Mercenary's Reward (12 page)

Jai did not want to desire Mieli more than she desired him. Tarin's passionate love for him had been enough to coax physical arousal from Jai's body but not to change his feelings. If he wasn't careful, Mieli would desire his body but nothing else. He needed her complete emotional involvement so he could be certain they were equals, and that his need for her body and her tenderness did not surpass her feelings for him.

Mieli was the only woman who could give him what he wanted, and if he was going to have a life with her, she would need to know that her survival didn't depend on him. Jai wasn't a man lent to self-delusion. Unless he could give her a fair choice between a life with him and a life without him, he would never be truly satisfied by her submission.

Somehow, he had to protect her while he hunted his enemies, acclimate her to the War Tribe, make her self-sufficient, and make her want to stay with him even though she wouldn't have to.

Minth Hai
. Jai's prayer was silent but heartfelt.

[Back to Table of Contents]

In the end, Jai realized he wouldn't be free to eliminate his enemies if he spent even one moment worried that Mieli was in danger. He finally settled on the only connection he had in the medical world—Gienna Maerlone—though she probably didn't suspect he even knew her name.

Several years ago he had paid for unregistered enhancements, something akin to having an unlicensed weapon. His connection was a doctor at the teaching hospital on Inlit, a small planet primarily of civilians. The cost was extravagant, and he'd carefully researched the good doctor and his staff before he'd paid.

Aside from the cash-strapped physician, there'd been two retired nurses. Gienna had been one of them, and he remembered now that she had lived alone and taught at the school during the day. She would be in an excellent position to take in Mieli and train her, as well as help him secure the necessary paperwork to validate her identity. There was also Gienna's healthy appetite for additional income, which would no doubt grease the wheels.

When he and Mieli arrived on Inlit, he headed straight for Gienna's modest home near the school. There was a persistent itch between his shoulder blades that warned he was nearly out of time. Jai needed to be in the wind and out of reach of his enemies. He had to get Mieli safe.

In the small confines of the aircar he'd hired to take them from the hangar bay to Gienna's house, Jai watched Mieli. She had her nose pressed against the window and seemed transfixed by the passing scenery. They had rarely spoken during the long journey here from her planet. He chafed at the restrictions placed on them by the language barrier, especially now that he had to leave her with so little explanation.

WHATEVER MIELI HAD expected, it wasn't the little two-story house Jai took her to. She found it nearly impossible to imagine him living in it, but she quickly realized that he didn't. The woman who answered the door was hardly visible in the swiftly falling dark of night, but Mieli could tell she was quite large.

Jai had a very brief conversation with her, and then the door was finally opened and they were ushered inside. As always, Jai seemed to know what she was feeling before she did. Exhaustion was just beginning to descend like a heavy blanket on her shoulders when he settled her into a comfortable chair.

Mieli wanted very much to sleep, but curiosity about their business with the large woman made her keep her eyes and ears open while the room's other two occupants faced off near the front door. It was hard to tell whether they were arguing or just having an important discussion, but Jai and the large woman eventually reached some agreement. He gave her something from his pocket and then he returned to Mieli where she waited in the chair.

He kissed her fiercely, and Mieli responded easily even though she was very tired. It ended all too soon when Jai stood with one last passionate look at her and then walked out the front door without a backward glance.

In his absence, the woman came forward, and Mieli could see she was not unattractive, though she was quite tall and broad. Her face was kind, and she hustled Mieli out of the chair and upstairs into a comfy bed. The last thought before her head hit the pillow was that the bed was not nearly big enough for Jai to sleep there with her.

[Back to Table of Contents]

Mieli was surrounded by a swirl of light and sound. Clear panels flickered on three sides, the symbols that crossed their surfaces guided by her fingertips. In this program, she learned the symbols’ meanings through a complicated pattern. The language she knew as Tribe Standard was more easily spoken than read, and these lessons were far more tedious and lengthy than the ones on diction.

Finally, the program came to an end, and she heaved a thankful sigh. As much as she hungered for the ability to read, the constant flow of information all around her was still very foreign at times. Mieli rose from the console and gathered her bag from the nearby chair.

Her lessons were conducted in an actual classroom, so there were many consoles around, but they were all empty. The students who usually sat in the big chairs were long gone; it was early evening. Mieli never saw them since Gienna brought her in so late. Her friend waited in the large library until she was finished, then ferried her back to the house in her aircar.

As always, she smiled a little when she saw the other woman. Gienna was a retired nurse, with a broad, kind face, and the large build of a sarkla. She was a teacher at this school during the day, instructing young people in the medical sciences building. Her students, she'd told Mieli, called her “Gienna the Giant,” but she seemed proud rather than embarrassed.

The more Mieli understood the language, the more she liked the older woman, though their friendship did little to ease the sting of Jai's departure. Most nights, after they returned to Gienna's house, Mieli lay awake in her bed and wondered again what had changed between them. After he'd smuggled her off her planet and, she believed, risked much in the effort, he'd wasted little time. Within a few hours he had dropped her into Gienna's bewildered hands and left for parts unknown.

There had been such urgency about him; she couldn't believe he'd left for no good reason. At first, she had been certain he'd return. It was only as time dragged on and her life began to settle into routine that she'd realized there was more to her arrival at Gienna's house than just a visit. Jai had meant for her to live here, without him.

As soon as she was able to, she'd awkwardly asked Gienna if he would come back. The other woman had appeared sympathetic but had no good answer. She said only that shortly after he'd left, he'd sent documents for her. From what Mieli could understand, it was an identity that would allow her to live without fear of her true origins being discovered. There had also been a sizable amount of credit—or money—to see her started in her medical studies.

