Destiny's Lovers (21 page)

The bruises did not deter him. As she had
feared, he touched her. When she reached the bottom of the ladder,
he put his arm across her back to float her away from the boat. At
first she was terrified, stiff with tension, crying out when he
tried to make her lie back and float on her own. She threw her arms
around his neck in fear, nearly sinking them both. Reid bobbed to
the surface, putting out one hand to hold on to the ladder. He kept
Janina safe within the circle of his other arm, drawing her closer
to him. Beneath the water their legs tangled in a lazy rhythm. She
rested her head on his shoulder while she wiped the hair out of her
eyes and caught her breath again. Reid pulled her closer still, his
eyes on her mouth.

“No.” She turned her head aside. How could
she fight what she felt for Reid? How could she obey the laws that
had compelled her all her life when the only thing she wanted was
to be held in his arms like this, to feel the long strength of him
against her trembling body? She thought that if she did not drown
in the river, she would surely drown in her own confusion.

“Janina,” he whispered, “don’t be afraid. You
really will float, my dear. Let me show you how.” He gently pushed
her onto her back.

She went under a few times, trying to fight
him, before she found to her astonishment that he was right. She
would float on top of the water so long as she did not struggle. It
was a delightful, careless, relaxing feeling. Tired of struggling,
she gave in to that feeling, letting her fear of what Reid might
want to do and her embarrassment about their nakedness drift away
on the river.

Her long silver hair swirled around her, the
tops of her breasts stood up like small hills above the gentle
plain of her chest and abdomen. She laid her head back in the warm,
clear water and let Reid guide her where he wanted.

He was behind and beneath her. She could feel
his strong legs kicking steadily. His arm curved around her left
side, his hand splayed across her abdomen as he pulled her slowly
along. Above them the sky arched in misty purple-blue, decorated by
deep green leaves when they neared the shore. Janina relaxed a
little more, closing her eyes. She felt Reid sink to some lower
level beneath her, before he rose out of the water with her in his
arms, to walk a few steps onto the gravel.

He laid her down on a soft bed of creeping
vines and yellow-and-white flowers that released a sweet, powdery
fragrance when her slender body crushed them. A cloud of blue
butterflies that had been hovering above the flowers dispersed into
delicate winged fragments of color, then flew away.

“Beloved,” Reid whispered, and Janina’s bones
melted while her blood ran hot within her. She had wondered more
than once if their lovemaking in the sacred grove had been the
result of true desire or of the influence of the khata flowers,
whose fragrance was said to encourage passion. Now she knew. In
this cove there were no khata bushes, yet she wanted Reid with a
yearning of both body and spirit that overcame the last of her
qualms. There was no shame here, no embarrassment. There was only
love, and a sweet, insistent desire.

She opened her arms and Reid lowered himself
into them, taking her mouth with firm assurance. He began a tender
and very thorough exploration of her body, loving her with a slow
relish that had been denied them in their first encounter. Nor did
this loving end as abruptly as that earlier coupling. Here there
was no one to interrupt them so cruelly, and as if to erase the
memory of anything that had gone before, this time Reid taught her
how to love him in return, telling her with quiet words and showing
her with gestures what he wanted her to do, until she was certain
he must have reached the same state of rapturous delight that she
was enduring. She was trembling from head to toe; she could feel
his body quivering, too, each time she put her hands on him.

Finally, when she thought neither of them
could bear any more of this increasingly fervent desire, when she
thought it was impossible for desire to rise to any greater height,
she learned she was wrong. He took her slowly, deliberately, with a
rich and gentle tenderness that moved her nearly to tears, until he
was buried deep within her and she was his completely. Then she
knew pleasure beyond anything she had ever imagined could
exist.

It was at that moment of shimmering
intensity, when they were one body, one consciousness, one spirit,
that for her the laws of Ruthlen dissolved into nothingness, for
how could a law made by mere mortals mean anything at all when a
man and woman were predestined to meet and love as she and Reid
loved?

