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Authors: Stephanie Snow

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BOOK: Mercenary's Reward
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Mieli refused to be cowed by his look. “You worthless bastard. Why would I have slept with you? You aren't half the man you think you are.” She looked derisively toward his groin.

Fury had turned Kyre's face into a livid mask, and Mieli wondered if he would strike her. Around them the other men from camp were clustered loosely, watching but not interfering.

Finally, an unspoken decision seemed to be reached, and Kyre turned to Birn. “Go back to last night's camp and set up. I will be along shortly.” There was some hidden meaning in the tone of his words, but Mieli couldn't guess what it was. Without argument, Birn walked away, and the others followed. As her shock faded, she was starkly aware of her vulnerability. When she would have moved for her clothes, Kyre leveled his attention back to her.

"Don't move.” He bared his teeth in a parody of a grin. “You won't need your clothes."

Mieli was alarmed, but it was tempered with her disregard for his authority. She pointed at the weapon he still held at the ready. “Are you going to shoot me too if I don't do what you want?"

"I don't need the gun.” He tossed it to the ground and reached for her. “And I don't want you to cooperate.” His left hand closed around her upper arm, and quick as a flash, his right hand struck her across the face in an open-handed slap.

Mieli cried out and nearly crumpled under the blow. She tried to get away, but he was faster and fueled by meanness. He held her with one hand and struck her repeatedly with the other, landing hard, stinging blows on her face and body.

The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth, and she felt her skin swell and tighten. There was no defense with her body so exposed, and she went to her knees to avoid his fist. She was close to passing out from the pain and shock when the assault abruptly stopped.

"Look at me, Mieli.” She couldn't look at him. Her eyes were swelling shut, and her head felt weighed down. He seemed to realize it too, because he dropped to his knees in front of her.

"Why?” Kyre's hands wrapped around her upper arms, and he pulled her close against his chest. “If you were so eager for a man, why not me?” The words were fierce and hot against the side of her face.

Mieli's mouth was wet with blood from a split lip, and she refused to answer. After a few tense moments, he shoved her onto her back. Her vision impaired and her head throbbing from his blows, she struggled to rise, but his weight bore her down easily.

Coarse words about the things he wanted to do to her fell from his lips, and Mieli tried in vain to get away. Kyre captured her hands and held them both with one of his. His other hand moved all over her body. He roughly pinched her nipples, rolling the tender peaks between his fingers and then slapped each breast sharply when she flinched. Calloused fingers explored her sex, rubbing at her swollen outer folds and then probing painfully into her sore channel. His hurtful words and actions made her cry out for mercy, but he would not stop.

JAI CAME TO with a nasty headache and a belly full of rage. He'd been shot in the back. It wouldn't kill him, but it was sure as hell inconvenient. Cautious in case his attacker was still nearby, he didn't move. While he mentally assessed the damage, he listened carefully. There was definitely someone there, probably two people, based on the separate sounds of their breathing. One was heavy but regular, and the other was erratic and short. After a few moments, the heavy, regular breather spoke.

The man's words were foreign, but Jai recognized it as the healer's language. Fury ripped through him. Images of the many ways he would torture her for this betrayal passed through his mind. He almost stopped listening in favor of nurturing those fantasies, but the sound of a hard slap caught his attention.

Even understanding only a few words of what was said, the emotion came through loud and clear. He was angry, presumably at whomever he had struck. Careful to move slowly, Jai tilted his head to hear better. His bloody head protested, but he didn't pay attention. From the location of the wound and Jai's knowledge of the weaponry on this planet, he knew the damage likely looked much worse than it was. Although he could feel the blood that soaked his hair, his enhanced bone structure would not have allowed the primitive bullet to penetrate his skull.

Behind him, the man had stopped speaking, and after a long pause, the erratic breathing of the other person broke into speech. Instantly he recognized his healer's voice. He refused to think why she was
his
, except that it felt right to think of her that way.

