Crystal Fire (4 page)

He eyed her proffered arm. "Are you sure you want me touching you? I'm filthy and stink to high heaven, not to mention being a disgusting man."

Marissa shot him an icy glance. "I'll do my best to ignore your shortcomings. Now, no more talk."

"As you wish, gentle" He paused at her frigid glare. "As you wish,
Domina
." She quirked a slender brow, then slung his arm over her shoulder and grasped him about the waist. Once more they began their staggering journey.

Several horas of agonizing, faltering travel brought them to the foothills. Near the end, Marissa had half-carried the exhausted Brace. Only his indomitable will, she admitted grudgingly, could have brought him as far as it had. For some strange reason that realization unsettled her.

A cave in a nearby hillside caught Marissa's eye. She deposited Brace beside the nearest convenient boulder and went to ascertain if the cavern was uninhabited.

Returning, Marissa squatted beside him. He was spent and she dared not push him further. She touched him lightly on the shoulder.

He glanced up. "Yes, Domina?"

"The cave seems safe enough." Marissa climbed to her feet. "Come, but a few secundae more and you can take your rest."

Brace crawled to his hands and knees. For a long moment, she thought he'd never rise. Then, unsteadily, he pushed to a kneeling position and lifted a hand.

"Help me."

The simple request sent an odd tremor through Marissa. She grasped his hand. Even her added strength was barely enough to get Brace to his feet. Several meters inside the cave, his knees buckled. There was nothing Marissa could do but ease his way to the ground as gently as possible.

"I-I'm sorry," he rasped. "I j-just couldn't go on."

"It matters not." She slipped the water flask from her shoulder and laid it beside him. "About a half sol's journey into these mountains I've stashed some supplies. Once you're stronger we'll head out for them. In the meanwhile, there's a village nearby. You can rest here until my return."

"It wouldn't be wise to alert anyone . . . to our presence. This is Bellator, after all. They would only . . . turn us in."

"I'm quite aware of mindless Bellatorian ways. I'd only planned on appropriating a little food and clothing to get us through the nocte."

"Stealing, you mean," he corrected her huskily.

A reluctant smile teased her lips. "Stealing, then. What does it matter? It accomplishes the same purpose."

Brace exhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes. "That it does. Good fortune, then . . . until your return."

Marissa rose. "Good fortune indeed," she muttered.

Good fortune. What a strange concept, she mused as she left the cave. Neither of them had profited by an overabundance of that in their lives. And now, thanks to the mysterious actions of a felon from yet another world, their fortunes had taken an even more unfavorable turn.

Against both their wishes, they were compelled to join forces. Two outcasts, Marissa thought grimly as she headed into the mountains; two adversarieson a dangerous, uncertain quest . . .

By the time Marissa returned, Brace was stiff with cold. He sensed rather than heard her arrival. Even when the familiar light of a perpetual-flame box finally illuminated the cavern, Brace didn't move.

He sat hunched over, his arms wrapped about his draw-up knees in an effort to conserve his rapidly waning body heat. His total concentration centered on controlling the fierce, wracking shivers. It did little good. His battered muscles seemed locked in endless, agonizing spasms.

Gods, Brace marveled through his half-conscious haze, what further forms of torment could there be?

A thick blanket settled about his shoulders, then Marissa knelt before him, tucking the heavy covering more snugly in place. Brace continued to shiver, immersed in his pain.

She eyed him. It was cold, even in the cave, and Ardane was dressed only in boots and lightweight breeches. Curse him for his weakness! They should have easily reached her stash of supplies this nocte, and the warm, phoca-fur coats she'd brought along for the both of them.

But that was hardly the priority now. With his lack of clothing and in his battered condition, Ardane was in imminent danger of death. She must warm him quickly.

Her small hands slid beneath the blanket and began massaging his arms. He groaned at the firmness of her touch.

She knew she was causing him terrible pain, but resolutely kept on. His eyes clenched shut, his teeth gritted, but he didn't stop her. The effort seemed profitless, though. Ardane's shivering continued and he leaned forward weakly, his head falling to rest upon her shoulder.

The action, so trusting, so needful, struck an answering chord in Marissa. She stroked his shaggy mane in an unconscious gesture of comfort. Suddenly there was no hated male before her, just another being in great want of assistance.

