Men of Anderas II: Dak the Protector (14 page)

"I earn a decent income from my herbs and
potions. It will just take me a little time to get them mixed and
delivered. I’m in no danger of starving."

"You’re right," Dak’s temper was still too
raw, his control too tenuous to risk an argument so he took refuge
in sarcasm. "Draagon will kill you long before you starve. What did
you hope to gain by this stunt, Kierin? Besides a son?"

"Time."

Kierin’s whispered answer had the same
effect as her mental cold shock earlier. It instantly stopped his
train of thought. What kind of answer was that? What did she
mean--time? Time for what? He would use force to get her safely
back to the city, if necessary.
If
her little electric shock
trick only worked while he wore the amulet. She zapped Talon but
Talon was touching the chain at the time. He was still weighing his
options when he realized Kierin was digging through her pack bag.
An assortment of items fell into her lap--some practical and
functional, some strictly feminine in nature. A stab of white-hot
lust shot through his groin. Without the control of Kierin’s stone,
he’d been fighting his arousal all night.

You are in serious need of a Pleasure
Station if the sight of a minuscule pair of panties and a couple of
wrapped monthly pads gets you hot
.

Dak forced himself to breathe deep and slow
and willed his body to behave. Kierin clutched a packet of papers
tied with string in one hand and used the other to shove her
possessions back into her pack. When she looked up, Dak tensed.
He’d seen that look on her face often enough to know she was up to
something.

"If your offer of help is still open, I’d
like to offer a … compromise."

Every instinct Dak possessed screamed at him
to run for his life but his curiosity often got in the way of his
common sense. "If you’re going to start in about a son …."

Kierin shook her head. "No. What I have to
offer is more personal."

Dak was intrigued. What could be more
personal than creating a child? "Then by all means, continue. We
can delay our departure for a while longer."

Dak grinned at Kierin’s mutinous expression.
He was enjoying their verbal sparring this morning despite
everything she’d put him through. Last night, he’d given up all
hope of escape, of returning to Anderas. Losing the stone didn’t
just free Dak, the man, from Kierin’s captivity. It freed
everything about him. He
felt
. Not just the negative
emotions of his captivity and uncertainty about his crew--but
every
emotion--to the extreme. It was liberating. It was
invigorating. It just felt plain damn good.

"So, little witch, what are you offering
this morning?"

"Why do you call me that? You know my name,
please use it."

Dak fought the twitch in his lips. Her chin
was tilted in her I-dare-you-to-argue-with-me angle. "Your
compromise,
Kierin
?"

The instinct to run hit him again. Hard. Her
face went from militant to uncertain in the blink of an eye.
Whatever she had on her mind was sure to cause him problems.

"It will take me about a month to raise the
coins necessary to hire additional protection. I would like to
offer you the job until that time."

"Kierin, I can’t. I have to let JarDan know
I’m alive and I have to find my crew. I’ll see that you …."

"Please, let me finish. I can’t pay you in
coins but I have something more valuable to you than gold. If you
agree to stay for one month, I’ll give you this."

Dak glanced at the packet of papers but kept
his focus on Kierin. "And
this
is?"

"A list of purchases made from Murdock’s
slave market for the past six months. If your men survived long
enough to be sold, their names will be on these pages along with
the names of who purchased them."

For the space of a dozen heartbeats Dak
fought waves of shock. He felt the kind of shock that makes a man
dizzy with relief. The kind of shock that makes knees buckle. The
kind of shock that makes a man throw back his head and roar at the
fates. He managed to hide his reaction to Kierin’s announcement. At
least he thought he did. Until, he reached for the packet and had
to clench his fist to stop the tremors.

"You … you’ve," Dak cleared his throat twice
before he trusted himself to speak. "You’ve had this all this
time?” Why would she keep this information from him? She knew how
desperately he needed to discover the fate of his crew. "Why?"

"I was going to give it to you after … you
fulfilled the requirements of my original offer. I felt … it
doesn’t matter. My reasons are no longer important. Do you agree to
my terms?"

