Third Wave: Bones of Eden

by Zaide Bishop

  “Jacobs asked me to have sex with him,” she said, unable to resist clasping his arm for comfort.

  Tare blinked. “Did you?”

  “Of course not. He said that if I did, he would give me a soil analyzer.”

  Sugar, striding past, stopped and backtracked. “He what?”

  “Jacobs offered me a trade,” she repeated. “Sex for the soil analyzer. And lessons to use it.”

  Sugar gave a low growl, his whole body tensing. “Not this again.”

  “Again?” India asked.

  “When you first did your chicken trick, my brothers wanted Romeo to try to fall pregnant before you did. He didn’t want to, there were fights about it.”

  “But Romeo is with William,” India said.

  “Yes, now. But before that I had to instigate a rule—that no one could be coerced into sex. Whiskey kidnapping Fox almost set the tribes to all-out war again. I won’t see a new variation on the theme.” His teeth were gritted, his shoulders tense and hunched.

  Tare gave India a sideways look. “He doesn’t want one of the doctors trading Charlie a sleeping bag for sex.”

  Sugar bristled. “She wouldn’t accept the trade.”

  “She might if it was waterproof or glowed in the dark or something. You know she loves that stuff.”

  Sugar snarled and stalked away, hunting for Charlie.

  “You’re stirring him up on purpose,” India accused.

  Tare grinned, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer. “He should stop being so stubborn.”

  Sugar stalked over to Charlie, and they could see him explaining with big, angry hand gestures. Charlie looked more amused than outraged, but she nodded and held out her hands for him to pull her up. India could see the change in tension as he took her hands. The way he seemed to try to be closer and further away at the same time.

  Sugar snatched his hands away once Charlie was on her feet, and she fell in behind him as he marched back to the most central of the fires.

  “Listen up!” His voice rose loud enough to startle some parrots out of nearby trees. As he spoke, Jacobs appeared on the path, making his way back to the camp. He looked from India to Sugar and stayed where he was, leaning against a tree.

  Sugar waited until he had everyone’s attention before continuing: “We are a free people. As much as possible, we avoid restrictions and laws. We trust each other to do the right thing and work toward the best outcome for the tribes. Sometimes, though, it becomes necessary to enforce some sort of law, for everyone’s protection.”

  He had the tribe’s attention now—and the attention of the scientists. India could see them exchanging looks—all but Jacobs, who was refusing to meet his companions’ gazes.

  “Charlie and I are in agreement,” Sugar said. “There will be no trade for sex. No bribery. Sex is for companionship, for love, for fun. It is not a means to an end.”

  He shot Jacobs a vicious look, and the older man tensed, radiating a sullen hostility. Sugar did not invite questions. Instead he grabbed his fishing spear and stalked away toward the beach. Around the camp, the Varekai and Elikai came together in small knots to talk. India saw Kay shoot Jacobs an annoyed look, and he shrugged, then vanished into his tent.

  India turned back to Tare. “What do you think?”

  Tare considered a moment. “I think if you really want a soil analyzer, I’ll have sex with him. I’ll totally tell Sugar it was fun. How’s that?”

  She chuckled. “You know what? I think I’ll live without it.”

  Chapter Five

  Sugar was not really surprised when he heard the soft crunch of footsteps as someone much lighter than he was followed him up the beach. Even before he turned, he recognized the heady scent of her hair and skin that was uniquely her. It came to him in dreams, and sometimes when she passed by too close, it brought on memories with a sudden stark clarity: her lips on his, the taste of her skin, the feel of her body as she moved against him in perfect synchronicity.

  It was hard to recall the good without the stabbing pain of the bad. Every good memory seemed tainted by the moment she had turned away from him and left him and his brothers to die. He hadn’t known then she was pregnant, because she hadn’t told him. Another betrayal. As much as he wanted to take her in his arms again, there was a huge black ball of fear in his heart—fear she would do it again. Keep his child from him, or abandon him again when he needed her. No wound he had ever suffered was quite as painful as love.

  “So,” she said conversationally. He didn’t turn, and she stayed in step a few paces behind him. He was glad, as sometimes not being able to see her made her easier to talk to. Seeing the hurt in her eyes as he refused her affections always made it worse. “You demanded my support, and then you storm off without a thank-you?”

  He scowled. “Do you need one? I was acting for the good of the tribe.”

  “Were you?”

  He spared her a glance, then regretted it. “What would Whiskey say, hmm? They weren’t bred to resist disease like we were. Any children they produced would be half as strong. They would probably die.”

  “We could have gained a lot from them.”

  “We can still have it. They need a lot more than sex. Clothes, food, protection, shelter.”

  “Are you sure about that? They’re not doing so bad on the food front...”

  He hissed, unable to hide his irritation. “I told him not to shoot Altec.”

  “Look on the bright side. She was eating the pigs and goats. Now they have a better chance of recovering their numbers.”

  He stopped walking and turned to face her. He rarely really looked at her these days, and the swell of her belly took him by surprise. She had fuller proportions than Whiskey, and pregnancy suited her better. She looked healthier than she ever had and much more beautiful.

