TICEES (63 page)

Chelan looked through her tears and tattered hair to his lacings, and with trembling hands she complied.

Shan immediately released her and fell back to the furs, his exertion causing his head to swim and his body to ache. But the pain cleared his mind and he looked to the ceiling. “How long have I been here?” he growled.

Chelan clasped her hands in her lap and looked at her white knuckles as her tears dropped onto them. “Nearly two weeks, my Lord,” she uttered weakly.

Shan exhaled and shook his head as he tried to sort through his predicament. “Two weeks,” he muttered.

Chelan remained very still, suddenly scared to death of the man. She could not look at him. She felt like running, yet she had no place to go. She had tried so hard to care for him, but now she hated him. She was totally despondent.

Shan finally looked back at her. “Where are my weapons?” he asked in a deeply restrained snarl.

Chelan shuddered. “I have them, my Lord. I will get them,” and she went to stand.

“No!” he shouted. “You stay put.”

Chelan sank back to her knees, her nerves frayed, and her heart split. She did not deserve his venom. She had hoped that he would be her friend and companion, but instead she had unleashed a monster. All her hopes were dashed. In a way, she wished he would strike her, putting her out of her misery and her loneliness. She unclenched her hands and surrounded her waist with her arms, hugging herself tightly. She took a deep breath and tried in vain to swallow her tears. But she could not speak. She had cared for the man deeply, and now he had lashed out at her. He was a brute, and she wanted him gone.

Shan watched her warily. He was still confused as to where he was, and she was definitely an unexpected addition to his plight. He continued to study her, and he noticed her body’s violent tremors for the first time. Then his eyes coursed over her bare arms and legs, registering just how small she was. He could not see her face, and he reached for her hair to clear it. But she instantly shrank from him, undoubtedly expecting to be struck.

Shan’s thoughts cleared. She was no threat to him, as she was too fragile and obviously unarmed. Besides, he needed information, and he would not get it from her if she were too scared to speak. His fingers touched the cascading silk that obscured her from him, and he softened his voice. “I will not strike you,” he stated.

Shan withdrew his hand and looked about the cavern carefully, but he saw no others. Then he pushed his stiff and sore torso into a sitting position. He looked from her to the furs that covered his lower body, and he hesitated.

Chelan froze as his hand moved to the blanket, and she held her breath while he peeled away the covering. Panic ran through her like quicksilver. She prayed he did not hold her responsible for his wounds. She closed her eyes, suddenly wishing she had left him to die. She released her grip on herself and moved her hands to her lap. They were clenched so tight with fear that her nails pierced her palms. She tried to unfurl her fingers, but they were as knotted as her stomach.

Shan looked at his leg, the massive scar startling him. He looked to her. “Who attended me?” he demanded.

Chelan sucked in a deep breath. “I did, my Lord.”

Shan watched her small frame shivering before him, and he lowered his voice. “Where am I?”

Chelan stared at her hands. “I do not know for sure, my Lord. Somewhere deep within the Dead Zone.”

Shan thought for a while, his confusion mounting. He eyed her suspiciously. “Who are you?”

Chelan’s eyes opened wide. She needed a name, and quickly. “My name is Kayla,” she whispered, and she held her breath.

“Where are your people?” he asked, his voice once again edged with rancor.

Chelan’s tears flowed anew. “I have none, my Lord. I am alone here.” Chelan paused, her voice beginning to break as her isolation and her losses began to crowd in on her. “I have been here a very long time,” she whispered.

Suddenly, Shan softened. He heard the sincerity in her voice, and he sensed her loneliness. He looked past her and glanced around the cavern, noting its sparseness. Yet it looked like home with its numerous bundles of provisions. His eyes returned to her hunched body. “Why did you help me?”

Chelan finally forced herself to look at him, and she cleared the hair from her face. She ran the back of her hand under her nose as she sniffed back her tears.

Shan mellowed as he looked at the bruise on her face, and his expression grew solemn at the sight of her tear-stained eyes.

“Because you needed help, my Lord,” she whispered.

