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  He pulled her against him and lowered his head to meet her eager kiss. Her hands moved into his hair and her hips pressed against him. He wanted her right now, here on the open sands and under the sun. Damn. He pulled back. “Let’s get our blankets and head south right now.”

  She smiled and bumped against his erection. “Now you’ve convinced me.”

  ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 73

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bab watched Cara and Brady walk away. They said they were going exploring, but she feared they were leaving for good.

  Brady laughed at something Cara said, and then he leaned toward the skinny woman and did that thing with his lips. She’d spied on them on the beach earlier and had thought they were preparing to mate. But they hadn’t. They wore so much of their strange, thin clothing, mating would be difficult. And Brady didn’t force Cara to lie down and take his thing inside her.

  Brady seemed very … considerate of his mate. And he treated Bab and Rena so kindly.

  He didn’t look at them with nasty things in his eyes. Never did his gaze settle on her breasts.

  The men in her village always ogled the women’s breasts, often holding a woman still to lick or pinch her nipples.

  What would it feel like to have Brady lick her nipples? Her palms itched with the need to touch his dark, fluffy hair. Everything about him was so clean, and he smelled so nice. After being mounted by Jak and nearly every other male in her village, she never thought she’d want that again. She had Angel and there was no need to ever have a male again. But she wanted to see Brady’s lean body up close. She wanted him to touch her with the same gentleness he used on his mate. Cara walked with a pride and confidence that was unlike any female Bab knew.

  She wanted that for Angel.

  Angel gurgled and waved her arms around. The child was content now that Bab was getting enough to eat.

  The two pretty strangers walked toward the loud waters. It was a frightful place. Even the sound of the water made her dizzy, and she’d never been really close to it.

  Rena slept beside her little boy, Storm, in a warm patch of sand in front of the cave. The sun found its way through holes in the ragged and torn canopy. There were plenty of downed branches to be used when the cold season arrived.

  Bab turned back to watch Brady and his mate. She knew she was the most desirable female in her tribe and surely Brady felt the same lusts of any other male. They could have a beautiful child together, maybe a male, to be a match for Angel. They could parent an entire new tribe if Brady bred on all three of them. Even Rena might have little angels if Brady mated with her.

  Brady walked with a smooth stride that reminded her of the dangerous cats they sometimes saw roaming the tops of the stone cliffs. There was something predatory about him even though he was so lean compared to the men of her tribe. His hairless, smooth face had skin like a boy, but it was shaped in the strength of a man. But it was his eyes that tightened her nipples and raised wet heat between her legs. None of her dreams prepared her for the sight of such true-colored eyes. At first she hadn’t been able to meet his cool, clear stare. But she’d figured out he wasn’t really a spirit, but a hot-blooded man sent here to help her start a new life.

  Now she sought to draw his stare at every chance.

  It would be easy to follow Brady and Cara while keeping out of sight. She was going to make sure they didn’t leave before she had a chance to win him. In a little while she would wake Rena and tell her where she was going. Her friend needed to rest after her terrible last two days.

  ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 74

  She worked on fixing one of the hides into a sling to carry Angel and then packed some of the nuts and dried fruit Rena had brought with her. She might be gone days. She shook out her skirt and brushed some loose dirt and leaves from it. With a frown, she noticed dirt crusted around her nails and engrained in her knuckles.

  She set Angel near Rena and went to the cold, little stream that drizzled off the cliff.

  Shucking her skirt, she gathered handfuls of water and scrubbed herself with ruthless determination. Her skin shrank from the chill, but it was a small price to pay for Brady. Her breasts were large and full with milk, her thighs strong, and her hips wide to carry his child. He would find her irresistible.

  * * * *

  Cara walked beside Brady, neither one of them worrying about noise or stealth. The Savages were well behind them except for Bab and Rena.

  She didn’t know how to feel about the female Savages and their infants. She’d thought herself capable of killing any Savage, any age, at any time without mercy or remorse. Yet, how could anyone with the smallest hint of human compassion think of harming the little ones. And Angel didn’t resemble her parents in any way. If someone saw her in Cara’s arms, they would assume the baby was hers, her and Brady’s.

  Her stomach clenched at the thought. If they ever did return to their homes, she couldn’t expect Brady to stay with her. She wouldn’t allow it if he wanted to do so. Men wanted families, children to carry on their legacy. And she could never give him that. The last few days had convinced her she could give him love in the way a wife should to her man, but she could never be a complete woman. Even a simple-minded Savage like Bab could produce a lovely child. Rena’s child was obviously the offspring of Savages and would never be mistaken for anything else.

  “I’m thinking we should stop and rest a little.’ Brady took her hand and lifted it to his lips.

  She didn’t blame him for the cautious look in his eyes. How was he supposed to guess at her mood when she couldn’t figure it out herself?

  “We were interrupted by Rena and then the damned storm,” Brady said, walking slowly and leading her toward the tree line.