If he'd thought himself enraged over a betrayal, though, the tremble in her voice that gave away her tears brought him to a boil. Mieli was the one the man had struck; he knew it. She was at the mercy of the bastard who'd shot him, and whether she'd been part of it or not, Jai had laid claim to her. In his mind, if any man were going to beat her or make her cry, it was damn well going to be him.

KYRE WAS BEYOND reason. He'd beaten her, humiliated her, and now he would rape her. Mieli knew that in his mind, he was in the right. He'd managed to unfasten his pants, and she could feel his erection against the soft flesh between her legs.

"Please don't do this, Kyre.” Mieli despised the weakness in her voice and the quaver that made her sound frightened and desperate. But she was both and couldn't hide it. She would have said anything to make him stop.

"You owe me this, whore. You owe it to all of us, and I'm going to get our due.” Unable to see him, she could still feel the tension in the line of his body. He started to press against her, and she screamed.

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Chapter Nine

The scream brought Jai off the ground and into a sprint, despite his aching head. Behind him a small man hunched over Mieli's naked body, his pants around his hips. Bloodlust washed over Jai and fueled his speed. In four ground-eating strides he reached the man and pulled him from her by the throat, snapping his neck and discarding the body in one fluid motion. The satisfaction of the kill was fleeting, though, and when he saw the healer, really saw what had been done to her, he wished he had tortured the little bastard.

She was on her back. Between strands of hair, her face was swollen red with purple-tinged bruises. Her eyes were almost swollen shut, and blood smeared her mouth. More bruises marred her arms and torso. Wet tracks on her cheeks and her unsteady breaths were a testament to her suffering, and Jai reached out with uncharacteristically tender hands to pick her up.

At the first touch of his hands, she shuddered and tried to pull away, her hands rising to protect her face.

"Shh, little healer, it is me.” Jai tried to keep his voice low and even and was rewarded by a subtle easing in the tension of her body. When he lifted her against his chest, she made a small sound and wound her arms around his neck.

Jai moved her to the blanket they'd slept on the night before, and he retrieved the small medical stimulator he'd found in the wreckage. After using it to heal his still-bleeding wound, he applied the beam to Mieli's face and body while he mulled his options.

As recently as last night he'd considered how best to eliminate the woman. Now he knew not only would he not kill her, but he would not let anything happen to her. His crash had changed many things. Chief among them was the new course of his life, a path that would lead him far from the military and deep into the undesirable life of a mercenary. Jai knew now he had also been given a rare and valuable gift when his enemies had tried to kill him over this forest.

Mieli.

He had been so consumed with his plans of revenge he'd almost failed to recognize what he'd found. She was hardly in a position to refuse his help. There was no doubt in his mind that she would be grateful to be under his protection. This planet was no longer a home for her; most of her people were dead or in service to the War Tribe. With him, she would have no greater freedom, but he would teach her his ways and protect her from the usual fate of a woman. A fate she'd almost met today.

He hesitated when he reached her hips. Her legs were closed, and he gently pried them open to look at the heart of her femininity. Although he did not believe the man had actually raped her, she was no doubt still sensitive from what they'd done the night before. Mindful of his need for her, he passed the medical device over her there too. He would need to have her before the day was out, and he'd rather it were not painful for her.

Finished with the stimulator, Jai looked down at Mieli. No visible bruising remained, and a healthy pink flush was returning to her cheeks. After a moment, her eyes fluttered open hesitantly, and he saw their color for the first time in the light of day.

A million galaxies and all their mysteries were alive in her eyes. The blue-black color of her irises sparkled with tiny fragments of color. If he'd harbored any doubt about his plans for her, they were banished in that moment. He'd never seen anything like her eyes, and he knew that was a sign. The universe was his home, and the only peace he'd ever known was when he was exploring that infinite abyss.

Once he'd recovered somewhat from the shock of her gaze, Jai pulled himself together enough to speak.

"Mieli."

