Men of Anderas II: Dak the Protector (15 page)

"If it’s so cold, why don’t you get out?”
Dak let his voice drop to a husky, suggestive level, ripe with
promise. "Or I could stand guard here until you’re ready to come
out?"

"G-go away."

"I’m yours to command, little witch.” With a
slow grin and a wink, Dak resumed his search for food. He
completely missed the first two
kavas
he spotted. By the
time he tracked the third one, he was determined to keep Kierin and
her present activities out of his mind. Taking aim at the small,
furry creature, Dak fired a clean shot to the head.

Working his way through the trees, Dak took
the
kava
downstream from where Kierin still splashed in the
water to clean it. She was close enough to where he squatted on the
rocks that he could smell the floral fragrance of her soap. Her
delighted giggles brought a smile to his face. It was all he could
do not to slip through the bushes until he was close enough to see
what was giving her so much pleasure. He didn’t need to sneak a
peek to know what she looked like wet. Sitting there in the
gathering dusk, listening to the sounds Kierin made, his memories
of the last time she bathed had blood pounding through an erection
a stallion would be proud to own.

By the time Kierin made her way back to the
camp, Dak had the
kava
skewered and roasting over the coals
and a fresh pot of clover tea steeping. She had changed from the
blue and green outfit she’d worn since her last bath into a loose
gown of deep gold. A sash of crimson gathered the soft material
around her slender waist. With its long sleeves and high neck it
covered all but the tips of her toes. It was the sight of those
slender feet peeking from beneath the hem of her gown that pushed
Dak over the edge.

"I’m going to clean up while you finish
dinner.” Stripping off his clothes, he welcomed the chill of the
night air against his heated skin. It was going to be a long month.
His extended celibacy was causing problems he had no way of
solving. Without protection, he couldn’t satisfy this gnawing
hunger for the crystal witch. He cancelled his annual birth control
injection before he left Anderas to rescue Logan from Earth. It was
less than three months, round trip, and he had no plans for a trip
to a Pleasure Station, so he’d cancelled the appointment. Hind-site
was always clearest. Things would be a whole lot simpler if he’d
had the damn shot.

The water was more than cold, it was frigid
but he stayed until his teeth chattered from the cold. It took care
of his problem completely until he walked back into camp. Kierin
sat before the fire combing her freshly washed hair and humming
softly. She smiled at him. Nothing about her actions was the least
bit provocative, but his body didn’t seem to notice. In less time
than it took to pour himself a cup of tea, he was rock hard and
ready. Grinding his teeth in frustration, Dak forced himself to be
civil until Kierin finally curled up under her blankets and slept.
He couldn’t remember a single word he’d spoken, but if Kierin
noticed his attitude, she was smart enough to keep her comments to
herself. It took two more trips into the icy water before he felt
it was safe to lie down so close to the cause of his discomfort. He
managed to fall asleep a few hours before dawn only to awaken with
his heart pounding, breathing as if he’d run up a mountain. Damned
if he didn’t dream about combing Kierin’s hair! To keep what was
left of his sanity, there would be no more campsites near water any
deeper than six inches!

Two days ago they left the relative safety
of the forest. The terrain was increasingly dry and desolate by
day, and at night the freezing winds bombarded their camp. There
was nowhere to hide if Draagon showed up again and nothing big
enough to offer any kind of cover if they did have to fight. Dak’s
temper, already feeding on a constant diet of rampaging
testosterone, was dangerously close to flash point. Last night the
meager trickle of water where they made camp barely satisfied the
horses thirst. So far today he’d seen nothing to make him think
their chances of finding adequate forage were any better.

"How much farther, Kierin?” Dak knew he was
being surly and didn’t really give a damn. He was stiff and sweaty
and definitely tired of being on a horse so short his feet dragged
across every bush and rock they passed. She told him this morning
they would reach her mountain before noon tomorrow but that
couldn’t possibly be right. There wasn’t a high spot in sight, much
less a mountain.

"If we continue at this pace we should be
there by mid-afternoon tomorrow."

