Warlord's Mercy - Cynthia Sax Page 0,50

He couldn’t risk her safety, and he wouldn’t abandon his clone brothers.

“I’ll take what I truly need later.” He made her that promise. “For now, this will suffice.” He selected a fastening tool and forced himself to focus on making the communications system functional.

“I’ll give you what you truly need later.” She kneeled on the floor and sorted the tools into different sizes and shapes, chattering about where she’d found them, the state of those ships, the designs she’d derived from their crash sites.

His gerel worked diligently, clearly having no concept of what the tools were used for.

“When I return, I’ll teach you about ship construction.” He attached the communications systems to a small portable private viewscreen, twisted one of the other cables around the power converter’s outlets.

A spark singed his fingertips. He drew in a sharp breath. The pain was intense.

“If you return, I won’t need to construct a ship.” She frowned down at his fingertips. “You hurt yourself.”

“The burn will heal in heartbeats, and I will return to you. You can depend on that, and you can depend on me.” He pressed his palm against the power converter’s reset panel.

The communication system hummed. The private viewscreen flickered and then illuminated fully.

“It works.” His little human cheered, pumping the air with her fists. “Woo-hoo. You did it.”

“We did it.” Pleased with the results, he carried the contraption across the bridge and sat in the captain’s chair.

His gerel filled the seat closest to him. “It was mostly you.” She folded her legs under her ass. “You’re a clever Warlord.” She grinned at him.

Her admiration expanded his chest. “I’m contacting my clone brothers.” He scrolled through the space chatter and located the secure channel they’d utilized before he’d crashed on Chamele 4. “Zero to Four, Five, Six, Eight.”

“Four to Zero.” His best warrior’s voice crackled on the line. “Five has made the greatest sacrifice, my lord.”

Tolui bowed his head. Sadness encased his soul. “He fought well.”

Five had been a good male, a great warrior, and a close friend. He should have been there for him, should have prevented that death.

His gerel placed her hand on his shoulder. Her touch comforted him, allowed him to contain his grief.

He pushed his sorrow aside, concentrated on what he had to do, what he had to communicate. There would be time to mourn the fallen later, when the wars had been won. “Do you have my coordinates?”

“I have located the source of your signal, my lord.” Four was skilled in tracking beings, had been instrumental in their pursuit of the Chamele Warlords.

“The entire planet is to be monitored.” Tolui looked at his gerel. “It’s…special.”

There was a long pause. His warrior didn’t confirm the order.

“No hostiles are to attack the planet, do you understand?” He barked that command.

“I understand, my lord.” His normally taciturn warrior sounded animated, his voice lilting with excitement. “We will protect our planet with our lives.”

Tolui frowned. Chamele 4 wouldn’t be their planet until they defeated Berke, Khan, and Murad. “You are to rendezvous at these coordinates at sunrise.”

He couldn’t delay his best warrior’s arrival longer than that. There was a possibility, slight yet existing, the enemy had intercepted their communications.

His first priority was his gerel’s safety. He’d sacrifice moments with her now to ensure they had more moments later.

“We will rendezvous at your coordinates at sunrise, my lord.” Four confirmed his order.

“End transmission.” Tolui lifted his female out of her chair and set her on his lap. “The ship will arrive soon, gerel.”

“And when it arrives, you’ll leave me.” She traced a scar on his cheek with one of her fingertips. “Four seems happy to hear your voice.” She skimmed her fingertips over his bottom lip.

“He seems too happy to hear it.” Tolui nipped at her fingers and she yipped, drawing her hand away from his mouth. “He’s usually more serious than I am.”

“No one is more serious than you are.” She laughed.

Joy bubbled inside him. His lips lifted in a hint of a smile.

“Perhaps the war is over.” Her eyes lit with a hope he didn’t have the heart to crush.

“Perhaps.” He tucked her into his body, savoring her curves, her softness, her scent.

“Then you could stay here.” She said that as though it was her fondest dream.

His heart ached. He wanted to grant her wish, yet suspected he couldn’t do that.

“You wouldn’t have to leave.” She stroked his chest up and down, up and down, her caresses enthralling him. “You could lead the beings on this planet, teach them