Chapter 2
She dreamed of a polar bear. Massive and frightening, it blurred and shifted, somehow turning into the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Unfortunately, the man was also frightening. His white-blond hair glinted in the wavering sunlight while his coal-black eyes tracked her like a predator after prey. She squirmed under his gaze, uncertain how to proceed.
Neither of them wore any clothes, and they stood in a great green forest. He towered over her, forcing her to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact as he drew closer. Without warning, he thrust a huge hand into her hair and drew her forward, slanting his mouth over hers, muffling her weak protest against his lips. Hot excitement spun through her, dampening her pussy, making it clench with want. Her breath rushed out, panting against his lips as their kisses grew more urgent. His heavy masculine scent caressed her nose. She couldn’t explain her fierce reaction, but she didn’t want to, was content to follow his lead.
He forced her back into a snowbank, his big body heating her front as he came down on top of her. Her legs parted to accommodate him, and she gripped his shoulders to pull him closer. She wanted him. She wanted him now. Her fingers slid down his smooth chest, flicking over his flat nipples. He reciprocated by closing his mouth over the tip of her breast and drawing on it strongly. She moaned, sucking in frigid air as her body raged with unbearable heat. Her fingers tangled in his pale hair. The dense, silky texture was unlike anything she’d ever felt before.
Spreading wet kisses up her chest, he bit the side of her neck. She jumped at the sharp sensation, and then tilted her jaw to allow him greater access. The head of his cock rubbed against her pussy lips, probing for entrance. Lifting her hips, she forced him into her. Her slick sex stretched to admit his huge length, making her moan as he thrust deeper and harder, again and again. She wrapped her legs around him, moving with him, their combined body heat melting the cold snow. Hot pleasure came in rolling waves, building—
She jerked awake, still shivering with unspent desire. Panting for breath, she waited for her heart to stop pounding. The dream repeated in her mind. She frowned. She’d never fantasized anything like that before. Not ever. She’d always controlled the sexual encounters with her ex-husband, however unsatisfying those encounters had been for both of them.
Putting thoughts of her sad love life aside, she focused on her surroundings. Gray-striped pelts lined a massive bed, cocooning her in warmth. A fire crackled in a stone hearth, reflecting light in a round room. Leaning forward and twisting her head around, she saw the only entrance was an arched wooden door right next to her bed. The entire room looked like something out of a medieval holostory, except the walls were smooth and curved with laser precision. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to blink away the remnants of her dream. Where was she now? Pinching herself hard, she winced. Definitely awake. Well, this was a far better scenario than the last time she’d been conscious, when she’d dropped into hypothermia. At least she was warm and sheltered. Lethargy weighed her limbs. She must have been given painkillers of some sort, because her feet ached a little, but not as much as they should. When she tried wiggling her toes, she found they were too swollen to move. Tugging the huge pelt up, she saw that someone had wrapped them in neat bandages.
The sweet, high-pitched sound of a child’s giggle pierced the quiet as a little head poked up from the foot of her bed. Maybe six years old, the girl was paler than a moonbeam, her dark gaze dancing with merry laughter.
“You’re awake.” An odd accent spiced the child’s voice, but she was speaking Earthan Standard. Curiouser and curiouser.
Jain decided to gather as much information as she could from the only human she’d seen since she landed on this planet. “Hello. Where am I?”
“Sea Den.”
“Seaden?” She raked her memory for a city called Seaden. Nothing came to her.
“What’s your name?”
“I’m Miki. Who are you?”
“Miki, that’s a pretty name. My name is Jain Roberts.”
“My brother’s name is Nukilik.”
“And how old is Nukilik?”
“We’re both seven.”
“Seven! That’s very grown-up.”
Miki nodded, sending her cloud of hair flying. Her smile showed an adorable gap in her front teeth.
Jain found herself smiling back. “And what about your parents? What are their names?”
