Hunted

by Theresa Beachman

  Isa cleared her throat. “I’ll take her down.”

  Heath ran a hand through his hair. “Down. Right. Yeah.” He looked over at her for a long moment.

  Isa was transfixed as the air heated between them.

  When she wrenched her gaze free, she was breathless as she focused on taking the hopper down. She wanted more. No matter how much she denied it, Heath was steadily working his way under her skin.

  21

  Heath landed the hopper. It took some maneuvering, but he concealed the modest craft inside the mouth of a small cave hidden from any drones. Before they left, he disabled the in-built trackers. He allowed himself a moment of satisfaction as they excited the ship, its legs tucked under the egg-like body like a sleeping cat.

  He’d chosen a site next to hot springs. Steam rising into the evening air had alerted him to their presence and the possibility of soaking in hot water had been too tempting to resist. Stars peppered the violet shaded night sky in the same hint of color as Isa’s eyes.

  He could still taste her and wasn’t sure it was something he could walk away from. She’d already saved his life more than once. The reality of offering her up to Buke was suddenly an impossibility. There had to be another way. He just had to work out what it was.

  Isa took a deep breath beside him. “Smells piney. There must be Exorizza growing nearby. This is beautiful.”

  She peeked at him through lowered lashes. “As long as you ignore the being marooned on an alien planet and feeling starving hungry part of the equation.” Her mouth cracked into a shy grin. He loved that she never complained, always made the best of things. The man who’d let her go was a fool.

  He took her hand guiding her down to the beach. “Ship’s powered down. I disconnected the tracker. We’re good, for a while anyway.” He rubbed tender skin between his eyebrows. “I’m not convinced the ship being tracked is our problem.”

  Isa had left his side and was picking up twigs for firewood. She paused in her collecting. “Why?”

  Heath swung his small backpack off his shoulder and tipped it out on a small rock. He surveyed his paltry kit. He was missing something, he was sure of it.

  Isa picked up the socks and waved them in front of his nose. “Looking for these?”

  “Hey.” He snagged them from her grip and returned them to his backpack. “Enough embarrassment.” He shook his head but wasn’t able to suppress a smile. “My mom, gives me a new pair every time I see her. I swear I could set up a sock shop.” He released a slow sigh. Normally he gave them to Jack, but he hadn’t had the opportunity on this trip.

  “What I’m looking for is some kind of tracker.” He gripped the lining and ripped it with a sharp tug, feeling with his fingertips for anything hidden that might have alerted the Games Master to their location. His search came up empty. There was nothing.

  “A tracker?” Isa was watching him, a frown creasing her face, the gorgeous smile from when he’d kissed her gone.

  Heath drove his hands through his hair. “The Games Master. How’d he find us? This planet is vast. It’s too coincidental that twice we’ve run into those drones. I mean I know there are hunts all over the place, but still. I thought—”

  “They were tracking us?”

  He nodded. “But this is it. All the kit is mine, and it’s all from the Annie Mae. It’s clean.”

  Isa was silent for a moment, her expression solemn. “There’s still us.”

  His gaze snapped to her bare legs and then to her face. Her cheeks colored even in the dusky light.

  “Us?” Did she mean what he thought she meant. His heart tripped up a notch.

  “Uh-huh. Turn away.”

  “Isa…”

  “Do as I say.” She shooed him with her hands.

  Heath turned on his heel. He stared at the night sky trying not to think about what might be under the loose fabric of her coveralls and ignoring the hard bang of his heart against his ribs.

  Fabric rustled behind him and then her hacked-up overalls landed inches from his feet. White underwear followed, landing on the top of the pile.

  “Check them.” Sand scrunched as she shifted. A low voice in the back of his mind urged him to turn around. Moonlight would highlight her curves, all delicious shadows and soft valleys.

  He checked the pile. Her underwear was small and lacy, silken under his fingertips. How could anything so small count as clothes? Gods. He swallowed as ran his fingers along the tiny seams and then checked her overalls. He gritted his teeth. “There’s nothing there.”

