The Tracker's Quest: (Forced To Serve #6) (10 page)

Sighing at the delay and his order, Seta dropped her pack and reluctantly did as she was told. Out here where it was just the two of them, it was like being on a mission again together. Those two years she spent obeying Ji when he was her captain made it almost natural to fall back into the habit.

Removing a stripped down version of a Peace Alliance emergency kit from his pack, Ji came and knelt at her feet. Slipping off the pretty but impractical foot coverings he had rightly called insufficient, she watched as he proceeded to use the two small compression bandages from it to loosely wrap her feet until they were covered.

“This extra layer should offer you a little more protection than you have now. If I had been thinking more clearly this morning, I would have insisted you be allowed to wear your uniform boots. This mistreatment of you is unacceptable.”

Seta turned the first foot he’d finished to inspect the work. It was definitely better. “I’m glad you didn’t tell Arghane that, Ji. They wouldn’t have matched nearly as well with this skirt.”

Ji’s hands slowed as he snickered, then laughed. His anger drifted away. “Tell me that’s a joke, Seta.”

Seta studied the top of Ji’s head as it was bent over her feet, easing her foot coverings back on over his handiwork. His braid trailed down his back, almost dragging the ground as he knelt.

“Yes. This time I was making a joke. But I can recall a time not so long ago when no comment I made would have been one. Knowing I can find humor in this madness makes me miss Rena even more. She tried for so long to foster a sense of humor in me.”

“Well, I’m glad our suffering brings some good with it.” Ji finished the second foot in less time than the first. He stood and returned the rest of the supplies to his pack. “There. How do they feel now?”

When Seta stood, the extra protection was noticeable. She took a few comfortable steps and smiled at him gratefully. “Thank you. This is very helpful.”

“You’re welcome. Now—are we still looking for a cave as a shelter?” He hoisted his pack to his back again, trying not to think about how happy her grateful smile had just made him.

Seta nodded as she scanned the area around them. “Yes. Either a cave or a large overhang that offers us a place mostly out of the elements.”

“How cold does it get at night here?”

Seta shrugged as she walked. “I don’t know in this area. In the desert, temperatures do drop at night, but not dramatically so. I imagine we will stay warm enough inside the one bedroll. I only asked for one so Arghane would accept I am not for him.”

“Indeed you are not, especially since I know you like to sleep on top of me. I don’t remember sharing a bed with the sole purpose of rest before you. When I needed rest, I did that alone. But I find it quite relaxing to sleep with you.”

Seta snorted. “Sorry to be such a grave disappointment to your libido, Siren. I warned you that I lacked passion.”

“How in Helios did you come to such a conclusion from what I said just now? You do not lack passion. In fact, you have much more than you’ve ever been willing to express with me—a truth which I find highly distracting because I take it as a challenge. And don’t retreat at my words. I stopped taking your stoicism personally the first time you flung yourself into my arms and begged me to be with you.”

Ignoring the reminder of her greatest moment of weakness, Seta pointed to a large set of rocks jutting out of an incline up ahead. “Let’s try looking there. And I don’t recall that moment happening quite like you are describing.”

Ji laughed at her insulted tone. “That moment happened
exactly
like I said and I relive it daily. It is one of my favorite memories of us.”

Seta stopped, sighed, and shook her head as she started walking again. “I was grieving for Rena. My emotions were out of control. It was a moment of extreme weakness for me, not a declaration of passion for you.”

Ji snorted. “You have a strange idea of what weakness is, Seta. That moment was the most in control I have ever seen you be about getting what you need for yourself. You were decisive and honest and absolutely impossible to refuse. I have thought of no other female since you found your first pleasure in my arms. I sometimes wonder if it is because you are my first innocent.”

Seta snorted. “I am far from innocent. Look—I see a rock indention up ahead. That might work for our purpose.” Mainly she was hoping to distract Ji from his endless talk of their first bonding experience. She fought rising embarrassment when he laughed at her ploy. The Siren wasn’t easy to fool.

