“We can take care of ourselves.” It was an old argument. Today had called that bluff and it hurt. Deep in her heart, it hurt.
Jared made a disbelieving sound. “I’ll take you to Memphis City. They can take a look at that leg.”
“I need to check on everyone,” she insisted.
“I’ll do it.” He let his head fall back on the doorjamb with a thunk.
“I can’t leave. It’ll take me days to get back and by then who knows what will happen. I can’t abandon them. I’ll swim from here if I have to.” Dizzy and aching, she closed her eyes and gripped the sheet. “First I’ll throw up, then I’ll swim back.”
“Foolish and rash. Even now.”
She slung her braids over her back, knowing it exposed more to his gaze and not caring.
“Don’t worry, I will get my foolish self off your boat.” She tried to stand. With a cry, she fell back. Her thigh couldn’t hold her and the pain nearly made her threat to throw up happen on his bed.
“Foolish,” Jared whispered. “Stay there. For tonight. I’ll keep watch. You’re on your own tomorrow.”
All the fight left her and she accepted that he was right about one thing. She needed to rest.
His gruffness should have made him unappealing. He’d never be a sensitive man, and he didn’t do favors. Stoic, rarely laughing even with his crewmen, he wore his job and responsibilities on the exterior, but somehow, he’d made it his personal mission to do his job to help others—but only in a rigid, controlled exchange of goods. Except, truth be known, he’d done them favors, cloaked in his cold trading ways. A few survivors from the old city Memphis had built this compound and had made their way toward rebuilding a community but after too many hard winters, they never would have survived without Jared’s unequal trades. All that food and all they ever gave him were woven mats and hand sewn clothes he’d never wear.
“I’ll make it home.” Her throat ached.
“If it’s still there.” He didn’t say anything else.
It had the ring of finality. Her chest clogged and she couldn’t breathe. Sinking further into his bed, she curled on her side and lifted the sheet over her head. She’d been unconscious for hours. Long enough for the invaders to wipe out everything.
“I wanted out,” she whispered too low for him to hear. “But not this way.”
“You what?” he asked in a puzzled tone. Had he heard her?
She bit her lip and didn’t respond, didn’t want to reveal the ugly secret inside her, that she couldn’t wait to get out of this village, if only for a few weeks. The world may be dangerous, but she wanted to see it. She hadn’t expected, not really, that that world would come here, to her village.
The men who’d slashed her thigh would even now be getting drunk and eating all the food stores, sleeping in their beds, and if they’d left any women alive—she couldn’t think about it. Tonight, she’d let the salty water leak from her eyes but tomorrow, she’d make new arrows and she’d hunt them down.
A hand gently pushed her shoulder and directed her to lie back. Jared whispered something she couldn’t make out. Then the sheet covered her. She curled on her side and Jared sat on the side of the bed. The heat of his hip touched the small of her back, but he didn’t move again or say anything for a few moments.
“We all want out sometimes,” he murmured.
So he had heard her.
Guilt was a real, live thing in her chest, bearing her down. She had to release the pressure. It tumbled out, unstoppable. “It’s my fault. It’s my fault the drifters attacked.”
“Nonsense. Didn’t I say you’re being foolish and rash?” He sounded as angry as she’d be at herself, if the pressure on her chest would let up.
“It’s because of my good luck this morning. I had to have the bad, didn’t I?”
“You didn’t do this,” he hissed.
“On my way to watch from the lookout, I caught a snake going into the chicken coop. He’d gotten to some eggs before, but I got him.” She took a deep breath and admitted the rest. “I didn’t go to guard duty. No. I was too pleased with myself. I skinned the snake. Took the meat to Cassie for her to cook up. Was proud of myself, wasn’t I? Still didn’t get myself to the platform to watch. I had to go take care of the skin, brag to everyone what a great day it was. Didn’t even have my boots on yet.”
Jared squeezed her hip.
That hand—solid, strong, hot—stopped all the words.