“Mama’s dead. And Papa’s name is—”
“Lord Kesuk.” A sub-bass voice boomed from the door. “That’s enough, Miki. You know you’re not supposed to be in here. Go find your nurse.”
Miki’s little face scrunched up in consternation. “I forgot, Papa.”
“We’ll discuss that later. Go on.” Disapproval laced his deep tone.
Miki scurried away, pausing at the door to give Jain a jaunty little wave goodbye.
Jain tucked the furs under her armpits and attempted to sit up, not wanting to meet the man flat on her back. After a few moments, she admitted defeat. She didn’t have the strength to rise. The bed dipped and a large hand settled between her shoulder blades, supporting her with ease, while another hand brought a cup of steaming liquid to her mouth. Her stomach growled, distracting her as she realized she was starving. She cupped her hands around the mug he offered and sipped at the hot liquid.
“Oooh, that’s good.” It tasted like some kind of spicy chicken stew. She turned to thank Miki’s father and came nose-to-nose with the man from her dream. Her very explicit dream. Her heart skipped a beat before racing ahead at a gallop when she realized he was naked to the waist. He wore gray leather pants and laced moccasins, but his chest was bare and as smooth as she’d imagined. His hair was damp, but she’d bet when it dried it was the same silver-blond she recalled. Her mouth felt suddenly dry, and she drank more of the broth to stall a moment so she could collect herself before speaking. “Th-thank you.”
“You are welcome.” His gaze dropped to her lips as he spoke, his hand burning against the bare skin of her back.
She flushed under his scrutiny, smoothing her hand across the pelts, fully aware that she was naked. “What is this place?”
His eyes narrowed, assessing her. “You are not addled.”
“Well, I may have hit my head in the crash, but I think I’m all right now.” Had he just insinuated that she was stupid? Not knowing where she was made her geographically challenged, damn it, not moronic. It wasn’t as though she’d crashed the spaceship. She was just a passenger, not the pilot. Who the hell was he to call her stupid? So, fine, he was huge and intimidating and gorgeous, but that didn’t make him some kind of super-genius. She really didn’t need to deal with some rude jackass today. Things were already bad enough without any help from him. She squelched her anger as she always did, pulling back from feeling too much. She pasted on a bright smile. “Were you the one who rescued me?”
“I did.” Rising, he folded massive arms, triceps standing out in relief. He shifted, raised an eyebrow, and seemed to be waiting for something.
“Um…thank you?” She gritted her teeth over the sentence, hating even the slightest admission that she was incapable. She hated that she’d needed saving at all. She could take care of herself when things went according to her meticulous plans.
He grunted. “What clan are you, and how did you come to my land?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t toy with me, little bear.” He stalked closer to the bed, looming over her.
She shrank back into the pillows. “I…I’m not from a clan. Am I in Scotland?” Relief sang through her. This explained everything. Her spacecraft had landed back on Earth. Someone could tell her why her ship had crashed and if anyone else had survived. Clans, indeed. “I was on my way to Aquatilis.”
He snarled, his upper lip curling in disgust. “The fish people.”
Assuming he must be one of the purists so adamant about not mixing human genes with animal, she sighed. This would be an ugly argument. She put on her best lecturing teacher face. “It’s necessary for the survival of humanity to adapt to the conditions of other planets before the sun dies. Gene-splicing is the best way to make that happen.”
Shock flashed across his face for a moment, followed by swift calculation. “You are Earthan?”
“Of course I’m Earthan. What else would I be?”
He leaned against the footboard, staring at her in complete disbelief. It was the most human expression she’d seen on his face since he’d walked in the door. “You left Earth before the sun died? That was a ship that exploded?”
“Yes, of course it—wait, what do you mean before the sun died? Scientists say it will be around for at least another hundred years.” What the hell was going on here?
“No, our loremasters teach that the sun died too soon. All but the humans on the four experimental planets perished. That was nearly five hundred Turns ago.” He watched her closely, waiting for her reaction, something akin to awe in his dark eyes.
