Lovers in the Woods (10 page)

She knew, though, that every misfortune so
far had been studied, analyzed and interpreted with the background
of how much better her life had been if she had chosen to stay with
her family.

What will they say about my latest
misfortune?

The rod moved and Rayenne
quickly gripped it tight, waiting for a few seconds until the fish
had hooked itself and would not come loose again. Carefully she
pulled the rod to her and examined her catch. The fish wouldn’t
feed a family, but
it would fill two empty stomachs.

Smiling, she brought it to their camp,
close to one of the largest trees she had seen so far. If settlers
had ever ventured this far, they would have decided to carve a hut
just out of the trunk. Two rooms, kitchen and storeroom would have
easily fit. She wondered for how many centuries this giant had
grown and what he would tell if he could.

“Look what I got.”

Sajitar lifted his head and slowly,
carefully, sat up. He looked better than two hours earlier. The
wine mixed with painkillers from her pouch had done the
trick.

“What did you catch?”

“This.” She held up the fish. “And don’t tell
me that’s the only sort that can’t be eaten.”

He wiggled his brows, amused.

“And what if? Will you then ask me for help?
And maybe not only with catching a fish?”

“I might, so…” She stopped, open-mouthed, not
knowing what to say or how to react to the unspoken words hanging
between them. Suddenly, the air seemed even thicker than
before.

Sajitar
held her stare.

She licked her lips. “Guess, if you don’t
object, I’ll cook it.” She stood and went away, but her moves
seemed hampered by a string that tried to keep her at Sajitar’s
side. She squatted to cut the fish to fit in the heater and knew
Sajitar watched her.

Never start a relationship with a crook.

She busied herself while the inner dialogue
went on.

If he is one. What do I know? I doubted the
captain’s judgment in the first place.

He ran. He hid in a village. That’s no
behavior for an innocent man.

And if he was just trying to
stay alive? He said the killers tried to find him. Who can blame
him for saving his life?

Rayenne closed the pot to start the cooking
process. There was nothing else to do, no vegetables to wash and
prepare, no bread to cut and share. She rummaged through the
saddlebags just to appear busy.

When she finally turned, Sajitar had sunk
back on the sleeping bag and closed his eyes.

* * * *

The
long
sleep helped Sajitar’s health far
more than he had anticipated. Breathing deeply, he realized the
pain was gone.

He looked up and found the night sky above
him full of stars. They blinked and sparkled like storm-shaken
lights he had seen at the spaceport a long time ago. Even one of
the planet’s moons had a cameo before hastening across the sky,
leaving a faint red line.

He frowned and his mind remarked
that there was no chance
of seeing stars from the campsite. He tried to sit
up and when he looked down his chest was bare. He felt no cold, not
even a chill of wind. He touched his warm skin at the side,
irritated. There was no bullet wound, not even a spot of pink
tissue. He swallowed and looked around, his heart beating faster
now. Rayenne turned her head in his direction, her smile an
invitation to so much more than talk. She was cleaning up the cups
and bowls they had used for dinner and stowed them in the
saddlebags.

“
Did you have visions again?” Rayenne
asked, moving closer to hand him a full waterskin.

“
No,” he heard himself answer through a
haze, “they come and go, but I remember them.”

“
All of them?”

He drank and nodded solemnly. He felt
lightheaded. “All of them.”

Rayenne looked at him quizzically and when he
didn’t continue, asked,

“
Do all people get these visions if they
come into the woods?”

“
I don’t know. Some do. Some get crazy and
there are more than a few who didn’t return home. Haven’t you heard
the reports about farmers babbling nonsense after they spent some
days here?” He watched her shiver and only that moment he became
aware of her missing jacket. The tight shirt left nothing to
imagination. His throat tightened when she added a teasing glance
as if telling him to go on. “I don’t think it’ll hit me that hard,”
he stuttered. “So don’t worry. I’ve been around here for some time
and still have my wits.”

