by Bianca D'Arc
He could tell from her lack of practiced response that she was a novice compared to him when it came to bestowing pleasure through a kiss. Perhaps that was just a cultural thing peculiar to the Hill Tribes. Many isolated worlds like this one had odd customs when it came to pleasure and male-female interaction.
Still, he knew she’d been a willing participant until he tried to take the kiss further. If he’d had a few more minutes before the horses interrupted, he knew he could’ve convinced her to continue with him, partners in the pleasure they could find together.
It was an odd twist of fate that the horses chose that moment to come between them. But then, perhaps the horse tamer had some way of controlling the beasts that he knew nothing about. He’d never known horses to behave this way. Even now they followed her wherever she went, watching her with their eyes when they couldn’t get near with their bodies. Indeed, the entire herd seemed focused on the small woman, giving him a respectful distance, but they wanted to be next to her, touching her in whatever way they could.
It was damned odd.
If he didn’t know better, he would think that the woman had some hidden or latent Talent with which she enthralled the beasts. But the inhabitants of Pantur had no discernable psi Talent to speak of and as a newly made Mage Master, he knew he would be able to detect even the faintest glimmer of raw Talent.
Still, he watched her and questioned his own thoughts. The whole thing was damned odd.
They rode back to the summer camp in the quiet time before dusk, speaking little as he worked over the puzzle of the little horse tamer.
Working on the tangle in his mind, they arrived at the camp almost before he knew it. He dismounted and moved to help her with the saddles and tack, but some of the younger Tribesmen took the task from him. He stood there, watching the silent woman remove the large saddle from her mount while another girl took the saddle from the horse he had ridden.
He sensed some animosity between the two young women as they worked—Jeri silent and alone, the other girl surrounded by a small crowd of her followers. She was pretty, but full of her own selfishness. Micah wasn’t surprised when the other woman’s words turned to taunts as he observed, using a small burst of his Talent to direct the other woman and her friends to forget he was even there.
“So, little Jeri and the trader have returned at last. Did you have a good time today?”
“Leave it, Sheli,” Jeri said softly, ignoring the taunting tone of the other girl as best she could.
“What’s the matter, Jeri, too tired from spending all day in the south paddock bedding our visitor? I hope you didn’t shame the tribe by leaving him stiff.” Sheli’s petulant voice grated on her nerves. The other girl was a bitch, and close enough in age to Jeri to cause constant torment with her practical jokes and barbed comments.
Jeri ignored her and continued to work unsaddling her mare, but the solid form of Micah stood in her path. Her gaze shot up to his, her shields clamping down tight as she felt a flicker of questioning from him on a psi level she hadn’t felt in ages.
He has Talent!
Jeri shivered and redoubled her efforts at remaining calm under his scrutiny and his mental probing.
“Is this true? Were you expected to share your body with me?”
She couldn’t answer his softly spoken words and probing gaze. She resolutely put her head down and moved around him to put the saddle away. Silence was her protection. Silence was her friend. It had kept her safe before, and she prayed to the goddess of all it would keep her safe in the face of this unknown threat.
And trader Micah was definitely a threat. She felt it in her bones.
He wasn’t blatantly after her power like the Wizards had been, eager to add her to their ranks and consume her into their collective. She didn’t think he even realized she had any Talent of her own. He probably assumed she was a native of the Hill Tribes and therefore without any psi power. If so, all the better.
She breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t follow as she went silently about her tasks, but she felt his gaze watching from the distance. His sad, almost dazed expression had followed her all day, and it was working on her senses like a drug. In desperation, she sought her tent on the other side of the camp, needing time alone. With any luck, the outworlder would be gone in the morning, and she could get back to her simple life with the tribe.
“Trader Micah,” the Mother of the tribe spoke softly at his elbow as he watched the young trainer disappear in the distance, “go easy on Jeri. She is young and not used to our ways.”
That piqued his interest, and he turned questioning eyes on the leader of the small band. “Wasn’t she born and raised among you?”
The older woman shook her head sadly. “She is an outworlder, come to us some two seasons past. She was troubled and silent even then, but she has a natural affinity for our horses and will be one of our greatest trainers, given time and study. I thought to confer favor on her by having her escort you today, but I fear I have made a mistake. She was not ready, and did not understand the honor. Perhaps you would find one of the other girls more willing to be your companion in the bed furs tonight.”
Micah jerked upright at the casual words. “It was expected that she grant me sexual favors?”
The Mother sighed. “If you desired it. We Hill Tribes women take our pleasure where we find it. Jeri has been among us long enough to know that. I was hoping you could entice her, since to the tribe’s knowledge, she has been celibate since she came to us. It is not a natural state for us.”
Micah considered that for a moment. “Perhaps it is to her,” he said quietly. “If she is not of your world, perhaps her own code of behavior is different than yours.”
The Mother sighed. “You are probably right, Trader Micah. Forgive my folly. I have grown so used to young Jeri that I think of her as one of my own. She is so gifted with the herd that I would make her my successor, if I could.”
