by Medley, Lisa
They arrived back at the stable and left their horses with a handler.
“Hop in your car and follow me to the guest houses,” Jonathan said, repeating his request to Ela.
Ela followed Noah the short distance to their car. She hadn’t said a word, with the transcom or in Apache, since they’d left. The silence in the car was torturous as they followed Jonathan across town.
***
Their small room was sparsely decorated in typical Southwest décor, but clean and comfortable. A king-sized bed took up much of the space, two end tables standing sentry on either side. Noah dropped both his and Ela’s backpack onto a chair in the corner by the window. He pulled the blinds shut and turned to find her standing nervously by the door.
Staying together was uncomfortable. Even though he’d spent many a night by her bedside the past few months, most of those nights she’d been unconscious, oblivious to his presence. He’d felt compelled to care for her upon their return, but, as time passed, he’d found himself wanting to spend time with her. Ultimately, he didn’t want her waking to strangers, although she didn’t know him any better really.
He stared at the bed, then at her, and tapped his transcom. “We need to get some rest tonight. Jonathan said he’d introduce you to a family you can stay with tomorrow. Once you’re settled in, I need to leave for my mission. You can shower first if you’d like to.”
Noah sat on the bed and fiddled with the remote, turning the television on. The second the box sparked to life, Ela bolted back against the door in terror.
Great, another modern invention to explain. Thank God it isn’t a Western playing. Not that Fox News is any better.
He hit his transcom. “It’s okay, Ela. It’s a television. We watch it for entertainment. For enjoyment. It’s like…”
Yeah, he had nothing. He could recite the specs of a dozen different aircraft but couldn’t come up with a logical explanation for why anyone would want to watch television or any possible early 1800s Apache comparison. It’s like watching a campfire slowly die. It’s like watching children play. It’s like… Nope. He had nothing.
Her initial surprise abated, and she walked nearer the screen, her hand reaching forward until her fingertip sparked with static against the old tube television’s face. She jumped back again, but curiosity got the better of her.
She tapped her transcom and pointed to the television. “What is this?”
“Television. It’s…” Noah searched for something—anything—she might understand. “Stories.”
Red-faced pundits shouted at one another over some candidate’s latest political infractions.
“What angry stories are they telling?” Ela asked.
“They’re discussing politics…sort of like council business for the country.”
“Are they at war?”
Noah laughed. “Not yet. Give ’em a few more months. The election is in November. By then, they’ll definitely be at war.”
He flipped through the channels, searching for something more palatable. He paused on a movie he recognized all too well then thought better of it and flipped forward.
Ela turned to him, holding her hand flat against the screen. “No. What was that? With the ship like yours?”
Oh boy. He did not have enough booze, or come to think of it, any booze, to get him through this one. “Star Wars. Episode IV.”
“Star Wars? Is there war everywhere now?”
Noah sighed. “No, it’s fiction. Make believe. Stories for entertainment. It’s not true.”
Ela watched, captivated. She tapped her transcom so she could understand what the characters were saying then eased to the end of the bed and sat. She leaned forward like a ten-year-old, her face less than two feet from the screen.
“This woman. She is a princess?”
“Yeah, Leia.”
“Her father is a chief?” Ela asked, her eyes round with wonder.
“Erm, not exactly. Her father is Darth Vader. But you aren’t supposed to know that yet.”
The scene changed, and Ela started, scooting back on the bed, closer to Noah. “What monster is that?” Ela asked.
“Meet Chewbacca.”
“He is my grandfather?”
Noah scratched at his day-old beard, trying to puzzle out how the translation had gone wrong. “He’s a wookie.”
Ela leaned forward and whispered, reverently. “A…bear?”
“Nope. Co-captain of the ship.”
Ela looked unconvinced but continued to watch.
“And where are they going?”
“They’re trying to keep Vader from blowing up other planets with his Death Star, taking over the universe. The typical space problems.”
“And this is why you won’t take me home?”
“What? No, this isn’t real, Ela. Like I told you. It’s just a story. There aren’t really any death stars. At least not yet. But that wormhole? It’s even more dangerous. I’m afraid the reservation is the closest thing to home you’re ever going to have again. I’m sorry, but this is the best I can do.”
Ela stiffened and turned away from him. Noah clicked off the television, the sudden silence leaving a vast hole in the room. He swallowed hard.
“Shower. You’ll feel better. Promise.” Noah rose and walked into the tiny bathroom. He started her water then unrolled a thin towel from the rack above the toilet and tossed it across the top of the shower rod for her. After several minutes, he tested the water temperature. Satisfied, he turned to call for her but found her already standing in the doorway. Very, very naked.
Dear lords of the universe. What the hell is she doing?
He turned away quickly and fussed with the tiny shampoo and various bottles and soaps for a long minute until he saw her pass behind him in the mirror. Yep, her ass was just as perfect out of those jeans as it looked in them. His cock hardened, and he reached to adjust it as she stepped into the shower.
“I’ll be outside.” Noah closed the door behind him and leaned against it.
Damn, it was going to be a long night.
