Forsaken Realms (Bounty Hunters United Book 1) (10 page)

He swept his palm through the air. “All of this, everything you see is an exact genetic match to life on Sarna. It’s been stolen and tampered with.”

A loud swooshing sound zipped overhead. The canopy trembled and sent a shower of leaves cascading to the ground. Gemmina glanced upward before ducking under thick brush. “Patrol craft, get down!” When she realized Syan was still hacking vines she frantically tugged on his pant leg. “Take cover and don’t move. In daylight they’ll have their motion scanners trained on the ground. Hopefully the falling leaves will give them a false reading.”

He knelt beside her looking deeply concerned.

After the craft passed, he drew her close, buried his face against her hair, and sighed.

Gemmina tenderly kissed the side of his throat and became acutely aware of the pulse pounding beneath his skin.

“We’re okay,” she whispered.

A tortured but fleeting grimace twisted his lips. “If they have any doubts about what showed up on their scanner, they’ll return for a second pass. The energy beam will be aimed at the jungle, and we’ll be cooked alive. I hate not having a decent weapon to fight with. All I have is this machete, and that’s not going to be enough to protect you if we are spotted.”

An engine droned in the distance. Within moments, the patrol craft swept in a wide circle and hovered above the spot where they were hiding and appeared to be searching the ground. Up close, the craft’s roar was deafening. Stinging bits of leaves and twigs pelleted them from above. Her throat went dry as she squinted skyward, but she didn’t dare move. Tense moments passed before the patrol craft turned and flew away. It wasn’t until the sounds of the engine faded that she exhaled and made eye contact with Syan. It was then she realized she was shaking. “That was nasty. For a moment I thought we were going to get torched.”

He smoothed a stray strand of hair from her brow and touched her cheek. In the next breath he pulled her against him and shared the sweetest kiss imaginable. His lips were soft, his motions unrushed. She sensed he was very aroused, and his cautiously restrained excitement spread to her like a match set to paper. It took her breath away. Everything about his tender kiss was right. When he broke the kiss and pulled away, she felt a void.

“I don’t want to get vaporized and have my last thought be, ‘I wish I’d kissed her.’” He looked at her with admiration. “You are so brave—a true warrior.”

Her heart raced. “You can kiss me again, if you want.”

Syan shook his head. “I wouldn’t dare. I want to do more than kiss.” In a swift motion he stood and offered his hand, “Come, we need to walk as far as possible before sundown and make camp somewhere safe.”

Gemmina grasped his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. “Do you think the patrol craft returned to the beach and checked for charred remains under that parachute?”

“I don’t know. It’s possible. I hope not. Maybe they’re simply flying around making sure.” He turned and began carving a path through the brush once more. She followed close behind him and said nothing for a long time. In truth there was little that needed to be said. Thanks to the bite she knew exactly what he was thinking. Every few minutes or so one of Syan’s unguarded thoughts would burst passed his efforts to suppress it and she would glimpse moments of worry, lust and many ‘what-ifs.’ Without doubt he wanted her, thought she was beautiful, and even brooded over the possibility she might not be attracted to a Kironian. That one almost made her laugh.

“Stop worrying. I think you’re gorgeous.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “So are you.”

“Your English is perfect. Where did you learn to speak it?”

“I taught myself on the flight here. I planned to present evidence of Jason Naveen’s crimes to an Earth council and appeal to them for help.”

“You taught yourself English on the flight here?”

“Yes, I had many warp hours to do so.”

“That’s amazing.”

“It is simple. I am good with languages. I speak one hundred twenty-seven distinct languages plus twenty-three regional dialects. I must know those languages. As an ambassador it’s part of my job.”

“That’s a lot of languages. I could never make that claim. No one on Earth could. My brain would explode. If I can’t think of the right word for something, I say ‘shit.' It’s not clever but it works.”

He appeared puzzled. “The English word for defecation is a master word? Like bullshit?”

His genuine confusion made her laugh. “I see now that Earthlings and Kironians do have some major differences.”

“The differences are not great. How many languages do you speak?”

“I feel like a big dummy. I can only name four—English Common, Hindi, street slang, and Cop.”