“She’s truly that good, Mother?” He was surprised by the idea—though he had seen firsthand how she cared for the herd she had shown him that day—and how they cared for her. It was almost magical, how the horses responded to the small beauty.
The Mother nodded sadly. “But she will never be Mother here. It is not for outworlders to rule the Hill Tribes. Though her skills will help the tribe prosper for many years to come.” She turned to him. “But come, we have business to discuss before dinner, and then the feasting and bedding can begin. You will find any number of young women ready to pleasure you and be pleasured in return.”
Micah didn’t know how he would handle the hours to come, but he suspected he’d want no other young lovely in his arms than the small, silent girl who had practically run from him and his mind probe. He realized in that moment that his probe had been well and truly blocked, not deflected by the absence of Talent, but deflected by a concentration of Talent.
Jeri was an outworlder. Suddenly it all fell into place. She had Talent of her own. She must have. And she was undoubtedly hiding among the Hill Tribes, for those with Talent were not many in the galaxy, and most held positions of great power. Young Jeri could have had a very pampered life on many of the planets he’d visited, with even just a glimmer of Talent. If she was able to not only deflect but camouflage from him, she must have more than just a little Talent.
Micah’s own Talent was Mage Master level, and he still had many years’ growth ahead of him. If he had not yet reached his full potential, perhaps in many years of constant work he might be able to reach Vizier level, though only a handful of that vast power existed in any generation. He was considered one of the strongest Talents in his family, which was dotted with strong Talent as far back as could be traced. There had even once been a Sha in his line—the highest level, gifted to only one or two in every generation. Micah didn’t carry any illusions that he could ever be a Sha, but he knew deep inside, he had not yet reached his limits and he was already among the strongest Talents in the galaxy.
But this little horse tamer was able not only to hide her power from him, but almost make him believe she had none, which spoke of a Talent greater than average. Perhaps greater than his own.
He had no choice. He had to seek her out and learn more about her. The possibility of such power could not be ignored or left to wallow on this unprotected world for anyone to find and take. She needed to be protected and trained. Only then could she reach her potential—whatever that was. Only then could she be free to aid in the fight against those who would try to enslave her and others like her.
He needed a strategy. Sitting at the Mother’s negotiating table, he thought out what the night would bring. Lord Micah of Geneth Mar wasn’t known as the most outrageous StarLord in the sector for nothing. He would have young Jeri with him when he left, in addition to half the sale herd of the Hill Tribes. Both would turn him a tidy profit—one in credits, the other in the much deeper currency of satisfaction.
Chapter Two
Jeri trembled as she sank onto her bedroll. She had a tent to herself, mostly because no one else wanted to sleep with the tack. She was more than happy to spend her extra time mending the bits of leather and metal, so no one seemed to notice much when she made the tack shelter her own domain. She’d simply moved her bedroll inside along with her few possessions.
Jeri wrapped her arms around her upraised knees, settling her head down and trying hard not to tremble in fear. That man had unsettled her. He was handsome and scary and filled with an odd power that frightened her almost more than his physical presence. She knew, deep down, if she ever let her guard down around him, he would know her deepest secrets. She would not be safe until he left camp. Perhaps not until he was gone from Pantur completely.
Yet he stirred something inside her that had never seen the light of day. She had watched him this afternoon as his powerful thighs commanded the horse to do what he willed and it had made her mouth water with unaccustomed desire. She knew the Hill Tribes women were free with their favors and had learned that they took pleasure where they wished, but it had never been her way. Still, she could admire a well-built man and this man was the most well built she had ever seen. He made her think of things better left alone.
She heard the gong sound when the feast began, but she wasn’t hungry and feared facing the trader again. She stayed in her tent, surrounded by the implements of her chosen trade, and hid. She busied herself with the endless repair tasks that filled her non-training hours, making good progress on several harnesses that had been damaged the week before.
Time sped by and before she knew it, the sounds of the camp were quieting down for the night. She labored by the light of her sole little lamp. The rest of the tribe was used to seeing her light burning late into the night. She slept little compared to them, but they’d never remarked on it.
She focused so tightly on keeping her shields in place that she was caught off guard when a polite knock sounded on her tent pole, followed almost immediately by an impolite opening of the flap.
The trader stood there, a knowing smile on his face and a covered thermo plate in his hands. She had no idea what to say. She just stared at him with wide eyes. He apparently took her silence as an invitation and stepped inside, letting the tent flap close behind him.
“I took the liberty of bringing you some dinner since you missed it,” he said, bending close to place the thermo plate in front of her.
There was little in the way of furniture in her crowded little tent, but he didn’t seem to mind. He folded his knees and sat opposite her on the tail end of her bedroll, smiling in a way that made her stomach clench. She had no idea how to take his actions. He’d been respectful of most of her boundaries up until that moment and in the two years she’d been with the Hill Tribes, she had never had anyone cross the barrier she placed between herself and the rest of the world.
“Aren’t you going to thank me?”
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. She was processing information as quickly as she could amidst almost debilitating fear, but she still didn’t know what to make of him or his actions.
