by test
it was like lying down on a cloud. The blankets were clean, the room warm and they were completely safe.
Exhaustion should have pulled Brady under immediately, but his mind wouldn’t listen to the demands of his body. Cara huddled beneath a blanket on the bunk across the room from him.
Her eyes were closed, and her unbound hair spread out on the flat pillow. Her sword and knife were on the floor near to her hand. Always ready. Could he ever give her the security she needed to feel unafraid? Could she ever be completely happy? Would she ever trust him enough to let him love her?
He was afraid to say the words. It’d taken being stranded with the threat of never going home again for her to let him touch her. It’d taken their isolation from the rest of the world before she trusted him enough to confide in him of the horrors of her past. He understood her now, her earlier reticence, her dedication to Juston Steele, and her angry desire to kill Savages.
Her distrust of men made so much sense now. How could he convince her that he loved her and would never hurt her?
If they had been stranded a few more days, he might have found the right moment to tell her of his love. But as soon as their escape seemed eminent, she’d pulled back from him. Last night on the mountain side, he’d thought they were going to be all right, but since arriving at the outpost, she’d barely looked at him.
They still had a seven or eight day ride to reach Utopia, the training center situated halfway between Solonia and the Realm. He had time. If it came to it, he would declare himself and hope she was ready to hear it.
Despite the warm bed, full belly and sturdy walls, Brady wished they were still on the damned beach and alone under the stars.
* * * *
The morning of their fourth day on the ride home dawned with the promise of another hot, sunny day. They’d finally come down out of the mountains and were making good time on the beach. Their horses were well fed and rested from a month of rest at the outpost. Two of Flinn’s men accompanied them though Brady protested their need of an escort. But the two men were finished with their month of duty at the boring, isolated guard station and were impatient to return to their wives.
So instead of seven days alone with Cara, they were traveling with two men eager to talk about Brady and Cara’s adventure every waking hour. Tonight Brady was going to get her alone for a talk even if he had to throw her over his shoulder and carry her from camp.
So far she’d avoided him with so many obvious ploys it was laughable, but he wasn’t amused any more. Time was running out. When they reached Utopia, they would be surrounded by well wishers and questioned by everyone. He thought he had four more days and three more nights before they reached the settlement. Flinn had sent out one of the messenger pigeons with news of their miraculous return so they would be expected. Cara’s mother and his parents would be waiting for them, wanting to take them home and coddle them a bit.
Brady rode at the head of the small group alongside an older soldier named George.
There was little in the way of news from Parlania, the Realm or Solonia.
“No trouble with Savages at all?” Brady knew George from their forays together into the wilderness against the Savages. It seemed long ago when they’d ventured into the unknown and encountered the dangerous beasts.
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“Haven’t seen a Savage in nearly a year, sir.” George gestured toward the west. “With Commander Steele harrying them from the west, Claudia taming the lands north of the river and Utopia guarding the mountains, there’s no safe place for them to hide.”
“I wonder where they retreated to? What’s west of Solonia? Or did they go north?”
Brady knew the cold was a fierce opponent to survival in the north.
“According to the old maps they found in Parlania, it’s a harsh land out here. Mountains, cold and little in way of tillable land.” George spat at a bush they were passing. “Conflicts me some, sir. I’ve seen those creatures do some cruel, nasty things, but I hate to think of them starving because we pushed them out of their homelands.”
Brady sighed. Wait until more of the warriors met Bab’s tribe. They were going to be even more confused about their mission. Was fighting the Savages even their purpose any more?
He didn’t know, but he would do whatever he had to do to see Bab and her people left in peace.
“Someone’s coming,” Cara said from behind them. She maneuvered each time they rode out to avoid being beside him.
A column of horsemen trotted toward them from the south. Brady counted seven Realm soldiers, distinguished by their height, and three shorter riders who could only be Solonian warriors.
Erik Sim led the newcomers, his face lit with a wide grin. “I knew that river couldn’t beat you, sir. I told everyone you could swim like a fish.”
Brady laughed. “I’m not sure I like being called a fish, Sim. Probably more luck than skill saved us.”
“Well, we’re your escort. They’ll probably have a hero’s parade for you when you arrive in Utopia.”
Brady grimaced and tried to catch Cara’s eyes. But the Solonian warriors had already broken rank and now surrounded her. Two of them wiped at their eyes as they laughed and reached out to touch Cara.
They stopped for the day at the next stream. Sim’s men and women set up an efficient camp and soon had food heating and tea brewing. The Solonian women clung close to Cara.
