And the possibility of making love with her was about as likely as a hailstorm in space.
With the sound of Sara’s retreating footsteps, Cria’s touch became lighter—or was it simply that he couldn’t feel it anymore? For one brief instant before darkness engulfed him, he knew he was correct.
***
Sara was still shaking. She’d done her best to remain calm—something she normally had no problem doing in a crisis—but the beseeching look in Jerden’s eyes had struck a chord with her unlike anything she’d ever felt before. It was almost as though their souls had touched.
She shook her head, banishing the thought. Souls didn’t touch or connect or any of the mumbo jumbo mystical nonsense that people wrote sonnets about. It simply didn’t happen. It was a trick of the moonlight, or a feeling of compassion, no more.
That’s what Ebenezer Scrooge thought.
Sara stomped her foot in protest. “I am not being visited by ghosts. And I am not like Scrooge. Besides, that was fiction.”
If there was one thing Sara prided herself upon, it was being firmly grounded in reality. There was a simple, rational, logical explanation for everything. Granted, there were aliens with strange powers, but those abilities were natural for them. In Sara’s opinion, humans who claimed to have supernatural talents were just plain lying. The feeling she’d had was probably brought on by the lack of sleep, for which the man now resting on her bed was largely responsible.
That sounded odd. Men were not normally anywhere near her bed, for any reason whatsoever, and she liked it that way. Giving herself a mental shake, she went into the living room and tapped the comlink pad to call Vladen.
A few moments later, the Levitian’s image popped up on the screen. He appeared to be fully awake, but his bright blue eyes looked tired and his short blond hair, which normally stood straight out like the bristles on a hairbrush, was lying flat on one side. “And here I thought I was going to get to sleep the night through for the first time in weeks.” Sighing, he ran a hand over the bony ridges along his jaw. “What’s up, Sara?”
“I’m not sure,” she replied. “Jerden Morokovitz just rode up on a horse and then collapsed on my porch. I don’t know the normal body temperature for a Zetithian, but he feels hot to me.”
Vladen snickered. “They’re all hot, Sara. I’m surprised you had to touch him to realize that.”
Sara rolled her eyes but didn’t laugh. She’d never felt less like laughing in her life. “Would you mind telling me what their normal temperature is, or would you rather come and see him for yourself?”
“Don’t need to. Zetithians are better at healing themselves than anything a mere doctor can do. Just put him to bed and let him sleep for a day or two. He’ll wake up good as new.”
“A day or two?” She was beginning to wish she’d left him on the porch. “I’d like to get a little sleep myself.”
Vladen wasn’t stupid. He knew precisely what she’d done with him. “You just snuggle up beside him. He won’t bite if he’s asleep, and you’ll keep each other nice and warm.”
“Maybe I could sleep on the couch.” She’d have slept in a second bedroom if she’d had one, but her house was a simple one-story cottage with only a small attic and a basement for storage.
“No need for that,” Vladen said briskly. “Just cover him up and leave him there. He won’t bother you. His heart rate and respirations will slow way down, but that’s normal. And don’t worry about him wetting the bed. They never do.”
This was a problem Sara hadn’t even considered yet, but, since most of the galaxy’s remaining Zetithians lived in his territory, Vladen obviously knew what he was talking about. “But what about that big cat of his? She followed him into the house and is sitting right there beside him, licking his hand and growling at me.”
Vladen appeared to consider this for a moment. “Well… you could treat her for fleas, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
She snorted a laugh. “I’m worried about getting eaten alive—and not by fleas!”
Vladen was patient but firm. “Now, Sara. You know a lot about animals. If she’s protective of him, then don’t act like you’re trying to hurt him and you’ll get along fine.”
Sara took a deep breath. Part of Vladen’s ability to tend to the medical needs of an entire region was in knowing when to act and when to take a wait-and-see approach. In his eyes, this was clearly not an emergency. “Okay. ’Nuff said. I’ll keep him warm and his leopard fed.”
