Stars Across Time (10 page)

“Mind your own campfire, woman,” one of them growled, jerking his head toward the blankets. “This one’s staying with us tonight.”

“Maybe she wants to join us.” The one behind Ruth Marie leered at Andie, even as he continued to grope the girl, pushing her shirt up higher, revealing the fact that none of them had been allowed to keep so much as their underwear. “One for you, one for me.”

Andie’s hand tightened about the knife. Bedene hadn’t cared when Mace had killed the other two men, but what would he do if one of their kidnapped slaves killed someone? If she even could. They were both burly and broad, with the one in back standing nearly a foot taller than her. And they knew now that she could fight. They wouldn’t be caught off guard. Of course, they wouldn’t expect her hands to be free and for her to have a knife. She would have to strike to kill, because if she just cut an arm, they would both be on her in a second. Even though she had shot down planes in combat, and she knew that people must have died as a result, she had never tried to kill anyone in hand-to-hand fighting. The idea of cutting a man’s throat repulsed and scared her.

“The hell with that,” the one in front said. “Mace wants to rut with that one, and I’m not crossing him. This one’s plenty.” He lifted Ruth Marie off her feet, eliciting a startled gasp from her, and carried her toward the shadows underneath the loft.

Andie strode toward him, her attack planned in her mind. She expected the one who didn’t have his arms full to intervene, and she wasn’t disappointed. He didn’t lunge at her and try to grab her, but immediately assumed a fighting stance, his fists up. No, he wasn’t going to underestimate her.

Andie darted in with her shoulder toward him, using a step-behind side kick to cover distance and launch her attack. She did not yet want to reveal that her hands were free. If she got him focused on defending against her feet, he might not anticipate a slash from the knife.

He saw the attack coming and jumped to the side before she connected with his knee. Expecting him to block or move, she hadn’t fully committed herself, and she whipped around, turning the side kick into a hook kick. She lacked the height to reach his face, but she hammered his shoulder with enough force that he stumbled to the side. Without putting her leg down, she tried another kick. This time, she did connect with his knee, her heel slamming into the side of it. His leg buckled. With his face lower now, Andie aimed for his head with her next kick, but she was yanked backward before she could connect.

She cursed herself even as an arm wrapped around her torso, pulling her off balance. She had been watching her opponent and the brute with the girl, but she had neglected to remember all of the other men in the cabin.

“Got her,” someone growled in her ear.

Andie whipped her head back. She struck him solidly, the satisfying crunch of cartilage filling her ears. His grip around her waist loosened enough for her to slam an elbow into his gut. He grunted, but his grip tightened again as he tried to crush her with a bear hug. But she had turned enough to have access to his face. The hand holding the knife was pinned against her side, but she tugged her other arm free. Pressing her fingers into a tight wedge, she gouged him in the eye.

“Damn it,” he howled and shoved her away.

Andie glimpsed movement out of the corner of her eye and ducked before a punch could strike her—her first opponent coming in to attack. The shadows stirred behind the foe she had gouged, and even as she spun back to block another punch, despair mingled with the adrenaline flowing through her veins. Too many men had gotten up and were joining the battle. She didn’t have a chance of fighting off all of them.

A resounding smack of flesh striking flesh came from behind her, and someone cried out. Andie was too distracted to register what was happening back there because her original opponent had recovered from the kick to the knee and had pulled a knife. He slashed at her, apparently forgetting that the women weren’t supposed to be damaged.

Andie jumped back. The blade skimmed past her stomach, almost cutting the buckskin of her shirt. Landing lightly on her toes, she sprang back in immediately, catching his wrist before he could pull it back to ready another strike. She stuck her knife in her mouth so she could bring in her second hand to help against his superior strength, and she locked her thumbs against the back of his wrist and pressed against the joint with all the power she could muster. He gasped and dropped his knife. She was about to use her own blade on him, but someone appeared behind the thug, gripping him beneath both armpits and hurling him away from her.