  Isa laughed. “Throw them back.”

  He did as she instructed. More soft shushing sounds as she pulled her clothes back up, covering her breasts and—

  “Now you.” There was humor in her tone.

  “You going to turn around?”

  “I’m turning.”

  Her back faced him, ramrod straight, her head tilted at the stars. “It’s a beautiful night.”

  “Yup.” Heath shucked off his torn tunic and pants and threw them at her feet. The moons and stars were the last things on his mind.

  She bent and checked them. “I can’t find anything.” She kneeled and pulled the backpack over and dug inside. What now?

  She pulled out his socks ,triumphant. “Isa—”

  “Just checking these too. No, they’re fine. Too many holes to hide anything.”

  “Hey, my mom knitted—”

  She flung them over her shoulder at him. “I never took you for a rainbow sock man.”

  He picked them up. Gods, they were hideous. “I’m not but—you know.” Family.

  Heath poked the leaf-wrapped Quamash roasting on the embers of the small fire he’d built. They’d dug more of the tuber out of the ground and this time Isa had been less squeamish, helping him to pick the waving legs off before wrapping them in leaves and tossing them on the fire to roast.

  Resu’s three moons had slid behind low-lying clouds as they ate and now, the only light came from the orange flicker of glowing embers. The light illuminated Isa’s face as she applied more healing ointment to his burn and then to the abrasions he’d sustained from his fight with the Selachmi.

  He lifted his arms so she could apply the cream to his sides and back, overly aware of the cool stroke of her fingertips.

  His original plan was in tatters. He knew he could no more offer Isa up to Buke than he could his own mother. Somehow he had to find another way to salvage his situation while keeping her safe.

  “Sit up, so I can reach your back.”

  She hummed as she worked the cream in with gentle rubbing movements and then unwound the gauze on his arm. She stopped humming and huffed a small exhalation of surprise. Isa peered at the tube label. “This stuff is gold. Your skin is healing well.”

  She returned it to the first aid kit and scraped the roasting Quamash out of the fire with a Y-shaped stick. Cinders scattered in the breeze, lighting up the night like fireflies. She unwrapped her tuber and expertly scooped out the flesh with an empty shell, blowing on it to cool it down. She nibbled a piece. “I think I might get used to these. Although I still find vegetables that can run away too much to get my head around.”

  Heath burst out laughing at her serious face.

  Isa stuck out her tongue and hurled him a wicked grin. Her lips shone with oil from the Quamash. “What’s so funny?”

  Hot blood arrowed straight to his cock. He wanted to lick her lower lip clean. “You. No one has ever described Quamash to me like that.” He pulled the other tuber from the fire and slicing it, pushed the largest pieces toward her.

  Isa picked one up and then shunted the rest in his direction. “You needn’t do that.” Her tone was firm.

  “Do what?”

  “Give me all the best bits. We share. We both made this meal happen so we share it.”

  “Sorry. You’re right. Old habits die hard. My mother…”

  Isa chewed, a thoughtful look on her face. “Is your mom still alive?”

  “Yes.
” He left it at that as his stomach clenched as the real world came crashing back in. His mother. Buke. He examined his hands, but when he looked up, Isa was studying him.

  He didn’t want her to look at him in any other way other than the way she did now. No one had ever looked at him like that, and he didn’t want it to stop. Even though he knew it had to.

  They ate in companionable silence for a few moments and Isa stared into the fire. Heath rolled his shoulders, grateful she let it drop.

  “My father’s dead.” The words came out of nowhere, surprising even himself.

  Her gaze lasered through him. “Were you very young?”

  He shrugged. “Twelve. It was a long time ago, but it was a good thing. He hit my mom.” He scratched a stick in the dirt between his boots. “I was glad when he died.” He’d never voiced that thought before, never mind told anyone.