  “You always see the bright side.”

  She grinned. “You always see the solution.”

  He sighed. “Maybe not this time. How are we supposed to make the scientists respect us?”

  “We earn it, just like we do with our sisters. And brothers. It will come, Sugar. Be patient.”

  He looked up at the sky, clear, empty and endless. “Things were easier before.”

  “Before Tare fell in love? When neither tribe had any future? Oh, yes, they were easy. But the Elikai would have died out this past summer. Or maybe we would have gone to war over supplies and we would be dead. I have no regrets, Sugar. And you shouldn’t either.”

  His throat tightened. He rounded on her. “No regrets! You leave me and my brothers to die and you have no regrets!”

  She met his gaze, even and calm. “I have no regrets. I made a difficult choice. The most difficult of my life. But I am the leader of the Varekai. I had to act unselfishly for the good of my sisters.”

  “For the good of the baby, you mean.”

  She put her hands on her belly, frowning. “If you have to make that choice someday, me or this life that I’m carrying, choose the child. Choose a future. We can’t just die out. Survival is more important than one person’s feelings.”

  “You want me to give up my heart for a future that hasn’t even happened yet?”

  She sighed, looking away over the ocean. “I did.”

  He stared at her. “How can you say you love me, after what you did?”

  “I do, Sugar. If I could have starved instead of you, I would have. Without any hesitation. But the next generation is more important than you or me. I chose the lesser evil. Yes, I will always put the baby first, but next in line is you, not myself.”

  She stepped closer to him, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. “Can’t you see how much I’ve missed you?”

  “I...” He looked away, emotions warring. Her scent was overwhelming him, musky a
nd warm. Familiar. He wanted to give in. He wanted to forgive her.

  She took his hand and placed it on her belly. Something strong and alive skittered across his palm. His eyes widened.

  “She knows you,” Charlie said.

  He leaned down and kissed her, placing his free hand on the small of her back to pull her closer. Her body molded to his, the bulge of her belly a new and unfamiliar form.

  She kissed his chin, his jaw. Her lip grazed his earlobe and followed the taut tendons in his neck down to his collarbone. She kissed his shoulder, his sternum. His skin prickled as she made her way down his ribs—fingering the indents in his skin, tracing the line of fuzz between his belly button and cock.

  She settled onto her knees, kissing a hot path across his belly. Anticipation made him swell, and he gave a low groan as her nails grazed his balls, cupping and supporting as she kissed her way across the tender skin between belly and thigh.

  It had been too long since he’d been touched. Without her, he didn’t want anyone, so he had not returned to the familiar arms of his brothers’ affections. Besides, most of them preferred the Varekai now anyway. Her lips had not even touched his shaft before he was stiff and aching with urgency.

  The touch of her tongue went through him like hot lightning. Every touch rippled through him with vivid sensation—the huff of her breath, the tickle of her hair on his belly and thighs, the press of her breasts against his legs. Her lips engulfed him, and his shaft slid deeper into the hot wetness of her.

  Oral sex was the most popular show of sexual affection between the Elikai, and Sugar had given and received it more times than he could count. He’d never known what real love was then—the way it could overwhelm every physical sensation. Not just lips, but her lips, not just a tongue, but her tongue. Her breath, her skin, her eyes looking up at him, raw with ardent desire.

  “Charlie,” he breathed, and her enthusiasm doubled, her tongue flicking in a frenzy, her nails baring fine red lines of sensation down the back of his thigh.

  He placed one hand lightly on her head to steady himself, gasping as she took him all the way to the back of her throat. Both unable and unwilling to contain himself, he climaxed, crying out as she sucked him dry.

  His knees, unwilling to support him further, started to buckle, and he slid out from between her lips, dropping down so they were face-to-face in the sand.

  “I love you,” he murmured, lips brushing hers. He kissed her and tasted himself. He cupped her breasts, and she leaned into his touch, groaning against his mouth. He guessed it had been a long and lonely time for her too. Why had he been such a fool and neglected her for so long?

  He broke off their kiss, lowering his face to meet her breast, swirling his tongue across her nipple, which hardened under the caress. Her lips were near his ear, murmuring things that were not entirely words.

  He slid his palm across her belly, down between her legs, and sought the wetness there. Already she was slick with dew, and his fingers slipped inside her without resistance. She gasped, back arching, pressing his face deeper into the flesh of her bosom.

  Against his thigh, his cock twitched, waking as if he had not just spent himself. He licked and sucked his way from one nipple to the other and back while between her legs he thrust deeper with his finger, feeling her tremble and rock against him. Her whimpers and gasps against his shoulder were driving him crazy. Just the sound alone, without even the shuddering heat of her body or the ripe perfume of her sex, was making him hard.

  He pulled away from her, holding her back with one hand when she tried to press against him.

  “Turn around,” he demanded.

  For a moment, she looked puzzled, almost hurt, then a hungry sort of understanding dawned. She dropped to all fours, shuffling around so the full curve of her ass was facing him, knees spread so he could see the slick entrance to her shell, flushed pink.

  He was harder now than he had been while he was in her mouth.

  “Like this?” she breathed.