Shan watched her, struck for the first time by her extreme beauty. Suddenly, he felt regret for his harshness. Then his stomach turned at his next thought. He reached for her chin, feeling her tremble violently to his touch. He raised her face to his. He brushed her cheek with his hand and watched as she winced with pain. “Did I do this?” he asked quietly.

Chelan did not speak. Her eyes simply pleaded with his, begging not to be hit again.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Is that why you bound me?”

Chelan nodded and closed her eyes against him.

Shan withdrew his hand, a sudden weakness washing over him. He lay down on the soft fur and tried to focus on his predicament.

Only when he was still did Chelan take several deep breaths. Her first thought was to flee from him while she had the chance, but instead she reached for the furs and automatically covered him. She was still concerned about him, and her desire to care for him overshadowed her fear of him. She stood on unsure legs and moved to the pool. There she knelt down, brushing the remnants of her tears away and flicking her hair over her shoulders. She took several more deep breaths as she tried to collect herself. She washed out several pelts and laid them by the pool’s edge to dry. Then she sat still as she tried to concentrate. She took a small pelt and dipped it into the warm water and wrung it out lightly. She picked up the medical container and filled it with meltwater. Steeling herself, she summoned every ounce of courage within her to return to him.

Shan watched her guarded approach, her long, slender frame, her grace, and her elegance all captivating him. Then he held his breath as his eyes scanned her once again, her feminine form delicately concealed by her loose tunic. He did not know why he had not noticed her all-encompassing beauty right away, but now she held him spellbound.

Chelan did not look into his eyes as she knelt by him and offered him the water. “You need to drink,” she instructed softly.

Shan propped himself up, his eyes riveted to her as he complied.

Chelan stared at his chest until he was finished, and then she took the container and placed it to the side. The warrior hesitated for a moment and then lay back down on the furs, staring intently at her. Chelan nervously twisted the fur in her hands, and then she finally looked at him. She bit her lip as she leaned forward and began wiping his face and neck.

Shan closed his eyes to her soft touch, and what was left of the savagery within him was tamed. When she finally stopped her gentle ministrations, he looked up at her. She tried to stand to go and rinse out the fur, but Shan grabbed her arm, halting her retreat. She uttered a small cry of distress, her tiny arm bones feeling as though they would break at any moment under his powerful grip. “I won’t hurt you,” he reassured as he slackened his pressure. But he did not release her. As gently as he could, he pulled her back down to him.

Chelan’s eyes were wide, her alarm returning.

“How long did you say I have been here?”

Chelan grappled for control, his hand holding her wrist tightly. “Nearly two weeks, my Lord.”

Shan looked deep into her eyes. “How long have you been here?”

Chelan became rigid. She had to lie, or he could pinpoint her arrival with her own disappearance. She doubled her Earth time here. “About two years,” she whispered.

Shan released her, and she instantly scurried from him, returning to the relative safety of the pool. He was thunderstruck. “And you’ve been alone the whole time?”

Chelan continued to work with her back to him. “Yes,” she replied.

Shan lay back in amazement. “Two years,” he repeated.

Chelan was not sure she wanted to approach him again, but she knew that attending to his needs was the best way to assure her life. She returned to him and then hesitated before kneeling down. Cautiously, she reached for him and began sponging his arms and chest. When she had finished, she sat back on her heels and looked down. She no longer had the nerve to touch his lower body, and she retreated back to the pool. When she had finished rinsing the furs, she walked over to a stash of dried meat. She selected several large pieces and then returned to him, offering him the food.

Shan propped himself up again and watched with some amusement as she immediately scrambled to push the furs behind him. He studied her every motion. She was so eager to help, so eager to please, and so skittish.

Chelan glanced at him as he bit into the meat. She was glad that he was eating, but she was desperately uncomfortable with his piercing blue eyes on her. She stood and moved over to the pool. There she sat down on the pool’s edge and dangled her legs in the warm and soothing water. Her nerves were frayed almost beyond repair, and she had no desire to eat.