Shock and doubt roared through her. Her ears buzzed, making her sway. “That isn’t funny.”
“It is not a jest, little bear.”
“This is a joke. A horrible joke. It isn’t funny! I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing, but I want my brother. Right now, do you hear me? Right now.”
He clamped his hands over her shoulders and shook her in short little jolts. Then he wrapped his fingers around her jaw, forcing her to meet his steady gaze. “Calm yourself.”
“Five hundred years…no, that can’t be. I’m supposed to meet my brother on Aquatilis. He works there. He…he’s my only family. The only one I have left. Please…please, tell me it’s a mistake.” She tried to jerk from his grasp, but he was too strong. Hot tears flooded her eyes, and she choked to fight them back. She couldn’t cry in front of this emotionless man who’d just ripped her whole life away with a single sentence.
He released her, stroking the skin along her jaw. “I’m not sure how it’s possible, but it is true.”
“It’s not. I won’t believe it.” Irrational, unreasonable rage pounded through her, made her glare at him. She knew this wasn’t his fault, but he was the only one here to blame. Everything was spinning out of control, and that couldn’t happen. This was unacceptable.
A stoic sigh escaped his lips. He bent and gathered her furs tight around her and scooped her off the bed, lifting her as if she were a small child.
“What do you think you’re doing? Don’t touch me.” She wriggled to get down.
“Be still,” he snapped. “I’m hardly going to molest you. Invalids and simpletons do not arouse me.”
“I am not a simpleton.” She tugged her left arm free of the pelts and wrapped it around his neck.
“Then stop acting the part. We have a long way to walk, and you cannot travel the distance on your own.”
She glowered at him but remained still. Where the hell was he taking her? Why couldn’t he just tell her what was going on? She fisted her fingers in the furs. Anger simmered through her at one more thing slipping away from her control. She hated that he was right. She couldn’t get far by herself, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of admitting it.
He chuckled. “Stubborn little bear.”
“I’m not a bear. I’m full human.”
With each of his strides, her left breast brushed against his chest. Though she wasn’t cold, goose bumps shivered over her skin. The friction of each brush of her naked shoulder against his smooth chest seemed exaggerated. Excitement twisted through her, heating her blood until her heart pounded. Her nipples peaked and she was grateful for the camouflage of the thick furs. She tried to control her breathing, but his scent filtered in with every breath. She fought the urge to bury her nose against his neck and breathe deeply. Yeah, that would go over well. Actually, it might and that in itself could be a problem. He rolled his shoulder, and her arm slid across his skin. Oh, God. Just that small movement was enough to make her hyperaware of every inch of her body pressed against his hard muscles.
“Never think for a moment that I don’t remember you are unique. You are nothing like my people.”
Whispering erupted up and down the cave corridor as they walked through an intricate system of tunnels until she had no idea how far they’d gone. Pale-featured people with dark eyes stared at her from wide rooms and stone hallways. She shrank into Kesuk’s chest, avoiding eye contact, feeling their gazes on her as they passed. Shafts of light pierced the gloom from small openings overhead no wider than her fist. Glass capped the holes and made the light reflect and spread.
A bend in the corridor showed an opening so narrow Kesuk had to turn sideways to get through it. The cold slammed into her like a wall of ice once they cleared the protection of the cave. She quickly pulled her arm back inside the pelts, snuggling up against him for warmth. How did he manage to go shirtless? He didn’t even seem to notice the frigid wind buffeting them. A guard stood on either side of the entrance. They nodded to Kesuk but stared at her until he grunted at them; then they snapped to attention and resumed scanning the landscape.
“What are they looking for?”
“Predators and enemies.” They crested a rise, and Kesuk spun them in a slow circle. “Look around you.”