Brady and Cara repeated their tale again around the friendly fire before they all settled down for the night. The women spread their blankets together on one side of the fire. If Cara longed for his arms as much as he desired to hold her, she gave him no assurance with either glance or word.
The next three days passed the same except it was even easier for Cara to avoid him with the large party. One of the women went with her to bathe and she slept in the midst of them.
Even mealtimes found her elbow to elbow with her fellow Solonians.
They rested and watered the horses before beginning the gentle but long climb from the beach to the plateau where Utopia had been built. The mountain trail narrowed in spots so only two horses could travel abreast. Brady was determined to make sure he was beside Cara on this leg of the journey even if he had to pull rank on every man and woman with them.
“Hold up!” Sim shouted as they mounted up in the cool, morning breeze off the sea.
“What the hell now?” Brady mumbled. More riders came toward them from the direction of Utopia. There was no mistaking the leader. Juston Steele sat his vicious stallion with the casual arrogance of a man who knew his own strength and position in life.
“You son of a bitch, Gellot.” Steele swung down from his war-trained horse. “You have the very luck of the devil. What do you mean carrying one of my best warriors away with you?”
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Juston crushed Brady’s hand and slapped him on the shoulder hard enough to remind him it had been only a month since he’d dislocated it. Steele then turned to Cara and pulled her into his arms with fierce emotion probably only Brady understood.
Cara hugged Steele back with as much joy and relief. Brady wondered that he felt no jealousy, but he knew Steele loved his wife, Katerina, devoutly. And Cara spoke of Steele as a beloved brother.
They broke apart and Steele grinned at her. “I brought someone with me. She couldn’t wait even one more day.”
One of the Solonian warriors helped an older woman down from her horse. It was easy to see she was Cara’s mother. She was slim like Cara though in a healthier way.
Cara met her halfway. Her mother folded as if her knees couldn’t hold her and then she had her daughter in her arms. She wept and laughed while babbling words of love and scolding.
Brady met Cara’s dry-eyed gaze. There was relief but also a plea for his help in her dark eyes. He went to them and helped them back to their feet. The warriors, Realm and Solonian, drifted away to give the women privacy for their joyous reunion.
“I’m Brady Gellot, dear lady. Your stubborn daughter saved my life.”
“Brady, this is my mother, Allana.” Cara supported her mother with an arm around her waist.
Gray streaked Allana’s blonde hair, and her brown eyes held some of the same ghosts that swirled in her daughter’s. Allana took one of Brady’s hands between her two slim ones.
“I’m forever grateful, sir. Thank you for watching over my impetuous girl. That she would dive into that river when she can swim nary a stroke ….”
Brady smiled at her and saw his charm worked on the mother if not her daughter. Allana gave him a watery smile in return.
“I would like to hope she took a chance because of some small affection for me.” He snuck a glance at Cara and encountered her glare, but her mother giggled.
“You are the charming one, Captain. I’ve heard the young ladies talk of you.”
“Allana, have you given Cara enough hugs?” Steele asked as he joined them. “The Gellots will be in Utopia by now and waiting to see their son.”
Juston laid his hand on Brady’s shoulder. Seeing Allana’s emotional reunion with her daughter made him anxious to see his own parents and relieve their grief. What agony had they faced since hearing he’d gone over the falls?
Once they were finally on the trail again, there was no chance for Brady to be near Cara.
Her mother and the other Solonians surrounded her.
Juston Steele insisted Brady ride beside him at the head of their long column of riders.
Brady frowned at the strung out line of warriors. If a few more soldiers joined them, they would have enough for an army. Juston grilled Brady about their adventure. He looked more troubled by Brady’s description of Bab’s odd tribe than surprised.
“My wife has been working toward that all her life. The Solonians have always believed if the Savages could be weaned off the vinefruit they would slowly become more human again.”
“I guess this proves their conjectures were correct.”
Steele’s frown turned into a dark scowl. “Yes, it does. Now how am I going to keep her from wanting to visit the bastards?”
Brady laughed. He’d known Juston all his life and still had trouble believing the man could ever fall so deeply for a woman. Steele was a man of icy nerves and merciless in battle yet ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 125
he would do anything for his lady wife. The safety they all enjoyed riding in this part of the country could largely be attributed to Steele’s efforts.
Juston glanced over his shoulder at the Solonians and then turned his fierce gaze on Brady. He spoke quietly. “How did Cara do dealing with these Savages? It had to be …
difficult for her.”
“She told me what happened to her.”
Steele raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Really?”