"You’ve been in the sun too long, little
witch. Why don’t you just admit that you took a wrong turn? It
would be easy to do in this place. Everything looks the same--flat.
There’s not a mountain visible in any direction. If we’re that
close, we should be able to at least see it."

"Yes, I know."

"You know?” Dak snapped. For a woman lost in
the desert, she seemed entirely too pleased with herself. "What
kind of answer is that? Do you know where we are or not? And stop
that damn grinning!"

Kierin’s laughter did strange things to him.
Dak felt his anger melt away like snow in the sun.

"Yes, I know where we are and no, we are not
lost. If you can’t see the mountain then my security system is
still functioning. Trust me, Dak. My mountain is about twenty miles
north and east of where we are now.”

Trust me she says. She expects me to
believe a security system can hide an entire mountain? And why the
hell am I tempted to believe every word out of her mouth? What is
it about you, little witch? You enslave me, humiliate me, laugh at
me and all I want to do is bury myself so deep inside you that
neither one of us would be the same again. Trust you? I don’t think
so. Want you? More than my next drink of water. What am I going to
do about the situation? Not a damn thing, even if I end up being
the first man to die from a terminal hard-on
.

The rest of the afternoon passed in silence.
Dak didn’t trust himself to do more than scan the horizon in all
directions. If he talked to Kierin, he had to look at her or think
about her. That would only bring his semi-erection into full life
and he was uncomfortable enough without that added discomfort. He
kept his mind focused on Draagon instead. If the Phantom Riders
managed to follow them this far, he would see them coming hours
before they actually arrived. Whatever it was Kierin was hiding in
her mountain must be worth a great deal of gold for Draagon to be
so single-minded in his pursuit. He would never admit it to Kierin,
but his curiosity was driving him crazy. Puzzles were his passion
and Kierin and her secrets threatened to become an obsession.

"There’s a small water hole about a mile off
the trail. It’s the only water between here and home."

Dak nodded and followed Kierin off the trail
onto the sandy gravel. Watching her slender back sway with the
plodding horse Dak wondered at her strength. The strain of
constantly watching their backs was taking its toll on him, yet
Kierin was always cheerful and optimistic. He knew she was tired
and sore from the long days in the saddle and nights sleeping on
the ground. He would catch her stretching and shifting when she
thought he wasn’t looking. The woman should be complaining and she
wasn’t. What was she trying to prove?

The water hole was little more than a
puddle, but Dak managed to fill both of their water skins and
satisfy the horses. Pouring the last of the grain onto the ground,
he hobbled the horses and rubbed the sweat from their backs before
replacing the blankets. It would be bitterly cold when the sun went
down and there was no protection from the wind.

"I’ll see if I can find enough wood for a
fire.” Before Dak could reach for his laser gun, Kierin stopped
him.

"Don’t waste your time. There isn’t anything
out here that will burn this time of year. We’ll have to eat cold
bread and dried fruit, I’m afraid. Will you stay where you are
while I … I mean, I need to …there’s nothing …."

"See to your needs, Kierin.” Why did women
act as if body functions were something they should keep secret? By
the Beard of the Prophet, every living creature had to flush out
its body on a regular basis. A man just turned his back and took
care of business. Shaking his head in confusion at the workings of
a female mind, Dak spread out their bedrolls, careful to keep his
back turned away from Kierin. Without a fire, their blankets were
all they had for warmth.

The unleavened bread was tougher than the
dried fruit, but it filled an empty spot and they washed it down
with the cool, sweet water. Since Kierin seemed content with the
silence, Dak lay down, almost groaning as his tired muscles
relaxed. Closing his eyes, he listened to the whine of the wind
gathering strength. Gradually, the sound of movement penetrated his
thoughts. Turning his head in Kierin’s direction, Dak sat up with a
jerk.

"What, by all the Ancient Prophets, are you
doing?” He bellowed.

Kierin jumped at the sound of his voice and
turned to face him. "Stretching. Is something wrong?"