“You are making that last one up, yes?”

“You got me
Rajyapala
.”

“What is a
Rajyapala
exactly? I’m seeing a man with an ornate headdress. Do you see me as a man with a headdress?”

“Its Hindi. It means governor, lord, chieftain, even a prince. You know what I mean—a man in charge.”

Syan nodded his head. “Yes I am
Rajyapala.
I like that word. Perhaps you will teach me more about Earth?”

“Okay.”

“The city that you are from, what is it like?”

“It’s loud, crowded, crazy, but I’m used to it. New Mumbai is a floating city connected to the mainland by a multi-level bridge. It was built almost a century ago when land was scarce. The artificial island functioned as a business center and tax haven for the wealthy. Over time as mainland populations dropped, the wealthy missed their rolling lawns and moved away. Not long afterward New Mumbai became a high-rise squatter’s town.”

“That’s interesting. What else?”

Gemmina stopped talking and simply stared at the dynamic structure of Syan’s torso. Watching him swing the machete was mesmerizing. Every now and then a fading beam of late afternoon light would penetrate the canopy and his dark hair would flash a rich shade of blue-black or even reflect a hint of the jungle’s emerald. It became impossible to resist the impulse to reach out and touch it, so she did.

He turned and seemed surprised.

“Kironian hair is so beautiful.” Her fingers tangled deeper in the thick strands. “And so soft.”

Every muscle in his body tensed as she ran her fingers through his hair and he appeared to be holding his breath.

Gemmina drew away. “Sorry.”

His fists clenched as if he were fighting the urge to draw her near. “It’s all right.”

“I couldn’t help it. I had to touch.”

“I know.”

“I’ll try not to.”

“It’s okay.” His crestfallen expression suggested his own internal struggle. “I wish we were someplace safe and our circumstances were different so we were free to touch all we wanted.”

“I wish that, too. I really do.”

“Maybe after we leave this place….”

“If we leave this place. Let’s be realistic. We’ve been lucky so far, but we can’t dodge bullets forever.”

Syan looked appalled. “Dodging bullets is an Earth game? It seems cruel.”

“No, it’s a saying. It means to have a close call or brush with danger.”

The visible knot between his brows relaxed. “Yes, we have had lots of those.”

“This interspecies telepathic communication thing doesn’t work a hundred percent of the time, does it?”

“It’s not perfect.” Syan turned and pushed his way into the tangle of vines. “The light is fading. I want to walk as far as possible today and find a sheltered place to camp.” His stomach growled. “I should probably be hunting as well.”

“We have the protein paste.”

“I could finish all of those in a single meal, and we’d still have a day or two of hard hiking ahead of us and who knows what else.”

A twinge of guilt for letting him do all the work while she enjoyed watching his muscled backside struggle through heavy foliage gripped her. “What do you think is out here?”

“Sarna is a rich place. The plant life here is exactly like Sarna, yet I’ve seen none of its larger animals. So far I only remember seeing birds.”

They walked onward for a long way in silence. The jungle thinned and the ground became hilly. It was far easier to walk but they were also more exposed. If a patrol craft were to fly overhead and surprise them, all would be lost.

She grew uneasy. After spending so many hours under the protective umbrella of jungle canopy walking in knee-high ferns felt like asking for trouble. “This is a little too exposed for my peace of mind. It’s not dark yet. Maybe we should stick to the heavier brush until nightfall.”

Syan kept walking. “We will be fine.”

“But you don’t know that.”

“Do not worry.”

“You’re veering away from the direction we want to be heading in. We should change course and have the setting sun to our left. If we keep heading this way, we’re going to miss Naveen’s compound by many kilometers.”

“I’m not heading toward the compound.”

Feeling too hungry and exhausted to deal with his comment, she snapped. “Where the hell are you going? I don’t want to walk one step more than necessary.”

“I am heading toward falling water. Do you hear it?”

Gemmina stopped to listen. “No, I don’t.”

