Hearts of Ishira (Hearts of Ishira Saga)

by Bethany Aan

  “Then… why?” Arianna asked, her voice small and confused. She was so lost. This was not how she’d envisioned this conversation.

  Jace rolled his eyes, came around the counter, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her until her head swam and her toes curled around the rung of the stool.

  “That’s why,” he whispered, his lips against hers. “Because no woman, in over fifty-seven years, has made me this hot, this hard, or intrigued me as much as you.”

  Before she could answer, Hunter spun her stool around and followed suit, scooping her up into his arms and kissing her until she could no longer hold her head up. When he was done, he rested his forehead against hers. With her defenses down, he was finally able to feel her turmoil, see how much she’d put herself through that day, dreading this confrontation, and how much she already cared about them both.

  “Because, little warrior, you are,” he breathed, holding her close, “The most incredible soul I’ve ever known, and I think it will take an entire lifetime to know and understand everything you are.”

  He set her back on the stool, moved to take the meat off the grill, and started dishing up their dinner. “Now let’s eat.”

  In his mind, and in Jace’s, that was the end of it. But Ri worried long into the night, keeping her thoughts from Hunter, thinking about everything they’d said.

  What was she going to do, when they found out just how broken she really was?

  The shock of the group memory had an unexpected effect: the women who had been more reticent about mingling with the men were suddenly much less afraid of their alien rescuers. They had experienced just how tender and worried the men could be. Even though the girls had been, once again, completely vulnerable during those moments, the men were far more concerned with their welfare than taking advantage of them. The warriors had attended to them in teams again, as they seemed to do everything. As before, they had been respectful and gentle, helping the women through the ordeal, then letting the girls tell their tales.

  The warriors that had already bonded a bit with ‘their’ women had immediately sought out that girl to tend to her. Affections were growing between the groups of men and the women they had become friends with, and after seeing how sweet the men were with those girls, the shyer Earthlings had finally realized that the Thorsani did not intend to mistreat them any time soon.

  So now those remaining women that had mostly been hanging around the edges of the courtyard and showing a bit of interest but not talking to the men, were venturing out more eagerly, seeking out the warriors that had tended them and finally engaging them in conversation. Everyone was trying to understand one another, but it helped the process along that they were actually communicating now. The women who’d already been working toward creating friendships had ended up deepening those bonds. Most of the women now had functioning translators, which was wonderful.

  The men were thrilled by this. At long last, the more reticent women were getting there.

  Arianna watched it all from the balcony or heard from Hunter and Jace throughout the following day. At complete odds with her thoughts of keeping her distance from them, she was still a bit perturbed that they’d both worked so hard to turn her on before and after her bath, then had pulled back, claiming that they didn’t wish to hurt her.

  Hurt her? They were killing her! Jace was a doctor, for Pete’s sake! He should know the physical dangers for a woman with too much pent-up sexual frustration. She wasn’t sure what those dangers might be, but being left in this constant state of unfulfilled arousal couldn’t possibly be healthy for her.

  She had practically snarled at Jace this morning when he’d kissed her awake so sweetly and then insisted that he help her get ready for the day. He took his time inspecting her ribs and making ‘absolutely certain’ that she was okay. His hands and mouth did most of the work. As a result, she was now restless, hot, and so ready to have him –either of them, really-inside her, she was practically crying with frustration.

  Fortunately, just when she was about to go find one of them and see about seducing them, bum leg or no, Hunter showed up with a bolt of cloth in one arm and what appeared to be a small tool box in the other. Welcoming any distraction from the wicked thoughts that had plagued her all morning, Arianna forced her libido to the time-out corner of her mind and asked him what was in the box.

  With a grin of anticipation, he dropped the bolt of cloth on the low table in the sitting area and beckoned her closer. She sat forward as he knelt and opened the box. She gasped in delight. It was a sewing box! Aside from a sewing machine, it seemed to have everything she might need for sewing just about anything. She gazed longingly at the bolt of material, waiting for him to give her a clue of what he expected her to do with it all. Sewing new clothes would be the perfect distraction, something that could keep her occupied for hours and hours.