The sun was sinking behind the low hills.
Purple shadows lay across the land. High thin clouds of volcanic
ash, colored by the setting sun, streaked across the sky in a
glorious tangle of deep red and gold or purple and green. The boat
rocked gently in the cove. The river rippled past, making quiet
whispering sounds.

Janina turned her head to look at Reid. She
could not believe now that she had ever thought him ugly. He had a
harsh, strong face, but there was beauty and goodness in it. Such a
face could never be ugly, only unfamiliar until one knew him. As
she knew him now. As she loved him now.

Reid stretched and rolled over on top of her,
to plant a long, deep kiss firmly on her mouth.

“It’s going to be dark soon,” she whispered
when she could speak. “Shouldn’t we go back to the boat?”

“Are you so eager to get into the water
again?” he teased, nibbling at her earlobe.

“I’d feel safer there, in a smaller place,”
she said, trying to catch her breath.

“Smaller means more intimate.” He rose,
pulling her up too. “I do like that idea.”

She went into the water with much less fear
this time, partly because Reid was holding her hand. She walked
until she could no longer stand and then she floated, letting Reid
put one hand on her breast to move her along while he swam. But he
would not keep his hand still. He rubbed and teased at her flesh
until her nipple stood up hard and rosy, at which point he lovingly
attacked her other breast.

By the time they reached the rope ladder
slung over the stern, Janina could hardly think. Reid let go of
her, laughing softly, then pulled her around to face him. Janina
moved closer, putting her hands beneath the water to caress the
needy hardness of him. Reid held on to the ladder with one hand,
pressing her hips against his with the other hand, letting her feel
his eagerness. Janina put her arms around his neck when he kissed
her. Then, unwilling to wait any longer, she spread her legs and
wrapped them around his waist, pushing herself onto him until he
filled her.

Reid’s gasp of surprise at her sudden action,
followed by his groan of pleasure was all the encouragement she
needed. When he stroked into her, she shivered into instant,
intense fulfillment. She hung about his neck, her head resting on
his shoulder, while he took his pleasure. She saw his hand
clutching the rope ladder tighten, heard his sigh, and felt life
pouring into her from him. Locked together, they floated in the
water, unable to move apart or speak, Janina marveling that two
acts of love could appear to be so different and yet each have the
same ability to touch her very soul. It was good to know that love
with Reid included laughter as well as gentleness and intense
passion.

“It’s growing cold,” Reid said at last. He
helped her up the ladder, then pulled himself out of the water.

They stood facing each other, the setting sun
painting their bodies with orange-gold light that glistened where
droplets of river water formed. The heavy length of her hair hung
over Janina’s shoulder, trailing down between her breasts in a
moist stream of water-darkened gold.

Reid thought he had never seen anyone so
beautiful, or so graceful. There was a depth of passion in her too,
along with an unexpected playfulness. That sudden advance of hers
just as he had been about to boost her up the ladder had been
delightful. He wondered what had made her think of it. He found
himself grinning at her, wanting to tell her to dress herself
immediately or he’d have her again, standing right there in the
cockpit, and any other way he could think of.

He’d better not say that. She was still a bit
shy of him and might not appreciate the humor. That would change.
He had a feeling that they were going to be alone together for
quite a while. He just hoped he could vanquish some of her foolish
fears - about immersing herself in water, for instance, and about
obeying the laws of a land and people now totally destroyed, if
that explosion they had witnessed was any indication, and most of
all, about the existence of terrible sea monsters. He thought the
best way to change her ideas was to expose her to the truth of
their situation.

He waited until they had dressed and used the
solar heating unit to prepare a fish and dried-vegetable stew,
which they ate with the last of a loaf of stale bread. Reid moved
an empty crate from the storage area in the hold into the cockpit
to use as a dining table so they could enjoy the soft twilight and
the evening breeze, which in this haven was more pleasant than the
wind they had been exposed to while at sea.