Then he shushed her, swung his body around behind her, and ordered her, “Stop that nonsense and go to sleep. If you’d been on duty, they’d have taken you out first. You did have luck today. You were lucky not to get killed.”
“I don’t think…”
“That’s right. Don’t think.” He squeezed her hip again and her core clenched around a feeling of emptiness.
“How am I supposed to sleep with you in my bed?” She tried to sound mad, but she didn’t think it’d worked ‘cause her entire body was lit like a fire was inside her.
“Because it’s my bed,” he responded wryly. “You will because you believe in luck, that a day can be good, that you do your duty and all will be well. You’re a protector. But you can’t do your duty if you don’t heal. Go to sleep.”
His words vibrated from his chest and across her back, he was so near. This closeness with a man, it was new. She’d been naked with men before, but nothing like this, where a man offered protection as comfort and still wore his clothes. He wasn’t attempting to make a move on her. It wasn’t about that, even if his erection pressed against her ass, hot and hard through his clothes and the sheet between them.
His tense body was coiled, waiting, but the moment spun out, lingered, spread over her, and finally, eased.
Somehow, despite the low throb of lust simmering in her blood, her eyelids grew heavy and she did as he wanted. She slept.
Sunlight woke her. Jared still held her around with waist. His hot wall of muscle pressed into her back. His long body fitted against her from where his legs trapped her ankles all the way to where a masculine arm crooked under her head.
He’d stayed with her all night. If he hadn’t have been here, she wouldn’t have closed her eyes all night. She’d have gone back, in the dead of night, and done something foolish in the haze of pain.
Today, she’d be more herself, able to help her village, but she needed just a little more, just a little to keep her going. He wasn’t so aloof, so cold now. Last night he’d wanted her. This morning she wanted what she’d coveted for so long.
Rolling within his tight embrace, she sought his full lips.
Her hands gripped at him, fingers shoving into his ginger hair and fisting the strands to keep him there as she opened her mouth on his. She groaned and licked his closed lips. His chest rumbled and he made an animal sound before he parted his lips and let her tongue inside. His touch was everywhere. She was still nude and those big hands, rough and callused, ran down her side and clamped on her ass.
She wiggled closer, parting her legs and lifting one over his. Desperate, she rubbed against him, riding his pants-covered thigh.
“I want this,” she said against his lips.
He moaned something affirmative and grabbed one of her breasts. Her nipple went tight and hard in his palm. He plucked her erect flesh as their tongues clashed. Her clit was eager and aching. She couldn’t quite get the angle she needed on his leg. Frustrated, she jerked back and scowled at him.
His gorgeous face scowled right back.
“Use your fingers on me,” she insisted. Before she lost her nerve, she settled into the pallet and spread her legs.
His lips turned up slightly but even with that hint of a smile, it didn’t detract from his severe concentration. His hair was mussed and sexy as the sun glinted on the thick strands to bring out the red that gave her shivers. “Anything else, while I’m letting you give orders?”
He cupped her mound and gave a light brush with his fingers against the place she most wanted him.
“Umpf.” She’d think of other orders later.
He descended on her breast and teased her nipple.
“Oh, fuck, you know how to use your mouth.” She wanted that mouth everywhere at once. The intense rush sizzled through her and gave everything a keening edge.
Chuckling against her chest, he gave her a lick as his finger stroked boldly over her clit. He went for it. No teasing, no building her up. Stroking her like mad with steady determination, he did his best to get her whole tit in his mouth and swallow it. There was no finesse. Only hunger.
It was just like him, every bit of him that turned her on, focused, determined. He was going to get her off. Fast and hard. She raced toward it.
“Come on, Mari. Come for me,” he whispered against her breast.
“Is that an order?” She asked through clenched teeth.
She didn’t stand a chance. The words only sent her higher.
She tensed. Tight. Everything was tight. Hot. Her legs shook. She fisted his shirt and held on. Her heels dug into the pallet as she bowed off the bed in small thrusts against his finger.