She grabbed her knife from her mouth and dropped into a low crouch, ready to spring in any direction. Mace slammed a palm into the side of her remaining opponent’s head, the blow so hard that the man was hurtled to the floor, his skull slamming against the wood planks. Two other kidnappers were already groaning from the ground, grasping their battered bodies.

Andie gave Mace a quick nod of thanks and then, remembering what had prompted all of this, raced toward the shadows below the loft. The one who had been dragging the girl away had never joined in the fight, doubtlessly intending to give into his carnal urges while everyone was distracted. Andie hadn’t used her knife on anyone yet, but she would cut that bastard’s dick off if she could.

But Ruth Marie ran out of the shadows toward her before she reached that dark corner. Andie caught the girl, who grasped her arms, glancing wildly over her shoulder.

“I bit him,” she blurted, her expression somewhere between triumph and terror.

“Good.” Andie pushed Ruth Marie behind her, in case her tormenter meant to run out after her.

The man slunk out of the shadows, blood dribbling from his lip. He glowered at Andie and Ruth Marie, but after glancing past them, took a circuitous route toward the sleeping area. Andie turned, not surprised to find Mace looming behind them. He wasn’t holding any of his weapons, but the men were clearly intimidated by him after seeing him kill two of their brethren. The others who had jumped into the fight were slinking away too.

Near the hearth, Bedene sighed from his spot on the floor. “Be useful if we could get some damned sleep around here.”

“I have to report to him,” Mace said, looking from Andie to Ruth Marie. “Are you two all right? Uninjured?” His gaze took in the knife in Andie’s hand, but he didn’t say anything about it.

“Well enough.” Andie couldn’t bring herself to say that she was fine. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and nothing about this entire situation was
fine
.

Ruth Marie merely nodded. She had shifted behind Andie’s shoulder, as if she worried Mace might become another attacker. Or maybe seeing him kill those men had intimidated her too. Andie wasn’t sure why
she
wasn’t intimidated. Just because he had been a protector so far didn’t mean she could trust him or that she understood his motivation to help them, much less his ultimate goal.

Mace nodded at them, then walked to Bedene’s blanket. He spoke quietly, and Andie could not hear what he was reporting. His hands were dirtier than they had been when he left, and fresh earth smeared his bare torso in a couple of places. He looked like he had been digging. With a start, she realized he must have found a shovel and dug graves for the two men he had killed. It surprised her that he would have gone through the effort; Bedene certainly hadn’t asked for it.

Andie touched Ruth Marie’s arm and nodded toward the sleeping area. With luck, now that Mace was back, the men over there would keep their hands to themselves. Andie wished she could earn that kind of respect from the thugs, such that they would leave her alone if she simply glared at them. As she drew closer to the spread blankets, she rethought that wish because at least three of the men were lying on their sides, glaring across the cabin to where Mace spoke to Bedene. They might not challenge him openly again, but those stares of loathing suggested they might be plotting some revenge. He would have to watch his back on the road and perhaps even more at night. Might one of them try to shoot him while he slept?

“All right,” Bedene muttered, his voice not as quiet as Mace’s had been. “We’ll leave early. Sato still out there on watch?”

“Yes,” Mace said.

Andie waited while Ruth Marie picked a route through the reposed men and toward the wall, making sure she was not attacked. Min-ji and Barbara, both awake because of the fight, made room for her. Andie waved a hand when Min-ji mouthed a question, asking if she was all right. She was about to follow when Mace spoke from behind her.

“Andie?” he asked softly.

“Yes?”

“I’d like to talk to you for a moment. In private.”

“Talk,” one of the men on the floor said with a snort. “Right.”

Mace held out a hand in offering, his palm up, making it clear the decision was hers. Andie remembered the way he had looked at her back in the cave and wondered if, despite his honorable actions thus far, he might indeed have more than talking in mind. Or he might have some intelligence he wanted to share. Maybe he was going to give her the name he’d said he could only share in private.

Andie stepped forward and clasped his hand. Whatever his intentions, she wanted to ask him why he had punctured the gasoline jug. And maybe she was a little curious about his real name too.

Even if he was dirty from the hike and the grave digging, his hand was warm and dry, and she did not mind holding it. She
did
find herself wondering, once again, what he might look like all cleaned up.