Before he yelled at her, she was bent over
at the waist, legs spread, bouncing her forehead against one knee
then the other. She now stood silhouetted against the setting sun
and Dak would swear she was as naked as the day she was born.

"Do you usually strip when you stretch or
are you trying to see how far you can push me before I give you the
son you want?"

Her laughter whipped across the plain on the
back of the wind. "I’m fully clothed, Dak. Don’t you have winter
undergarments on Anderas?"

When she sat down on her bedroll, no longer
haloed by the sunset, Dak could see that she wore fitted pants and
a pullover shirt. Very fitted. He could see the whorls of her navel
through the thin material.

"Not anything that has to be painted on and
the garments are usually thick enough to actually keep us warm.” He
may never have to don winter underwear again in his life. All he
had to do was think about how Kierin looked now and his body
temperature would climb a good ten degrees.

"You don’t need thick if you have spider
silk. Feel."

The foolish woman actually put her leg
across his lap. She was either the most innocent woman he’d ever
met or the most calculating. Either way, he was about as close to
the limits of his control as he’d ever been.

"If you have any sense at all, little witch,
you’ll get dressed and bury yourself in your blankets--now! I won’t
be responsible for what happens if you don’t.” Dak pushed the words
out between clenched teeth, shoving his hands into his vest pockets
to keep from pulling her into his lap.

"Nothing will happen, Dak. You’ve already
turned down my request. Remember?"

The words were teasing and her voice was
soft and inviting, but she had the sense to move back to her
bedroll and pull her gown over her head.

"There are a number of ways to satisfy what
you’ve started and you’d still be a virgin in the morning. If
you’re willing to settle for that type of relationship, then crawl
back over here and we’ll heat up the night. If not, then I suggest
you go to sleep."

He honestly didn’t know if he was glad she
stayed in her own bed or disappointed. Either way, he spent the
night staring up at the stars. He was still awake when the sun
brought its meager warmth.

Twenty-two days left
.

Chapter Twelve

Dak’s mood had gone from impatient to surly
since their encounter last night. She knew she was playing a
dangerous game when she put her foot in his lap. The raw hunger in
his eyes when he ordered her to her bed made her heart race in a
crazy combination of excitement and fear. The feeling reminded her
of a story from her youth about a girl who tickled a wild beast’s
whiskers never knowing if he would lick her fingers or devour them.
Unlike the girl in the story, she had no illusions about taming her
Anderan. A small smile tugged at the corners of Kierin’s mouth
despite the heavy tension between them. The man could protest all
he wanted but he was more willing to give her a son than he
claimed.

No, he doesn’t want to give me a son, but
he definitely wants me in his bed
. Dak’s active imagination
constantly bombarded her with images. It wasn’t deliberate on his
part, she was sure of it. To a man like Dak, accustomed to being in
control, knowledge was power; and to know someone’s innermost
thoughts was the ultimate knowledge. He would never willingly give
anyone that control. He wasn’t the least bit happy about his
reaction to her, either.

Kierin turned from the main trail onto the
obscurely marked track leading to her mountain. She would be home
in less than an hour. Dak made much better time than she did alone.
This trip would be a long and lonely one after he went back to
Anderas.
Stop thinking about what you can’t have
.

She was tired and sore and longed for the
comfort of her own bed. With a heavy sigh, Kierin arched her back,
stretching to relieve the cramped muscles. An extremely graphic
image of her sitting astride Dak’s face, her back arched in exactly
the same way, jolted through Kierin, bringing a furious blush to
her face. Dak was certainly creative. She had no idea there were so
many different ways for a man and woman to mate. Swallowing hard,
she tried to focus on anything but Dak. She was amazed that she’d
managed to hide her reaction to his thoughts so well. Only at
night, in her dreams, did her body betray her. She would awaken,
breathless, heart pounding, shaking with needs she didn’t
understand and longing for a completion of what the dream
promised.

When Kierin pulled her mount to a stop, Dak
came up beside her.

"What’s wrong?” It was the first words he’d
spoken to her since they broke camp this morning.