“Like what you see, lass?” Maverk asked Reya cheerfully.
Her expression didn’t change.
“I see you do.”
Reya simply looked away.
Silence settled again in the cabin, but Tenia refused to back down and continued to steadily meet Darvk’s eyes.
Darvk slowly unclenched his teeth, his posture easing slightly. “You’re right, we wouldn’t have found her without you.”
“You admit it?”
“I’m not above admitting my mistakes, Tenia.”
“What evidence do you have that we are innocent of the massacre?” Reya asked.
“Nothing certain,” he replied. “Just some discrepancies in the history and your father’s empty grave.”
Without blinking, Reya picked up the glass and took a sip of water.
“You don’t seem surprised.” Tenia’s eyebrows rose.
“I’m not. It was empty last year.”
“How do you know that?” Maverk asked curiously.
“I passed through our settlement and saw it.”
“Did you notice anything unusual about it?”
“No.”
Standing, Darvk crossed to the coffee table to retrieve the badge lying upon it. Returning to his seat at the table, he held it out to Reya.
She didn’t take it out of his palm. “Where did you get that?”
“When Tenia accidentally fell into the open grave, she uncovered it.”
Her eyes narrowed as she regarded the dragon badge.
“You recognize it?” Maverk leaned forward.
“I’d know it anywhere. It’s the insignia of Shari, head of the Inka Empire. Or, to be exact, his personal soldiers.”
“Personal soldiers?” The traders exchanged puzzled looks.
“They’re known as Shari’s Dragon soldiers. Burning truth of the dragon flame is their motto. They guard him day and night.”
“You seem to know a lot about him,” Maverk observed.
“Know your enemies, pretty boy.”
“What would the badge be doing in Father’s grave?” Tenia queried.
Standing, Reya rolled one shoulder gently. “Who knows why the mighty Inkas do anything? By the way, where’s my sword and dagger?”
Maverk grinned. “Now why should I give those back? You’d probably just love to run us through with them.”
“Maverk-” Tenia started to protest but Reya held up her hand.
Slipping her fingers into the top of her boot, she withdrew a second slim dagger. “If I wanted to kill you, pretty boy, I would have done so already. Where are my weapons?”
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you, lass? Any more hidden on that delectable body?”
“You’ll never know.”
“Hmmm.” His mouth quirked at the corner and devilment danced in his eyes. Standing up, he made a sweeping motion with his hand toward the door. “They’re in the cargo hold. Come, I’ll show you around the ship on the way.”
She looked at Tenia. “Coming?”
Catching Darvk’s eyes, Tenia sighed inwardly. Things weren’t finished between them. “Not just yet. I’ll join you soon.”
Reya glanced from him to her, then nodded and strode to the door.
Maverk followed her out, his appreciative eyes on the sway of her hips.
Sitting in silence, Tenia stared at her clasped hands on the table while she waited for Darvk to speak. When he didn’t, the silence stretching, she looked up to say something, only to have her lips captured in a soul-searing kiss while she was dragged up off the stool and against his muscled hardness.
His kiss was almost desperate, hard as he moulded his lips to hers.
Her heart hammered, senses swimming as she clung to him, her blood racing at the unexpected action of the man who held her captive in his arms. But she didn’t fight, instead melting against him as heat surged within her.
She’d only just recovered enough to start kissing him back when he lifted his head to say raggedly, “Don’t you ever do that to me again. I nearly died when I saw you fighting for your life. If anything happened to you, I’d never have forgiven myself.”
Astonished by both his passionate actions and the sincerity in his voice, she whispered, “I won’t apologize for seeking my sister out, but I had no idea it would upset you so much. Anger I expected but-”
You know how much I worry about you, how I feel…” Darvk stopped abruptly.
“Feel?” She stared up at him.
“Never mind. I’m just glad you’re safe.” Abruptly releasing her, he stepped back. “Are you hurt?”
Not quite knowing what to make of his mood changes, not knowing what to make of her own response, she shook her head. “I’m fine.”
“Good.” He hesitated, glanced around, retreated another step and stopped.
“Darvk?” She looked searchingly at him even as her cheeks heated.
“Aye?” Those vivid blue eyes locked onto hers.
“Why did you kiss me?” The words fell out unbidden, and she bit her lip. “I-I mean…”
“I was relieved. You’re like a sister to me.”
Her jaw dropped in astonishment. “You’d kiss your sister like that?”
“Nay. But you’re not my sister. If I had one.”
“It was a friendly gesture then?” Disappointment sluiced through her, along with a healthy dose of scepticism. Followed by embarrassment.
Oh no, what if he’d reacted, kissed her, and found he didn’t even like kissing her? Regretted his action? She actually cringed a little.
“Tenia…” Darvk stopped.
“It’s okay. I’m fine.” She held up a hand. “I um…I better go and find Reya.” Turning, she started for the door.
“Tenia, wait.”
“I’ll catch up with you later. I just need to make sure Maverk doesn’t push Reya into trying to lop off his head or something.” She managed a small laugh.
“Bugger it,” Darvk said.
She felt him move closer more than she heard him, his hand wrapping around her wrist. He used the momentum of her stride to swing her around and haul her up against his chest.