The bed was big, but right now he couldn’t get far enough away from Ela to convince his cock this was all a very bad idea. He wished Jonathan had let Ela meet the family tonight. That would have made things so much easier.
He couldn’t shake the feeling he was dumping a stray pet along the side of the road. Was he rehoming Ela so he didn’t have to deal with her? Or was it for her own good, like he’d told her? The thought of not being responsible for her was at once a relief and a loss. Maybe he was making a mistake. Maybe he should stay longer, make sure she fit in, that she was comfortable and cared for. There were other space pilots now who could take his place, but Tessa and Cole were expecting him.
The water turned off much too quickly, long before his conscience was eased about his recent choices concerning Ela. The bathroom door opened and steam rolled out just before Ela’s wet, glistening body parted it and she walked into the room.
Without a word, she stretched out across the bed on her back, her long, wet hair forming an immediate dark, puddle beneath her. Her eyes scanned the bed and up Noah’s torso until they locked onto his own eyes. A challenge? Or an invitation?
Noah gulped.
“Okay, so towels. Let’s get you some towels. And clothes. Clothes would be very good, too.” Forgetting to press his transcom button, he scurried off the bed and to the bathroom.
He gathered two towels and brought them to Ela. After covering her with one, he offered her the other. “For your hair,” he said, remembering the transcom this time.
Ela sat up and puzzled with the cloth for a few seconds before Noah jumped in to help. He retrieved the towel from her hands and wrapped her hair into a long ponytail, squeezing the water from it until it absorbed into the towel. He couldn’t help but notice the rivulets of water still running down, down, down her back. Noah dabbed at the water with the towel. Ela stiffened under his ministrations.
Her covering towel had slipped dow
n, revealing her breasts.
God, this is so wrong. He shouldn’t be here, alone with her. She was too trusting of him. Even when she was in a fit of rage, she’d called for him. As much as it frustrated him, it also pleased him in some crazy way.
What was wrong with him?
When her hair stopped dripping, he backed away from her and returned the wet towel to the bathroom rack, smoothing it out much more than necessary as he tried to get himself together. His heart beat fast and hard.
Instead of returning, he pushed the bathroom door shut for a shower of his own. A cold one. Maybe he could stay in the shower until morning. He adjusted the dial and undressed, then walked in before he had a chance to change his mind. The ice cold water pelted his chest, and he had to turn his back to the assault. He stood there, head drooping, for several long minutes, while his flesh crawled with goose bumps until he started to shiver. None of which did anything to quell his erection.
He briefly entertained taking matters into his own hands, literally, but didn’t. He deserved to suffer. He was about to abandon Ela to strangers. The least he could do was to keep his bad intentions to himself.
Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer and shut off the shower. No steamy cloud floated out from the curtain when he opened it. In fact, the mirror had defogged, leaving him to face his own betraying reflection in the glass. Since he’d given Ela both towels and one was sopping wet, he dried the best he could with the two washrags. He hadn’t brought in his change of clothes. No way was he walking out there naked. He pulled on his same underwear and, after some tugging and adjusting over his still damp body, he donned the jeans he’d arrived in.
The cold shower may have bought him some time, but time was the one thing he had way too much of tonight. Closing his eyes, he steeled himself. Maybe she was already asleep. God, he hoped she was asleep. And dressed.
Noah pushed open the door and found Ela had burrowed under the covers, which molded to her curled form. Only her long, black hair peeked out the top of the covers and fell over the side of the bed, still dripping from the tips into a small puddle on the wood floor below. He pushed the balled up towel over the puddle with his foot then reached and clicked off the light.
Thank God. Bullet dodged.
Carefully, he made his way into the darkened room, using the edge of the bed against his leg to guide him. He eased down onto the bed and rolled to face the window, away from Ela. Not that he could have seen her face. She was burrowed in like a prairie dog in a hole. Besides that, it was pitch black except for a small sliver of moonlight slicing through the gap between the curtains. As his eyes began to adjust, he lay as still as possible, trying not to disturb Ela.
His mind churned with the mission at hand, with leaving Ela here with strangers, with the mission that nearly ended them all. What was he doing? Their ship was still buried out here in the desert, being kept a secret by the descendants of the woman beside him, and he was going to walk away from her tomorrow. The kicker was, he didn’t have to leave. He could go in tomorrow and tell Janson he was done. He could take Ela and move back to Texas where he still had a home, albeit no family. Not anymore. Really, that’s why he’d stayed after the Janson payout. He had nothing to retire to. May as well keep exploring and testing the limits. Just not in any more wormholes, thank you very much.
The bedsprings squeaked as Ela readjusted behind him. It had been a long time since he’d shared a bed with a woman. More than a year, maybe? He started counting back in his head.
Jesus, longer than that?
No wonder his soldier was still at attention. Hell, Ela’s mere presence was probably enough to raise him. That was all it was. Lack of attention.
Lying stiff as a board in every sense of the word, he tried to convince himself of his own bullshit as the minutes and then hours ticked by.