  He put his hand on her ass cheek and squeezed. “Just like that.”

  “Don’t tease me, I need you,” she begged.

  He steadied himself with one hand on her hips, using the other to guide his cock toward her. He wet the tip, slathering it in her juices before sliding it slowly up and down the slit, rubbing it against the pearl she had taught him brought her so much pleasure.

  She gave a little cry, a shudder running the length of her body. Her skin was so hot, as if she had a fever.

  “Sugar,” she protested, but before she could beg again, he guided himself to her opening and thrust into her, burying himself to the hilt. There was nothing little about her cry this time, and he could feel her muscles working around his shaft—tight after months of his absence.

  He pulled back and thrust in again, drawing another helpless sob from her. He reached around her thigh, finding that little pearl with his fingers as he began to rock, finding a rhythm. She moved to match him, breathing in synchronization with his thrusts and every exhalation a whimper.

  “Harder,” she begged between gasps. “You can’t do this to me again. You can’t just leave me without you. I feel like I’m going crazy if I can’t have you inside me.”

  “Every time I touch myself I imagine this,” he said. “You under me, around me. If it is driving you crazy, I am already there.”

  Her body was pulsing around him; her pleasure was like a drug, taking him higher and higher. The pitch of her moans began to change, her breathing becoming a desperate pant as her body arched and bucked, losing all semblance of control.

  Her orgasm gripped him like a fist, clutching and milking. He cried out, and as if from a great height, he fell.

  * * *

  To Charlie, finally it seemed like things were improving. Now Sugar had forgiven her, the world seemed to be a brighter place. With the snake meat, the tribes had been able to focus their attention entirely on harvesting wood and planning the new village. Sugar was spending much of his time on Pinnacle Island, scratching plans into the stone walls and debating with Vivian on how best to proceed. Sugar’s plans were ambitious and included a round hall, large enough for the tribe to gather inside. He wanted the huts to have proper pounded stone floors and sent out the gatherers in all directions to find dung—trying to find a decent substitute for horse manure in his clay bricks.

  Sugar was happy, and that meant Charlie was happy. The fact they now shared a tent and made love every morning was improving her mood drastically too. She was sure this was how things should be—and that made it easier to ignore the hiccups of discontent.

  The scientists were causing problems. Vivian, despite the help and enthusiasm he lent to Sugar’s plans, was so crippled, he had to be dragged or carried up the mountain every day. It would have been easier to leave him there, but Kay insisted the scientists stick together—particularly at night. The cast on Vivian’s leg, which was probably a better idea on the boat where there was always a breeze, was starting to smell suspicious. At best, it had a foul wet-flesh smell. At worst, India suspected some sort of infection.

  Ross and Jacobs showed great—almost unhealthy—interest in the Varekai. Remembering what Sugar had said about half-breed offspring and their potential genetic weakness, Charlie had subtly discouraged her sisters. Most of them seemed more attracted to the fitter, calmer Elikai or their own sisters, but she suspected one or two of the women had been curious enough to test the unknown, not least of all because of the new tools and trinkets some of them had mysteriously acquired: screwdrivers, sunglasses and a set of neon-colored shoelaces that were already causing some jealous squabbling.

  No one was willing to admit that Sugar’s rule had been broken, though, so there was nothing that could be done. It was easy to dismiss these concerns as minor. One of the trips back to the catamaran had yielded solar-powered outboard motor
s, which Ross and Vivian had managed to jerry-rig onto the largest two canoes.

  They made trips between the islands five times faster, so long as the sun was out, and made carrying supplies between the Varekai village much easier. Pretty soon they were doing three, sometimes four trips a day.

  Now it was evening, and most of the tribe had gathered for the final meal before sleep. Charlie wished she had been able to do more that day. Her swelling belly was becoming a burden. She could sense a similar frustration in Whiskey. On the other side of the Varekai camp, she was perched on a rock, once again feeding the baby with a far-off, bored look in her eyes.

  Dr. Kay settled herself beside Charlie, picking absently at the net she was repairing.

  “I’m worried about her,” Kay said.

  “Who?”

  “Your Whiskey. And the baby.”

  “I think Whiskey has recovered from the birth. She’s not bleeding anymore. The baby is feeding. I don’t know what else to worry about. When we had dogs, we just left them to it. Sometimes they ate the pups, but I’m not too worried about that with Whiskey.”

  “Not too worried?” The doctor arched an eyebrow.

  “I was kidding.”

  “I’m not,” Kay said earnestly. “Babies... They can be frustrating. Even in the world before, with all the modern science, we still had problems. Sometimes women don’t bond with their babies. Or they suffer something called postnatal depression. And, perhaps a little too often, parents could become frustrated with the constant crying, the sleeplessness. They used to lose their temper and give a baby a little shake. Babies have delicate brains. They can die from just a little mishandling.”

  Charlie sighed, trying to hide her impatience. “Whiskey and Fox are not alone. If they are frustrated, someone else will take the baby. India is fond of it. William and Nab too.”

  “Yes, but I’m the only one here who has had children. I had two girls of my own before it went to shit. I know what I’m doing. I’m just saying—”