“Predators?” she squeaked. “What kind of predators?” This place got worse? She swiveled her head around, trying to see anything dangerous. Jagged mountain peaks covered in snow and a type of tree she’d never seen before soared toward the brilliant blue sky. These trees weren’t firs or spruce or any other kind of evergreen she knew of, but they were a rich leafy green against the pure white snow. How was that even possible? It looked like something from an Amazonian rainforest. In the middle of Antarctica.
Nothing but a light breeze seemed to be moving, so she started to relax. They were safe. Then Kesuk’s whole body tensed, and his nostrils flared as he raised his nose to sniff the air. A quick glance back at the guards had them standing at alert on either side of Kesuk, spears in their hands.
“What’s happening?” She turned back to look at Kesuk.
“An enemy.”
“Who—”
“Shh.”
She scanned the tree line in vain, searching for the enemy he spoke of. Straining her eyes, she still couldn’t see anything but trees, rocks, and snow. Unease fluttered in her belly.
Suddenly, a large black figure broke through the underbrush. “It’s a black bear!” she cried.
“Yes, it’s a Black.” Kesuk’s lips pulled back in a small snarl.
“Is it dangerous?” She flicked her gaze between Kesuk and the enormous bear lumbering toward them through the thick snowbanks.
When the bear reared up on its hind legs and roared, she squeaked and tried to climb Kesuk. Her arm slid back around his neck in a stranglehold.
“Easy, little bear,” he soothed, his gaze never leaving the bear.
A horrific sucking noise sounded as the bear seemed to shrink, his bones snapping and retracting, the hair disappearing from his legs until a huge, dark-skinned man stood before them. A very nude man. She choked, still squeezing the life out of Kesuk, unable to believe what she’d just seen. A shape-shifting bear! There were only supposed to be fish-shifters on Aquatilis. No experiments had ever been conducted with large predators.
The stranger’s black eyes gleamed with avarice as they swept over her, lingering on her bare arm and the upper curve of her breast. She retracted her limb into the pelts, trying to cover as much skin as possible. This man was dangerous, that much she knew, and Kesuk didn’t seem to like him. He swaggered forward, his gaze never leaving her.
“That’s far enough. What news from Meadow Den?” Kesuk’s deep growl sounded even lower than usual.
“So the rumor is true, then? A real human.”
“She crashed on my land.”
“Does she have a name?”
“Mine.” Kesuk’s voice was flat and brooked no argument.
The dark man grinned, his teeth flashing in an ugly yellow line as he took another step forward. His penis twitched and rose into a huge erection as he leered at her. “I’d offer an exchange. Three of yours for her.”
An exchange? The man was trying to buy her? Three of Kesuk’s what? What did they barter with here? Oh, God, he wouldn’t give her to the disgusting man, would he? Her stomach executed a slow pitch and roll. After all, what did she know about her rescuer? Feeling light-headed, she started to gag a little, horrified by what the black bear might do to her. Rape at the very least. After he was done with her, would he pass her off to his men? She swallowed hard. If he had even half as many followers as she’d seen in the caves—she cut herself off, ruthlessly suppressing her panic. She couldn’t even let herself think it.
Kesuk’s arms tightened around her, and she turned into his shoulder, pressing her forehead against his collarbone, struggling to pull air into her dry throat. She was going to vomit, she just knew it.
“She is not for barter.” Kesuk growled low, his chest vibrating with the sound. She looked up in time to see enormous fangs begin to slide out of his mouth. Kesuk was a bear, too? Realization hit her right between the eyes.
He was the polar bear in her dream.
Whipping her head around, she saw that the bear had come even closer. She froze, refusing to cower because she had nowhere to go.
“Five of your people for the little tasty.”
An inhuman roar exploded from Kesuk, his fangs fully emerging, long, curved, and deadly. Clenching her teeth, she fisted her hands in the pelts to keep from screaming.
“Get off my land, Black. I have no more use for you.”
Kesuk’s guards raised their spears and began circling the man. He snorted at them but backed away, folding over onto all fours and shifting into his bear form as he ran. She shivered at the sickening noise the change made.
