“I did it for…your brothers. They love you, you know.” She looked away, so he couldn’t see she lied about her reason for saving him. “I never had a family. Don’t know what it would feel like to have one, but if I had a brother or a sister, I know I couldn’t bear to watch their death. Just as I know, I couldn’t watch either one of your brothers suffer over yours. So, I did what I had to do…for them.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep, pretty much.” She looked around the small area to give the impression she wasn’t being deceitful. “So, where are we and how much time do we have to find Drakker?”
“Try latitude thirty-six degrees, eighteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Longitude, minus one hundred and eleven degrees, fifty minutes and two seconds.”
Her heart raced with excitement. He was trusting her. A hint of guilt for being so hard on him seeped into her heart. She’d make up for her nasty behavior by not letting him down. She focused on the coordinates and sent her mind there. “Wow, I’ve never seen such a place.”
“Do you see an open valley?”
“Yes, but the land is all a burnt-orange color, is that right?”
“Yes. Do you see the mesas?”
“Mesas?”
“Mountains with their peaks chopped off, or smashed like some giant stomped on them.”
“Yes. Two of them look like mittens! I can’t believe it. They’re rocks, but they look like mittens. A right and left hand. Hmm, here in front of me is a round wheel-looking rock…oh my God, this is incredible. It’s balanced at a sharp angle on a pointed pedestal that is also a rock. How did they do it?”
“They didn’t, Mother Nature did.” Logan moved closer to her. “Do you see Drakker anywhere there?”
“Ah…hummm. Oh. I see people near the balanced rock, but I don’t see Drakker.”
“Shit!”
“Give me a minute. I’ll walk among them until I find him.”
“Are there so few of them you can walk past them all?” He cussed under his breath. “I thought you’d at least hate me, if nothing else.”
“W-what?” Fay felt her vibes dance. She was tickled pink to know Logan was bothered by her ambivalence toward him. It meant he liked her even more than she’d thought, even if he wouldn’t admit it. “I can’t hate you for doing your job, Logan. There’s a young man here with the most beautiful red hair I’ve ever seen. It’s long and straight with golden highlights. It’s halfway down his back. Do you know anyone who has fine features with a prominent brow shadowing his eyes? He’s very handsome.”
Logan cleared his throat. Did that mean the last bit of information wasn’t helpful or that he didn’t want to hear it?
“If the man you see has a closely cut mustache and beard like Drakker’s…then yes, it’s Ortello.”
“He has a determined scowl and seems to be in charge. He’s worried about the rest.”
“Ortello’s Drakker’s head man. You should see Drakker around him somewhere.” There was a long pause before he spoke again. “Actually, I think I’d prefer it if you hated me over being indifferent.”
“Logan, I’m mind traveling here. I’m a little too busy to be debating my feelings or lack of feeling for you right now.”
“Far be it for me to interrupt you. Not like you’d care anyway, since you’re indifferent to me.” He sighed quite loud. “Both Arlo and Drakker tell me they have feelings for you.”
“Logan.” Silence filled the room. “I don’t see Drakker yet.”
“What’s Ortello doing?”
“He’s looking into an instrument of some kind. It’s a silver-copper box thingy.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Why?”
“He’s looking for warning rings. It means he’s expecting Drakker.” He paused for a moment. “I’m curious.” While his tone was blasé, it was obvious he was feeling insecure. “Why do you feel indifferent to me?”
“Logan.” Keeping him on uneven ground was just how she wanted him right now. Her aim was to give him a taste of his own medicine. Evidently, he didn’t care for the flavor too much because he was on a fishing expedition to get her to reveal her true feelings about him. “Aren’t you just a little more concerned about Drakker right now than how I feel about you?”
“Of course I’m concerned. I’m just making idle chitchat to keep the stress level down. Since you told me Ortello was looking through the warning rings viewer, it means he’s had no word of any danger. Otherwise he’d take different action. I’m thinking Drakker must have sent Ortello ahead of him. How many people are there? Can you listen in?”
