May seemed to think that over. “I’d love a warm blanket and a cup of hot chocolate.”
Oh my god! She was delirious!
She chuckled at the look on Lori’s face. “Just wishful thinking. I’m not out of my head.”
Lori smiled weakly. “At least you still have your sense of humor,” she managed. “I’d be worried otherwise.” She patted May’s shoulder and felt the heat. “I’m going to see if I can find something to make you more comfortable, ok?”
“Good luck on that,” May said dryly.
She met up with the Hirachi who’d attended May’s foot and left to hunt supplies. “I’m sorry. I don’t know your name.”
He looked distracted and irritated that she’d held him up. “Boruc.”
“Is there anything I can do to help? She’s got fever and chills.”
“Fine some ting to put on ground and cover.”
Easier said than done, Lori thought, looking around in dismay. They didn’t have a damned thing!
The ground was cold, though. She’d noticed that and she didn’t have a fever so anything to put between her and the ground had to be some improvement. She found some plants with very large leaves that were somewhat similar, she thought, to banana leaves. When she’d stripped off an armload, she headed back with them and started laying them out like a pallet.
Boruc, she saw, had used something to open the cut and was cleaning it with water that was clouded with something he’d added.
Hopefully some kind of antiseptic.
She could almost hear May grinding her teeth to keep from crying out.
Poor thing!
Deciding she needed some kind of padding, she left again and gathered up some dried grasses. She piled the grasses beside May and moved the large leaves to cover them since they were smooth and she thought they might be more comfortable. Then she left against to look for something she could cover May with. When she got back May had moved to the pad she’d formed on the ground and, thankfully, looked a bit more comfortable. “Sorry! This will make a weird blanket, but I think if I could just block the air a bit it’ll help.”
Boruc settled beside May and pulled her close. “Yes. Pile dat on top.”
Relieved, Lori joked about the shared warmth. “Almost like having an electric blanket.”
May smiled with obvious effort and Lori felt her uneasiness threaten to swamp her. She piled the big leaves over the pair and then the dried grasses and patted it down as she examined the covering for gaps.
When she’d done all she could think to do, she settled next to Jill near the fire and tried not to cry.
“She’s really sick?”
Lori shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m afraid she might be. I always thought I was lucky that I was never around sick people, you know? Never sick myself beyond a cold now and then and nobody close—friends or family—that got sick. Now I’m sorry I never really learned anything about it.”
“I’m thinking we’re all going to be sorry for a lot of things,” Jill responded unhappily.
Lori was, too. Mostly, though, she couldn’t think past trying to figure out what she could do for May.
She was so glad to see Jarek and Fayn come out of the woods later she wanted to run to them and fling herself at them.
Instead, she greeted them with anger when they reached her.
“Why didn’t you tell me May was sick?”
Consternation and then anger tightened Jarek’s handsome features when he’d whipped a look toward May and then returned his attention to Lori. Instead of responding, he turned and stalked off angrily.
Lori transferred her anger to Fayn, but he was of no mind to take a blast of temper. “We no know,” he said tightly. “Cannot say what no know.”
Dismay flickered through Lori, but she wasn’t convinced they hadn’t known and deliberately kept it from her.
Jill cleared her throat. “That wasn’t … good.”
Lori glared at her, but she was fighting tears by that time, regret that she’d made a judgment without evidence or even asking, that she’d snapped at them. She managed to get her emotions under control. “I shouldn’t have ….”
Jill frowned, but thoughtfully. “It’s easier to blame someone than accept helplessness. I get that, but … it’s non productive. Well, not helpful.”
Lori got up and went to find Jarek.
Unfortunately, he had joined several other warriors and she struggled to gather the nerve to approach him and risk rejection. Finally, she realized she had to and that she deserved the ‘slap down’ if she got one.
“I’m sorry, Jarek. I’m worried and upset, but that’s no excuse and I know it.”
He was clearly still angry, but he wrestled his own anger into abeyance after a few moments and his expression lightened. “No know.”
Lori shook her head. “I just thought …. Well, you and Fayn carried me. I thought you knew. I just jumped to a conclusion. I really am sorry I bit your head off.”
He looked confused. “Carry to keep from hurt feet.”
“Yeah. I figured that. I just ….” She uttered a sigh and managed a smile. “I’m glad to see you.”
He looked doubtful—as well he might. She felt her face redden and looked away. “Well … I just didn’t want you to be mad with me for talking ugly to you.”
She felt snubbed when she returned to sit down by Jill again.
Jill studied her for a moment. “What did he say?” she asked finally.
Lori shrugged. “He didn’t know.”
Jill nodded. “I didn’t think it would be something he would keep from you. I mean, it isn’t like you wouldn’t know as soon as you saw her and I get the impression they’re very straightforward and practical.”
Lori nodded.
“Anyway, if any damned body is to blame it’s those spider looking gray aliens,” Jill added with heat. “I had shoes when they took me. I’m sure everybody did and if we still did we would’ve had some protection for our feet!”
