Stud (12 page)

“That’d be my guess, though she might have gone the other direction, towards Madric.”

Tarq had already been to Madric and had no desire to return. He hadn’t exactly been run out of town, but his reception had been… chilly. “But Yalka is more likely?”

Jublansk nodded. “She has a friend living there—at least the last I heard she did. Though I could be wrong about that.”

Tarq didn’t think so. Nodding, he turned to go, but Jublansk stopped him, motioning for him to follow.

“Come on into the kitchen,” she said. “You need some breakfast.”

“Don’t I need to get going?” Tarq realized he was giving himself away completely. Not that it mattered. Jublansk seemed to have Lucy’s best interests at heart. If she hadn’t told Uther her suspicions before, he doubted she ever would.

Jublansk snickered. “You’ve got a speeder, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah…”

“I’m betting she’ll be on foot. Don’t worry, you’ll catch her.”

Tarq still had a chance to make Lucy his mate. Even if Uther found her first, Tarq was sure he could convince her. After all, Lucy had left home, presumably to escape Uther.

Then it occurred to Tarq that she’d made sure he could never see her again either, whether he wanted to or not. In effect, she’d run away from him too.

Chapter 8

With Nat’s directions to guide her, Lucy set out for Yalka. Since the colonies on Talus Five had been established long after speeders made wheeled vehicles obsolete, there was no actual road to follow, only a trail with the occasional sign to mark the shortest distance across the Malturn Wilderness. By the time she passed the first one after an hour’s walk, Lucy was beginning to wish the signs were a little closer together.

They would seem closer together if one was traveling in a speeder, of course. Nat had known Lucy would be on foot if she ever made the journey, and she had assured Lucy that the way was impossible to miss. She had only to keep the sea on her left and the mountains on her right and she would eventually reach Yalka. Even so, Lucy was thankful for a clear sky and a waning gibbous moon to light the way.

The land was relatively flat, the mountains sloping down from the east to become a rocky plain stretching to the sea. Twisted trees and tall grasses grew in clumps among the stones, the sea breeze rustling through them as she passed. From time to time, Lucy was startled by the scuttling of wildlife. Most, she knew, were harmless, but the occasional vrelnot had been known to come down from the mountains to prey on the smaller animals living on the plain. Lucy might have armed herself with thieves in mind, but running into a vrelnot would’ve been much worse. She kept her pistol in her hand.

Lucy had often walked home from the café at night, so she was no stranger to the darkness, but out on the open road, her feelings of vulnerability and freedom warred with each other. The sky seemed larger than it had above Reltan; the stars more brilliant and numerous; the mountains more ominous.

After a few hours of walking, hunger and thirst overcame her and Lucy stopped to rest. Thus far, she hadn’t met a soul on the road, aside from the two dogs who had followed her out of town, and even they had turned back after a hundred meters or so.

Despite the ever-present wind, Lucy was sure she would hear a speeder approaching from a distance. She doubted anyone would be looking at anything but the trail ahead; after all, there wasn’t much to see. Though the climate was temperate, the Malturn would have been more aptly called a desert. The land was simply too rocky for much of anything to grow, hence the lack of settlements.

Lucy ate some bread and cheese and took a few swallows of water. Though her water bottles were the heaviest thing she carried, they were also the most precious. Nat had assured her that there were several streams winding across the plain from the mountains to the sea, but she had yet to come across one.

A glance toward the east revealed that she’d been on the road longer than she thought; the stars above the mountains were already beginning to fade. Her absence had surely been noticed by now. Tourelda’s words from the night before haunted Lucy, but they didn’t alter her determination. Her family would adjust and learn to manage without her, just as they would have done if she had left home to marry. The realization that nothing she did would affect Tarq was much more difficult to bear. He would never miss her—wouldn’t even know she was gone.

As the sun rose, it became apparent that anyone on the road would be able to spot her from a long way off. If her moccasins had been better suited to a trek across the rocky terrain, she might have considered moving away from the trail, but decided that bedding down during the day was her best option. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much in the way of shelter, either from the sun or from prying eyes.

Gathering up several loose branches from beneath one of the stunted trees, Lucy was able to construct a bower behind one of the larger rock formations, which would provide some shade and conceal her from all but the most diligent search. Her blankets were the same dusty gray as the surrounding rocks. Snug beneath them, she would be practically invisible.

As the sun climbed higher, the wind died down, leaving a deafening silence in its wake. Even if she was able to sleep, which she very much doubted, Lucy would certainly hear anyone’s approach. Placing her pistol where she could reach it quickly, she curled up in her blankets. It wasn’t long before exhaustion and the warmth of the sun worked their magic on her and she drifted off to sleep.

The bestial growls of a vrelnot ripped through her dreams and Lucy screamed as she felt something grip her shoulder. She had her pistol in her hand and was about to fire when she saw what—or rather who—it was.

Lucy had been ridiculously easy to find—particularly for a Zetithian who was already craving her scent. As vulnerable as she was, alone and asleep, Tarq was very glad he’d been the one to locate her—his dear, sweet Lucy. Even with dead leaves clinging to her hair and a smudge of dirt on her chin, she was still the most beautiful thing he could imagine.

“H… how did you find me?” she asked, lowering her weapon.

“It wasn’t hard,” Tarq replied. “I’ve got sharp eyes and an excellent nose—and I was on my way to Yalka, just as you seem to be.” He took a deep breath. She smelled different, probably due to her pregnant state. The subtle change affected him more profoundly than he would’ve thought; the urge to pounce on her was overwhelming. Only the realization that she probably would have shot him made him thankful he hadn’t pounced first and asked questions later.