Lifting his face, he sniffed the air; his nostrils flared. “It is fresh water too. Follow me.” He led her over a ridge and down the side of a steep gorge with a brilliant turquoise pool at its base fed by a plummeting waterfall. After a quick look around, he said, “This is a good place. We will camp here.” Taking long, leaping strides, he ran toward the pool. The moment he reached the water’s edge, he tossed the packs aside yanked his boots off and stripped away his clothing. Within seconds he was naked, and she hardly had time to register the stunning sight of his long legs and rounded curve of his solid butt becoming airborne and arching into the air. With outstretched arms he dove into the water and skimmed beneath its surface with the grace of a dolphin. A moment later he emerged smiling and exuberant and slicked his hair away from his face.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

Gemmina stood on the edge of the pool, staring at Syan as he splashed across the surface. The impulse to leap into the water and throw her arms around his neck intensified, but she fought it. The thought of brushing wet skin against skin made her mind spin in sweet fantasies that she didn’t dare indulge.

“Is the water cold?” With a flourish, she bent down to remove a boot and dipped her toes into the pool. It was refreshingly cool.

“Come in.” He coaxed her with the wave of his hand. “Wash the day’s salt away.”

“It's tempting.” She reached for the clasp on the collar of her insulated shirt, but quickly released it and abandoned the task.

His dark eyes sparkled against the low light. “It’s not that cold. Jump in.”

With deliberation she took off the other boot and set it aside.

“Join me. Why are you stalling? It feels great.”

A flicker of insecurity gripped her. She wasn’t an elegant fantasy princess—the sort of woman she imagined should be paired with a man like Syan. Her build was solid and curvaceous with a collection of nasty scars. Several from belligerent knife-wielding bounties who didn’t appreciate being brought to justice. There was even a faded mark across her cheekbone delivered by a punk with a shard of broken glass, which commemorated her victory in a pub brawl. The rest of her many scars were from plain old klutziness. For a horrible moment, she imagined what she’d look like in his eyes and shuddered.

Syan gazed at her with an innocent, wide-open expression on his face. “You’re wrong.”

“Wrong about what?”

“You’re not damaged; you’re strong. You’re what I admire. Swim with me. I won’t touch you. I promise.”

With all her heart, she wanted to be touched by him. Nothing had ever been so certain, but the thought lingered. What if he didn’t like what he saw? Even for a young woman, she bore a lot of wear and tear.

“I can’t,” she sighed.

Hurt shone on his face. “Maybe sometime soon you’ll trust me?” With fluid strokes he swam toward the waterfall. “I’m going to explore a little and give you some privacy. You can have the pool to yourself.”

Standing on the bank, she watched as a few powerful strokes carried him to the far rim of the pool. He looked as if he were born to the water. In no time he hauled himself out on the other side and clambered over the mossy rocks. Her breath caught. The view of his naked backside was even better the second time. Rippling muscle and majestic proportions made him look like he belonged in a freaking art museum. Before the stunning sight could fully soak in, he disappeared behind the waterfall, and she was alone.

Rings traveled across the surface of the pool reflecting the fiery colors of sunset. Night would come sooner at the base of the shadowy gorge. Her skin was sticky from the long day’s march through the jungle, and her head ached where she’d been struck in the accident. A depressing thought she’d managed to avoid the entire day loomed large in her mind. Her star skimmer, Rudra, was gone along with all her better prospects of earning a living. Without a ship, she’d be confined to hunting bounties on foot, in the filthy alleyways and underworld of New Mumbai for the next few months if not years. It was a dreadful thought, and she suddenly needed to wash the entire ugly incident away.

As if in a trance, she stripped away her clothing and dove into the pool wearing only her bra and panties. On contact, the cool water left her gasping in surprise, but she quickly acclimated and swam toward the center. For the first time she noticed the pool was full of silvery fish lurking near the bottom. The thought of flaky charbroiled fish made her stomach growl. With a gulp of air she paddled to the bottom of the pool and tried to grab one, but the slippery creature escaped. She surfaced with a frustrated gasp.

“Damn!”

“Damn what?” Syan stood naked and magnificent near the waterfall.

She tried not to stare, but it was asking too much of her willpower. Her heart was doing flip-flops, and, true to his words, as it grew darker, she began to feel real desperation to get her hands on him setting in. “There are fish in this pool, but I need something to catch them with.”