“
I’m sure you do.” She smiled sweetly
before she sat down next to him, knees drawn up to her breasts.
“Will they hit me, too?”

“
The visions?” He took a deep breath,
unable to take his stare from her well-formed breasts and the clear
invitation of her slightly parted lips. “No. And if they do, I’m
sure you can handle ‘em.”

She let out air without looking up. “If
there’s an enemy I can fight, I’m not afraid. But how shall I fight
visions?”

Sajitar smiled, hoping the smile was
convincing. “You’ll find a way.” And when she only took a deep
breath, he added, “You caught me, though I thought I’d never step
into a woman’s trap.”

“
Did you, hmm?”

“
Yep.” He nodded once, emphasizing his
earnestness. “I still can’t recall our first night in detail. Won’t
you help me with that?”

Rayenne cocked her head and the smile
blossomed to a laugh. “You wanted to share my bed, Sajitar. Your
offer was unmistakable, more than once.”

“
So, I didn’t know who you were. You must
have been in a pretty disguise.”

“
Very pretty.” She inched closer, looking
him up and down. Her gaze stopped speculatively at his
waistband.

Sajitar
raised his brows, breathing hard
now.

“
A very pretty disguise for a tough police
woman. I assume you are a master in that subject.”

Rayenne’s expression turned mischievous.
“Always been.”

“
You outsmarted me at the bar.”

She laughed at his mock-surprised tone.

“
Gimme enough booze and I’ll do it
again.”

“
I still want to know what amused you so
much that you had that smile in the morning.”

She was close enough now that their knees
touched.

“
We danced.”

“
I danced? I must have been more drunk
than I thought.”

“
We danced so close that I could touch you
here—” She put her fingers to his cheek. “And here—” Her fingers
trailed down his bare chest and belly. “And here, too.” She had
reached his crotch, causing him to gasp. “I could’ve taken you with
everything you had, and it might have become the best night of your
life.”

Sajitar inched his head away from her face,
trying to focus.

“
Only
my
life?”

“
I still wait.”

Sajitar opened his mouth for a witty reply,
but none came. Her hand still lay comfortably where she had put it
and there was no shyness in her look.

“
Shouldn’t you have a rule to never mingle
with a…”

A loud cracking shook him awake. Sajitar
ripped his eyes open, gasping, needing a moment to focus on
Rayenne, who looked at him worriedly from her place close to the
heater. The scent of fish was in the air. Leathery wings flapped
overhead and he watched a large black shadow disappear. His heart
raced.

“Are you okay?” Rayenne asked. “It was just a
breaking branch and some bird. Nothing to worry about.”

Sajitar took in the campsite and himself.
He was still dressed, lying beside his saddlebags, and Ray wore her
jacket buttoned up, hands put close to warm at the steaming pot.
The sticks of the tent glowed in warm yellow, illuminating the
night. Above them was the thick roof of the forest with no star
gleaming through.

“I just…” He managed to sit up, grimacing at
the sudden impact of pain. He swallowed. His head felt as if all
his brain cells were shaking in a wild dance. “Ray?”

“Yes?”

“Did you send me images this time?”

A tentative and slightly insecure smile crept
across her face as she cocked her head.

“
No, not that I know of. I still wait for
the nightmares to come, or however you call that. I’ll let you know
when I get attacked.” She frowned. “What did you dream
about?”

Sajitar took a deep breath,
trying to clear his mind. There had been something strange with
this dream and he was not sure what it meant.
Is that a way of remembering?
Does my brain juggle my experience and my wishes?
He reached out to
her.

“Come here, please.”

She moved closer.

“Saji, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I think. I dreamed of kissing
you…like this.” He placed a gentle, chaste kiss on her lips, half
expecting her to move away and reject his approach. She giggled
when his beard touched her skin, then looked at him, eyebrows
raised.

“
Oh, did you truly imagine
it like
that
?”

Sajitar hesitated. The amusement had been a
trap in the beginning of their acquaintance and he distrusted her
lightness. She was an actor who had lured him in and made him
drunk. Still, the memory of the dream lingered like a fine scent.
He felt very bold.