Dak would agree to almost any condition she
set to get his hands on that list but he’d keep that bit of news to
himself. This felt too easy and that usually meant there was a hook
hiding in the bait. "What’s to keep me from agreeing to your terms
long enough to get my hands on the list then walking away?"

"If you give me your word that you’ll stay,
I know you will."

Kierin’s soft smile and unconditional trust
reached deep into his soul to a place he’d kept sealed away for
most of his life.

“I accept your
compromise
on two
conditions.” Her steady gaze met his and held. The trembling of her
fingers gave lie to her calm expression.

“First, I want your promise that you will
never
put another piece of rock on or near me. Is that
clear?”

She nodded her agreement. “And the
second?”

“I want to know what you’re hiding in that
fortress of yours and why there’s a death warrant with your name on
it.”

Chapter Eleven

Kierin stared into the dancing red and gold
flames. Dak was far too perceptive to risk looking directly at him.
She had no problem with the first of his conditions. It was his
last demand that was giving her the problem. For most of her life
she and her family had guarded the secret of her mountain at the
risk of their own lives. By telling Dak what he wanted to know she
would be sentencing him to the same fate.

"What’s it going to be, Kierin?"

"You have no idea what you’re asking me to
reveal, Dak. The consequences of that knowledge would follow you
back to Anderas.” Kierin looked up into Dak’s dark eyes. She had to
make him understand. "The men who are searching for what my father
gave his life to keep hidden won’t care that you’re half-way across
the galaxy. They will track you down and destroy you for no other
reason than they
think
you carry this knowledge with
you."

"I’ve been stalked before, little witch.
Believe me, Morandoni was about as evil as a man can be and still
be human. If these men are as determined as you believe, it won’t
matter whether I know your secrets or not. The fact that I’ve spent
time with you will mark me as a danger to them."

The truth of Dak’s statement shuddered
through her body. How the Warlords might view her actions hadn’t
entered her mind. They had two standing orders from the Prime
Ruler. Retrieve the item and destroy anyone who has knowledge of
its existence. There were no boundaries the Warlords recognized; no
laws but their own; and no statute of limitations for her father’s
crime.

"Kierin?"

"I agree to your terms, Dak.” Kierin’s heart
twisted painfully in her chest. How she wished things could be
different. "I give you my word that I will never place another
crystal on you without your prior agreement, and I’ll answer all of
your questions. Will you wait until we’re home? Sound carries
farther than people realize and I can’t allow this knowledge to be
made public."

Kierin watched the play of emotions on Dak’s
face. Standing between her and the rising sun, legs spread for
balance and arms crossed across his chest, he was a formidable
sight. Hair, dark as a raven’s wing, hung in a thick curtain to the
middle of his back. He’d shaved his beard before they left Safe
Haven, leaving the chiseled planes and angles of his face bare. She
could easily see the muscles of his jaw work while he weighed the
options of her offer. He was a man accustomed to having his
instructions followed, not questioned.

"Very well. I’ll wait until we reach your
home.” Dak grabbed her saddle and headed for the hobbled horses.
"If we hurry, we can make it back to the Communications Center
before dark."

"Uh … Dak?” Kierin jumped up and hurried
after Dak. "We have a small problem with that plan."

Dak tossed the saddle across the back of the
first horse and slowly turned to face her. Suspicion and anger
radiated from him like heat from the fire. His dark brown eyes
never wavered from her face, waiting for her to change the
rules--again.

"What now?” He asked softly.

Kierin shoved her hands into her pockets to
hide their trembling. His docile attitude was a potent reminder of
her Anderan’s self-control. "I don’t have enough to pay for the
communication to Anderas."

"That’s not a problem. I’ll reverse the
charges. Why are you shaking your head?"

"This far out into the frontier,
communications must be paid in advance."

"That’s ridiculous. Every Communications
Center has that option, in case of emergencies."