“No one is talking. There’s about fifty men. No women, no children.”
“None? Shit. So are these guys scouting the area, like they’ve been sent ahead?”
“I’m picking up they’ve been there for a week. I’m registering thoughts of despair, death, and hopes that they’re wrong. Right now, they’re just sitting around. They seem to be waiting for something. They look unsure, like they don’t know what to do next. Oh wait, one of them just pointed at something.”
“What is it? Can you see?”
“Let me change my focus. Yes, it’s a large amount of people coming over the horizon.”
“Friend or foe?”
Her heart sped up on seeing Drakker’s tall, dark, and handsome form walking toward her. There was a cute little girl in his arms. “It’s Drakker! He’s all right. He’s leading your people. There are many women and children with him.”
“Thank, God.” Logan released a deep sigh.
Returning her focus, she looked at Logan. “Now all we have to do is join him.”
A young woman no more than twenty-two entered the room carrying a small serving tray. She flushed on seeing Logan’s half-clothed, well-built body. “Well…hello.” She flashed a coy smile setting Fay on amber alert. She sat up straight in spite of the pain in her left side.
Logan motioned for the woman to set the tray next to Fay, but she headed straight for him as though Fay wasn’t even in the room. Fay’s female radar shot up to code red.
“I brought your breakfast.” The young woman leaned forward, giving Logan a good view of her full breasts while setting the tray next to him. Still leaning over, she placed her hands on her knees and squeezed her arms together.
Fay’s blood now pumped with ire. It was obvious the woman was making sure her breasts looked invitingly plump for Logan.
Batting her lashes, she glanced from him to her breasts with a you’re welcome to look arch to her brow.
Logan shot his gaze from the young woman to Fay then fell back to girl’s breasts. The glance he took seemed to last an hour before he smirked and shot a glimpse her way. Fay tried to press a smile to her lips, but it never made it. She tried, but there was no way in hell she could stop her raised brow.
With a grin on his face, he looked away and winked at the young woman. An irritating heat crept its way up Fay’s neck. Jealousy prickled at her.
“Well, thank you.” His smile widened as he motioned to the breakfast tray. “That’s quite a sight for a hungry man like me.”
The young woman giggled, fanning her neck with her hand while alluding to a virginal innocence. She’d bet the girl was anything but. That hot little piece knew full well what she was doing, and she was more than experienced enough with wordplay, enough to catch the subtlety of Logan’s banter, just as Fay had.
“Well,” she cooed as she bent over farther to pick up and place his napkin on his lap, flattening it out with several long strokes up and down his thigh. “We can’t let the hunger of a great leader go unfed, now can we? I’ll be happy to be your dessert.” She giggled again.
Fay seriously thought about ripping the woman’s hair out, one greasy strand at a time.
The tart strategically pressed her hand to her cleavage, drawing Logan’s stare there once again and said, “I mean…I’ll be happy to bring your dessert.”
Despite her pain, Fay forced her achy bones up and wedg
ed herself between the girl and Logan. “No thanks. We don’t need any dessert.” She glared at the girl giving her what she hoped was a lethal smile. “Logan tends to put on the fat when he indulges in too many sweet things…if you know what I mean.” She spread her fingers out over her tummy to indicate an expanding belly.
“Oh,” the young woman exclaimed with a pout.
Fay bit back the urge to scream out the girl’s dismissal. Instead, she raised her hand and waved her away like a pesky fly. “You can go now.” The girl started toward the exit. When she turned back to add something, Fay cut her off. “No, we won’t be here for lunch.”
The girl left without another word, but not before she cast a regretful look to Logan. Fay made a painful twist around to scold him, but from the way his lips twitched, it was obvious he was fighting a very smug smile.