  His deep voice melted the stressful indecision from her nerves. They didn’t have to make any firm decisions this moment. Brady’s way of taking things one step at a time was making more sense to her all the time. They would enjoy this time without their odd companions staring at them in awe and fear.

  The sun was past midday so the shadows of the trees stretched like fingers pointed toward the sea. Brady stopped halfway to the water in an area where there was little storm debris. Here and there were ugly brown clumps of drying seaweed.

  He kicked the clumps aside and cleared an area big enough to spread their blankets. He placed their two packs on the edges to hold the blankets flat against the breeze. They’d divided the bullets between the two bags in case they should lose one so they wouldn’t be without ammunition for the gun. He carefully set his belt with the pistol on the edge of the blanket and out of the sand. He cleaned the weapon every day with the special equipment in his pack.

  Cara sat on the edge of the blanket and pulled off her boots. He joined her, kicking off his worn footgear next to hers. They both pulled their knees up, wrapped their arms around them and gazed out to sea. The water shimmered silver and blue while white birds dove and danced in the endless blue sky. Only hours before the scene had been quite different and deadly. At the ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 75

  moment it looked like paradise. Brady took her hand but otherwise seemed content to do nothing but contemplate the eternal sea. Now it was truly paradise.

  “Cara, I don’t know what we’re going to do next.” Brady turned slightly to face her. His blue eyes were dark and the same infinite blue as the cloudless sky. “But for right now, right this moment, I’m as happy and content as I’ve ever been in my life.”

  She squeezed his hand. Her throat was tight and funny as if she might cry. Except she never cried. Not any more. She touched his cheek and then his wild, silky hair. His children would have the same type of hair, wild as the spirit of the Realm. No wonder Bab at first thought him a deity of sorts. His lips touched hers with a warmth that raised something sensual and deep in her belly. Nerves tingled in her legs with the mere thought of his touch.

  They undressed each other slowly, the sun hot enough to offset the sea breeze feathering across t
heir bare skin. He pulled her down on top of him, and she felt a momentary twinge of guilt that she could not let him be on top of her. But then his hands were touching her everywhere and need overwhelmed her guilt.

  * * * *

  Bab put Angel to her breast so the infant wouldn’t cry out. Not that the mating couple on the beach would have heard her over the crash of the waves and their own preoccupation.

  Their antics fascinated her. Brady’s body was so smooth and hairless compared to the men of her tribe. Dark hairs grew around his man rod, but his chest and back were as bare as a child’s. His muscles moved beneath his skin like thick ropes rather than the massive bulk of the men she’d known all her life.

  Cara ran her fingers through Brady’s hair while they did that thing with their mouths.

  Did they exchange breaths? It seemed to give them great pleasure. She couldn’t wait to try it.

  Jak had bit her a few times when he mounted her, but what they did seemed to be only with their lips and tongues, no teeth used at all.

  The woman’s body was as thin as Bab expected it to be. Her breasts were like those of a young girl not yet ready to breed. What was wrong with her? Perhaps she’d been starved for a while and was still recovering. Both their bodies were clean. Washing had been a good idea.

  Brady would like that.

  The couple touched each other with gentle, petting motions. Very strange but Bab expected Brady’s hands on her would feel nice.

  Brady laid back and Cara followed him down. Why did they take so long before mating?

  Cara squirmed and wiggled on top of him, played with his face and pressed her mouth to his.

  Did she try to drink her mate’s soul?

  Bab shifted so she could see better. Men always took women, quick and hard, but something different was happening here.

  Cara straddled Brady and took his man rod into her woman’s opening. He reached up and touched one of her tiny breasts. His other hand explored the patch of hair between her legs.

  Bab squeezed her own legs tight together. Brady knew about that miracle place on a woman’s body? He understood that touching it could send a woman’s soul soaring into the sky and steal all her senses?

  Heat welled inside of Bab. She’d experienced the rush of pleasure that could come when she touched herself there. She loved that rush of pleasure that left her heart racing and her muscles weak, but how much better might it be with a man’s rod inside her and his strong fingers on that hard little piece of her being instead of her own? She suspected a woman’s spirit was centered in that spot.

  ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 76

  Cara rode Brady’s hips, and now he dropped his hand from her breast to guide the pumping of her hips. His other hand stayed busy on her soul.

  Bab reached under her skirt and touched herself. Her woman hole wept the thick, sticky water it always did when pleasure stirred inside her. The faster Cara bounced on top of Brady, the faster Bab stroked herself. It not for Angel clutched in her arms, she would have crawled from her hiding spot and joined the mating couple.

  Cara’s hands dug into Brady’s shoulders and her mouth opened in a cry lost to the sound of the sea. Brady’s body went rigid, and his hand left Cara’s center to hold her hips along with his other one. He surged upward into her and held his position with his back arched off the ground.