Chapter Five
Ela opened her eyes to find Noah’s face inches from her own, his hot breath brushing over her face with each exhalation. He was not unpleasant to look upon. If only he weren’t so hardheaded. Spending the night together in the same hut would have been dishonorable in her tribe, but she had always bucked the ways of tradition. She was unmarried for a reason and had refused numerous marriage proposals, much to her father’s consternation. The last thing she wanted was a husband. Before she’d taken sick, she’d been learning bits of Spanish from Bimisi in the hopes of helping to broker a permanent peace with the continuous interlopers who invaded their homelands. A position unheard of in her community, yet she desired a life of adventure not a life of arduous duties as an Apache wife. She’d tolerated Narsimha’s advances as a means to an end only, to learn as much as she could so she could make it on her own.
She’d all but offered herself up to Noah, hoping to achieve similar results, but to no effect. After his second rejection, she’d crawled under the covers and hidden in embarrassment. While she’d had one secret lover for a time, he’d gone on a hunting trip one day and never returned. Her experiences with her Apache lover had awakened a hunger in her that had not been satisfied since. Here, there was no one to bring disgrace upon. It was clear to her now that her family was long dead in this world, yet she held out hope that what was wrong could still be righted.
There were many wonders here but her heart was home.
This was not home.
Having failed to seduce Noah last night only solidified her plan to get herself onto that starship. She’d go along with his plans. Bide her time. Not be difficult until he had gone. Then she’d make her way back to the base and hide on his ship until she was safely on her way home, leaving him no choice but to comply with her demands.
It was a terrible plan.
It was the only plan she had.
She slipped from the bed, put on the garments Noah had provided, and moved quietly out the door into the dawn light to search for breakfast, hoping she did not encounter any of the walmarts Noah had spoken of.
***
Noah woke to an empty bed. Not alarming at first. An empty bed was usual for him. But as his mind caught up, he bolted upright. Where was Ela?
His gaze shot to the bathroom door, which stood open. Not there. Scrambling across the bed, he checked and, while the backpack was still on the chair, her clothes from last night were gone. The interior latch of the door was also opened. She’d left. God only knew where she’d gone.
His heart raced as he pulled on his boots and dragged on a shirt. Palming his keys, he hustled out the door, desperate to find her before she disappeared into the desert and out of his life forever.
The bright sunlight momentarily blinded him as he rushed around the front of the building to his Charger. He’d drive the gravel roads of the reservation until he found her, and, if he didn’t, he’d call Jon Little. Surely they had tracker dogs or something. It was a damn reservation full of Indians. They ought to be able to track down one woman.
Before he could get to the Charger’s door, he spotted her, kneeling near the small park where they’d seen the wickiup yesterday. Noah squinted his eyes to confirm what he thought he saw happening. Yep, she was skinning a rabbit on the park lawn. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed her. Several shop owners stood in their doorways, watching with various degrees of curiosity and dismay.
God help them if that dead rabbit was the city mascot.
Noah jogged across the street to Ela, giving the nearest shopkeepers a small nothing-to-see-here wave. They were clearly not buying what he was selling. He sent Jon a hasty text, Can we meet now? as he closed the distance to Ela.
“Ela, what are you doing?” he asked, squatting beside her to block the view of her activity from prying eyes.
She tapped the transcom with the back of her bloody hand. “Getting breakfast.”
“Ah, well, we like to do that in a café. Which there happens to be one of on the other side of the park.”
Ela paused, eyebrows raised. “They have rabbit?”
“Erm, no. They likely have bi
scuits and gravy. Among other things.” Noah reached carefully and pulled the half-dressed game from her hands. “Let’s skip the rabbit for today.” Or ever, he thought. “Follow me.”
Noah walked straight to the park trash can and deposited the wasted animal. It was a shame, but there was no way they were cooking up a rabbit in the town square. Reservation or no. This wasn’t the Wild West. Not anymore. He looked down at Ela’s blood-covered hands. Bits of rabbit fur clung to the drying blood. She looked feral like a half-turned werewolf. He scanned the park. The grass here was green and lush, which meant one thing: a sprinkler system. He searched until he found the water source and led Ela to a low spigot. Unlatching the sprinkler hose, he turned on the water for her to wash the worst of the carcass from her hands.
His phone buzzed while she finished washing.
Jon Little texted. Sure. I’ll be by with the family in ten.
Meet us at the café.
“Ready?” Noah asked Ela.
A curt nod was his reply.
“Let’s go then. You can wash up better inside.”
At least she didn’t look like she’d just walked away from a crime scene anymore.
The shopkeepers hadn’t budged. Not one of them. He could feel their eyes burning into his back as they tracked their progress across the park square. Nothing like making a spectacular first impression. He didn’t envy Ela in the coming days. Regret bubbled up from his gut again, but he pushed it back down. This was the only option. Well, the only logical option. His gut would just have to deal with it.
The bell on the café door jangled as he pulled the door open for Ela to enter. Eight sets of eyes turned to inspect the new arrivals as they walked through. Noah led Ela to the back of the café toward the restroom sign, nodding politely as they passed the other diners.