The Claiming (10 page)

After several moments passed, Alain relaxed slightly, trying to ignore the fact that the embrace made him feel uncomfortable in an indescribable way. It had another disconcerting effect he soon discovered. His brain said 'comfort', but his body reacted in the way it customarily did whenever it found itself pressed against a pleasing feminine form.

When she drew back finally and smiled up at him, he was torn between a strong desire to kiss her and the certainty that if he did he would not want to stop there. He released her, watched her thoughtfully as she left.

He found himself trying to recall why it was that he’d decided that he would not finalize his contract by consummating the agreement. At the time he’d made the decision, it had seemed wise to hold onto his ace. He would then have a legal means of terminating the contract if he saw that he did not wish to honor it.

There were a couple of minor flaws, he now saw, to his decision.

One, he was likely to run into trouble very quickly maintaining abstinence if he was in close proximity to Jana for any length of time.

And, two, if it was an ace for him, it was also one for Jana. So long as the agreement remained unconsummated, she could terminate the contract as easily as he could.

***

Jana had waltzed warily around Alain for days before it occurred to her that he was avoiding her as well. Blane avoided them both.

Jana was relieved. She needed time to consider her situation.

Naturally enough since she was unable to read, she had not seen the news sheet that Blane spoke of, but he had said it was unusual and she had immediately suspected that that meant it had been something posted by Marty.

She had cornered Blane and asked him to tell her exactly what the article had said. She had known it wasn’t just her fears. Blane confirmed her suspicions. Marty had offered a reward for her return.

She thought it more than a remote possibility that Blane was suspicious of her interest, but she had felt she had to know and she’d had no one else she could ask.

She wasn’t certain what, if anything, to do about it. If the message was posted here on Orleans, it seemed to indicate that Marty had a very good idea of where she was. But, if that was the case, why had he not come to collect her?

Was it possible that he’d simply posted the search everywhere?

She thought it was, but on the other hand, it was still possible that he had figured out that she had somehow used that other Jana’s passage and come to Orleans.

Which meant that he could appear most any time to collect her.

Flight appealed to her. The problem with that was that she had no credits to arrange flight. She also had no idea how to go about arranging it. The culture of Orleans prohibited embarkation centers. Even if she could figure out a way to steal passage, she would have to arrange it through someone who knew how to make arrangements.

Dees, she was certain, did. Somehow, though, she doubted that he would do so simply because she asked.

At any rate, she had no idea of where she might flee to that Marty would not be able to track her down and take her back.

She’d heard stories of a place called Dosstal—a world of felons, pirates and escaped slaves, but she didn’t know if it was just stories, or if the place actually existed. Even if it did, it was shrouded in secrecy. Finding a way to reach it seemed impossible.

Plainly, the only option she had was to convince Alain to keep her even if Marty did show up.

There were a number of problems with that. Alain did not seem terribly interested in her. She had thought, several times, that he was and it had seemed that he would initiate sex by kissing her, but he was either holding himself back, or he was not drawn to her in the first place.

This was very disturbing. She had not previously encountered a male who had no interest in her. She had been genetically enhanced, she knew, to bombard any male who came near her with powerful pheromones. Even Marty, who had no sexual interest in females, had admired her. Since both her physical appearance and the chemical enhancements had failed to capture him, she had no idea how she might go about achieving her goal.

After turning her problem over in her mind for several days it occurred to Jana that she might have one possibility if the need arose to flee Orleans. Of the women Jana had met since she’d arrived, Val-risa Kor was the only one who had seemed to be genuinely friendly.

Unfortunately, Jana had no idea whether Val-risa was an outworlder, or a native of Orleans. Even if she was an outworlder and knew how Jana might leave Orleans, she might not be willing to help, but it seemed to Jana, who had so few options, that it was worth a try.

Another problem quickly presented itself, however. There was no way to communicate over distances on Orleans except by letters. Jana could neither read nor write, and in any case, she could not simply blurt out her problem and beg for help. She needed to talk to Val-risa … which was a problem in itself.