“I’m coming,” she cried out, unable to hold it in.
White flashes blinded her. Her world narrowed to Jared and how he’d made her feel, how it’d been such a keen edge of passion she’d never felt before. Wanting more, she grasped at the quickly fleeting euphoria.
Shaking, she reached for him, trying to make it last, but he’d pulled away.
Through the haze of blurry vision, she saw him. His frowning intensity—that part of him that had always attracted her—focused completely on her. It made her dizzy, incapable of thought.
Humming, he licked her juices from his finger. From the movement of his shoulders and the sound of flesh slapping flesh, she watched his face as he found release. His eyes closed, hiding those gorgeous browns.
Then he rolled away. A pang sank into her. She hadn’t gotten a good look at him, or really touched him. Only seconds later, she wanted more. She jerked her head to the side, to stop looking at the soft look in his eyes. It made her chest hitch. The light shifted in the window.
“The morning is burning away. No time for another round.” She slowly turned to face him again.
He didn’t answer and though he was never chatty, the silence lay unnaturally between them.
“That was—” she started. Still unable to figure out what was different, she licked her lips to keep his taste with her for that much longer.
His expression darkened as he waited for the words she couldn’t seem to form. With a shake of his head, he jerked to his feet.
“There’s coffee.” He hitched his pants around his waist and walked out of the cabin.
She held her breath until a strange hurt faded. She’d had sex before. It was pretty infrequent since hardly anybody came to Memphis Village. Hell, she even canoed down the river to Memphis City on regular trips to get what she needed. But she was never tempted to stay, even to connect with a man. The village was around a hundred miles north of the city and the two groups of people hadn’t found each other for a good decade. By then, they were all settled and invested in making their communities thrive. They were too different, too separate to have joined together.
Different or not, the city had enough people that Mari could find a lover here and there. That is, find a man who wanted to be with a black woman.
Sex was a quick, rushed affair and she couldn’t do it too often because paddling back home took her days and gave her an appreciation of how Jared had come by those broad shoulders. She knew how it was. People couldn’t do much but pet each other to take the edge off, and a smart girl—never let it be said she wasn’t—knew not to let a cock inside her pussy unless she was infertile. Mari didn’t know if she could have children but she hadn’t been ready to find out.
Her mood soured and she climbed to her feet. She didn’t have time to get sulky.
The wood beneath her bare feet rolled. Pain thrummed in her thigh and her leg gave out. She fell hard on her rear. “Ow.”
Shaking her head, she pulled herself over the floor to where her clothes were draped to dry. “It’s a wonder I don’t have splinters in my ass.”
She dressed herself and struggled back to her feet. The stiff walk to the door set a steady thudding in her thigh.
The boat wasn’t too big. The hut where she’d slept was in the middle. The deck stretched in front of the cabin for about twenty feet. In the back, maybe about ten feet. On the way down the river, Jared and his boatsman used a sail when the wind was catching. If not, the current took them and they used the poles to steer. They would drag a raft full of supplies behind them. The raft got left behind somewhere. By the time they got back here, if they didn’t catch a lucky draft for the sails, they had to use the poles and brute effort to go upriver.
The sail wasn’t up today. But she could remember what it looked like when it caught the wind. It was a fine fabric. Simple, but gorgeous. The sun shone through and the stitching held white panels together. It always looked clean and almost fragile, but it wasn’t. It was strong. Like the man who commanded this boat.
Shuffling out of the doorway, she sought Jared. Wind caught in his short red hair and he wasn’t frowning anymore.
Even sitting, he was big—the tallest man she’d ever met. His broad shoulders flexed as he directed the motor. His shirt was off and revealed his defined chest covered with a thatch of red-tinted hair that led down to a tight stomach with an intriguing trail that disappeared into his unbuttoned jeans.
“The trip isn’t long.” Speaking around a sprig of mint he had in his mouth, he gave her a quick perusal head to toe. Just the cadence of his voice made her hot between her legs. She shook herself out of it.
