Hearts of Ishira (Hearts of Ishira Saga) (29 page)

“Hunter,” she whispered, staring up at him, sexual frustration rolling off of them both. “I want you, too. You know that. You… don’t have to wait. You wouldn’t hurt me. I’m not sure you’re capable of it.”

“If I take you now, the way I want to, I
will
hurt you!” he cried out softly, intently. He sank to his knees before her, taking her hands in his, willing her to see his predicament. “It has been far too long for me, and I fear that I will not be able to control myself enough to be careful of your injuries. I don’t want to take that chance. I want to cherish you. I want to take hours to make love to you properly, not to attack you and have our first time over and done in mere minutes.”

He closed his eyes and kissed her hands fervently. When he opened them again, they were dark and filled with turmoil. Ri felt tears building in her eyes, reached out to cup a hand under his jaw.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she whispered. “I didn’t even know I could. I just… you were so beautiful out there, and all I could think of was-“

“Don’t say it,” he begged frantically, chuckling as he quickly placed a long finger over her lips, stilling them. “Please, if you care for me at all, do not finish that thought.”

“Nundter-“ she tried to say against his finger. He shook his head, his eyes begging her for understanding.

“I am going to go bathe and try to calm myself,” he told her, rising to his feet and backing away. “When I am through, we are going to sit down and you will learn to shield those wonderful thoughts from me when necessary.”

“But not all the time?” she dared to ask, peeking up at him. He grinned wickedly.

“Not all the time,” he agreed. “Most of the time, I will welcome those mental images, and will return them in kind. That’s your only warning, by the way. But, there are times when you must shield, for the protection of others, me…and possibly yourself. Not just the naughty thoughts, but others, as well. For now… stay right there, on the couch. Don’t move. Don’t go anywhere. I will return shortly.”

“Go,” she sighed, shooing him back into the apartment. “Go bathe. I’ll be here. It’s not like I
can
go anywhere else.”

She muttered the last bit crossly at his back. He grinned over his shoulder, laughing as he disappeared into his room. All she had done was think about him! Good heavens. He acted like she had tried to maim him on purpose.

She heard water running in the shower. Unbidden, the image of him, tall and fully erect, water sluicing down his body, came to her. Her thighs clamped together, her core spasmed, and from the bathroom, Hunter bellowed her name in warning.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

He was taking too long. As she forced the need to make love to Hunter out of her head, the need to relieve her bladder made itself known. And he was taking too darn long. She had to go! She’d needed to go before he had stomped up here and mentally ravished her. Now she was moist and that wasn’t helping the peeing situation at all. She whimpered a bit with the new urgent need.

Well, she’d asked them for crutches, dammit! Maybe after this they’d find her some.

With great effort and not a little bit of pain, she was able to swing her legs over the side of the couch, so that she was sitting on the edge. The medical gown Jace had given her rode up on her thighs, but she didn’t care. She waited for her head to stop the worst of its pounding, waited for the dizziness to pass. Gingerly putting her good foot on the floor, she slowly stood, not putting any weight on the broken leg. Straightening, she grinned proudly but then wobbled as dizziness swept in on her and the world spun. She grabbed for something to hold onto, finding the wall nearby, fighting the incredible vertigo. That damn
whomp-whomp-whomp
was back in her ears, and her head pulsed as if it was too big for her skull.

Maybe she hadn’t needed to go to the bathroom that badly, after all.

Strong, warm arms caught her before she could slump to the floor. Dammit! She was still so weak! At least someone was there, anticipating her stupidity.

“Stubborn woman!” Hunter’s voice rumbled beneath her ear. She took a deep breath, gathered his scent. Her face went up in flames, in spite of the dizziness and waves of darkness that threatened to close in on her. She felt herself lifted and placed back on the couch. “Need we restrain you to keep from harming yourself? Lock you in a room? Perhaps tie you to the bed?”