After the black bear left, Kesuk shifted her in his arms. “Believe me now, Jain Roberts? Is this the planet you knew? Is this the water world you intended to land on? Are we the advanced people you lived among all your life?” His questions hammered at her disbelief. She’d used his physical presence as a distraction before, but this…this she couldn’t deny. This wasn’t Earth. This wasn’t Aquatilis, and she’d seen nothing so far to indicate the type of technology she was used to. And the black bear she’d just witnessed change shouldn’t even exist. At least not yet, not in her time.
“Take me back to my room,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the bright snowy-white day, so at odds with the black empty void yawning inside of her.
She held herself together during the interminable walk back to her round chamber, focusing on not thinking about what had happened to everyone she knew. How terrified they all must have been when the sun died too soon, the horrible deaths they’d faced. Kesuk deposited her in the wide bed, tucking the soft pelts around her. Everything that had happened since the crash hit her in one relentless wave after another. She couldn’t take it all in, and the truth overwhelmed her. She twisted away from him. Jesus, she hated losing control in front of people. Burying her face in the furs, she tried to stifle the sobs she couldn’t stop.
“I’m sorry.” His hand cupped the back of her head, stroking her hair gently.
“Please, leave me alone for a while.”
“I will return soon. We have much to discuss.”
He moved away from the bed, leaving her cold and bereft. She didn’t know what to do, what to think. Never intending to return to Earth, she’d left everything behind to join her brother on the Aquatilis colony. Pressure built in her chest, choking her. Tears leaked from her eyes, and she let herself sob into the blankets. Her brother, her only family, gone. All the people on board her ship, including her brother’s colleague Sera Gibbons. She hadn’t known any of them well, but they would have at least been with her now. And Sera, well, they might have become friends. A million possibilities spun away into nothingness. Everything and everyone she knew was dead, killed by nature and time. She was five hundred years from where she started. Loss and grief tore at her. She could cry forever and never be rid of it.
“Imnek.” Kesuk nodded a greeting to the guard outside Jain’s door as he passed, his stride eating the distance between him and the mouth of Sea Den.
The woman was a distraction he didn’t need right now. Or ever. She attracted him too much. He’d come close to ripping the Black’s throat out for daring to want her. She belonged to him, and no Black was going to take her from him. He shook his head. No. No, she was only here temporarily, so he couldn’t get attached to her. She couldn’t matter enough to make him lose control. He had his people to care for and protect. Losing control in front of an enemy was not a luxury he could afford.
He was master of himself and everything within Sea Den. She’d know that soon enough. She was a temporary distraction. Nothing more. A feral grin pulled at his lips. Perhaps she could serve as a very pleasurable temporary distraction. When she recovered her strength, he could think of many things to do with that pretty little body of hers. He had to keep in mind that she would only be here until he could hand the last Earthan over to the next trading vessel.
A real Earthan. Unaltered, unable to morph between human and animal form. Such a thing was unheard of on any of the four inhabited planets. Humans were extinct. He shook his head in astonishment, struggling to bend his mind around the explanation. Earth itself had faded almost into myth among his people. It wasn’t until the weretigers’ spaceship landed three Turns ago that they’d known settlements on other planets still existed. In fact, the weretiger king, Amir Varad, was scheduled to return before Thaw to exchange trade goods on his way to Aquatilis. That was only three weeks away. He respected Varad—perhaps the weretiger could offer some insight on how the woman could have been floating in space for centuries and be perfectly functioning after a crash landing.
A million questions raced through his mind as he calculated possibilities and probabilities. What had happened to make her ship go off course? Why had they never made it to Aquatilis? What was the likelihood that she’d land on the one planet in this solar system besides the fish world able to sustain life?
“Papa!”