Good point! And she knew that already and she didn’t know why she’d jumped Jarek. It wasn’t reasonable of her at all. And, in general, she was usually reasonable. Or at least, she thought so.
“Sooo … you think they tend to hold a grudge? Or not?”
Jill looked at her blankly for several moments. “Honey! You didn’t scream at him and throw things! Sure, you were snappy and that clearly set his back up, but, no, I think they’re too reasonable to hold a grudge for something that minor. You’re just feeling guilty about it.”
Lori did her best to put it out of her mind, but she thought it probably bothered her more because she felt like she’d blown a ‘second chance’ with Jarek than for any other reason. He had ignored her completely after they’d had the sex and then she’d been moved and put with Fayn. She’d figured that was that until the crash and it had seemed Jarek at least cared enough to make sure she made it off the ship in one piece.
Although … she hadn’t been convinced at the time she was going to come out of it in one piece.
Which was beside the point.
He’d made sure she got off the ship ok when Fayn and Aidan had been distracted from saving her by fighting each other.
Which was something she hadn’t had time to consider since then but thought could be something interesting when she did.
Fortunately, May distracted her by getting better. She still looked like hell when she woke towards dusk and she was obviously still in pain, but her fever seemed to have broken.
More survivors arrived at the rendezvous throughout that day and the following day and still there was no indication that anybody was going anywhere.
It allowed time for May to improve and everyone else to get a good look at their situation.
Which sucked big time.
A fairly large group of males split into two hunting parties and left in two different directions toward dusk on the second day. Nobody had had much to eat since the crash beyond a few berries and grasses and every
one hoped they brought back something substantial while they could still eat.
For herself, Lori had reached a state of ‘don’t give a shit what it is’. She knew if she had little to nothing much longer she wouldn’t be able to eat without puking.
About half of Fayn’s party returned first, in a matter of a couple of hours, carrying around a half dozen small animals. These they proceeded to clean, butcher, and cook while the women watched, stunned and horrified but still hungry and hopeful.
The food was basic-crudely prepared and cooked, but it smelled absolutely wonderful and Lori’s belly was clawing at her long before she was invited to partake.
She’d been afraid to presume any of the food would be offered to them since they hadn’t done a thing to earn it. She was so relieved to have food offered she felt like crying. She didn’t bother to examine it. She just began to tear at it with her teeth and chew and swallow as fast as she could.
It actually tasted pretty fucking wonderful!
Sure there was some dirt here and there, and it was stringy and tough and had a definite gamey taste, but none of that was a turn off after the shit berries. She didn’t even bother trying to spit the dirt out—she was afraid she might lose a bite of food in the attempt.
Some of the women were less polite and appreciative, but they still ate what they got the chance at.
Afterward, the men took the hides and began to scrape them with the crude knives they’d made from whatever they’d found to make them.
It seemed like some kind of strange, primitive ritual because they rubbed something all over the hides when they were satisfied they’d removed all of the flesh and then hung them up all around the campsite.
A warning?
Maybe they thought the skin would be useful for something?
Try as she might to stay awake, Lori discovered once she had something hot in her stomach that sleep could not be denied. She was out before she even found a comfortable spot, but she jerked awake when the hunters returned later.
The late hunters came back carrying two beasts so huge it was all they could do to carry the chunks they’d cut from them.
As relieved as she was, though, to see the guys had made it back ok, she couldn’t stay awake and curled into a tight ball again and drifted into a restless, miserable sleep. Sometime later, someone huge and hot lay down behind her and then someone else lay down in front of her, sandwiching her between two heaters. On a scale of one to ten in terms of comfort, she thought it would be stretching things to give it a five—because she was a long way still from actually being comfortable, but she was certainly warmer. She dozed again, dreaming of the fluffy comforter she’d rarely used because her apartment was such a comfortable temperature year round ….
As late as it had been when they’d returned and despite the fact that they’d worked for hours before they’d settled to sleep, the men were up at the crack of dawn and hard at work processing their kills.
Exhausted from the trek and sleep deprivation, Lori didn’t think she could’ve gotten up except her ‘blankets’ left her and she almost immediately began to lose all body heat. Wishing she had a morning pick-me-up of caffeine in any form, she got up and got a drink of water and then cupped some in her hand and washed her face with it.
Fayn was studying her when she turned around and she jumped guiltily.
“I didn’t use much.”
Something flickered in his eyes, though she couldn’t decide what.
He glanced around and then shouldered the hide he’d rolled up. “Come.”
Curious, wondering if he was planning on putting her to work doing something with the hide, Lori followed him. Uneasiness began to flicker to life when he cleared the gathering place altogether, though, and she slowed her steps to glance back. When she looked around again, she saw Fayn had stopped to look back at her and she hurried to catch up again.
They walked maybe half a mile or more, until they were completely out of sight of the group, and then Fayn began to climb over a tumble of boulders.
Lori had just decided she couldn’t follow him any further when he stopped and dropped the rolled skin onto one of the rocks.
