Shamara (24 page)

The adrenaline and utter panic surging through Eirene made it difficult for her to think clearly. She knew she had to calm herself, to focus on what she could do to get out of this. She reached for rational thought.

Don't tell him you're no longer a virgin,
an inner voice warned. Her uncle might not harm her as long as he thought he could still trade her to the Leors. At least it might buy her some time.

For what?
Escape would be virtually impossible. Using her powers, as unstable as they were, could put her in an even worse situation. If her uncle realized she was an Enhancer, her fate would be worse than death, as she had just witnessed. Better to die than spend a life in slavery.

Yet instinct warned her not to take that final step, to tell her uncle the truth about her virginity, and die, slowly, painfully. "Why would I want to lie with any man?" she shot back.

Vaden raised his arm to backhand her, thought better of it. "No, that will mark you further. I'll have to use an electrolyzer rod on you instead." He pivoted toward Turlock's lackeys. "Webb! Go to my ship. Have Stane contact Gunnar and tell him we found his bride, and to meet us on Saron. Stane also needs to contact Turlock and find out what's holding him up. Then get back here. I might need you."

Webb nodded and strode off.

"What are we going to do with her now?" Balen asked, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Eirene's breasts. It took all her self-control to quell her churning stomach.

"Nothing, until I find out whether or not she's still a virgin," Vaden answered.

She closed her eyes, battling despair and panic.
Spirit, I need a miracle.

"I'm sure the Leor bastard will insist on his own healer checking her over. He won't trust anything I say," Vaden growled. He yanked her arm viciously and dragged her toward the marketplace. "Gunnar will be here soon enough. But I intend to find out the truth for myself. Right now."

*  *  *

"So is all of Dukkair desert?" Lani asked, fascinated by Gunnar's account of his home planet.

"Much of it is," he replied. "It is very wild, but very beautiful. I have not been there for many cycles."

The longing in his eyes surprised her. Except for his irritation with her, or anger over situations she instigated, Gunnar rarely showed emotion. His black-as-sin eyes were usually inscrutable, which she found quite intriguing.

Even when they debated highly controversial topics, his expression rarely gave away his true feelings. And they discussed something every cycle, usually meeting in his council chamber after the midshift meal. Lani adored their discussions; Gunnar tolerated them.

She suspected he humored her to avoid a repeat performance of what had happened when he tried to put her in the brig. Thinking about it, she smiled to herself. She normally disapproved of females crying to get their way, although she was quite adept at producing tears at a millisecond's notice. But she had decided being imprisoned in a brig constituted extenuating circumstances and had opened the floodgates.

Apparently Leors didn't produce tears, had never seen them. Gunnar had panicked, convinced something must be seriously wrong. The threat of the brig had been withdrawn, the temperature settings turned down, the ship cleaned for the second time in one cycle. And Gunnar had promised, very ungraciously, to visit with her every day. Of course, he didn't call it a visit. It was a briefing, to learn more about her culture.

Ah, it had been wonderful. Lani wished she had a holocording of Gunnar's reaction. Oh, well. It had achieved the desired effect. "If Dukkair is mainly desert, it must be quite hot," she commented.

"Oh yes, very hot." Gunnar leaned back, his solid legs splayed. "There is a great deal of natural sunlight, which is the best source of heat for us."

Her eyes were drawn to his loincloth. Until now, she hadn't been a big fan of hot climates. But there could be advantages, she decided, if the amount of clothing was reduced. "What do the women of your race wear?" she asked.

"The same as thing as the males."

"Just a loincloth?" she asked, somewhat surprised, although many cultures embraced partial or total nudity.

"Yes. Why should they dress any differently than the males?"

Because the Leors, for all their warlike fierceness, appeared to be prudes. Lani had expected the women to cover up any body parts that signified temptation.

Curious, she asked, "Then Leor men don't consider female breasts sexually alluring?"

Gunnar's attention dropped to her breasts, as it frequently did, especially since she now wore her lightest fabrics in deference to the ship's hot climate. He quickly looked away. "Unmated Leors do not allow themselves to have sexual thoughts. All focus is on training and battle."

