by Mills, Shae
Shan looked to his leg. He tensed his muscle, and a severe burn shot through his entire thigh. He relaxed. It was going to take time. His nerves were damaged, and not only did they need to regenerate, they needed to settle down. Getting his circulation going was going to be the best thing to speed the healing. He glanced back at her as she returned to his sleeping area.
Chelan laid out the furs, and when she was satisfied with them, she turned and looked at him. His azure eyes stared back. “What is it?” she asked.
“Would you prefer that I dressed?”
Chelan hesitated. “It is up to you, my … Shan.”
He smiled. “Yes, I suppose it is,” he said almost absently. He took a look around. “Do I even still have a uniform?”
Chelan sprang to her feet and disappeared briefly, returning to him with his neatly folded uniform.
Shan took it from her and looked it over carefully. His eyes widened. “You do fine work.”
Chelan smiled at him and watched as he folded it back up.
He looked back at her, his features mischievous. “It can wait, and in the meantime, you will just have to get used to my openness.”
Chelan smiled and nodded. She already knew she would have to.
Shan moved himself back to his bed, and Chelan followed him, presenting him with some meat and water. He took it from her and nodded. “Is this all you have had to eat over all this time?”
Chelan nodded. “It is enough.”
Shan stopped chewing. “I guess it would have to be.”
Chelan smiled at him and watched him until he had finished eating. Then he lay down, exhaustion overtaking him. Chelan immediately pulled the furs over him. He smiled at her and touched her cheek tenderly as she tucked it about him.
“You’re a very special woman, Kayla. I owe my life to you.”
Chelan smiled demurely and went to move back from him, but he touched her hand, causing her to falter.
His face became serious. “And you’re very beautiful.”
Chelan clutched at her tunic. “Thank you,” she whispered, and she retreated from him.
It was getting late, and he watched ruefully as she receded from him and returned to her bed. He sighed. He felt an unexpected wave of disappointment as she left him, but he was drained, and so he let her slip away. Almost immediately, he was asleep.
*****
Chelan awoke early and sat up. Shan was still asleep, and she needed to work out. She knew he would be exhausted from his activity yesterday, and so she felt confident that she would not disturb him. Her muscles were tight from all the tension that had plagued her since his awakening, and she needed to deal with it.
Silently, she slipped out of her tunic. She adjusted her two-piece sarong and moved to the far side of the pool. With fluid elegance, she began to take herself effortlessly through a series of stretches, her muscles appreciating every slow, delicious moment of extension. With every reach, she felt the strain of the past days releasing and equilibrium returning.
Shan had heard her stir, but he did not move. He opened his eyes and watched her as she trained. Suddenly, he was overcome with desire as he gorged his eyes on her supple and full femininity. He had always known that she was definitely a woman, even under the oversized tunic. But now he realized the garment had hidden a lot. More than he’d ever dreamed of.
Shan felt his throat dry as he continued to stare. The fine, soft leather hugged her curves tightly, barely concealing her ample breasts. Her firm nipples protruded sharply from the thin material, and Shan nearly lost his breath.
Her muscles were sleek and hard, yet she maintained an alluring softness. He watched as she continued to take her body through a sequence of sensual arches and Shan thought he was going to burst. He shut his eyes.
Chelan glanced over at him, relieved to see that he was still asleep. She was too self-conscious to do this in front of him, and she knew her times unobserved would be few and far between.
Shan opened his eyes once again, unable to resist feasting them upon her. She sat down facing him and spread her legs far apart. Then, in one supple, graceful move, she leaned forward, turning her head to the side, and Shan watched as her breasts kissed the floor.
He swallowed the growl that gathered in his throat. It was all too much to bear. Then he smiled to himself. He was definitely getting better; his erection concurred. He knew she was still working out, but he dared not look. He was already in too much discomfort. Suddenly, he was drawn back to reality by a soft splash, and he knew she had slipped into the pool.