And she had no idea what she was supposed to thank him for. For disturbing her peace? For barging into her tent uninvited? For making her crazy?
“For bringing your dinner,” he prompted when she still didn’t speak. He uncovered the thermo plate and sniffed at the generous helping of meat and tubers. “Smells delicious. And I brought enough to share.”
He produced two forks from a pocket and handed her one with a courtly flourish as his eyes danced in amusement. Her breath caught as his eyes seemed to sparkle at her.
“Thank you,” she said softly, accepting the fork.
“There. See? That wasn’t so hard. Was it?”
He seemed to be teasing her, and it made her heart flutter. No male had ever paid her this much attention. Especially one that looked like him. He was stirring her senses with his dark eyes and bold looks. He was powerfully built and no stranger to hard riding and physical exertion.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said softly in protest as he speared a piece of meat and brought it to his lips.
“I think you have it wrong,” he countered. “Your tribe Mother told me it was expected that when you were chosen as my escort, you would also be my bed partner.” She gulped, her eyes widening in panic. “Since there has been no other accommodation made for me, I’ve decided I will sleep here, with you.”
Jeri gasped. The brute had a lot of nerve. She immediately saw that he’d put her in an impossible situation. She couldn’t kick him out with the strict hospitality laws of the tribe. She couldn’t leave the tent herself, though she longed to do so, because then she would never hear the end of her failure from not only the tribal elders, but from the jealous girls like Sheli who coveted even her low rank as trainer.
She was well and truly stuck with the big oaf. But what would transpire within the tent was in her control—at least she hoped it was. He was bigger than she was, but if he harmed her, he would be killed by the tribe. All she had to do was scream for help and the elders would come to her aid. She would prefer not to have to resort to such dramatics, but she held the option in reserve should this outworlder overstep even further.
“Good then,” he said shortly, touching a sequence on his wristcomp. With a flash of light, some of his belongings were transferred from his ship to the interior of the tent, startling her. Her family had never been able to afford the newer technologies and ion transport was just one of the things she’d heard about but never seen. The thermo plate was put aside as he brought his belongings to the side of the bedroll.
“A few comfort items from my ship,” he said shortly, rifling through the small pile before pulling out a small box that had her jumping to her feet, terror in her eyes. He switched it on and immediately her senses were swimming in her Talent, awash with her own power. And she was in great, great pain.
“Turn it off. Please,” she cried as she crumpled to the floor, her fists clutching at her temples as he stood over her, concern warring with rigid determination on his face.
“Drop your shields,” he said softly. “The reflective field won’t hurt you if you drop your shields as I have. I want no more secrets of Talent between us, Jeri.”
She started to sob, the pain almost too much to bear with the shield’s force being turned back onto her own mind. She knew about reflective field generators and had feared them perhaps more than any other weapon in the Wizards’ arsenal. She’d learned to withstand the soft hum and reflection of her own power over time. It was just a matter of practice and control, but she hadn’t used the skill in over two years and it was obvious to her now that she would pass out and be even more vulnerable should she refuse to lower her shields to this outworlder. Besides, he obviously knew her secret. The game was up, well and truly.
With a cry of fear and resignation, she lowered her shields and stared at him with rage. “Why are you doing this to me? All I ever wanted was to be left alone.” She cried as she
huddled in an almost fetal position. “I won’t become a Wizard. I won’t let you steal my power.”
Strong hands surrounded her, pulling her against the trader’s warmly muscled chest. He soothed her as she tried feebly to fight her way out of his embrace, but she quieted when he took no further aggressive action. The reflective field still hummed, trapping all their combined powers within its perimeter, effectively hiding them from any who might happen to scan in their direction. The reflective field was a way to unearth hidden Talent, but had been primarily designed as a way to train it and shield it from detection, which is what it was doing for both of them at the moment.
“I won’t hurt you.” His voice was soft in her ear as he slipped his hands up under hers, tugging her close to his chest as he lay them both down on her bedroll. “I will never harm you. Quiet now, for me, and we’ll talk this through.”
He turned her in his arms when she didn’t resist, bringing her face into his chest as she cried silently. She was shaking in reaction and her head had to hurt like the dickens, he knew, but he had to make her reveal herself in whatever way he could. He didn’t have much time left on this planet and when he left, he wanted her with him.
“Let me help you, sweetheart. I know you got a jolt from the field, and you must hurt. I’m sorry. Let me help you.” He raised one hand to her forehead, touching lightly as he spoke, trying to calm her. Gathering his own Talent, he sent out a tendril of power, seeking to take the pain from the places that hurt inside her mind, having a good look around while he was there and her barriers were down. What he saw impressed him and tugged at his heart. This little horse tamer had been through a great deal in her young life and, if he had anything to say about it, she would be given the respect due her level of power from here on out.
As the pain lessened, Jeri’s unease grew. She was held fast in the arms of a virtual stranger and was sharing the extent of her Talent with him. She fought back, knowing enough not to try to shield with the field still on, but her watery gaze met the outworlder’s steadily.