Juston didn’t intimidate Brady like he did many other young men. Brady probably couldn’t defeat the man in a sword fight, but he didn’t intend to fight with him. “She did. The fact that she could deal with them, speak to them and even help some of them prove how civilized they are. Relatively speaking, of course. They’re more human than those bastards we fought to free Parlania.”
Brady would never forget Mia dying in his arms. His gut clenched at the memory.
“I can’t believe Cara trusted you with her story.”
“What the hell does that mean, Just?”
Steele shrugged, no more impressed with Brady’s anger than Brady was with his. “She doesn’t have much faith in the males of any species.”
“She trusts me. Completely.”
Steele narrowed his eyes. “Did you touch her?”
“None of you business. She’s not your sister or your child?”
Cold blue fire blazed in Juston’s eyes. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Keep your nose out of our business.”
“She’s under my protection.”
“Well, you didn’t do a very good job of it, did you? Otherwise she wouldn’t have ended up nearly drowning in that river with me.”
“If you did anything to hurt her, I’ll make you sorry you were born a man.”
Brady laughed. “Go to hell. Why don’t you let her be happy?”
“You think you are going to make her happy?”
“Damned right.” But Brady wasn’t so sure he could. The longer Cara avoided him, the more he worried she’d settle back into her old, lonely life as a warrior of Solonia.
* * * *
Cara knew Juston Steele would seek her out sooner or later. She wouldn’t be able to use her fellow Solonians to run interference for him like they did to keep Brady away. Even her mother gave way to Juston with a smile.
They’d made camp with the mountains at their back and expected to reach Utopia before dark the next day. Juston drew her back from the fire and away from the women spreading their blankets for sleep.
Cara sat with Juston and wondered about her changed feelings for the man. She loved him and had since the moment he cut her bonds and lifted her from the filth of her captivity.
With that love had come a worship of him and gratefulness not only for her rescue by for teaching her to fight so it would never happen to her again. He’d given her the opportunity to take her revenge on the Savages and helped her feel confident in her ability to defend herself.
And somewhere buried in her love and worship had been a fear she might lose his approval and that she might not be good enough to have his respect. How could anyone truly respect someone who’d been repeatedly raped and abused by those beasts? How could anyone believe in a warrior who’d let that happen?
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Today she saw Juston through new eyes. Her fears had been nothing but her own insecurities making her believe herself unworthy of his trust and friendship.
“Tell me you’re all right, Cara.” Juston wasn’t one for small talk.
“I’m better than I’ve been for years.” Even if her heart was about to break.
“Brady treated you well then?”
“He was a perfect companion” Would any other man have handled their situation with such patience and amusement. The entire debacle had been a big adventure to him.
“And this tribe of Savages?”
“We’re not going to be able to call them that.”
“Hell.”
She understood his thoughts because they had been the same as her own for a long while.
“I saw a baby girl that looked as human as any child. They need our help. They want to be better people.”
“Hell.” Juston was silent for a long moment and then spoke again with an unusual caution in his voice. “So should I beat the smile off Gellot’s face?”
Cara wondered if her smile looked as sad as it felt. “He didn’t do anything I didn’t want him to do.”
“That didn’t really answer my question. If he seduced you ….”
“If there was any seducing done, it was by me.”
“That son of a bitch. Don’t cover for him. You’re an innocent, and he’s been a lady’s man since his voice changed. He’s so slick you wouldn’t even know when he was using his wiles on you.”
“Juston.” She put her hand on his arm when he started to stand. “It doesn’t matter who did what. I’m hardly an innocent. I never thought I would want to be with a man or be able to find pleasure with him.”
Juston relaxed back to his seated position, but he didn’t look happy. “He didn’t hurt you?”
“Not at all.”
They sat quietly for a while, but she sensed Juston brooding beside her. When he spoke his tone was disgruntled. “So does this mean you’re staying in the Realm? I already lost Vilicia to that snake, Sky Turan. Am I about to give up another one of my captains?”
Cara couldn’t meet his intense gaze that saw too much. “No. I’m going home with you.
We had a great adventure, but my place is in Solonia.”
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Chapter Twenty-Three
Cara watched across the training yard as Brady hugged his mother and father in turn. His parents were tall and lean as most Realm settlers were. Both had hair whitened by age and probably grief. To lose two children and believe they had lost their third and last son would be enough to destroy most people. She was too far away to hear what they said to each other but there was much laughing and a few tears.
Vilicia and Sky greeted Brady with slaps and hugs. A momentary jealousy stabbed Cara when Vilicia kissed Brady’s cheek though she knew it was silly. Vilicia loved Sky Turan as much as Katerina loved Juston Steele. And Cara had no claim on Brady Gellot.