Oh, the man had sexual thoughts, all right. Lani was beginning to have some of her own. He was an incredible specimen of malehood, and she'd been away from her job a little too long. "The women don't have any hair, either?" she asked.

"No, they do not." Gunnar stared at her hair, which she'd worn down today. He was obviously fascinated with it, and generally divided his staring time between her breasts and her hair.

She slid her hand beneath her long tresses and lifted them toward him. "Would you like to touch it?"

He looked startled at the thought. "What?"

"My hair. Would you like to touch it and see what it feels like?"

The expression on his face was fascinating, an odd blend of longing and curiosity. Hesitantly, he reached toward her. "For the sake of learning more about your culture," he said gruffly.

"Here." Lani leaned forward, deliberately brushing her hair against his arm. Spirit, his biceps were bulging, especially tensed as they were right now. Good. She wanted him to react to her. To her way of thinking, men of stone were basically useless. "Go ahead," she urged. "Touch it."

He ran his rough fingers along a length of hair, the breath hissing from his lungs. "It is so… so soft," he rumbled. "And so blue."

Most men found the color fascinating, and many wanted to know whether it was natural or not. Lani never told. Charmed by Gunnar's fascination, she giggled. "Yes, sweetness, it's blue."

He looked back up at her. "You have other…hair?"

Oh, this was fun. "You mean pubic hair?"

"Pubic hair?" He looked confused, so he must not know the term.

"That's hair around the sexual organs," she explained. She didn't believe in orbiting the moon on sensitive topics.

"Oh." His skin darkened a few shades. This fierce warrior was actually embarrassed.

"Do Leors have hair in those places?" Lani prodded.

"No," he answered quickly. "No hair…anywhere, male or female." He paused, his hand still stroking her blue tresses. She wondered if he was even aware of his action. "But you have other hair?" he persisted.

"Oh, yes," she answered breezily. "Most humanoids do."

"Ah," he said, lapsing into silence.

"Any other questions?" she asked, thoroughly enjoying herself.

"Yes," he rumbled, adorable in his utter seriousness. "Is that other hair blue, too?"

Lani could imagine how it would feel to have him stroke that other hair. She wondered just how difficult it would be to sway him from his celibacy. She leaned back, thrusting her breasts forward, again drawing his attention there. Crossing her legs, she slowly slid her tunic upward, exposing a generous amount of shapely thigh. She was well aware she had his full, undivided attention.

"Tell you what, big guy," she offered silkily. "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours."

*  *  *

Eirene had run from him.

Either that, or Turlock or one of his men might have gotten her. But Jarek didn’t believe that, since one moment, she’d been at the herb cart, and the next moment, she’d been gone. He’d been keeping watch on her, and he’d have known if she was taken right under his nose. Besides, Turlock would have come after him as well.

By the Fires! He couldn't believe she’d left him. He'd been so sure of himself, so sure of her. His instincts were usually unerringly accurate. She'd saved him from Turlock's men. Surrendered sweetly in his arms.

He'd been blinded by lust, pure and simple. How could he have been so stupid?

He wouldn’t make the mistake of trusting her again. He’d have to track her down, and quickly. Although he needed to take his purchases to the ship, he was reluctant to give her more of a head start. He stopped long enough to purchase a large pack to hold the guns and supplies he’d purchased. He slung the pack over one shoulder and picked up the rifle.

Crossing the marketplace, he searched for Eirene’s energy, but got nothing. She could be on another part of Saron—or she was gone. His heart raced in protest. She couldn't be gone. He hurried to the transport station. Once there, however, he met another dead end.

He didn't sense her anywhere in the vicinity, didn't see her in any of the lines. He was forced to acknowledge the very real possibility that she'd already left the planet. He studied the holocorders, but he couldn't get access to the information on them. Sabin could, by showing his shadower credentials and claiming bounty privilege.

Damn. Jarek needed help with this. He returned to his ship and opened communications with Sabin's craft. As he had hoped, Sabin was on board.

"Travers here."

