Rebel (10 page)

He moaned. His body went rigid and then
began to shake.
Fuck!
Was his fever triggering the seizure
or was this an effect of the poison? She straightened his limbs,
moving the supplies away from him and rolling him onto his
side.

She grabbed his shirt and ran to the pool,
drenching the garment in cool water. Spreading the shirt over his
torso, she smoothed her wet hands over his face. His body heat
quickly saturated the shirt, making the material feel warm.

Stripping off the utility jumper, she doused
it in the pool. She exchanged his shirt for the cool jumper and
hurried back to the water’s edge. Could she roll him into the
water? Why’d he have to be so damn big?

By the time she’d switched out the garments
for the third time, his body relaxed and his breathing evened. He
still felt hot, but his temperature had definitely lowered. She
turned her attention to the puncture wounds. They had closed off,
forming high, pus-filled blisters. Her stomach heaved and she
gagged.

“I’m not a freaking doctor. How am I
supposed to know what to do?”

Common sense had guided her so far. He was
hot, she’d cooled him down.

Okay, think. You don’t want the poison
spreading, so you’ve got to let it out.

Rummaging through the medical kit, she found
a “splinter remover”. The thin strip of metal formed a distinct
point sharp enough to lance the blisters. She opened several
packets of absorbent gauze and braced herself for the task
ahead.

She poked the first blister and shuddered as
the pus oozed out. “I am
not
cut out for this.” Holding her
breath against the smell, she repeated the process over and over
until all of the blisters were lanced.

Gently lifting one lid, she gazed at his eye
and then laughed at her own foolishness. “What the hell are you
checking for? You don’t know what’s good or bad.”

He felt cooler. His breathing was slow and
steady. What else should she do? As her panic receded, she glanced
down at herself. Wearing only her panties, she knelt beside her
unconscious captor. What a mess!

“Is your companion injured?”

“Where did you come from?”

Gasping at the softly spoken questions,
Corry folded her arms over her breasts and looked behind her. Two
young men stood near the pool, one blond, one dark-haired. They
stared at her with a mixture of fascination and mistrust.

“Our ship crashed into the trees. We were
trying to find a settlement when an animal attacked my
companion.”

The dark-haired man moved forward. “What are
his injuries?”

“It had quills in its tail and it shot them
right at me.” Her tone grew soft and distracted as the memory
replayed within her mind. “Ashton jumped in front of me. He saved
my life.”

“I am Lutton. Did you remove the
quills?”

“Yes. Was that wrong? I didn’t know what
else to do.”

“They needed to be removed, but the quills
of a
malignari
are incredibly poisonous.”

Corry glanced at her hands and gasped. Her
fingers were swollen, her skin starting to blister.

“Go get help,” Lutton called to his friend.
“We will need a litter for the man.”

“I gave him an antitoxin mist. Is he still
in danger?”

Lutton’s grave expression sent a chill
through Corry. The pounding in her head intensified and her vision
blurred.

“You are both in danger.”

Lutton’s words followed her into the
void.

Wishing her hair were three inches longer,
Corry took a deep breath and entered the hut. The sweltering heat
made clothing optional as far as the Perrlain Tribe was concerned.
Most wore a scrap of material wrapped around their hips, but Corry
had never seen so many naked breasts in one place.

Ashton sat, legs crossed in front of him,
attempting to force down some unrecognizable substance contained in
the bowl he held. He looked up at her entrance and smiled. His dark
gaze caressed her mostly naked body and her nipples hardened in
response.

“Now this is much more interesting than
their idea of food. When did you become so uninhibited?”

“Facing death can change your attitude about
a lot of things.” The Perrlain didn’t bother with furniture. She
could join him on the pallet or stand. She stood. “You look
better.”

“I feel better.” He chuckled and set the
bowl aside. “Guess that’s not surprising.” Solemn intensity
replaced the amusement in his gaze. “Thank you seems pretty lame
when you owe someone your life.”

“I’m extremely thankful.” She watched the
bunch and flex of his muscles as he pushed to his feet. “You didn’t
give me a chance to say it.”

