Her Mate and Master (Zandian Masters 6)

“Anacaya. A carnivorous plant. It normally feeds on sharkhounds or small fieldbeasts.”

“I don’t know what sharkhounds or fieldbeasts are, either.” She laughed, the most musical sound he’d ever heard.

“Sharkhounds are about this high”—he held a hand out at the level of his upper thigh— “and they hunt in packs. Together, they could take us down.” He smiled down at her when she clutched his hand more tightly. “Don’t worry, I’m watching for them. Fieldbeasts are larger but docile, unless you’re a challenging male during mating season. They’re herbivores with large tusks. Very tasty. Are you hungry, starshine?”

“No.” She sounded surprised. “I guess the crystals are working.” She licked her lips, and a shot of a different kind of hunger seeped into his groin. Did she feel it, too? She must, because her gaze flicked across his chest, trailing down to his crotch, where his cock bulged against his pants.

“What is your plan for our escape, exactly?”

“There’s a ship junkyard several planet rotations’ trek from here. I’m hoping we can make one work.”

“That’s your plan?” Incredulity spiked her words.

“What?”

“It’s kind of weak, don’t you think?”

He grinned. “So was my plan for getting you out of the dungeon, but I managed it. The backup is holing up out here in the wild until Prince Zander launches his attack. Then we—I mean, I—join the fight.”

“You can’t contact some being to pick us up?”

He shook his head. “Any form of communication off the planet would tip off the Finn to our location. We’re safest staying silent. No laser gun. No comms unit.”

She muttered something he didn’t catch.

They walked for the first part of the day in a comfortable silence. He used the location of the Zandian star and the river to orient himself and led the way, holding branches and pointing out foot-traps.

“Why do you suppose we haven’t seen any beings? It’s so quiet. Too quiet.”

“Prince Zander sent a ship over to image the planet, and it seems the Finn have centered their attention on mining the area near the capital, where the majority of the crystal is concentrated. After they wiped out the Zandian population, they must have removed their presence from the rest of the planet. We are fortunate. It seems they have not chosen to settle here, only to mine it.”

Talia gazed around. “I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to live here. It’s so beautiful.”

It was foolish, but her appreciation pleased him, as if it meant she might be more willing to align herself with Zander and her species. Join the fight to win back and repopulate the planet.

He gripped her hand to help her over a large rock. When she winced, he kicked himself. He hadn’t seen to his female’s needs.

“Wait, starshine.” He sat on the rock and pulled off his boots then his stockings. “I’d give you my boots, but they wouldn’t fit. You can at least wear these to protect your feet.” He handed her his socks, still damp from the river. “If they don’t disgust you.”

A genuine smile lit her face, striking him square in the chest with its brilliance. Veck, let me earn that smile every planet rotation for the rest of my life.

She accepted the stockings and pulled them on, knotting the fabric in the back at her calves to keep them from slipping down. A rumbling sound of approval made its way out of his throat. “I never knew stockings could be so vecking hot.”

She laughed that musical laugh again, lifting his very being. “That must be the crystals talking, warrior.”

“No,” he swore. “All the holograms of naked Zandian females I jerked my cock to as a youth could not compare to you. Exactly as you are now.”

She put her hand in the center of his chest and gave a gentle shove. “Definitely the crystals. But, keep up the compliments, and I might give you a show later.” She sashayed down the path ahead of him.

He growled, shoving his boots over his bare feet, his gaze following her bare thighs, the hint of her delectable ass beneath his shirt. “You must have forgotten who is master here. I could revoke your clothing privileges again at any time.”

She made a rude Ocretion hand gesture over her shoulder without looking back.

He jogged to catch up and smacked her ass, hard. She jumped forward with a squeal. The scent of her arousal went straight to his cock, which he had to adjust in his combat pants.

He smacked her a few more times as he passed her. “I lead, beautiful.”

She popped him in the ass, and a sharp burst of laughter erupted from him.