His hands pulled the fur tightly over himself. “Oh, woman,” he moaned under his breath as he stared at the ceiling. But try as he might, he could not deny himself a peek at her picturesque beauty. Finally, he propped himself up and looked directly her.
Chelan came to the surface and glanced over at him. She moved to the edge of the pool and smiled. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” he returned dreamily.
Chelan thought very carefully about her next offer, but she decided that he was not a threat. “Coming in?” she invited.
Shan moaned and then fell back into the fur, his smile strained. “No. Not right now, Kayla. Not right now.”
Chelan was instantly consumed by alarm. “Are you all right?”
Shan threw an arm over his head. “I’m fine, Kayla. Just fine.” And he closed his eyes.
Chelan feared for his leg. She pushed out of the pool and grabbed her tunic. Not even bothering to put it on, she held it protectively in front of her as she darted to him, her body and hair dripping as she knelt by him. She reached out and touched his cheek, feeling for a fever. Shan’s eyes opened wide to her touch.
Immediately, he looked up at the ceiling and smiled. “I assure you that I am well, Kayla.”
Chelan eyed him suspiciously. “And your leg?”
Shan began to chuckle. “It’s fine, too, and I don’t suggest that you check it.”
Chelan glanced over the fur and she immediately turned red, but she was too flustered to move.
Shan looked at her and nodded. “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I never act on my impulses. It’s just that it is going to take me awhile to respond professionally to your workouts.”
Chelan took several deep breaths as she clutched her tunic tightly to her breasts. “I’m sorry.”
Shan shook his head. “I’m not, nor should you be. I guess I’m just not very good with control in my weakened state.” He chuckled.
Chelan finally smiled, but then she stood and began backing away from him.
Shan tracked her movements and, when she crouched by her clothing, shut his eyes.
Chelan took advantage of his obvious invitation for her to dress in peace, and she slipped quickly into her tunic and bound it with a tie.
Shan waited an appropriate length of time and then turned to her. He patted the fur next to him. “Come on. Sit down. I assure you that I have recovered.” He watched her approach him cautiously. He smiled inwardly, knowing full well that he had far from recovered, and he doubted he ever would.
Chelan eyed him warily as she sat beside him, and then she berated herself. He was Iceanean, and he was not Ticees. It was simple. She was safe. She looked deeply into his warm azure eyes. “At some time today … later … I should look at your leg.”
Shan smiled and nodded. “Any time.”
Chelan bit her cheek. “You’re sure?”
Shan nodded. “I’m sure.”
Chelan exposed his thigh, being very careful not to expose anything else. She looked over his wound closely and then touched his flesh. He flinched at her pressure, and she withdrew her hand. “You’re going to have to get up and walk soon. You have to get your blood flowing to clear out some of the bruising. There was so much damage to the muscles that I think a lot of the pain you are feeling is tightening scar tissue. The walking will speed the healing.”
Shan grinned, a deep rumble emanating form his chest as he rose up into a sitting position. “
Get my blood flowing, hey?”
Chelan squinted at him slyly. “Yes, by walking, and to your leg. No more sitting in on my exercises.”
Shan looked at her, utterly bemused. “Okay. I concede. I’ll walk.”
Chelan smiled back at him. “Can I help?”
Shan shook his head. “I’ll try on my own first. I’m too heavy for you.”
Chelan stood back and watched as he bent his left leg up while keeping his right leg straight. Then he performed a flawlessly executed one-leg squat. Once standing, his furs fell away, but Chelan did not care. She was too concerned about him.
Shan winced as he took a hop to the wall for support and Chelan could tell he was in pain. Her eyes were wide as she moved to him, but he shook his head at her, and she was forced to retreat and watch him helplessly.
