Star's Storm(43)
“You are safe now,” she whispered right before the glaze clouded his eyes again.
Jazin reached out and gripped Star by the waist, raising her up until her face was even with his. He crushed his lips against hers in a dark, possessive kiss that burned with barely suppressed desire and violence. Dakar’s voice broke through the heated promise of possession.
“Move,” Dakar yelled out wiping blood from his face as the last man fell to the floor. “Jarmen says Tai Tek has two dozen or more men headed this way.”
Jazin’s head jerked up at the sound of the familiar names. He fought to bring an image into his clouded mind to match the first name but all he could picture where burning amber eyes. He turned, rolling his shoulder and wrapped his large hand around the small wrist. The female’s name had whispered through his mind but he couldn’t remember it now. All he knew was her scent called to him to mate, possess, claim, and kill any who would try to take her from him. Everything in him narrowed down to getting her away from everyone. He had to get her alone, somewhere safe, and when he did he would lay his claim to her.
“He has killed all but Tai Tek and the men he just brought,” Dakar murmured as he pressed his hand to his ear where his comlink was located. “He says they are headed this way and there are at least fifty of them total.”
“Go,” Jazin said with a jerk of his head.
Dakar nodded and stepped over the bodies of the dead guards. Jazin lifted Star into his arms, holding her face against his shoulder as he followed. Some part deep inside him knew that this was not something his mate was used to. Her horror had cut through him as she stared at him. It hurt worse than the injuries to his body. Even as he thought that, he knew his body was healing at a rapid rate. He could actually feel the skin pulling and knitting together. He felt the bones in his ribs shifting and the calcium in his bones bridging the gaps between the broken pieces. He could even feel the blood replicating and replenishing his diminished supply. His mind was a whirlwind of blinding rage and desperate need. Every breath the female took, every sound from her lips, every touch of her skin drove him out of his mind with the need to take her. Her scent alone was enough to make him want to drop to the floor or press her up against a wall and impale her on his throbbing shaft. It was only the part of him that recognized she was in danger that prevented him from doing what his body and mind were demanding. The predators need to protect his mate from danger overrode everything else.
They were almost to the ground level when two dozen well-armed men came at them from what seemed like every direction possible. The resounding roar of the men as they rushed forward was deafening. Dakar and Jazin both responded by pushing the two women in between them. Star quickly loaded the crossbow, firing arrow after arrow into the group of attackers until she had exhausted her limited supply. She pulled the knives River had given her and began throwing them with the deadly accuracy she had learned from River and her parents. When she was down to her last knife, she held it…. waiting. Dakar and Madas were working to keep the guards coming from their front and left from getting any closer while Jazin was moving with lightning speed, cutting a path through the guards coming up from behind them.
Star twirled around when she heard Madas cry out in pain. She watched as her friend fell backwards over the body of a dead guard, blood pouring from a wound in her leg. One of the guards let out a roar and raised his laser sword, preparing to embed it through Madas’ chest. Star screamed as she threw the knife she held tightly in her fist. The blade struck with such force it knocked the man back several steps before he collapsed. Star raced toward where Madas lay on the floor. She scooped up one of the laser swords beside the dead body of another guard and charged forward. Jazin and Dakar where too busy to see what had happened. Star twirled, slicing through the stomach of one attacker before bending almost backwards as another flicked a laser whip through the air. She saw the lighted tail as if it was in slow motion as it arched within centimeters of her chest. She straightened as the tail withdrew. Madas thrust upward with the sword she had clutched in her bloody fist from where she lay on the floor. The man’s screams of pain filled the chamber along with the other sounds. Star stumbled as she made her way over to Madas as two more guards rushed them. Her arms trembled with fatigue but she would never let anyone hurt her friend as long as she was standing. She thrust forward at the same time as one of the guards kicked out, catching her in the stomach with such force that it lifted her off the floor and flung her back several feet where she landed hard on the cold, stone floor.