Mace started to lead her to the door, but Bedene’s cool voice rose in warning.

“Mace.”

Since Mace did not have his gun or any of his gear, besides the weapons hanging on his belt, Andie sincerely doubted he planned to abscond with her, but Bedene wasn’t taking any chances. Andie had no plans to run off without Min-ji and the other women, but she supposed she wouldn’t have much choice if Mace decided to steal her away. She had sensed him as dangerous from the beginning, and after seeing him battle those four men all at once, she’d had her beliefs confirmed. The rest of the men here, at least those she had seen fight, had the scrappy style of survivors who had been in brawls here and there, but who had never been taught in any particular discipline. Mace reminded her of those ultimate fighters who’d been trained in multiple disciplines, and not only had speed and power but also had that uncanny ability to anticipate an opponent’s moves before a muscle ticked to telegraph them. That only came with years and years of experience.

“This way,” Mace murmured, deciding not to argue with Bedene. He led her toward the dark shadows under the loft.

A flutter of nervous anticipation stirred in Andie’s stomach, in part because that thug had dragged Ruth Marie in that direction, his intent obvious, and in part because she didn’t quite trust how she might respond if Mace
did
try something. Her mind knew it was idiotic to trust him and even more idiotic to let herself feel any attraction to him, but her body seemed to enjoy his attention, and she was hyper aware of the warmth of his hand against hers and the fact that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He had one of those chests that a woman longed to reach out and touch, to trace with her fingers—or perhaps her tongue.

Mace stopped in the corner, and she flushed, glad the shadows would hide the heat in her cheeks. He peered back toward the sleeping area and grunted.

“We’re being observed,” he muttered. “You’d think they would be tired and go to sleep.”

“They seem to be too horny to sleep.”

Mace grunted again. “I suppose so. Doubt many of them see women that often. Most women are smart enough to live in the civilized areas, not out here with the bandits.”

Andie almost asked him where these civilized areas were and what “civilized” entailed these days, but he faced her and bent low, his mouth near her ear. She grew absolutely still, not certain what he would do.

“I’m sure the last thing you want is to be touched by any of us,” he murmured, his words so soft that she had to strain to hear them, “but will you pretend to be enduring my... concupiscence for a few minutes? I don’t want Bedene to think we’re plotting something.”

The warmth of his breath on her ear and the nearness of his lips made her shiver, but Andie made herself focus on his words. “Are we?” she murmured. “Plotting something?”

“Maybe. I at least want to explain myself and why it would be a bad idea for you to sneak off on your own.”

Andie tensed. Had he overheard her speaking with Min-ji? No, he hadn’t been in the cabin then.

“I’m just assuming you are, based on what I’ve seen of you,” he added, a hint of dryness in his tone.

“Go ahead. Explain.” Andie wasn’t open to the idea of
not
trying to escape, but she would hear him out.

Remembering his request—and almost laughing because who the hell used the word concupiscence?—she stepped closer to him, resting her hand on his shoulder. She tilted her chin back, wondering exactly how realistic he wanted to make things. The activity in the loft had dwindled, but she remembered how distinctly that couple’s noises had drifted down, mostly the man’s. Marisa had been very quiet.

Mace leaned against the wall and rested his arm on her lower back, easing her closer. He bent his head again, his beard brushing her cheek as he kept his lips close to her ear. Andie rested her free hand on his pectoral muscle. In the stillness of the cabin, she could feel his heartbeat beneath her palm. It was faster than normal, considering they were at rest—more or less—and she wondered if he was nervous. Or aroused. Or both.

He cupped the back of her head gently and whispered, “The smart part of my brain, the very small smart part, is telling me that it’s ludicrous to trust you when I’ve only known you a day, but...”

Andie blinked, surprised that
he
was worried about trusting
her
.

“I guess because you’re also a soldier,” he went on, “and because we share a common enemy, I believe I can rely on you. I also don’t want you running out into the woods tonight, but I know what I want won’t matter to you, and you need an explanation as to why.”