“You do that.” Vladen yawned, revealing double rows of sharply pointed teeth. “Meanwhile, I’m going back to bed.”
“Good night, and thank you.”
“No problem. Feel free to call me again if you get worried.”
After terminating the link, Sara returned to her bedroom to find the leopard lying on the floor beside the bed, purring contentedly, the tip of her tail twitching in a lazy rhythm. Jerden lay right where she’d left him, flat on his back, the contours of his perfect body accentuated by the pale moonlight. Both he and the cat seemed harmless enough at the moment, but one glimpse of him made her heart start pounding again. Vladen may have been reassuring, but he hadn’t known anything about that part of the problem.
Having grown up with two younger brothers, Sara had never shared a bed with anyone—let alone a man who was essentially a stranger. Fortunately, snoring wasn’t an issue; Jerden’s respirations were so shallow, the difficulty would lie in determining whether or not he was breathing at all. He could die during the night and she’d never know it. Lying down next to a strange man was one thing. Waking up beside a dead man was quite another.
Oh, just crawl in beside him. It’s no big deal…
Reutal would have a field day with it, though. That he hadn’t made any suggestive remarks when they’d hoisted Jerden onto the bed was nothing short of a miracle. Then again, he was probably saving up a whole slew of comments for tomorrow.
If only they hadn’t put him on her side of the bed! Granted, it was nearer to the door, but his head rested on her favorite pillow, and she wasn’t about to risk waking him up by switching them. Sighing with resignation, she went around to the far side, pulled back the sheets, and got in bed with a man for the first time in her life.
As she flipped the sheet up over him, his body heat flowed back toward her in waves, his scent carried along with the warmth. Tempered with the fragrance of horse—a smell Sara had always found pleasing—Jerden’s own unique aroma was nothing short of delightful. Simply breathing it in calmed her nerves and allowed her heartbeat to return to a normal rate. Hair as black and shining as the stallion’s mane lay on the pillow and she reached out to touch it without a second thought. Softer by far than the mane of any horse, the texture of his tresses drew her to him like forbidden fruit.
With her next breath, her heart filled with pain, for that was what he was. Forbidden. And if not technically forbidden, he was certainly not something she was entitled to, or ever would be. The thought of what might happen when he did wake up sent chills running down between her shoulder blades. It was wrong of her to touch him in such a manner when he lay sick and helpless. He’d asked for her assistance, nothing more.
Tears dampened her pillow, frustrating her further. She never cried. What was it about him, simply lying there asleep, that dragged so many different emotions from her? This was foolish, pointless behavior. She needed to be monitoring his condition, not weeping over him. Taking his wrist, she felt for a pulse. It was faint and slow, just as Vladen said it would be, and he drew in one shallow breath for every four she took herself. She reminded herself that he’d only come to her because he was riding her horse and she was his nearest neighbor. Proximity. That was the only reason he was there. His presence in her house didn’t mean anything else.
She couldn’t explain why she thought it should mean anything more. Perhaps this was why Zetithians had nearl
y been exterminated; they made you covet things you had no business wanting in the first place. After all, a woman had been killed to enable another to get closer to this man. He was a dangerous brew—intoxicating, deadly, and probably addicting. Sara was a fool to keep him there in her bed and decided to send him away as soon as possible. Bonnie could look after him far better than she could, and if she couldn’t do it, Salan would take him in a heartbeat.
Poor Salan. She’d been bitten by the Zetithian bug long before Lynx had come to work for Bonnie. She’d fallen for Leo Banadänsk, the golden-haired husband of the Mordrial/Terran witch, Tisana, who traveled together with Cat and Jack Tshevnoe and their families aboard the starship Jolly Roger. Now, with more Zetithians to choose from than ever, Salan had renewed hope, but her blatant attempts at seduction had made her something of a joke within the Zetithian community. Not that they would ever openly laugh at her. They were too polite and kind, just as Jerden would be if he weren’t drowning in grief.