She stared at him for a long moment and then took the hand he extended toward her and allowed him to pull her up beside him on the rock.
There was a pool of water on the other side, she discovered.
“Wow,” she breathed, impressed. “This is … beautiful.”
She studied it for several moments and looked around to see if she could figure out where it had come from. She spied a crack in the rock close by—a fairly large crack that looked like it might actually be a cave. “I bet this is ice cold,” she said neutrally, trying to contain her disappointment.
Because there was no way in hell she was climbing into it if it was icy. She was already cold and she had nothing to dry off with and nothing to change into.
Not that she actually had to worry about her clothing becoming waterlogged!
But still ….
Fayn shrugged and dove in, splashing her with water when he hit.
He was gone so long she began to worry.
Until she remembered she’d decided he must be like a merman or something along those lines.
Jarek had breathed for her when they’d gone deep under water.
Fayn surfaced and grinned at her. “No cold.”
“Maybe not to you.”
She was tempted, though. After a few moments of watching him, she looked around and found a way down the rocks to the edge of the water.
Once there, she put her hand in to test the temperature and made a very strange discovery.
She could feel a collision of warm and cold water.
When she sat back she discovered she could actually see the demarcation between the cold water and the warmer water.
Because, she decided, the cold was coming from a spring and it was crystal clear. The other water looked as if it was flowing surface water—not nearly as clean and clear.
But it was warm.
Well, more like not cold than actually warm and she knew if she bathed she was going to freeze her ass off until she dried, but it was a chance to get clean, however briefly it was likely to last.
Chapter Fifteen
Lori decided to compromise. Settling on the rock she’d been standing on, she dangled her legs in the water and leaned forward to gather up water to splash on her arms, rubbing them briskly to remove as much dirt as possible. She also rubbed her feet and legs to clean them, sorry she didn’t have soap and a washcloth.
That would’ve felt good, she thought, wondering if the aliens, any of them, knew how to make soap or find a substitute growing naturally.
This planet was alien to all of them, though, she realized.
Still, Boruc had found something medicinal to use for May’s cut. It must have been very similar to something he was familiar with on his world.
Maybe there were other things like that that they could find and use?
She was so deep in thought that Fayn grabbed her and snatched her off her perch before she even noticed he’d come close enough to grab her, let alone noticed his intent.
She sucked her breath in sharply and began struggling to free herself.
He released her.
She sank.
Thankfully, it wasn’t too deep in that particular spot. When she hit bottom, she shot upwards again, sputtering water when she surfaced and slapping awkwardly at the water in a frantic effort to get out.
Fayn caught her, trapping her flailing arms and hands, staring at her with a mixture of confusion and anger and dawning guilt. “What dis?”
Lori gasped and burst into tears. “I can’t swim!” she wailed.
He stared at her blankly. “No swim?”
She grabbed at him when he loosened his grip on her, tangling around him, struggling to fight off the panic. His arms tightened after a moment. “I sorry, Lori. No mean to hurt or scare.”
Soothed more by his hold
than what he’d said, she clung to him, trying to regain a sense of calm, beginning to feel more than a little foolish for having a panic attack over it.
Truthfully, she couldn’t swim much—because she had a phobia of water that made her prone to panic. She thought if he hadn’t caught her off guard, though, she might not have lost it.
But he had and she did and there was no way she could gloss over it and pretend she hadn’t gone into blubbering idiot mode.
And she doubted he would understand. He lived in water—at least part of the time—from what she could determine. It was natural to him. He would never understand that it not only wasn’t natural to her, she felt so out of her element and so vulnerable when she got into deep water she had to fight panic to try to save herself.
He stroked her back soothingly and moved to the edge of the pool with her. He tried to set her back on the rock where she’d been perched, but she was still confused and unnerved and she tightened her hold instead of letting go.
He leaned back against the edge instead, simply holding her and rubbing a soothing hand along her back until she finally stopped shaking. He pulled away enough to study her face then. “Lori ok now?”
She dragged in a deep, calming breath and released it slowly. “Yes. I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
She grimaced. “I’m sure you think I’m a total coward,” she muttered.
Again, he shook his head. “No.” He leaned closer, until they were nose to nose, and lightly rubbed the tip of his nose against hers.
Lori sucked in a breath laden with his scent and felt an instant reaction, a wash of excitement and desire. Heat blossomed between them.
Fayn met her gaze for a long moment, as if gauging her reception to him, and then tilted his head to fit his lips to hers, brushing lightly at first as he had with the tip of his nose and then settling his mouth firmly when she didn’t object.
She was enthralled with the rush of sensations that lit her up like a Christmas tree, sizzling along nerve endings, heating her blood—frying her brain. Half formed thoughts of Jarek flickered through her mind and were lost almost as quickly, dismissed by the realization that nothing was as it was before. All of the rules had changed. There were no customs she could cling to for guidance.
Alien Enslaved IV: Spoils of War Page 12