  “I thought you and the women might wish to make your own clothing,” he suggested softly, then wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Not that I wish you to cover up those glorious curves of yours,” he added hastily, chuckling when she blushed, “But having you and your ladies running around in the short medical gowns and borrowed tunics is creating a problem with the men.”

  Arianna couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up at the thought of the big, strong, stoic warriors being brought to their knees by the tiny, young Earth women. Hunter gave her an arch look.

  “You find this funny?” he asked, though he knew the answer. She nodded and chuckled.

  “Your men are so big, brawny, and sexy,” she informed him. “It’s just hard to imagine that my sweet little girls are causing them problems of any kind.”

  “Only some of your little girls are sweet,” Hunter muttered, “But they are all wreaking havoc, now that they are able to mingle with the men and flirt. We must figure out how to clothe them, and quickly, before someone gets hurt.”

  Arianna sobered instantly, stiffening.

  “Are you saying that my women might be in danger of assault from your men?” she asked icily. Hunter stared at her, bewildered until he sensed what she was saying. Then he flushed in anger.

  “My men would never do such a heinous thing!” he assured her in a low, intense voice. “The penalty for such a crime is death, with the offending body part being removed first. Without anesthesia.”

  Arianna felt his fervent abhorrence of rape and knew that he was serious. Reassured, she relaxed and sat back.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, meaning it. “It’s just that, on Earth, a lot of cultures still blame the woman if she is raped.”

  “Rape only happens when a man is very sick in the head,” Hunter growled. “We do not allow such men to be out in the general population. When such crimes occur, punishment is swift and public, and the executioners are the woman’s protectors or family. Believe me when I tell you that no council or jailer could possibly inflict more pain on such men, as those who love the woman that has been so basely violated.”

  “I like that,” Arianna told him intently. She shuddered at the memory of her own experience, but tamped it down, not wanting Hunter to pick up on it. The last thing she wanted was his pity. There were certain things in her past that she did not wish to discuss with anyone, ever, and that was one of them. Recovery had taken several years, but she had moved on, and she didn’t feel the need to disclose the experience now. She felt his concern and his mental probing, but she blocked him with the little bit of wall she’d learned to build in her head yesterday. He was frustrated at her tactics, but he respected her too much to force the issue.

  “Do you know how to sew clothing?” he asked after a long moment. She nodded, welcoming the change of subject.

  “I do, sort of. I make garb for medieval re-enactments, but not regular day-to-day clothes. But I guess fashion really doesn’t matter now. Whatever we can make, we’ll make. I’m sure some of the others know how to sew, as well,” she told him. “But if not, it’s high time they learned.”

  He agreed who
le-heartedly, and when he would have settled in with her on the balcony for the afternoon, she insisted that he take her down to the main hall and gather the women for an impromptu sewing lesson. Hunter wasn’t sure that was wise, since Amy had been making additional threats when she thought none of his men were around to understand. But he knew that he could not keep Arianna to himself forever. She needed to get out and socialize with her ladies. He supposed that he should actually send her back to the dormitory, rather than keep her in his quarters, but he couldn’t help but feel that she was much safer here. His Reader senses nagged at him whenever he thought of her with the other girls, and he knew where to lay the blame for that. He would just have to watch Amy more closely when she was near Ri.

  Besides, he just wanted to be near his little warrior, to learn more about her, to be there when she smiled to herself over whatever was running through her mind at the moment. For now, he had the afternoon free and though this wasn’t the plan he’d originally concocted, he was determined to accompany her if she insisted on creating this sewing day with her girls. She was eager for it, and his little Arianna was proving to be sweetly insistent when she wanted to be. She was so adorable when she was happy, how could he deny her?

