On a Barbarian World (8 page)

“So, these people…they are all claimed by you?” The thought of these people being slaves didn’t sit well with her.

“No. Many have been with Clan Mal Dor since my father’s time. The rest have petitioned me for protection. Everyone must belong to a clan, or you will be claimed or have to fight to prove your strength. You are the first person I have claimed…in a long time. I already have many people in my clan.” He fingered her hair. “I usually do not try to add more.”

“So, your father gave you the land?”

“No.”

The word was harsh, unyielding. “I didn’t mean to pry. I’m sorry—”

“He was murdered.”

Silence fell. She felt Kavon’s big body, stiff and tense behind her. Aurina swiveled her head and looked up. His face was blank and as rugged as always, but she sensed the deep pain beneath his warrior mask.

“I’m so sorry, Kavon.”

“Drog was the man responsible. One day, I will have my revenge.”

Aurina felt her chest go tight. Drog was sounding like an all-round bastard. “He killed your father.”

“Yes. And because of him, we lost our livelihood. No one wanted to deal with the family of a dishonored warrior. My mother secluded herself in shame. Then my sweet sister, Shawna…”

Aurina’s breath caught.

Kavon looked like his face was carved from stone. “Shawna sickened and I wasn’t able to secure medicine for her. It was not long after Shawna’s death that my mother died in her sleep.”

God. “How horrible.” She pressed a hand to his arm. “I lost my mother. She was all I had.”

A muscle ticked in Kavon’s jaw. “I am sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks. I was an adult, but it still hurt. She raised me, always put me first.”

“An admirable trait. It doesn’t matter how old a child is, the loss of a parent still...” His voice trailed off as his gaze shifted to the horizon. “Drog will pay. I have dreamt of killing him for many, many years…but I have a plan for a much more satisfying revenge.”

His dark tone made Aurina shiver. “What do you mean?”

“I have been working for years to complete my plan. Become the best warrior I can, gain favor with our king, build Clan Mal Dor to be bigger, more profitable, stronger than Clan Mal Sull. I will make Mal Dor the king’s favorite clan and bring all of Drog’s unsavory practices to light. He is a shame to the warrior code.”

She’d heard the old Earth saying that revenge was a dish best served cold. It sounded like Kavon’s was icy. She couldn’t begin to comprehend the control and discipline required.

“And finding this sword, Durendal, that’s a part of your plan?”

Kavon nodded, his gaze staring ahead. “It would be a great honor, and secure the king’s favor for eternity.”

Okay, then. No pressure.

Kavon brought the hargon beast to a stop on the rise of a hill. To one side, beyond the farmland, she saw the sprawling mass of gray rock that was his estate. To the other side, they had a perfect view of the Darken Wilds and its vicious peaks.

“You can get a good view of my mine entrances from here.” He pointed.

She sat forward eagerly. Damn, he must have good eyesight. She could barely make out the entrances high on the mountainside.

Scanning the hill, she saw the fascinating bands of rock that made up the mountain in shades of gray and deep red.

“The red rock must be the one holding your metal ore. What about the gems? What type of rock hosts them?”

Kavon raised a brow. “No woman has ever asked me about rock before.”

She felt heat in her cheeks. “I like geology…I told you, I collect gems. I often find interesting things when I’m scouting.”

He stared down at her. “I will introduce you to the head of my mines.”

“Thank you. I’d like to meet him.”

“Her.”

She smiled. “Her.”

“And you will share any knowledge that might be useful.”

It wasn’t a question. Aurina felt a sting under her ribs. Kavon was a driven man, and she got the impression he’d use whatever he had at his disposal to further his clan and beat Drog…including her.

He told her a bit more about his land and his clan. She heard the deep pride buried in his words. There was one thing Aurina didn’t doubt—Kavon was dedicated to protecting and providing for his people.

They continued on, and Kavon stopped to speak with some of his workers in the fields. Very quickly, he sorted out some sort of problem at the mills. Soon, he turned the beast back toward the estate. Aurina noted with some surprise that the sun was setting already.

Time had flown while they toured Kavon’s lands, and she suspected the day was a little shorter here. Kavon pulled Tarm to a stop outside his house. He slid off the beast in a practiced move and before she could dismount, he gripped her waist and lifted her down.