Sara could imagine his smile, could almost hear him purring. No, she knew better than to think he would ever be interested in her. Men seldom were, and she was okay with that now. A lifetime of being the maiden aunt wasn’t so bad. She had her own life. In another place and time, she would have been looked down upon, even ridiculed for being a spinster. But this was not that time, nor was this society one in which she would be good for nothing except as a governess to someone else’s children. She would leave Jerden for another woman to heal with her love, and she would stick with her horses. She had all but lost a horse to him already. She wasn’t about to hand over her heart.
The big cat let out a loud purr and then fell silent, apparently trusting Sara enough to sleep. Wish I felt that way. Closing her eyes, she tried to forget about Jerden and his leopard, but with every cell in her body screaming at her to get closer to him, he was impossible to ignore. And what difference would it make? She could snuggle up next to him and he would never know. Vladen had even told her to do it.
Jerden had lain with a thousand different women. What was one more? Lifting his arm out of the way, she crawled up beside him and laid her head on his shoulder, her own arm draped across his chest. She held her breath, waiting for him to stir, but he never moved. At last, she inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with his scent as her arms absorbed his warmth. The heartache she felt was fleeting this time, rapidly giving way to a deep, overriding sense of contentment and belonging.
None of these feelings made any sense to Sara, but as she drifted off to sleep, she knew one thing for certain. It wouldn’t last, and when Jerden awoke from his healing slumber, he wouldn’t remember any of it, nor would he wish to. He wanted nothing from her except Danuban, and if she were to sell the horse to him, he might never darken her door again.
In any event, she wouldn’t agree to the sale without the stipulation that she could still breed her mares to Danuban. Perhaps when he recovered from this illness of his, Jerden might even be more… friendly.
Yeah, right. And pigs might fly.
Chapter 5
Sara didn’t have time to appreciate the finer points of waking up next to a handsome man because she awoke to find the big black cat staring back at her with its huge yellow eyes. “I suppose you’re hungry. Guess I’d better feed you something before you decide to eat me, huh?”
She had no idea what Jerden had been feeding the leopard, but it must’ve been enough because, despite the fact that some of the local cattle breeders had reported calves being killed, Sara had never lost a single foal. It must not have bothered his collection of cats and dogs, either. Unfortunately, Sara didn’t have enough raw meat in the house to keep a cat that size happy for long.
Lynx had been delivering supplies to Jerden for some time now, so he would probably know what Jerden fed the big cat—that is, if she could get to her comlink to call him. After assuring herself that Jerden still had a pulse, she inched her way out from under the covers on the opposite side of the bed. Unfortunately, the cat was between her and the door. She reminded herself that the leopard hadn’t tried to attack her the night before, though it had growled at her.
Don’t act like a prey animal, Sara. The cat’s gaze never wavered as she drew herself up and walked purposefully around the end of the bed. “Just sit still. I’ll be right back.”
The leopard replied with a yawn, which Sara took as a good sign. She made it to the comlink unscathed, but it was Bonnie’s daughter, Ulla, who answered the call. “Mom and Dad are out working,” she reported. “I’m fixing breakfast for the little ones.”
Which was quite a job, seeing as how Bonnie and Lynx had seven children. At eleven, Shaulla was the eldest, with two younger sets of triplets, aged four and nine. “I’ve got a similar problem. Any idea what Jerden has been feeding his leopard?”
“Cat food,” Ulla replied promptly.
“Really? How many tons does it eat in a week?”
Ulla shrugged. “I don’t know, but he gives her a big bowl full of it at least once a day. I’ve seen him do it.”
“Wait a minute. You’ve seen him?”
“Yeah. He gives her fresh meat sometimes too.”
Sara scratched her head. Apparently Ulla had been over to Jerden’s place more than she would’ve thought. “Do you mean to say you’ve been visiting him? He doesn’t strike me as the type to want company.”
Ulla grinned, her Vessonian forehead ridges crinkling as she brushed back a lock of long, blond hair from her face. “I never said he knew I was there.”