Shan continued to watch her while he finished the meat. Then he spoke to her, his voice low and warm. “I’m sorry I struck you.”

Chelan turned partially to him but she did not look at him. “It’s okay,” she whispered as she stared back at the water. “You didn’t know what you were doing.”

Shan looked down, acknowledging the discomfort he had inflicted upon her with his initial rude behavior, and he sought to make amends. “Will you come sit by me? Please.”

Chelan remained intransigent momentarily, surprised by his request. Then, she stood and approached him nervously. She sat down by his side, her muscles betraying her apprehension. The man smiled at her for the first time, and Chelan’s heart lurched.

“I have much to thank you for, Kayla, and I have much to learn about you.” The pretty woman managed a small smile, and Shan wavered as her demure expression melted his war-hardened interior.

“I hope that you still thank me, my Lord, when you try to use your leg. The damage was deep and severe.” Chelan tried to quell her uneasiness. “I did the best I could, but I’m not a doctor.”

Shan smiled warmly. “I’m alive, my friend, and right now, that’s what counts.” Shan was quiet momentarily, and then he sat right up. He threw back the fur and looked down at his thigh once again. The scar was bound beautifully, but his leg was still discolored and swollen. Shan pressed at his flesh and winced. It would be a while before he stood. He looked to Kayla and noticed that she had averted her eyes. He watched her carefully, both perplexed and intrigued by her foreign shyness. “You did a good job.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Shan smiled to himself and continued to study her as he replaced the fur. He saw her visibly relax. “You are a strange mix of characteristics, Kayla,” he chided.

Chelan looked at him, her skin flushing. She immediately jumped to her feet in embarrassment.

“No!” he shouted as he reached for her ankle. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. Please, sit back down.”

Chelan clutched at her tunic while she caught her breath, and then she sat.

Shan smiled. “I genuinely appreciate all you have done for me. I assure you of that. I do not jest.”

Chelan looked into his warm, handsome face, his long blue-black hair hanging softly over his powerful shoulders. “You should get some rest,” she stated.

Shan nodded. “You are so right,” he answered, his fatigue swamping over him. Chelan watched as he lay back. She moved to him and removed some of the hides from behind him. Then she slipped her hand under his head as she arranged the pelts for his comfort.

Shan was keenly aware of her soft feminine scent, a scent like no other woman’s he’d ever encountered. And her touch was so gentle, despite what he’d done to her. Instantly, he knew that he liked this exotic woman, even if she was not his kind.

He watched as she pulled the fur up over his chest, and he nearly liquefied when she smiled shyly at him. He continued to study her as she backed away from him and bundled up the large fur lying next to him. She picked it up and moved to the far rock wall, spreading it out next to her other belongings. It was then that he realized that she had not only attended to him during the day, but she had slept with him at nights, offering him her warmth and comfort.

Suddenly, he felt an unexpected pang of loss at her withdrawal. The loneliness that must consume her touched him, and the thought that she felt she had to move away from him troubled him. But he was also well aware of her odd and foreign shyness, and because of that he decided against calling her back to him. He would not push her as she had done so much for him already. In fact, after looking at the wound on his thigh, he was well aware that she had saved his life.

*****

The next couple of days were hard on Chelan, for she was not used to being constantly watched within the confines of her cavern. She was extremely self-conscious and continually on edge. The possibility of this new state of affairs had never entered her psyche when she’d first rescued him, and though she would have done it all over again, she was completely ill-prepared for the disruption his presence was creating for her new, quiet life of solitude. In the beginning, she had focused only on the company she so desperately desired to ease her profound loneliness. She had never thought through the consequences of the addition of another being within her small confines. Essentially, she was cornered, her fate held within his hands.

Thank god he was Iceanean. Had he been any other man, that fate could have involved the unthinkable. As it was, she was well aware that he could do with her as he pleased, both mentally and physically, but she drew a huge degree of comfort from the knowledge that he would never violate her. It was that understanding that allowed her to continue attending him, nursing his wound and addressing his most personal of needs.