Mate Her (8 page)

They stared at each other for a few seconds, and
then she found the courage to ask him. “Can I go with you?”

“You want to go with me to fetch water?”

She nodded. “Yes. I just want to get out of here,
see the planet that is my new home, and clear my head.”

He didn’t respond for a moment, and then exhaled.
“That is not a good idea,
Minka
. It is dangerous out
there—”

“I trust you,” she said without hesitance, and she
did, with her life.

He shook his head, turned his back to her, and the
silence once again intensified.

“I do trust you,
Lukin
,
but I have to get out of this cave. I feel like my life is unraveling right
before me.”

He faced her again, and then breathed out as if he
were relenting. “I should let my brothers know, because they wouldn’t want me
t
take you…” He ran a hand over his hair and looked at the
cave entrance. “But they would say you shouldn’t go, and I can see you
desperately need to.”

She nodded slowly.

“I’m going to get in trouble if they find
out.But
would you like to see something?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

He nodded, but didn’t verbally respond further.
Lukin
held his hand out, and she looked down at the rugged,
calloused, and large offering.
Minka’s
heart was
racing, but she shifted the hide off of her and placed it on the rock counter
beside her. She slipped her hand in his, and her heart seemed to increase its
rapid tempo. He grinned, and the sight of his straight white teeth, and those
wicked looking fangs flashed in the darkness.

“You’re brave.”

She didn’t know what that meant exactly, aside from
the obvious, but
Minka
had a feeling it meant
something different. Maybe because she was putting her trust in this male, her
very life in fact, and that he was making it known that she was strong for
going with him? She needed to stop analyzing things and just go with it all. He
started to lead them out of the cave and into the tunnel, but she tugged at his
hand until he stopped.

He glanced over his shoulder.
“Second
thoughts?”

She shook her head and glanced down at herself. “I’m
only wearing this shift. Is that fine for whatever you have planned?” She was
also barefoot, but she supposed wherever he wanted to take her would require
him to carry her as she couldn’t possible walk comfortably or safely on the
rocks.

“I’ll be flying us to where we need to go, so no
worries on your appearance.” He turned and led her out of the cave. Once out of
the cave she was surprised that it wasn’t unbearably hot as it was during the
day.
Lukin
pulled her closer, but she placed a hand
on his bare chest, stopping him. He glanced down at her, looking curious.
“Frightened?”

Minka
stared at her surroundings. The sky was
pitch
black,
but the view was phenomenal. What made the sight amazing
was
the fires that burned brightly all around them. The lava that made creeks and
running streams below her bubbled and popped with fire. The forest in the
distance looked amazing as only the branches were lit with the orange and red
flames.

“Wow.” She glanced at
Lukin
,
saw that he stared at her intently, and then he squeezed her hand gently and
pulled her close to him. Her chest pressed to his, and the muscles that lay
beneath his skin flexed from the contact. She swallowed again, feeling this
arousal start to claim her as she stared into his onyx colored eyes.

“This isn’t what I want to show you,” he said low,
deep, and she felt his words right on her clit. He inhaled deeply, made this
low rumble, and then in the next second they were airborne.

Minka
clutched at him, but she knew he wouldn’t let her fall. He had shifted her
right before he took off so her back was to his chest, and his arms were
tightly wound around her belly. His wings made greats gusts of wind around
them, but it was the feel of his claws lightly pressing into her body, and of
the danger that lay right below her that had her alight with anticipation. This
was frightening as much as it was exciting, and all she could do was
take
it all in.

Minka
didn’t know how long they flew, swooping low and taking turns around the giant
mountains and crevices that lay between them, but soon she had her eyes closed
and her arms out. She could almost imagine herself flying alone, of taking in
this freedom that she had only dreamed about. He soon landed though, and when
she touched her feet against the cool, smooth surface, she finally opened her
eyes. Right in front of her was this massively large ocean, or at least she
assumed it was. But there was no vast body of water, but of flames that danced
along the lava.

“It’s…” She couldn’t finish the sentence, because
she didn’t know how to put it in words.

“It’s something, isn’t it,” he said without phrasing
it as a question.

“I’ve never even dreamed of something like this.”
She looked up at him, and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close.

“It’s the
Baltinka
Ocean,
the largest body of lava on Hades.”

“There isn’t any water on your planet?” she said but
still stared at the lava and flames.

“There is some deep within the mountains, but it’s
minimal, and anything that is out in this climate evaporates far too quickly to
be of any use. Besides, Hades warriors don’t need much water to survive. But
there is one mountain in particular where we gather what water we do need, and
after this I’ll take you there and show you the
Rubina
gems that we sometimes extract to barter with.”

The waves crashed along the sharp, black stone
shore. And then right in front of her this giant beast erupted from the
surface, his frighteningly large scaled body, and razor sharp teeth coming into
view. It was a monster, a creature that looked gruesome and right out of her
nightmares. It crashed back into the lava, and then another jumped out. The
sounds they made had her ears ringing.

“They’re hungry, and looking for food,”
Lukin
said and held her tighter. They were far from the
shore of this horrid scene, but still he kept her safe, held onto her, and she
knew he wouldn’t let anything hurt her.

“Surely making those god-awful sounds will have its
food going in the other direction?” she said and stared at the ocean of
monsters.

“Yes, but they are desperate now, and calling others
like them. Soon there will be hundreds of the beasts to scour the ocean and
hunt down prey.”