Gently Marissa shoved Ardane away, steadying him by the shoulders. "Lie down, atop the blanket."

"W-why? W-why do you w-want me to l-lie down?" he asked through chattering teeth.

"You need the warmth of my body. I'll lie beside you and cover you with the other blankets." Marissa pushed at him impatiently. "Now, no more of it. Lie down."

Brace complied at once, rolling over on his side and opening his arms to accept Marissa's lithe young form. After a few secundaes to ar- range the two other blankets, she settled next to him.

Her nose brushed a hair-roughened expanse of pectoral muscle. The scent of his sweat and blood-tainted skin was too much for Marissa. She gagged and twisted her head away.

"Ugh!" she cried. "How foul can one be? You smell worse than a-a subterranean slime weevil!"

"I-I'd imagine's-so," Brace agreed unsteadily. "B-but let's n-not f-form any p-premature opinions. O-once I've h-had a b-bath, I clean up q-quite nicely. Y-you just m-might find me m-more to y-your l-liking."

"And the Crystal Fires will freeze solid before that sol dawns! I told you before, I loathe"

He tucked the edge of a blanket between him and Marissa, then gently but firmly pulled her head back down to lie upon his chest. Already the warmth of her softly curved body was thawing his numbed limbs.

"Yes, I know. You l-loathe all men. And I'm s-sure there's a legitimate reason for your f-feelings . . ."

"My reasons are my own."

Brace smiled and shifted her more comfortably against him. As bruised and exhausted as he was, as stiffly as she lay next to him, it was still
so
good to have a woman in his arms. It was the first time in monates he'd felt any peace. His eyelids lowered in drowsy contentment. "Tell me, M-Marissa," he prodded huskily. "Partners work best if they u-understand each other."

"I'd rather not speak of it. Itit is personal and you wouldn't understand. No male could ever understand the pain of unfair exile and subjugation."

Piercing brown eyes lifted, ensnaring Marissa in their bleak, haunted depths.

Don't I understand?
they seemed to ask.
How can you look at me and deny the suffering of my own unfair imprisonment? How can you say I don't understand?

It was too much to comprehend, now, pressed so close to Ardane, as weary as she was. Marissa lowered her eyes, unable to face him. The rhythmic rise and fall of his broad, densely furred chest did little to ease her confusion. Reluctantly she dragged her gaze up to his.

"Tell me, Marissa," he urged, his voice low, seductive. "I want to know."

Marissa
.

Strange, but the sound of her name on his lips didn't anger her, though his audacity in using it should. And the delicious sensations of his hands, lightly stroking her arms, befuddled more than her body. She had to put an end to this. Perhaps if she told him, it would satisfy his curiosity and he'd leave her alone. Perhaps then he'd be silent and just go to sleep . . .

Marissa inhaled a steadying breath. "I am a Sodalitas," she began, by way of explanation. ''A Sodalitas," he repeated thoughtfully. "I understand now. You're part of that outcast group of female Moracans sworn to despise all males. A band of malcontents, are they not, dedicated to undying celibacy? With that attitude, one wonders how you manage to reproduce yourselves."

His words were like a slap in the face. She should have expected such a response from a male.

"The Sodalitas are
not
dedicated to undying celibacy!" Marissa snapped. "We have our needs and reproduce ourselves quite adequately, if and when we wish to. Males do have their purpose. We just don't allow ourselves to be either physically or emotionally enslaved by them.

"And we are
not
malcontents," she added fiercely. "How would you like to be compelled by law to a life of virtual servitude, your only purpose obedience to another?"

"Even in my current sorry state, the thought of a beautiful femina at my beck and call possesses a certain attraction. Could you not find some male to love enough to make such a life pleasant?"

"
Never!
"

The horror in Marissa's voice gave Brace pause. "You've never known the love of a man, have you, Marissa?"

"Love a male? Relinquish your independence, for the sake of some crazy emotion, to one whose only wish is to control you?" She shook her head. "No. It's insanity and I'm not mad."

"A sweet madness, indeed," Brace murmured, "but one shared by both partners. If there is subjugation, it's a willing one and only of the heart. Love does not force itself, nor place one above the other. It's an emotion of equals."