Shan felt the blood run down into his torn and tender tissues, stretching his flesh mercilessly. He called on his Imperial training, stilling his heart and reducing his blood pressure. Then he closed his eyes and willed away the pain as much as he could. He took several deep, slow breaths, gradually putting weight on the leg, increasing the force until his weight was equally distributed. Then, incrementally, he began allowing his cardiovascular system to return to normal. His heart pounded, and the blood surged through his arteries, his tissues protesting. But he persevered until fatigue began to sap his reserves. Carefully, he lowered himself back down. Once seated, he immediately lay back on the barren floor and let his head tip back.
Chelan began to quake, and she raised her hands to her mouth as her eyes watered. She saw the perspiration on his body, and she ran to him. “It’s too early,” she breathed.
“No,” he exhaled. “The longer I wait, the stiffer and the more deconditioned I become.” He looked at her. “I knew it would do this. The other day in the pool I had to keep the thigh elevated. In addition to the tearing and the infection, whatever happened to cause all the damage also compressed a large area. Crush injuries just take time.”
Chelan looked down and found that she was automatically stroking his powerful chest in an attempt to soothe him. “From now on,” she began, “we do this in the pool. That way we don’t have to worry about future injuries in case you fall, and the water can provide the support that I cannot.”
Shan was finally catching his breath. “Good idea.”
Chelan jumped to her feet. She returned to him quickly and began swabbing down his salty body. But this time she did not stop at his waist, and she slid the soft pelt over his powerful legs and between them. When she was finished, she moved over and straightened the furs on his bed and patted it. “Over here,” she ordered. “I’ll get you some food and water.”
Shan watched her as she retrieved the water and a large quantity of meat. He moved to the bed as she returned to him, sitting beside him and joining him in the late morning breakfast. With his pain abated, he could barely take his eyes off her.
Chelan in turn was also having a hard time keeping her eyes off him. She had been so terribly lonely, and now that things were stable between them, she felt long-lost happiness once again welling up from her soul.
Finally she nodded to his leg. “I wonder if there is some nerve damage somewhere. Your femoral artery was severed. Maybe the lack of blood—”
“There is definitely nerve damage, especially from the crush. But the damage is not the result of the severed artery, unless both arteries were cut and I lost circulation for an extended time?”
Chelan tried not to betray her surprise. They had two femoral arteries? If that was true, then that was one of the reasons he had not bled out. “No, no, only one was damaged. I was just speculating.”
Shan nodded. “So, tell me, how did you get here?” he asked without preamble.
Chelan hesitated. “By accident,” she stated.
Shan continued to eat. “What kind of accident?”
Chelan looked to the floor. “It’s not something that I like to think about,” she uttered honestly. She glanced at him half, expecting a barrage of questions, but she seemed spared.
Chelan had her story pretty well worked out, but she knew that if he was in the Imperial service he was far from stupid. If she talked too much he would eventually find a flaw in her tale, and she could not allow that. Finally, she looked back up at him. “How did you get here?” she returned.
Shan laughed heartily. “By accident.”
Chelan laughed with him. “So I saw.”
Shan became serious. “Actually, I was on a fairly routine patrol, scanning the Dead Zone just before a storm. We encountered some enemy craft and, quite honestly, I’m not sure what happened. I know I was shot, but there had to be more to it. The ship should not have gone down.”
Chelan watched him eat as her heart took a telltale twist. “I’m glad it did,” she said, and she looked away quickly.
Shan stared at her. Slowly, a smile crept across his lips, and he swallowed his food. “I’m glad, too,” he whispered, and he watched with delight as she blushed.
Chelan took several deep breaths, avoiding his brilliant eyes. She decided to play ignorant in an effort to quell her raging curiosity. “You serve the Emperor?”
Shan simply nodded. “Ultimately,” he began. “Actually, I’m under the direct command of one of the Warlords, Toran.”
Chelan tried to keep eating as if she was unaffected by the familiar names and faces. “One of the Warlords,” she repeated. “How many are there?”
Shan selected another piece of meat and straightened himself slightly. “Many thousands, but there are only three Primary. And Toran is one of them.”