A chill ran up her spine despite the heat. God, this
place had unspeakable beings living on it. Compared to them she was this
weakling
,a
fragile human. And to
think that the Hades males were the predators on this planet, even to those
fearsome beasts crashing above the surface of the fire water. “It’s certainly a
sight, that’s for sure, but it scares the hell out of me.”

Lukin
turned her around so she was facing him, and cupped her cheek. “Do I scare you
as much as these creatures and my world do?”

She didn’t respond for a moment, and then licked her
dry lips and glanced down at his mouth. This low noise left him, like he could
sense how much that was, in fact, the opposite of how she felt for him and his
brothers.

“No, you don’t frighten me,” she said softly. He
started stroking her cheeks with his thumbs, his hands so big and strong, yet
cupping her face gently. He stared right into her eyes, and despite the things
going around them, the danger that presented itself,
Lukin
started to lean forward. She wanted this, wanted his lips on hers, his kiss
taking everything else away, and to have her getting lost in everything else
that wasn’t right here and now. His mouth was on hers seconds later, and he
speared his hand in her hair, keeping her stationed for his ministrations.
Minka
could just focus on the two of them, and that nothing
else mattered, but as he swept his tongue along hers, the sound of scraping
behind her had
Lukin
thrusting her behind
himinstantly
, the arousal leaving her right away.

Minka
looked behind his massive shoulder, and saw this winged creature crawling up
the side of the mountain, right toward them. The flames provided her with
enough light that she could see one of its wings was sliced in half, barely
hanging on. This black substance, which she assumed was blood, dripped out of
this gaping wound in its boney, spike-like head. It stopped a few feet from
them, and this hissing, screeching noise came from it. It was loud and ear-piercing,
and
Minka
forced herself not to cry out from the
sound.

Lukin
grabbed a blade that he had tucked in his boot, and pushed her back another
inch. “You stay back. Do not move to draw attention to yourself, and everything
will be okay,” he said but didn’t look at her. “It’s injured, confused, and on
any other occasion wouldn’t dare confront a warrior. It’s unstable, and I don’t
know how it will react.”

The creature hissed, and more goo came out of its
mouth to land on the rock beneath it. She didn’t move, didn’t even breathe for
that matter, but when the creature lunged forward she stumbled over a rock. She
crashed down, and stars danced in front of her vision as her head slammed back
against the hard ground. She opened her eyes, but remembered
Lukin
told her to stay still. Everything inside of her
screamed to move and ease the pain, but she tried to breathe through it all.
The rock that was piercing her flesh wasn’t nearly as painful as her head that
throbbed, but she forced herself to stay still. The sight before her was
fantastical as it was frightening.

Lukin
was slashing out with his blade, cutting the beast like it was nothing more
than a nuisance. With the light flickering over his massive body, and the blood
from the beast splashing on his nude chest, even if
Minka
wanted to move she wouldn’t have been able to. Watching him fight, cut into the
animal’s scaly and oily flesh, and hearing the roars come from
Lukin
, had this power moving through her. It was strange to
be injured, and to have this danger right in front of her, but to also feel
drawn to it all. Bracing her hands on the rock, she felt a razor sharp piece
dig into her skin. The pain was indescribable, and she hissed out softly. But
the beast heard the sound regardless, and lunged past
Lukin
to get to her. Right when it was inches from her
Lukin
brought his blade to its spindly neck, decapitating it. Blood sprayed on her
chest and face, and she stared at the lifeless body and ghastly head just
inches from her. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she tried to calm
herself, or at least not cry from her emotions.

Boots stepped into her line of vision, and then she
was in
Lukin’s
arms. He didn’t say anything, but he
was tense, and the scent of the animal’s blood that covered them both had her
nearly retching.

“Are you okay,
mate
?”

She nodded and rested her head on his chest. “I’ll
be okay.”

“Fuck,
Minka
, I shouldn’t
have taken you out of the cave, and not without telling my brothers.” He
sounded angry, and she knew it was because he was upset with himself.

“It wasn’t your fault, and you did protect me,
Lukin
.”

He curled his hands into her body and kissed the top
of her head. “We will get you healed as soon as we have you back in the cave.”
He held her tighter, and his voice had gone deadly hard. “But my brothers are
going to kick my ass, and rightly so.”

She knew everything would be okay, but what would
Brawn and
Thorque
say when they realized what had
happened? She was just as much to blame as
Lukin
.
Minka
had willingly left the cave, but she knew she had
never been in any real danger, and aside from her head and cut palms,
Lukin
had protected her from the real threat.

Chapter Seven

They arrived at the cave, and
Lukin
kept her in his arms as he moved through the tunnels. Aside from her head
hurting and her palms scraped up she was okay. But
Lukin
refused to allow her to walk, and she would be lying if she didn’t admit that
she liked being in his arms. They entered the main part of the cave, and she
instantly saw Brawn and
Thorque
. They stood side by
side, dressed in their leathers and boots, and having fierce and angry
expressions on their faces.

“What the fuck,
Lukin
,”
Brawn growled out and moved forward.

“Wait, it was my fault for leaving, too.” She
shifted in
Lukin’s
arms until he set her down, and
then took a step toward Brawn. He was staring at
Lukin
,
and his rage was tangible. “Please, it wasn’t his fault. He was leaving to get
more water, and I asked to go with him to get out and see what my new home was
like. I wanted to leave. It was nice, up until…” She shrugged.