Taken (Warriors of Karal Book 3) by Harmony Raines Read Free Book Online Page B

still.”
    He forgot to tell her not to scream, but luckily she managed to hold it in, because when she reached out and touched the nearest rototo, he curled up into a tight ball. What’s more, the rototos surrounding him did the same, all curling up until the whole herd looked like small prickly mounds dotted around in the grass.
    “That is amazing,” Chrissi said, stroking the spines of the rototo. They were prickly to the touch, all their spines sticking up, giving the animals protection, yet between those spines was a downy wool. “This is so soft.”
    “And thick. It is so they don’t hurt each other. I love watching them, there was a herd of them nearby where I grew up. As a child I used to go out and run with them. They got used to me and rarely did this.” He indicated the curled-up animals. “They are very inquisitive once they get over their shyness.”
    “I can’t imagine spending my days with animals like this. There are more animals here than I have probably seen my whole life,” she said.
    “Then when we get back from our mission, we can spend some time exploring Karal,” he said, his face flushing pink with what she hoped was anticipation. “I will enjoy showing them to you. As a warrior I do not spend much time out in the wilds, but I used to when I was a boy.”
    “With your parents … sorry, with your dad?” she asked, forgetting he had grown up with only one parent.
    “Yes. He said that if I was to go out into space, as warriors do, then I should have an understanding of my own world so that I could appreciate other worlds,” Malik said, absently touching the prickles of a rototo.
    “Was he a warrior?” Chrissi asked.
    “Yes. It is the way of the Karal; the majority of sons go on to become the same as their father.”
    “So our son will become a warrior too?” she asked.
    “Yes,” he said, turning to her with a look she couldn’t comprehend. It wasn’t lust, and most definitely not love. And for a moment she wondered if she would ever have to worry about being with him intimately. Maybe he didn’t fancy her. Because he would have to be attracted to her in order for them to have sex, or he might not be able to function.
    Her cheeks flamed red, and she turned her attention back to the rototo, who were still curled up, hiding their heads from danger.
    As she thought about Malik, she had felt the first small tendrils of … what? Not desire, but wonder. Was it possible that she would end up wanting him and he would deny her? That would be just about right.
    Chrissi had come here hoping her luck would change, and when Malik had told her about the deep space mission, she truly believed it had.
    But if he didn’t want her, where did that leave her? Lost and alone on a planet filled with men who were all in their prime and needing to breed.
    “We should go,” he said, “Let the rototo get on with their feeding.”
    “Of course,” she said, and turned to walk back to the space cruiser and her unknown future.
     

Chapter Ten – Malik
     
    It was time to go to the breeding house, where Okil was no doubt pacing up and down waiting for them. He helped her up the exit ramp, feeling his colours ignite when he touched her for the first time. Her eyes had flickered up to his face in question before being averted, and she awoke something in him that was not just sexual.
    He had glimpsed it when they were talking about the rototo, and she had said something about their son. Looking at her, watching her, the realisation that she would give him a daughter too struck him. They would raise two children, and if the girl turned out like her mother, he would be proud, just as proud as he would be of his son.
    He wished he could share these thoughts with her. But he couldn’t, not while they were on Karal.
    “The suns are setting,” she said, looking out across the distant plains to where the suns were disappearing over the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, bathing the grasslands in a rosy