“Intriguing thought,” she murmured to herself, hoping that she blocked the delicious mental image before Hunter caught it.

“I need to go,” she told him weakly, when the world had righted itself and she could think more clearly. “Then we can talk about tying me to the bed.”

Hunter wasn’t able to hold back a snort of humor at that, but quickly carried her into the bathroom to do her business. When she emerged, he picked her back up and took her back out to the balcony.

“Arianna,” he began, as though talking to a child. She arched a brow at him and he changed his tone. “What were you doing at the railing? If you had fallen, if a dizzy spell had hit, there would have been no saving you.”

“It’s only four stories, I’ve already proved I bounce, and I was bored.”

“Bored?” he practically roared. “Bored? I about had a heart attack and rushed up here because you were
bored?
”

“I didn’t ask you to come up here,” she snorted, not meeting his eyes. She was a bit put out that he was so irate at her boredom. What did he expect? She was a bright, clever woman with too much time on her hands. Of course she was going to get into trouble if left to her own devices too long. She sent him that mix of thoughts, then reminded him that he’d been the one to leave this morning and go off for hours without checking on her.

“You were gone for two days with no contact, and then you didn’t stop in to see me when you got back last night,” she muttered. Realizing what she’d just revealed, she clapped her hands over her mouth, wanting to take it back. Hunter dove into her mind, saw how much she’d been hurt by that, even though she felt that she had no reason to be.

He looked disconcerted for a moment, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it from its usually tidy queue.

“Ri,” he said softly, touched that she’d missed him and secretly pleased that she thought she had a claim to him. That was good sign. “We are leaders. I need to keep you safe, but I also have my regular duties. That includes training with my men. I was going to be back soon for the midday meal. As for being gone for two days… I was trying to finish up as quickly as possible, so I could return, ironically to be with you. I’m sorry if you feel neglected.”

His rueful grin took any lingering hurt and anger from her. She thought about it then sank wearily into her pillows. Trying to get up on her own had taken more energy out of her than she’d thought possible.

“Look, you have duties and of course, I understand and respect that. We’ve barely known each other three days, so I don’t expect you to check in, even if I want to hear your voice. But I’m
not
their leader,” she tried telling him again. “They barely even know me.”

“So some of them have said, and you. But it remains that you are the sole Reader among them, as well as the eldest. In our society, that means that you are their natural leader. And several of them do treat you as the wise elder now.”

She barked out a soft laugh, wondering if he had any clue how offensive such a title would be to some women.
Wise elder
, indeed!

“Well, tell them that!” she snapped, frustrated.

“I have tried. A few still deny it, but they will learn.”

He sensed her bewilderment at his absence and her hurt at his attitude and immediately softened. Reaching out, he tucked a soft curl of her hair behind her ear, holding her gaze. “I am sorry, little one,” he told her quietly. “We returned late last night and there was much I had to do, though my first desire was to check on you. I came to get you as soon as I found out you were still awake. And if it makes you feel cherished, you almost had a bed partner last night. I was loath to leave you alone in Jace’s bed. All I wanted to do was curl up around you and protect you as you slept.”

She sighed happily at the simple romance of that thought, grinning helplessly at him. He grinned a bit sheepishly at her.

“I actually owe you thanks, not this negative attitude. You gave me a good reason to not only rest for a few minutes, but to have a chance to see you once more. I didn’t expect the mental love-making, though, nor to be cleaved in two by Trey’s blunted sword. I will carry that bruise for a week! But those last images, in the shower, did the trick. I am now much more mellow than I was when I first got here. And I absolutely cannot wait to see what your mouth really feels like when you’re doing that trick with your tongue, little warrior.”

She blushed prettily at that, leaning into his hand where it cupped her cheek. Hunter’s heart swelled at the trust and affection inherent in the little action. His entire day became brighter, came back into focus. His energy restored by her touch and smile, Hunter smiled down at her.