For several seconds she looked up at him, seeing the heat in his eyes, the desire that had put a tinge along the rugged cheekbones. He desired her, it was plain to see.
A small thrill shot through her, becoming just a little hotter as his head lowered.
He watched her intently, and she knew he was waiting for resistance, for protest, but instead she relished the heat of his big body, the way he was ready to release her at the slightest resistance.
She held still, welcoming the firmness of his lips when he finally kissed her. Marvelling at the softness, the silkiness, the dominant press of his lips as his tongue slid across the seam of her lips, coaxing her to open to him.
Blindly she obeyed, welcoming him in, his taste filling her - clean, male - sending her thoughts into a deliciously chaotic mess as his hands ran down her back to rest on the curves of her buttocks, angling her hips in against his burgeoning hardness.
Sliding her arms around his neck, she returned his kiss with awakening hunger. Desire flowed through her veins, rode a wave of surging need, and flowed through her blood to spread to every part of her body with hot, lazy, languid heat.
When their lips broke contact she stared up at him, seeing that he was similarly affected by the deep emotions flowing between them.
Silence filled the cabin, and as it lengthened, as he just kept looking down at her, she felt a prick of awkwardness. Intimacy with a man wasn’t something she had a lot of experience with, and she found that she didn’t know what to say, what to do - he certainly wasn’t giving her any indication of his next move.
When she shifted slightly, his arms dropped to his sides as he took several steps back, cool air filtering through to replace the heat of his big body.
She cleared her throat, glanced away. “I…um…I’d better go and find Reya.”
“Under the c
ircumstances, I think ‘tis a good idea.”
What did that mean?
Too cowardly to query it, Tenia fled the cabin for the safety of her sister’s presence.
As she searched for Reya, she couldn’t help but be troubled by her response to Darvk’s kisses. Why did she get a flutter in the pit of her stomach every time he touched her? He affected her in ways no man ever had before. Her blood felt overheated and concentrated in all the areas that had been pressed against the big trader. Even her buttocks felt unnaturally warm, almost as if he’d imprinted his hands onto them.
Pulse picking up and almost breathless, she shook her head. There was so much more at stake than her deepening feelings for him. The lives of her sister warriors must come first.
Had to.
Would do.
With a decisive nod and deep breath, Tenia shoved aside all thoughts and mixed feelings for the big Daamen captain and instead concentrated on finding her sister.
She found Reya in the control cabin. Leaning back in one of the chairs, she studied the passing clouds outside the porthole in the far wall. The ship was already moving, Maverk busily entering coordinates into the flight system.
“Where are we headed?” Reya asked him as Tenia entered.
“The ruins of the massacred settlement.”
“How long until we arrive?”
“One hour at our present speed.”
“Can’t we go any faster?”
“In a hurry for something, my sweet?”
“The sooner we discover the truth, pretty boy, the sooner we can go about our business.”
“Oh, of course.” He nodded solemnly.
Giving him a frigid look, Reya got up and took Tenia’s arm. “Let’s find somewhere private to talk.”
Maverk’s chuckle followed them out.
Silently the sisters returned to Tenia’s cabin.
Sitting on the bunk, Reya broke the silence first. “Where’ve you been the last few years?”
“I want to know the same.” Tenia gave her sister’s hand a squeeze.
“You first.”
Pulling the chair away from the small table, Tenia set it close to Reya and sat down, then proceeded to fill her in on everything that had happened since they’d last met. When she came to their uncle’s treachery, Reya’s jaw hardened. “We must pay him a little visit later.”
“I don’t want to see him again.”
“You won’t have to. I’ll gladly cut out his treacherous tongue.”
The cold, matter of fact way she spoke chilled Tenia, and she placed her hand on her sister’s arm. “Surely you wouldn’t?”
“I’ve done worse.”
“There is so much more at stake right now,” Tenia said quietly.
“I can wait for dear old uncle.”
Tenia studied her sister. “What have you been doing? The last time I saw you was when the soldiers captured you.”
“They’re both dead. They made the mistake of stopping to have a little fun with me.”
Tenia swallowed. “Did they…”
“No.” Reya drew the slim dagger from her boot. “I fixed the problem.”
In other words, she’d killed them. Tenia accepted it without question. “What happened after that?”
“I started back to our settlement, but when I finally arrived it was all over. I waited for nearly a week then I left, knowing you’d either been captured or escaped. I couldn’t find you, didn’t hear anything. Not long after, I guess about two months, Connie found me. She’d been a mercenary for a group in the Outlaw Sector of space and she had come in search of survivors.” Reya smiled slightly. “I always wondered what had happened to her. Seems that every opportunity she had, she’d slip back to our planet to search for us all.”
Tenia sighed wistfully. “Sounds like Connie, all right. So you went with her?”
The dagger turned idly between supple fingers. “Yes, I returned with her to the Outlaw Sector and became a mercenary. But like Connie, every chance I got I slipped back to search for survivors.” She looked at Tenia. “And here I am.”
“Here you are.” Reaching over, Tenia gave her sister’s hand a squeeze, which was returned affectionately.