The sound of her name seemed to startle her back into awareness, and she jerked up into a sitting position. In her haste to rise, she nearly knocked heads with him. A tangle of emotions crossed her face, each one passing so quickly that he could not sort them. She hesitantly touched her face first and then moved down her body to stop at her breasts, stomach, hips, and thighs.

Jai could tell she was amazed at his ability to heal her, but something else was there. She was clearly in shock. A fine trembling had begun in her limbs, and she was crying again.

He was not eager to cover her nude body, but for her sake he reached for her thin, sleeveless shift and pulled it over her head. The few buttons at the chest were easily done. She didn't protest his care; in fact, she barely looked at him.

Uncertain what he could do or say that would possibly comfort her, he stood and began to pack up their camp. Jai had no desire to be caught unprepared again. The sooner they left this area, the better.

[Back to Table of Contents]

 

Chapter Ten

Mieli woke to the sound of rustling leaves. At first it was just like many other mornings. The smell of the earth beneath her back, the sound of a breeze that stirred the fallen foliage, and the feel of dappled light on her face were all familiar. Underneath the normalcy of those things was a disturbing memory, though. It persisted and finally came back in a rush.

She opened her eyes and stared up into the trees. She was alive. Images of her fight with Kyre flickered through her mind. There were no bruises, and her body felt normal, healthy even. He had not killed her, and the damage to her body inflicted by his angry fists was nonexistent. Jai had saved her. Somehow he had survived being shot and had killed Kyre.

Around her the forest was dense and undisturbed. Through the trees, there was only more forest. No sign of the clearing made by the crash, which meant she was truly far from that place. On her body, only her simple sleeveless shift covered her from neck to thigh. She knew it was hers, as was the thin blanket on which she lay, but that was all. Her pack and all of her supplies were gone, along with her ruthless protector.

Mieli looked around uneasily. She remembered a little, but the shock made the memories spotty at best. Jai had packed up camp and then carried her into the forest. At some point, the rhythm of his walk had lulled her to sleep.

Both legs responded to her command, so she stood. Her bare feet looked pale against the deep brown earth, and she took several steps. The doctor in her marveled at how well she felt. Bruises and welts from Kyre's hands should have taken weeks to fade, and yet her body was better than before. Heat flushed her face when she realized how even her most private parts had benefitted from Jai's healing tool.

A brisk breeze cut through the trees, and a cold shiver brought bumps to her skin. Mieli moved back to the blanket and picked it up, shaking the leaves out before she wrapped it around her shoulders. Judging by the quality of the light and the distinct positions of the suns, she guessed it was well past midday. There was still no sign of Jai.

Why he had saved her only to leave her defenseless, she did not know. He must have carried her for hours since she could hear the birds and her surroundings were not at all familiar. Why would he go to all that trouble and then abandon her?

She hesitated, unsure what to do, and a wave of sadness washed over her. For better or worse, she had made her choice to go with Jai, and there would be no turning back now. Not with Kyre dead. Mieli tried to discover if she felt any regret over losing her connection with her people. There was some unhappiness, but whether it was because of what she had done, or another choice she had failed to make was hard to tell. A heavy sigh escaped her, and she settled down on the ground, careful to keep the blanket wrapped close to her.

The great forest spread in every direction, seemingly without end. It was responsible for the air her people had breathed for thousands of years. The trees native to it were printed on their money, depicted in their art, and held up as a symbol of giving. Her whole life she had been taught to revere the forest, not only because of its unspoiled beauty, but for its selflessness. Without the forest, they would have no air to breathe, and without the unique minerals the trees deposited in the soil and from there into the water table, they would not have nutrient-rich water to give them life.

If asked, she would have said that being a doctor was a career in giving. Only now, on the other side of the world, could she admit it was the prestige and honor of the job that she had been focused on. At every turn she had proven herself to be self-serving and opportunistic. What should have been a time of bravery and sacrifice had become only a testament to her willingness to do anything—even consort with the enemy—to preserve her own life.

BOOK: Mercenary's Reward
11.16Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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