  Within an hour, he had her set up at a long table in the main hall, with the other girls summoned to attend the sewing bee, as Ri was calling it. And where the girls went, the men not on duty followed. At first Hunter sighed in amused exasperation, but he realized quickly that it might be helpful to have the men there, since all of them knew how to sew their own clothing and could help those of the girls who had never done so.

  It turned out that several of the girls did know the basics of sewing, enough to at least join two pieces of cloth. That was all Arianna needed to get them started. For the first garment, she taught them how to make a simple gown with only three cuts and three seams to sew. She helped them measure and cut, but they would have to sew the garments themselves. She could not possibly do that much hand sewing and it would take forever if she tried.

  Much to her surprise, though, the men took up the task of helping out. Breaking off into their teams, the men took aside the women they planned to woo and helped them with the task, which turned out to be much more fun for them all than if it had just been Arianna and the girls. The women, not used to men who were familiar with such domestic tasks, were teasing at first, but the men got even when it came time for measuring the ladies. The suddenly playful warriors made sure that very thorough measurements were taken for the women, sometimes checking the bust and hip areas several times, just to be sure they got all of the numbers right. More than one got his hand slapped or his head smacked when he got a little too frisky for the girls’ comfort, but they all grinned and took the abuse. Why not? The slaps didn’t really hurt, and they’d still managed to cop feels. Win/win for the guys. And Arianna sensed that none of the girls truly objected, though many of them were shy about reacting to multiple men touching them at once, worried about what their peers would think. She certainly understood that!

  That particular issue had her frowning. She should probably talk to them about it at some point. But should she bring it up, or should she let them bring it up?

  Arianna and Hunter grinned at the antics of the love-struck men and the shy but equally interested women. Ri didn’t know when Hunter’s arm came to be around her shoulders, but she found herself sighing happily and relaxing against him as she finished the first side seam of her own dress. He was watching the hall, keeping an eye on Amy’s corner. Fortunately, Amy was keeping to her side of the room, laughing breezily with her small bevy of friends. It was also the only corner where no men attended the women, which was troubling. Shaking himself from his thoughts, Hunter looked down at his little commander.

  “You do not need help measuring yourself?” he asked her softly after a moment. She chuckled and shook her head, picking up the image in his mind of how he would take the measurements. She gave him a sardonic look. Some of those couldn’t possibly matter for the garments she was making. And wouldn’t that one get the measuring string all wet?

  He grinned down at her, his eyes dancing, as he shot back an image of the thick, knotted string becoming a bit soggy as he drew it slowly through her moist cleft. She shivered and decided that underwear was definitely going on the ‘to do’ list! She shot him the image of old-fashioned bloomers covering her fanny. He sent her back an image of a long slit in those bloomers, his face buried in the opening, and her head lolling back as her body arched with his loving. Ri couldn’t stop a little squeak of delight as her body clenched at the thought of him doing that. He grinned hugely, his eyes hot on her flushed face.

  She ceased the mental foreplay, realizing that he had a retort for every one of hers. She was already wet and aching, and he hadn’t even touched her in an intimate way today. Well, that had certainly backfired on her. Shooting him a faintly irritated glance to which he responded with an irritatingly triumphant chuckle, she answered his question.

  “I know how big to make these clothes for myself,” she informed him. “I’ve been doing it for years without help. I could probably do it in a dark room, just by feel.”

  She chuckled ruefully, but Hunter picked up on the sadness that accompanied her statement. He was concerned that she seemed to have been so alone for so long, but he chose not to say anything about it. There was pain lurking beneath her loneliness, pain that she was not ready to talk about. He wanted to know, wanted to help her, and most of all, he wanted to banish her need for the mental walls she’d been erecting against him. He wanted nothing between them, but she seemed determined to erect them, anyway. He sensed that she hadn’t been nearly as reassured by their talk the night before as he and Jace had originally thought, but now was not the time to discuss it.