“Ah. Sneaky little woman, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am,” Ulla said, laughing. “Can’t help it. It’s the Treslanti in me.” Her expression sobered. “I know I should’ve told Mom about the horse sooner, but I liked watching him ride it too much.”
“Well, I certainly can’t blame you for that. It’s pretty amazing.”
“Wish I could ride like he does,” Ulla said wistfully.
“You’re improving,” Sara said. “Speaking of which, I still haven’t gotten word on the Welsh ponies. Guess you’ll just have to keep taking your riding lessons on Akira. The way things are going, by the time those ponies get here, you’ll have outgrown them.”
Ulla nodded. “The older trips can still ride them, though. Brie and Jean are dying to have their own ponies. Trent’s more into speeders.”
“Typical boy,” Sara agreed.
“Who is that?” One of the younger girls climbed up beside Ulla and stuck her face right up against the viewscreen. A huge smile revealed her fangs as she waved excitedly. “Hi, Sara!”
“Hello, Karsyn,” Sara said, waving back. “Are you being a good girl?”
Karsyn made a face as Ulla tugged her ponytail. With her white-blond hair and Zetithian features, Karsyn looked like a cross between an elf and a Persian kitten. Folding her arms, she gave Sara a firm nod. “Yes, I’m good.”
“Oh, she’s good, all right.” Ulla snickered. “You should have seen her dance recital last night. She was the star of the show. Danced all over the stage. Of course, she wasn’t supposed to do that.”
“See my shoes?” Karsyn asked, holding up a ballet-slippered foot.
“Yes, and they’re quite lovely,” Sara replied.
“I’m a great dancer,” Karsyn confided. “Daddy says I’m the best Zetithian ballerina in the whole world!”
Ulla rolled her eyes. “More like the only Zetithian ballerina in the world.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Karsyn insisted. “I’m still the best.”
Ulla lifted Karsyn from the table and shooed her away. “You never did say why you’re feeding Jerden’s leopard.”
“No, I didn’t.” Sara gave Ulla a brief rundown of the events of the previous night. “Vladen says he’ll be okay, but I’m not convinced. Anyway, the leopard was with him, and now it’s sitting there next to the bed looking really hungry. I’ve never had to feed a carnivo
re of that size before, and I’ll admit I’m a little unnerved by it.” The leopard wasn’t the only reason she felt nervous, but Sara didn’t think it was a good idea to mention the part about having slept next to a naked Zetithian man, no matter how mature for her age Ulla might be.
“She’s very tame,” Ulla said. “I’ve never seen her chase his other pets, and she’s never come after me, either. Jerden calls her Cria.”
“Thanks. That helps a lot, though I may have to make a run over to his place to get more food. I doubt if I have enough here for more than a snack. I probably ought to feed the rest of his menagerie while I’m there.”
“I can do it,” Ulla offered. “I’ll go over there before my riding lesson. They, um, sort of know me.”
Sara chuckled. “Even when you aren’t invisible?”
“Even then,” Ulla replied. “Before he had the horse, Jerden went out running a lot. I’d watch him leave and then play with the dogs for a while. I don’t think he realizes it, but I also clean his house sometimes.”
“Does your mother know you’re doing that? She didn’t say a word to me about it. In fact, she said she should encourage you kids to pester him more.”
Ulla’s gaze faltered slightly. “Well… not exactly. I mean, she knows I’ve been over there some. She was kinda worried about him at first and said someone ought to check on him every day. Since I can disappear, I knew I could do it without him knowing. He’s always seemed okay to me, and I probably don’t need to go there anymore, but—well, maybe I do. You say he’s sick?”
Sara blew out a pent-up breath. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but he was definitely feverish and now he’s unconscious. Of course, you probably know all about how sick Zetithians behave.”
“Yeah. They just conk out for a while. It’s usually only for a couple of hours, but sometimes it’s a couple of days. You get used to it eventually.”
Sara wasn’t so sure about that. Going into a coma whenever you caught the flu seemed a bit excessive. Still, it had suffering through chills and fever while you were awake beaten hands down.
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