Chelan took a sip of water, wondering if she dared to ask more. “Are they great men?”
“The greatest,” he commented. He paused. “Just as great as the Lord God Emperor, in my estimation.”
Chelan smiled. “Have you met him?”
“Him, who?”
“Him, the Emperor,” she replied, chuckling.
“Uh huh, once,” he returned smiling.
“Was it exciting?”
Shan laughed and tugged at her hair playfully. “Why? Do you want to meet him?”
Chelan felt a cold spear lance down her spine, but she recovered instantly. She shrugged coyly. “Oh, you never know.”
Suddenly, Shan stopped eating and looked deep into her brown eyes. “Actually, he’d probably fancy you, Kayla. You are of his coloring.”
Chelan found herself suppressing a shudder. Then she sought to distract herself from dire thoughts of her ordeal. “My coloring,” she repeated. “The coloring of the Southern people?”
Shan put his meat down. “Is that where you are from?”
Chelan looked at him intently. “Where else would I be from?”
“I guess only you know that for sure. But I was unaware that the people of the South produced such demure beauties as you.”
Chelan looked down. “Well, they do,” she commented solemnly, “but we are not exactly prized.”
Shan suddenly stiffened and went to question her, but she interrupted him.
“So, tell me of the Emperor.”
Shan took in a deep breath, not sure he wanted to leave her comment alone, but obviously she wanted it left. “Well, actually, Ticees is an off-worlder, so he does not have our Northern features.” Shan looked at her carefully. “But most people know that, even the people of the South. They are our enemies. They know us and the Emperor intimately. How is it that you do not?”
Chelan stopped eating. “I was not afforded the opportunity of vast amounts of education, and in turn, I did not ask questions. But he does sound interesting.”
Shan bit off another piece of meat. He has bursting with questions, but he was afraid of scaring her back into her shell. He stared at her intently. “Yes, I suppose he does,” he commented almost absently.
Chelan realized he had as many questions about her as she had of him, but she dared not get too bold. She had already edged out on thin ice by identifying herself as
a Southerner, a group of people she actually knew little about. And she was well aware that she would be obligated to answer his questions if he answered hers, so she summoned all her restraint and kept quiet.
Shan continued to watch her, her words troubling him. The words “not prized” and “not afforded an education” bothered him. Shan frowned. Was she considered inferior by the people of the South because of her small size or light hair? She would be considered weak by his people because of their rigorous breeding standards, but the people of the South had no such criteria as far as Shan knew. But what irked him more was the fact was that they treated her as an outcast. If she had been born to the people of the North, she would have been accepted, even if not allowed to reproduce. But if he was interpreting her correctly, she had been shunned totally by her people.
She suddenly stood, startling him from his thoughts. He watched her intently as she moved to the pool to clean her hands. “No more questions?” he asked.
Chelan turned and smiled at him. “No, I guess not. The Empire doesn’t really affect me out here.”
She watched him as he lay back on the furs. If he only knew how the Empire had affected her so far. His presence in her life comparatively was far from significant, but he would never know that, and Chelan smiled wryly. He would come and go from her life like all the others before him. As always, it was just a matter of time before she would be alone again.
Chapter 23
The days turned into weeks, and the two captives spent their time in peaceful coexistence. Chelan continued to help Shan with his recovery and to entertain him with her light conversation and good humor. He never spoke specifically of the Empire again, and Chelan was afraid to ask about it, but he in turn never pressed her about her past, and no problems arose.
With each day he grew stronger, and he had finally begun to walk stiffly on his injured leg. Chelan was ecstatic that the limb functioned at all, and with time, she knew that Shan would be able to resume nearly a full range of motion.
Shan was also pleased with his leg’s progress, and he was even happier about the leisure time he was able to spend with Kayla. His only source of frustration was his inability to break through the young woman’s defenses and her inherent shyness. Deep down he felt she was hiding something from him, but he had no reason to question her. So he respected her privacy and talked only about things that seemed to interest her.