“Declarations of my compassion should not embarrass you, Sweet Joy. I plan to make far more intimate ones in the future. You need to get used to hearing them.”

Seta sped up to escape his gaze on her hot face. “The overhang shields a partial cave. This should serve our purposes well enough for this sleep cycle.”

She bent to pick up a misshapen stone grayish in color and then held it out to him. “And we can save on some of our supplies. See this? These are flash crystals in their raw state. I’m sure I can remember how to get them to ignite. Once burning they should continue for several hours. We will add the animal repellant to the fire and be able to sleep safely.”

Ji watched as she started into the cave. “Want me to check for wild animals before you go dashing into the darkness?”

Seta stopped and frowned. “The animals on Ethos are almost all nocturnal. During the day, any I found would still be sleeping. Thank you for your concern, but I will be fine.”

Ji sighed and held up his hands. “Okay. I get it. You don’t need me to save you. Maybe I’m just useless to an independent female like you.”

“Stop whining. I have no time to deal with your needy Siren ego. If you want to be useful, gather some of those crystals I showed you. Get the ones that are pebble sized. Two handfuls should be sufficient.”

“What I wouldn’t give to hear you ordering me to tie you up and have my wicked way with you. At least then all that bossy talk would pay off,” Ji grumbled, setting his pack down so he could gather Seta’s rocks.

“You said you didn’t require the use of restraints to be satisfied in bed. Did you lie to me?”

Ji’s head whipped up and a full belly laugh escaped him. Her eyes were flashing with all kinds of power. She looked absolutely magnificent. “No. I did not lie. It was just a joke, Seta. Perhaps a poor one.”

“Indeed. It was a poor one. Do better in the future,” she replied.

Turning back, she headed into the cave before she was further tempted to bash the Siren’s rock head against a rock.

Chapter 10

Fingers weaving through her hair woke her. When she blinked, the darkness was suddenly broken by a tiny shred of light which lit the male wrapped around her. Ji’s long body had barely fit the bedroll made for shorter Ethosian males. She had given him her pack for a pillow and had no choice but to sleep farther down inside bedroll with her head resting on his chest. His hard muscles had been amazingly smooth and comfortable under her cheek all night.

This morning though, some parts of him were way more awake than others. Snuggling closer, she hugged him around his middle and found herself promising him the pleasure he so obviously needed. “I’m sorry we cannot do anything to alleviate your uncomfortable condition.”

Ji’s rumbling chuckle under her head sent her hair falling from his fingers and down around her face.

“It is the most exquisite of tortures to want you so fiercely, Sweet Joy. The implants are all that prevent your complete ravishment,” he said.

“Implants?” Seta lifted her head to look at Ji’s smile in the soft morning light. He was without question the most attractive male she’d ever met.

“Yes. I told you about them several times. The libido controlling implants keep my lusty side calm and the Siren ego you hate so much under control,” Ji said wryly.

Seta frowned at his words, trying to understand exactly what he was saying. “I don’t understand. You never cease to be aroused around me. What would your lust be like without them?”

She saw his wide spreading smile and his perfect teeth shining in the dark.

“I would be too irresistible for you to refuse me anything I asked.” Ji smiled as he ran his hands over Seta’s shoulders and back, marveling at the rightness of her in his arms.

“Even a Siren cannot believe such a blind addiction is possible,” Seta declared.

“You’ve heard the stories of Lieutenant Zade and Commander Jet as they passed through their initial mating. The crew still talks about how she met him alone many times a day. Without the implants, I would be sending the Siren’s call to you without restraint. And I would be under its spell myself. Since it will be my first time to experience it, I admit I do not know what to expect. That doesn’t mean I wish it to happen out here in the middle of our current struggles,” Ji explained, twirling a lock of blonde hair around his finger. “By the way, if you ever decide to alter your hair color, I would be fine with you making any sort of change.”

“
Permission?
” Seta hissed. “You actually believe I require your permission to alter my appearance?”