“There are some bags of flour in the drybox
below,” Reid began, watching her closely to gauge her reactions to
what he was planning to tell her. “Do you know how to use it?”

“I can cook and bake, Reid,” she said
quietly, her mist-blue eyes soft upon his face. “Every girl of
Ruthlen learns how to do both. I also know what wild plants can be
safely gathered for food. If you catch any fish or wild animals, I
can prepare them, and cook them, too.”

“Good,” he said, pleased that she had
surprised him again. “Can you read a map?”

“What is a map?” She looked blank. Reid
thought she might have known maps under another name, so he
hastened to explain, then pulled out a battered sea chart he had
found in one of the lockers. He spread it on the crate, smoothing
down the creases while she looked at it with great interest.

“The fisherfolk must have used this,” he
said. “It’s primitive, but you can see these are the six mountains
behind Ruthlen. This is the village, with the wharf jutting out
into the bay. I think these lines and markings must represent water
depths.”

“The bay is shallow,” Janina said,
understanding the chart at once. “This line must be the strong
current, sweeping along offshore. And here is the beach where first
I saw your face and foretold your coming, where Tamat later
dedicated you to Ruthlen.”

She was silent for a moment, staring down at
the scraped-skin chart. Reid, pleased by her ready comprehension,
decided not to allow her time to think about what might have
happened in Ruthlen. He flipped the skin over and produced the
marker he had found with it.

“I’m going to draw another map,” he said,
“based on what I remember from the models Tarik generated on the
computer back at headquarters. This one will begin where the other
map ends. See, here is the rocky coast we have sailed past since we
left Ruthlen. Here is where we are now, in the river. And this is
the coastline beyond this spot.”

He sketched rapidly, remembering in detail,
for he had been vitally interested in the planet and had paid close
attention to everything Tank said about it.

“We are heading toward the northern polar
region. That is how Commander Tank has designated this part of the
planet.” He drew an arc across the top of his impromptu map. “It
will grow much colder as we approach this area, and it will be
dangerous sailing. But once we round this cape” - he pointed to a
sharp angle of land where he had drawn rocks extending far out into
the sea - ”on the other side we should be protected from the worst
of the polar gales, and the land should be more hospitable when we
need to drop anchor to rest. If we can sail farther along the
coast, to this point here, then we can beach the boat and walk the
rest of the way. The journey will take all the strength and courage
we have, Janina, but I believe we can reach headquarters before it
becomes too bitterly cold to travel in these latitudes.”

“Must we go by sea?” She did not look up at
him. She kept her eyes on the chart, but he heard the fear in her
voice. “Couldn’t we walk the entire distance by land? Wouldn’t it
be the shorter route?”

“No, because here” - he made swift marks on
the chart - ”like the backbone of the continent, is a range of
tall, steep mountains. They would be nearly impassable to us during
warmer weather, and with the cold season coming there will be early
snowfalls at those altitudes. We can’t travel as quickly on foot as
we can by sea. With the current to help speed us along, and the
wind at our backs, we could be at headquarters before the worst of
the cold weather arrives. If we are lucky, the Chon will find us
before then. For some reason, they don’t live on this side of the
mountains, but once we round the cape at the north of the world,
the possibility of meeting them will increase with every day. Once
they have spotted us, the chances are good that they will let Tarik
or Narisa know where we are.”

“I wish I were a telepath.” Janina spoke
sadly. “If I were, I could communicate with the Chon sooner than
you will.”

“Never mind.” Reid refrained from pointing
out that if she were a telepath, she would not be sitting there
with him, she would be a dead High Priestess-Designate, buried
beneath molten lava. “Telepathy won’t help us on the journey we
face. Courage and resourcefulness will.”

Janina bowed her head at those words,
believing courage was the very quality she lacked. She promised
herself she would try her best to keep him from learning what a
coward she was.