"Easy for you to say," Marissa muttered, "when
you
have nothing to lose and everything to gain."

She moved to free herself from his grasp. "But enough of this. You are quite evidently warmed and have no further need of me. Let me up."

Brace gazed into her eyes, eyes that sparkled like blue-green jewels in the flickering light. Was she mad, to think that after two cycles without a woman he had no further need of her? If he weren't so weak, his body bruised beyond bearing, he'd be sorely tempted to disabuse her of her naïveté. Not that he'd ever take Marissa against her will, but, ah, to savor just a few moments of pleasure . . .

With a deep sigh, Brace released her. Marissa scrambled over to a large cloth bag, carefully avoiding his gaze. She began to sort through its contents.

He shook his head and smiled. "The fruits of your little foraging expedition?"

"But of course."

"You've a decided talent for thievery. Is that yet another skill acquired from your little gang?"

Marissa's head lifted. Glittering bits of ice riveted on him.

"Perhaps it would be wise if we kept our past lives to ourselves from now on. We obviously cannot seem to have a friendly discussion about personal matters, and I don't want dissension to hamper the true purpose of our . . . 'arrangement.' "

Gods! Brace thought. He'd been a fool to antagonize the little Sodalitas, as helpless, as dependent as he still was upon her. He might be out of prison, but he was far from safe. What had gotten into him?

Unwaveringly, Brace returned her gaze. "I'm sorry, Marissa. I misspoke a moment ago. I, too, have no wish for dissension between us."

"It matters not," she muttered, grudgingly accepting his apology. She returned to rifling through the bag. "Go to sleep. I'll have a meal prepared when you awake."

A meal. The image of a fat, long-earred lepus roasting over a fire, its juices dripping and popping in the hungry flames, filled Brace with heady anticipation. His mouth watered. To be able to sleep in peace, then wake to a hearty meal of crisply browned meat . . . Ah, it felt so good to be pampered!

He closed his eyes for just a moment. For just a moment, and it was all the encouragement his exhausted body needed. He promptly fell asleep.

«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

Brace's nostrils twitched as a savory smell wafted past. He moved restlessly, mumbled a few incoherent words, then settled back to sleep.

The scent would not be denied. It teased and tantalized the fringes of his consciousness. Brace grumbled louder and turned toward the smell. His eyelids lifted.

A fire two meters from him crackled merrily, a small, thick black pot on a crude wooden frame suspended above it. Marissa knelt before the fire, stirring the pot intently. For a long, drowsy moment, Brace watched her.

She must have found a pool to bathe in while he slept, for her unbound hair fell in damp waves far past her shoulders. The moisture made the riotous tumble of hair seem darker, with a deep rich hue like polished robur wood. He let himself imagine how soft and full her hair would be when dry. Like dark, shimmering bronze flowing over his fingers . . .

Brace swallowed a savage curse. He was mad to let her delicate beauty seduce him into a course of action not in his best interests. He might be woman-starved, but he had yet to be led by his loins. He'd never had to in the pastfemales always flocked to him. And they would again, just as soon as he freed himself of this determined, fiery-tongued little she-devil and made his way to a safe haven.

Word of honor or no, she was a fool not to imagine that a desperate man would promise anything, then think nothing of going back on it. Yet, to break his word . . .

Shame lanced through Brace. Gods, to finally fall so low as to surrender his honorthat deepest, most precious part of him. But he was just that desperate.

Recapture was out of the question. Another imprisonment would surely mean his death. In light of that brutal reality, what did a few words matter? But the little Sodalitas didn't need to know that just yet.

He needed a plan, some way to escape her and set out on his own. First, though, he'd have to allow his body time to mend, to rebuild his strength with food and rest. That would necessitate allowing her to care for him with no intention of repayment. Another emotion, faintly reminiscent of guilt, drifted across his mind. Brace shoved it fiercely aside.

He owed no man, nor woman, loyalty. Not now. Not ever again. With each monate that had passed, locked in that filthy, stagnant cell, with each blow that had slammed into his body, Brace had been forced to relinquish yet another remnant of his humanity. There was nothing left him now but a primal need to survive. No onenothingmattered more than that. He didn't
dare
let anything matter more than that.