Ji chuckled. “No. That’s not what I said—or meant. You’re going to have to make me a list of words and phrases which make you mad so I can find others that won’t. I was merely trying to tell you a change of hair color would make no difference to my feelings of desire for you. I know some females are sensitive about such things. Stop frowning so fiercely, Seta. I was merely making intimate conversation.”

She pushed herself up only to be trapped by hands clamping onto her. “Well, I am not one of those females who cares for the preferences of the male who shares her bed. Now let me out of here. I need away from you before I do you harm.”

Ji shook his head back and forth, even as he sighed in resignation. “No. Not until you get over your snit. I’m not spending another day with you angry at me. I was not trying to control anything. I was just expressing myself, however poorly you perceived my words.”

When she attempted to crawl over his body, she found herself on the bottom of the bedroll instead—and with a fully aroused Siren between her legs. If the hardness pressed tightly against her was restrained, what would Ji be like during his mating heat? She made a mental note to research the Siren’s call and its alleged effects.

“Please let us cease fighting. It is wonderful to wake up with the female who owns my full compassion,” Ji said, pressing against Seta until she let go the groan she’d been holding back from them both. “Yes. I feel just like that too. But I believe I need to hear you say the words to me this morning. Admit you need me like I need you, Seta Trax.”

“No. This is not the time for that sort of discussion. Let me go, Ji.”

Ji buried his face in her hair. “No. I will never let you go again and do not ask it of me. I would not survive you leaving me a second time, especially with things so unresolved between us. We must have the mating discussion. . .and soon.”

Seta felt the familiar heat of his desire rising inside her, followed by the headiest power rush she could recall as heat coursed through her cells. She started to push Ji away, but found herself drawing his mouth to hers instead. The touch of his lips sent a shower of sparks through her entire body and sent it vibrating under his. Ji moaned against her mouth while another vibration sent pleasure spreading through both of them.

When the peak had passed, she wrenched her mouth away from his to protest what had happened, but all that came out of her throat was his name and the truth. “Ji. We have not had the discussion because I am not clear about us. That’s the only admission I can make to you.”

Siren streamed from his trembling lips as they ran over her face and down her neck. He wanted so badly to convince Seta they belonged together. Eventually he stopped because Seta was right about it not being the right time or place to have the discussion.

But he couldn’t stop himself from burying his face against her neck again.

“Tell me what you are willing to hear me say before I explode with the frustration of not being able to speak what’s in my heart,” he begged.

Hearing the emotional pain in his voice, Seta put her arms around him and hugged as tightly as she could. “Just say you do not truly need to own me. That will be enough for now.”

Ji’s regretful sigh rumbled like thunder through both of them. Her arms unwound as he wiggled himself free of their mutual confinement. She was left cold in the bedroll and staring into the dawning light wondering if all males were motivated by the same needs to control their females. He was acting very Ethosian this morning.

“What you ask is not in my nature, Seta. It would dishonor us both for me to pretend it is, only to beguile you once my implants are removed. I do not wish for there to be such emotional deception between us, no matter how desperate I am to make you mine and mine alone. I would give you up before I would trick you. For a Siren, that’s as noble as noble ever gets,” Ji said.

“I have been owned before and did not like it,” Seta said firmly, climbing from the bedroll herself. She bent to her knees and started rolling it up. “You are not like my father—nor are you a male like Arghane—but you still have no right to expect me to quietly accept your domination just because you know how to please me in bed. More hours are spent out of a person’s private quarters than are spent in it. Rena and I both swore our lives would hold more value than merely living in service to some male’s libido. I plan on keeping that promise. I know she would have done the same had she survived.”

“If you met my mother and father, I think you would see that a Siren full mating is much more rewarding than you imagine it to be. Do not let your past close your mind to wider understandings.”

“Do not let your culture make you so arrogant that you consider your life experiences to be superior to mine.” Seta extracted two morning rations and hoisted the bedroll onto her back. She carried one to Ji and held out her hand until he took her offering.

“I didn’t say the Siren culture was better than the Ethosian’s.” Maybe he’d thought it, but Ji knew he hadn’t said anything about which species was superior. “Why are you defending your father’s narrow view of committed relationships and sexuality?”