They stood there, close together.

“Thank you for showing me your land,” she said. “And distracting me.”

He just looked at her and didn’t say anything.

She shot him a wry smile. “I knew you were taking my mind off things.”

His golden eyes flashed. “I am a warlord. I don’t have time to coddle anyone. Come. The evening meal will be ready.”

He led her into the house, calling out hellos to people. Aurina endured the speculative and curious looks. She got it. She’d seen the people today. Everyone was tall and lean, with dark hair, and everyone had that gorgeous, dark-bronze tint to their skin. She looked completely different.

She heard the hubbub of conversation, punctuated by booming laughter. Kavon strode into a great hall, with a high, soaring roof and long tables lined up in rows. He led her to a smaller, carved table that sat, elevated above the rest, at the front of the hall.

Conversation quieted, many heads turning in their direction.

Kavon waved his free hand at his people. “Eat.”

The conversation ratcheted up a notch and most people went back to their meals.

“Sit.” He waved at the leather chair beside his.

Aurina crossed her arms. “Barbarian.”

He sank into his chair and eyed her. Then he sighed. “Sit, please.”

She smiled and sat. Instantly, two women and a man appeared, setting plates and cups down before them.

Aurina stared at her plate in horror. It was a meat of some description…and it looked awfully raw. “Ah, Kavon, what is this?”

“Fagar meat. A delicacy.” He forked some of his own into his mouth.

Aurina picked up her fork, made of a lustrous silver metal that reflected with a rainbow sheen. She made a mental note to ask Kavon about it later. It would be excellent to trade. Right now, she was preoccupied with the meat. She lifted it. It flopped a little, and wasn’t cooked at all. “Why isn’t it cooked?”

“It tastes better raw.”

Her stomach turned over. She liked meat perfectly fine…when it was cooked. She lived on a ship most of the time and either ate well-cooked food, food printer offerings, or cloned rations when she had to. She did not eat raw meat of unknown origins.

Kavon shoved another plate closer. This was filled with a pile of something that looked like rice and topped with delicious-smelling vegetables. She suddenly realized she was starving, and stabbed at the vegetables. After one tentative bite, amazing flavors exploded in her mouth, and she groaned. She scooped up some more.

Kavon, in the process of pulling her plate of uncooked meat closer to him stilled, watching her lips as she ate. “Woman, you make a noise like that again and I’ll have you finish the rest of your meal in my lap.”

Desire flared to life and made her breath catch. “I wouldn’t let you.”

He leaned closer. “No one
allows
a warlord anything. I do as I see fit. I am a fair and protective leader, Aurina, but I am also a warrior, and I have my limits.” His voice lowered. “I am being understanding with you, as a stranger who is unaware of our customs. But do not push me too far.”

“Or what?” she asked.
Oh, Aurina, just keep your mouth shut, girl.

He moved closer still. He picked up something else, this time a piece of juicy fruit a color between orange and strawberry red. He rubbed it across her lips and she licked it, tasting the sweet flavor.

“Or, I will take you back to my rooms, strip you naked, and rub the mata fruit all over your sweet skin. Then I will take my time licking it off. But it will be for my pleasure, not yours. I would see you writhe with need as punishment for your disobedience.”

When Aurina could speak, she leaned closer, running her finger over her lips. “Barbarian, I obey no one. I am my own woman, and your customs do not change that. I will respect the fact that you are the leader here, and I will try not to do something in public that causes you grief. But behind closed doors, I do as I please. I will not writhe for you unless I damn well want to. And you will not touch me unless I want you to. You’ve already banished a man for that, so don’t tell me you’d do the same thing.”

“There is one large difference.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“You want me to touch you.”

She pulled back, hissing out a breath. “You are so arrogant.”

“I see the desire in your eyes when you look at me. I feel it pulse between us, I’ve felt it growing all day. I want to see your sunset hair spread on my sheets. And I
will
suck the mata juice from your skin soon…from the delicate skin between your legs.”

Aurina felt a shot of heat arrow down to the juncture of her thighs. She turned her attention back to her dinner and tried to soothe her jumping belly. “Just eat, barbarian.”

“No witty remarks now?”