"I didn’t say it was impossible just that
it’s not allowed.” Kierin raised her hand to stop Dak’s argument.
"A few years ago, the miners at one of the remote outposts devised
this code system. Each call signified a different message,
depending on whom they called and how they signed the message. The
messages arrived without anyone having to pay for the call. It cost
the communications industry an astronomical amount of money. When
the Communication Center discovered the system, the Council of
Ethics created a boundary. Any Communications Center outside that
boundary was only authorized to place or receive paid
communications."

Dak speared his fingers through his hair,
tilting his face to the sun. With a heavy sigh, he turned back to
the horse, reaching for the cinch. "How long before we reach this
fortress of yours?"

"About ten days when I travel by myself.”
Kierin hurried back to the fire pit to finish gathering their gear.
She didn’t really want to know what Dak was mumbling under his
breath. In less than an hour, everything was packed and loaded and
the horses saddled.

Dak led them back through the meadow.
Carrion beetles were already erasing all traces of the bloodbath of
yesterday. Seeing the small, black insects feasting on the blood
and gore, Kierin was grateful she hadn’t eaten breakfast.

* * * *

It was the longest eight days of Dak’s life.
Every mile took him farther away from civilization and any chance
of contacting JarDan. Despite his growing frustration, he had to
admire Kierin. He pushed them hard from first light until sunset,
stopping only long enough to rest and water the horses. She never
complained about the long hours and always did her share around the
camp at night.

Night. Now, there was a whole different set
of problems. The first night after Draagon’s attack he’d been so
tired he barely remembered making camp. Since then, sleep was a
rare commodity for him. The evenings all started the same. He’d
find a quiet, secluded spot for a camp and care for the horses.
Kierin would start a fire and prepare their dinner. With the
weapons Talon left he was able to supplement Kierin’s vegetable
stew with fresh meat. After they ate and cleaned up the camp, the
trouble started. It was all Kierin’s fault but the little witch was
totally unaware of what she was doing to him. The minute he
relaxed, his body took on a life all its own. All she had to do was
look at him and smile and he had one raging hard-on. Instantly. It
was like being fourteen again and his lack of control was obvious,
uncomfortable and embarrassing.

The second night out he found a spot by a
natural spring. After caring for the horses, Dak checked the laser
gun before starting his hunt. The stews Kierin prepared were
delicious, especially after the unidentifiable slop he’d eaten on
Safe Haven.

Providing something as simple as fresh meat
made him less dependent on Kierin. There was something elemental in
hunting for food. From the dawn of time, man’s survival, and the
survival of his family, depended on his ability to hunt. Even the
act of tearing the hot, succulent meat from the bone triggered a
primitive knowledge that life would continue one more day. Kierin
continued to refuse his nightly offering, preferring her diet of
vegetables and dried fruit. He was getting to her, though. Dak had
to fight a grin every time she inhaled the smoky aroma of the
roasting meat.

"I haven’t seen any sign of other travelers
since yesterday. It should be safe enough for you to bathe in the
spring. I won’t be far from camp, and you’ll have privacy."

"That sounds wonderful. Don’t worry about
me, I’ll be fine"

With a quick nod, Dak moved silently into
the thick trees, careful to stay within hearing distance of the
camp. He’d barely gone a hundred yards when Kierin’s scream sent
him running back to find the crystal witch in the middle of the
pool of water, shivering and squealing.

"What’s wrong?” Dak armed his laser gun,
searching the area for an intruder.

"Dak! What are you doing back? You said you
were going hunting? Go away! No! Don’t turn around!"

Dak ignored her orders. Kierin sat chin deep
in the water with her arms wrapped around her shoulders, lips
already turning blue. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the
water was icy cold.

"You screamed, little witch. What kind of
bodyguard would I be if I didn’t check out the problem?"

"Are you laughing at m-me?"

If looks could kill, Dak would be in tiny
pieces, probably scattered across the galaxy. The fury in those
strange aqua eyes could pierce the hide of a dragon. He might be
more impressed if her teeth weren’t chattering hard enough that he
heard them from his vantage point on the bank.