Although she was not considered a slave, she might as well have been, for the women of Orleans were not free to travel alone. They must be escorted where ever they went and if she asked to be escorted to Val-risa’s home, then she would not be able to speak freely with her. She finally decided that she had no choice but to slip away.

***

Jana breathed a sigh of relief upon reaching the ground floor and discovering that Alain was still closeted in his study with his overseer. Grasping her skirts and lifting them out of her way, she tiptoed quickly toward the front door. She'd nearly reached her goal when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned just in time to see the cook poke her head around the door at the opposite end of the hallway. Repressing a strong urge to grind her teeth in vexation, she forced a polite smile as cook beamed at her and hurried forward. "There you be, Missy! I sure glad I catch you b’fore you got away."

Jana’s heart leapt into her throat. Glancing apprehensively toward the study door, she rushed back the way she’d only just come, hoping to quiet the woman before she alerted Alain. "Yes, Vir?" she asked in a hushed voice.

It was a problem in the kitchen, which Jana solved by agreeing with the cook’s suggestion.

No sooner had she rid herself of the cook, however, than she heard sounds indicating the overseer's imminent departure. Whirling, she darted on tiptoe toward the front door once more. She was on the point of slipping out the door when Alain noticed her. She whirled, feeling her face flush guiltily. "Yes?"

"I see you're dressed for riding. Shall I join you?" Alain asked, starting toward her as the overseer disappeared down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Jana's face fell. She stared at him wide-eyed a moment while her mind leapt nimbly from one lame excuse to another. It wouldn't do at all to tell him that she hadn't planned to ride, she decided. It would be too obviously a lie when she was wearing a riding costume.

Alain hesitated when he noticed her obvious dismay at his suggestion, then sauntered forward, one eyebrow lifted quizzically. "You have some objection?"

She blinked up at him, sorry she couldn't think of one. "Oh, no. I thought you were probably much too busy or I would have mentioned it."

A slight smile curved his lips, but his eyes were watchful. "By no means. I'm completely at your disposal, as you can see."

"Shall we go then?" she suggested lightly, since there seemed no hope for it, trying to smile as if she was pleasantly surprised by the offered treat.

Blane had set aside the most docile Zell for Jana’s use, so she managed to mount without difficulty. Relieved, she guided the animal toward the road and pointed it in the proper direction. They rode for some time in silence. Jana was caught up in her own thoughts and for the most part oblivious to both her companion and her surroundings.

Alain eyed her pensively, trying to shake off his irritation at her latest rebuff, and the suspicion that he'd stumbled upon a tryst. There was nothing to support such a notion other than Jana's very obvious reluctance for his company and the sense of possessiveness that had descended upon him from the moment he’d met her.

To say that Jana wasn't what he'd been expecting would've been a colossal understatement.

She was enchanting. Even knowing what he did, he had been so thoroughly charmed by her that he almost hoped he wouldn't find out what her reasons were for deceiving him.

He was not so smitten that he allowed himself any doubt that she was. She was not the woman he had contracted with, but she had traveled to Orleans using Jana’s identification and travel code.

The question was, had she simply stolen the code from some need to escape Earth—possibly prosecution for some crime? Or was she part of some sort of con game with the real Jana? Or a con of her own design?

Perhaps it was a case of once burned, twice shy, but, given the way men fell at her feet, it had occurred to him to wonder at the possibility of Jana having come to him impure and already impregnated with another man’s offspring. It seemed too farfetched. Jana was certainly beautiful enough, but was she devious enough to have hatched a plot so similar to that his first wife had hatched?

He meant to discover the truth before he committed himself irrevocably.

He would, he decided rather grimly, take advantage of the opportunity that had presented itself and see if he could penetrate her guard to find answers.

Jana’s thoughts were no more pleasant. She was fairly certain she knew why Alain had insisted on riding with her. He suspected she was not who she professed to be and hoped he could trip her up and discover the truth.