Lucy frowned. “I thought you had another, um,
client
in Reltan.”

“I did, but she canceled on me at the last minute.” Actually, Tarq had been the one to back out—he’d called Rallene before he left town—but Lucy didn’t need to know that.

Tired and dusty, Lucy brought out every protective instinct Tarq possessed. The thought of what might have happened to her alone in the wilderness completely unnerved him, and his hands were shaking as he reached out to push back a lock of her hair. “You should have told me you were leaving, Lucy. I wouldn’t have let you go alone.”

“Which is exactly why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want my father blaming you for any of this.”

“But I
am
to blame.”

Lucy shook her head. “No. None of this is your fault. It was my decision to have your children and my decision to leave home. I have a friend in Yalka. She’s been begging me to come and stay with her for a long time.”

Which was exactly what Tarq wanted to do himself, but he had an idea that blurting it out would have been a mistake. “Is that what you’re going to do?”

“Yes,” she said firmly. “I’m going to stay with Natasha until I can find a job and a place of my own.” She glanced at Tarq and then at his speeder. “Maybe you
are
to blame a little. I envy your freedom. Walking out of that town felt
so
good.”

Tarq winced. So, she
had
run away from him. Now that she was with child, he couldn’t judge her desire for him by her scent anymore. Pregnant women had an aroma all their own, even more intoxicating than lust. He’d heard that this was a physiological change that kept a male from deserting his mate in her time of need…

His
mate.
That
was why Rallene hadn’t excited him. He was already mated with Lucy—and she hadn’t exactly welcomed him with open arms. She’d even pulled a gun on him.

“Were you really planning to walk the whole way?”

“Well… yeah.”

Despite her apparent exhaustion, Lucy obviously didn’t intend to beg him for a ride, nor would she fall into his arms and declare her undying love for him. That would have been too easy. “Lucy, it’s a two-day journey to Yalka in a
speeder
.”

“So?”

Even if he had to force her to accept a ride from him—though he wasn’t sure how he’d do it—Tarq wasn’t about to let her continue on alone. “If I promise not to tell your father, will you at least let me give you a ride?”

“I probably shouldn’t,” she said, frowning. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble—or
get
you in trouble.”

“I’d be in more trouble if I left you out here alone. You could be attacked by wild animals, or break your leg on these rocks.” He shook his head. “I can’t do it, Lucy. If anything bad ever happened to you I’d—”

“Never know,” she finished for him. “You’d be gone and…” She paused, narrowing her eyes. “Wait a minute—you wouldn’t have found me if you hadn’t been looking. How did you know I’d left Reltan?”

“I went to the café for breakfast this morning.” Tarq gave her a sheepish grin. “Your father was really pissed.”

Lucy giggled. “I’ll just bet he was. And I’ll bet Jublansk had some choice words for him too.”

“Oh, yeah. Told him it was his fault you left. You should have heard her.”

“I wish I had.” She paused, shaking her head. “I should’ve stood up to him years ago. It wasn’t until I thought about my kids having to listen to him rant that I decided to leave.” She looked up, seeming suddenly shy. “Your, um, tips helped me decide too. That last one was really something. You shouldn’t have done it, of course, but thank you.”

Tarq shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed. “Like I said before, your situation is different from the other mothers. I thought it might help.”

“It will.”

“I still wish you hadn’t run away like that. I would have helped you—”

“I didn’t want to drag you into it, Tarq. The less you knew, the better.”

Tarq chuckled. “I wound up in the middle of it anyway. Your father accused me of kidnapping you as soon as I walked into the café.”

“That was pretty stupid of him.”

Tarq couldn’t argue with that. Uther had said and done a lot of stupid things.

Lucy fell silent for a few moments, frowning. “You didn’t just happen to find me on your way to Yalka, did you?”

Tarq shook his head. “Jublansk thought you might head this way.”

Lucy grimaced. “I’m glad you found me before my father did.”

“I don’t think he intends to look. He figures you’ll come home when you get hungry. He doesn’t know about the money I gave you. Besides, Jublansk didn’t tell him anything. She told me.”

Lucy glanced up at him with dismay. “Why you?”

“Jublansk knows—or at least suspects—more than you might think, Lucy.”

Her expression changed, becoming more thoughtful. It was a long moment before she spoke again. “I probably should have told her everything, but I thought it would be better if she didn’t know. That way she wouldn’t have to lie.”

Tarq smiled. “And I wouldn’t either?”

“I never dreamed you’d have to,” Lucy replied.

Tarq wrestled with his conscience, trying to come up with the best plan of action. A two-day trip in his speeder, plus camping out together at night. Surely he could convince her to stay with him during that time. The hard part would be getting her to understand that his past didn’t matter anymore. He’d never be able to keep on with his current project with a limp dick, anyway—though it was perfectly hard at the moment. The need to mate with her was so strong he was surprised he could still think rationally.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to take you to Yalka,” he said at last. “That way I’ll at least know you got there safely.”

When she began to protest, he cut her off. “It’s not just your safety that’s at stake, Lucy. You have to think about the children.”

Her resistance crumbled. “You’re right.” She was agreeing with him, but she sounded so small, so defeated.

“Come on, Lucy, it’ll be fun. I’ve never been on a road trip with anyone before; have you?”

She took a long time to reply. Tarq was beginning to believe she actually disliked him—and the idea of spending time with him. It hurt.

“No, I never have.” She paused, smiling. “I’ve never been anywhere with anybody.”

Tarq felt a faint glimmer of hope.

“But I really liked traveling by myself,” she went on. “Someone has been telling me what to do for as long as I can remember. It was nice only having to consider my own wishes for a change. Is that selfish?”