There was a kettle next to his feet. Probably the coffee he’d mentioned. It’d had that rare aroma. She carefully balanced as she shuffled toward him. Squinting as he stared in the distance he didn’t glance at her but his shoulders straightened and went back. She dropped to the floor next to him, let out a small mewl of pain, and muttered, “Damned leg.”
“I cleaned it,” he mumbled. As if he could even be affronted.
Grabbing the pot, she poured a little coffee into the cup next to it. A bar made of seeds and glistening like it’d been brushed with honey sat on the deck. It’d be for her. She grabbed it and shoved huge bites into her mouth. It was sweet and crunchy. She moaned and Jared’s free hand made a fist on his leg.
“It’s good.” She mumbled around the food.
The food disappeared too fast and she gulped down the coffee. It’d be cut heavily with chicory to make it stretch further. She’d only had a taste a few times in her life. Truth was, she didn’t much like it.
“If you’re going to throw it up, don’t waste it.” Removing the mint stem from him mouth and throwing it overboard, Jared shook his head and did more of that scowling.
Some of that mint would be good. Or her tooth brush. Swiping her sticky fingers on her pants, she swallowed the dark liquid and chewed on a piece of mint he’d left beside her cup.
“Where are we?”
“Just north of your village. I went up the river, to check for trouble.” He frowned. “Why aren’t your guardsmen out looking for you?”
Mari stared out over the water. “A few months back, there was an attack. One of them got killed and the other two had a falling out with the elders. They’d wanted us to move to Memphis City because they couldn’t keep protecting us. When the elders refused, they packed up their families and headed out. That left me. I’m all they’ve had since spring.”
“The guardsmen abandoned you?” Jared turned his head and spit over the side of the boat. “Not worthy of the name guardsmen.”
“They did their duty and kept us safe for years. They were getting tired.” She didn’t know why she defended them. It’d left her the sole responsible guard for the village and she’d never really thought the job would be hers, had never fully trained for it.
“
You’ve never fought a drifter. Have you?” Jared gave her that up and down look again that made her shiver.
“Not until yesterday, but I’m ready for them.” Adjusting her stance on the deck, she studied the shore instead of the considering look Jared gave her.
Now she recognized where they were. The village dock was ahead, but they were going too fast. They weren’t even angled toward the shore.
“What are you doing? Slow down,” she shouted.
Jared’s brows rose. “We’re headed to the city. I told you that.”
“And I told you I was going home.” She gripped her shirt and yanked it over her head. If there was one bit of luck about being caught unprepared when the drifters attacked, she’d been barefoot. No need to worry about leaving her boots on Jared’s boat.
Jared’s cheeks darkened and his entire body went utterly still. He was utterly distracted and wouldn’t know what hit him. She smirked as she unbuttoned her pants and shoved them off. The deck was warm on her feet, chasing away the chill bumps as the wind tugged at her tank and panties. Her bow still sat where it’d been tossed after she’d been dragged aboard. Grabbing it, she slung it over her back and dove into the water.
The water was comfortable, easing some of the strain as she pushed her head above the surface.
“Stop!” Jared yelled.
Treading water, she watched. It only took him seconds to maneuver the boat around. His expertise was truly masterful. Barge pole in the water, he steered the craft using its own momentum. His skills weren’t the only amazing aspect on display. His shoulders were defined perfection. The strength of his legs was only made more spectacular by the way his jeans hugged him.
“Stop,” he yelled again, and she jerked in the water. But his boat was too far away to keep her from her duty.
Crossing the river in long, even strokes, she struck out toward the dock. Her leg still hurt but the water and exercise soothed it.
Finally, she reached the pier and gripped the first rung of the ladder at the base of it. The climb made her feel heavy after the water had buoyed her. Then she hoisted herself onto the dock and scanned the immediate area. Nobody was on the shore and Jared’s boat was gone. She was alone on a quiet river.
Taming the Alpha Page 56