Recon Marines II: Marine's Heiress, The (38 page)

“
One more,” he said in a
voice she could only describe as a growl.

The other marines dug shallow holes in
the hot sand. Roz had spread a thin sheet of camouflage material on
the ground so the women could rest. The wondrous cloth kept the
heat of the burning sand at bay. Callie sat on Joe’s thin pack
while he knelt with her bare foot cradled in his callused
hand.

Joe slid his other hand up her calf to
the back of her knee. Little fissions of pleasure followed the path
he traced and distracted her from her painful wounds. Her reaction
shocked her but she couldn’t stop it. She sensed Joe’s displeasure
though his hands moved gently on her leg. His warm breath feathered
against her skin as he leaned close to find the tip of the last
thorn. He used his thumb and the edge of a small knife to grip the
barb.

He lifted his head and met her gaze.
The pureness of blue in his eyes reminded her of rare, old Earth
sapphires. She nearly missed the flicker of regret and her wonder
at it was cut short when he tore the thorn from her leg.

Callie shrieked and jerked her leg
from his grip. She tumbled from her perch and landed on the burning
sand. Joe lifted her quickly to her feet.

“
Sit.” He pushed her back
to her seat on the pack. He pulled a small capped tin from one of
the sacks attached to his belt.

Yalo started toward them, but Callie
waved her back.

“
I had to get the thorns
out.” Joe didn’t look at her. “One of my men died from their poison
when we first crossed.”

Callie realized Joe meant to apologize
in his short-worded rude way. “I know you had to do it. Thank
you.”

“
I should have noticed it
so you didn’t step on it. Now we’ll have to stay here and might not
reach the waterhole tomorrow.” Joe rubbed some ointment from the
small tin over the seeping punctures on her leg and then pulled a
skinny roll of white cloth from the same pouch on his waist. His
hands moved quick and sure, pulling the bandage tight without
pinching. His thick hair begged to be tested for silkiness as he
bent his head over his task.

Callie squeezed her hands into fists
as they moved toward him without her conscious thought. He finished
and looked up, his clear gaze startling her anew with his
intensity. He looked away and gestured toward his men.

“
We only have four field
beds. You and I must decide how they’re shared.”

“
Four beds for eleven
people?” Outrage flooded through Callie. The marines now had them
trapped out in the desert and probably expected the women to give
in with little protest. And Joe wanted her to help match them
up?

Joe’s predator gaze touched on her and
then swept over the rest of her party. “The children might be a
problem.”

“
A problem?” Callie
lurched to her feet, trying to keep her bare foot out of the sand.
She poked him in the chest with her finger and found him as movable
as the marble walls of her royal home. “Get this straight, soldier!
We’re not sharing any beds with you or your genetic-freak comrades.
We’d rather die out here!”

The others surely heard every word.
The marines stopped digging and stared at her and Joe.

Joe picked up her boot and handed it
to her. “The sun will set within half an hour, Lady Callie. All of
you will be frozen within another hour if you don’t join us in our
field beds. Though I’d guess the children won’t last even that
long.”

He gathered up his supplies and walked
away to join his men. They exchanged no words and started digging
again. Callie winced as she slid her foot into her hot boot. She
hobbled over to the other women. They lifted their frightened gazes
to her.

“
What was that about?”
Yalo asked.

“
He wanted me to decide
which one of them each of you would sleep with.” Saying the words
added fuel to Callie’s anger.

“
So?” Riba
asked.

“
Riba! I know they’re
pretty to look at but…”

“
Callie,” Riba
interrupted. “What are you thinking? We’ll have to sleep together
to keep warm. They’re not digging those holes so they can have
their way with us. Roz said they have special sleeping sacks to
hold in the heat.”

“
They must have some
advanced gear to allow them to survive the extreme temperatures, or
they wouldn’t be able to cross this desert,” Yalo
offered.

Callie winced as she recalled her
words to Joe. She watched the marines as they went about their
preparations. They pulled more thin sheets like the one the women
rested on from their packs and lined the holes. No words passed
between them as they worked in perfect efficiency.

How could she apologize for her harsh
words? If she hadn’t been thinking about how beautiful Joe was, she
wouldn’t have jumped to such an illogical conclusion. No matter the
marines’ rudeness and social ineptness, the men had been nothing
but helpful. They’d asked nothing in return and perhaps that was
why she couldn’t bring herself to trust them.

* * * *

Joe set aside his shovel as Callie
walked toward him. It might be best if the men didn’t hear more of
her opinions of them. “Tar and Roz, set up the condensation nets
for the night. Vin, see about food for everyone.”

Callie stopped in front of him. “I
misunderstood your intentions, Joe.”

He tried not to stare at her pale,
smooth skin, so fragile appearing against the unforgiving backdrop
of the desert. “Have you decided on the sleeping
arrangements?”

“
I’m trying to
apologize.”

Joe thought she looked more angry than
sorry. His mind raced to interpret her meaning. She said she
misunderstood, but she was still upset. Perhaps more details would
help. “I will take the baby. Roz volunteered to take the child and
her mother. Vin will take only one as he’ll be the last
settled.”

Red color rose to Callie’s cheeks.
Could the thorns cause a fever so quickly? She spoke through
clenched teeth. “Are you some kind of robot? Having a conversation
with you is like speaking to my computer.”

Joe repeated her words in his mind.
Did she expect an answer to the robot question? He feared to say
the wrong thing so said nothing.

Callie sighed. “The baby’s mother must
sleep with her. Sally still wakes up to eat in the middle of the
night. Yalo can sleep with Vin and help him to whatever it is he
needs to do.”