  Isa covered his hand with hers, tucking her fingers into the curl of his palm. “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how awful that must have been.”

  He lifted one shoulder in agreement.

  “Is your mother on Earth?”

  “Yes…” Words died on his tongue. This was unknown territory. He was unsure of how much to disclose about his mother’s illness and the decisions it had led him to. Good and bad choices had brought him here.

  Except Isa could never know that.

  He squeezed her fingers. Self-pity didn’t suit him. Never had. There was always someone worse off. Besides, he had made his own choices, chosen to take the steps he took. He had no one to blame but himself. “I still look after of her. She’d like you. You have the same sense of humor.”

  “You can take me to meet her one day.” Her smile turned shy.

  His heart beat, for the feelings he was developing for this woman and the impossible situation he found himself in. “Isa, I will get you out of here.”

  Her voice was small but her gaze tugged at his heart. “I know.”

  He ran a hand across the top of his head. If he didn’t change the subject soon he might say something that he would regret.

  He spread his hands wide. “What about you? Family back on Earth?”

  Her lips pressed tight as if she was holding something sour in her mouth. “There’s not much to tell. You know my parents are dead, I don’t have any brothers or sisters. And my marriage…” Her shoulders sagged. “It was over before it even began. I was just too stupid to see it.”

  “You’re not stupid.”

  She shot him a small smile. “Maybe. But I do foolish things.”

  Every word rasped at his conscience. “We all do.”

  She turned a heart-shaped pebble of quartz over and over in her hands. “The last thing I remember about being on Earth is a bright light on the moor. I was out there because I’d found Karl, my husband, in bed with some work rep.”

  Her chin dropped to her knees. “It’s not the first time. I continued giving him chances. Thinking he’d change. I gave up everything for him. I wanted to be a pilot. Work on the star liners. He put his foot down. I withdrew my application for pilot training. I settled for less… hovercar engineer.”

  Her voice wavered. “My parents divorced when I was young and they never got over it, they continued to fight even when they separated. It destroyed them. I was terrified the same would happen to me, so I kept giving Karl another chance. He took advantage of me. I see that now.” She rested her jaw on her knees. “Hindsight is twenty/twenty and all that.”

  “Hey, if he cheated, that’s on him. Not you. You’re fierce, strong. Despite ending up on a dangerous planet with a complete stranger, you’re fighting for your life. You haven’t given up.” His kind of woman—if he hadn’t been such a liar.

  Pain etched her eyes, and she shook her head, amazed at her own naivety. “Can you believe I never confronted him? I thought he’d change because he loved me. He didn’t change because he didn’t have to. I let him treat me like rubbish.” She lifted her chin. “I won’t let that happen again. If I’d known it could be like this, I’d have left him years ago.”

  His mouth went dry. “Be like what?”

  She was quiet for a moment. “This.”

  His blood ran hot as she slid a hand up his arm. Her touch was electric, raising goose bumps on his skin and igniting a fiery maelstrom in his heart. He wanted to take care of her, keep her close and protect her.

  Was that even possible when he was the reason she was in danger?

  22

  Heath arranged small twigs on the fire, hoping the activity would slow his racing heart. His already tense muscles were rock hard. Everywhere.

  The longer he spent in Isa’s company, the greater the attraction he felt toward her. He craved her without a doubt, wanted to skim his hands over her skin, make her gasp when he slid gentle fingers through her soft curls. She drew him. And something in him burned to lose himself in her, even if only for a few hours.

  But he didn’t just want to just fuck her.

  What he desired was far more dangerous. Even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself.

  He wanted to know what she liked to eat that wasn’t leggy vegetables. What music did she like, what brought her to tears or made her laugh? Hell, he wanted to be the one who made her giggle. All of that and he wanted to take care of her even though he knew she was more than capable of caring for herself—she’d been doing it all her life.

  He knew now he couldn’t be the man who would take anything more from her. He had transported her to Resu but he would make sure she returned to Earth.

  “What about you?”

