Uncomfortable with her head on the ground, she rested it on his shoulder. Then, not hearing any sounds in their vicinity, she relaxed against him, closing her eyes.
“Don’t worry; I’ll protect you if they come back.”
Rubbing her cheek against his shoulder, Raine fell asleep, feeling safer than even before the bombings without knowing why. The man wouldn’t be able to defend himself from the aliens, much less her, if they came back. Despite that realization, she managed to sink into a deep sleep next to him, basically outdoors, where she wouldn’t be surrounded by nine others in a metal vault. Either she had accepted dying was a forgone conclusion, or the man she had found had unknowingly just given her a reason to live.
Chapter 3
Skars
Opening his eyes, Skars stared down at the human woman sleeping trustfully next to him.
Slightly lifting the shoulder her head was lying on, he monitored her reaction to make sure she was truly asleep. Just the small movement had him gasping for air. Seeing no movement from the human, he experimentally drew in a deep breath.
Devil’s piss, his lungs were burning like fire. Getting used to Earth’s atmosphere was taking even longer than he had anticipated. Thank Odin that he had listened to his instinct that their computer was off on the amount of time it would take to acclimate to the atmosphere on Earth. He had argued back and forth with his brother that the meteor shower they had gone through had affected the computer’s readings.
Skars cursed again at the meteor shower that had prevented them from arriving before humans destroyed their planet and the other species beat them to ravage what was left. Giving a snort of disgust at the devastation he had found, he quickly looked to make sure he hadn’t woken the woman.
Exhaustion showed on her sleeping face, even in her deep sleep. Hesitantly, he reached out to touch the wisp of hair curled on her pale cheek. The rest of her mahogany hair had been pulled back into a braid, exposing the delicate face next to his. He shook his head at the woman who had approached him after the Sorn, Volzon, Olggan, and Ferajorin had attacked him.
None of them would have been capable of downing him on their own without dealing a death blow. Instead, they had banded together, despite being sworn enemies. Dead, he was worthless. Alive, he was invaluable.
The only one who had shown true courage was the woman who had thought she was saving his life. If he had been at his full strength, he would have dealt with the Sorn, Volzon, Olggan, and Ferajorin viciously, but until his lungs adapted to the atmosphere, he was only at a fourth of his strength, which was why he was playing unconscious to the woman. He didn’t trust that she wouldn’t use the opportunity to slit his throat when she realized he wasn’t a human male. If she succeeded, his soul would have been lost forever, never to grace the halls of Valhalla.
He touched the wound that was barely a scratch, yet the woman treated it like a death blow. Skars excused the woman for not knowing better. Human males were frail, useless creatures. For several moons, they had watched the weaklings incapably battle the distant species running amok on their planet then resorting to hiding at their failed attempts. None of them had been able to find the weakness, which would have sent the invaders running.
The woman let out a small whimper, snuggling to his side for more warmth. Why had she discarded the skins? Fur lined the inside; they would have provided the warmth she needed.
Taking in another gasp of air, he was beginning to feel the tightness in his chest begin to loosen. In a few more hours, he should be able to breathe easier and return to full strength. If he hadn’t convinced Thorsten to let him come first, before the others in the clan, they would have lost many of their best fighters. As soon as he regained his strength, he would return to the ship, and they could prepare to take what spoils hadn’t yet been taken on Earth.
Experimentally touching her cheek again, he felt her soft skin under his finger. The touch set off a hunger inside of him that he had never felt before.
He removed his hand quickly, as if his brother could see him from the sky above, violating the law of their people. While, if he wanted to take anything from Earth that he wanted of value for merely wanting it, because he was first to land, and alone, that didn’t include women.
Twining a curl of hair around his finger, he figured he technically had not violated their law. Even in the dark of the night, he could see from her hair color that she wasn’t of Viking descent; therefore, he wouldn’t be punished unless she met Reva, the clan’s seeress, and the woman’s bloodline was established as Viking.