Gienna said that after a year of hard study, her language skills would be sufficient to start the training. It was the answer to her most fervent prayers. She had a new life and a new identity that would protect her. It didn't seem to help her sleep, though, since memories of Jai tormented her all night long. What had started as desperation had become something more.

Maybe she was a fool, but she believed that he'd felt it too. Even now, her body yearned for his, but it was the memory of their nights together in the forest that made her heart ache. Jai had shown her only kindness, even when there had been little reward for his efforts.

If it had simply been the sex, he wouldn't have worked so hard only to bring her here. Jai had given her a new life, one that did not depend upon her sexual submission to him. Ironically, that was exactly what she wanted to give him now, and so much more.

The blood of General Lang's bodyguard was green, and it ran in a steady stream to mix with the red blood of the general himself. They made a striking tableau on the white marble floor. Jai stood over them, overcome with relief.

After almost a year of frustration and setbacks, he'd managed to unravel the plot that had nearly ended his life. Now, as the life of his enemy ebbed away in warm rivulets around his feet, he could finally breathe.

He left the penthouse as he'd entered, careful to cover his tracks and keep his head down. It was a relatively short flight from here to Inlit, the planet where Mieli was living with Gienna, but it might as well have been across the universe.

In the long months that passed without contact, he'd begun to question his decision. His need for her, the desire in his body and his heart, had not abated but become sharper. Jai's certainty that what he felt was reciprocated? No longer so sharp. If he could have gone back in time, he would have kept her with him. He could have capitalized on her dependence on him and used it to bind her to him. She would have been grateful for his protection, and there would have been time for her to come to love him.

By now, she was likely ready to start training. In another couple of years she would be a nurse like Gienna and able to support herself in the civilian world. Undoubtedly, she knew by now how beautiful and desirable her unique looks made her to other civilians. Mieli would be pursued by men and women alike, many of whom would be far more attractive than he.

The thought of some other man seeing her naked body, even touching her, was enough to make the violent side of him ache to snatch her away and show her that he owned her. It also made his thinking side loathe to see her again for he was certain she would reject him.

The only thing he knew for certain was that, at least for a while, she had responded to him. Her body could not lie, and she had been passionate and uninhibited. Mieli had taken him as surely as he'd taken her, the pleasure she'd shown too genuine to be denied. It was what he clung to as he made his way to his ship. He had to see her again and remind her of that pleasure. He hoped it would be enough.

[Back to Table of Contents]

The large cafeteria was abuzz with conversation, but it didn't faze Mieli. At first, the school had seemed a different place during the day. Able to attend with the other students at last, she had been staggered by the variety and diversity represented. While almost all of them were still larger than she, the predominantly female student body in the nurse program meant that she had many friends who rarely remarked on her small stature.

Mieli carried her lunch to the far wall and settled down at the table full of her new friends. She caught the end of their discussion.

"—and that isn't the only reason we won't see it.” Her friend, Fasma, by far the most outspoken, looked very put out.

"What are we talking about?” Mieli smiled around at the other girls and snapped the cap off her water.

"Oh, just the fact that they've installed the new regulator and promptly announced that only the students in the upper program will be seeing it anytime soon.” Fasma made a face, as did several other girls. The upper program was for students who would go on to be doctors and was primarily male. The low rate of acceptance for women was a very sore spot among the smarter girls.

"Well,” Mieli said, “we knew that we wouldn't get a chance to practice with it. We rarely get an opportunity to use
any
of the more advanced equipment. Why the upset now?"

Selah leaned forward, clearly as indignant as Fasma. “No, we didn't expect to practice on it, but we generally observe the upper program on the better equipment."

Fasma broke in, her ire plain. “There will be
no
observation allowed, and we are not even to
gaze
upon the wondrous machine!” She dramatically pretended to wipe nonexistent tears, but Mieli wasn't fooled.

"I'm sorry, Fasma. I know how excited you were. Maybe your mysterious man will sneak you in?” Fasma's romance with a young man in the upper program was a widely known secret, although she managed to keep his identity under wraps. It was not forbidden but considered bad form.

"No.” Fasma made another face, her expressive features twisted into a grimace. “He already said no."

The other girls immediately called out suggestions for how she could persuade him to change his mind, and the ribald comments brought Mieli's thoughts around to Jai. Again. She sighed inwardly and wondered when the most casual reference to love or sex would cease to make her pine for him.

Every day her confidence grew. She still struggled with reading, but her grasp of the language was strong. Mieli had never really cultivated friends when she went to school on her planet. The struggle to succeed had turned even casual acquaintances into competitors. Here there was a competitive element, but it was Mieli who was different. The war and the way it had changed how she viewed herself would never let her be that person again.

She still felt shame when she considered how self-centered and unkind she had been to others. She was truly grateful to have a fresh start and no longer railed at her change in fortune. From her new perspective, she was able to see the loss of that life had finally turned her into a person worthy of life.

And as usual, she thought of Jai. She understood him better now, since her education had included the structure of the War Tribe. When she considered what he was trained to do and how he'd chosen to treat her, she marveled that she'd been so lucky. His training would have told him to enslave her at best, to kill her at worst. Instead, he'd shown her more kindness in a couple of short weeks than she had shown over the course of her entire life.

Sometimes, when she wondered why he hadn't returned, she thought that maybe he'd finally seen through her. What if he had realized how she'd intended to use her body to barter for his protection? It had only been at first, and she'd quickly come to care for him, but that might not matter. He'd shown her through his actions that he was inherently good. What if he'd seen her for what she'd been—inherently selfish?

Drawn back into the conversation by a poke in the side, Mieli smiled and tried to appear interested. Her friends now chatted spiritedly about the upcoming exams, and before long, she found herself drawn in. For a moment, though, she wished that Jai could see her. Maybe, if he could see how much she'd grown, how much she'd changed, he'd come back for her.