Chapter 11
“Thank you for doing this, Chandra.” Fay relaxed into Logan’s chest as her friend latched her harness straps to the gravity point between her thighs. Although the doctor said she and Arlo would be fine traveling by horse, after hearing all their options, they chose to travel by sandsail to reduce the risk of reopening their wounds. The two-person vehicles were toboggan-style conveyances with three wheels, two in the back and one in the front, with a large sail attached. Chandra claimed it was the perfect transportation for the wounded since the passenger could travel in a recumbent position. They could travel fast through forest using its stored solar power or across the vast desert with the strong winds to fill their sails.
Logan wanted to keep Arlo with him, but Chandra refused. The lighter weight of two women in one sandsail would give them so much speed, they’d leave the men with their much heavier weight in the dust. He had no choice but to agree. Privately, he told Fay he wasn’t comfortable with the idea. It meant he had to trust Chandra with his brother’s life. If at any point Logan should start to feel like he was being ambushed, he wouldn’t be free to make a run for it. Chandra would have Arlo as her hostage.
“No problem, sweetie.” She gave Fay a kiss on the cheek and hopped in behind Arlo. While Chandra prepared her sandsail, she instructed Logan on the simple operation of the craft. “So, the red button will release the sail. Once it does we’re out of here. When we get to where we’re going, you’ll want to press the button again. It’ll retract the sail, and you’ll slow down. For a complete stop, or emergency stop, use the hand break.” She pointed to double sticks on the right of the sandsail. “Right there. Got it?”
Logan gave a thumbs-up then said to Fay, “When I want to get things done fast, I’ll have to remember to get you jealous.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Somehow you managed to get results none of us could. We’ve been stuck here for what seems like forever. Every day we asked to leave and got rejected for one reason or another. Then your sweet violet eyes turn green with envy because of the attention I gave that young woman, and the next thing I know, we’re out of here.”
“I wasn’t jealous. And she wasn’t a woman. She was a girl.”
“She was a woman and very familiar with the ways of men.”
“She was a tart and tease.”
“Darlin’, I hate to inform you, but the little lady was no tease. She was as hungry as a mountain lion, and I was going to be her main course until you stepped in.”
“Really? Well, I’m sorry I interrupted.”
“No you aren’t.” Logan smirked. “You were jealous.”
“I was not!”
“Come on, admit it. You’re not as indifferent to me as you claim, are you?”
“What?” Fay groaned with her attempt to turn around to see his face, but found it impossible harnessed the way she was.
Chandra finished getting Arlo strapped in and shouted, “Are you two finished scraping?” She motioned for Logan to push the red button. “Let’s go!”
As he reached for his button, Chandra’s sail filled with wind, and off she flew across the dirt with them in her wake.
“I’ll have you know,” Fay hollered so he could hear her above the wind rushing past their ears, “I don’t care if the girl was flirting with you or not.”
“Really? Then why did you force your way between us and shoo her out? I think you like me. Might even adore me.”
“Abhor you, did you say? Yes, you might be right.”
“I said adore. And you do. You just don’t know it yet.”
“Adore?” Fay gave a dramatic gasp and stretching her arms up toward the heavens and then addressed God. “Please, if what he says is true…get me to a psychiatrist. I’ve gone mad.”
He laughed. “Mad with desire for me. That’s why you’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous! The damn girl had my breakfast on your tray. An-and while I really don’t care that she wanted to play peekaboo with you, she was holding my food hostage while you played boobie-gazer for an hour.”
He laughed again. “Your exaggeration of my two-second look tells me you were jealous. And I think it’s because you adore me.”
Fay lifted her head and let it fall back with force, smacking him in the center of his chest. He exhaled hard at her hit. He gasped, trying to catch his breath. “Are you crazy?”
“I don’t know, but I do know I’m not jealous,” she lied.
“I could have lost control of this damn thing.” He tapped her hard on the top of her head to make his point heard.
“Ouch,” Fay mumbled. “Like you almost lost control with that girl?”
“Lost control? Hardly.” Logan snorted. “I can’t even tell you what she looked like.”