Joe gave a quick nod, eager to agree
and move away from the confusion of her earlier anger. He knew his
intelligence quotient topped the abilities of most men but being
around Callie proved his ignorance of so many things.

Callie broke eye contact, and the
fever rose in her cheeks again. “As the leader I should stay close
to your leader. I’ll sleep with you and Riba and the
baby.”

“
The plan is good,” Joe
agreed without hesitation. “Vin has food for your
people.”

“
Thank you.” But she
didn’t move away.

“
You’ll be safe
tonight.”

“
I know.”

Joe wondered if he hadn’t responded
fully enough. Civilians had conversations, did they not? “The food
is the same but it has many nutrients.”

“
Joe!”

“
Yes?” He stood right
beside her. Why did she call him?

Callie laughed, a musical sound from
deep inside her. “What goes on in your head, and why am I trying to
figure it out? The food is wonderful, especially compared to what
we had.”

“
You said you didn’t have
any food.”

Callie laughed again and walked away
to join her other friends. What the hell had she meant about the
food?

* * * *

“
I feel like I’m going to
suffocate,” Riba said.

“
Yalo said there’s a
sophisticated ventilation system to keep the oxygen levels high
enough.” Callie slid in the sleeping sack beside Riba. Sally
sprawled in satiated slumber on her mother’s chest. “I don’t like
these cramped quarters either, but we’ll be warm.”

Callie snuggled as close to Riba as
she could, but how would even a lean marine like Joe fit in the bit
of space left? The same, thin material as the soldiers’ uniforms
had been used to construct the bags. A small mechanical unit
attached to the head of the sack as Vin had explained. He would
cover all but the hose venting the air unit right before the sun
set and trap the heat of the white sand around them.

“
I hope Sally sleeps
through tonight,” Riba said.

Before Callie could add her wish for
the same, Joe lifted the edge of the bag. He slid in beside her,
his body brushing along her length. He’d taken his boots off and
pulled his shirt over his head before reclining flat beside
her.

“
Ready, Vin.”

“
Yes, sir.”

Callie caught a glimpse of Yalo and
Vin before Joe sealed the sack with some type of clever zipper. Joe
reached over Callie’s head and switched on the ventilation unit as
the hot, heavy sand dropped on their legs.

The sack inflated along its length and
lifted the weight of the sand off of them. The top of the bag
expanded to nearly a foot above their bodies. The air circulated
like a light breeze across their faces and alleviated some of the
claustrophobic feeling of being buried. A soft glow from the air
unit added to the comfort.

Joe settled on his side facing her. He
lifted his shirt in front of her face and offered it to Riba. “Take
this. It will get much colder later.”

“
Thank you.” Riba took the
shirt and wrapped it around Sally. She tucked the edges around the
baby as if it were a blanket of fine organic wool instead of a
shirt smelling of warm male.

Callie ordered her body to relax
despite the press of Joe’s chest against her arm. His feet brushed
hers, and his knee bumped into her thigh as he adjusted his
position. She thought about turning away from him but didn’t want
to turn her back to him. She now saw the ridiculous nature of her
earlier fears. The sleeping arrangements left no room to stretch
let alone to do anything requiring disrobing and vigorous
movements.

Riba’s breathed settled into the even
rhythms of sleep and why not? The previous days of dread,
inadequate food and water and then trudging through the sand
compounded the fatigue expected of a new mother.

But Callie couldn’t sleep. Now while
his breath stirred her hair. She sought conversation to distract
her from the stirrings of attraction.

“
Why do you help us?” The
question formed the heart of her distrust. What payment of
recompense would the marines eventually expect or
demand?

“
You are civilians.” Joe’s
spoke with the wary, hesitant quality she’d noticed earlier. He
obviously recognized the words but he seemed to take time to
interpret them and form his answers.

“
Civilians?”

“
The primary duty given to
the Interplanetary Marines is the protection of
civilians.”

“
You feel you have a duty
to protect us?”

“
Yes.”

Could their actions really be so
unselfish? Callie tested her hope that her staff might be safe
while in the care of these soldiers. “Duty is important to
you?”

“
Duty is all there
is.”

“
No,” Callie said even
though he gave the answer she wanted. She turned her head toward
him and found his face closer than she’d expected. “There’s much
more to life than duty.”

His gaze dropped to her lips, before
he rolled to his back. His arm and thigh pressed tight against
hers. “What more is there for such as me, Lady Callie?”

All the vicious things Yalo had said
about their rescuers and Callie’s own harsh words rose in her
thoughts. What indeed was there for such as Joe? He closed his eyes
and fell asleep within a few breaths.

Callie stared at him and wondered if a
soul swirled inside the angelic, warrior body? Was there more depth
to the man than his incredible physical presence and an ingrained
sense of duty? On what scale did one measure a man constructed so
unnaturally?

* * * *

Something woke Callie. She burrowed
closer to the heat against her front. It moved. She opened her eyes
and saw an expanse of smooth, bare skin. A steady thumping beneath
her ear sung of life and strength. Joe.

Sally whimpered, the sound that had
awakened Callie. Joe held his breath and his heart pounded faster.
Sally quieted, and he relaxed.

Callie lifted her head off his chest
so she could look at him, wondering when she’d shifted to such an
intimate position. Her legs tangled with his, and her hips pressed
against him.

Joe stared over her head at Riba.
Callie had only seen minute traces of emotion on his face before
and struggled to decipher what she saw now. Wonder?
Disbelief?

Callie could hear the baby suckling
and surely Joe could see Riba’s breast as she fed her daughter. No
lust gleamed in his eyes. After a while Sally burped and Riba made
a soft sound of amusement.