Mercenary's Reward (7 page)

THE HEAT OF blood warmed Jai's fingers and dripped swiftly into the dirt. His kill was a fairly small animal, but he'd decided to clean it before carrying it back to Mieli. He'd spotted it about an hour ago and recognized its fur. The waxy coat was waterproof, and the pack he carried was made of the same. After he'd settled Mieli to the ground and tracked the animal down, it seemed simpler to prepare the meat out of her sight.

Jai couldn't deny a small spurt of anticipation. When she woke, there would be no way to tell her his plans, but she would understand her place. There would be more of what he'd only begun to sample last night. Erotic images of the tiny healer as she'd appeared in his arms rose in his mind. Already he was drunk with the power of ownership, rock hard at the memory of her submissiveness.

Mieli had been more than willing to take him, and she had obviously found pleasure in his possession. As much as he reveled in those memories, he was also driven by his yearning to see her on top of him. Jai was impatient to have her again.

All day he had carried her through the forest, and all day he had fought the demands of his body. He knew it was imperative that they reach the War Tribe station and from there get passage back to a Tribe planet. How he was going to do that, he hadn't decided yet, but he knew it was going to cost him some of his hard-earned money. Especially with a native in tow; she was hardly going to go unnoticed.

With the raw meat ready and wrapped in the skin, Jai started back to where he had left his woman.
His woman
. The thought brought an uncharacteristic smile to his face.

MIELI WAS WRAPPED tightly in the blanket and her own thoughts, but the sound of light rustling brought her attention up, and she came to her feet. In between two tall
fenn
trees Jai stood silently. He was wearing his mended uniform and carrying her pack. One of his hands held the edges of a
meento
fur, freshly skinned.

He stared hard at her, and the message was unmistakable. Of course. She'd accomplished what she'd set out to do weeks ago. Hadn't he saved her, healed her? He had proven he was capable of protecting her, of caring for her, and what he wanted in return was what she had been willing to give just hours ago.

Now, though, her mind was in turmoil. Her certainty and assurance were gone, stripped away as she questioned her version of the events of the last few months. Kyre had proven to be a poor leader, but honesty compelled her to admit to herself that she would have been no better. Perhaps the men had, in fact, been wise. Maybe they had seen what she had thought so well hidden. Her selfishness and single-mindedness would hardly have made her a logical choice.

Mieli knew she would never have put their safety and happiness ahead of her own stubbornness. Vaguely, she wondered why everything seemed so clear now. Kyre's attack had been the first time in her life that she had ever been struck. Her parents had never so much as slapped her hand from the cookie jar.

If she had believed herself powerless before, the attack had shown her that there
were
worse things than hiding from the enemy. Kyre had so easily abused her, his wounded pride enough to justify his actions in his mind. Mieli had felt real fear. Jai had been far kinder, but she had no way of knowing how long that would last. He was so much bigger than Kyre; the damage Jai could do was beyond even her imagination.

There was a chance, admittedly a small one, that he might still leave her behind. Mieli toyed with the idea. She was torn between her desire to go with Jai and an equally strong impulse to convince him to leave her alone. In the tumult of today and yesterday, some internal balance had been forever shifted, and Mieli was afraid. It was an emotion she realized she had never truly experienced before. She had been bored and frustrated in Kyre's camp, restless and eager to leave what she perceived to be a group of fools.

Now she could see that they had been afraid too. Those young boys had learned to fear physical violence, a lesson she had managed to miss in the hospital tent. She finally understood exactly what she should be afraid of. Jai had so far treated her with sufficient restraint that she was sure he didn't intend to hurt her. Kyre had become a different person when she crossed him. So could Jai.

SOMETHING WAS AMISS. Jai could see it in the sad slant of her head and the guarded expression in her eyes. She was not happy to see him, nor did she appear to be ready to submit to him. Whatever had occurred between her and the man he'd killed had changed her attitude. Anger flared to life within him. It did not matter. She was his, and she would relearn that lesson if need be.