Rayenne purred.

“
I would imagine it
like
this
.” Ray gently cupped his face and kissed him eagerly,
letting him know that she was not holding back. He kissed her in
return, feeling a sudden release of feelings like a wave crashing
over both of them. His hands were in her hair suddenly, then they
reached down her shoulders to pull her closer and into his lap. For
the moment the pain in his side was forgotten. He fell prey to the
rush of hormones and did not want to think about anything but the
feel of Rayenne’s skin on his, of her hands in places he wished
them to be, of touching her as if he was exploring new
lands.

He helped her out of her jacket and pulled
the shirt from the waistband to cup her breasts. She wore no bra
and when he touched them, she gasped. Still exploring his mouth
with her tongue, she had her hands at his waistband and fumbled to
get his pants down.

That
was the second Sajitar’s mind pulled
the emergency stop signal. He put his hands over hers,
panting.

“No. No, Rayenne, please! This is much too
fast.”

Rayenne was unruffled. She laughed at him
like an experienced woman dealing with a nervous student while she
freed her hands in a practiced move. Her nose touched his, tickling
him. She laughed when he moved away, an awkward move since she sat
across his legs.

“Hey, we’re both grown up, and I want you.
Now.” With the last word she had the buttons open and the pants and
boxers halfway down. “Don’t tell me that wasn’t on your mind.”

Sajitar fought her hands and the pain in his
side rose to the occasion.

“Ray, no, wait.”

She sat back, still smiling, still
unwilling to accept his rejection. “Is it a religious thing? Do you
have to pray or perform a certain ritual before…?”

“No.”

“I know that one part of you wants me, too,
badly.” Ray looked down and right before he could pull up his pants
again, she frowned and stopped his action. “Wait a moment.”

“Ray, I said—”

“I heard you.” She pushed down the cloth again, revealing the
sign of two circles with two letters. “
Sanjongy
,” Rayenne gasped and fell
back on her butt, a step away from Sajitar, who hastily covered
himself. “You carry the sign of the Sanjongy gang. I can’t believe
it!” She shook her head, set aback. Her face lost all color. She
wiped her mouth as if Sajitar had soiled her. “You belong to that
gang!”

“No, I don’t!”

“Don’t you lie
to me! I’ve seen that damned sign often enough!”

Sajitar ran a
hand through his hair. He felt as if he’d been thrown from one of
the gigantic trees. The crash was hard and left him breathless and
out of words.

“
But where did you see it?
Where do the killers wear it?
Where
?”

Rayenne crept away from him, still panting
as if she was trying to escape more than the truth.

“In the neck, yes, but—”

“
No
but
!”
Sajitar cried. “Think again! All of those men you saw wear it with
pride because they chose to belong to that gang. I was marked! Do
you want to see it again? It’s a brand, not a tattoo!”

“That doesn’t
change anything. You are the criminal we all took you for and you
know Sananda Wang closer than you would ever tell, obviously.”

“Oh, by the
uncut trees! Is that all you see? A sign and then the man is
guilty? Won’t you even try and think before you condemn me?” He
closed his eyes for a second, praying for the right words, for
patience on both sides. “Rayenne, please, let me explain.”

She pressed her lips tight and he saw the
inner fight on her face. She pulled up her legs and hugged her
knees, eyeing him angrily. There was a tear in her eye, but she
blinked it away.

“Go ahead, explain,” she clipped.

“
Thank you.” Sajitar
breathed deeply. The inner turmoil ripped him apart. He had wanted
Rayenne to kiss him, but he had not wasted a thought about further
actions.
I haven’t learned anything!
“When I came to Belson Park, I was blinded
by the big city. I had never before seen a place like that. I
searched for a job and sooner than later, I had found one at the
spaceport.” Rayenne’s brusque snort told him to cut the crap. “To
sum it up, two men took me to a bar, a meeting point as I learned
later. There I came to know Sananda Wang.”