“Here we both are.” Reya gestured to the porthole. “We could escape and go to the Outlaw Sector.”
“What about uncovering the truth? We could be free one day.”
“From what I have found out, the Inka Empire is behind the whole outlawing of Reeka warriors. We can find the truth out other ways, you know, we don’t need the Daamens.”
“Reya.” Tenia sighed.
“Why are these traders so eager to help us? What’s in it for them? They don’t do favours for nothing.”
“Darvk’s not like that.”
“Very well.” Reya sheathed the dagger in her boot. “Just be careful, that’s all I ask. Don’t let your emotions rule your head.”
“I won’t.” Relief that Reya had capitulated, at least for now, had Tenia relaxing. “Have you met all the crew?”
“Bloody giants, the lot of them.”
Tenia smiled wryly. “Unarmed combat is practically useless against them.”
“So I found,” Reya admitted, then her eyes gleamed. “Armed fighting is something else, hmm?”
“They’re not as proficient with weapons as with their fists, but they’re not fools, either.”
“Point taken. Do you mind if I use your shower? I only bathed in a stream last night and it was damned cold. I crave warm water.”
“Of course. There are clean clothes in the robe. Use whatever you need.”
Leaning back in the chair, Tenia stretched out her legs and crossed her ankles. The shower was turned on, her sister giving an unmistakable heartfelt sigh and murmured ‘hot water’, making Tenia smile. In some ways, Reya hadn’t changed.
They spent the remainder of the trip in Tenia’s cabin, Reya filling her in on the Reeka warriors who lived in the Outlaw Sector. She was heartened to hear that at least twenty were there when Reya had left.
They continued to talk until Darvk knocked on the door and announced that they had landed near the massacre site.
~ * ~
Dark clouds filled the sky, a chill breeze blowing around them as they knelt on the ridge of the valley. Below stood the ruins. It was a lonely, deserted place.
“Creepy atmosphere,” Aamun muttered as the breeze moaned around the ruins.
Aye, Dark agreed, but he was also acutely aware that this settlement had once thrived, the sounds of family, laughter, and children filling the air, love and passion and life playing out for those who had lived there.
And the Reekas had been named as the killers of those same people.
The warriors knelt motionlessly, eyes combing the ruins. Suddenly, without a word, they stood and started down the slope, the six traders following. Once at the bottom they parted in two different directions.
Watching the wenches, Darvk commented, “They have their movements worked out.”
“We’d better split up and follow them.” Maverk disappeared in the direction Reya had taken.
Rain was threatening, the smell of it heavy in the wind which started to blow harder.
Coming up behind Tenia, Darvk glanced at the heavy clouds. “I think we should go back to the ship and return later.”
“No.” Pulling aside a dragging cobweb, she peered into a dark ruin. “We search now while we have the chance.”
“It’ll still be here after, lass.”
“Anything can happen between now and after.” She flashed him an amused look over her shoulder. “You’re not going to let a little cold wind and a sprinkle of rain stop us, are you?”
He sighed. “All right, let’s continue.”
Red and Shamon groaned and rubbed their arms.
“Tenia, this weather is miserable!” Red protested.
“Don’t be such a babe. I’ve slept outside in weather colder than this.”
“You’ve slept in the rain?”
Shamon shivered.
“Let’s move to the next building.”
Darvk shook his head as she walked out. “I think it has bad memories for her, my friend.”
They continued searching the ruins, finally meeting Reya and the other traders in the middle of the settlement.
“Nothing,” Maverk said. “How about you?”
“Same,” Darvk answered.
Thunder rumbled and a lightning bolt tore through the sky, the wind picking up. Spots of icy rain hit them.
“We’ll head back now.” Darvk’s hand settled in the small of Tenia’s back. “No arguments this time.”
Reya raised her eyebrows at her sister, who shrugged.
“It’s only a bit of wind and rain.” Reya pointed out.
“A bit? It’s going to pour-”
“Hush!”
“What?”
“Listen.”
They stood still, but when no sounds were audible, Darvk frowned.
“I can’t hear anything.” Maverk was puzzled. “Only wind and thunder.”
Reya tilted her head to the side. “There’s a humming sound.” She swung around to look at her sister.
They spoke as one. “Soldiers.”
“Soldiers?” Shamon glanced around. “Where?”
Tenia grabbed Darvk’s hand. “They’re coming from the east.”
“Are you sure? I don’t see or hear anything. How do you know?”
“Trust me, I know. Now let’s move!”
They ran, sprinting out of the settlement.
As they began to run up the slope, Reya ordered, “Hurry, they’ll be here any minute.”
Everyone could now hear the distant humming that was growing swiftly louder, and it spurred them onwards.
As they reached the top of the valley, Tenia yelled, “Drop down!”
They all fell at once, rolling over onto their stomachs so they could peer over the edge to see two hover vehicles top the rise and descend into the valley to the settlement. Soldiers spilled out of the hover vehicles, running for the shelter of the ruins as rain started to fall.
Darvk pressed his mouth close to Tenia’s ear so he could be heard over the wind that was now buffeting them. “How many?”
“Each vehicle carries ten soldiers.”
Outlaw Page 15