He moved toward her. “I was talking about
me. You worked like hell to keep me alive. I drifted in and out of
consciousness, but I was more aware than you realize.”

“If you hadn’t jumped in front of me in the
first place, you wouldn’t have needed saving. I was just returning
the favor.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You’re emanating the most bizarre
combination of emotions.” He placed his hands lightly on her
shoulders. “What’s going on?”

“My life has been one calamity after another
since we snatched you off Halley Prime.” Even knowing it was
ridiculous to blame him, she couldn’t resist the accusation. He
just chuckled, so she moved closer, resting her head on his
shoulder. “You were supposed to be an arrogant, self-absorbed jerk.
That way I could hate you.”

“I’m definitely arrogant, and I can be
self-absorbed. Why don’t you hate me?” His warm fingers swept up
and down her spine, making her skin tingle.

His embrace felt wonderful and natural. She
snuggled against him, stroking his back and inhaling his scent.
“I’ve tried to hate you. This would all be so much easier if I
could.”

“But you don’t?”

Easing back far enough so she could look
into his eyes, she let affection heat her gaze. “You know exactly
how I feel about you.”

A sexy smile parted his lips. “We’ve cheated
death twice since leaving Borrelly. I think we should find a way to
celebrate.”

She heaved a ragged sigh and dragged her
gaze away from his handsome face. “Unfortunately, the Perrlain
agree with you.”

He raised her chin, drawing her gaze back to
his. “What are you talking about?”

“We’ve got serious trouble.” Tension coiled
within her. How the hell was she going to make him understand what
Lutton had just told her? “Most of this tribe wants us dead.”

“They just spent three days nursing us back
to health.” His brows drew together and confusion clouded his eyes.
“Why do they want us dead?”

“The Perrlain are separatists. They migrated
to Temple-Tuttle decades before the catastrophe. The elders believe
the Deity allowed the comet to destroy Shardrake because the
population squandered the sacred resources.”

“Shardrake was destroyed because we didn’t
appreciate the planet?”

“It’s more complicated than that. They
believe we failed to value the divine gift of life and all its
bounties. They find our materialism and lack of faith
intolerable.”

“Then wouldn’t they want us gone as soon as
possible, before we contaminate their tribe?” His tone was light
and playful. Mischief sparkled in his eyes.

She narrowed her gaze. “This is
serious.”

He teased her skin with his thumbs. Each
feathery caress made her more aware of her nakedness.

“I’m listening.” He smiled lazily.

“Lutton has been interceding with the elders
on our behalf, but he can—”

“Who is Lutton?”

“He’s the chief’s son and we’re damn lucky
he found us.” She rubbed her eyes and twisted away from his light
hold. “I don’t know where to begin.”

“Begin where I blacked out.”

“I’d stabilized your fever, but the
antitoxin only slowed the spread of the poison. It wasn’t
neutralized. Lutton and his lover came to the pool to pray and
found us. Lutton sent Baylott for help. I passed out before Baylott
returned, but apparently the tribe’s healer refused to treat us. He
said the Deity obviously wanted us dead.”

“And how did the healer come to this
conclusion?” Ashton crossed his arms over his chest, his lips
pressed together.

“We survived the crash only to be attacked
by a
malignari
.”

“Is that what you call those little
monsters?”

She nodded. “By saving a life, the Perrlain
believe you interfere with the will of the Deity.”

“Doesn’t their healer interfere every time
he or she treats someone?”

“We didn’t fall ill. We were attacked by a
malignari
. The Perrlain believe they’re the Deity’s
henchmen, delivering punishments for secret sins.”

“Wonderful. So what do we have to do to
repay our debt to the elders?” Ashton raked his fingers through his
hair, pacing the narrow breadth of the hut.

“This is where it gets tricky. Our debt
isn’t owed to the elders. It’s owed to the entire tribe and to the
Deity. As I said, Lutton is the chief’s son and the Perrlains’
thinking on such matters is almost reversed from more common
philosophies. The tribe doesn’t belong to its leaders. The leaders
belong to the tribe.”

Ashton pushed his fingers through his hair,
his brow furrowed. “What does this have to do with us?”