He took the pack from around his neck and tossed it to the ground. More carefully he set the fur-wrapped meat next to it. Two long strides brought him close enough to touch her. Her body was rigid; he could feel it across the small space that separated them. The tilt of her little chin was defiant but also scared. It was obvious she was struggling with something, perhaps even planning a struggle with
him.

"Mieli.” The use of her name clearly startled her, and she regarded him through wide, nervous eyes. “You can't possibly understand this, but I think you'll get the gist.” Jai reached out with both hands and gripped her upper arms to draw her closer. “I own you, Mieli. Your life belongs to me. You will do as I bid, and I will treat you like what you are to me—a gift.” He released one arm to cup her pale face in his palm. “A gift that will please me or risk being discarded."

MIELI KNEW RESISTANCE wouldn't be easy, but when he pulled her close, she was rendered a coward. His words meant nothing to her, but the purpose behind them shone through. Jai sounded both proud and tender when he said her name, and there was a warning in his words. The firm grip on her arm and the hard palm on her face were a statement of their own. He handled her carefully but with no hesitation, only certainty and possession. As if he didn't intend to let her go.

When he stopped speaking, there was a tense silence. Mieli glanced around wildly. There was nowhere to run, and no weapon that would prove effective against one such as he. With the moment of truth at hand, she had no desire to be at the mercy of his anger. Her new goal in life was to
never
be subjected to his wrath or anyone else's for that matter.

She looked up at Jai, but he was not watching her. Something had caught his attention, and she twisted around to look. In the woods about ten meters away, a big
sarkla
was lumbering along. The sarkla were native to these woods but rarely seen. They were three times the size of a man and weighed nearly five times as much. Long, carnivorous teeth and curved claws were a testament to their hungry ferocity. This one would not be a problem; he was headed away from them, and his most recent kill was still tightly clamped in its jaws.

Mieli could see that it was a large meento, the same animal Jai had returned with. It was only after a moment that she realized it was still alive. Trapped in the unforgiving vise of the sarkla's teeth, it made terrible bleating sounds that could just barely be heard across the widening distance.

Finally the beast was beyond sight among the trees, and Mieli uneasily turned her head to face her captor. She met his eyes and saw an expression there that solidified her worst fears. He understood the sarkla. To him, there had been nothing disturbing in that tableau. Only she had felt anguish for the much smaller meento. Even though she killed them for food as well, she did so with compassion and thanks. The great beast that let it suffer until he was ready to eat it had nothing in common with her yet everything in common with Jai.

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Jai did not become angry when Mieli continued to stand, tense and silent, without acknowledging him. He was too practical for that. She had not truly provoked him yet, and despite his annoyance with her attitude, he was not ready to discipline her. Besides, there was much to be done before nightfall, and he wanted it over with.

Without a second glance at Mieli, he turned back to where he'd dropped the pack, and began to set up camp. Behind him, she stood just as he'd left her, and when he caught sight of her from the corner of his eye as he moved around, she seemed lost. By the time he was done, darkness had begun to fall. The fire was just beginning to really burn, and still she stood.

For the first time, the sounds of the forest were all around them. A day away from the unnatural destruction of his crash, the murmur of the woodland life was almost loud. Jai turned to Mieli, done with the distance between them.

He was uncertain how to approach her now. Her eyes were downcast, but there was still a mulish set to her mouth, and her hands were clenched fists. If it were only the sex, he would have no problem taking her this way, but it was the yielding that Jai wanted. No, it was what he
needed
. Simple sex had never been a problem. He had rarely ever lost a combat-challenge.

That thought brought a memory to mind, and Jai recalled the first time he'd ever challenged. In the War Tribe, it was an inevitability, especially among the humanoid races. If one were particularly unattractive, one might avoid challenge, but most others faced it. Jai had known that only his peers could issue the challenge, and so he'd felt confident in his ability to win. He'd even considered challenging another, just to prove it. His friend Tarin had been equally sure, and they'd spent their free time speculating who would be a good one to challenge.