“Now that we have settled all that,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed and crossing one leather-clad leg ankle over his knee. “Why are you bored, and how can we alleviate this deplorable condition?”

Her naughty brain thought of a way that involved being tied to his bed, but she immediately dismissed it. His arched brow and heating eyes told her that he’d caught the thought, though. His grin told her that he was holding onto it for future consideration. She blinked.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “A game? A task I can do in bed or sitting out there? Help me find somewhere that I can sit and observe your society and how it functions? Crafts? Books? I don’t know! I just know that I’m not used to having nothing to do. If we don’t’ find me something, I’m going to go as bat-shit crazy as Amy already is.”

“Well, we can’t have two bat-shit crazy human ladies on our hands, now can we?” Hunter asked, his eyes twinkling at her with humor. “Now, what kinds of things interest you?” he asked. “We have many different tasks that could be accomplished, but I do not know what skills you have.”

“Well,” she said, taking in all the alien flowers and greenery… er, tealery… as she thought about it. “I can sew, spin, weave, knit, crochet, and I like learning just about all kinds of hand-crafts. Do you have mending that needs doing?”

“Mending, no,” he said thoughtfully. At her disappointed look, he smiled. “All warriors are taught to sew when they are very young. How else would we repair our clothing, when most of us are on battalion ships for months or years at a time?”

“That makes sense,” she murmured, but felt deflated. Nothing useful for her there. “I’m a quick learner, though. If you show me how to do one of your crafts, I’m sure I can pick it up quickly and have fun learning it.”

“I have no doubt you could, little one. But,” he said, rising to his feet. Man, he was tall! Her mouth was at a very interesting level. “I think that you enjoy texture and fiber crafts. I believe I can help you.”

He went into what she thought might be his bedroom and was gone for several long moments. She stared around at all the beautiful foliage. The plants of this world were incredible. Such colors! She loved that the leaves were predominantly teal. Some were deep purple, but mostly, the vegetation held various shades of teal, aqua, turquoise… anything within that color family. There were some plants like nothing she had ever seen before, and could not even begin to describe. Other plants were oddly familiar, but colored unlike anything back on earth. Tendrils and vines climbed over and wrapped around each other with abandon, blending the flowers and fruits with the teal background. Her breath caught at the beauty of it all.

Overhead, vines hung with big, grape-like three-lobed fruits bounced in the breeze, while baskets lined the front of the little porch, flowers exploding out of them. There was even a little formal garden that she thought might be for food, and the entire wall behind it was lined with miniature versions of the balcony itself, little stone wells supported by small wooden beams, each one growing with something different. Herbs? Spices? She wanted to know about it, all of it!

She was so caught up in studying a particular bloom and its iridescent colors that she didn’t hear Hunter’s return. He watched her for a moment, struck by the wonder and the enjoyment in her gaze as she took in the beauty of his garden. He and Jace had worked very hard at creating a small oasis for themselves here, along with an area to grow food items that they particularly enjoyed and wanted to be sure to have access to when they wanted it. He smiled when Ri cocked her head to the side, leaning forward until her broken ribs made her hiss, so that she could get a better look at one of the flowering vines. He sensed her love of the colors and the life, her vibrant curiosity about everything his world had to offer. He swallowed, realizing that he didn’t need to come up with an excuse to keep her near. She could stay as long as he was willing to teach her about the planet she’d crashed on. He swelled with the knowledge that he had years’ worth of information to impart.

“Here,” he said, plopping a basket in her lap. She blinked down at the large basket then cried out in delight.

“It’s so soft!” she said, burying her hands in the mounds of fiber he’d brought her. Kimi fur, and so many colors of it, too! Black, brown, gray, cream, white, and a shade of blue that she could only call gunmetal, for lack of a better word. There were golds, oranges, and some deep reds, as well. Having seen the little critters, she knew that they came in all colors but greens and purples. She narrowed her gaze thoughtfully on the trees in the distance, wondering if she could get teal and purple dyes from the plants around her.