She dismissed that anxiety almost at once, however. She knew what he was up to. Therefore, she could prevent it.

She was far more interested in figuring out a way to evade him and proceed with her plan.

It occurred to Jana presently, however, that no such opportunity was likely to arise. That realization made her wonder if she should simply abandon her quest till a more opportune moment. Since it was brought forcefully upon her at that moment that she had, in her preoccupation, turned toward her intended destination, she blinked in surprise and drew her Zell to an abrupt halt.

Alain reined in beside her, favoring her with a look of puzzled amusement.

After a rather blank moment, Jana nudged her Zell into motion once more, deciding there might yet arise an opportunity to outmaneuver him and see her errand accomplished beneath his nose. She could hardly turn back now at any rate without arousing suspicions she'd just as soon not.

Since she realized then, too, that she'd been quiet entirely too long, and that Alain was liable to start asking unpleasant questions at any moment, she decided to forestall him. She began to babble quite gaily on any subject that struck her fancy, exclaiming at length on the beauty of the scenery, the mildness of the weather and the progress of the crops they passed. She chattered about any subject, in fact, that was unlikely to provoke questions from Alain regarding her background, since she was naturally entirely ignorant of the real Jana's past.

Belatedly, she realized that she had, all unwittingly, fallen into precisely the trap she'd meant to avoid. When Alain asked her if the scenery differed greatly from what she was accustomed to, she gaped at him, aghast, for several unnerving moments while her color changed from perfectly white to bright crimson and back again. She managed a shrug finally. "Not really," she muttered.

Silence reigned for perhaps a minute. Jana was just beginning to relax when he spoke again.

"Did you enjoy farming?"

Jana favored him with a hunted look. The woman was a farming? What was a farming? "Oh yes," she answered lightly, and seeing that he was on the point of asking another question, cast about frantically for something, anything, to divert him. On spying a carpet of wildflowers, she gasped, jerked back sharply on the reins and slid to the ground. "Oh, what lovely flowers!" she breathed ecstatically.

“Don’t!” Alain said sharply.

Pretending deafness, Jana rushed into the field, bending to pluck several blossoms. As she straightened, she lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the bright sunlight and gazed out over the field of flowers that grew in such profusion. The sheer abundance of bright blossoms was strangely thrilling. She felt breathless just looking at them.

In a very few minutes she was so caught up in her task she forgot all about the reason for it. She began to enjoy herself hugely, delighting in her growing bouquet, the sunshine and the cool breeze that snatched at her skirts and loosened feathery tendrils of hair around her face. She felt lightheaded, almost intoxicated with the heady smell of the bright flowers.

Alain dismounted and led their Zells to the shade of a tree to tether them. After studying her for several moments, he started across the field toward her. “Jana, come out of the field.”

Jana laughed, tossing the bouquet of flowers she’d gathered. Then, gathering her skirts, she skipped further into the field.

He strode purposefully toward her. Jana danced out of reach.

He rushed her then. Jana ran, but she was far shorter than Alain. Within moments, she felt his arm around her waist and they tumbled to the ground in a mound of brightly covered flowers. When they rolled to a stop, Jana was on her back beneath him.

Jana looked up at Alain’s serious expression, laughing.

“Jana! It’s the flowers! We shouldn’t be here!”

Jana felt her smile fade as she stared up at him, studying his features. She realized quite suddenly that she had not fully appreciated his masculine beauty—for he was quite devastatingly handsome. Her heart fluttered in her chest just looking at him, whenever he came near—whenever she heard the sound of his voice. No one had ever effected her as he did except….

Strangely, the memory danced away before she could grasp it. She decided it wasn’t important.

Enjoying the moment was more important.

She realized quite suddenly that, for the first time in her life, she felt want, felt need to be possessed. She lifted her hand, touching his cheek, running a fingertip lightly over his lips. Something flickered in his eyes, but he did not, as she’d hoped, lower his head and kiss her.