They had both been taken with a young woman named Yasbeth. She was soldier class but mostly for her skill with weapons. In hand-to-hand combat she was too lean to be truly powerful. Ultimately, it was Jai who called her out. He could still remember the hard mat beneath his knees and the feel of her muscled body bucking and thrashing and finally slumping in defeat. There had been quite a crowd. When he finally subdued her and pressed his hard cock into her resisting flesh, the roars of approval had been deafening. But it was one moment in particular that had been hard to forget. Above the sounds of his rough pounding and Yasbeth's angry snarls, he'd looked up into the crowd and met Tarin's eyes. There had been envy there. And desire.

For some reason, the memory was very clear tonight, and Jai had to shake off the feeling that he was forgetting something important. It was a long time ago, not the last time he'd forced another on the challenge mat. There had been many in the intervening years, women mostly. He'd had his fair share of men but found he responded best when it was a woman. Tarin, on the other hand, tended to challenge mostly men.

Jai spared a thought for his friend. Although they still served together, Tarin was often on the ground. He was a hulking brute who was most effectively employed on the land forces that set the seeds of the War Tribe civilization in place. Even now, Tarin would be somewhere in the large encampment to the west, giving orders and arranging for the safe transport of the nonsoldier class types who would set up the War Tribe colony on this planet.

The idea flashed so intensely that Jai nearly laughed. Of course. Tarin would get him off this planet. They were like brothers, and if anyone were capable of smuggling them out, it would be him. It wouldn't be free, but Tarin was an honest thief who wouldn't take his money and fail to deliver.

With the weight of that worry off his mind, Jai refocused on Mieli. His long and unnatural silence had unnerved her, and she was watching him with fearful eyes. Vivid memories of her carnal response the night before made his body harden and swell. She had shuddered in pleasure before, and by Hai, she would do it again.

EVERY MOMENT THAT passed tied Mieli's stomach into knots. The silence had become loud, filled with the hard thunder of her heartbeat and the harsh sound of her breathing.

It had been hard to watch him prepare their camp. Jai's body was a study in power—and violence. Warm, copper-toned skin was stretched tight over a frame liberally padded with muscles. Disturbing images of what that kind of strength could do to her much smaller body made her sick to her stomach.

At last he was finished and stood to face her. Mieli turned her head down, unable to look into his eyes. Several long moments passed in complete silence and stillness. Unable to stand the tension, she raised her gaze to his.

The ruthless, cold gaze on her did little to ease the tightness in her chest. Instead of the assault she had half expected, Jai seemed to be studying her. He stood only a yard or so away, and regarded her with a most cunning expression.

After what seemed an eternity of uncertainty and fear, he approached her slowly. Mieli tensed, but he only came a few steps, then stopped. A moment passed, and then he held out his hand, as if to ask that she put her hand in his. The surprise made her thoughts slow, and she struggled for a way to respond to the unexpected request.

Not an order after all, but a choice. What was he asking her for? What would she be accepting if she placed her palm in his? Confused and upset, she wondered what he would do if she refused.

Refuse?
The voice in Mieli's head sounded incredulous. And why not? This was her big chance, the moment she'd been working for. He wanted her, and instead of just taking, he was asking for her cooperation. She was not a victim; she was a survivor. And if she put her hand in his, she would have an identity in this new and terrifying world. Not a doctor, as she might have hoped, but a lover to this man.

With more certainty that she was feeling, Mieli placed her palm to Jai's and looked up into his icy blue eyes. This was the time to cement their relationship and to prove to him how much better off he would be for keeping her around. She could not let Kyre's attack poison her mind with useless worries. Her goal firmly in mind, she stepped forward to bring her body close to his.

Careful to keep her eyes on his face, she used both hands to work the fastenings down the front of his mended suit. When she reached the front of his pants, the rigid shape of his cock was obvious. Once the last clasp was freed, the thick length sprang eagerly into her palms. Mieli gave it one slow stroke and then reached for the hem of her shift, dragging it off over her head to drop it on the ground.