She barely resisted stabbing him with her fork, or kicking him under the table. Instead, she resumed eating and turned her attention to the hall.

People were still watching them. Or rather, watching her. She figured she’d be old news after a day or two.

“Try this.” Kavon set a piece of…something on her plate. Cooked meat, she decided. She speared it with her fork and ate it.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, that is good.”

“It is—”

She touched a finger to his lips. “No, don’t tell me. It’ll probably ruin it. Let me enjoy it, and tell me later.”

A rusty laugh burst out of him. That made her smile.

When she looked back at the hall, people were staring at Kavon with shocked gazes, as though he’d grown a second head. She guessed he didn’t laugh much.

Not much later, as Aurina was enjoying a drink she guessed was some sort of juice, a woman sauntered up to them.

She was tall, with a lean figure encased in a leather corset and a white skirt that had a high slit on one side flashing a slender thigh. Colorful scarves had been braided into her long dark hair. She stopped and bowed her head. “Warlord, I wanted to see if you had need of me tonight.”

Kavon sat back. “No, Lali, I told you the other evening, I’d have no need of you again.”

The woman’s face tightened and she glanced at Aurina. “But surely you don’t lie with this…ugly creature. She is short, and round, and odd.”

Aurina raised a brow.

Kavon stiffened, his eyes turning bright gold. “Lali, you apologize to my guest for your rudeness.”

The woman shifted, the whip of his voice making her drop her gaze. “I am sorry, Warlord.”

“To Aurina, not me.”

The woman shot Aurina a mutinous look. “My apologies.”

Aurina barely refrained from rolling her eyes at one of the most insincere apologies she’d ever received. Instead, Aurina nodded.

The woman’s gaze widened. “Does she not speak?”

Aurina released a breath. “I speak just fine. I just don’t have much to say to you. You’re a stranger, and you’re being rude to me for your own reasons, which really have nothing to do with me. And I think they might be having the opposite effect to what you’d intended.” She nodded her head toward Kavon’s set face.

The woman glanced at Kavon and blanched. She turned and melded back into the hall.

More servers bustled over, clearing empty plates and setting new ones down. Aurina didn’t miss how the female servers brushed past Kavon to ensure he got perfect shots of their cleavage as they leaned over. This time, she couldn’t help it—she rolled her eyes.

Finally, Kavon ordered them all to leave, and they flitted away.

“Does everyone obey your orders?”

“Yes.”

She leaned in. “I won’t.”

“I’m coming to understand that.” Kavon pushed a bowl filled with some creamy white substance toward her. “Try this now.”

“I’m pretty full.”

“You’ll like it.”

She took a spoonful and groaned again. “Oh, that is good.” She savored the creamy, spicy flavor. She looked up, and again people were staring at them with wide-eyes. “Why is everyone looking at us like we just danced on the table naked?”

Kavon shot her a small smile. “It is nothing.” He waved a hand at a man with a large jug hovering nearby. The man hurried forward and filled their glasses. “Ale?”

“I’m more an Interstellar martini girl, myself.” She shrugged and took the ceramic mug. “But, when on a barbarian world…” She took a large sip.

The ale packed a punch. It was somehow fruity and spicy at once, and warmed her belly. Whoa, she’d have to be careful not to have too much. But, damn, it was nice to just relax a little. It had been a hell of a few days.

Kavon kept pushing small delicacies her way. After a few more sips of ale, tiredness started to drag on her. She smothered a yawn.

Kavon stood, his giant chair scraping on the stone floor. “You are tired.”

“Yes, I am.”

“You’ll rest now.”

Aurina let out a breath. “
Ask
, barbarian.”

He leaned down, that rugged face of his close. “When it comes to your care and safety, I will not ask. I will do what is best for you.”

His big body was so close and it was adding to the warmth already generated by the ale. “And you think you know what is best for me?”

“I am a warlord.”

“That’s not an answer,” she said on an annoyed hiss. “
I
know what’s best for me.”

“Come.” He held out a hand.

She hesitated, but she’d agreed not to make any scenes in public. She slapped her hand into his.

He tugged her out of the hall, and she saw a few warriors elbowing each other as they left. Aurina didn’t really care what they thought.