Miki’s small voice echoed along the corridor as she scurried after him, unable to keep up with his longer stride. An Arctic bear cub, Nukilik, trotted alongside her. Affection and pride squeezed his heart when he saw them. Miki puffed up beside him and collapsed against his legs with dramatic exhaustion.
Kesuk grinned down at her. “Yes?”
“Are you going sea swimming? Can we come? Please, Papa?” Miki’s dark eyes widened, and she folded her hands together to plead with him. Nukilik nodded in agreement, bumping his shoulder up against Kesuk’s other leg.
Please, Papa?
The cub’s shaky telepathy was improving daily. Another fierce wave of pride hit Kesuk’s chest, followed by an endless need to protect his young against all threats. He would not lose them to predators as he had lost their mother. Lingering pain echoed in his heart at the thought of Maruska. Their daughter looked so much like her. She would have loved to see their cubs grow.
“You can come, but stay near me at all times. Nukilik, go get four more guards to accompany us while Miki and I change.”
Yes, my lord. The cub gave an exaggerated bow of his long neck before scurrying off.
“Scamp.”
“Ready, Papa?” Miki tugged on his boot lacings.
He scooped her up and flipped her into the air, catching her over his shoulder while she squealed in delight. “Ready.”
He set her down and watched while she changed into Arctic bear form, her little body stooping onto all fours, pulling in as white fur spread down her arms and legs. Her nose turned black and elongated into a snouted point. She bowed her head, her neck stretching in to the long slim line characteristic of his species. Tiny curved ears popped from the top of her widened skull. Though he’d done it himself countless times, the sound of changing forms had always bothered him, the strange suction and snapping pop of bone and cartilage as the body re-formed made his skin crawl.
She shook from head to claws, wagging her tuft of a tail so vigorously it shook her whole back end. Tumbling forward in a wild display of acrobatics, she landed with a splay-legged thump in front of him. He ruffled the fur on her head.
Let’s go, Papa! Hurry, hurry.
“All right, youngling. Patience.” In a moment, he’d assumed his own bear form, flexing his claws against the cave floor. His cub pranced on her paws ahead of him down the corridor, turning back to watch his progress every few steps, her black eyes shining with excitement. At the last fork in the tunnel to the sea entrance, they met with Nukilik and the four requested guards, two in human form and two in bear.
“My lord.” The soldiers dipped their heads in salute.
He swung in next to the front guard, who glanced sideways several times before speaking.
Amir Varad comes soon.
Kesuk grunted. The weretigers will land before Thaw, yes.
The human would make an excellent bargaining chip.
Kesuk’s hackles rose, and he had to rein himself in from snapping at the other bear. What was wrong with him today? The soldier was right, was he not? Isn’t that what he should use her for? He’d saved her. She couldn’t stay here. The weretigers would want her and would pay a great sum to have her. He snarled even thinking of it, stalking down the twisting tunnels until he reached the icy wading pool that opened out into the frozen ocean.
Several hunters passed them on their way in to the warm fires of the upper caverns, their fishing lines full of the day’s catch. Miki plunged into the pool with her usual reckless enthusiasm while Nukilik preferred to wade in and test the water first. He’d worried for them since Maruska had died, but they’d adjusted well during the last two Turns. He was the one who’d struggled to move on. An unmated leader was looked upon unfavorably, a sign of instability in the clan.
A tilt of his muzzle signaled the two guards in human form to keep watch at the sea entrance while the two in bear form scouted out into the open water, wary of orcas. Shaking away his concerns, Kesuk slid in after his cubs, making sure they stayed above water, enjoying the rare time he had to devote to them.
Before he could stop himself, he wondered how the woman was faring. He licked his lips, anticipation building in his gut as he thought of seeing her again. The slim lines of her pale body were burned into his mind, and he wanted to stroke his hands over her, burying his cock inside of her again and again until they were both spent. He sighed. Unfortunately, there were a few things she needed to know before they could begin to explore the attraction between them. He doubted she would take it well when he explained the new position she had found for herself by crashing on his land.