  He blinked. Her hand still rested on his shoulder, holding him captive. “Me?”

  “You were on the Annie Mae. Do you know where was she going?”

  “Resu.” His answer was instant.

  Isa shook her head, releasing him to rub her forehead. His shoulder still blazed where she’d touched him.

  “None of this makes sense. I keep trying to figure it out. Why we’re here… but I just can’t make sense of it.” She scraped her hands through her hair, gorgeous even in her exasperation.

  Heath busied himself with the fire, keeping his expression blank; fearful she would read the truth on his face. Did silence count as duplicity?

  She hugged her knees tighter. “You hear these stories about interplanetary slavery. Young women being abducted from the more remote colonies.” She suppressed a shiver. “But I’ve never heard of it happening on Earth and I’m hardly young.”

  Heath was mesmerized. “You’re beautiful.”

  A tremble shimmied down her arms. “That’s kind, but—”

  “I mean it.” Emotion made his voice rough, forcing him to swallow.

  She placed a hand on his chest and slid it down to the ridges of his abdomen. “No.” Her voice was soft, barely a breathy whisper. “You. You’re amazing. I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.”

  Her cheeks colored, and she rocked back on her heels but he grabbed her hand and pressed her fingers to his chest, soaking in her touch, wanting nothing to separate them. He stroked the edge of her jaw, thumbing the fullness of her lower lip. She sighed and leaned into his caress, her cheek fitting his palm perfectly. His heart cranked up several gears as her surrender fired straight to his heart, even as his brain rationalized against it. This was insane. He had brought her here.

  But his chest was tight, his mind ignoring reason.

  He ran his hand up her arms, marveling at her satin skin, before driving his fingers into the tangled mess of her hair. He could never get enough of her and when she looked up at him he was sure lust deepened the color of her eyes, spurring him on.

  It would be so easy to kiss her now. The memory of kissing her in the hopper was branded at the forefront of his brain. He was ravenous to taste and kiss every glorious inch of her perfect curves. He pressed his lips to her temple, then against the softness of her eyelashes before claiming her mouth. Desire landed an iron punch low in his gut. It was everything it had been before and more
.

  With cool fingers she cupped his jaw, her tongue teasing him with slick heat and softness. Heath growled, the rumble resonating deep in his body as he traced a line of feather-light kisses to just under her ear where he nipped the sensitive tendons of her neck.

  “Don’t stop.” Her voice was a throaty whisper as she tilted her head back to give him better access.

  Heath froze, stiffening as reality came crashing down around him.

  What was he doing? She was here because of him. He had to make that right, not take advantage.

  He broke the kiss and pulled back, avoiding looking in her eyes. If he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself a second time. “This isn’t a good idea.”

  Isa touched her lips, clouds of confusion flitting across her face. “What?”

  He shook his head and forced himself on to his feet, turning his back to her to hide the press of his erection. “I’m going to do a quick scout of the perimeter.”

  She’d done nothing but help him since he’d pulled her out of the cryo-pod but she was vulnerable, her life shattered, torn from familiarity and safety, and here he was taking advantage. Her husband had only taken from her but Heath vowed he wouldn’t do the same. Shame rode him hard.

  Isa deserved so much better but where did he even begin to explain? He had no idea.

  “You’ve been through so much. You’re vulnerable, out of your comfort zone. I don’t want—”

  Her eyes widened. “I’m a grown woman. I can make decisions for myself. You don’t have to make them for me.”

  Heath suppressed a groan, searching for a way out of the hole he was digging. “That’s not what I meant. You need time…”

  Isa folded her arms in a tight knot across her across her rib cage and looked away from him. The lushness of her mouth thinned to a thin line. “Maybe you should go check that perimeter.”

  He worked the muscle in his jaw. “Yeah.”

  When he glanced over his shoulder, darkness shifted in her gaze and her cheeks flamed. Pain lanced his heart as she pulled the edges of her overalls across her chest.