  Bab’s soul took flight from between her legs and took her breath with it. Every part of her body shivered with waves of pleasure. For long moments, her eyes saw nothing and her ears heard only the pounding of her heart and a rushing that wasn’t the sea.

  Angel had fallen asleep at Bab’s breast. She was lucky she hadn’t dropped her precious child when the senseless pleasure took her.

  Cara sprawled on top of Brady with the same boneless satisfaction Bab felt. Did the skinny woman get to have those wondrous feelings each time she mated with Brady?

  After a while, Cara slid to Brady’s side and snuggled up to him like a child to her mother.

  Was it possible for a man and woman to like being in each other’s company even after they mated? Brady was never gruff or mean to Cara, but did he feel a true affection? Could a man care for a woman?

  The couple rose, reluctance in their movements. They strode hand in hand, naked, to the sea. They walked into the water a short distance and splashed each other like playful children.

  Washing again?

  They left the water and slowly put their clothing back on, and now she understood why they wore so many layers. If Cara found such rapture every time she mated with Brady, they would surely spend their days doing nothing else. They had to hide their bodies to control their urges. Bab wanted to go tear Brady’s clothes off even now after so recently finding her pleasure.

  She waited until the couple was well out of sight before again taking up their trail. They left the sands and headed into the trees. Once away from the sea’s roar she could hear the distant grumble of the falling waters. Her fear of it was only a nagging discomfort. Mostly her mind snagged on the image of Brady without his clothing and Cara sitting astride him. The woman had taken him, mounted him, and had been in charge of the mating. It was so strange and exciting. She couldn’t wait to have Brady.

  Despite his pretty body, Bab was sure she was stronger than him. She would hold him down and climb on top of him as Cara had done. A shiver of pleasure rolled from her toes to her engorged breasts. The next time they stopped to mate, she would join them and have her share of the sky-eyed man.

  ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 77

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I think I can swim that.” Brady shaded his eyes and stared across the river.

  Cara looked at him. She knew his body as well as he knew her own after the last few days. A year ago she wouldn’t have believed she would find a man beautiful, but he was and not only physically. His patience layered with his obvious desire for her excited every part of her.

  “What do you think?”

  “About what?” She’d lost track of their conversation.

  He gave her a puzzled look. “Crossing the river. I think we can swim it.”

  She looked at the wide expanse of water. It was no longer muddy and probably wasn’t as cold as the day of their accident, but it ran fast and deep. “I’m not a good swimmer.”

  He took her hand as he had so often on their trek from the cave to here. “You don’t have to be. I’ll tie us together. You just have to keep your head above water.”

  “No. I could pull you under.”

  “My lady, you have no faith in me.” He laughed and tugged her after him toward the falls.

  The need to make decisions pressed on her mind, but she was so happy she couldn’t dwell on it. Soon they would find a place to spread their blankets for the night. Then they would make love before they slept and perhaps again when they woke. Each time they enjoyed each other’s body, she felt more confident Brady would never hurt her.

  The falls crashed less than a quarter of a mile away, already loud enough to drown the sound of the sea behind them.

  “Look.” Brady pointed at the river bank. “We can put in there and cut a diagonal across the expanse. It will carry us downstream, but we can reach the other side before we hit the sea.

  See how the current slows as it meets the sea?”

  She looked where he pointed. There was no way she could swim it.

  He selected a level area a bit back from the bank to make camp. It seemed very near where he’d pulled her out of the river after the accident. They dropped their packs and set about gathering firewood. Much of it was still damp, but the sunny windy day had dried enough for them to find an adequate dry supply.

  Brady took his gun and went hunting toward the falls. Not that there was anything or anyone close enough to hear the shot, but caution was always best.

  She found a few small, orange tubers in the rich soil along the river bank. She washed them and sliced them into finger-thick pieces. After crumbling a few nuts in the ne
w cooking shell, she added the yams. Searching further along the river, she found some wild mint. How wonderful would some real black tea taste instead of weak, mint water?

  As expected, she heard no shot, but Brady returned with a game bird similar to the one he’d shot before. He’d already cleaned and spitted the bird. They set it above the flames and settled side by side on the blankets to watch it cook.

  “This is like a feast.” Brady sipped the warm, mint water.

  Twilight spread from the west, overtaking their little camp. It was strange to feel so safe, alone with a man in a foreign land, strange and wonderful. Her intimacy with Brady seemed to ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 78

  have healed something inside her, something she’d thought destroyed. But perhaps it had only been broken, and the broken could sometimes get better.

  “Cara, there’s something we should be thinking about.”

  “I’m already thinking about it.” She put her hand on his thigh and ran it along the inside of his leg.

  He caught her hand and held it. “You know we might be stuck here. If we can’t cross this river, I’m not sure we can make it home by winter. Even if we go north and find a way off the beach, we might not be able to make it through the mountains to Parlania.”