  She finished with the side seams of the under-gown and set it aside. For a few minutes, she showed the girls how to cut out the pieces of something like the apron dress that Vikings of long ago on Earth had worn. It was one of the things she’d learned to sew well, since she had enjoyed visiting living history sites and festivals with Norse fiber activities. The group got to work on that.

  Because she was so short, she was able to make her clothing from the width of the cloth Hunter had given her, instead of from the length, which saved fabric. She thought longingly of using the rest of the bolt to make matching tunics for Hunter and Jace. The mental image warmed her heart… and Hunter’s. His hand tightened on her shoulder and he nuzzled her neck as he whispered, “I would wear it with honor, little warrior.”

  It took her a short time to pin the apron together so she could try them both on, but she was confident that it would be fine.

  Hunter was highly amused when she put on the chemise and found it to be way too big. She stared down at herself, confused. How much weight had she lost, and when? She’d only been awake for a little less than a week. Their diet was incredibly healthy, but there was no way she could have lost that much weight that quickly. And she was still overweight according to American standards, but obviously, she’d lost inches at some point. She wondered what she looked like now.

  “I don’t get it,” she muttered, trying to figure out how much she’d have to take off each piece to make the dress fit correctly. She wasn’t a math whiz, so the effort made her brain hurt a bit. Hunter distracted her with his gentle mocking.

  “Perhaps you needed assistance with measuring, after all?” he asked innocently, dangling the measuring string off one finger and giving her such a sexy ‘come here, this is gonna be fun’ look that she nearly melted. Instead, she threw a scrap of the material at his head. He chuckled at her, his eyes heating and his grin growing decidedly naughty as he stood her up then moved in front of her.

  She gazed up at him, her pulse rapidly increasing as he stepped closer to her, so close that she could see the flecks of blue in his green eyes. He wrapped those long arms of his around her, the measuring string snug at her back, and then very slowly brought both end
s of the string around her bust, making sure to brush his hands along her ribs, the sides of her full breasts, and everywhere else he could manage. Her breath shivered in on a gasp when the backs of his knuckles grazed her nipples, bringing them to a hard, throbbing peak in an instant. That same breath shivered out again when he ‘accidentally’ dropped the string and had to start all over.

  Twice.

  She was flustered and even more sexually frustrated by the time he was confident that he had the right measurements for her, so much so that she couldn’t even begin to wrap her brain around the math for shrinking the pattern. She wasn’t that good at those kinds of math skills to being with. Being this loopy only made it worse. But Hunter was a very clever man, and he happily figured it out for her. She was a bit embarrassed that he’d had to take over that part, but he took it in stride, not thinking less of her, especially since he’d been trying to muddle her brain. She stuck her tongue out at him for that. He laughed.

  As she arranged the fabric for cutting down, Hunter watched her. He loved her playfulness, her shy flirtation. He loved watching her work. He wondered if she knew how capable she appeared when she was doing something she enjoyed. The woman had a bit of a self-confidence problem, but he found that endearing, considering how smart and talented she actually was. The fact that she had no clue how amazing she was constantly tugged at his heart.

  She looked up at him from under her bangs, grinning.

  “Okay, I think we’re ready to make this happen,” she told him. His smile was slow but erotic and she realized with a blush that he could have taken that two ways. She laughed up at him, her smile wide and enchanting. “You know what I mean! Now come on… I’d like to get this done today.”

  He then helped her trim the fabric on both garments so that they would fit better. After pinning and trying the chemise and over-gown on once more for fit, they both sat and sewed for a time in silence, enjoying the day, the sun and breeze coming in through the tall, arched windows, and the companionship of their people. The men and women chatted together, laughed as the warriors told stories about one another, and the two races shared information, jokes, and anything else that came up. At one point, shortly after the sewing started in earnest, one of the warriors brought out a stringed instrument and started playing soothing, gentle music in the background. It was, all in all, a lovely interlude.