“You saved me, I saved you, and Lutton saved
us both.”

“How did Lutton save both of us? Did some of
the quills hit you?”

She shook her head. “I contaminated myself
when I pulled them out of your shoulder. Lutton gave us the
antidote even though the healer forbade it.”

Ashton sat on the pallet and crossed his
legs. His short, flimsy garment tempted her to peek beneath. Wet
heat curled through her body. Maybe the price of freedom wasn’t so
high after all. Except for the tribe and Lutton…

“What do we have to do? I gather the Deity
doesn’t accept coalition credits.”

“That part is called the Celebration of
Life, but I’ll take you through this a step at a time.” She glanced
away from his handsome face and took a deep breath. “We have to
prove ourselves worthy to participate in the celebration, and the
tribe, as a whole, makes that decision.”

“How? What makes us worthy in the eyes of
the tribe?”

“Respect of their traditions and a
willingness to abandon pride.” She tried to remember as many of the
phrases Lutton had used as possible. He made it sound so spiritual,
so exalted. “There are three stages along the journey toward
worthiness. Giving, receiving and sharing.”

“What exactly would we give, receive and
share?”

“Pleasure. We must eagerly give pleasure to
one of the tribe members and we must willingly receive pleasure in
return. Last, we must share in the pleasure of others. Only then
will we be allowed to bring our offering before the Deity.”

His dark eyes gleamed, but she couldn’t read
his expression. What she wouldn’t give for his empathic abilities
right now.

“You still haven’t told me what we’re
supposed to offer,” he reminded her.

“A tangible expression of our gratitude and
a demonstration of our commitment to celebrate life.”

“What
exactly
do we have to do?”

“Fuck.” She snapped out the word,
embarrassed yet wary. Wait until he realized the specifics. “The
festival sounds more or less harmless. We pleasure them, they
pleasure us, and then we watch them screw. We all sleep under the
stars around the ceremonial fire, and at sunrise the tribe decides
if we’re worthy or not.”

“Define pleasure. What are they allowed to
do and who is allowed to do it?”

“I’m not sure who, but Lutton said no more
than three will participate in the giving. They will abide by our
sexual orientation and we only have to come once.”

“Well, thank the Deity for that.” His
sarcasm made her cringe. “Are we talking touching and kissing, or
licking and sucking? You’re still leaving a lot up to
interpretation.”

“I think they can do whatever it takes to
accomplish the goal, so the faster we come the less…”

“This is one interesting religion. I’m
surprised they’re not more popular.” His chuckle sounded almost
sincere.

“This isn’t funny.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here. I’m strong
enough to travel.”

“We can’t.” She met his gaze directly, her
heart pounding in her chest. “They’ll kill Lutton. He saved our
lives. We can’t just walk away.”

“Then we’ll take him with us. It might be
good to have a—”

“He’s the chief’s son. He belongs to the
tribe. They have provided him with the best of everything knowing
he will guide and protect them when his father’s time has
passed.”

Aghast, he spread his arms and shook his
head. “What the hell are you suggesting? You want to go through
with this ritual?” He studied her silently for a moment. “You said
we don’t have to fuck the tribe members to be found worthy. What
about Lutton? What does this Celebration of Life entail?”

Overcome by self-consciousness, Corry
crossed her arms over her breasts. She should have let Lutton
explain it. He’d done a much better job. She didn’t subscribe to
their beliefs, but he’d helped her understand them. “After the
tribe finds us worthy, we will be purified. Then at sunset, we go
to the Cliffs of Enarre and…Lutton has left the actual logistics up
to us.”

“Am I supposed to find that comforting?”

“The Perrlain have a very unusual attitude
about sexuality. The concept of permanent mates is alien to them.
They’re a true community, sharing
everything
. They put no
more significance on sexual desire than on hunger. They eat because
they’re hungry and food is enjoyable. They have sex with anyone who
stirs their desire because it feels good.”

“What about children?”

“Children belong to the entire community and
are nurtured by all.” Impatient to get to the heart of the matter,
Corry tossed her head, sending her hair back out of her face.
“They’re not asking us to join the tribe, just respect their
beliefs.”