to me or I will gag you.”

“You cheating, asshole, fucking…”

Her angry tirade was cut off by Nast placing his hand over her mouth, effectively shutting her up. “
Alyah
, you will listen to us or I swear by the Lord of Life I will spank you until you cannot sit comfortably for days.”

Oh, that pissed her off.

She thrashed and kicked, whipped her head back and forth and appeared to try to bite Nast but he couldn’t be moved. Finally she stilled and tears slid down her cheeks as she gave his blood brother a glare that was supposed to be angry but ended up looking heartbroken instead. He eased his hand away then brushed back a tear that had slid down one of her full cheeks.

Lorn’s heart ached as he watched the two people he loved most in the world in pain. “We did not betray you, Casey, and it hurts us deeply you would think that.”

“Yeah, right,” she said in bitter voice. “I saw those women, Nast. They said you were their Master. And your servant clued me into how things work.”

He stilled and exchanged a glance with Nast before returning his attention to Casey. “This is very important,
alyah
, I need you to try and remember everything you can about who you talked to and what they said. What did the servant look like?”

She described the woman then her voice trembled as she said, “I remember everything the servant said. How you only married me to handle the estate and that Kadothian men really love their pleasure servants and how you loved those women in our fucking bed!”

Nast leaned closer, “We need to know more about that servant. What did she look like?”

“Fuck you! I don’t give a fuck about that woman, you cheating asshole!” she screamed in his face, then began to sob.

Knowing they weren’t going to get anywhere with her until the damage done to their relationship was repaired, Lorn sighed and held up a hand to Nast. “Hold on. Casey, we are their Masters.”

She looked at him with such a broken expression that Nast quickly said, “You have this wrong. It is not what you think.”

“Then what is it?” she asked in a whisper.

“Ula, Tula, come.”

From across the room a hidden panel opened and the two pleasure ‘bots obediently approached them, their gel filled breasts barely moving with each step. Pure hatred filled Casey and before she could go off again he stepped forward and slipped his fingers between the synthetic skin and the hair behind Tula’s left ear then gently peeled it back, revealing the mechanics of his pleasure ‘bot. He stepped back and gave his wife a hard look.

“I told you I owned two pleasure ‘bots.”

“But…but…” she seemed to deflate in front of his eyes, then paled until he was afraid she might pass out. “Oh my God, I’m such a bitch. But why would that woman tell me they were your pleasure servants? Not robots?”

Nast moved forward and replaced the pleasure ‘bot’s skin. “Ula, Tula, go back to your pod.”

“Yes, Master,” the pleasure ‘bots said as one with identical sultry smiles and quickly left the room.

“You were deceived by someone wishing to hurt you. The pleasure ‘bots’ programming was tampered with. They were programed by someone who knew of Earth women’s jealousy issues to say exactly what would hurt you most. What would make you run.”