"Ranul here." They never used their full Shielder surnames when communicating on open airways. "Where are you right now?"

"Headed for Aldon. I've got more gold for you. What's going on?"

"I'm still on Saron. Eirene got away from me, and I have to track her down. I think she may have taken a transport from here."

"You're getting careless, Jarek."

"You don’t know the half of it. Just outside Risa's airspace, Turlock's men hijacked my ship and flew it to Saron. I hid Eirene in the concealed compartment before they boarded."

"
What?
How are you still alive? Where’s your ship? "

"It’s a long story, and I’ll give you all the details later. Briefly, after I hid Eirene, I started to take the suicide capsule, but Turlock’s goons blasted the hatch, and it threw me off balance. I dropped the pill and passed out from the gas. I came to in a brig on a ship that was on Saron. I thought I was a goner for sure, but Eirene risked her life to save me. "

"How in the blazing hells did she do that?"

"She managed to purchase a stunner, pull a seduction act on Turlock’s men, and turn off the force field of my brig."

Sabin let out a low whistle. "Damn. That is one resourceful woman. "

"Eirene was amazing," Jarek said. "And she used some of her special energy on Turlock’s men, although she’d never admit to it. She seemed reconciled to going to Aldon with me, and we returned to my ship, which Turlock’s men had just parked. The bastards had taken most of my weapons and supplies, so we moved the ship and went to make purchases before leaving. That’s when she pulled a disappearing act."

"Women," Sabin said in mock disgust. "We obviously let Eirene hang around with Moriah too long. Sounds like you could use some help there, friend."

He needed a lot more than that, Jarek thought. He needed a miracle. But for now, Sabin would have to do. "Yeah, you're right. Since I suspect she took a transport, I need you here on Saron to access the records. How far out are you?"

"Only about one cycle."

Not bad, but not good, either. "Is Blake with you?" Jarek asked.

"Blake's right behind me in his own ship. I've also got Radd on board."

"Good. We might need him, too. Set course for Saron, then. I'll meet you at Solaris in one cycle."

"Will do. In the meantime, be careful."

Jarek signed off. What now? He felt like pounding the console. If Eirene had left the planet, there was little he could do but wait for Sabin's arrival to determine where she'd gone.

Deciding to check Saron again, on the slim chance she was still there, he returned to the marketplace. He would find Eirene, on or off planet, one way or another. He couldn't allow himself to trust her again, though. Why in Hades had she run from him?

He didn't think his mating technique had chased her off. She was too inexperienced to fake her responses, and he hadn't imagined those climatic energy surges, or his own supernova releases. The thought of their bed play sent his heart rate spiraling. He'd never desired a woman the way he did Eirene, never felt so replete and whole, when she lay in his arms after they found nirvana together.

He knew her lack of control over the energy surges when she climaxed had upset her greatly. Maybe that was part of the problem. Compared to the magnitude of what lay ahead, that could be easily dealt with, assuming he could find her.

He would find her,
he told himself again. He had to find her. Just then, he picked up a faint trace of familiar energy.
Eirene.
He whipped around, mentally probing for a location. Over there, near the south end of the marketplace, and moving away, possibly toward the landing bays.

He pursued the fading trail, battling his way through the crowds, getting frustrated with the delay. She was moving at a faster pace, probably more on the edge of the marketplace now. Jarek shoved harder, ignoring the protests and threats as he snaked through the carts and stalls.

He drew closer to the energy source as the crowd thinned and scattered to various landing bays and lodges, not to mention the Pleasure Domes. There, up ahead. He thought he saw Eirene's dark hair, but then the person appeared to fall forward, as if she had stumbled. Concerned, Jarek ran broke into a run. But he skidded to a halt, barely avoiding a hazardous situation. Cursing his luck, he stared at the group directly ahead of him.

There stood all four of Turlock's men, and another man Jarek didn't know. They surrounded Eirene, who was pushing herself off the ground. She hadn’t deserted him, after all. He wanted to kick himself for so carelessly letting her wander too far from his protection

"Get up!" the fifth man snarled, grabbing her hair and yanking it. "Get up, you bitch."