“I’m sure you’d recognize her breasts. You got a good look at those.”
“Not really. I was too busy watching you with my peripheral vision to notice what was in front of me. I wouldn’t know the girl or her breasts if I passed her or them on the street. There was only one thing I was eyeing, and that was you.”
“Oh, God. You’re so full of it.”
“I think you find me irresistible, sexy, and adorable.” He emphasized the last three words with a firm tap on the top of her head.
She swatted at the air in hopes of hitting his hand to make him stop rapping at her brain. “It’s more than obvious, you need a psychiatrist even more than me.”
“Well, if you’re not jealous, why did you react the way you did?”
“Because…because I care about Drakker and Arlo. I wouldn’t want them to end up with a wife who’s a tart.”
“Oh. So a tart’s fine for me, but not for them?”
“I-I didn’t say that.”
“Yes, you did.” He sounded hurt. “And for your information, if we crash at this speed, we’ll both be dead. So don’t hit me with your head like that again.”
She’d squelched his talk about jealousy, but something about the victory wasn’t satisfying. She couldn’t deny he’d secretly become her hero the night he carried her to safety. Whenever she woke during that long ordeal, never once did she hear him complain. Never once did he ask someone else to hold her. Never once did he give up on her for his own safety.
The rest of the day passed in silence. As the wind subsided, they found refuge for the night by a stream. Chandra and Logan made camp while Arlo kept Fay company with small talk. Fay glanced around. “Where’d everybody go?”
“I heard Logan mutter something about bathing, and Chandra, I think, went off to keep watch. Is everything all right between you and Logan?” Arlo gave her hand a soft squeeze. “You seem withdrawn tonight.”
“No, I’m fine. I’ve just got a little pain.”
He dug in his pocket before holding out a handful of pills. “You can have one of my painkillers. I don’t use this stuff much. I’d rather suck it up and suffer.”
“Arlo?”
“Yeah.”
“I think I hurt Logan today.”
He frowned. “How?”
“I said something not so nice, but he kept saying I was jealous of the melon-breasted
tart who came offering herself up for his breakfast this morning.”
He smirked. “And were you?”
She tossed her shoulders back in defense. “Of course not!” Her shoulders slumped forward in confession. “Well, maybe a little, but it’s not because I like him…well, maybe I do but not like I like you.”
He smiled and her insides weakened. “Why do you struggle with saying you love me, let alone loving more than one man?”
“I don’t.”
“You do.” He pushed himself up to sit straighter and grimaced. “You went from liking me to loving me and back to thinking you just liked me when you realized you loved Drakker. Then you accepted you could love Drakker and me and loved me again. Now you’re trying to deny Logan the affection you feel for him because you already love Drakker and me.”
“Arlo, I—” She tossed her hands up in frustration. “Love and feelings just aren’t something I’m used to expressing. The world I come from…it’s a place that stifles such talk, such emotions.”
“I understand, but I think you’re letting your feelings for me and my brother affect your feelings for Logan.” He patted her leg. “As a woman in this world, you don’t have to make a commitment to loving one man. You can love all the men you’re lawfully married to. The depth of love you feel for one, shouldn’t affect what deep and abiding love you feel for the other brothers. What I mean is…you don’t have to love me less because you’ve discovered love with my brothers.”
“I don’t…well, I-I…”
“Don’t think you’re going to love each of us in the same way. You’ll love us in different degrees. Some days you’ll love Drakker more and on other days you’ll love us all the same. Then on another day, you’ll love me the most, only to think the same thing later in the day when you’re in Logan’s arms for the night.”
“I get the love thing, Arlo. What I don’t get is how do you make a three-way marriage work if the woman doesn’t like…love…all the brothers?”
“Are you telling me you don’t like Logan—at all?”
“Hey.” Logan walked up and took a seat beside them. “I won the toss. Chandra’s taking first watch up on the hill while the rest of us get some shut-eye. Are you two ready for some sleep?”
Sinful Surrender Page 21
